Текст книги "Big Bad Wolfe"
Автор книги: Danielle Doolittle
Соавторы: Elle Doolittle
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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 10 страниц)
Chapter Eight
It was two o’clock on Saturday and Sarah was unrepentantly still in her robe and pajamas. She had been replaying the events of Wednesday night’s desk encounter since the cloud of lust burst when Falon quietly closed the office door leaving her alone and confused. It wasn’t until she was slinking out of the building into the night that the fact he never kissed her registered. He had made love to her body, expertly, but he hadn’t made love to her. Not really.
He had made sure that damned control of his stayed firmly in place even while he took her to such soaring heights. Sarah hated that omnipresent control. There had to be a way to get him to relinquish it.
She closed her eyes as a particularly explosive memory of that night brought her body to tingling awareness. While she wanted to see him as lost in the moment as herself, she was beginning to think that she would take him any way she could. That wouldn’t do. She didn’t want him want him. She just wanted him to remember the man he used to be.
Control wasn’t everything and for some reason he had forgotten to live. When he left Chicago in a few weeks, she wanted him to take that with him. And she knew he would be leaving. Falon Wolfe didn’t let the dust settle for too long.
She knew what she was up against the moment she stepped into his office. The problem was he had left her with a craving she was helpless to appease until he said the word. Somehow she thought he had done that on purpose, establishing who calls the shots in the little game they found themselves playing.
They had danced around each other over the past couple of days. She would take one step forward, he would take two back. Always out of reach. Always cool. While she was slowly being driven nuts by lust. If he was trying to teach her a lesson, Sarah wasn’t appreciating his method of teaching.
The buzz of the doorbell made her start. Thoughts of him on her doorstep with bedroom eyes and a can of whipped cream had her heart stumbling over itself in excitement.
“Sarah? Are you home?” Marcy’s voice boomed from the entryway leaving her libido to pout in the corner.
“Kitchen.”
“Are you ready … ” Marcy stopped short when she saw Sarah’s rather impressive state of laziness. “Who died?”
“What? Can’t a girl lounge around her own house in ancient pajamas without a tragedy?”
“Well yeah, for the normal people.”
She arched a brow at her friend standing shocked in the doorway. “And that would make me …”
“Impressively overpunctual.” Marcy smiled. “Are you going to get ready or do you plan on displaying this in all its glory to the citizens of Chicago?”
“Give me fifteen minutes.” She sighed and went to make sure she didn’t scare the hardened population of the greater Chicago area.
***
“What was all that about anyway?” Marcy asked while Sarah locked up.
“Mental preparedness.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, my panties have been on fire for three days and the man with the … equipment to put it out has been invited to our weekly dinner.”
Sarah didn’t mean to snap but apparently this level of horny made her a smidgen cranky.
“I see.” She could practically hear the smirk in her friend’s reply.
“Not now,” she nearly growled. This thing with Falon was turning her into an animal. “You invited him. Whatever made you decide that was a good idea I’ll never know—”
“The steam rising from your panties gave me the idea. Not all of us are blind.”
“But you did.” She continued as if she didn’t hear Marcy’s lewd comment. “And now you are responsible for whatever mess you have created.”
“What mess?” Marcy asked sweetly.
“The smoldering puddle of need I leave Mr. Falon Wolfe in by the end of the evening.”
Marcy threw her head back in laughter and Sarah felt the first real smile in the last three days part her lips. Two could play at this game.
***
Falon checked the time on his watch for what felt like the hundredth time. He wasn’t sure if he was checking because he was regretting accepting the dinner invitation or out of impatience to see Sarah.
He hadn’t touched her in nearly thirty-six hours and the lack of contact was affecting him more than he cared to admit. He told himself it was because he was being extra cautious with her. She called to him in an elemental way that left him with an uncomfortable ache in his chest he didn’t care to examine too closely.
“What time did you say they would be here?” he asked Frank. Again.
“Marcy said they should be here by seven-thirty.”
Frank shifted in his seat like he was nervous. When he checked his own watch, Falon got the feeling he was missing something. What was going on?
But before he could question him, Frank sat straighter, his gaze focused over Falon’s shoulder. “Here they come.”
When he turned, Falon wished the other man would have warned him. He struggled not to choke on his tongue, which felt suddenly too large for his mouth. If he thought the dress he forced Sarah to wear the other night was sexy, it didn’t hold a candle to the number she had on tonight. Cream lace hugged her curves from mid-thigh to breasts. Her shoulders were left bare by the strapless dress causing his once dry mouth to flood. Any minute now he was bound to do a passable impression of that randy cartoon wolf, bugging eyes and all.
“Holy hell,” he said.
“You can say that again.” Frank sounded almost as awestruck as Falon was sure he did.
Forcing his eyes from all that lace and creamy skin he could see why. Marcy went all out for the evening as well in a midnight blue dress so tight he wasn’t sure how she was going to manage to sit. Not distracted for long, his eyes focused back on Sarah and the halo of red curls that framed her gingersnap bedroom eyes. Male pride rumbled through him when he realized he had put that look there. She wanted him. Now if only he could control himself long enough to give them both what they wanted. And Lord, how he wanted.
“Gentlemen,” Marcy greeted them. “Please, don’t get up.”
The wicked look she gave Frank said it all. She knew it would be rather embarrassing for them if they managed to get to their feet.
“Have we kept you waiting long?” she asked as she slid into the seat next to Frank.
“Didn’t notice,” Frank answered, not taking his eyes off of the brunette bombshell to his left.
Falon felt Sarah take her place next to him like a physical caress. His body drew to attention making him shift in his seat to find some relief. He had until the end of dinner to get himself under control. Another cold shower just wasn’t going to do the trick tonight. Not with Sarah wrapped so deliciously in that innocent-looking lace.
Someone clearing their throat pulled him from the wicked plans he had for her. “I’m sorry what?”
“What would you like to drink, sir?” their rather annoyed looking waiter asked.
“Whisky. On the rocks.” He had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed the man’s approach or the others ordering. “Better make that a double.” He was going to need it.
***
Sarah was going worship the ground Marcy walked on if tonight went as planned. She hadn’t been sure about the dress, but she had assured her that it was just the thing to get Falon’s tongue wagging. She had been right. Sarah had practically seen it roll out of the man’s mouth when he spotted them across the restaurant.
Sliding into the seat next to his, she felt the awareness arc between them like a living thing. It was a needy beast demanding they fulfill it.
“So do you think you can turn the agency around?” Frank’s question drew her attention away from the many, many ways she planned on being fulfilled in the next few hours.
“Absolutely,” Falon answered after swallowing half his drink. “You have a solid, if not small, client base. Now that I have all the behind-the-scenes details handled I’ll be moving on to creating a new face for the agency. Something to carry it into the future.”
She listened as he outlined the new marketing strategy and media campaign he had in the works for Maxwell, Williams, and Blake. He truly did have some wonderful ideas. Not that she was surprised, he didn’t get where he was today without being good at what he did. But studying him she could tell there was a difference between being good at something and having a passion for it. She wasn’t sure he had a passion for anything.
“What do you say about going dancing?” Marcy asked the table.
Sarah nearly snickered when Falon’s firm jaw ticked. He must be remembering the last time they all had gone out dancing.
“I’m in,” she piped up just as the waiter was delivering their entrees. She saw the night ending in a very different way from the last.
The men shared a long-suffering look like they were being asked to sit in on a quilting circle before they both agreed to Marcy’s plan. Catching Sarah’s eye, the other woman winked. Everything was going according to plan.
***
After dinner, they walked to the club just around the corner that Marcy swore was one of the best in the city. It was considerably lower-key than the last place Sarah was dragged. She had to give her credit for that. And for picking a place close by. She wasn’t sure she would have survived being confined to Falon’s car alone with him for any period of time.
“Let’s dance,” Marcy shouted over the house music as soon as they were in the door.
Sarah looked to Falon before shaking her head. “I think we’ll sit this one out.”
She shooed Marcy and Frank away while Falon searched for an open place to sit. Apparently finding one, he led her by a firm grip on her elbow to a pair of tall stools tucked close to a small round table. Signaling one of the scantily clad waitresses—perhaps not that low-key after all—he ordered them both a drink before turning to study her.
“Not much for dancing?” he asked after letting the silence stretch.
She shrugged. “I guess not.”
“Then why come?”
“I thought it would be fun. Marcy thinks I should get out more. Experience life.”
“You haven’t been? Experiencing life?”
She was silent for a moment. She wanted him to understand her, but she was afraid of opening up too much to him. He had the potential to shatter her.
“I suppose I haven’t.”
He just looked at her, silently demanding she continue.
“After the accident. And losing my family, I sort of started playing it safe. I stopped taking risks I wouldn’t have balked at before their plane went down. I stopped going out. Focused on my schoolwork and afterward the agency. Everything sort of filled the places reserved for those spontaneous moments in life.”
He was silent for a moment and a part of her felt he understood. What did he lose to make him so reserved?
“There was no one in your life to share that with?”
“What like a boyfriend? No, not really.” Unsure again how much she should share she hesitated.
“Not really?”
“There was … someone, but he barely knew I existed let alone wanted to hear about what a sob-story my life had turned into.”
“When was this? In college?” She could only nod. Shit, had she given too much away?
“It was a long time ago. I haven’t dated since the crash. Can we leave it at that?”
It was the truth. What happened that night couldn’t be construed as a date in anyone’s book. Sarah had been feeling the loneliness of the loss of her family and had gone looking for Jim, her RA. He had told her that if she ever needed to talk he was always available.
She hadn’t known Falon was the only one in the room when she quietly slipped inside. Apparently he had just gotten in from a party down the hall and had a little too much to drink. She thought he was asleep until he called her name from across the gloom of the room. It was the first time she had ever heard it on his lips and her young heart skipped a beat at the idea of the man she thought herself in love with calling out to her in the night.
Decision made, she crossed the room to his bed, his name a whisper on her lips. When she sat on the edge of the bed, he sighed and reached for her. What happened next was the most exciting, erotic experience of her young life. It wasn’t until the next day when she woke before dawn and slipped back to her room she began to second-guess her choice. The following weeks sealed her regrets.
“Dance with me,” Falon whispered close to her ear. When he pulled back, she saw the concern turning beneath the icy topaz of his eyes. How long had she been lost in the past?
Swallowing, she slid off her seat.
The music changed, slowing the pace as he led her by the hand to the dance floor. The feel of the hard planes of his body pressed to hers planted her feet firmly back in the present. It didn’t matter what happened all those years ago. What mattered were the strong band of Falon’s arms around her and the press of the heat of his arousal against her belly.
Moving with a slow sensuality that had both of them taking shallow breaths, neither said a word. They let their bodies do the talking, teasing their senses with the promise of sweaty skin and hot kisses.
His hand traced the delicate line of her spine, causing a shiver of desire to race through her body and settle low in her belly. Tangling his fingers in her hair, he pulled her head back and looked deep into her eyes. Before his mouth took hers in a searing kiss, Sarah could have sworn it was fire, not ice, dancing in the golden light of his eyes. When he finally let her up for air, she couldn’t remember why it mattered.
“We’re leaving.” He pushed out between harsh breaths, nipping the lobe of her ear before pulling her from the dance floor.
***
He didn’t say a word as he sped them with white-knuckled control back to her brownstone. Sarah was glad he didn’t give her time to think about her actions when he slammed the car into park and practically pulled her from the car.
“What exactly—”
“Not a word, Sarah.” He interrupted her question, holding his hand out impatiently. “Keys?”
Producing them from the bottom of her purse, she watched as he unlocked the door. She was lost, swept up in the wave of his impatience and eager to know exactly what it meant.
“You’ve pushed me, Sarah,” he growled, turning to her in the dark entryway. “I think that it’s time you learned that I don’t like being tested.”
Sarah tried to swallow around her heart that suddenly took up residence in her throat. When he took a menacing step toward her the thought that she should be frightened registered in the back of her mind before a wave of lust washed it away. Who would have thought the caveman posturing would be such a turn on? She silently thanked him when he took a firm hold of her arms. They were the only things keeping her standing as her knees turned to useless piles of Jell-O.
“I want you to be fully aware.” He paused to kiss an exposed shoulder. “What’s about to happen, and trust me it will happen, is just as it appears to be.” He kissed the sensitive skin of the other shoulder. “Two people, giving in to the pull of their bodies. Nothing more.”
His mouth was on her throat now, nibbling its way to her jaw line. Doing delicious things to her heart rate. If he would just … move a little to the … yes, right there. She let a moan slip past her lips as he discovered the sensitive spot just below her ear.
He pulled back to blow warm air across the freshly kissed skin causing warmth to fill her empty spaces. “If you wanted this to happen all you had to do was speak up. I don’t like games, Sarah. I don’t like games and I don’t like people poking around at my reasons. This is going to happen but on my conditions. Can you handle that?”
Right now, she couldn’t handle if he stopped. Sarah gave him a jerky nod and he released her arms to frame her face. “Glad we understand each other.”
When his mouth met hers, she forgot all about her struggle against his formidable control. She could only focus on the hollow ache that longed for him to fill it and the way he expertly laid siege to her mouth.
If he wanted tonight to be just about the sex that was fine, she was more than happy to play along. He could think that it was just his body he was sharing with her, but deep down she believed that when someone gave themselves to another they left a piece of them there. It was a connection Falon had refused to acknowledge for years, hiding behind the ice that encapsulated his life.
As Sarah returned his kiss with a hunger all her own, she vowed that tonight’s inferno would be the first of many to test those walls.
She couldn’t withstand his seduction of her senses. He surrounded her, filled her lungs like her aching body longed to be filled. When he backed her into the nearby wall, she didn’t think to protest. Instead, she used it as leverage to wrap a leg around his hip. Bringing his rigid length into direct contact with the neediest part of her.
She couldn’t go on much longer like this, wrapped in delicate lace. Layers of clothing a barrier between her hands and what she really wanted to feel. Her hands on him, his on her, it didn’t matter, she craved skin.
As if reading her mind, he ran a palm down the thigh hooked around his waist. Stopping at the knee he hiked it a little higher while rocking his hips into hers setting off sparks throughout her sensitized body. When he lifted her other leg, she instinctively anchored her ankles around his lean waist. The movement brought her chest flat against the strong wall of his, causing her to purr in approval. He caught the sound with his mouth as he walked them up the stairs.
Never missing a step or breaking the kiss, he masterfully navigated the darkened hallway stopping just outside her bedroom door. Letting her slide down his body, the move rubbing her sensitive nipples against his chest, he released her mouth.
“Last chance.” His voice rumbled low in his chest causing a quiver lower in her anatomy.
“Not on your life,” she panted, twisting the knob sending them tumbling into the room.
He backed her into the middle of the room and Sarah had to fight a groan. This wasn’t where she wanted to be. She wanted to be rolling around with him on the bed, not two feet from where he stopped her.
“Close your eyes.” He held her unsure gaze. “Close them, Sarah.”
The smooth seduction in his voice had her eyes languidly falling shut. She had no resistance to the way she was making her body feel with little more than a whispered command. His fingers ghosted across her cheekbone before tracing the lines of her lips.
“Beautiful.” When his hand fell away and the movement of air indicated he had stepped away from her side, she felt a sense of panic. What if he changed his mind? Afraid to move and break the spell he was weaving around them, she attempted to calm her frantic breathing and focus on the sound of his movements.
All her hard work to calm down was undone by the rustle of clothing and the soft thud of shoes falling to the carpet. Images of his elegant fingers working the buttons free down the front of his shirt, him slowly peeling the white silk from his muscular chest and arms before sliding off his shoes. His muscles flexing as he released his belt from the loops, all without taking his predatory eyes from her body. Soon the only thing she could hear was the erratic tattoo her heart beat against her ribs.
The warm heat of his body behind her was startling. She hadn’t heard him move. She felt a finger trace the back of her dress, just barely making contact with her skin. If it was his mission to slowly drive her insane, he was succeeding.
Slowly lowering her zipper he brushed her hair aside, leaning over her shoulder his breath whispered across her skin. “I want you to feel, Sarah. Just feel.”
***
Falon was going crazy. He hadn’t planned on the sizzling heat to nearly consume him. That was why he made her close her eyes. He couldn’t watch the fires burning there that begged him to lose himself in her heat.
When he told her he only wanted her to feel, he had only been speaking half the truth. The fact was he wanted her to live. He had a feeling she hadn’t been truly living since the accident that robbed her of her family. He wanted to make her feel so alive she ached with it, couldn’t hold it in and fell to pieces in his arms.
Lazily following the zipper of her dress down the ridges of her spine, he forced himself to resist the urge to follow those fingers with his tongue and lips. What was she doing to him? He had a method and sticking to that method ensured they would both get pleasure. Yet one small touch at the small of her back and he wanted to force her to the floor and plunge into her depths. Not letting her up until she knew to whom she belonged.
He watched the lace puddle at her feet and pushed his impulses to the back of his mind. For a moment he enjoyed the woman in front of him. She was quivering with need, breath coming in shallow pants that pushed her delectable breast out with each intake of precious oxygen.
He wanted to taste her. But not yet, he wanted it too much.
“Step out of your shoes.” His voice sounded hoarse, proof of her effect on him.
When she obeyed, he took her hand and led her to the bed. Her eyes were still firmly closed and he could tell the simple contact was having its intended results. Her body was hyperaware of his without her sense of sight.
Kneeling between her slightly parted knees, he slowly began to kiss his way down her shaking body. Hands fisted on the mattress at her sides to resist touching. It wasn’t time for that. First he would taste her.
The change in her breathing let him know she was aware of his intentions as he kissed and licked around her navel. The quaking muscles under his mouth let him know she wasn’t going to be stopping him.
Hooking his thumbs under the thin material of her panties, he lowered then removed them. He sat frozen for a moment, transfixed by the sight before him. Sarah sat on the edge of the mattress, head thrown back, and eyes screwed shut in anticipation. Her breath sawed through her lungs causing her breasts to quake and his gut to clench. He wanted her too much, but there was no turning back now. His body wouldn’t let him. So he would remain as detached as possible while enjoying the heat he could feel pouring off of her in waves.
Starting at her left knee, he began to trail tiny nips and soothing kisses up her inner thigh. Her legs relaxed and her knees spread wider offering to him the sweetest gift. Not pausing, he took her with his mouth and tongue, pulling sweet cries and whimpered protests from her.
When he felt her body tighten, he slowed his rhythm, bring her back from the edge he didn’t want her to go over. Not yet. Not until he was deep inside. Pulling himself away from her heat, he retraced his journey back up her body, pausing to pay homage to her needy breasts before rolling her to the center of the bed.
He slowly began to reignite her lust, expertly tempering his touch to her responses, finding her sweet spots and exploiting them. It was only when she lay beneath him, tossing her head from side to side in abandon did he sheath himself and give her the release her body was begging for.
Seated to the hilt, he looked down on Sarah still writhing beneath him, eyes closed now in passion and not by his command, begging him in sexy mews to finish what he started. God she was beautiful. Pulling back slowly, he refused to give credence to the heat unfurling in his chest at the sight of her draining all of the pleasure she could from the moment. From him.
Quickly entering her again, he claimed her mouth in a kiss that drew in her cries of pleasure. He kept up his onslaught until he felt her teeter over the pinnacle before allowing his own release.
Slowly bringing her back down, he didn’t want to think about the implications of what just happened. It wasn’t in the plan.
