Читать книгу: «Naughty Bits», страница 7

CHAPTER TWO

AS ANNALISE CLOSED THE RESTROOM DOOR BEHIND her—Emilio’s had one of those big private bathrooms—she was thankful it was at the end of a hallway. It saved them from looking too obvious if Gabe chose to follow her. She laughed before she could stop herself. Like he had a choice.

Killing time, she reached into her clutch for her favorite lipstick. Fuck Me Red, she reflected as she slicked the sassy gold tube over her lips. The makers had labeled it Valentine Red, but Annalise liked her name better.

She had no use for valentines. A good fuck, on the other hand, was just about her favorite thing.

After dropping the lipstick into her purse, she stepped back to get a good look in the full-length mirror to the side of the sink. Red dress, red shoes, red lips. Maybe she should make red her signature color, she mused, her mind shooting back to the heroine’s red gown in the drippy movie Kate and Iris had talked her into watching the night before. She sneered, refusing to remember the sympathetic tears that had sprung to her eyes before she could stop them. She’d batted them away before her best friends could see them—she never would have lived down the chink in the harder-than-diamonds aura she’d spent the last eight years of her life cultivating.

But the red dress did look hot, she admitted. It brought out the spark in her blue eyes, showed off the natural shine of her long dark hair. And it looked great against her pale skin. Flashy without being slutty; eye-catching without bringing down the house. Or the beasts, she admitted as she turned left and right, checking out her look from every angle. She’d run into her share of animals on the San Diego dating scene in the last few years and while she was a good-time girl, she drew the line at partying with swine. What smart girl didn’t?

She glanced down and the sequins on her Jimmy Choos winked up at her. God, she loved these shoes. She’d bought them for Gabe—he loved the way she looked naked except for a pair of stilettos. He loved even more the way she wrapped her legs around him and dug the heels into his ass. Just enough to pinch—a little pain to sharpen the pleasure. Her favorite kind.

Plus, he towered over her very respectable five-foot-seven-inch frame—the heels made it just a little easier for him to fuck her in unusual places. Like restaurant bathrooms, she smirked to herself.

Suddenly the door crashed open, hitting the wall with a loud bang she refused to react to. Instead, she let her slightly mocking gaze meet Gabe’s infuriated one in the bathroom mirror.

“What the fuck are you playing at?” Gabe demanded. He was enraged—she glanced downward—and hard enough to pound nails through concrete. Certainly hard enough to pound on her for a while. She grinned despite the menace fairly dripping off him, fighting the urge to lick her lips in anticipation.

“Hey, lover. What happened to your clients?” She kept her voice low and sassy, just the way he liked it best.

“Discussing my proposal.” His eyes narrowed dangerously as he studied her. “I decided to give them a few minutes alone.”

She nodded sagely, her reflection mocking him. “Smart move.”

“Now answer my question,” he all but snarled, grabbing her arm and spinning her to face him.

Annalise shrugged, giving him a look brimming with mischievous innocence. “No game. Just a simple pasta dinner.” And an overwhelming need to see him, not that she’d ever admit it.

It absolutely killed her that she’d wanted to see him so badly that she’d crashed his business dinner to do it. When had he stopped being just a guy she liked to screw and become a guy she couldn’t get through a week without?

“Bullshit,” he sneered as he slammed her back against the mirror. She could feel his cock—long and thick and hard—pressed against her mons and she fought the urge to spread her legs and ride him. It wasn’t time yet. “You’ve been playing with fire since the moment you walked in.”

She shrugged. “Well, I do like the burn.”

With a sound that was part angry and part turned-on, he leaned into her until every inch of him was touching her from shoulder to thigh. He spread her legs with one careless push of her knee and settled between her thighs. Where she’d wanted him all along.

And then his mouth found hers. Hot, hard, shockingly possessive. Reckless where he was normally careful. Violent where he was normally tender. But tenderness wasn’t what she wanted or needed tonight. Right now, she needed to feel the burn.

Wrapping her arms around Gabe’s neck, she pulled him closer even as she lifted herself toward him. The mirror was cold against her partially-bare back, but Gabe was scorching hot—the combination of two such different sensations excited her to a fever pitch before they’d even started.

Opening her mouth under his onslaught, she let him devour her with his lips, his tongue, his teeth. Let him feed on her as if he would never get enough. She wanted to surrender everything she had to that mouth, everything she was.

He pressed deeper and deeper, demanded more and more. Her head whirled, her knees trembled—and Annalise realized suddenly, as his tongue raided every corner of her mouth, that it would never be enough. This would never be enough. She would die wanting this man inside of her. The realization was as unexpected as it was devastating.

“Don’t do it again,” he growled, his hands cupping her breasts while he squeezed her nipples between his thumbs and index fingers. Hard.

She wanted to whimper but pride wouldn’t allow it. Even so, she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from crying out when he began to move, his hot cock thrusting between her legs.

“Do what?” Her voice was shakier than she liked.

His fingers tightened on her nipple, bringing her to the very edge of madness. “Play me against another guy like that.”

She arched her back, pressing her nipple more firmly into his hand. “Is that what I was doing?” She sounded breathless but was too far gone to care.

“You knew exactly what you were doing.” His fingers tightened punishingly, giving her the pleasure-pain she so desperately craved. And then she was melting, burning, so wet and creamy she didn’t know how long she’d last.

Letting her head fall back, Annalise took as much of the insidious pleasure as she could handle without coming. Then she pushed him away, using every ounce of strength she possessed to get the job done. Gabe was a brick wall, hard and heavily muscled, but he let her shove him back.

He stood there, chest heaving, cock twitching, eyes blazing with a fury and lust that were intertwined and suddenly she knew. The game wasn’t over. It would never be over.

She took a deep, steadying breath. Maybe she was caught by these riotous emotions, this incredible, overwhelming lust for him that dominated every moment of her every day. But two could play by the rules Gabe was so brutally establishing.

Reaching down, she pressed a hand firmly against Gabe’s beautifully aroused cock. He thrust himself into her fingers over and over again, and she grinned. Oh, yeah—he needed this as much as she did. Maybe more. She continued stroking him through the fine silk of his trousers. She loved how big he was, how long and thick and desperate he was for her. Before she was done, he would be begging to be inside of her.

Turning, he pulled her into his arms as he lowered his mouth to her ear. “Let’s go find the car,” he murmured.

“The car?” she asked, pretending ignorance as she reached between his legs and cupped his balls in her hands, her fingers slowly massaging him. She knew her eyes were almost as glazed as his, but she couldn’t help it. Having this big, strong man at her mercy was the biggest turn-on she’d ever had.

“I’ve got to be inside you, Annalise. Soon.”

She licked her lips even as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed against him. “Here. Now.”

“Right now?” His cock jumped against her stomach, growing harder and thicker—though she would never have imagined it possible.

She could tell he wanted to protest, to tell her all the reasons why sex in this bathroom with a restaurant full of people outside was a very bad idea. But her words had put a picture in his brain—just as she had intended—and his unruly cock was more than willing to accommodate her. Thank God.

She kept her triumph to herself as she nodded and pulled him back against her. “Right now.” She opened his belt and unbuttoned his pants. She gasped when his cock sprang free of the confining clothes—he was always ready to go, but tonight he seemed larger than usual.

Annalise grinned as she dropped to her knees. Her own personal plaything—huge and hot and dying to be inside any part of her body it could reach. She shivered as her own arousal quickly spiraled out of control. What else could a girl ask for?

Leaning forward, she delivered one long, leisurely lick—from the base of his cock to the very tip. He shuddered and stiffened against her, his hands suddenly fisting in her hair. Curling her tongue in, she used the underside to stroke him on the torturously slow return journey.

“Annalise.” His voice was hoarse, strangled, the hands in her hair tightening almost to the point of pain. But she didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. She wanted him to come, to flood every part of her until she no longer felt so alone.

Before he could protest, she took him in her mouth. He was so huge that she struggled for a moment until, with a sigh, she let her throat relax and his cock slid deep—all the way to the base.

“Fuck, Annalise.” The words were whispered, urgent, and sent a shot of pure molten heat directly through her cunt. She was already wet, her thighs slippery with desire, and her muscles were clenching rhythmically—desperate for Gabe’s cock to slide inside and put out the fire that was rapidly burning out of control.

His hands in her hair tightened even more and the almost pleasurable sting turned her on as nothing ever had. Or maybe it was the situation—fury mixed with passion. One hell of a potent aphrodisiac.

She was barely aware of her own hand creeping between her thighs in a desperate attempt to stem the ache. She pressed her fingers against her clit—just to get a little relief as she didn’t want to come yet—but her hips moved of their own volition, arching and twisting against her hand as blinding pleasure shot through her.

Her other hand slid around to cup his ass, pressing his throbbing cock even more deeply down her throat. She sucked firmly and rhythmically while her tongue stroked every inch of him it could reach. She loved how his breath hitched, how his ass tightened, how curses slipped, softly but unchecked, from his lips as he thrust against her again and again. He was usually such a gentleman that seeing him with the civilized veneer ripped away was a total turn-on. Even more so was knowing that she was the one who had made him lose it so completely.

Suddenly, he stopped, tried desperately to pull away. “Annalise, stop. I’m going to—”

She grabbed him with both hands, pulling him deeper as she hummed low in her throat. No way was she giving up her prize this close to the finish line.

“Fuck!” He came, flooding her, his cum shooting in spurts into her mouth, down her throat. And still she didn’t stop, intent on sucking him dry and into firm arousal again. After all, she wasn’t close to finished with him yet and they still had a few minutes before his clients missed him. The way she was feeling, thirty seconds was about all she’d need.

“Baby, stop,” he groaned softly until she pressed her fingers on a spot just behind his balls. God bless the Internet and all the information a girl could find on it—he hardened instantly, thrusting helplessly against her. “Goddamn, how’d you do that?”

She licked her lips and shot him a sultry look. “A girl’s got to have her secrets.”

He eyed her grimly. “And you certainly have yours.”

Grinning, she released him slowly and let him pull her to her feet. “My turn.”

The look he shot her was wicked, as were the fingers he slid slowly over her incredibly tight nipples. He squeezed, hard, and she gasped, her back arching to give him better access.

“Touch me.” Annalise guided his hand under her skirt and up to her hot, wet folds.

His fingers found her, stroked her clit. “You’re not wearing any—”

“Nope. Just a pair of thigh highs and a spritz of Paradise.” She grinned despite her growing arousal. “No pun intended.”

His black-magic eyes darkened even more. “You sat there and let that idiot touch you, knowing you had nothing beneath this dress?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?” She strove to sound normal when what she really wanted to do was beg him to fuck her, to fill her, to give her what no one else had been able to.

“Damn right it is,” he growled as he thrust one long, thick finger into her. Followed it with a second. “You belong to me.”

She moaned low in her throat, arched her hips and pulled him deeper inside of her. “I belong to myself. Now fuck me before I explode.”

His answering laugh was low, aroused, and more than a little bit threatening as her words speared through him and brought his excitement back up to fever pitch. “I don’t think so. You’re done calling the shots.” He thrust another finger into her, roughly, and she saw stars. The walls of her vagina clenched tightly around him and a series of small explosions started deep inside her. He ground the heel of his hand against her clit while his fingers moved in her.

She moaned, her head falling back even as her legs opened to give him better access. She knew he was watching her, assessing every expression flitting across her face. But as his other hand squeezed her nipple just to the point of pain, she didn’t care.

One more quick press of his hand against her clit and she was coming, biting desperately on her bottom lip to keep from screaming as wave after wave of mind-numbing, bone-jarring pleasure swept through her.

He groaned as she clenched around him and he used those talented fingers of his to take her higher and higher. The pleasure went on and on—a liquid pull from her tits to her cunt that electrified everything in its path.

When the contractions finally began to subside, he pulled out of her with a groan. She whimpered, her hips moving desperately against him until he slipped his hands under her ass and lifted her against the wall. His cock pressed urgently against her, wetness already leaking from its head.

“Wait,” she cried breathlessly, reaching into the very top of her stocking and pulling out a condom. “You need this.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Always prepared,” he murmured.

“Always,”she answered, her hips moving urgently against him.

“But was it for me?” He pulled back, moving his cock away from her though his strong hands kept her suspended against the wall. “Did you put that condom there for me, Annalise?” He traced a finger over her overstimulated nipples. “Or would any guy do? As long as he had a dick?”

She met his eyes, suddenly as furious as she was aroused. “Get over yourself, Gabe.”

He lifted an imperious eyebrow. “I am over myself. The question is, are you?” He bent down and roughly took her nipple in his mouth. His teeth closed around her and she screamed, arching wildly off the wall, desperate for him.

“Don’t do this,” she whimpered as he held himself away from her, their only points of contact the hand holding her against the wall and his teeth nipping sharply at her breast.

“You started it, baby. I’m only finishing it.” His tongue soothed the little hurts his teeth had inflicted.

“Then finish it!” she shrieked, grabbing his tightly shorn curls with both hands and trying desperately to pull his mouth to hers. He avoided her, refusing to give her what she wanted. “Tell me,”he demanded as he shoved two long fingers into her.

“No.” She moved against his hand. She was so close—

He pulled out abruptly. “No!” she wailed, too far gone to care that she was practically begging.

“Tell me.” His voice was hoarse with restraint, but she could see the resolve in his dark chocolate eyes. She would get nothing from him without the truth.

“It was for you.” She pushed her hips out from the wall, blindly, desperately seeking him. “I put it there for you. I came to Emilio’s looking for you.” She glared at him, more furious and aroused than she’d ever been in her life. “Are you satisfied?”

“Not yet,” he grunted, yanking the condom from her nonresistant fingers and making short work of rolling it on. Then, with one hard thrust, he buried himself to the hilt. She went offlike a firecracker, would have screamed the place down if he hadn’t found her lips with his own.

“Fuck, Annalise. You’re wicked.” Again and again he pounded into her willing body.

“I know.” She pushed against him. “Harder, Gabe. Please. Harder.”

He glanced in the mirror and she turned her head to do the same, loving the picture they made. Her long, pale legs were locked around his waist. Her head was thrown back, her nipple in his mouth. His dark head and mocha-colored skin made a beautiful contrast to the fair skin of her breasts. One of her hands was wrapped around his shoulders while the other slipped between them to stroke her clit as she pleaded with him for more. He gave her what she wanted, thrusting harder and deeper than he ever had before and her eyes closed, the visual stimulation suddenly too much along with everything else.

As Gabe filled her completely, as he pounded into her as hard and as fast as possible, it came to her. She could love this man—if she wasn’t careful, if she didn’t take a few steps back, if she didn’t watch herself, she could fall for him. Hard. She, Annalise Gallagher, queen of the love ‘em and leave ’em crowd, was on the verge of falling head over heels.

The shock of the realization, the utter horror of it, nearly cooled the fire raging inside of her. But Gabe sensed her sudden withdrawal and, with a stroke of his finger and a shift of his hips, brought her right back to crisis point.

Deliberately she clenched her muscles around him, massaging him even as he pounded into her. “Annalise,” he gasped, his teeth sinking into her shoulder, holding her in place like an animal claiming its mate. “I can’t last much—”

The pleasure-pain of the bite was all it took to send her over the edge. With a low keening cry she shattered, her muscles milking him until he too let go of his control and came apart in her arms.

CHAPTER THREE

WHEN THE LAST SHUDDERS PASSED, ANNALISE RESTED her forehead against Gabe’s. Mission accomplished. She’d set out to remind him of what he was missing without admitting how much she’d missed him, and she’d done one hell of a job if she did say so herself. Not that it had been exactly difficult. He was the most passionate, responsive man she’d ever known. What she hadn’t expected was the strong emotional response he pulled from her more and more often lately. But she could handle her feelings—would handle them—like she always had. By ignoring them until they went away.

He slid her slowly down his body until her Jimmy Choos hit the tile floor. With a cocky grin he stepped back and disposed of the condom before fixing his pants. Ignoring him, she pulled her dress down and turned toward the mirror to study her reflection. She felt branded, exposed, her emotions completely bare for his scrutiny. What was it about this man that tore her open? How did he touch a heart she’d spent years forgetting she even had?

Her own vulnerability hit her and suddenly she wanted to be anywhere but where she was.

Gabe straightened the back of her dress. “This shouldn’t take much longer.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll meet you at your place in about an hour.”

She shrugged carelessly, refusing to let him see how confused she felt. “If something better doesn’t come along.” There was no one better than Gabe, but she’d burn in hell before she let him know it. It never paid to let a guy get too cocky—pun totally intended—and right now, Gabe looked about as cocky as a man could get.

His eyes darkened at her words, anger still sizzling right below the surface. But she ignored the warning sign—something reckless had grabbed ahold of her, making her push at him harder than usual, making her flex her claws. Demanding that she prove she was still a badass, despite the emotions tying her stomach in knots.

Maybe it was that damn movie and the chink it had put in her normally impenetrable armor or maybe it was this strange tenderness for Gabe that wouldn’t go away. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t let her back down—even as Gabe’s hands tightened threateningly on her upper arms.

“I’ll be at your place in ninety minutes—tops. Be there.”

“Oooh. I just love a man who beats his chest,” she murmured, brushing a careless hand over his nipple. “Or anything else for that matter.”

“You don’t want to push me on this, Annalise.”

Their eyes met and locked, the power struggle that had been in evidence from their very first meeting rearing its ugly head again. Part of her wanted to back down, to give just a little. But she had no give in her—Michael, the lying, cheating, scumsucking bastard—had ripped it out of her eight long years before.

“And you don’t want to push me.”

His grin was mocking. “Try me.”

He turned and left before she could think of a comeback. Goddammit.

Furious, frustrated, and completely unsure of what to do next, Annalise headed back to her table. Once there, she asked Angelo to box up the meal that had arrived in her absence. Tossing a couple of twenties on the table, she gathered up her wrap and doggie bag and headed for the car, making sure not to glance in Gabe’s direction even once. But she felt his eyes on her anyway.

Outside, she took a few deep breaths and leaned a steadying hand against the old brick building that housed Emilio’s. What had she gotten herself into? Falling for another highly sexual, dominant guy? One who drew women’s eyes wherever he went? How could she have done this when she’d sworn after Michael that she’d never give another man that kind of power over her? How could she have not learned from her mistakes?

“Hey, Annalise, you okay?”

She glanced over to see a couple of the valet-parking attendants looking at her with concern. She must be in worse shape than she thought. Fishing in her bag for her valet ticket, she answered,“Just fine, boys.” She handed her ticket to the tall, blond one.“You guys look swamped.” She nodded toward the full parking lot.

“Never too busy for you,” he answered with a grin as he took the ticket, letting his hand linger on her own just a little longer than necessary. She returned his smile and added a wink. Mickey was a cutie and she remembered fondly a couple of hours she’d spent on top of him late last spring. He’d been a young, but enthusiastic lover.

Though she was still sticky from Gabe, for a split second she thought of taking Mickey up on his unspoken offer. Just to prove to Gabe that he didn’t have any power over what or who she did. Just to prove the same thing to herself.

But she wasn’t in the habit of fucking men to make a point—even to herself. She fucked them for a good time. Sometimes just for a few moments of blessed oblivion. But she’d never been the kind to cut her nose off to spite her face.

So it was with a sigh of regret that she climbed into her two-seater, electric-blue BMW. She waved to the boys and slowly pulled Fancy Pants into traffic.

The girls laughed at her for naming her car, something they thought she should have outgrown by the ripe old age of thirtyfour. But for years, her only salvation had been whatever car she was driving. When things got too tough, she could grab the keys and simply fly away for a while.

Fancy Pants was a far cry from the rusty old Chevy she used to drive, but no less a friend for all her dressed-up parts. She had come a long way from the one-bedroom walk-up she used to share with Michael. She shied away from the memories—eight years wasn’t long enough to forget how it had felt to walk in on him and her perennially youthful, pathetically dependent mother getting it on. Annalise snarled despite herself. Could her life have been any more Jerry Springer?

She’d pulled out of the restaurant parking lot with every intention of going to the Gaslamp Quarter and partying until two, so it was a surprise when she found herself turning right onto Harbor Drive and heading toward Coronado. But, she supposed, it shouldn’t have been. She loved driving along the bay, watching all the tourists with their kids and cameras. She wanted nothing to do with that life, but it was interesting to observe on occasion. Besides, nothing beat the smell of the ocean.

And, she admitted with some difficulty as she took the left onto Harbor Island, she was too wound up to hit the clubs just yet anyway. In the mood she was in, she might end up doing something stupid just to prove a point.

So she drove—for hours—before she ended up at her favorite spot along the ocean, watching waves that had originated thousands of miles away roll in over and over again. Reminding herself how inconsequential her little problems were in the grand scheme of things and that she should be grateful for every day, and everything, that she had. Eight years wasn’t so long that she had forgotten what it was like to wake up so emotionally devastated that she couldn’t get out of bed until she’d worked out a suicide plan.

Dawn was slowly streaking the sky when she finally made it home. Carrying her precious Jimmy Choos in one hand—the beach had left her feet wet and sandy—she limped up the staircase to her apartment. All she wanted was a long shower and some sleep. She’d call Gabe later, much later, as she wasn’t in the mood to have the argument she knew they were due for after she’d deliberately stood him up.

Lost in thought and drooping from exhaustion, she flipped on her apartment light and let out a startled scream. Gabe was stretched out on her sunny yellow sofa, his shoes off and his eyes blazing with anger and something else that looked a lot like disgust.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “How did you get in?”

“Iris took pity on me and let me in, after watching me sit in the hall for two hours waiting for you.” His eyes were dark and dangerous, his full lips compressed into a thin, grim line. “Where the hell have you been?”

Closing her eyes, Annalise nearly swayed with exhaustion. She didn’t have the energy for this, didn’t have the strength right now to keep up the party-girl facade she’d spent so damn long cultivating. But when she opened her eyes again, none of the misery she’d combated on the beach showed.

“Out.”

“Yeah, I got that impression.” He stalked toward her, a gorgeous tiger of a man—all long limbs and careless grace. Intense eyes and bared teeth. A low growl rumbled from his chest, making her eyes widen and her heart beat faster.

Standing her ground in the face of his aggressiveness was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. But Annalise planted her bare feet and refused to budge, even when he got so close that she could feel his breath on her forehead.

“Where have you been, Annalise?” He repeated the question, his voice lower than she’d ever heard it, and a shiver of unease—and God help her, arousal—shot up her spine before she could stop it.

Angry with him, furious with herself, she ignored his unspoken warning. “That’s really none of your business. I went out, had some fun and now I’m home and ready to sleep.” She gave him her most disdainful look and started past him. She’d almost made it to her bedroom door when he grabbed her wrist and spun her around, pressing her against the living room wall.

His pelvis pushed insistently against hers and his hand rested at the base of her throat. Neither was anywhere close to painful, but the inherent threat was enough to stiffen her spine and harden her voice. “Let me go.”

“Did you fuck him?” Those sorcerer’s eyes blazed angrily, even while his lips hovered just a hair’s breadth above her own.

“What do you care?” she tossed back. “As long as I fuck you too?”

The hand near her throat tightened warningly, though his grip remained painless. “Did you let that fucking waiter touch you? Put his hands on you? Put his cock in you?” His breath was coming in short pants. “Or was it someone else?”

She shoved against him, but it was like trying to push a mountain—his muscles were like granite under her hands. “Let me go!” she demanded loudly, her voice rising despite her best efforts to keep it even.

“Not until you tell me, damn it. Who was it?”

“Gabe—”

He shook her then, not hard enough to do any damage, just enough to get her attention. “Tell me.” He was wild, out-of-control, his possessive instincts dangerously aroused.

She wanted to lie because it was easier. Wanted to tell the truth, though he would never believe her. But when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out. She shook her head, shrugged, looked down at the thick, cream-colored carpet beneath her feet.

“Damn it, Lissy, just tell me.” The rage was gone and in its place was a sad acceptance she’d never seen from him before.

Her resolve broke at the sadness in his voice and at the sound of her nickname on those beloved lips—he was the only man to ever care enough to give her a nickname. Unless “Oh yeah, baby, do it again” counted.

“I was driving, Gabe. Just driving. Sorting some stuff out in my head.” She gestured to her sand-covered feet. “I ended up at that spot in Coronado we found a couple of months ago.”