Chapter Nine
Heat prickled her neck as his meaning sank in. He wanted to know if she’d gone and hired another escort, as if the experience she’d had that night with him could be so easily duplicated. Sarah took a moment to frame her answer, afraid the truth would give away too much yet also unwilling to hurt David with a response designed to keep her safe. “No, you weren’t what I expected, but trying again would have been pointless.”
He canted his head. “Because you already had your needs attended to?”
“No, because whoever I hired wouldn’t have been you.”
The fire was too far away for it to be anything other than illusion but Sarah could have sworn she saw its reflection blazing in David’s dark irises. Hot tension crackled like the snap and lick of flame as he stared at her, the drawn-out look making Sarah’s heart pound. He’d never released her hand and he used it to tug her slowly toward him. “So what you’re saying is,” he began, his gaze dropping from her eyes to her mouth and back up again, “that our night together was special?”
He didn’t wait for an answer before capturing her mouth with his, using his free hand to cup her cheek so he could tilt her head just so, making them fit together like a key fit a lock. Perfect. Special. Sarah was glad he hadn’t forced her to respond verbally to his challenge because denying it would have been a lie and admitting to it too frightening to deal with. All she wanted right now was to feel David’s lips on hers, know once more the heady taste of him and the particular warmth that emanated from his sturdy body.
With a whimper she reached out and clutched at his chest, her fingers curling in the thick wool of his sweater as she leaned forward, her butt almost lifting off the chair in her need to be closer. She craved the sensation of having his arms wrapped around her, longed to curl up on his lap and purr.
Evidently intuiting her desires, David pulled her forward until she was standing, and then sitting in his lap. They managed the maneuver without ever breaking their lip-lock, and when she was settled against his chest David deepened the kiss, turned it to something hungry and impatient.
When his hand came up to gently cup her breast through her blouse, Sarah moaned and arched, showing him her eagerness. David reacted by tearing his mouth from hers and muttering a curse. “I’m not supposed to be doing this.”
Sarah covered his hand with hers, urging him to keep up the kneading motion that was making her breast tingle with life. “I think this is exactly what we should be doing.”
His thumb brushed over the taut tip of her breast and he groaned. “I can be a gentleman, you know.”
Sarah half smiled, half gasped as he traced a lazy circle around her nipple with his thumb. “I know.”
“We’re not going to sleep together tonight, Sarah.”
Sometime during his gruffly issued statement, two of her blouse buttons had popped open. The contradiction between his words and actions put a dubious note in Sarah’s voice. “Sure, okay.”
“I mean it.”
Merely smiling, Sarah pressed her lips to his temple. “Take off my blouse, David.”
The row of buttons was nearly released anyway. The last few slipped free of their holes easily with the merest brush of David’s fingers. He stared at the parted fabric, not touching any of the skin revealed. When he lifted his gaze to hers it was tortured. “Do you always wear such pretty underwear?”
“I like lace.”
“God, so do I.”
With a shrug, Sarah shifted the blouse until it drifted down her arms. “It’s cold tonight. Keep me warm, will you?”
He caught the blouse before it fell to the floor, keeping it wrapped around her wrists so her hands were effectively trapped behind her back. David let his appraisal rove over her, his stare so hot Sarah noticed none of the evening’s chill anyway. She knew he could see how distended her nipples were through the gauzy white lace of her bra, and as he looked they tightened further, the tingling in them turning to an ache. Wetness gathered in her panties and she shifted on his lap, the action causing her outer thigh to rub the solid ridge behind David’s fly.
Sarah moaned. “David.”
He traced a finger lightly over the edge of her bra. His voice was a thick husk. “I’m not going to take advantage of a woman who’s had too much to drink.”
“I’m not drunk.”
It might have been a lie because her head was swimming, the room out of focus. She was aware only of the thrill of David’s attention on her lace-covered breasts and the fanning of his breath across her skin. Until he lifted his free hand, taking her nipple between thumb and forefinger and ever so lightly pinching. Then her focus narrowed even further, until that one spot became the center of her entire universe.
Her pussy clenched with need and she rocked on his lap. His tense groan gave away his response to her actions. “You’d be over the legal limit.”
Sarah had known she was pushing that boundary when she accepted the last glass of Merlot. She’d known and accepted anyway, secretly hoping this very thing would happen. “I would be.”
David continued to stroke his thumb over her nipple through the bra, back and forth, back and forth, in a hypnotic cadence. “I can’t let you drive back to the city on these dark country roads. It wouldn’t be safe.”
“It wouldn’t do. Not gentlemanly at all.”
“Neither is this.” With a deft tug, David pushed aside her bra cup until her aching nipple spilled out. He ate up the sight of her bared flesh, muttering soft curse words as he lifted and squeezed her. “We’re not going to have sex. We’re not going to.”
“If you say so.”
“But I have to taste you, lady.” He bent his head to her and whispered, “Just once.”
His lips were hot, so hot and wet as they enclosed her needy flesh. Sarah arched immediately, offering herself to his tender, insistent sucking. His tongue was a hot lash against her, stroking and rolling as his lips drew her in and applied pressure that made everything inside her stretch tight. Sarah writhed in his lap and fought with her blouse, which was now tangled around her wrists. She wanted to touch him. Had to hold him against her so he would never, ever stop what he was doing.
Sarah finally managed to disentangle herself from her shirt. She tossed it to the floor, then pushed her now-free hands into David’s thick hair, tilting his head so she could kiss a path along his jawbone.
David’s fingers dug into her waist, stilling the reflexive rocking of her hips. “That’s it. Bedtime.”
She sighed with relief when David stood, lifting her against him and striding through the living room like a man in a hurry.
Good, Sarah thought. She wanted him out of control. She needed him to take her hard and fast—to fuck her so thoroughly she forgot everything but the sensation of him inside her.
Just like last time.
The room he took her to was dark, colder than the living room because the warmth from the fire didn’t reach it. David turned on a nearby lamp, its stained-glass shade casting geometric light patterns on the white-painted walls, illuminating a bedroom sparsely furnished with simple timber pieces. He stalked to the double bed, pulled back the patchwork quilt and laid Sarah upon the mattress. The sheets were cool at her back but David was warm and Sarah clung to him. He stared down at her, saw her bra still askew, her breasts heaving, and closed his eyes tight as though the sight pained him.
Suddenly he stood and ripped off his sweater, tossing it to her. “Here, put this on before I lose my mind.”
He wanted her to put clothes on? Confused by his order and not a little distracted by the sight of him in a muscle-hugging white T-shirt, Sarah found herself pulling the garment over herself. Perhaps he liked the idea of seeing her in his clothes. When the snuggly wool caressed her skin and made David’s earthy scent swirl around her, Sarah figured he might be on to something. She arched a brow. “You’re not going to ask to put on my underwear now, are you?”
He scoffed. “Not something I’m into, lady.”
“Good. Come here.”
She grabbed his T-shirt and managed to draw him toward her for another passionate kiss before he pulled away, panting. “You need to get some rest.”
“Sure. Afterward.”
“We’re not having sex tonight, I told you that.”
The fact that he was making a solid effort to keep their bodies separated finally started to penetrate Sarah’s lust-fogged brain. She blinked at him. “Are you kidding me?”
His smile was a mirthless twist of his lips. “I wish I was.”
“But I thought… I assumed…”
“That I was a sure thing?” A little humor seeped into his expression. “My, my, should I be insulted?”
Sarah scowled. “David, I’m practically throwing myself at you.”
“Don’t think I don’t appreciate the effort.”
“The effort!” With a vicious yank, Sarah pulled the quilt over her body, forming a barrier between them. “Don’t flatter yourself!”
He outright laughed at that, which only made Sarah angrier. And more hurt. Somewhere deep inside his rejection stung so badly it brought the burn of tears.
“Hey, hey, don’t do that.” Cupping her face, David angled it so he could see her. “Aw, damn it. You can’t think this is because I don’t want you. Not the case, Sarah. I want you so much I’m hard all over.”
His admission sent desire spiraling through her again, dispelling her mortification somewhat. “Then why not? I won’t expect anything more from you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He released a tired sigh. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”
“I don’t get it.”
With a gentle hand, David pushed back a strand of hair that had escaped her French twist “I wish you would expect more from me. I need you to give me—us—more credit than you have so far. I want to be with you so badly but I’m not just after sex. I want to make love to you.”
That dead-of-night conversation came back to Sarah like a remembered dream. Let’s pretend, for a little while longer. She smiled and rose to her knees, placing a hand on David’s chest. The solid thud of his heart knocked against her palm. “Call it whatever you want. Just don’t leave me in here alone.”
She slanted her face and brushed her lips against his. His heart slammed frantically against her hand. A soft breath fell out of his mouth as he withstood the teasing caress of hers. Sarah continued like that, pressing featherlight kisses to his lips until he groaned and grabbed her buttocks in a reflexive grip. His surrender caused fire to rage between them, a swift flare-up. Sarah was wriggling and desperate in an instant, a relieved moan rumbling in her throat when David sought the zipper of her trousers and lowered it, no longer resisting temptation.
He eased her back onto the mattress and tugged at her trousers until they fell to the floor, leaving her in only his sweater and her underwear. He surveyed the sheer white lace of her panties with a hungry inspection. “Damn, Sarah. You make me crazy.”
The response was definitely mutual. “I want to make you lose your mind.”
“You’re succeeding.” He ran a hand up and down her bare thigh, causing hot gooseflesh to erupt. “Do you remember how I made you come the first time, Sarah? With my mouth and the champagne?”
The mere mention of it had Sarah arching her body. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
The corner of his mouth lifted, a hint of cockiness shining through. “You trusted me then, opened to me completely. Was it only because you thought you’d never see me again?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” There was no denying the anonymity of their first encounter had enabled Sarah to behave more boldly than she ordinarily would have. There was also no denying that David’s patience and skill had played a crucial part.
“What if you knew you had to face me the next day, and the next and the next. Do you think you could come like that again if I kissed you here?”
“David.” Sarah writhed on the bed, moving her hips once more in a silent plea. “Don’t tease me.”
Lowering his head, he placed his scorching mouth against her mound, the heat of him penetrating the thin layer of her panties. He moaned and the vibration of his lips made electric tension thrum through her clit. He lifted his head again and said, “Stay with me this weekend.”
It took Sarah a few seconds to grasp his train of thought. “The whole weekend?”
“It’s Friday night. Stay until Monday morning.”
“I can’t. I have meetings, paperwork…” He blew a warm breath over her, the tantalizing sensation causing Sarah’s pussy lips to quiver with need. “David, please!”
“I bet I can make you come, even though it’s not anonymous. Even though you might have to admit it could mean something.”
Sarah reached down and speared her fingers through his hair, urging him downward as she lifted herself off the mattress. “Do it. Prove it to me.”
His lips curved, Sarah felt it when he buried his face in her inner thigh, tormenting inches left of where she wanted him most. “Stay with me.”
“I have so much work,” Sarah spat, frustrated. “I can’t take the weekend off.”
“You’re the boss. You can do whatever you want.”
“I can’t have you, apparently,” Sarah groused.
“Not true.” From his position between her thighs, David pinned her with his dark gaze. “I’m yours. Stay the weekend. I want to make you come over and over and over again.”
Right now, Sarah would settle for once. Her clit burned with need, pulsed with it so ferociously the lace of her panties was an unbearable irritant. But then David pressed his mouth to her once more, sending his tongue out to lave her through the fabric and the barrier became less of an irritant and more of a rough, pleasurable sensation against her inflamed nerves. “Oh! Oh dear God.”
Moving downward, David snaked his tongue into her damp opening, pushing the lacy fabric into her wetness as he did so. He pressed his tongue in and out, prevented from burying it deep inside by the barrier of her underwear. It was both delicious pleasure and maddening denial at once. Then he placed his thumb against her swollen nub and shifted her panties over it, scraping against her pleasure center as he continued to probe her entrance with his wet tongue. An orgasm built swiftly like a plane at takeoff, the soaring height and glorious pressure increasing, ascending inexorably faster and faster…
Wrenching his mouth from her, David rasped, “Sarah, please.”
“Oh God, make me come,” she whimpered.
“Promise you’ll stay. Two days, that’s all I ask.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Sarah burst out in frustration. “I’ll stay.”
The words were barely out before David’s mouth was upon her again. Through her underwear he sucked her inflamed clit, his lips adept and purposeful. He burrowed beneath the lace with his middle finger and drove it deep into her channel and the instant he did Sarah came around him, her inner muscles going into uncontrollable spasms as her body rocked wildly.
She screamed yes, over and over. She shouted David’s name. She was fairly certain she reiterated her promise to be his for the weekend. She was, in short, a wild wanton, completely and utterly beholden to the man who delivered the ecstasy she badly needed.
Damn it. She couldn’t afford to need David, not even on a mere physical level. She had a job to do, a life to live that would not fit around an affair with anyone who didn’t inhabit that life. She couldn’t need a man who lived out of the city. The logistics alone were enough to give her a headache.
The risk to her heart, she didn’t even want to think about.
“Jesus, Sarah.” David spoke against her stomach where he’d moved to begin trailing kisses over her skin. “That was incredible.”
“That’s one word for it.” Fear at her out-of-control response to David’s ministrations gave rise to ire. With a forceful hand, she shoved him off her body. “You didn’t play fair.”
Rolling to his side and propping on one elbow, David regarded her with an expression containing more triumph than remorse. “You’re right. I guess I’m not above extortion after all. But fair or not, I’m going to hold you to your promise.”
“You think I’d renege?”
“I think you’d do anything to keep me at a distance. To keep on pretending all we have between us is hot sex.”
“That is all that’s between us.”
“Tell me that when your throat’s not hoarse from screaming my name and maybe I’ll believe you. Say you don’t have feelings for me in two days and I’ll never challenge you on it again.”
Sarah gaped at him, at the earnestness in his expression. Her heart shifted, as if changing positions in her chest. He believed it was truly possible for her to let everything go and have some kind of ongoing relationship with him, while Sarah had doubts aplenty. She was wealthy and he was barely getting by. People would always think he was after her for her money and she couldn’t protect him from that. She was a city girl born and raised and it was clear David loved it here in the quiet country. And she hadn’t even considered her father yet—the father who would take one look at David and see an opportunist and who’d do anything to expose him as one.
No affair, no matter how wonderful it promised to be, was strong enough to withstand those kinds of pressures long-term. “A relationship between us would never work,” she told him sadly.
David pressed a finger to her lips. “Save it for Sunday night and see how you feel then.”