Summer
I COULDN’T THINK. I could barely even breathe.
I’d always been proud of my brain since it was about the only thing about me that made me special. But right now, with Tiger lying right on top of me, it was like I’d lost several thousand brain cells and the stupid thing was refusing to work.
He was just so...hot. And...big. And he was everywhere, his bare chest right in front of me, his wide shoulders blocking out the rest of the room, his long, lean, muscular body pressed the whole length of mine.
And his gaze looking down at me, drowning me in gold.
I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I didn’t know what to do with my entire self.
It had happened so fast. One minute I was feeling half disappointed, half relieved that he’d pulled me up off my knees, and maybe a little angry at myself, too, since I hadn’t managed to distract him, which meant that now he was going to make me tell him my real reason for being here. Then the next minute there had been a knocking at the door and I’d heard Keep’s voice.
I’d thought Tiger would turn me in.
But he hadn’t. He’d come across to the bed and told me to get in, and since I hadn’t exactly had a lot of choice, I’d kicked off my shoes and done so. The next thing I knew, he’d ripped off his T-shirt and had climbed in, too, lying on top of me, bracing himself on his elbows so he wasn’t resting his whole weight on me.
I’d never been in bed with anyone before, let alone the man who’d been lurking in my head ever since I was seventeen. The man who was now half-naked, his hard, sculpted chest and powerful shoulders on show. And somehow it didn’t matter that he wasn’t resting entirely on me, I felt flattened by him anyway. By the sheer intensity of his physical presence. By his closeness. By the heat of his body and the scent of his bare skin.
My brain shut down then, simply unable to function with Tiger being so near. And then Keep was in the room and finally I realised why Tiger had told me to get into bed and why he was lying on top of me.
He was hiding me from Keep.
The thought was brief and bright and then it disappeared, and I forgot completely that Keep was even in the room. Because somehow my skirt had got rucked up around my waist, my bare thighs brushing against the denim of Tiger’s jeans. His hips were resting between my legs, forcing them apart, and there was something big and thick and hard pressing against the front of my panties.
And once I’d become conscious of that, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. There was something about the pressure of him right there that made me go hot all over. That made my thighs tremble and my breathing catch. I tried to hold myself rigid, to pull away from where he was touching me, but it was impossible.
He was everywhere. His heat and his dark, spicy scent and all that smooth tanned skin right in front of me. The fascinating tattoo of all the spirals and circles that was on his upper arm went up and over his shoulder, too, spreading halfway across his broad chest. I had to turn my head away to stop from staring at it, my fingers itching to touch it.
But not looking at him didn’t do anything to stop the aching awareness of him. The feeling of his long, hot body over mine, pressing down on me, overwhelming me.
He was still overwhelming me.
Keep had gone, yet Tiger was still lying on top of me, braced on his elbows on either side of my head, looking down at me. I could feel myself getting hotter and hotter, and I didn’t want to meet his gaze. I didn’t want him to see what he was doing to me, how completely overcome I was about this whole situation.
God, my fingertips were tingling from where I’d made the mistake of touching his chest just before—his skin had been so hot I felt like he’d scorched me—so I closed them into fists, not sure where to put them except awkwardly down at my sides.
I knew he’d asked me a question and I was struggling to remember what it was, acutely conscious of the intense heat between my legs where his zipper was pressing against me, making me feel restless and achy and desperate.
He’d said something about moving, right?
‘I don’t want you to move.’ I tried not to look up into his unblinking amber gaze. ‘I just want you to get off me.’
‘Uh-huh.’ His voice sounded lazy, a deep rumble I felt echo down the length of my body. ‘Okay, just gimme a second. I’m getting all caught up in the sheet.’
Then he shifted his hips.
It was only a slight movement, but somehow it nudged the hard ridge of his zipper over my clit, sending a lightning strike of sensation firing through me, lighting up every single nerve ending I had.
I tensed, gasping in shock at the unexpectedness of it.
Tiger stilled. ‘You okay?’ he asked in that same soft, lazy rumble, sounding completely unconcerned.
I couldn’t look at him, little pulses of sensation sparking everywhere and my heartbeat—already fast—starting to get frantic.
I might have been a virgin, but I wasn’t completely ignorant. I mean, I had a vibrator and I knew how to use it, so this feeling wasn’t exactly new. Except that it wasn’t anything like the calm, gentle pleasure I gave myself on occasion. This sensation was brighter, sharper, more vivid. Electric.
And one I had no control over whatsoever.
‘I...uh...’ I tried to catch my breath, tried to hide how much that slight movement of his had affected me. ‘Y-yes. I just...need you to get off me.’ Now. Please, God, right now.
‘Impatient, huh? Where’s the fire?’ He shifted again, another roll of his hips over that achingly sensitive spot between my thighs, sending another burst of that intense, brilliant sensation exploding through me.
I jerked, instinctively looking up at him, as if his gaze was a magnet and I couldn’t resist the pull.
Gold slammed into me. Bright, flaming gold. Burning me, seeing me. A forest fire and there was nowhere for me to run, nowhere for me to hide.
I trembled, scared for reasons I couldn’t have described. ‘T-Tiger...’
‘Yeah, I know.’ His hands moved, cupping either side of my jaw, the touch of his palms against my skin making me tremble harder. ‘I like the way you say my name. Thought you didn’t remember it.’
I blinked, trying to breathe. Trying to concentrate on what he was saying and not on the ache that was building between my thighs, right where he was pressing down. But it was so difficult. ‘I...I...just need...’
‘Need what, hmm?’ He rolled his hips yet again, another slow, delicious grind that pressed against my clit, making me jerk and shiver like he’d given me an electric shock. ‘You need more of this, maybe?’
I could feel myself break out into a sweat. My thighs were trembling and I wanted to lift my hips against that tantalising pressure, to chase that incredible friction. But enough of my brain was operating to know that this was a really bad idea. Because letting anyone know how you felt was always a bad idea, especially when you were as lousy at hiding your feelings as I was. Especially when you were somehow in bed with a dangerous biker who’d been in your head for years. Who lingered there like a fascinating equation you could never quite work out the solution to.
‘N-no.’ I tried to get my voice working, the word coming out thick and husky and ragged. ‘I want to...get out...’
‘Really?’ He shifted, another subtle movement of his hips rubbing against me, that ridge somehow bigger and harder than it had been before. I groaned, unable to help myself, pleasure beginning to wrap itself around me.
‘Are you sure you want to get out?’ His thumbs moved over my jaw, stroking my skin, adding more fuel to the fire burning hotter and hotter. ‘Seems to me like what you want is more of this.’ And he moved again as if to illustrate the point, nearly making my eyes roll back in my head.
I’d begun to pant, my pulse thudding so loud it was a wonder he couldn’t hear it, too. I could barely take in what he was saying to me. All I was aware of was the gold in his eyes and the sweet, sharp pleasure he was giving me.
He began to set up a rhythm, making the whole world shudder. Making my skin feel too tight and like I couldn’t get enough air. Like I was hot. Too hot.
‘What are you doing?’ I gasped rather belatedly, raising my fists to push at him, only remembering at the last moment what a bad idea that was. ‘I can’t... This isn’t...’
‘It’s okay, baby girl,’ he said in that dark rumble, his thumbs moving in a gentle back and forth along my jawline. The touch was almost tender in comparison to the way he was moving against me, the pleasure as he rolled over my clit almost vicious, making me moan helplessly. ‘Just making you feel good.’
And it was good. It was so good.
‘W-why?’ I stammered, trying not to let myself get swept away by what he was doing to me. Trying not to give in to the urges that my body was sending me, to spread my legs wider, lift my hips, rub against him, grab some of that insane, delicious friction that was driving me crazy.
‘Why?’ Tiger echoed, seeming almost surprised by the question. ‘Why the fuck not?’ He slowed the rhythm a little, making it hard, more relentless, sending a shower of white-hot sparks cascading through me. ‘You’re sweet and you’re sexy. And your little pussy’s as hot as fuck.’ His gaze intensified, his thumb brushing along my lower lip. ‘Also, I don’t like it when little girls who don’t know what they’re doing try and use blow jobs to distract me. Makes me want to give them a taste of their own medicine.’
I couldn’t process that. I couldn’t even breathe. The pleasure he was giving me was crushing me completely. ‘I can’t tell you,’ I whispered, barely aware of what I was saying. ‘I c-can’t... I don’t want to...’
‘Hey, hey. Stop that.’ His voice was dark and rough, and felt like a caress over my bare skin. ‘All I want you to think about is what I’m doing right now, hmm?’
Again he moved, another slow grind right against my achingly sensitive clit, and this time I couldn’t stop my hips from lifting and my back from arching, pressing myself harder against him.
‘Oh, yeah,’ he whispered roughly. ‘That’s it. Rub that little pussy against my dick, baby. Get yourself off.’
I should have hated the dirty words. They should have made me uncomfortable the way they had when Crash had said them. But they didn’t. Somehow, spoken in Tiger’s rough voice, they only made everything ten thousand times hotter.
His movements got faster, and I was moving with him, entirely by instinct. The pleasure rolling through me was making me pant, my face so hot it was like my skin was on fire.
‘You’re all wet.’ The relentless grind of Tiger’s hips was an irresistible rhythm I had no hope of fighting. ‘I can feel you soaking my jeans. You like this, don’t you? Feels good, right?’
‘Y-yes.’ I couldn’t stop the word from slipping out and as soon as I said it, the brilliant gold of his eyes flared even hotter.
‘How good, baby? Tell me how I’m making you feel right now.’
It was an order and I found myself obeying helplessly. ‘S-so good,’ I gasped. ‘I can’t... It’s too much...’
His beautiful mouth curved in a slow, deeply sexy smile, as if he liked what I’d said. ‘Oh, it’s not too much. In fact, I’d say it’s not nearly enough.’
Then he slowed his movement right down, each shift of his hips lazy and relentless, the pressure on my clit becoming almost unbearable.
I groaned, starting to shake and unable to stop.
‘You ever had a guy do this to you before?’ Tiger’s gaze was inescapable as it searched mine. ‘You ever had anyone make you come?’
I didn’t want to admit it, didn’t want him to know exactly how inexperienced I was. But there was no way I could pretend I did this kind of thing all the time. There was no way I could pretend anything at all right now.
So all I did was stare back at him, letting him read the truth plastered all over my face.
His smile got hotter, as if this was the best thing he’d heard all day. ‘You didn’t come down here for Crash, did you? You came down here for me.’
There was something in the way he said the last sentence that I knew I should pay attention to. But the sensation between my thighs was getting too much to bear and all I could think was, yes, I had come down here for Tiger.
He’s the one you run to when you want to be safe.
The thought flashed through my brain, bright as a comet, then disappeared, crushed by the weight of the pleasure that was building inside me.
It was too intense, too fast, and for some reason it scared me.
‘Tiger,’ I whispered yet again, abruptly frantic. ‘I don’t know... I can’t...’
‘Hold on to me.’
It was another order and I obeyed without thought, too, my hands clutching on the heavy muscle of his shoulders. I felt him tense as I touched him, the heat of his skin like a hot coal against my fingertips. I didn’t jerk away this time, my nails digging in. He was solid, grounding me, an anchor holding me down as the storm building inside me began to shake me apart.
I said his name again, sweat breaking out all over my body as the dark pleasure he was giving me began to escape my grip.
No, this was nothing like my vibrator, where I could control the pleasure I gave myself. Where I could stop if it got to be too much or make it harder if it wasn’t enough. This was out of my control completely.
The sensation was terrifying, like I was on the back of a motorcycle I had no idea how to ride, and it was going faster and faster. And I couldn’t find the brake to slow it down or the keys to turn the engine off.
I had no choice but to hold on and pray to God I didn’t fall off.
My nails dug harder into his shoulders as everything began to spiral out of control. I didn’t know what was going to happen when this pressure released and I was afraid I was going to shatter or break apart. That I was going to be in pieces and no one was going to be able to put me back together again.
He must have known what was happening to me, must have read my fear. Because his long, muscular body settled over mine, his weight pressing me down against the mattress, surrounding me. Holding me. And he lowered his head, so his face was only inches away. ‘Look at me, baby girl,’ he murmured, those gold eyes of his taking up my whole world. ‘And hold on tight. I’ve got you.’
So I did. I held on and I looked at him.
And when the pressure began to release and the orgasm exploded through me, and I opened my mouth to scream, his lips were on mine.
And all I could see was gold.