CHAPTER 12
Jason led them up a staircase that could have fit in any royal manor, the wood surfaces polished to a sparkling shine. All the while the man at Erin’s side distracted her more than the opulence glittering around them.
He waited for her to enter the room first before accepting a key from their guide. Tim closed and locked the door silently behind them.
If she’d thought Tim’s condo was over the top, this remote palace was another step up the incredible scale. Only the carpets and leather couches and gilded-framed mirrors didn’t have a chance when she was fixated on something far better. Tim stood at her side, his fingers playing softly with hers as they stopped in the center of the living room.
“Our backpacks look very out of place,” she noted, retreating to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Backpacks don’t care.” He grinned. “Come on. You said shower and sleep, so let’s get ourselves a little of that. Jason informed me he’ll send up breakfast, and Matt should be back sometime well before noon.”
“Lovely.” Erin twisted her fingers together before deliberately jerking them apart. Bullshit if she would turn into some wilting flower just because she was about to ask for . . .
God, am I really going to ask for . . . ?
Tim tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He caught her hands in his, calm and reassurance in his presence. “Trust me. Matthew is a great guy, and we’re not going to be kicked to the curb in the middle of the night. Or staked in our beds, or anything weird.”
Erin took a deep breath. “I trust you.”
She stepped away slowly, his gaze still pinned to her as she separated their fingers. Then she lifted her hands and undid her top button. Pulled the fabric free from her pants.
“Erin?” The word was a smooth, low rumble that teased her senses and heightened her anticipation. His smile kicked up a notch, the concern fading away.
Her heart didn’t seem to be beating properly, and the air in the room seemed very thin.
“I trust you,” she repeated, shedding the fabric and letting it fall to the floor. The button on her waistband was undone, the zipper lowered slowly. Tim didn’t move until she’d eased the material over her hips. Then he held out a hand and supported her as she stepped away from the pile of clothing left behind.
Naked but for her bra, panties, and socks.
All the stress of the moment vanished as she looked down at the specifics of what she wore, laughter escaping in a somewhat hysterical burst. It was the least likely to be considered sexy outfit she’d ever seen. A serviceable bra, plain undies, and a pair of the thickest socks she owned that she’d dragged on this morning before first light. “I picked the best day to decide to do this.”
Tim held her fingers in his and refused to let her go. Instead he moved closer and lifted her chin. His blue eyes danced as he examined her. “And what exactly are you doing?”
Her pulse skipped. “Trusting you.”
His volume dropped even further. A sheer whisper that scratched along her nerve endings and made them tingle. “Not enough. Erin, why are you stripping down like this? Did you want to make love?”
The bastard was going to make her say it. After all the time they’d spent together during the past month, she should have expected he wouldn’t simply take over at the first gesture on her part.
Her breasts rose and fell rapidly with each shaky breath, yet his gaze never fell below her chin as he observed carefully.
Waited for her to respond.
Erin closed her eyes to shut out all distractions. “I want you to take control. I don’t want to be in charge of what we do, and I trust you to make these days special.”
A soft stroke slid over her cheek and chin, then his lips brushed hers. “Open your eyes, kitten.”
She obeyed, lifting her lids to discover him only inches away as he gazed lovingly at her.
He stroked her cheek again. “I agree to one day. We take one day, and then we see where we’re at. What do you think?”
The offer surprised her. “You don’t want . . . ?”
Tim paused. “I want the best for you, Erin. I don’t want you to feel pressured or upset if you change your mind. So let’s take twenty-four hours and see how we feel. We’re adults, we can talk things through. Make right decisions at the right time.”
Unexpected as his suggestion was, something inside her lightened. A fear lifted as if attached to helium balloons, floating off her. “I agree.”
He curled his hand around the back of her neck, his strong thumb stroking the sensitive place where her pulse once again pounded out a rapid rhythm. “Safe word the same as always?”
She nodded.
“Say it.”
Sympathy twisted her smile. “I was trying to save you a cringe.”
Tim eased in and kissed her, his laughter brushing her skin as softly as the contact between their lips. “I’ll survive. Say it.”
“Spider.”
His involuntary shudder wasn’t funny, but it was. Erin cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly.
His hands circled her waist, palms warm on her bare skin as he separated them a few inches. “At least you know I’ll never say it unless we’re in dire straits.”
He looked her over for the longest time as her anticipation rose. When he finally moved, it was to slide a strong hand down the back of her leg until he knelt at her feet.
Blue eyes trapped her, his smile growing by the minute. “Thank you for trusting me, kitten. Now lift your foot.”
Erin rested her hand on his shoulder for balance as Tim carefully removed her woolen socks. “You’re serious?” she teased. “Only a Newfie would have a woman at his command and go for her socks.”
“Living in Newfoundland does not make a soul a Newfie.” Tim stroked her calf as he settled her foot carefully on his thigh. “Besides, ’tis not the Newfie in me, but the Irish. I’m after your dainty dancing feet.”
Erin moaned as he dug his thumbs into her tired arches. “You can have them. I’ll dance prettily for you if you promise to rub me right.”
He surprised her, standing and scooping her up. “Rubbing you right is definitely on the agenda.”
Erin caught hold around Tim’s neck, snatching glimpses of the rooms they passed en route to wherever he was carrying her. “Not to be changing the topic, but Mr. Matt the billionaire? What does he do exactly? And how big is this set of rooms they put us in, because this is crazy. I’m going to get lost finding the bathroom in the dark.”
“Matt owns a refinery or two. And you won’t get lost.” Tim swung her to the floor and held her until she found her balance. “I’ll show you the way.”
Another gorgeous room to admire, only Tim gave her no time. Instead he had her stripped naked and under a cascade of warm water before she could utter a single word about overdone but fantastic bathing areas.
She lifted her hands to remove the elastics from her hair, waiting for Tim to join her.
Only as she combed her fingers through her braids to loosen them, Tim didn’t strip down any further. Instead he stood and watched her, his gaze easing over her like a hungry cougar eyeing his dinner.
“You having a shower?” she asked. “There’s definitely room for two in here.”
Waiting for him to make the first move was going to drive her crazy.
* * *
The temptation was to jump in right away. To follow her into the shower and use his hands and mouth and cock to work her into a state of utter exhaustion. Sated and fucked to oblivion. But as much as his body screamed for him to follow through on his carnal impulses, that wouldn’t highlight the truth he desperately needed her to realize.
She might have given him control, but she was ready to wrest it back at a moment’s notice. He knew it, and that was the battle to be won.
Twenty-four hours to prove that here, in the bedroom, she wanted him. More than wanted—she needed him to call the shots. It wasn’t nearly long enough to put everything in motion so all the dominoes fell the right way.
But he’d do his damnedest.
“I’ll shower later.” Tim leaned his hips against the thick granite counter and got comfy. “Right now, I’m enjoying the show.”
Water cascaded down her torso and made her skin glisten. The smooth curves of her breasts, the scooped indent of her waist. She teased her hands up her body to briefly cup her breasts before stepping back and lifting her face to the spray.
Tim admired her muscular body, calves and thigh muscles flexing briefly as she shifted position. Strong biceps, firm shoulders. All of her strength contrasted beautifully with her softer womanly curves. Dark nipples pulling to peaks in spite of the heated water washing her clean.
She knew he was watching.
Erin twisted her back to him, lathering shampoo into her hair. Sections draped over her shoulders, and he itched with the desire to grab hold. To tangle the long strands around his fingers as he made fists and held her in position. The long line of her back arching toward him as he pumped into her.
Soon.
The scent of coconut drifted out, and he laughed. “You’re already good enough to eat. You don’t need to add to temptation.”
“It was that or tea tree oil,” Erin commented as she faced him again. “I’d prefer to smell like an exotic drink.”
“Summertime. The scent of a hot day, lying in the sun with nothing to do but listen to the ocean and let the sun bake your senses.”
“Oh, poetic.” She crossed her arms, framing her breasts perfectly. “I’m clean. You want the shower, or what?”
Tim didn’t answer. Just stepped barefoot into the enclosure with her and ignored her gasp of surprise. Everything he wore was instantly soaked as he crowded her against the tiled sidewall, fully clothed to her naked skin.
She tilted her head and met his kiss full on. Accepted his hungry assault as he took possession of her mouth. He kept his hands pressed hard to the wall on either side of her head to stop from clenching her. To resist the urge to shove her to her knees and drive his cock into her mouth.
The feral animal inside him wanted to seize and control. The man took what she would give, and waited.
He pressed harder, his body alone pinning her in place. Kissing continued. Passionate bites and licks as he moved to torment the tender section under her ear. All the while he refused to allow her to retreat.
Erin moaned, a gasp of longing and anticipation. She’d caught his shirt and held on tight, her strong fingers squeezed into fists. She couldn’t move him, and he wasn’t about to leave, but she held on just the same, struggling to make the connection between them more intimate. She wiggled, but her hips only shifted minutely from side to side.
Tim slowed his kisses and dragged in a breath of air. “You want more?”
“Yes,” she hissed, desperately attempting to make him do something.
He was on to her game. “You want to come?”
“You decide. Bastard.”
Tim laughed. “But you seemed determined to get something here. Shall I take what I want? Or give in, and let you have your way again?”
A string of curses scorched his ears before she paused and let out a long, slow breath.
Then relaxed.
All the tension she’d been fighting him with washed away, as if flowing out of her limbs and down the drain. Her tight-fisted grip on his shirt loosened, and she rested her head on the tiles, eyes seeking his.
He nodded slowly.
Tim ran his hand down her side. He caressed her hip, then caught her under her knee and lifted the leg upward. “Wrap it around me,” he ordered.
Her body was open to him, and as he leaned back slightly, there was enough room to sneak his fingers between them. Just far enough to separate the folds of her sex and tease with a fingertip as he kissed her. This time the hunger between them was different. He took control, and she accepted what he gave her. Savoured it. Eased her neck back so he could dance attention on the sensitive curves, lave his tongue in tiny circles as he headed toward her ear.
All the time he kept his fingers moving. Increasing pressure on her clit, firm thrusts of his fingers into her wet core.
She shivered as he sucked on her earlobe. “God, I’m getting goose bumps in the shower.”
“You need this,” Tim breathed softly. “Letting go makes every part of you more sensitive. When I stroke your skin”—he brought his left hand down her collarbone, over her nipple, until he caught hold of her hip—“you don’t just feel it where we connect. The sensation dances all over, like an electric pulse. A net of intense pleasure. When I touch your clit, you know I can make you come. But every part of you wants my touch. All of you craves my attention.”
“Yes,” she whispered. This time the word meant so much more. There was no command in it, just sheer desperate desire.
Tim adjusted them slightly so the water fell over her, keeping her warm as liquid splashed freely over her breasts, the fine spray like a thousand tiny fingers caressing her skin.
Erin’s head fell back and her eyelids slowly lowered, her lips shaking lightly as they settled into an open pout.
He rested his palm on the upper curve of her ass to brace her. Fingers spread wide, maximum contact between him and her bare skin. With his other hand he continued to play, teasing between her folds, pressing his fingers deep. Curling his fingertips inside her until a long, low purring rumble escaped her.
Her body tightened around him, waves rocking her torso. Tim watched, fascinated, as her orgasm unfurled. Slowly, intense. Her pulse pounded in the hollow at the base of her neck even as she gasped out small, panting breaths.
Astonishing to witness. Addictive as well.
When she stopped shaking, he kissed her one more time. “That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing with me.”
Her smile twisted upward. “Anytime.”
Tim made sure she was stable against the wall, then took a pace backward and the next step forward. “Undress me.”
Erin didn’t hesitate. She reached for his shirt and tugged it free from his waistband. Her hands skimmed up his abdomen, nails teasing as she reached around him to finish the job in the back. Then she caught the bottom edge and lifted it upward as far as she could before he had to take over, dropping the sodden mass in the far corner of the shower enclosure.
“Do you mind if I explore while I work?” Erin asked.
“Be my guest.” Tim waited to see what she would try. Was this already an attempt to regain control on her part?
But she merely pressed gentle kisses to his chest. Examined the slight scars marring his body from years of rescues and active adventures, and left each one after giving it loving attention.
She went to her knees before him, water streaming over her shoulders. Tim looked down at her and fought to keep from shouting his delight.
Erin stroked the outline of his cock where it bulged the material. “Have I mentioned how much I like that we don’t have to use condoms anymore?”
“That’s my line,” Tim teased.
The snap of his pants gave way, then the zipper. His cock pressed urgently against the front of his briefs. The next few minutes were a combination of sensual torment and laughter as the wet material clung to him, and Erin had to work hard to strip away his pants. Her muscles flexed smoothly as she leaned lower, tugging each pant leg free one at a time from his feet.
Her hair lay in ribbons over her back, the long black strands showing more of a curl as the moisture wicked into them. The long line of her spine curled gently, glistening and smooth.
Then she turned and faced him, eager hands rising to grasp the edge of his briefs, lifting away the fabric to release his cock. Gently brushing her fingers over his length to free him so she could again remove his final clothing.
His cock stood upright, and he longed for another touch of her fingers. What he got was even better as she knelt upright, her task complete. Her gaze stopped at his hips as if fascinated with what she discovered there.
“Taste me,” Tim commanded. “I want to feel your lips around me, and nothing else.”
She’d already been reaching for his length, but at his words she changed tack, resting her hands on his hips instead, firm fingers wrapping around to press into the muscles of his ass. Erin took a deep breath and extended her tongue, making contact with the base of his cock. She licked upward, the slick heat of her mouth so different from the water cascading around them.
More intimate. More intense. More everything.
The height difference between them wouldn’t allow her to capture him easily without the use of her hands, but Tim waited to see what she would do. How she would follow his directions without breaking free.
She didn’t try to surround him. Not at first. Just worked his length with her tongue. Captured his balls and sucked lightly until the tingling at the base of his spine warned he’d better make a decision or it would be torn from him. The sight of her there at his feet—it wasn’t that she was powerless, not when she had the ability to make him lose control so readily.
Tim caressed her cheek softly with one hand, and with the other he angled his cock toward her mouth. She opened eagerly, stopping short of engulfing him. Instead she twirled her tongue around the head, playing along the sensitive edge of the crown. Only when he was a second away from driving forward did she seem to sense his need.
Erin glanced up. Their eyes connected. That was when she leaned forward and took his cock as deep as possible.
Tim shuddered at the intense sensation. At the hard suction she used on the slow retreat. Every nerve in his body seemed connected to his cock at that moment, and Erin was the one holding him enthralled.
He tightened his fingers and tilted her head slightly. Pulled her forward just a touch more on the next plunge. Her nostrils flared as the tip of his crown briefly hit the back of her throat. Tim retreated, but did it again, pushing a little farther, his limbs going weak from the exquisite pleasure she was giving him.
Erin relaxed again, her throat loosening as she let him support her. He slowed, long full strokes again and again as he allowed his full length to stretch her lips. Feeding every inch of his shaft into her so deep that her nose touched his groin on each motion.
His hands on her head controlled her.
“Fucking you is always incredible, but this?” Tim groaned, letting her hear the primal creature she reduced him to. “You should see what I see. Strength and beauty. Giving, and being taken. I like fucking your mouth, love. You make my brain go numb, and I want to drive into you until my seed fills your mouth. See you swallow around me, fighting to keep every bit. Will you do that?”
He pressed her head higher and she stared at him, eyes glazed with passion as she’d relaxed into the act.
Once more he pressed deep, and with them completely connected, he paused. Just for a second, but long enough she had to hold her breath. There was no way for her to take in air. Her only two choices were to fight for freedom or trust him.
A second only, but if she didn’t believe in him it would seem an eternity.
Staring into her eyes he saw nothing that worried him. Nothing but trust, and he pulled back until his cock head rested on her glistening lips. Erin breathed around him, her heated gasps rushing over the wet length and tormenting him that he still hadn’t found release.
“Suck,” he commanded.
Instantly she closed her lips, cheeks hollowing in response. The sensation dragged a raw curse from him, urgency rising. He pulsed his hips forward in short, ragged stabs that, combined with what she was doing, guaranteed an explosive end all too soon.
“Maybe instead, I’ll mark you. Paint your pretty face and body. See my seed glistening on your skin.”
She swayed slightly, nostrils flaring.
Oh, yeah. “You like that idea, don’t you.”
Her response was to suck harder, fingernails edging into his flesh.
He moved quicker, only seconds remaining. “Like pearls against your dark skin, love. Lift your head.”
Tim pulled his cock from her lips as the first blast escaped him, a line of seed coating her tongue, her open lips. The second sprayed down her cheek and throat, and he wrapped his fingers tight and jerked every last drop free until her skin glistened with trails of semen over the moisture from the shower.
He put the wet head of his still-hard cock to her mouth. “Open.”
Her lips separated only slightly, rubbing his length as he filled her once more. She swirled her tongue over the sensitive head, sucking him clean. Pulling pleasure from him until he was barely able to stand.
He leaned down and brought her to her feet, draping her against his body. They stood there as he smoothed his fingers over her, washing her with his seed. Marking her even as he cleaned her.
Soft and sated. At peace.
A long contented sigh escaped her, and she relaxed against him even more.
“I liked that,” Erin whispered. “Way too much.”
“Oh, love. Stop judging and enjoy. You liked it, I loved it—there’s nothing more to think about. Not now.” He stroked the hair away from her face, and kissed her tenderly. “Come, it’s time for bed.”