Chapter Six
Nathan Archer is licking wine off of my skin.
Ellie arched her back, pushing herself into the touch. The sensation as his tongue dragged over her body was so much better than anything she’d ever imagined—and she’d imagined plenty.
“So have I.” Nate’s voice took her by surprise.
Ellie didn’t realize she’d spoken out loud until he’d replied to the thoughts churning through her head.
“I’ve thought about you like this since long before I should have,” he said.
Nate licked a trail up her stomach, following the lines made by the spilled wine and she gasped.
“I—I had no idea. And it’s … hard to believe.”
A sharp smack on her left hip shocked the words out of her mouth, and she stared up at Nate open-mouthed.
“If we’re going to do this, then you need to trust me.” He arranged himself over her, but held himself just far enough back to make her long for his touch. “That means that if I tell you something, I expect you to believe it. Understand?”
“Yes.” She wiggled beneath him, trying to get in contact with his touch again. He delivered another light slap to her upper thigh, and the world around her begin to whirl. “What was that for?”
“You can’t just say that you believe me.” Dipping his head, Nate brushed his lips over hers in a touch so light that it ignited more than it satisfied. “You have to actually believe it. Or there will be a punishment. Do you understand?”
Holy. Hell. The intensity in Nate’s stare, the way he’d set her skin on fire, the flutter in her chest—she’d never felt so alive.
Aware that Nate was waiting for an answer, Ellie nodded, frantic to have his hands back on her. As he crushed his lips to hers again in a feverish kiss and she melted into the embrace, she fought to remember that this was nothing more than sex to him. Sex and friendship.
And that was how she wanted it. How it had to be.
Right?
“Care to share with the class?” Breaking away, Nate smirked down at her, and Ellie flushed as she realized that he’d noticed her little internal argument. And what was wrong with her, getting lost in her own head when this was happening around her?
“I’m sorry.” She placed a tentative hand on his chest. She was a strong, professional woman—no way was she about to admit her insecurities to him. The kind of women he usually had his bed probably had egos the size of the Statue of Liberty. “Where were we?”
He shifted his weight onto his knees, braced above her. He regarded her for a long time, and she felt as though those charcoal eyes could read into her very soul.
She hoped not, because then he’d be able to see that, more than aroused, she was having an awful lot of very fluttery feelings in the depths of her belly.
“Interesting.” Still rising above her, he began to unbutton his shirt, one fastening at a time.
“What’s interesting?” she asked, then she no longer cared at all.
Her mouth went dry, struck dumb by the sight of a well-cut shirt being shrugged off of wide, extremely well-sculpted shoulders. Not even if those shoulders were covered with dark, intricate ink, and not even if the rock solid chest boasted…
Oh, sweet Lord. Nate had a nipple ring, a simple silver hoop looped through the left side. Before she could stop herself, her hand was reaching up to touch.
He let her dance her fingers over the small piercing, hissing when she stroked, fascinated by the contrast of the cool metal and the hot skin.
“This is what’s interesting.” Eyes dark, he caught her hand, pressed her fingers against him. With his hand over hers, he helped her to tug on the ring, and they groaned in tandem at the touch. “You’re a dirty girl, Ellie Marshall. And all these years I had no idea.”
“I… I don’t know what to say to that.” Propping herself up on her elbows, she let her hand rest on his chest, absorbed the steady thumping of his heart beneath her fingers. “I’ve never thought that way about myself before.”
“Haven’t you?” Before Ellie could blink, Nate had both of her wrists caught in one of his hands, pressed into the quilt above her head. He grinned down at her as she tugged, then squeaked, realizing that he had her pinned.
“When I take it slow, your mind wanders. When I’m nice, your response is lukewarm.” Dipping his head, he pressed his lips to hers, his tongue demanding an entrance that she immediately yielded to. “It’s when I show you my piercing and pin you down that you get all excited. So yes, Ellie, you’re a dirty girl. And if I want to ruin you for all other men—and believe me when I say that I will—I’m going to have to take you farther than you’ve ever imagined going before.”
What?
“Nate—what—”
His hands pressed her wrists into the mattress hard, and then he backed off of her, standing on the floor between her knees.
“Don’t move an inch.” The muscles of his arms, his chest rippled in the low light that filtered through the window coverings as he hooked his fingers into the sides of his opened slacks. Ellie almost whimpered when he inched them down his lean hips, letting them fall to the floor.
He was absolute perfection. Over six feet of lean muscle, golden skin decorated with intricate designs that made her fingers inch to touch. That tantalizing and unexpected piercing, and an erection big enough to make her catch her breath.
He was swollen, the head already leaking. Was that really for her?
She didn’t realize that she’d sat up, that she’d moved toward him until he growled low in his throat.
“I told you not to move.”
She barely had a moment to appreciate all that was his hard, naked body before she was flipped onto her stomach, a pillow pushed beneath her belly.
“Oh, shit.” The words escaped her lips as he clasped her hips, canting them up. She froze against the pillow, her fingers clenching the fabric. She’d never been in this position before, so open and exposed.
Knowing that he could see—probably was seeing—that most intimate part of her cleared her mind of thoughts of everything apart from what was happening in the moment.
“You’re wet already. Do you know what that tells me, Ellie?” His hands came to rest on the curves of her ass, and she shuddered. “That tells me that you like this. You like being open to me, and you like me telling you what to do.”
I just like you! The words reverberated through her mind, but then his palm landed on the curve of her behind, and all words were lost.
The sound of the blow was a sharp crack in the small room. The strike wasn’t hard, but it was a scarlet shock to her system. She cried out, rearing up, only to have a gentle but firm hand placed between her shoulder blades, pressing her back down.
“Is this—are you—punishing me?” Another blow landed, making it hard to get the words out. “For not believing you earlier?”
A wicked chuckle sounded from above and behind.
“I should. Yes, I should punish you for that.” One more blow, right over the division of her ass, and then a finger slid between her slick folds, slipping inside. “But no. Everything we do tonight is for two reasons.”
He curled one finger inside of her, rubbing over her inner wall, and Ellie felt her knees tremble. “One, because you’ve shown me that you want to be taken further. Further than even I imagined you would want to go.”
The single finger pulled out, and was replaced with two, which forced a whimper from between her lips.
Her hips rocked of their own accord. So close, she was so close. Never mind that he’d brought her to climax less than an hour ago, it had only awakened the hunger.
“And two.” The two fingers inside of her curved, finding some spot that made her gasp. At the same time, he pressed his thumb over her clit, and light began to dance behind her eyes.
“Two is because I want to. No more, no less.” Just as she opened her mouth to cry out, already anticipating the fall, Nate removed his hand.
“No!” Frantic, Ellie shoved back against him. Instead of placing his fingers back inside of her, he delivered an open-handed slap to the shockingly sensitive flesh of her pussy.
Her mouth opened on a wordless scream.
“We’ve already taken the edge off for you, remember?” God, but that commanding tone, the one that was like steel and silk, only served to ratchet her arousal up higher. “Now it’s my turn.”
With one smooth movement he rolled her onto her back again, her head cushioned on the pillow. Eagerly, she reached for him, but he pulled back with a warning glare.
“Tilt your head back.” She did as he asked, and he adjusted her body before climbing off the bed and rounding it. His hips were level with her lips, her head hanging upside down off the bed, and anticipation wracked her body as she understood what he was about to do.
Her lips had already parted before he’d taken himself in hand and pressed the swollen head of his erection to the warm cavern of her mouth.
She closed her lips around him immediately.
“Eager little thing, aren’t you?” His words were rough, but his touch was gentle as he eased forward. His weight was heavy on her tongue, salt awakening her senses as he eased forward, pulled back, then pushed in just a little more on the next thrust.
“I love how much you want it.” Her heart jumped at the mention of the L-word, even in this context, and then the thought was swept away when he traced a possessive finger over the line of her cheekbone.
The warmth turned into full-blown heat when he caught her chin firmly and held, forcing her to look up at him as best she could from the awkward position.
“That eagerness is only for me. Do you understand?” Her blood was an inferno, firing along her veins as she moaned her assent around him. “Just me. No other man. Ever.”
His words almost sent her over the edge again. He was talking to her like a… like a thing. His plaything. Like he’d take everything she gave him, then demand more. A tiny flicker of thought tried to surface, insisting that she shouldn’t enjoy this. Shouldn’t be dripping wet from being restrained and told what to do.
But she did. Oh, she did. And he was absolutely right—it was all for him.
“You feel so good around me, Blondie.” Nate pushed forward again. This time his length tapped against the back of her throat. She swallowed, certain that she was about to gag, but then he slid home.
Triumph surged through her when a raw groan ripped from his throat.
“So tight. So hot.” He pulled back just a fraction, then pushed forward again. Overwhelmed with sensation as she was, she noted that he treated her with care, when he could easily have made this very uncomfortable for her.
She swallowed, pleasure suffusing her at, well, at bringing him pleasure.
“Ellie!” The hands stroking over her face tightened, as though he was about to lose control, and then he pulled right out of her mouth with a wet sound.
“What’s wrong?” She swallowed, running her tongue over her dry lips to dampen them. Her voice was raw. Struggling to see his face, she slid back on the bed, rolled to her side. “What did I do?”
“I should spank you again for assuming that you did something wrong.”
She caught just the quickest glimpse of his face, just enough to discern a ferocious hunger. Then he grabbed her around the waist, adjusting her so that her head was on the pillows at the head of the bed, her body laid out before him.
Nate crawled onto the mattress after her, his rigid cock trailing along her inner thigh before settling against the tender flesh between her legs.
“I should spank you, but I can’t right now. I need you, Ellie. I’ve needed you for so long. And I wanted to be inside of you when you make me come for the first time.” Nate reached for a foil packet that he’d set on the bedside table sometime after they’d entered the room.
Crimson warning lights flashed across the front of Ellie’s brain. She blinked, need fogging her senses as she tried not to let the tidal wave of emotions caused by his words fill up the tunnel that he’d just dug in her heart.
“Nate. I…” She planned to say something flippant, something that would help to transform the intensity of the moment back into just plain old lust and heat.
But then she heard the crinkle of foil, and his sheathed erection was pushing inside of her, and she couldn’t think at all.
“Oh God.” Ellie gasped at the intrusion. Her flesh was so swollen with arousal that the sweet invasion was overwhelming. She dug her heels into the bed, arching her hips for more and at the same time crying out because she wasn’t sure he was going to fit.
“Easy, Blondie.” As he had with her mouth, Nate pulled back, giving her a moment to recover before he continued forward. “You can take me. And it’s going to feel so good.”
She widened her parted legs, wanting nothing less than all of him. Frustration caused her to grit her teeth and wiggle her hips, and then he pressed in the last delicious inch. Finally home, Nate buried his face into her neck and stilled.
“That feels amazing.” Ellie’s whisper broke the silence.
He lifted his head. She looked into Nate’s eyes, and what she saw there made her heart pulse stutter. Pools of stormy gray, with flecks of amber that she’d never noticed before… and they were focused on her like she was the only person in existence.
His breath misted over her cheek as he braced himself on one arm, then tangled his other hand in her hair. “Ellie.”
His stare searched her face, and her belly did a slow roll.
Before she could catch her breath, he rolled his hips, and the emotion combined with the sweet friction of him inside of her had her closing her eyes against the onslaught.
“No. Open your eyes.” The hand in her hair tugged, awakening the nerve endings along her scalp and sending a rush of heat between her legs. She arched against him in response, and the pressure on her clit made her cry out.
“That’s right. Keep your eyes on me while I fuck you.” His voice burnt her senses like a shot of whiskey. “I want you to remember who it is that’s making you feel this way.”
He slid out, then in, the planes of his taut belly rubbing against her clit with every thrust, and she felt herself rocketing toward that peak again, the one she’d been denied just minutes before. One thought rose out of the spiraling bliss, and she gasped it out, her fingers digging into his biceps as he began to move faster, taking her hard.
“And what about you?” The silver of his piercing winked in the low light, and her left hand slid over his chest to rub over the fascinating detail again. When she made contact, he stiffened, then began to move inside of her harder and faster, which made it seem all the more important that she got her answer right away. “Will you remember that it was me who made you feel this way?”
She cringed as soon as the words left her lips, but still, she wouldn’t have taken them back. Nate didn’t pause, just dipped his head to nip at the cord in her neck, then trailed his tongue up to dip into her ear.
“I’m definitely going to spank you later for all of this self-doubt.” He scraped his teeth over the tender lobe, and when she arched and shivered, he used the hand in her hair to force her to look back into his eyes.
“But for now, listen up.” He braced his weight on one hand as he began to move harder and faster, then harder and faster still. She found her legs curving around him to hold him to her even more tightly, her stare riveted to his own.
“I already told you, I’ve wanted this for longer than I’ll ever admit.” Harder. Faster. Their hips smacked together, their skin slapping with a sound that shouldn’t have been sexy and yet was the most erotic thing that Ellie had ever heard. “It’s not possible to forget who is making me feel this way, because I’ve never felt this way before.”
Oh, shit. Ellie’s heart trembled, the feelings that accompanied her crush multiplying and then pulling her under. She fought to put up reinforcements, to rebuild the walls that would keep her safe from inevitable heartache, but the tidal wave of sensation rising from her core and spreading to the very tips of her fingers was all-consuming, lighting everything in its path to flame.
“Nate!” His name fell from her lips as the largest, most intense release of her life pulled her under, stealing her breath, coloring her vision. Her cries echoed around the room as he continued to fill her, their heat sealing them together until it was hard to tell where he ended and she began.
As if from a distance, she felt Nate’s hard muscles draw tight, heard his pained groan. He pulsed inside of her, his fingers digging into her scalp, his face buried against her neck as he emptied himself inside of her.
It could have been seconds, or it could have been a half hour before Ellie felt her senses returning to her. She was lying on her side, half draped over Nate’s chest, his pulse thundering beneath her fingertips.
She wanted to curl into him and never let go. And the realization had her heart pounding all over again. She was in deep trouble. She’d tried so hard to remember that, even though they were friends, this was just sex to Nate. But she knew that she’d passed the point of no return—her feelings were well and truly engaged.
God, how could she possibly keep sex and the emotion separate when they’d just done… that?
And that was another matter entirely. She’d always fancied herself a vanilla kind of girl, but being held down, spanked, and taken hard had been the hottest experience of her life. She’d always prided herself on being in control—how could she possibly enjoy giving it up?
Yes, she was in deep.
She needed to get out of this bed. Maybe even out of this room. Needed to get some air, some space, before she lost herself altogether.