Hard and Fast: Italian Stallions, Book 2, page 11
Which meant that as soon as five o’clock hit, instead of going home as he’d intended, he turned the steering wheel the opposite direction and headed straight to her place.
To make matters worse, she’d given him the perfect opportunity to bail on the rest of the wager Monday night. All he’d had to do was walk out the door when she left to take the shower. Just walk out and guide them back to business as usual.
All he’d had to do was leave.
Just leave.
Instead, he’d picked up the phone and ordered a pizza, settled in with Forrest on his lap, and then… If Jess hadn’t called, he didn’t doubt for a second, he would have taken Penny right there on her damn couch with the entire cast of Harry Potter cats watching them.
Even now, as he sat outside her apartment, he was lying to himself. Pretending he could take her out for a “practice” date then bring her home while offering her nothing more than another lesson on good-night kisses.
He was full of shit.
Because if tonight went like every other night he’d spent in Penny’s presence recently, he was going to level up in the game—and the next level included taking her to bed.
She claimed to need lessons in seduction, but as far as he could tell, she was already an expert. God knew she’d been seducing him for weeks. Maybe even months.
Gage climbed out of the car then took the elevator up to her place, casting a glance at the closed door of her neighbor’s apartment across the hall, the man who’d apparently been the impetus for Penny’s makeover. He tried to pretend the sudden rush of anger he felt toward the man was based on the fact he’d hurt Penny’s feelings by asking out another neighbor, not jealousy.
He kept walking and knocked on her door. Penny answered it within two seconds, as if she was hovering right behind it, waiting for him.
He considered instructing her to wait a minute or two before answering the door, that it would look better if she didn’t appear so eager.
But he didn’t, because he liked the idea of her being excited to see him.
Her smile was wide and infectious. “Hey,” she said cheerfully.
“Hey,” he said back.
“You want to come in for a minute?”
He shook his head. If he followed her into her apartment now, chances were slim the two of them would make it for their dinner reservation. She was wearing one of his favorite purchases from the boutique in Rittenhouse Row. The electric-blue cocktail dress brought out the blue in her eyes. The flared chiffon skirt ended just above her knees, while the plunging neckline ensured he was about to spend the next few hours issuing his cock the old “down boy” command.
“We need to go now; we have reservations at XIX Nineteen.”
“Seriously? I’ve always wanted to eat there.” She paused. “But you know, we could have gone anywhere tonight. Chili’s or Outback or Cheesecake Factory would have been fine. It’s just the dating experience I need. I hate that—once again—you’re spending a fortune.”
Gage reached for her hand and pulled her toward him, nabbing a quick kiss. “We’re not going to Cheesecake Factory. You’re beautiful, Penny, and I want to show you off.”
Her face flushed, clearly pleased by his compliment. It bothered him that she’d gotten so few of those in the past that her immediate reaction was an embarrassed blush. He was going to break her of that, telling her over and over how beautiful she was until she believed it.
Dinner with Penny was a much different affair than it had been with Meredith. The conversation was entertaining and nonstop, the two of them laughing throughout most of the meal. They had so many shared interests, it felt seamless as they bounced from one topic to the next, while polishing off a delicious dinner and bottle of champagne on the rooftop bar that overlooked the city.
They’d gotten into a humorous discussion involving their favorite fonts, with Gage confiding he wouldn’t read anything if it was in Comic Sans. He fucking hated Comic Sans. Of course, Penny found that hilarious and promised that henceforth, all her emails would be in that font, which prompted him to threaten to fire her.
A threat that had been a mistake when the cheeky woman reminded him she had another job offer. He really needed to find a way to lock her into a long-term contract. When he suggested a second wager over a game of Mario Kart, Penny demanded he finish fulfilling the terms of the current bet first.
Which sent his mind straight to the gutter in terms of all the ways he planned to fulfill her.
“Although,” Penny said, completely oblivious to the kinky places his thoughts had landed, “I have to admit I’m proud of how forward-thinking we are. I mean, how many grown-ups allow Call of Duty and Mario Kart to drive all their important life and business decisions?”
Gage chuckled. “The world would be a happier place if everyone adopted that practice.”
Penny took another sip of her champagne and looked around once more. She’d done so constantly. “It’s so beautiful here,” she mused for the tenth time.
Friends with the manager, Gage had managed to swing it so that he and Penny had the entire balcony to themselves. Dining by candlelight, under the stars, with the Philadelphia skyline as their view, created for a romantic—and yes, beautiful—atmosphere. Not that Gage had taken more than a cursory glance. He was too busy looking at her.
After he paid the bill, they held hands, sharing sweet, almost innocent kisses while they waited for the valet to return with his Audi.
The ride back to her place was sexually charged, the air practically humming from the electricity sparking between them.
He stole a few more kisses in the elevator then walked her to her door.
“Invite me in,” he demanded. A gentleman would let the decision be hers, but the beast she’d unleashed when she opened the door in that gorgeous dress was fighting hard to break the chains barely tethering him and keeping him from kicking down the door and carrying her straight to her bed.
“Come in,” she whispered, the words so sensual, so packed with hunger and need, he lost all patience. He took her key from her hand, unlocked the door, ushered her in, then shut it behind them. Penny shuddered when he threw the dead bolt.
“Gage,” was all she managed to say before he pushed her back against the closed door, kissing her like the plane was going down.
Penny wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss…with interest. On Monday, he thought he’d detected some nervousness in her, but none of that was present right now.
She’d asked him to teach her how to seduce a man, how to be better in bed. That request had hovered in the back of his brain all week as he relived their far-too-brief make-out session on her couch. It was obvious she lacked experience. He was curious about her past lovers, wondering how many men had come before him.
They broke apart, the two of them gasping for air, and he found himself asking the question that kept popping into his head. “Why do you think you’re bad in bed?”
Penny blinked a couple times, and he grinned at the way it took her a few moments to focus. He’d kissed her senseless, and he liked it. Considered trying to keep her that way for the entire night.
“What?” she asked.
“Did some guy tell you that you were bad in bed?” If that was what had prompted her request for sex lessons, his next question would be more of a demand—for the guy’s name and address. He wasn’t usually violent, but the idea of some asshole hurting her that way had him seeing red.
“No. No one said that.”
Gage was confused. “Then why do you need lessons on how to be better in bed?”
“That’s not what I asked for. I said I want to be good in bed.”
Gage rolled his eyes. “Semantics.”
Penny shook her head. “No, it’s not. It’s not a question of thinking I’m bad. Just inexperienced. I don’t really know how good or bad a lover I am. I’ve never done it.”
Gage’s hands, which had been resting on her waist, fell away. “Wait. What? Are you telling me you’re a virgin?”
Penny shrugged. “Well, not physically, I guess. I mean, I’m sure the hymen is gone. I have a vibrator and a dildo, and they get a workout, believe me. But…technically, yes. I’m a virgin. You knew that though. I told you.”
Gage took a step back, his vision going gray around the edges. “No. You never told me you were a virgin.”
Penny frowned. “Why the hell would I ask for sex lessons otherwise?”
Gage ran a hand through his hair, trying to get control of himself. He’d literally been minutes away from taking…Jesus…from taking Penny’s virginity.
He’d never slept with a virgin. Ever. Not even in high school. He’d lost his own virginity when he was fourteen…to a senior girl who’d initiated him into sex in fucking style. After that, he knew exactly what type of woman he wanted in bed, and she sure as fuck wasn’t innocent.
Gage wasn’t that kind of lover. He didn’t do gentle or sweet or patient or anything that came even close to making love. He fucked hard and fast, rough and raw. He took experienced lovers to his bed because he knew what he wanted and how. He made demands—kinky, challenging demands—and he expected them to be followed. Period.
“You should have been a hell of a lot more specific when you laid down the terms of the wager. Because there’s no way I would have agreed to take your virginity.”
Penny crossed her arms, and he was tempted to pull them down, away from her body. Right now, all they were doing was drawing attention to her gorgeous D cups and making it hard for him to be the stand-up guy he needed to be.
Because regardless of this new information, Gage’s dick was still honed in on Penny Beaumont, virgin or not.
He expected her to launch into an argument, to demand he satisfy the terms. If she’d done so, he probably would have stood a fighting chance because if there’s one thing he could win, it was a heated debate.
What he couldn’t defeat was her very simple, very softly spoken, “Gage, please.”
“Penny,” he said, too aware of the almost pleading tone in his voice. “Be practical. Logical. Don’t you want your first time to be with someone special, someone you…” He swallowed deeply before forcing himself to say the word he’d scrubbed from his vocabulary a long time ago. “Love?”
Penny rolled her eyes in outright frustration.
Nope. Wrong emotion. This was full-blown anger. As was evident when she threw her hands up and exploded. “Jesus Christ, Gage! I’m not a fucking nun. It’s not like I’ve been saving myself all these years. I haven’t had sex because no one’s asked! If a guy had even looked my way twice back in high school, I would have been in the backseat of his car so fast, it would make your head spin.”
She wrapped her arms around herself now, her anger starting to wane as she continued her confession. “But no one looked.”
And he realized every word she was saying was the truth. Because Penny didn’t have it in her to lie. Right from the start, no matter how embarrassing or painful, she’d laid open old wounds, showing him exactly who she was without pretense.
Typically, her eyes were downcast when it was hard for her to admit something, but this time, tonight, she held his gaze, let him see it all.
“Not in high school. Not in college. Not at work. I mean, to be fair, I wasn’t really putting myself out there. It’s hard to be seen when you’re hiding under big clothes, hunkered down in your bedroom or some fellow nerd’s basement twenty-four seven because it’s easier to live as some video game character than in your own skin.”
“Penny,” he murmured.
“I’m going to be thirty soon. And I’ve never really lived. I want to have sex. I want to be good at it—and I want you to be the one to teach me how. Now. Tonight.”
He swallowed deeply, searching for his no.
It didn’t exist.
“Take me to your bedroom.” Gage’s voice sounded rusty, rough, and even after he spoke, he couldn’t find a way to resist this, to do the right thing, to step aside and insist she find someone else.
Despite his protests, just the idea of her with another man drove him nuts, raised his blood pressure.
So when Penny took his hand and led him down the hallway to her bedroom, he let himself make the monumental mistake of following.
Because he’d fallen for Penny Beaumont, the quirky, adorable, nerdy IT girl. And even as he admitted that to himself, he knew it wasn’t going to be enough.
He was going to hurt her.
Badly.
That was inevitable.
Chapter Ten
Penny stepped across the threshold to her bedroom, waiting for those damn fluttering nerves, a panic attack, anything to kick in.
But for the first time…there was no hesitation standing in her way.
She felt confident, happy, excited.
She was exactly where she wanted to be.
Then she looked at Gage and thought for a second, she saw a glimmer of resistance…reticence?
If so, the master of controlling his emotions shut it down quickly, because one moment, she was looking at him and the next, Gage had twisted her away from him, his fingers slowly lowering the zipper of her dress.
Her head tilted to the left when Gage’s lips landed on the side of her neck, his soft kisses hot, wet.
Then he slid the dress over her shoulders, letting it fall to a heap at her feet.
“I don’t sleep with virgins,” he whispered in her ear.
For a moment, she panicked, thought he was going to back out. Dear God, she’d spontaneously combust if he left her alone now.
“Gage—” she started, trying to turn around to stop him if he tried to leave.
“Shhh,” he cut her off. “I don’t sleep with them because my desires, my needs, run too dark, too strong for an innocent woman to handle.”
“I can handle it,” she insisted. She might be inexperienced, but she wasn’t young and she wasn’t naïve. Her porn preferences included bondage and spanking and capture. When she played with her toys, it was never gentle and easy, her fantasies always starring one of the dark heroes from the erotic mafia or motorcycle club romances she was addicted to. She was a sucker for the dirty-talking bad boy in those books, the more dominant the better.
Gage turned her back around so that she faced him. His eyes slid to her breasts, in obvious hunger, before he captured her gaze and held it. “I hope you can. Because I can’t give you easy.”
She didn’t look away, didn’t falter when she said, “I don’t want easy. Actually, I would hate that.”
“Show me your toys.”
She frowned. “What?”
“You said your hymen’s gone. Said you have a vibrator and a dildo. Is that all you have?”
Heat suffused her cheeks as she debated whether to answer that question with the truth. Gage took the decision away from her.
“Don’t lie to me. I’ll know. And I’ll punish you for it.”
Holy Mother of Mary. That deep, sexy voice was back.
“I have…others.”
Gage’s lips quirked. “I see. What?”
She bit her lower lip, unable to answer.
“So you can play with them, but you can’t tell me what they are?”
It was a dare. It hadn’t taken Gage long to figure out she was helpless to resist a challenge.
“I also have a butt plug and…well…I don’t know what the official name of it is, but I have one I call my clit tickler.”
Gage didn’t smile, didn’t comment. Instead, he gripped the back of her neck and yanked her forward roughly, kissing her until she was light-headed from the lack of air. Then she felt his hands wrap around her and, once again, her bra was unfastened in record speed.
“I can’t get myself out of my bra as quickly as you can,” she teased, falling back on the humor they shared, unfamiliar with this too serious, too intense Gage.
He pulled the straps over her shoulders in response, dropping the bra next to her dress on the floor. Then, he knelt before her, pulling her panties down, tapping her ankle, silently telling her to lift her foot so he could discard them as well.
When he rose, she resisted the urge to lift her hands to cover herself. After all, she was totally nude and he was completely dressed, a state he didn’t seem in a hurry to change.
She ran her palms over her thighs, then her stomach, back to her thighs, all while trying not to wiggle like a worm on a hook under his gaze.
“Put your hands behind your head. Lock your fingers. Hold that position until I tell you to stop.”
She blinked a few times, trying to decide if she’d heard him say what she thought he said. Was he being serious?
Gage responded to her indecision with a stern look. “Now, Penny.”
She lifted her hands, locked her fingers.
He stepped closer, drawing his finger down the middle of her chest, through the valley between her breasts.
“Breathe,” he murmured, and air flew from her lungs in a whoosh.
“I know your first instinct is to cover yourself, to shield yourself with your hands. Don’t ever do that.”
“It’s just so har—”
He didn’t let her finish, didn’t let her make an excuse. “You’ve learned how to do the hair, the makeup. You thought those things would be hard too, but you practiced and you got it. So you’re going to practice this too. You’re going to look at yourself in the mirror every damn morning, and I mean really look. At every single inch of yourself—your face, your body, your hair, the zits, the parts you hate, the parts you don’t hate—until you see it.”
“See it?”
“How perfect you are. Just the way you are.”
“Oh.” It was all she could say. The only sound she could squeeze through a throat that was rapidly closing with tears. Not bad tears. Not necessarily good ones either. Just…tears.
She’d spent a lifetime studying the flaws, let a cruel nickname from school sink too deep, let it define how she carried herself. She wrapped her awkwardness around her—not like a shield but like a cloak of invisibility. Distracting people with the quirkiness so they didn’t look closer to see the real faults.
