Chapter 11
Emma stood in front of the mirror in their hotel room, jeans unbuttoned and resting low on her hips, staring at her new reflection. Her tattoo was sealed beneath some kind of Saran Wrap-like bandage that wasn’t exactly the sexiest thing ever, and the tattoo itself was red and sore, but…but she loved it.
It was perfect.
Absolutely perfect. Ryan’s friend Stephen had taken her idea and turned it into something even more beautiful than she’d envisioned.
Ryan stood behind her, his expression heated. “Only one thing sexier than a woman dressed to ride.”
“Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“A woman with a tattoo.” He slid her into his arms, his hands staying well clear of her freshly inked skin.
“Is that so?” She hadn’t had much of an opinion on tattoos until recently, but yeah, she was a big fan now, too. Ryan’s tats were definitely a turn-on.
“I lied,” he said, tracing his fingers over the edges of her bandage. “There’s one thing even sexier than a woman dressed to ride or a woman with a tattoo.”
She looked into his eyes, and the expression on his face could only be described as scorching. “What?” she asked, sounding breathless.
“You.” He crushed his mouth against hers.
Well, she had no idea what to say to that, but the way he was kissing her had rendered her speechless anyway. They were alone together in a hotel room, and her mind was about to overheat with all the possibilities. Ryan kissed her like kissing was an art form and not merely the precursor to sex. Although right now, sex was the only thing on her mind.
“A nice guy would take you to dinner first,” he said, his voice a low growl in her ear.
She whimpered. “How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t want nice. And the only thing I’m hungry for is you.”
“Thank God.” He yanked her up against him, his hips slamming into hers. His dick strained the front of his jeans, making her burn.
She gripped his shoulders and jumped, wrapping her legs around his hips, and oh… Her back slammed into the wall, and he was kissing her like a man possessed, his body pressed against hers. This kiss was different from its predecessor—this kiss said he had to have her or die trying, and God help her, she was about to come just from the feel of him pressed between her legs.
“Hurry,” she whispered, rocking her hips against his.
“Never.” His voice was a growl, his breath hot against her neck. He peeled her shirt over her head, baring her pink bra. A rough groan tore from his throat as he touched her breasts, then his hand slid down her belly, already exposed from where she’d been admiring her new tattoo. His fingers lingered at the edge of the clear bandage covering it. “This has been torturing me all fucking afternoon.”
“My tattoo?” Her skin tingled beneath his touch.
“Your skin, the tattoo…all of it. Killing me that Stephen got to touch you here before I did.” He was touching now, his fingers skimming the lacy trim of her panties.
Emma wanted to do some touching of her own. She gripped his T-shirt and tugged. He lifted his arms so that it slid over his head, and oh my, his chest. A dusting of dark hair covered his well-toned abs, thickening as it disappeared inside the waistband of his jeans. She ran her fingers through it and gave a light tug.
A rough sound tore from Ryan’s throat. He spun them around, tossing her onto the bed. Before she could move, he gripped her jeans and tugged them off, leaving her in only her bra and panties.
“So fucking sexy,” he whispered, nipping at her through the satin of her bra before he popped the clasp, freeing her breasts. He took them in his palms, bringing her nipples into aching peaks with his touch. “I’ve been about to lose my mind this past month, wanting to touch you.”
“Me, too.” She reached for him, sliding her hands over the smooth skin of his back.
“You’re even sexier than I imagined,” he murmured as his hands ventured lower, tugging at her panties. He palmed her ass and squeezed, making her gasp.
Her? Sexy? She’d been called cute. Athletic. Pretty. But Ryan was looking at her like she was a Victoria’s Secret supermodel, and then her panties were off, and she forgot how to think. He stroked her sensitive flesh, and she saw stars.
“Hurry.” She reached for the button of his jeans.
He hissed out a breath. “Really trying not to.”
“I think I can change your mind.” She lowered his zipper, and he scrambled out of his jeans. His boxer briefs strained with his hard cock. She gripped him through the cotton, stroking up and down, drawing a rough sound of pleasure from his lips. He thrust his hips against her hand, and the ache inside her intensified. She slid his briefs down, and his cock sprang free. So thick. So hard. For her.
It was like she went outside her body for a moment, seeing herself and Ryan naked in bed together, the culmination of all her youthful fantasies. Finally. She knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she couldn’t help herself.
“What?” Ryan said, his voice all low and scratchy.
“It’s just…you and me…” She gestured between them, and without warning, a giggle bubbled up out of her. She slapped a hand over her mouth.
Ryan froze, his expression gone wary. “You having second thoughts?”
“What? No!” Her giggles vanished. “No…it’s more like, I can’t believe this is finally happening.”
“Yeah.” He reached for her, pulling her up against him, and then they were frantic again, kissing, touching, groping. He slid one muscular thigh between her legs, his cock pressed against her belly, their bodies rocking together as their tongues tangled. He groaned into her mouth, and she couldn’t wait another moment.
She dove for her backpack where she’d put it down beside the bed, reached into the outer pocket where she’d dumped the contents of an entire box of condoms, and grabbed one of the foil packets.
Ryan watched her through heavy-lidded eyes, an amused smile on his face. “You came prepared.”
“Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout.” She ripped the packet open, and he sat back, allowing her to do the honors. She rolled it onto him, feeling him thicken even more beneath her touch.
Ryan was breathing hard, his eyes glittering dark as coal in the dim light of the hotel room. As soon as the condom was in place, he pounced, pinning her to the bed. “Emma,” he whispered, his voice shaking slightly.
“Ryan.” She wrapped her legs around his hips, drawing him closer until the weight of his shaft pressed against her belly.
He stayed that way for several long seconds, while her body burned and his cock pulsed against her. Then he bent his head and kissed her. He reached between them, positioning the thick head of his cock against her entrance. She gasped, pulling him closer, urging him on.
With another rough kiss, he pushed inside. Pleasure surged inside her as he filled her. He stroked slowly in and out, building a delicious friction between them that was so good, so good…
“Christ, Emma,” he rasped, “you feel so fucking good.” He thrust harder, his hips pressing painfully into her freshly inked skin.
“Tattoo,” she panted.
“Shit. Sorry.” He shifted his weight, which somehow seemed to bring him even deeper inside her on his next stroke.
“Don’t apologize…oh God…yes…”
Ryan cursed under his breath then claimed her mouth for another heady kiss. His tongue stroked hers while he thrust inside her, and oh my God, it was like magic.
“Harder,” she whispered against his lips.
He paused for a moment and met her gaze, his eyes impossibly dark, and then he started to move again, thrusting harder, faster, until stars were dancing behind her eyes. He lifted her hips, adjusting the angle of their bodies, and oh shit.
“Yes,” she gasped. “More.”
He reached between them, stroking her with his fingers while he pounded into her, and she shattered.
“Open your eyes,” he said roughly. “I want to see you when I come.”
She opened her eyes as her orgasm crested. Their eyes met. Ryan thrust again, hard, then stiffened as he found his own release. They clutched at each other, panting, their bodies entwined as they rode out the waves of passion together.
He collapsed on the bed beside her, one arm thrown across his face. “Fuck. That was amazing.”
Yeah, it really had been, but to hear it from Ryan’s mouth? Even more amazing. Her body still tingled with pleasure. “It really was.”
Ryan cameout of the bathroom to find Emma standing beside the bed, dressed in a slinky black dress that clung to her body just right. She’d put the black boots back on, and they nearly reached the bottom of the dress, revealing just a hint of her pale, smooth legs. Fuck, she was gorgeous.
“You look amazing,” he said.
“Thanks. I figured this wouldn’t bother the tattoo.” She patted her hip.
“Smart thinking.” He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until they were both out of breath and his dick was straining the front of his pants. “We’d better go to dinner now before we wind up naked again.”
She nodded, reaching for her purse, a happy glow on her face.
And he’d put it there. He felt a primitive urge to pound his chest and shout it to the world. Instead, he took her hand and walked with her out of the hotel and down the street to the Onyx Bar. The place wasn’t trendy by any means, but the food was excellent and the décor was offbeat, with a bit of the edgy feel Emma seemed to be craving. There was even a club downstairs if she wanted to go dancing later.
“Wow,” she said as they stepped through the front door. “This is great.”
The dining room was decorated mostly in black, aside from the white-tiled floors. The music was loud, the lighting low. The perfect place to sit close and whisper in each other’s ears. The hostess led them to a small table near the back. A candle flickered in its center, casting shadows across the dark tablecloth.
Emma leaned in so that candlelight danced across her face. “I love this place already.”
“The food’s good, too.”
“Great, because I’m starved,” she said.
Their waitress arrived, and Emma ordered a strawberry martini. Ryan got a beer. Truthfully, as hard as it had been not to stay in bed with Emma all evening, he was starving, too, and the chance to take her out here in Charlotte was something he couldn’t pass up.
“I think this whole ‘friends with benefits’ thing is the best decision we ever made,” Emma said with a wink, a wide smile on her face.
“Yeah.” He still had a bad feeling it might backfire on them at some point, but right now? He was loving every minute.
They both ordered steak, and three martinis later, Emma sighed dreamily into the candle at the center of their table. “This was fantastic.”
“Want to go dancing?” he asked.
Her eyes sparkled. “That sounds fun.”
So they went to the nightclub downstairs, and they danced. This time, there was no pretense between them, and he couldn’t keep his hands off her. Emma danced with a kind of wild abandon that he couldn’t get enough of. She flung her hands in the air and twirled, totally lost to the beat. With a sly smile, she backed up, grinding her ass against him. His dick turned to granite inside his jeans.
She spun to face him then leaned in to whisper in his ear, “I want to try something new tonight.”
“What’s that?”
She grinned, her hips bumping against his. “Surprise me.”
All the blood in his body settled into a deep ache in his groin. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
She nodded, a wicked gleam in her eyes, still dancing. He, on the other hand, was so turned on he could barely move. Surprise me. Oh, he would, but in the meantime, she kept surprising the hell out of him.
She settled in his arms, her hips still moving to the music. He drew her close, letting the rhythm of the music guide them as her hips wiggled to the beat. “I need you in my bed,” he growled in her ear. “Now.”
She sucked in a breath, her eyes sparkling in the reflection of the disco ball overhead, and made a beeline for the door. He hooked an arm around her shoulders and hustled her back to their hotel, not stopping until they were inside their room with the door locked behind them. Emma stood in the middle of the room, cheeks flushed, watching him expectantly.
His entire body pulsed with barely leashed need. He reached for the thin, blue scarf that she’d discarded by the bed after they arrived. Emma followed his actions with her gaze, her chest heaving. He took the scarf and covered her eyes, tying it behind her head. She sucked in a breath, reaching for him.
“No rushing me this time, baby,” he said, walking her slowly backward until they’d reached the bed. He reached behind her for the zipper of her dress, finding nothing but fabric.
“No zipper,” she said, her voice breathless. “It’s stretchy. It just goes over my head.”
Interesting. He could work with that. He fisted his hands in the clingy black fabric and slowly worked it up her thighs, baring the black lacy thong she wore beneath. He groaned, pausing to touch her. Emma gasped, her knees parting.
He went slowly over her hips, careful not to snag the edges of the bandage covering her tattoo. It would be time to take that off soon, but first things first. He slid the dress up her sides and over her head, leaving her in nothing but a black lacy bra and thong, leather boots, and the scarf still tied over her eyes.
He stood there for a moment, just drinking her in. So fucking sexy.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“Please what?”
“Touch me.”
He gave her a nudge with his hands, and she sat on the bed. “No, baby, I want you to touch yourself.”
She sucked in a breath. “What?”
“You said you wanted to try something new.” He unzipped her boots one at the time and tugged them off, then trailed his fingers up her legs and over her stomach.
She squirmed.
He popped the clasp and removed her bra then slid her thong down her legs. “Pretend I’m not here,” he murmured. “Show me how you please yourself.”
“Ryan…”
He lay on the bed beside her, his own body strung so tight that the lightest touch might make him snap yet completely caught up in the moment, watching as she lay back on the bed, her fingers trailing down her stomach to dip between her legs.
“That’s right, baby,” he said. “Show me how you like it.”
She touched herself, cautiously at first, as though still self-conscious that he was lying here beside her, but soon she gave herself over to her pleasure, moaning as she grew more aroused.
His cock strained within the confines of his jeans, growing harder with each stroke of her fingers between her legs. He’d never been so mad with lust yet so totally focused on her pleasure.
“Ryan,” she whispered, rolling toward him, “I want you to finish.”
“My pleasure,” he murmured, at last allowing himself to reach out and touch her. He ran his hands over her body, taking time to touch and explore. Emma shifted restlessly on the bed, having already brought herself too close to the edge, but he wasn’t rushing. Not this time. He kissed his way around the perimeter of her new tattoo—that flower was going to be his downfall. Dangerously sexy. Intoxicating. He couldn’t wait until it had healed so he could touch it.
Finally, he settled between her thighs. Emma whimpered. He stroked her, and fuck, she was so wet for him. His cock thickened, pressing painfully against his zipper. Ignoring it, he kissed his way up her thighs until he reached her center, and then he put his mouth on her.
Emma gasped, fisting her hands in the sheets. He took his time, pleasing her until she writhed beneath him, panting his name. And then, with a moan, she came against his tongue. Her hips bucked, and her body tensed, and then she collapsed against the sheets with a breathless, “Holy shit.”
He kissed his way up her belly to her mouth. “You’re spectacular when you come.”
Her cheeks grew even pinker. Then she reached up and removed the scarf from her eyes. “My turn.” She went up on her knees and tied the scarf over his eyes.
Immediately all his other senses were heightened. His body ached, waiting for her touch.
“First, let’s get you out of these clothes.” She lifted his shirt over his head. Then her hands were on his jeans, lowering the zipper that had been torturing him ever since they got back to the hotel. Hallelujah.
She stroked him through his boxer briefs, and he gritted his teeth. He shucked his jeans and briefs, then he sat there, blindfolded, his dick impossibly hard and desperate for her touch.
“You’re so sexy,” Emma murmured, her voice tantalizingly close. “I could just sit here all night and look at you.”
“Please don’t.” He managed a harsh laugh.
“Don’t worry.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “I like touching you even more.” She took him in her hand, stroking up and down his shaft.
Fuck, yeah. “Harder,” he said gruffly.
Emma picked up the pace, stroking him with one hand while she cupped his balls in the other, and ah, fuck. So good. His whole world had reduced to the feel of her fingers on him and the need blazing inside him, growing more insistent with each stroke of her hand.
And then, her hands were gone. He groaned, his dick straining into the emptiness left behind. Torture. This was torture, and he was loving every second. Her warm breath whispered across his aching flesh. He sucked in a breath and held it, waiting in the darkness of the blindfold, and then the head of his dick slipped into the wet heat of her mouth. He swore as her tongue swirled over him, licking and sucking. She took him deeper, and fuck, he was a goner.
He struggled to hold back, not to thrust himself against her. She slid him in and out of her mouth while her tongue worked him into a frenzy. Already he felt his orgasm building, tightening in his balls, burning through him as the pressure built.
Sucking in a breath, he gripped her shoulders, pushing her back. “Emma, baby, I’m about to come, and I want to be inside you when I do.”
She released him from her mouth, and he lay there, too painfully aroused to move. Next thing he knew, he felt a condom being rolled down his aching length. Emma straddled him, sinking down onto him. And ah, fuck. He was close. Too close. He gripped her waist, slowing down her pace. She grumbled in protest.
He reached between them and touched her where their bodies joined. He found her clit and stroked, hitting a rhythm with his fingers that made her pant. She rode him hard, and he held on for the ride, barely daring to breathe, desperate to hold himself back until she’d joined him.
She swiveled her hips with a gasp, and then her body clamped down on him, spasming around his dick as she came. With a growl, he thrust inside her once, twice, and then his own orgasm came, ripping through him so powerfully that he lost all control of himself, his hips bucking against hers as he rode out the waves of red-hot release.
Afterward, as he lay there, limp, spent, and still blindfolded, he felt as if his whole horizon had shifted. He never would have imagined he’d have some of the hottest sex in his life with Emma Rush. And now all he could think about was doing it again.