Chapter 7
Two Days Later
Mariah
The rest of dinner had gone off without much more than casual flirting. The heat was there between them, but Mariah set her resolve to leave it as dying embers and walk away. She was a business woman first and foremost. Her own desires had long been set on the shelf, and one sexy client with a huge package to offer wasn't going to change that.
He'd been incredibly busy the day before, which left her with time to herself to think through things. She'd used the morning to clean the house and the afternoon to read a good romance novel, which left her needier for something that he could provide than she wanted to be.
After a few glasses of wine, she fell asleep on the couch, but woke the next morning in her guestroom bed. She rolled onto her back and groaned, sliding her hands up above her head and wishing like hell she hadn't started the process of falling for her new client.
His dark hair and strong physique left her tight with need, his size left her panting. How a man could be so large and still find someone to willingly take on the challenge of fucking him was a great quandary. If he found someone, why the hell didn't he keep her?
"Could I handle him?" She closed her eyes and sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, trying to imagine how he might look naked.
The image of him in her mind couldn't have done him justice, and yet she needed to move away from her fantasy world and ground herself quickly.
"In a minute," she mumbled and slid her hands down her tight stomach, shoving her T-shirt up as she did. Her heart beat increased as her hands became his.
"Tell me what you want, Mariah..." He glanced up from between her thighs, his eyes hooded with need, his voice gravelly.
"I want you." She reached down and slid her hands into his hair, pushing at his head a little as she opened her thighs widely.
He glanced down and licked at his lips. "You're already a little wet, so very messy. Need me to clean that up for you, baby?"
She whimpered and nodded, unable to force her voice to come from its cage. The idea of him pressing his tongue to the most intimate part of her body left her nerves on edge.
Darren moved down and swiped his tongue across her sex, toying with her a bit before fully licking at her again. Her back lifted from the bed in a sharp arch as pleasure shot out across her center. The tight grip of his hands on her thighs and hungry sounds coming from him left her dizzy.
"Come for me," he growled against her wetness and sucked at her clit just before letting his teeth carefully press into her.
She cried out and came up off the bed as her body exploded with ecstasy.
He licked and sucked as if trying to drain every drop of her for himself.
He was greedy and didn't wait another second to crawl up the length of her and plunge into her roughly.
Mariah groaned loudly as her fingers sunk into her mound. Not willing to wait for penetration, she lifted her hips and took in as much as she could give herself. He was so much bigger and more powerful than she could ever be, but she would fuck herself good enough for a morning alone.
It didn't take long before her body clenched in orgasm and stars burst behind her closed eyelids. Panting loudly, she pulled her fingers from her body and lay spread-eagle on the bed, trying to still her beating heart.
She had to have him. Standards were great, and she was going to try like hell to stick to them, but as intrigued as she was about his size, about him... she had to push things a little.
After a few more minutes in the warmth of her bed, she got up, showered and got to work on the house. Not having him there for the last few days meant that nothing was too out of place. Within a few hours, she was done with her chores and had changed for a long run on the beach.
She texted Darren before heading out to see if he would be home in time for dinner, but got nothing back from him.
After lacing up her tennis shoes, she walked out into the chilly spring air and jogged down toward the waterfront. There were a handful of people who had the same idea as her, but the rest of the world seemed to still be asleep.
She couldn't help but analyze Darren's kisses, his flirtations from Friday night. He'd offered her his bed, but was that all he was looking for? He would be leaving to go back to Italy or France or wherever he was headed, and soon. Could she indulge and let herself be his just for the sake of pleasure?
There was only one way to find out. All she had to do was convince herself that it was going to be worth the potential heartbreak.
***
By early evening, she was antsy and considered going back into town to see if Karen wanted to get a drink. Being in Darren's large rental home by herself was relaxing, but maybe a bit too much. She was used to being on the go. Having time to herself left her thinking and over analyzing her life choices, which was never a good thing.
She opened a bottle of red wine in the kitchen and poured herself a glass before walking outside to sit on the patio. The sound of a car pulling up behind her was beyond welcomed. Even if it wasn't Darren, it would be nice to have a conversation with someone after her lonely day.
"Mariah?" His voice was muted, but loud enough to hear him through the small crack she’d left the door open.
"Out here." She turned around in time to see him move up to the patio. His chef's uniform was stained with various colors, and his demeanor seemed a little grumpy by the tight pinch of his brow.
"Hey. How was your day?" He pushed the door open, but didn't come out.
"Long. Boring. I think I'm going to have to set up a schedule with you that allows me time at the office around other humans." She laughed and lifted her glass. "To the good life?"
He smirked. "Let me change, and I'll come out and play a human for you."
She couldn't help but chuckle. The wine had started to dull her senses, but it always did so quickly. Having been a lightweight her whole life, she knew better than to have more than two glasses. With the bottle sitting next to her, she was almost certain she was on glass three.
Leaning back in the reclining chair she sat on, she closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. Darren was beyond handsome, sensual and enticing with nothing more than a few words slung her way. The bossy asshole that he'd been the first day she arrived was long gone, and a caring, albeit dominant male took his place.
It had to be a side of him that not everyone got to witness. Something about the fact left her feeling special.
"So you're bored? I could use some help at the restaurant. I'll keep you busy there if you need a little bit of excitement in your life." He moved to sit beside her, an empty wineglass dangling from his grasp.
His soft gray sweats fit too well, and left no question as to just how big of a tool he was packing. She tried to divert her eyes, but the warm buzz racing through her wouldn't let her.
"No restaurants for me." She finally forced herself to glance up as he poured a glass of wine from the almost-empty bottle.
"Wow. Did you drink this all yourself?" He chuckled and laid back on the chair next to her, the bastard having forgone his shirt again. Strong swells of muscles bulged as he moved back and forth, leaving her mouth watering and her blood simmering for him.
"I did, and I'm a lightweight. Or so I've been told." She sat the glass down and got up, slipping off her tennis shoes and moving to sit just beside him on his chair. Reaching out, she brushed her fingers over his chest, his skin soft and tantalizing.
"I like it." He reached up and touched the side of her face. "Don't touch me too much. I'm a bit needy tonight seeing that I've done nothing but think of you."
"You have?" Her eyes moved up to lock onto his. "What were you thinking?"
He took a sip of the wine and sat up, reaching for her and forcing her to straddle his waist as he laid back again. His fingers pressed into her thighs over her yoga pants, bunching them as he massaged her.
"How beautiful you are. I toted you to your bed last night, and it took every bit of my will not to crawl up in it with you."
"Crawl up in me?" She pressed her hands to his chest and pushed back a little, wanting to feel him pressed to the center of her.
"Yeah. I wanted to force my way deep inside of you." He moved his hands from her legs to rub up her arms, cup her neck and pull her down into a hungry kiss. "Stop teasing me. I'm a man who gets what I want, and I'm close to taking it."
She pressed her tongue into his mouth, licking and nibbling at him as she undulated her hips over and over again. Her desire to remain unattached was going up in flames, thanks to a couple of glasses of wine and the loneliness of another day by herself.
And the hot ass guy beneath me.
"And you want me?" She pressed her breasts to his firm chest and tightened her arms around his neck.
"More than anything else." He moved up and kissed her again as his hands squeezed the soft curves of her ass, kneading them as he lifted his hips, once again surprising her by his girth.
"I'm not sure if it's me or the wine talking, but I want you, too." She licked at his mouth before moving down and pressing her lips to his throat.
"Well, I'm not making love to you until you are sure. I want you fully in the moment with me. Regrets the next day wouldn't bode well."
"Yeah, but I need you. My body aches because of you." She ground herself against him again as his fingers dug into her.
"I know the feeling, pretty girl." He sat up, causing her to yelp due to the suddenness. "Let me taste you. Give you a glimpse of the pleasure I'm offering."
She nodded, not caring much for how she might feel after opening herself up to him. "Yeah. I want that."
"Good." He grunted and stood, forcing her to wrap her legs around him as he walked back into the house. "I haven't eaten yet, so this should be the perfect way to tide myself over until you’re fully sated."
She shivered at the thought and continued to kiss and nibble at his ear and neck. Something deep inside of her yelled for her to wake up, but it wouldn't matter if she did. She was lost to him.
Darren placed her on the kitchen table and pushed at her chest to force her to lay back.
"On the table?" she murmured, but stretched out sensually.
"Fuck yes." He tugged at her pants, yanking her panties down with them roughly. "I've been waiting to see you naked since you got here. Bending over in my kitchen and checking the baseboards... Such a naughty girl, Mariah."
"Naughty?" She glanced up as she tugged her top off. "They were dirty."
He grabbed her arms and pulled her to sit up as he leaned in and kissed the side of her face while undoing her bra. "I know, baby. I was teasing you."
"Oh." She laughed, almost giddy with the warmth her afternoon drinking session had caused. She laid back down and bent her knees as he reached out and pushed them open.
Darren stood at the base of the table, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes moving frantically over her. "My God. You're everything I want in a woman. Did you know that?"
"No, but stop talking and touch me." She reached for him, but he pushed her hands away.
"Hush. I want to enjoy this fully. Don't rush me, or I'll tie you up, and then you'll not have a say in any of what happens."
A tremor ran through her at the thought of him taking what he wanted from her.
He licked at his lips before sliding his hands up her thighs, over her torso and cupping the top of her breasts.
She groaned and pressed into his touch, unable to help herself.
Flattening himself over the top of her, he took his time sucking and lapping at her breasts, one at a time. She watched him with intensity and shivered each time he glanced up as her nipple slipped from his warm mouth.
"Fuck that's hot," she whispered roughly and wrapped her legs around him, pressing her wetness to his stomach and rubbing herself against him.
"You keep that up, and I'm going to bring out something you're not quite ready to handle." He nipped playfully at her nipple before moving down her stomach, wetting her with long strokes of his tongue.
"How do you know I'm not ready?" She dropped her legs from him and spread them again as she watched him make his descent. Her body trembled slightly from being overly excited and she knew without a doubt that it wouldn't take much and she'd be over the edge.
"I know, baby. Trust me." He glanced up at her as his tongue snaked out of his mouth and pressed against her swollen flesh.
She closed her eyes and jerked violently. "I don't know if I can handle this. Maybe you're right."
"You're stuck now." He chuckled darkly and pressed his mouth against her, working her with precision toward pleasure like she'd never experienced it. "Let's see how tight you are, Mariah. I've been wondering. You like knowing that I can't stop thinking about you, and your hot little body?"
"I love it." She groaned loudly as he slid a long finger into her. She pressed against his offering and rocked her hips, not at all ashamed of needing to be fucked by him. It had to be the liquor, but she didn't care at all. She'd start drinking every day if it led to the hot passion that was building inside her belly.
"Me too, baby." He flicked his tongue over her clit as he started to work another finger inside of her.
The pressure was delicious, but not so much that she couldn't take more.
"I love the way you take what you want." He spoke against her wet flesh as he continued to suck and tease her. "Tell me you can handle another one."
"More," she mumbled and reached up, cupping the edge of the table as he gave her what she asked for. It was almost too much, which was exactly what she needed. "Oh God."
"Mmmm..." He fucked her harder, pressing his handsome face tightly to her and working her through the orgasm until she was shaking and crying out in low whimpers.
He glanced up, his fingers still deep inside of her as his tongue brushed softly over her sex methodically. The look in his eyes that said she was so going to be his, if even for a night.