Chapter Nine
Hot damn. Who would have guessed Mr. Buttoned-Uptight had magic fingers? The way he gazed up at her rocked Lauren to the core. Listening to him play was like watching him exorcise his demons. All of the sudden, without explanation, she wanted to expose all the secrets she kept hidden. He looked at her with such yearning, eyes so lonely. Those piercing blue eyes bore into her soul and made him impossible to resist.
Already off balance by his ability to play as well as any concert pianist she’d ever heard, she only managed a weak smile as he stood and stalked his way to her. His fingers were so nimble on the keys, his entire soul captured by the moment, and all she could think about was whether he could play her as well as he had the piano.
“That turns you on?” His velvet voice rolled through her. He stepped closer, the heat of his body spiking her temperature.
Lauren bit her lip. “How can you know?”
One nimble fingertip circled her beaded nipple, straining against the cotton of her top. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, but she couldn’t wait. She had to kiss him now, while magic still hung in the air. Pressing her body against his to quell the ache pulsing through her, she wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. No uncertainty about his reaction, nothing coy and flirty about her kiss. Just sizzling carnal pleasure.
She tried to push faster, harder, making her desperation apparent, but he slowed every move, drawing each taste, press, lick out as long as possible. Giving in to the inevitable she sampled and savored, unleashing the desire she’d suppressed.
The tenderness of his kiss made her want to believe in something more, but she squelched the hopeful thought, letting her inhibitions fall away and dance with the sexy shadows they cast on the walls.
A rampage of sensations crashed against her with each brush of his firm lips against hers. The crisp ends of his short hair tickled her fingertips as she pressed him closer. His clean smelling cologne wafted through her, mixing with a musky maleness laced with need.
Two seconds before she knew she’d go crazy from frustration, his hands found the hem of her tank top and slipped underneath, scorching her with the fervor of his touch. She responded in kind, allowing herself to feel the power in the lean muscles beneath the smooth skin of his chest, arms, back.
His warm hands framed her face as he broke the kiss and pulled away, staring into her eyes. There couldn’t be much he could see, with all the light coming from behind her. But she saw more in his bright blue gaze than she expected. Pupils so dilated and dark opened the window to his soul and she recognized the fear embedded there. He’d trusted and had it turned against him, just as she had. Intrinsic and unexplainable, the way she knew him without facts or dates.
She felt herself sinking as she stared, the only sound his labored breath, or was it hers? Adrenaline surged through her, arousal and awareness building, though he didn’t touch her. His eyes, usually bright blue like the center of a flame, darkened and deepened like the middle of the sea, pulling her under his spell.
His head dipped, breaking the eye contact, but not the spell as his lips traced across her jaw, down her neck with such precise slowness she had to shudder. Her hands drifted to his tense shoulders, urging him closer as she ran her hands against his firm flesh.
The warm wetness of his mouth lingered against her neck, while his hands roamed her back, ribs, stomach. When he slipped his fingers beneath the elastic cotton waistband of her shorts, she braced herself for the whoosh of air as he pulled them over her hips. She expected him to do the same for himself, but instead his hands wrapped around her rib cage and lifted her off the floor.
“On the piano?” She giggled as he set her down. She leaned back slightly, getting used to the cool lacquer of the baby grand.
In response he parted her knees with his hands and stepped between them, running his palms up the inside of her thighs. Before he reached where she needed him to, he rounded her hips, crept up her rib cage, a light sweep along the side of her breast as he reached up and gently stroked her hair. He touched her so tenderly her heart swelled, because she knew that a part wanted to feel what she felt, wanted to love her. He just didn’t dare give more than he could afford to lose. She’d learned that was no way to live. She hoped he’d learn the lesson without all the loss she had to endure. He palmed her bare breasts, squeezing her aching flesh in his hands.
Hot and wet, her mouth connected with his. He huffed a breath and began to chuckle as he pulled away and opened his eyes. Light blue, like everyone got to see.
“For once, we disagree.” His rich baritone vibrated through his hands still on her breasts, throbbing through her body.
“What?” She barely had time to gasp as he bent his head and lathed his tongue across the beaded tip of her breast.
A quick puff of air against her wet, sensitive skin made her mew. He treated the other nipple to the same teasing flick of his tongue, followed by the cool gust of his breath. All of her nerve endings fired as quickly as a bolt of lightning.
His teasing enhanced the nagging throb between her legs, but she didn’t stop, urging him forward again. In so much of her life Lauren took the lead, and for once she reveled in knowing all she had to do was follow.
He turned his head, scraping the stubble of his cheek against her sensitive nub and her moan rang through the room. She grabbed his hair, arching against him. But he wouldn’t be swayed. What she wouldn’t give for a mirror to watch as his fingers massaged and pinched, his mouth kissed and nipped.
Thinking of what it would be like to have that kind of attention played to her clit had her widening her legs as the space between them ached and contracted. Her heart hammered out a rhythm all its own, faster and faster until her body felt like a live wire, every inch of her skin sensitized to his every move. Anticipation coiled inside, ready to break free at the slightest touch.
Except to get what she really wanted, she needed him to lose the shorts. She found it hard to concentrate on touching him with him working such magic on her body, but she rose above it enough to inch her hands across the firm muscles of his chest, down his rippled abdomen.
“Not yet,” he growled, gripping her wrist and placing her hand back on the piano.
“But I want—”
“I want enough for both of us right now.”
Lauren found it hard to pout and breathe at the same time as he pressed her breasts together, flicking his tongue against one tip and then the other.
“I want to know every inch of you.” His words were hot puffs of air against her slick, sensitive skin. “Your body is flawless, I want to touch you everywhere.”
She smiled at his words, thankful for the low lighting. Let him think she was perfect. She felt that way right now, as if she’d been molded for his hands to roam her every curve. The narcotic pleasure of his caresses left her dazed, in a dreamlike trance.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he rasped.
“Then take more.”
And take he did, leaning her back farther on top of the piano, continuing his attention to her breasts while his hand went to her damp core. He traced her with his fingertips, slow but firm, exploring her nuances. She purred as he tested the waters, pressing his thumb against her clit as his fingers continued to stroke.
Each time she neared the edge he varied his touch, changing the pressure and strumming her to all new levels of arousal. She hissed and moaned, digging her fingers into his shoulders. Her hands crept down his body again, this time slipping beneath his waistband and catching her prize. She purred involuntarily, imagining how full, how complete she’d feel when he was finally inside of her.
Pulling his hand from her, and her hand from him, Cameron shucked his shorts and kicked them in the direction of hers. Standing bare before her, she couldn’t look away from the desire smoldering in his gaze to appreciate his manhood. When he looked at her like that her mind thrummed, her stomach fluttered, and he shook her to the foundation of her soul.
Before she could examine that too closely he spread her legs farther, opening her to him with his thumbs against her nether lips. The air was cool against skin so wet and slick. But the chill vanished as he bent down, pulling one of her knees over his shoulder, and licked her center from her entrance to her clit.
She shuddered as he kissed, licked, nibbled, sucked, worked his magic. Slow and thorough, he warmed every inch until she thought she might explode. He laid his tongue flat against her clit, and stopped moving. Lauren panted and writhed, waiting, waiting. Before she screamed out in frustration he pointed his tongue and started moving her clit back and forth, faster and harder.
The waves of orgasm started slow, building on one another as he threaded a finger inside and stroked her there in time with the rhythm of his tongue. With each pulse of the climax her pleasure intensified, as did her moans. She recognized the tempo of the sound, the melody he’d played earlier. He’d made love to her with the piano, and then with his mouth.
The realization sent her flying. She opened her legs wider, arching her pelvis against him and crying out. The sensations, both in her body and mind, gave her a climax more intense than she thought possible. It changed her deep inside, heating parts of her she thought long frozen.
As the waves began to wane she opened her eyes. Her arousal piqued again. The look in his eyes as he held himself over her made her heated skin flush. He wrapped a hand slick with her juices around his cock and positioned himself between her legs.
“Cameron?” She arched an eyebrow at him, trying to think through the orgasmic bliss.
“Lauren.” He stroked her clit with the head of his penis, and she wanted to throw caution to the wind. To hell with consequences.
“Condom?” She pulled her lip between her teeth, knowing she risked breaking the mood.
And she had. His face fell so fast she almost heard it plunk on the floor. He took a step back from her as if she’d slapped him. She watched all the doors she’d managed to pry open with him slam shut as his gaze iced over.
“It’s okay.” Lauren reached for his hand. He let her take it, but held it rigid. His chest heaved with each breath. “We’ll just continue this upstairs.” She slid off the piano, but leaned against it, waiting for the blood to return to her feet so she could stand without swooning.
“I don’t have any.”
“Any?” Her voice went positively operatic.
“You?”
“I’ve never even bought them before.” She shook her head slowly, staring hopefully at his powerful erection, still eager for action.
He rubbed his hand over his face, then across the back of his neck. She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his so she could feel his arousal against her belly.
“That got really out of hand. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
She pressed a finger to his still damp lips. “I should have told you before I wasn’t on birth control. I’ll go in next week and take care of it, but until then it’s on you.”
“Just like that?” He peeled her hands away and stepped back.
“Just like that.” Lauren pursed her lips, turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen.
…
He heard sounds coming from the kitchen, but didn’t even want to think about what she might be doing in there. Packing up to leave, no doubt. And all he wanted to do was ask her not to go. Stupid, because he needed to get a safe distance from her and the bewitching spell she put over him whenever he was in her presence.
Next week couldn’t come soon enough. The trips to San Francisco and then back to New York would do a world of good at getting his mind back together. Keep him from making mistakes like the one he nearly made tonight.
In this day and age, who in their right mind even considered having sex without a condom? Condoms were a part of sex, and yet protection hadn’t even entered his mind. No thought did, just the need to be inside Lauren. At least she’d been aware enough to stop him.
He wanted her more than he could stand, even though he knew it could all blow up in his face. It made no sense, and he hated when things made no sense. He either needed to walk away—not bloody likely—or figure out what she wanted from him so he could stay one step ahead of her.
She didn’t want a baby, though he could have willingly walked into that trap. She wanted his business as a client, but he would have given her that without her ever touching him. Could she really just want sex? A fling packaged to look respectable?
If that were it, he had to be imagining all the things it seemed she felt for him. The tender touches and flirty looks were all an act. Maybe she stayed in character when no one was around to get him to play along.
The light in the kitchen shut off, catching his attention. The sound of footsteps on the stairs called him to follow, but he planted his feet. She’d put her clothes in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and he needed to give her some privacy. If he didn’t, he’d be on her again in seconds.
“Cam?” Her voice rang through the house, confident and sure, though after the way he acted she couldn’t be.
The least he could do was apologize. Walking through the room he stepped on his shorts and looked down at his raging hard on. It still hadn’t let up.
“Come upstairs.” Trilling laughter laced her voice.
He had to laugh, too. Walking up the stairs with an erection so hard he could barely move would be hilarious if it happened to anyone else. Might even be worth it if he had any hope of getting rid of it. The idea of bending down to grab his shorts was as daunting as climbing the stairs.
What had he gotten himself into? Swooping down, he grabbed the shorts and carefully stepped into them on his way to the stairs.
“Cam?”
“I’m coming.” Not hardly. God, he was a sad lot. He pressed his hand against his crotch as he climbed the steps, hoping to stem the blood flow.
He’d never been so out of control of his responses. Especially since the incident. The flash of memory deflated his arousal in no time.
Ever since he’d been careful, making every decision in a state of quiet panic. By the time he reached the landing he’d completely sobered, found his head enough to know he needed to apologize to Lauren, and get her out of the house before he did something stupid.
Too late.
Still naked, Lauren lounged against the pillows of his bed, the duvet pulled back in invitation. The only light came from the bedside lamp, which she’d muted by covering it with one of the red scarves from downstairs. The effect warmed the room, brought it from stark and cold to vibrant and alive. Or was that Lauren?
Somehow she undermined defenses that had withstood every woman he’d ever encountered. Actresses, models, heiresses, high profile business types—none had gotten under his skin this way. She offered him no more than they did, no more than he dared return. A simple affair, where they both had their needs met and then went their separate ways without any grudges. Except he had a sinking feeling his needs would never be met so perfectly by anyone else.
He wanted nothing more than to lose himself in that gold green gaze, but he couldn’t risk it. Earlier he knew she’d seen through the cracks in his facade for a moment.
He couldn’t look in her eyes, at her nakedness, or even her glistening wet lips. His body had already thickened with foolish hope. His gaze darted about the room, searching the uncluttered nothingness for something to say. Studying the steaming mug and small white bowl on the nightstand, he stepped closer. What looked like hot tea filled one, wet snow the other.
“You’re an enigma, Cameron Price.” Lauren twisted a red curl around her finger, the light making her hair glow like fire.
“As are you.” He dipped his finger into the ice, the crystals smoother than they appeared. Putting his finger to his mouth he licked the cold sweetness. “What is this?”
“Granita from the leftover fruits.”
“They taste better this way.” He lifted the spoon from the bowl.
“You don’t want to do that.”
“I don’t?” He set it back in the bowl, and turned, catching the flashes of gold in her green eyes. “Didn’t you bring it up here for me?”
“Yes, but not for you to eat.” She reached out a hand to him and he took it, lacing his fingers in hers, staring at the union. Her nails were short and blunt, but her hands were soft and feminine. She pulled him closer to the bed. “I wanted to show you I could give as good as I get.”
“You don’t have to do anything, Lauren.” He smiled wistfully, his eyes roving over her body, wanting nothing more than a repeat performance of what happened downstairs.
“Are you afraid of me?” No taunt spiked her voice. An honest question that deserved an honest answer.
“I don’t understand you. I don’t know what you want from me.”
Her eyes widened, innocence washing over her delicate features. “I’m afraid you’re over-thinking me. I’m a simple girl, really. I want condoms. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for a condom right now.” Her smile flashed in the dim light. “I want ten more hours in a week so I can do everything I do now, only slower so I can enjoy it more. I want a chance to live my fantasies, with someone who can make them come true.” She squeezed his hand and stood beside him.
He captured her lips in a kiss that gave him more of an answer than words ever could. She wanted what he wanted. Uncomplicated. Painless. Unrelenting.
Her hands flattened against his bare chest, pushing just heard enough to break the kiss. “Why did you put your shorts back on?”
“I thought you were leaving.”
She shook her head, sliding her hands against his body, slipping her fingers beneath the elastic and dragged his briefs down. His pulse soared, pounding in his ears, making his erection swell with each beat of his heart. She slithered to the floor, caressing his calves as he stepped out of the shorts. Her hands trailed up his thighs, pressing on his hips to encourage him to sit on the bed. Pulling one of the pillows to the floor she knelt on it and took a sip from the mug.
Spreading his thighs apart she maneuvered between them. One hand reached up, curling around his neck and pulling him down into a scorching kiss. Her mouth had a delicate, almost apple taste. Hot and sweet and making him want to feel the sensation on other parts of his body.
She broke away, grinning as she scooped the granita into her mouth. A chilled kiss greeted him when she returned. The texture of her mouth felt different at different temperatures.
“This would be even better if you had an ice cream maker.” She sunk down, sitting on her heels, her knees pressed together as her hands traced the inside of his thighs.
“Are you putting in an order? Dishes, espresso machine, and an ice cream maker?” He’d buy her absolutely anything she wanted if she kept this up.
“And a Christmas tree with lots of lights.” Her bright eyes locked onto his with a lustful, meaningful gaze.
“You can decorate however you want for the parties.”
“The tree isn’t for the parties. It’s for a fantasy I read about once. I want to make love beneath the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree.”
A bolt of sexual electricity coursed through him, making his cock throb against his thigh. The tender, erotic ache intensified as he watched her coquettish smile, breathed in the clean scent of her perfume and the unmistakable aroma of her arousal.
She moved her hand, pressing it against his pulsing manhood. A tremor of desire quaked through him and he twitched anxiously in her palm. His hand covered hers, giving it an encouraging squeeze. The erotic charm in her gaze made him weak with desire.
“Cameron,” her voice was a breath against his lips. “Do you know what I want right now?”
He cleared the gravel from his throat. “I have a very good idea.”
“I want to share a fantasy with you, something I read about and always wanted to try. Something you won’t ever forget.” She looked away, a blush creeping across her pale skin. “Because I’ll never forget the piano.”
Neither would he. But before he had a chance to say so she started sipping the tea, one hand still firmly on his dick. That she’d planned this out so carefully, thought ahead as to his pleasure, made him hunger for her more.
Fire blazed in her eyes as she leaned forward, wrapping her lips around his cock and pulling him into her hot mouth. The sensation, coupled with the lush feel of the ends of her long silky hair tickling his thighs had him hissing, trying to hold back form the overload of sensation.
He gasped when she slid him out of her mouth, the air of the room cool against the skin she’d sensitized. He watched as she lifted a spoon of the granita to her lips, wishing he were there instead of the metal.
Holding him at the base, her tongue danced over his hardness, tantalizing him with the shuddering coldness of her lips and the wet heat deeper in her mouth. Quick sucks at the tip chilled his flesh, only to be warmed as she took the length of him all the way down. All the while her hand worked intently, stroking his cock.
Eagerly he spread his legs to give her room to do everything he wanted, only to have her move away for another draw of tea. Her hot breath against his thighs made him gasp and grip the edge of the mattress in hopes of finding the edge of his control. Losing it so soon would give her a terrible impression of his stamina.
She fixed her luscious lips around the head, soft and shallow at first, her lips caressing and her tongue lapping at him like she could do this all night. The thought made him groan, and did she just laugh? Whatever it was vibrated parts of him he couldn’t restrain.
To take back some control he reached for her, palming her breasts and massaging the ripe flesh. Rubbing his thumbs across her beaded nipples made her moan, and that moan pulsed through him until he nearly came. Would have if she hadn’t pulled away for the damned granita.
“I like hot,” he ground out, rolling her nipples between his fingers and staring into her eyes. He felt it again, that swirling feeling of the world narrowing to just her gaze.
Her tongue lingered on the silver spoon. With a wicked look she set it back in the bowl and pushed herself up on his thighs. “I—” her frosty tongue licked his lower lip. “Like.” Before he could pull her into a kiss her icy breath chilled his ear. “It.” He shuddered as her teeth nipped his lobe. “Cold.”
She trailed her freezing kisses farther downward, over his abdomen, inching lower and lower to where he swelled larger than he’d ever seen. God, he really could explode from this. Finally she welcomed him into her mouth, warmed from kissing his body.
Heavy-lidded eyes stared up at him, pleasure evident in her gaze. The look on her face nearly did him in. Threading a hand through her silken hair he rubbed his fingers against her scalp.
“You should come up here, so I can play, too.”
With him still inside her mouth, she shook her head, and then released him with a pop.
“I don’t multi-task my lovemaking.” Finishing the last of the tea, she placed the cup on the gelato bowl and pulled the towel it sat on from the nightstand. Laying the towel on his leg she sank back down on the pillow and her scalding tongue licked his sensitive underside from root to tip.
“Tell me when you’re ready.” She licked him again. “I want to watch you come.”
“Watch?” He could barely keep his eyes open.
“I’ve never seen it.” Her tongue flicked along the ridge, making his body quake with pleasure.
No way. She was much too good at this to play the innocent. “But—”
She shook her head, keeping her flattened tongue on the very tip of him. “Think later. Feel now.”
Her tongue circled around the head of him, then her mouth dove down, enveloping him in her glorious heat. She suckled him with complete leisure. Her lips and tongue applied tender pressure to intensify his arousal, one hand gripping him at the base, the other finding a place beneath his balls that drove him to the brink. Her mouth produced a heated pressure that sharpened into an urgent, reverberating spasm. The smoldering inferno raced through his body, rocking him from the inside out.
His thighs trembled with the force of what was to come. He moaned her name and arched his back, riding the wave of pleasure she’d delivered. Her hands stroked him with a frenzied, delirious passion as his climax crested and consumed his awareness.
The sound of her contented moans sent chills through his body. Opening a heavy eyelid he peeked down, catching her with her hand between her legs, her chest flushed with the tell-tale sign of her own orgasm.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, a naughty expression dancing in her eyes. He pulled her into his lap and collapsed back on the bed with her on top of him.
“You are incredible,” he praised, kissing her forehead. She snuggled close, their legs intertwining as his heart rate returned to normal. He memorized the exact smell of her hair, a tiny mole on her lower back, the curve of her hip.
“I need to go,” she whispered without moving.
He tilted his head, lifting her chin so he could look into her glassy eyes. With a finger he moved the hair away from her lips and placed a soft kiss there. “I could never be with a woman who could do that, and then expect I’d let her go. You’re staying.”
Her giggle made his cock stir. He rolled her to the middle of the bed, anchoring her bare body with his leg.
“Cam, you don’t want me to. I have to be at work at five. We’re catering two continental breakfasts at eight.”
“I get up at four. No problem there.”
“Why do you get up at four?”
“To work out before heading into the office. Hell, we could carpool.” He smiled, and his stomach churned. He shouldn’t feel this way, say these things. He should encourage her to go, keep a safe distance.
“I need my car for deliveries. I have lunches, too.” She yawned and settled into her pillow. “You should stay in town with me tomorrow.”
“Why, are there condoms at your apartment?” He swallowed hard, trying to keep this relationship between the boundaries she’d set. Sex and public outings.
“Nope. I told you, that’s your responsibility. Though if you forget I’ll run across the hall and steal from Christa. Be warned.”
“We’d have more privacy here.”
“True. But tomorrow is the Symphony Gala, and Sunday is the brunch with green hoteliers.” She yawned again, trailing the back of her hand against his arm.
“We could stay in.”
Her eyes shot open. “We have to go.”
“I can connect with the potential investors another time. I won’t be able to think until I connect with you.” His hand slid lower, gripping her tight bottom. “Completely.”
“But I’ve always wanted to go to the Gala.” Her bottom lip fixed into the perfect pout.
“You want to go?”
“Please? I’ve always read about it, and my folks used to go.” Her eyes twinkled with animation. “The cocktail party before, and then the symphony, and the dinner after is supposed to be almost regal. I’m sure you’ll meet more potential investors than you plan on. Everyone with too much money is there.”
“But if I can’t think—”
“We can get ready together. That’s more efficient anyway, since the event is downtown.” She scooted closer, nibbling kisses against his neck. “Please?”
He rolled her onto her back, pinning her arms overhead. “We have to be up in three hours and we don’t have any condoms.”
She licked her lips. “It looks like you’re up already.”