Before the Storm, page 3
He kissed and lightly sucked on the sensitive skin, then moved lower to the hollow where collarbones met sternum. He raised his head, opening his eyes again. “You had a streak of dirt here”—he touched the spot he’d just kissed—“the whole time we were in the great room. I never knew dirt could be so sexy.”
She laughed softly, then gripped his shirt and pulled him closer. “Less talking. More kissing. I want to know if you taste as good as you look.” She pressed her mouth to his, slipping her tongue inside. She let out a soft mewl as his tongue stroked hers.
He deepened the kiss, pulling her onto his lap so his erection pressed at her ass as her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers threaded through his hair.
The kiss was hot, and deep, and hinted that she was just as eager to see where this would lead.
He raised his head and stroked her cheek, looking down into her eyes. “There is so much I want to do to you, Dr. Kendrick. Most of it dirty. Some of it downright filthy. But before we continue, I want you to know I won’t send you off to sleep in your cold truck tonight whether this goes any further or not. You’re welcome to my bed in the same way you were welcome in my shower—with or without me in it.”
She tightened her grip on his hair. “With you, please. And I think I want a do-over on the shower now that I know I could’ve had you join me.”
He smiled. “I was thinking of the jetted tub.”
“Ohh. Yes. That too.”
He brushed his lips over hers, then said the part that had to be said, “But this is all I can offer. Tonight. Like Jae said, long term doesn’t fit with my lifestyle.”
She nodded. “I’m good with that.” She grinned and kissed him softly, then said, “As long as you’re willing to fulfill all my dirty fantasies.”
“All? Could be a tall order for one night, but I’ll do my best as long as your kink doesn’t involve giving or receiving pain.”
She shook her head. “I’m pretty conventional. No pain. Light bondage is as far as I’ll go. Maybe.”
He imagined her tied to the log four-poster as he went down on her. “I’m up for that.” He ground his erection into her ass, proving he meant that literally. “We need condoms. I’ll run down to the lodge store.”
She nodded then said, “Wait. I think I have some in my dig kit.” She pushed the thick wool blanket aside and slid from his lap.
He followed her into the room, where she rummaged in her backpack. With a crow of success, she pulled out a battered box. “We’ve got a dozen,” she announced. “Think that’ll be enough?”
He laughed. “Hmmm. Maybe not. I mean, you’re damn sexy, and I’m only forty, not dead.”
She tossed the box onto the giant bed, then stepped before him and ran her hands over his chest and up, around his neck. “Well then, we’d better get started.”
He kissed her throat and ran his tongue along her collarbone, then murmured, “Room service will be here any minute.”
“Right. Food.” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose if you must eat.”
He laughed and pulled her back out onto the balcony. “Let’s enjoy the wine as we wait for dinner.”
Seated on the swing, he pulled her onto his lap again. Underneath the thick old blanket, his hands circled her waist as he held her and nibbled on her neck as they both took in the beauty of the moonlit lake and starry sky.
She wiggled her ass, encouraging his erection, and his hands slipped under her clothes to touch her skin. He explored upward, cupping breasts encased in a sports bra, too tight for him to slip his hand under the band comfortably for her, so his fingers traveled downward, finally reaching the waistband of her jeans. He popped the button and slid the zipper down.
“Room service—” she said.
“When they knock, you’ll stay out here and I’ll greet them.” He slid his fingers under the elastic of her panties and touched her clit.
Her whole body twitched as she let out a soft moan. “Oh. Yes.” She relaxed under his fingers and spread her legs.
“I can’t wait to taste you,” he whispered in her ear as he ran two fingers over her wet folds, then dipped one inside. “I want you tied to the bed with my tongue on your clit. I want to bring you to the edge of orgasm and hold you there.” He imagined her body thrashing, desperate for him to push her over the edge. “And then I’m going to fuck you hard.”
As he said the words, he stroked her clit with his thumb and worked two fingers into her pussy. She was on the edge now. Frantic. Eager.
There was a knock on the door.
She groaned as he removed his hand from her wet and ready body.
He licked his fingers. A taste of what was to come. This would be one hot night. “Hold that thought,” he whispered, and slipped her from his lap so he could answer the door.
Chapter Two
Audrey’s body ached—in the best kind of way. She’d been so close to coming, so focused on the feel of his fingers, the heat of his words, the pleasure of his mouth on her neck. Lost in the moment. It had been glorious. And the best part was that this was only the beginning.
She stayed huddled under the blanket and breathed in the aroma of mothballs as Xavier directed the layout of their meal on the dining table inside the suite. Through the open doorway, she watched as a small kerosene candle was lit and placed in the center of the table.
After the hotel employee left, Xavier flipped on the gas fireplace and turned off the overhead lights. The soft yellow glow of fire and lantern provided the only light in the room, while outside, electric lamps on the ground below were hooded, so the moon over the lake provided the majority of the glow that lit the night.
This would be nothing more than a one-night stand, yet the romantic touch of natural and firelight stirred something inside her. She knew Xavier wasn’t interested in anything more than the next few hours, but damn, he sure was bringing his A game.
She felt wild to be doing this, but also…vivid. Alive. Almost like this was destiny of some sort. And she didn’t even believe in destiny.
Yet here she was in a hotel room with a man she’d just met, feeling like this encounter—no matter how brief—would change her life.
It was nonsensical, but she was rolling with it. She slipped off her jeans and shirt under the blanket. She wished she were wearing sexy underwear. Anything would be more exciting than her purple sports bra.
In just two weeks, she’d celebrate her one-year anniversary as park archaeologist. And while achieving that lifelong goal had been satisfying, it had also been soured when her boyfriend of four years had ended their relationship the same day, the moment he knew for certain she would never move away from the Olympic Peninsula. He lived in the Bay Area and had hoped she’d fail to get her dream job, so she would move south to be with him.
Never once in their years together had he told her he had no intention of moving north, even though he knew her goals. He’d always blamed his job for keeping him in California, and talked about someday, when they’d be able to share a zip code.
In the end, he’d admitted to being jealous of the park and angry that she loved a place more than she’d loved him.
And she couldn’t deny it. When the ultimatum came: give up the job you’ve sought for more than twenty-five years or me, she’d chosen the job.
It was the right choice, given that he’d never been honest with her and that he had, in fact, been counting on her to fail and move south. But still, it had left her adrift. Hollow. Questioning what she knew and why she’d held such an unwavering goal since she was eleven to begin with.
Am I even normal to have such a deep obsession with a place?
He’d said she was still that immature girl whose only friend was an old, cantankerous archaeologist and a bunch of rocks and trees.
Was he right? Had she never gotten past those awkward years? Did she hold herself back from people because she could only relate to history and nature?
But he also didn’t know the life she’d built here, because his visits had been sporadic and brief. She had friends in Port Angeles, and they didn’t all work for ONP. Undine worked for a marine sanctuary, and her husband worked for NOAA.
But still, Audrey hadn’t considered dating in the last year. The idea of making herself vulnerable again had left her cold.
Now here she was, nearly a year later and she was allowing herself to be vulnerable with a man, welcoming intimacy with a stranger. Sure, there were safeties in place: he was an old friend of Jae’s, so she knew he wasn’t married or dangerous. And it was only for one night.
But then, if what happened between them so far was any indication, it would be one very hot night.
It wasn’t like she was risking her heart. No. This would be wild and wonderful and the gift she deserved to celebrate her first year in the job that was her life.
Looking back, she’d had too few lovers in her thirty-eight years, and hadn’t been with anyone but her ex in far too long. Thank goodness that was about to change.
Xavier stepped into the sliding glass doorway and leaned against the jamb, eyes raking her with the same smoldering look he’d been giving her all evening.
The wool of the blanket irritated her bare skin, but that too was about to change.
“You ready for dinner?” he asked.
Her belly fluttered as she rose from the swing, holding the blanket around her, then she dropped it at her feet and said, “No. I’m not hungry for dinner just yet.”
His eyes flared with heat as a slow smile spread across his handsome face. He was a beautiful man, with chiseled features and golden-brown skin. Thick, dark brows over brown eyes with wrinkles at the corners, and a firm, cleft chin combined with cheekbones that gave his face a rugged, masculine edge.
From a purely physical perspective, Xavier Rivera was mind-blowingly hot. And he’d promised to fulfill all her dirty fantasies. This was the anniversary gift she hadn’t known she needed.
“I want to fuck you out here in the moonlight,” he said in a low, husky voice, as he stepped forward and ran a hand down her shoulder, over her breast, and across her hip, pulling her forward and wrapping her in the warmth of his body.
A gust of wind hit her bare back, and she couldn’t help but shiver even as her body absorbed the heat of his.
“The wind would be a problem,” he whispered as he kissed her neck. “But before we go inside, I want to see you fully naked in the moonlight.”
She pulled the tight jog bra over her head as he tugged down her underwear. She shivered again as she stood naked before him, the wind whipping around her.
He stepped back, his gaze raking her from head to toe. “Beautiful,” he murmured. Then he dropped to his knees and licked her center, his tongue teasing her clit with hot, incredible strokes.
She forgot the wind, forgot she was naked, forgot her own name as he caressed her with his mouth. Her fingers found his hair, and she held him to her. “Oh, god,” she panted. She wanted to come. Needed to come.
But she wanted him in her mouth with equal urgency. She wanted his cock inside her hot, ready sex. She wanted dirty. She wanted sweet. She wanted everything all at once.
He wrapped his arms around her legs and rose, his shoulder pressed to her hips, bending her until she draped over him. “Let’s get you to the bed and do this right.”
Inside, he set her on the bed, then stared down at her naked, splayed form. The heat of the fire and his gaze warmed her chilled skin. She shivered again, but this time not from the cold. The exquisite pleasure of this moment was like nothing she’d ever felt before. And he wasn’t even touching her.
But then, she’d never done anything this wild before. At least, not like this. She’d been in her early twenties when she’d had her last one-night stand. The guy had been her age and far more focused on his own pleasure than the giving and sharing that Xavier had already exhibited.
“Get naked,” she said, her voice husky in her eagerness. “I need to taste you too.” She wanted to give him as much as he gave.
One corner of his mouth went up as he shook his head. “You said I could tie you up.”
“What do you have in mind?”
He turned to the antique wardrobe and pulled out two silk ties. “Wrists or ankles? Your call. I didn’t think to pack four ties.”
“Big mistake,” she said with a laugh, then added, “I choose wrists. But you need to strip before I’ll let you tie me.”
He unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, then pulled it over his head. He paused, turning to show her his bare chest, letting her take in the large scar that marred the skin over his left shoulder joint and pectoral muscle. His left side was muscled, but uneven, significantly smaller than his thick toned right.
He’d carried her on his right side. When they’d walked up the stairs, he’d kept her to his right.
Did the wound still hurt?
She saw unease on his face, and she realized the confident man was nervous about letting her see his scar.
She rose from the bed and stepped before him. She traced the puckered skin with her fingers and followed with her lips. She wanted to ask how he’d been injured, but suspected he didn’t want to talk about it. So she kissed the pale ridges, then found his mouth and kissed him deeply as she unbuttoned his fly.
He shoved his jeans down, and she stepped back to take him in. He stood before her in boxer briefs that did nothing to hide his thick erection.
“Beautiful,” she murmured, echoing his words on the deck. She stroked him through the thin cotton, then tugged his underwear down, lowering to her knees as she did so. She wrapped her hands around his cock and stroked the shaft, bringing the tip to her mouth. She ran her tongue over him, then opened wide and took him inside, stroking him with her tongue.
He groaned, his hips tight as if he were fighting thrusting into her mouth. He pulled back, extracting himself. “When you’re tied up. I want to fuck your mouth. But after I’ve come once already, or I’ll never last.”
Without hesitation, she climbed back on the bed and threw her arms wide, ready for him to bind her. She wanted this. All of it.
She’d never in her life thought she’d let a man she’d known only a couple of hours tie her up before they had sex for the first time, but here she was, and he couldn’t tie the knots fast enough.
He tucked a pillow under her head and leaned down and kissed her deeply. He lifted his head. “Before we do this, we’re setting some ground rules. I won’t do anything you don’t want or like. If you like what I’m doing to you, you will say ‘yes’ or ‘more’ or do that little panting thing you do that’s so fucking hot. If I touch you in a way you don’t like, you’ll say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ or ‘don’t’. Clear communication. My mission is to make you feel good. Period. Clear?”
She nodded.
He kissed her again. “Say it. In the moment, my eyes might be closed. I need to hear your one-hundred-percent emphatic, enthusiastic consent.”
“Yes. Please. Now.”
He smiled, his warm eyes crinkling in the corners, and slid a hand between her thighs and stroked her.
“Yes,” she said and let out an involuntary pant as his finger teased her clit.
“That’s it. Just like that.” He stopped stroking her, and she wanted to complain, but he finally looped a tie around her wrist and tied it to the corner pole of the log four-poster. He circled the bed to her other side and bound her other hand, spreading her arms wide. The loop on her wrists were loose enough that she could escape if needed, but the illusion of being tied was there, and she could grip the smooth silk if she needed something to hold on to.
He stepped to the foot of the bed and studied her. His gaze heated her skin as he caressed her naked, exposed body. She smiled and spread her legs, opening to him. His already impressive erection thickened.
“Holy fuck. What did I do to deserve this present today?” he said in a low, rumbly voice.
“Touch me, please.” She was desperate to feel him. His hands. His mouth. His cock.
He grinned slowly, then climbed on the bed, between her legs. He pushed her thighs wider and stared down at her. “Is this where you want me to touch you?” His fingers were an inch from her wet center.
“God, yes.”
He leaned down and ran his tongue over her clitoris. She bucked and moaned, the sensation he triggered exactly what her body craved.
He slid his hands under her ass and settled in, his tongue exploring her folds, his teeth grazing her clit. He sucked, he teased. He was a maestro, making her body sing as he brought her closer and closer to climax.
His fingers joined the fun and slipped inside her, then his mouth moved lower, and his tongue replaced his fingers as his thumb found her clit.
She would have launched off the bed with the jolt of pleasure if her arms weren’t bound. As it was, her thighs wrapped around his shoulders and she moaned as she pulled on the ties.
He raised his head and smiled up at her. “You like that?”
All she could do was whimper and nod. She had a gorgeous man’s face between her thighs, her hands were bound, and her body was burning with need. She found her voice. “I’m so close to coming. Fuck me. Please. I need you inside me.”
He grinned and bent his head between her thighs again. His tongue was exquisite torture. Making her feel so insanely good. Keeping her on the edge. She thrust her hips at him, adjusting his rhythm.
He chuckled and reached for the box of condoms she’d tossed on the bed earlier. With his mouth still teasing her, keeping her riding that edge as he sheathed himself. Then, in one smooth movement, he shifted to replace his tongue with his cock.
He stroked her clit with the hard ridge of his shaft, then slid the tip lower and teased her opening. She thrust forward as much as she could while being bound, taking the head inside. She groaned at the feel of his thickness.
“Please,” she begged.
