Chapter Seventeen
The dishwasher was loaded. The leftovers were put away and the casserole dish washed and stored in the same brown grocery bag Knox had brought it in. None of it should have been the stuff of foreplay, but with Knox teasing and touching at every turn, Darya’s sex was not only drenched but aching.
The television went silent and the lights in her living room went dark.
She wiped down the counters, skin prickling with awareness. Never in her life had she been so uncertain about how to act around a man. So ready and yet cautious at the same time.
Then again, she’d never been with a man like Knox.
A click sounded from her bedroom and a quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that he’d clicked on the lamp beside her bed.
He strolled into view a second later, a lazy jaguar navigating foreign terrain as easily as if it were his own. His hungry gaze locked on to hers and he flipped off the light switch to her pseudo office, leaving her only in the pool of light coming from the smaller fixture overhead.
Her heart kicked. She slid to the sink and rinsed out her sponge, desperate to affect the same casualness he portrayed.
He moved in behind her as she turned off the faucet, his hands unerringly slipping beneath her shirt’s hem along her thighs and skimming up to her hips. While he anchored one at her waist, the other splayed soft at her belly.
Beneath his touch, her muscles quavered, poised and ready for his fingers to delve lower.
Instead he nuzzled the back of her neck. “Place is locked up. You need anything?” The silent before I fuck you hung unspoken in the silence, twice as powerful than if he’d actually voiced the words.
She shook her head, too gripped by the moment to actually speak.
He inhaled deep, slipped his hands from beneath her shirt and turned her with hands at her hips. Still in touching distance, but not crowding her as before, he cupped the side of her face with a tenderness that stole her breath. “Moved too fast last time. Didn’t take the time to talk things out.”
Talk? She could barely think right now. Let alone string together a sentence that would make sense. “About what?”
His gaze dropped to her mouth and his hand drifted low enough he could skim his thumb along her lower lip. “I think you were clear you’re good with rough and open to dirty, but is there anything you absolutely don’t want?”
Oh, boy. Definitely a dangerous topic to traverse with her mind so distracted.
Trailing his hand lower, he traced tempting patterns down her neck then across the exposed skin above her neckline.
Her eyes slipped closed, every scrap of attention focused on his touch.
The fabric shifted and the first button slipped free, cool air slipping against the inch of skin he’d revealed. She swallowed hard and willed him to keep going. To peel the soft cotton off her over-sensitized skin and press his body against hers.
“Darya?”
She opened her eyes and his fingers moved on to the next button.
Right. They were talking. About things she didn’t like. Though it wasn’t as if she’d built up a wealth of experience to draw from before she’d run, and the last three years she’d settled on her toys versus potential exposure. “No pain.”
“That include my hand on your ass when you piss me off?”
“Bozhe moi.” My God, she whispered before she could stop it, clutching the counter’s edge behind her as a visible shudder rippled through her.
Knox chuckled at that and slipped the last button free. “I know zero Russian, but I think I can interpret that as naughty girl spankings getting a pass. Anything else?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t explored that much. I just know what we did felt good.”
He nudged her shirt, leaving her mound exposed and the sides barely covering her nipples. “You ever play with other toys? Nipple clamps? Ropes?”
She couldn’t look at him. Could only watch him drag the backs of his knuckles from her sternum down, down, down.
“Darya, look at me.”
It took every scrap of courage she had, but she did it, her lungs hitching as her gaze locked on to his.
He was hungry. Ravenous, despite what his outward confidence and calm alluded. And all of that need was aimed squarely on her. “You want to explore?”
God, yes. With him she’d try almost anything. “Yes.”
He held her gaze. “Saw the plug in your box. That something you get off on often?”
“Sometimes.”
“Toys only or men?”
“Toys. I never—haven’t been with anyone I trusted.”
Something fired behind his eyes. Challenge, maybe. Or perhaps a promise. He nodded, though whether it was for her or an answer to whatever dialogue was taking place in his own head, she wasn’t sure. “Fair enough.” His gaze dropping to his fingers skimming closer to her mound. “You promise me you’ll share if we do something you don’t like?”
Faster than she would have thought possible, she stopped his hand with her own and squeezed tight. “I will never allow a man to hurt me or push me into something I don’t want. Ever.”
He smiled in a way that said he wasn’t just relieved by her answer, but was proud as well. “That’s my girl.” He slid the hand she’d captured free and wrapped his arm around her waist. His free hand cupped the side of her neck and his lips whispered close enough her own tingled. “Anything in particular you want to go to the top of the list?”
She gave into temptation and let her hands steal under the hem of his T-shirt, the worn soft cotton a stark contrast to the hot hard muscle beneath her palms. “The last time you never let me take you in my mouth. I want to start there.”
His mouth curved in a wicked grin, a wolfish response that promised she’d get what she wanted, but likely not the way she’d imagined it. “Okay, sweetheart,” he murmured against her lips. “Let’s play.”
She’d wanted his kiss. Craved it.
Instead he pulled away, captured her hand and led her into the bedroom. The toss pillows were already on the floor and the comforter pulled back. “I think you did more than lock up.”
“I had incentive.” He moved in behind her and peeled her shirt off her shoulders. “If I’d known we were gonna start with your mouth on my dick, we might have skipped dinner altogether.” The fabric whispered against her calves before it pooled around her ankles, and he cupped her breasts. “Remember what I said. You get uncomfortable, say the word and I’ll stop.”
The statement made no sense. It was just oral sex. Intimate, yes, but not exactly the most deviant act.
Before she could voice her thoughts, he nudged her toward the bed. “Lay down for me.”
Now that made no sense. She put a knee to the bed, then another, crawling until she lay on her side in the center. “Shouldn’t you be the one laying down?”
He grinned and snatched a pillow. “Not the way we’re going to do it.” He moved his finger in a circle and headed toward the foot of the bed. “Turn around. Head toward me.” He laid the pillow at the edge and waited.
The slow and agonizing pulse she’d fought with every teasing touch and dark look through dinner, deepened to an aching throb. She crawled forward, a heady mix of uncertainty and utter thrill sending champagne tingles through her veins. She paused on her hands and knees in front of him. “Like this?”
He cupped the side of her face, a tenderness she hadn’t expected creeping in then disappearing just as quickly. “On your back. Head on the pillow.”
She looked at the pillow, then to him and swallowed. “Okay.” The comforter welcomed her in a cool, slick kiss and the pillow whooshed as she released her weight into its downy goodness. The second she looked up, his intent registered. In this position, she’d be utterly at his mercy. Open not just to his hands, but his undivided attention.
He crouched next to the bed and rolled the pillow beneath her neck. He wasn’t just gentle, he was thoughtful. Careful and attentive.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, her quiet question stirring his always tousled hair where he hovered upside-down above her.
His eyes locked on to hers and his hands framed her face. “I’m getting you settled so I can feed you my cock like you asked.”
Her sex clenched, the power of it bordering on an actual orgasm, but without the gratifying release that came after. She whimpered and squeezed her thighs together so tightly her body trembled.
“Easy.” His lips caressed hers, the touch soft and heart-stoppingly reverent. He licked into her barely parted lips, coaxing not just her mouth to open, but her body to release. To give herself into his care and throw away her fears. This was the kiss she’d craved from him. Even at the odd angle, it was perfect. Maybe more so because of it. Ravenous and yet caring and solemn. As though he was thanking her simply for laying herself bare.
He lifted his head only enough to slide his mouth back and forth against hers. His warm breath fanned out against her face and neck, the accelerated huff behind each exhalation the only clue he was as affected as she. “How is it I never hear you cuss? At all.”
The question caught her completely off guard, not simply for the topic, but for the timing as well. “Because my father said it wasn’t appropriate for a woman. That he’d be disappointed if I started such a habit.”
He smiled at that and smoothed her hair away from her face, gently combing the strands so they hung off the edge of the bed. “For the record, I’m not your father. And if you ever tell me you want to suck my cock or beg me to fuck your pussy, I promise you I will not be disappointed.” He sealed the proclamation with another kiss, picking up right where he’d left off, but letting his hands roam to her breasts. Molding and shaping the mounds and interspersing each touch with demanding tweaks to her nipples.
She moaned and arched for more, fisting her hands in his hair.
He growled and pulled away. “You keep that up, I’ll come before you ever get a taste.” He guided her hands to her sides and stood. “Keep those there until I tell you.”
“What? Why?”
If he hadn’t pulled his shirt off and stalked into full view on one side of the bed, she’d have scrambled upright and started a rousing protest. The sight of his muscled torso and beautifully defined abs stilled her thoughts.
He dug into his front pocket and laid something aside on the nightstand. “Because I’m not ready to let go yet and your hands have a tendency to make me want to short-circuit my plans.”
They did? That was good information. Definitely a strategy she’d have to employ more often, at least in the bedroom.
He bent beside the bed and something whooshed against carpet.
This time she did pop upright, her eyes widening at the sight of her black box of goodies. “What are you doing?”
He slid it next to her hip and popped the top button on his jeans. “I said I’d give you what you want. Doesn’t mean I can’t play while we were at it.” He shoved his jeans and briefs over his hips. His cock stretched thick and tall nearly to his belly button, bobbing as he stepped free of the constricting denim. Unlike the other men she’d known intimately, he was completely free of pubic hair, leaving all of him on prime display. “You rethinking what’s at the top of your list?”
“No.” Not the most convincing answer, especially voiced as little more than a broken rasp, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his shaft. From the prominent veins that ran up his length and the shiny wetness gathered at the tip. Slowly, she took him in. Truly savored every inch of his magnificent body. Only when she locked on to his stare did she lay back and cup her aching breasts. “I’m not rethinking anything.”
He prowled closer, totally comfortable with her open perusal. As if he knew how much pleasure just looking at him gave her and was more than happy to indulge her. Not one physical touch traded and yet twice as potent as traditional foreplay. “Your hands aren’t on the mattress.”
“They’re not touching you.”
“Ah, but they’re stealing my fun.” He braced his feet on either side of her head and her thoughts disintegrated. His tight sack hung just inches from her mouth, the soft and dusky skin that surrounded the most vulnerable part of him unveiled. It was primal. A dangerous predator demanding submission in the most carnal way possible. Never in her life had she felt anything so raw. So powerful.
He guided her trembling hands to her sides and his shaft danced above her lips. Her haggard breaths ricocheted against her face. “But how will I... I mean...”
Straightening, he took himself in hand, his tender yet watchful gaze locked on to her face. “I’ll give you what you need.” He pumped his length once. Twice. Then slicked the tip against her lips. “Open.”
The command speared through her, setting her core alight. She arched her neck and obeyed, craving that first taste. The velvet hardness of him against her tongue and lips. Yet, instead of sliding inside he slicked his precum against her lips. She moaned and lapped the tip, licking and sucking the taste from both him and her mouth in greedy, desperate pulls.
He hissed above her and undulated forward, dragging the underside of his cock against her lips as he leaned forward and filled his hands with her breasts. His voice grumbled low and thick. “Had too much time to think. Too much time spent thinking about feeling your mouth just like this.”
So had she. Maybe not as creatively as he had, but oh, how she liked the way his mind worked.
He plucked and teased her nipples, his breath coming heavy and shorter. “Time to put your hands to work, sweetheart. Lift your knees.”
She heard the words, knew they required action, but had a hard time nudging her body to behave, her attention too centered on the leisurely exploration she’d begun with her lips and tongue. She must have at least managed to get the job partway done right, because his big hands gripped her high on her shins and splayed her thighs wide.
“Hands behind your knees.”
Oh God.
Part of her couldn’t move, but the far more adventurous part of herself wanted to disconnect from her corporeal form and watch the decadence in all its beauty. She dug her fingertips into the soft flesh behind her thighs, licked along one prominent vein on his shaft and bared herself completely.
“Just like that.” So awed. Proud. His strong fingers teased the soft flesh along the back of her thighs.
She relaxed the muscles along the back of her neck into the pillow, licked past the base of his cock to the tight sack beneath and whispered against his most tender place, “Knox.”
His hips jerked forward and his fingers tightened on her thighs, but still he chuckled. “I see you’ve learned how to play dirty.” The bed shifted and the snap of her toy box rang overloud in her ears. “Think that means we can step it up a notch.”
He dragged his hips backward, gliding his hard rod against her mouth as he went, and holding up his hand in her line of sight. Her pink finger vibe was already snug against his middle finger. “This little guy get much attention this week?”
Oh, boy. This was about to get really intense, really fast. Heart hammering, she licked his glans and grinned up at him. “No. I used the dildo and imagined it was you.”
His cocky attitude slipped, replaced with a feral growl that danced across every inch of her. He toggled the vibe to life and feathered it across one nipple. “It’s getting no play tonight, ’cause the only thing going inside you is me.” He palmed his cock with his free hand and nudged her lips. “And I’m starting right here.”
Finally. Days, she’d imaged this. Re-ran the night they’d had together and wished with everything she’d demanded the chance to taste him. To reciprocate the pleasure he’d given with his own mouth, not once, but twice.
He shifted forward, carefully guiding his length in and out while he teased the buzzing toy atop her mound, but not quite reaching her clit.
She widened her knees and moaned around his shaft.
“More?”
God, yes. Not that she could say as much with her mouth stuffed full of his thick cock. Somehow the helplessness made the moment that much more powerful. More heightened and pronounced. She whimpered instead.
A second later his finger dipped between her drenched folds, dragging her essence up to her swollen clit and circling in with an insistent pressure. “Don’t come.”
No way could she hold off her release. It was too close. Barreling toward her with such ferocity her heart labored to keep up. She released her hold on one thigh, gripped his hip and dug her nails into his flanks. Tightening her mouth against his soft flesh, she sucked with all she had.
He jerked his hips away, slipping his length free of her mouth. “Fuck!”
She rolled to her stomach and tossed her hair out of her face. Poised on her hands and knees, her arms and legs shook on the overdose of adrenaline he’d built, but no way was she backing down. Not now. Not this close. “Yes, let’s do that. Now.”