Chapter 14
Tonya held herself excruciatingly still. Had she just asked...Actually, had she just begged a man to make love to her? Yes. And given how much her body was tightening in anticipation, she didn’t regret the decision. She felt like a lit firecracker just waiting for the flame to hit gunpowder.
He was quick in the bathroom, coming out with the strip of six condoms in his hand.
But it was his expression that worried her.
They’d known each other all their lives.
They often knew each other’s thoughts without even saying a word.
And yet, right now, she couldn’t even guess at his emotions.
He was certainly horny. The huge tent in his sports shorts told her that.
But there were more feelings there than just lust.
She saw it in the way he moved toward her, prowling in a way she’d never seen on him before.
Slow, measured, and not exactly direct. Her belly rippled at the sight, feeling the excited stir of her own animal.
He lowered his chin, flared his nostrils, and watched her with eyes that seemed to burn straight through her.
Her nipples tightened in reaction. Her fingers curled into her palms, and her breath shortened in anticipation.
Unable to stay still, she stood before him, tightening her thighs to keep her knees strong.
Adrenaline hummed in her blood, and she readied herself for a chase.
There was nowhere to go in this basement, but some pursuits were less about speed and more about dominance.
She might have asked for this, but she’d be damned if she just rolled over for it.
“You’re not naked,” he said.
Her lips curled. “Always with the romantic talk.”
“I tried that, remember? Silver-tongued compliments and all, and you gave me exactly jack shit.”
She snorted. “You seriously think you were witty at fourteen? That I would get all wet and wanting at your Christmas ball jokes?”
His eyebrow quirked. “They made you laugh.”
They had done that. And she’d secretly treasured every one because he’d helped her relax despite the constant stress of the Gladwin shifter politics that always surrounded them. “Still doesn’t make it romantic.”
He prowled closer. She held her ground. Only prey ran at this point. “What about later? Flowers on your birthday, chocolate at Valentine’s Day.”
“From your family.”
He snorted. “Like my brother ever thought of that shit.”
And right there was the Alan she remembered. The one who did all the work, let everyone else take the credit, and secretly resented how abused he was.
“If you wanted to be romantic, you had to sign your name and no one else’s.”
He paused. “Would it have made a difference?”
She wanted to say yes. She wanted to tell him they could have found a normal romance in the usual way, but she didn’t think so. And after the disaster of his fourteenth birthday, she’d sworn to never lie to him again.
“I was focused elsewhere.”
“On my brother.” The words were snarled.
“On being the Maxima. After my dentist boyfriend freaked, I just couldn’t handle a real relationship.
Maxima was a political position, not a romantic one.
” She shrugged. “You don’t get to corner the market on stupidity.
” Truth was, she’d taken missteps with him way more than he had with her.
She was about to say more. To express again how sorry she was for all the different ways she’d screwed up, but he never gave her the chance.
While she was lost in the wish that she’d been smarter, he pounced on her.
Not slow. Not subtle. A simple, predatory pounce.
He pinned her against the wall.
She fought on instinct, but he was stronger.
And smarter, which startled her. She fought with power and shifter speed.
She might not be able to go grizzly yet, but she had muscles and rapid reactions.
She twisted out of his hold, she knocked his arms away, and she writhed out of his control.
But in every action, he had a counter. He let her twist only to use the motion to push her sideways toward the nearest bed.
He let her knock his arms wide, but that only gave him the momentum he needed sweep her legs out from under her.
And when she writhed in his hold, he tightened his grip so that she felt every hard ridge on his body.
Most especially the one that thrust against her.
And then, she was on the mattress, facedown, while he stripped her yoga pants away.
She was panting from her exertion and wet from desire.
He was rough as he jerked her clothes off, lifting her feet high in the air.
She let him do it, knowing she’d get her chance to retaliate in a second.
He had to take off his shorts at some point.
And God only knew where the condoms had gone.
But just when her feet were coming down to earth, just when she was gripping the mattress for purchase for her next move, right then, he shoved her knees wide and set his mouth to her spread legs.
It was fast and awkward, given that she was facedown.
The slap of his tongue startled her, but within a second of his lips connecting with her groin, he began to suck.
Fire sizzled in her blood and she cried out at the sudden rush of sensation on her already sensitive flesh. She been trying to pull herself away, but then the strength in her arms disappeared. What he was doing felt too good.
She arched her back and pressed her mound on his mouth. Then he began to lick her and all she could think was, God, what a wicked tongue. He knew what he was doing down there and she was powerless to resist.
And then suddenly he stopped. His hands still gripped her thighs, keeping her spread open before him, but his mouth was gone.
“Tell me that you want this,” he said, his voice hard and demanding.
“You know I do.”
“Tell me you want me to do this.”
He needed it graphic? She had no reservation about speaking as filthy as he wanted. “I want to orgasm all over your tongue. And I want your dick shoved so far inside me that I taste your come.”
She felt his hands spasm on her thighs, but he didn’t go back to what he’d been doing. “So romantic shit isn’t what turns you on.”
Nope. “You’ve got the silver-tongue part down.”
“Yes, I do.” Male satisfaction rang in every syllable. And then, thank God, he went right back to her. He drew it out. He pushed her to the edge a half dozen times, then cooled her off enough to have her screaming in frustration at him. And then, abruptly, he sucked her clit hard. Twice.
Detonation.
Her body spasmed around nothing, her womb pulling at the emptiness inside her. He hadn’t even thrust his finger inside her, but the pleasure was beyond intense.
Until it eased. Until she realized she was lying boneless on a mattress while he’d apparently stripped out of his clothes and put on a condom. How did she know? Because he told her.
“That was the tongue part,” he growled right before she heard the rip of the foil packet. “Now it’s dick time.”
Crude, but damn she wanted it. She made no resistance when he pulled her up onto her knees. She still had no strength in her arms, but it wasn’t necessary. She felt him at her opening, poking lightly.
“Say it again, Tonya. Say you want me again.”
“Alan, yes.” Both words came out in short gasps. Her heart was still hammering, her breath barely recovered. She arched, waiting for the impalement. It didn’t happen. She was open and vulnerable, he was right there, damn it, and he still—
“Me? Now?”
“Alan Wilson Carman, fuck me now or so help me I’ll—”
He thrust. All the way in, in one slamming rush.
“Oh God, you’re big.” He was. It wasn’t just that he stretched her passage. She felt like her womb was being crushed up against her diaphragm.
He froze, fully embedded within her. “Problem?”
God, no. It was just going to take her a moment to adjust. Fortunately, he gave her the time, and in the pause, she found her way to take back some control. She stretched herself along the bed, arching her back to give him more room. And then she began to squeeze.
Never in her life had she been more grateful to have studied tantrism. In truth, it had been her college roommate who was the aficionado, but Tonya had taken the time to master some of the basics. Like a rolling squeeze from base to top.
“Fucking God!” he gasped.
Music to her ears. So she did it again. And that appeared to be all the encouragement he needed.
He grabbed hold of her hips and began thrusting.
Hard jerks that smashed him against her.
Again and again, while she gasped and held on.
She tried to maintain control of how she squeezed him.
She tried to retain some sanity in the wet slam.
But there was no controlling this ride. Within moments, her body convulsed again, but this time she squeezed all of him.
This time she was filled with Alan. He cried out, jerking against her. And she pulled him all the way in.
Fireworks.