Chapter 20 Take A Chance
TAKE A CHANCE
It wasn’t like Alana to put it out there like she was, but she’d told herself that in life you have to take a chance.
That meant matching these boots with the dress she had on.
Both things she’d worn before, but never together. Never like this.
Never this sexy.
Too many times in her life men saw her as a friend, or a nice, quiet, pleasant mate.
Nothing wrong with that.
But she wanted to feel desired.
She wanted to be needed.
Damn it, she wanted to be loved!
In more ways than one.
Not just emotionally, but physically as well.
She spent the past year alone pondering her failed relationship with Jonathan, realizing that his exploitation of her name made her feel unwanted as a woman.
Not for anything more than a means to an end for him.
It wasn’t even a serious means to an end; otherwise he would have married her and she would have been stuck always doubting his intentions.
She had no doubt about Brennan though.
Not by the look in his eyes when he picked her up, to the way his hand was gently rubbing on her leg under the table with no one the wiser.
Was it working her up? Oh, hell yeah.
And that was where the boldness came for her to say what she had.
If she put the brakes on, she was afraid he’d forget how to hit the gas. Or maybe the car would stall.
She didn’t want to slow down.
She wanted to put herself first and go with what she was feeling.
Her gut said this thing with Brennan was a nice sound foundation and their mutual attraction was only going to grow.
Damn it, she wanted it to grow and blossom and let her feel all of him.
He pulled to a stop in the driveway of her house, parked and shut his vehicle off.
They got out with no words. Words she was going to have to find to match her actions.
She wasn’t used to this, but it sure the hell felt empowering.
After she unlocked the door and stepped in, she pulled her jacket off to hang it up, her back to Brennan.
His hand went to her shoulders, his mouth to her neck, a gentle peck in the curve leading to her shoulder, flickers of arousal erupting internally.
A soft move.
An erotic one no one ever had done to her before, making her feel as if she was the most important person in the world.
No one put her on that pedestal in her life.
His hands, larger than had been on her body before, slid down her sides, her body involuntarily leaning back against his.
“You’ve made me burn tonight,” he whispered in her ear. “I find it awfully mean of you to do it in front of people.”
She grinned, not that he could see it. “It wasn’t my intention.”
“I think it was,” he said. “You didn’t need Kelsey to point it out. Remember, my eyes have been on you for months.”
Her shoulders wiggled over the shivers that ran down her spine with those words.
“I’ve been watching you too,” she said, turning and putting her arms around his neck. “Maybe I wanted to give you something more to look at tonight.”
“Oh, you did.”
His lips landed on hers, his mouth opening, his tongue seeking to taste. Not just taste, but mate.
His hands were moving up and down her sides, just a delicate glide, almost a whisper of touch.
“We can have wine now... or after,” she said. She’d come this far, might as well swing for the fence.
“After,” he said, his hand moving to her palm, their fingers intertwined together. “Just lead me to where you want to go.”
It’d never been in her to be too adventurous, so she did what was natural and walked to the stairs and then her room.
Once they were there, he pulled her back to his chest again, his hands moving not just down her sides, but around to her belly, then up her ribs covering her breasts through the material of her dress.
Her nipples were pushing against the cotton of her bra, trying to escape and find their freedom.
She wanted to turn to face him again, but what he was making her feel was more than arousal. It was more than need or desire. She felt cherished.
One hand traveled back down to her hip and gathered the material in his fist, raising it, the cool air hitting her bare skin.
No stockings on tonight. There was no need with her knee-high boots and she didn’t want another layer that needed to be removed, or one to confine her.
Her body felt constricted enough with the clothing she was wearing.
“Are you going to let me touch you?” she asked.
“In time,” he said. “I’ve spent weeks thinking of this. Of exactly how I was going to take you.”
“Take me?” she asked, her voice barely audible. At least to her ears.
No one took her. Made her feel as if she was even worthy of it.
“Yes.” His tongue licked the side of her neck up to her ear. “It’s just if it’s going to be soft and gentle or hard and fast. I haven’t decided yet.”
She gulped. Who was this man?
She would have never pictured the words coming out of his mouth. But he might say the same about the way she’d been acting too.
Was it something they brought out of each other? She’d like to think that.
“How long before you decide?” she asked. “And do I get a say in this?”
“Do you want a say?” His hand was on her smooth flesh, her outer thigh, moving around inside and almost hovering over her heat.
Somehow she was still standing in her heeled boots, but her legs were wobbly.
“Not this time,” she said. It was better to be surprised. She liked the way the night was going and wanted him to continue with it.
He laughed at her reply. A low deep sound that vibrated against her back and then was gone. His hands disappeared from her body at the same time.
Her deep frustration quickly vanished as he lowered the zipper on the back of her dress, his hands landing on her shoulders to push the dress off.
It pooled at her feet, leaving her standing in her boots and undergarments.
Her body was cold, but the chills on her back came more from the heat of his gaze. She knew damn well he was looking at her ass in her thong.
Not something she always wore but would to avoid lines in her clothing.
“Aren’t you just full of surprises tonight?”
He turned her quickly, held her steady, his mouth crushing hers.
Oh yeah. This was going to be hard and fast. It would have been her preference, but she was glad he read her mind.
He lifted her some. Getting the hint he was picking her up, she wrapped legs around his hips as he walked to the edge of the bed, then laid her on it and stood back.
“I take it you like what you see?”
“I’m a big fan of matching sets,” he said, his eyes taking in the black silk bra and thong. Nothing fancy. No lace. No frills. Just simple silk but she loved the way it felt on her skin.
“Me too,” she said. “A little splurge of mine.”
Nothing was moving but his eyes from her breasts to the apex between her legs.
She reached between her breasts, unhooking the clasp with a flick of her fingers. Her bra slipped open, baring her to the cool air as her breasts spilled free, her nipples tightening into hard peaks from both the chill and the heat simmering between them.
His hand landed on the bed, his mouth going right to the first one within reach, his teeth latching on and giving her a tug that she’d felt all the way in her toes.
She’d been on her elbows, but fell back with the weakness of it.
It wasn’t her to sit there and just take it and not take part, but the way he was making her feel diminished any thoughts of strength that she had.
Her back arched, her hands anchoring her to the comforter as he moved from one side to the other. Licking her. Nibbling. Even a gentle bite.
She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
He didn’t leave her waiting, as if he could read her mind again, and traveled down her stomach, her hips, his tongue licking the way.
She thought he’d remove her thong, but he didn’t. Only lifted her up, her boots going on his shoulders. She’d never had sex with her shoes on before, but Brennan didn’t seem to mind.
He hooked one finger under the strip of silk that was gathering moisture and pulled it to the side, his mouth dropping to pay homage there as he had her breasts.
There was no stopping the moan from escaping as he tasted her most intimate flesh.
His mouth landed on her swollen bud, his lips pulling it in to devour.
It’d been so long since she’d come, and the way Brennan was playing her body, there was no stopping the orgasm from slamming into her hard.
She cried out in pleasure, the throbbing felt in her belly and up her chest.
It was a continuous assault on her nerve endings until her body came to a standstill, completely wrecked from the exhilaration she’d just experienced.
“We’re not done yet,” he said. “Look at me.”
She hadn’t even realized she’d closed her eyes, but they snapped open to see him lowering his pants and underwear, a condom coming out and covering him. Then he lifted her hips, him still standing on the edge of the bed, yanked her closer and found his way home.
“Oh god,” she screeched.
It was snug but blissful at the same time.
He must have superhuman strength because rather than ending his own torture, he was sliding in and out at a controlled pace to build her up again.
“Look at me,” he said again.
She opened her eyes; he was hovering over her face. “I see you.”
He smiled. A wicked one. Not charming or sweet like before, but one that said this man knew who he was and what he was doing.
Holy shit, there might not have been a bigger turn-on in her life than that cocky smirk.
“Tell me you want it,” he said.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I want it.”
“How?” he asked.
“Hard.” The word barely escaped her lips before he was slamming into her, her bed moving on the floor, her body telling her it couldn’t keep up and there was no reason to try.
She was coming again, a frenzy of explosions between her legs, him following closely behind.
There was so much throbbing going on below and she realized that some of it was him. That she could feel him pulsing inside of her.
He dropped on her seconds later, his weight welcome but not lengthy as he rolled and had her on his chest.
“Talk about a pleasant surprise,” she said, laughing. Her breasts were rubbing against his shirt, the cotton almost working her up again.
If she knew beforehand what Brennan was like in bed, she would have been terrified of moving forward and disappointing him.
Instead, she’d never felt more alive.