CHAPTER FOUR
Langston
I’d never been so nervous as I walked down the dark sidewalk with my mystery woman by my side.
Sure, I’d had sex with women without knowing their names before. More than once. But this was different. This was the most wonderful human being on the entire planet. This was someone special. Adorable. Sweet. Precious. Someone I liked. Someone I had an immediate chemical attraction to.
And I had one night with her.
I normally went for the Amys of the world. Ballsy. Beautiful. Bold.
Even though I didn’t think the woman holding my hand was timid in the least, there was something vulnerable about her too. Not weak. Cautious, maybe? But also brave. Even if her palm was sweating against mine.
“Would it be crossing our fantasy line to ask you if you’ve always lived in New York?” I asked after a block of silence. I liked her voice and wanted to hear more of it, especially now that she didn’t have to raise it above the music and sounds of the bar.
Her hand tightened on mine, and I looked down at her profile. Her lips had grown tight and I wasn’t sure what that meant. Had I crossed the fantasy line, or was I dredging up bad memories? It was hard to tell.
“My first eight years were spent here, then I lived on a farm up north. Got a scholarship and went to college at…” she smiled, realizing she’d almost slipped, “here in the city. I loved the hustle and bustle, so I stayed. Got a job. That pretty much brings us to now. What about you?”
“My family is from here, but I’ve been roaming the country for a couple years now.”
“And now you’re getting ready to roam the world?” she asked, a small smile playing at her lips. “That sounds so exciting. I’ve never left New York State. Well, except to go to New Jersey, but that doesn’t count. I don’t even have a passport. I thought about having one made, just in case something exciting came along.” She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe I will someday.”
“You should.” I tried to picture her in a tent in Maiduguri and could actually see her there. “You never know what surprises are in store for you.”
Tugging her closer, I released her hand and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her against my side. I smiled when her arm inched around my waist, her thumb hooking into the waistband of my jeans. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, like we’d done this very thing a thousand times.
Smells escaping a nearby restaurant reminded me of my promise to her friend. “Have you really only had peanut butter crackers all day?”
“Yep. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner of champions,” she quipped and flattened a hand to her stomach. Had it growled?
I stopped and waited until she turned to me, a quizzical expression on her face. She was so freaking… pure. Not as in innocent. More like transparent, and I could read every movement in her lovely face. Had I not been leaving tomorrow, this woman would have been a liability to my carefully crafted plans. Had I not already signed the commitment to Doctors Beyond Borders, had I not already known how badly I was needed in the field… I might be tempted to stay and get to know her better.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as a pedestrian cursed and stepped around us.
I squeezed her fingers still linked in mine, unsure of what to say. Unsure what was going on with my insides. “I’m not sure.”
She licked her lips and took a step closer to me, concern so very clear in her eyes. Then she took another step. Then she was in my arms, her hands sliding around my waist as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. “If you’ve changed your mind… we, um. I can go back to my friends.”
That would be smart. It would be best if she went her way and I went mine, because I had a feeling that this night might change everything. I closed my eyes and pictured her walking away, imagined never seeing how many other freckles she possessed.
Very slowly, I threaded my fingers through the mass of curls around her face, then lowered my head. When our lips touched, I was lost. And I had my answer. I had to know. I had to feel her under my hands. I had to watch her face as our bodies connected for the first, and last, time.
I’d kissed many women, but none of them had ever felt like this. So sweet, but with an undisguised lust swirling just below the surface, like a monster demanding to be fed. The harder I kissed her, the harder she kissed back. My tongue swept into her mouth, and she let out a tiny, incredibly sexy moan, her fingers clutching at my shirt.
I wanted her with a desperation that seemed primal. My cock throbbed with the need to sink inside of her and claim her as mine, to give her the kind of pleasure she’d never experienced before and never would again.
My hands fisted tighter into her hair, and I turned her head for a different angle while pulling her flush against my chest. Our mouths danced, our tongues tangling as the distant sound of passing people and cars faded away. All I could hear was my heartbeat, my blood simmering in my veins, heating me from the inside out as my need for her grew to a painful constriction.
“Please…”
I breathed in the word she whispered against my lips. I knew what she was begging for. I wanted it too. Not here. Not like this. With all the willpower I’d ever needed in my life, I let her go and took a step back. Tugging the tail of my shirt from my jeans, I let it fall over the bulge that I knew wouldn’t be going away anytime soon. She smiled, understanding my dilemma, and seeming to glory in the fact that she was the cause.
“You’re a wicked temptress, Delilah,” I said before kissing her again, hard. “How many other men have you driven to the edge of madness?”
Those blue eyes shone in the lights of the street as I took her hand and practically dragged her the next block and through the entrance of the hotel, not giving her the chance to answer. In the elevator, I kissed her again, our tongues merging and melting, the pace more frantic than the first kiss on the busy sidewalk.
The ride up to the top floor took forever and an instant combined. I’d never seen this woman before tonight, but she felt so familiar. And a part of me wondered how I’d ever be strong enough to let her go.
My freaking hands trembled as I stuck the keycard in the lock. They never trembled. They were always steady. I was a surgeon, for fuck’s sake. But they sure as hell were shaking now. When we were inside the room, I walked her backwards, pinning her against the door, then lifted her until she was eye level with me. She tossed her large leather bag to the side and didn’t seem to mind when it toppled over, spilling her things over the floor.
“You’re driving me crazy,” I said and nuzzled my nose against her face, forcing her head to the side so I could glide my teeth down her neck, feel her pulse jumping against my lips. There should have been some awkwardness, some bumping of noses, some miscues and misjudgments, but there were none. We worked in a perfect rhythm.
She moaned and wrapped her legs around my waist, her center hot against my stomach, her desire practically radiating through our clothes. Her fingers moved up to my hair where she sank her fingers in, holding on.
“So good,” she moaned as I retraced the path up her throat and nibbled my way across her chin. She was breathing hard as I captured her lips, so soft and open, and I felt my tenuous grasp on control slipping as her tongue came forward to welcome mine.
“I fucking want you,” I said against her mouth, then caught her plump lower lip between my teeth. I tugged, and she shuddered as I sucked it hard. She ground into me, her sex moving up and down my abs, and I pulled her tighter, giving her more friction as my mouth devoured hers.
Breaking away only long enough for both of us to catch our breath, she shuddered again, her exhales warm against my face. Then she smiled, lighting up the universe, and lifted my hand until it covered her breast. Her heart was beating wildly under my palm. “You’re driving me crazy too.”
I growled, and with a rip, buttons flew as her shirt parted and her soft skin was exposed to my gaze. She gasped, then moaned as my lips pressed to where her heart beat, then gasped again, as I yanked down the cups of her bra to expose her nipples to my teeth. Her hands pulled my hair as I sucked one hard bud deep, listening to the incredibly sexy little sounds she made. She cried out as I gave her what she wanted, biting into her flesh, and pulling her nipple deep into my mouth, sucking until she wailed.
I needed both hands on her. I needed more skin exposed, so I walked us into the bedroom of the suite. Pulling back the thick comforter, I laid her on the snowy white sheets, following her down. I knew I was heavy for her small frame and tried to lift off her, but she pulled me back down, sighing as she took my full weight, wrapping her arms and legs around me, holding me close. A wave of tenderness washed over me at her desperation for me, her teeth nipping my jaw. I shook it away and raised up on my elbows, looking down at her swollen mouth, the clear blue eyes filled with desire.
“Please,” she whispered and lifted her hips, grinding her denim-clad pussy into my denim-clad cock. I gave her what she needed, pressure, grinding down, introducing our sexes through our clothes.
“Please what?”
Her fingers answered the question as they unbuttoned my shirt, not ripping as I had done to hers. Then she pushed it from my shoulders, and I rose up to my knees and tossed it off the bed before kicking off my shoes. She rose too, her eyes widening as her fingers traced the extensive tattoo that started over my heart and sprawled over my shoulder and down my arm. She looked mesmerized as she traced the black ink examined the dragon, the fire, the tree of life buried in the chaos. Caged animals lost in the tangle of black. The angel hidden in the confusion.
Women had reacted before, of course. I was a fairly clean-cut guy, so finding the real me underneath often came as a surprise. But no one had ever gone beyond a “nice tats” response. No one had ever seen me in them. She was seeing me, and it didn’t frighten her, disgust her.
“You’re a very complex man,” she whispered as she pressed her lips to my chest, her fingers walking down my abs to the button of my jeans. The zipper hissed down while I shoved the ruined shirt from her shoulders.
“Yes.”
Her understanding of me. Her knowing of me was both terrifying and freeing at once. People didn’t try to know me. Women wanted what I had. Men kept their distance unless they thought I could do something for them.
“You seem so… lonely.”
Lonely.
I’d never considered myself as such. I had a busy life. I worked from dawn until dusk. I was respectful of my colleagues, didn’t hit on the nurses, didn’t pull ego trips on my patients. I was…
Lonely.
“I’m not lonely right now.”
Something in her blue eyes flared and a small smile curled up the right side of her mouth. The look was pure seduction, and I fell into its snare.
My balls were burning more severely now, my cock pulsing in my pants. Need drove me, making me rough as I ripped the bra straps down her arms, then pushed her back down on the bed, following her down to kiss the fuck out of her for a while.
I loved kissing her. It was something that meant very little to me in the past. It was a part of the act of sex, nothing more. But I couldn’t get enough of her mouth. Her tongue. The teeth that nipped at me. And god, the sounds she made. The way her hands ran through my hair.
“I love your freckles.”
She seemed surprised. “Thank you. I hated them when I was younger, but I kind of like them now.”
Her eyes glistened in the soft light of the room as I kissed across her cheek and down her jaw. There was a smattering of freckles on her shoulders too, her chest, and I sat up, straddling her to trail a finger from one to the next, playing connect the dots over her soft skin. As eager as I was to be in her a few minutes ago, I wanted to slow down now, take my time unwrapping what was becoming my favorite package.
“What else to you hate?” I asked, enjoying just talking to her, hearing her voice.
She licked her lips. “Letting people down. What do you hate?”
I already knew my answer. “The idea of being tied down.”
She seemed to understand. “So, you’re a free spirit? That makes me a little jealous.”
As I unbuttoned her jeans and hooked my fingers in the waistband, I noticed her tattoo for the first time. High on her right side, just below the ribcage was a tree of life. It was an odd placement but beautifully done, the dark ink a strong contrast to her pale skin.
“I think you are more free-spirited than you realize.”
Tracing it with my finger, I felt the scar before I realized what it was. In the bark of the tree, a long, jagged scar easily six inches in length was hidden in the trunk. For some reason, the scar angered me as I thought of how such a wound must have felt.
When I lowered my head to trace the scar with my tongue, she sat up, forcing me away from it, the pain in her eyes reflecting the hurt of long ago. “Don’t. Please.”
I’d found this strong woman’s kryptonite, but I wouldn’t use it against her. I would leave it alone. Make her forget.
Sinking my hands in those wild curls, I pulled her head toward me and took her mouth again, forcing her back onto the sheets. I wanted to take her thoughts away from pain and lead her back down the road to only pleasure.
“You have some powerful magic inside you,” I whispered against her lips. “Mighty powerful.”
She grinned, relaxing under me again. She lifted her hips, grinding her sex into mine. “Hocus-pocus. Show me your magic wand.”
I laughed, a throw my head back kind of laugh and collapsed down onto her. She was adorable in every possible way. “You aren’t Delilah. You’re Samantha. Bewitching.”
She wiggled her nose, or tried to at least, and I kissed the tip of it, unable to believe I hadn’t fucked her twice already. This was new. Laughing during sex. Taking my time. I liked it, feeling comfortable enough with anyone to not have an agenda, let the feelings take us wherever they went.
Wanting to explore some more, I moved down her body, licking her skin, sucking on her nipples. Trailing my tongue down the soft curve of her stomach, I enjoyed the soft vanilla fragrance that reminded me of cookies baking in the kitchen.
I was careful to avoid the scar as I pulled the jeans down her hips, revealing cotton boy shorts in the softest of blue. Inch by inch, her pale flesh was revealed until all that was left was that sweet bit of material between her legs. Her fingers clutched at the bedsheets as I trailed my fingers up her legs after tossing her jeans to the floor.
“Sorry, nothing sexy there,” she said, indicating the plain underwear, then squealed when I flipped her over and trailed my tongue up the strong line of her hamstring. She couldn’t have been more wrong. They were sexy as hell, clinging to an ass that was as good as the jeans had advertised.
“They’re perfect,” I said as I kissed her ass cheeks before working my tongue up each vertebra, tracing the ladder of each bone one at a time. When I reached her neck, she shivered as I found a sensitive place there, scraping it with my teeth. “You’re perfect. So very beautiful.” I kissed her earlobe, trailing my hands up her arms until our fingers linked. “I’m going to remove your panties now, spread you open. I want to see every part of you.” She shivered again, hips pulsing beneath me. “Then I want to taste you, fuck you with my tongue, my fingers. I want to watch your face as you come.”
She was breathing hard. So was I as I moved off her and flipped her onto her back. Her nipples were like pebbles, her chest heaving as I slipped my fingers under the waistband of the panties. Pulling down, I smiled. My little witch liked it bare. Well, almost. Just a thin strip of auburn curls marred the surface of her perfect skin.
Such a nice surprise.
“Glad I waxed,” she said with a little embarrassed laugh, her cheeks flaming as I pushed her legs farther apart.
I trailed a finger up her slit, felt the wetness there. “I love how smooth and soft you are.” Then I smirked, trailing a thumb over the nearly slick mound. “I’m glad you left a little. I’ve been really curious to know if that red hair is natural.”
The blush trailed down across her chest and she attempted to close her thighs, but I wouldn’t let her, only spread her wider. “As you can see, it is, thank you very much. I just like the clean feel of… ohhh.”
She bucked and I held her hips down as my tongue found her clit, circling the tight bud before I settled more comfortably between her legs and moved lower. She cried out and twisted on the bed, but I held on, keeping her still. The need was back, but not to fuck this time. The need was to devour.
It had been a while since I’d gone down on a woman, especially the kinds I picked up in bars. This woman was different. I didn’t just want to taste her. I needed it. Craved it. And I knew she wasn’t like the others.
Dragging a finger up through her honey-slick folds, I watched the butterfly of her sex open before me. With my thumbs, I spread her swollen flesh, watched it open one layer at a time. She was glistening, her desire for me evident. Ready for me. But not yet.
I inhaled, breathing in her scent as I tasted her unique flavor. Salty. Sweet. The soft mewling that came from her throat made her even sweeter as I plunged my tongue inside her to feast.
“Oh god, please.”
She lifted her hips and her fingers sank into my hair, twisting into the strands as she ground into my face. I looked up at her, over the mound of her sex. She licked her lips, her pupils blown as I blew cool air on her swollen labia. Her eyes closed, but I waited until they opened again to continue. I wanted her to watch me give her what she needed.
In one quick movement, I ran my tongue up her slit before capturing her clit between my teeth. Her eyes rolled back, and she cried out, her fingers pulling my hair even harder as I sucked the tight bundle of nerves into my mouth, pulsing it with my tongue. Letting go, I retraced my path, plunging my tongue deep inside her sweetness. She twisted, trying to break away from the overwhelming sensation. Her hips bucked violently, but I held her down, invading her again, pumping my tongue in and out of her hot flesh, licking inside her deeply.
She wailed when I added a finger, bucked when I added a second. I chased her up the bed as she tried to twist away from the intense pleasure I was intent on giving her.
She came, screaming through the release as her tight body clamped down on my fingers, her thighs closing around my head. I didn’t let up, didn’t let her rest. She was so tight. So hot. It made me crazy, and I added another finger, scissoring them to make her ready for me. She was so small, I worried I might hurt her if I wasn’t careful.
I worked her, twisting my fingers, pulsing them in and out of her with increasing speed. Her breath was ragged, the air ripping out of her lungs as I forced her closer and closer to the edge again.
When she flew, it was beautiful, her eyes locked onto mine, her mouth opened in a scream that didn’t escape her throat. I slowed my movement, licking her softly as her body trembled, waited for her to stop gasping before running my tongue up her stomach, over a nipple, and up to her mouth.
“Taste how sweet you are.”
She was greedy, sucking on my tongue, licking my lips, her movements frenzied. Then she was pushing at my chest, her blue eyes blazing with desire. “I want you,” she panted, pulling at my jeans, her fingers fumbling to push them down over my raging erection.
Rolling from the bed, I made quick work of the jeans and reached into my open duffle bag for a box of condoms, pulling one out before tossing an entire strip onto the sheets. My little witch scooted to the side of the bed, her fingers in the waist of my boxer briefs. She pulled them down, her greedy tongue already licking away the drop of pre-cum at the tip.
There was no tease, no finesse, only pure desire as she sucked on the head. I hissed as her lips took me in, her tongue dipping into the tip, her teeth scraping the shaft as she tried to take me into her throat. I watched her mouth stretch wide, trying to take more of me until her eyes began to water. I wrapped her hair around my hand and began pulsing in and out in short strokes before pulling out, letting her breathe.
“More,” she gasped and licked her lips. Fuck, she was sexy as hell as I fed her, watched her swallow even more that time. Her fingers circled the few inches she couldn’t take, and I gritted my teeth, refusing to come as she began pumping me with her fist.
“Stop. I need you to stop.”
She didn’t listen, just sucked and stroked, driving me wild. I was at the edge, but I didn’t want to be there this way. I wanted to be inside her, feeling those tight walls clamp down around me. I wanted my face only inches from hers when I watched her come.
Using her hair as leverage, I forced her to her feet, then pulled her head back until I took her mouth.
“I’m going to fuck you now,” I growled against her lips and shoved her backwards, watching her eyes open wide in surprise as she bounced on the bed. She quickly recovered, a sexy grin spreading on her face. Oh yeah. She was ready for me.
Making quick work of the condom, I rolled it on before crawling back between her legs, forcing them wider apart with my knees.
“Tell me you still want this,” I said, my face inches from hers.
She didn’t hesitate. “I want this.”
And with one solid stroke, I plunged.
God, it was so good, better than even her mouth. It was the wet, the warmth, the tightness — the trifecta of pleasure.
And I was lost.