'A guy I saved from a very nasty legal situation a few years ago works here. They had a last-minute cancellation. It's swank, no? I look rested because I am. I slept until eleven the last two mornings and I had breakfast served at the table out there while Leah and I leafed through magazines. Yesterday we shopped and lunched and went dancing. Today we had a spa day which included a massage, a facial, skin treatments including mango body butter, a manicure and a pedicure. Oh and I got my hair done. In between those things, we had sushi for lunch and flirted with servers. I also masturbated three times for no other reason than I could and I knew Leah wasn't going to burst in without knocking and pretend she forgot I was in here. Why are you here? And most importantly, is Pickles with you?'
You test me, woman. You wouldn't tell me where you were. I wanted to be with you. You promised me this entire winter break and I'm here to collect. Take those clothes ofF.' She grinned. 'How did you find me?'
'Bingo has hotel connections. My God, your tits look good.' His hands replaced her bra and she arched into his touch. 'I have a suggestion.' I'm all ears and erection.'
'We owe each other a blow job, let's start with that first.'
Chapter 8
Brandon said nothing as he watched Dix and Kate disappear into the bedroom. Without waiting for Leah, he stalked into the other bedroom. Her breath had left her at the sight of him in the hall and hadn't quite returned. She took a moment to run a hand over her hair, soft and smooth from the special conditioner they'd put in it at the spa. Then she followed him.
Leah wished she was wearing high heels instead of soft ballet flats. A skirt and a tailored blouse instead of the yoga pants and T-shirt. She wished she'd pulled her hair into a bun or a braid, something tight and controlled. Because the way Brandon was looking at her right now made her feel anything but in control.
She closed the door behind her. He took a step towards her and, though she hated herself for doing it, she stepped back. His eyes flashed. Those big hands, the ones that knew every inch of her, curled into fists. He looked angry, and she didn't blame him.
He took another step towards her and this time she managed to stand her ground. Brandon would never hurt her. Leah lifted her chin, meaning to say something, anything that would break the awful silence between them, but his mouth stopped her words before they made it off her tongue.
His hand slid beneath the weight of her hair and held the back of her neck. The other went to her hip, pulled her close, ground her against his groin. Fuck, he was hard, and she moaned into his open mouth before she could stop herself.
Leah broke the kiss and pulled away. Not far. With each word her lips brushed his, and she knew in another minute she would have to taste him again.
'I told you not to come after me,' she breathed, still pinned against him by his grip.
'I didn't listen.'
How did you find me?'
His half-smile didn't quite erase the glitter of anger in his eyes. "I made a few calls. Asked some friends who had friends who knew people.'
'You went to a lot of effort,' Leah said.
Brandon's hand tightened on her hip then slid around to cup her ass and grind her just a little bit harder against the thickness in his crotch. He opened his mouth, but said nothing, just gave a small shake of his head that made the hair fall over his eyes. She liked it that way, though he preferred it shorter.
'Did you really think I wouldn't?' he asked in a low voice, dark and deep.
Surprised at the tone, she tried to move away but Brandon's grip held her tight. Her hands went to his chest to push at him, but he was like rock, immovable. 'I told you not to.'
'And I do whatever you say. Right? Isn't that right?'
Leah blinked and pushed at him again, but Brandon held her fast. She straightened her back and shoulders. Lifting her chin, she fixed him with the sort of steely glare that had lesser men quaking, but Brandon didn't quake. 'That's the way I like it, yes,' Leah said in a cool, even tone. 'Brandon.'
Heat flashed in his dark eyes. Under her palms, his heart thudded just a little harder. A slow, sweet spasm clenched her cunt and she bit her lower lip to keep from breathing out a gasp or a sigh.
He tilted his head just a bit, though, and looked deep into her eyes. 'And I always give you what you want,' he murmured without looking away from her.
His tongue wet his bottom lip and Leah leant in, just a little. Brandon didn't kiss her. He watched her, instead.
The moment froze between them, and once again Leah found herself grabbing for the threads of her control. Dammit, this was why she'd had to leave him in the first place, to take some time and get her head on straight. Away from those dark eyes, the head of thick dark hair, those big, big hands . . .
'Why do I do that, Leah?'
She opened her mouth but found no words, just a soft sigh. Brandon took his hand from her hip and captured one of hers. He slid it down his broad chest, hard with muscle under his tight T-shirt. When her hand skated over the knot of his nipple, Leah bit down on her bottom lip again. Hard.
Brandon forced her fingers to curl over his crotch. The heavy bulge of his cock pressed her palm through wash-worn denim. He shifted under her touch, pushing himself harder into her hand.
'Feel that?' He bent to whisper in her ear, saving her the sight of his face. Saving her control. Because, as long as she didn't have to look at him, she could pretend she wasn't the one ready to drop to her knees. 'Feel how hard I am for you? I haven't slept in days, Leah. Have barely eaten. I haven't done a damned thing but think about how I was going to find you, even though you told me not to. And then when I get here all I can think about is how much I want to get inside you.'
Leah swallowed but didn't tiy to push him away. Brandon moved her hand up and down along the length of his erection inside his jeans. He took a quick moment to let go of the back of her neck and reach between them to undo the button and zipper, and another to slide her hand inside. Her hand slipped over soft cotton. His fingers curled, forcing hers to grip his cock through his boxer briefs. His breath stuttered when he moved her hand along his hard cock.
'Feel that.' His voice had dipped low again, though not in anger.
'I feel it.'
'That's for you.' He spoke directly into her ear, each word hovering on a soft puff of breath that tickled her lobe.
Brandon nuzzled her neck just beneath it, and Leah's nipples tightened to poke the sheer lace of her bra. His hand moved hers. Up, down. His cock thickened under her touch. He shuddered when he took her hand and moved it under the waistband of his briefs to touch his bare skin. His cock, let loose from the cotton prison, sprang free, and Leah's hand closed around him all the way. Her other went to his shoulder, gripping tight, because God help her she needed the support.
Her knees had gone weak.
He pressed his teeth to her skin, not quite biting. A shiver rippled over her entire body and culminated between her legs where the lace of her panties had gone damp and tugged at her swollen clit with every shift. She thought he chuckled but the sound was immediately swallowed by his groan as her hand moved up and over the head of his prick.
He was still moving her hand, and Leah let him. She well knew how to get him off with her hand, her mouth, every piece of her, but for now she was letting him move her fist over his shaft at whatever pace he set. His long, strong fingers kept hers held tight to his flesh as he used her hand to jack himself.
Leah's fingers dug deeper into Brandon's shoulder. His free hand grabbed tight to her ass as he cocked a thigh between her legs. The pressure on her cunt sent another gasp from her throat and, when she sagged, his teeth skidded on her skin. Her head fell back and Brandon's mouth covered her throat with kisses. His tongue stabbed at her skin as his lips sucked, gently, then harder when she rocked against his leg.
And all the while he kept up the stroke-stroke of her hand in his, over his cock. He was rock hard now, his cock thick and hot. By now she would've taken over, ordered him to get on the bed,
at least, so she could ride his face while she sucked that beautiful penis, but Leah couldn't move. Mesmerised, hypnotised, held in place by his hand on her ass and his mouth on her throat. Anchored to him by his hand on hers.
'Whose prick are you stroking, Leah?' His voice had gone lower than low, now. Guttural, broken by shuddering breaths. 'Yours.'
His hand squeezed her ass as his thigh rocked against her. Leah's clit pulsed and she ground on his leg without shame. Fuck control. Fuck who was in charge. This felt too good, too big, too delicious to deny herself. 'No,' he said, surprising her.
She'd have stopped stroking but his hand kept moving. She tried to pull away but couldn't. Brandon stepped up the pace, his hand moving faster. His hips moved. He was getting close.
'It's yours,' he said without a trace of irony, no hint of facetiousness. 'This is your dick, Leah. It belongs to you.'
He pulled away to look into her eyes. His hand pushed hers faster. Harder. A tiny line appeared between his eyebrows and his lips pressed into a thin line. She knew that look. He was going to come, and she couldn't stop him.
She didn't really want to.
'This,' Brandon said through clenched jaws, his hand squeezing hers around his cock, 'is yours.'
She started to shake her head, thinking she would find some words to protest this statement of ownership she didn't want to admit had her hungry cunt begging for more. The look on his face stopped her. His gaze dropped for just a second to his leg and her body against it, then moved back to her eyes.
'Say it,' Brandon told her. 'I want to hear you say it, Leah. Own it. Own me.'
She tried to deny it. She didn't want to own him, like he was a piece of furniture or a jacket or a car. And he knew that, damn him, just as he knew that forcing her to say it would make real what was also already true.
Brandon pumped his hips, forcing his cock into her fist. 'Say it, Leah. I want to hear you say it. Right. . . now.'
'Oh, yes,' she said finally, and her hand moved on its own. Up and down, palming the head, adding a twist that made his entire body jerk. 'Yes, Brandon. This is mine. You . . . are mine . . .'
He came with a long groan. Heat spread over her palm as he filled it. The smell of his arousal flooded her senses. Her own breath sobbed out of her as she gave him what he wanted.
What they both wanted.
Pleasure had blocked Brandon's brain and made him stupid but only for a minute or so. He'd heard what Leah said, and what she'd given him. He opened his eyes, his breath still harsh in his throat, and looked down between them. Her grip had eased off just right, but he was still holding her tight against him. Leah's eyes had gone heavy lidded, her mouth soft.
Part of him wanted to bask in the afterglow of what had been a pretty hot orgasm, despite the circumstances. The other part, the sneakier one, wanted to take advantage of the situation. He kissed her before she could pull away and get that look on her face again, the one she'd tried hard to give him when she walked into the bedroom. Part of him, the one ruled by his cock, loved that look, because it meant she was about to get all disciplinary on his ass. He was trying hard not to think with his prick at the moment, though.
She opened to him, which told him a lot and eased his mind. He'd been a little afraid he'd pushed her too far. She sighed into his mouth as he used both hands to hold her under the ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist as her arms slid behind his neck. Her tongue stroked his.
Maybe, he thought a little incoherently as she clung to him, this wasn't going to be so hard after all.
He took her the two steps to the bed and laid her down. Leah always made love the way she did everything else, as though she knew exactly what she were doing every step of the way. Now, though, she looked a little lost. A little fragile in a way that didn't make her seem weak. She could never be weak.
They lived together. He did the laundry, she paid the bills, he cooked when she didn't want to and ate what she made when she did. Sometimes she liked to tie his hands behind his back with a belt and sometimes she liked to blindfold him, and mostly all the time she liked to leave him long, intricate lists of tasks and chores she wanted him to perform. And he did them, usually half-hard and thinking about making love to her, because he wanted to. They didn't talk much about what this meant or how it worked. It just did.
'Brandon -'
'Shh.'
She looked surprised, then that softness came over her again and she leant back against the bed to pull her T-shirt over her head. She offered herself to him, and he took her. He loved the sound she made when he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her pants and slid them down her thighs and past her ankles. She wore the tiny, pretty panties he'd bought her for Christmas, the ones she swore she wouldn't wear in his parents' house but had packed anyway.
He kissed all the places he knew made her sigh and wriggle under his mouth. 'Baby, you smell so good.'
'Day spa,' she whispered, arching as his mouth traced a path over her hip and across her belly.
She cried out softly when he kissed her clit through the lace, then again when he slid her panties down and put a ringer inside her. His cock tried valiantly to stir, but there was no way he could get hard enough to make love to her right now, and there was no way he was going to wait to make her come. He needed to feel and taste her orgasm now, within moments.
'You taste good, too,' he murmured and licked her gently.
Leah arched again, pressing herself against him. She was so wet already his finger slid in and out without resistance. He pressed gently at the knot of nerves just behind her pubic bone and she sank her fingers into his hair. 'Oh, God, Brandon . . .'
Yeah,' he said against her flesh as he licked and sucked, as he pulled back to nibble at the inside of her thighs until she bucked her hips and demanded with her body he return to her core. 'I'm going to make you come all over me.'
He smiled when she let out a familiar, sobbing gasp and she yanked his hair so hard he almost winced. Almost. Brandon slid his hand beneath Leah's ass to hold her to his mouth as he kissed her into climax. She rode his tongue and fingers without mercy until at last he felt the tight walls of her pussy convulse around him. He eased off, then moved back in, stroking and sucking, paying close attention to the tensing and relaxation of her muscles. He could bring her off again in a minute, if he played this just right, and he intended to do it all just right.
She cried out again, lower this time. Her clit pulsed as her pussy gripped his finger. Slick heat coated him and he buried himself in her scent and the feeling of her, as his cock stirred and thought about getting hard again.
He eased off when she let out a small noise of protest, then slid up her body to kiss her mouth. He gathered her close, aware that he was still mostly clothed and she was mostly not. After a minute she pushed him off her and he thought she might get up to go to the bathroom, but instead she curled up in the curve of his arm. Silent, she kissed his ribs.
Brandon ran a hand over her hair, waiting for her to speak. He had a lot to say, but he could wait. Leah's breathing slowed. Exhausted, he let his eyes slip shut.
'I should be angry about you coming here,' she murmured finally, 'but I guess . . . you should be mad that I left.' I'm not mad you left,' he told her without opening his eyes. The bed dipped as she shifted. 'You're not?'
I'm mad you left without telling me where you were going. Or why. Though I know why, Leah.' He felt her looking at him, but kept his eyes closed. God, he was tired. Brandon yawned until his jaw cracked.
He felt her fingers running through his hair. That would put him out for sure. He knew he should right it so they could talk, but, after no sleep for a few days and last night with Dix on a bed that crackled whenever either of them moved and was a good six inches too short, Brandon had little resistance.
You look awful, baby,' she said quietly. 'Where did you stay last night, behind a dumpster in a cardboard box?'
Penny Pincher,' he said through another jaw-cracking yawn.
&nbs
p; Her fingers stroked through his hair, over and over, and along his scalp, just the way he loved it. The tension of the past few days threatened to ease out of him and he fought it, only because he half-suspected Leah of tiying to put him under so she could avoid a confrontation.
You can stay here,' she said.
The invitation forced his eyes open at last. Brandon sat up. He took her hand and kissed it, then kept it close. 'You never answered my question.'
He knew her well enough to know she wouldn't misunderstand. When she sighed and refused to meet his eyes, though, Brandon let go of her hand. He got off the bed and started making sure he was put together enough for public viewing. 'Where are you going?'
He looked at her. 'Back to the Penny Pincher.'
But. . .' Her eyes narrowed. Leah got off the bed, too. 'I'm sorry. I'm not ready to give you an answer.'
He nodded as though he'd expected that, and he guessed he did. It stung, but he wasn't surprised. 'I'll have my phone with me if you change your mind.'
She blinked rapidly. 'Brandon!'
'Shhh,' he said. 'Don't. OK? Just. . . don't say it, Leah.' 'You don't even know what I was going to say.'
He loved her smile, even now when he thought maybe they were on the verge of breaking up. Especially now. 'I do. You were going to say you love me but you just can't marry me.'
'I -' She stopped herself and then shrugged, looking away. 'It's a big step.'
'I know.' He did know, that was the kicker of it all. He'd never wanted to marry anyone before, and now he did. Everything had changed, he wasn't quite sure how, just that it had.
She sighed and pulled on her shirt and pants. You look like hell.' 'I told you. I haven't slept. Haven't eaten . . .'