Opening Up

  He was damned the moment his lips touched her throat. This was exactly where they’d been headed since the first time he’d laid eyes on her at that party months earlier.

  Her fingers sifted through his hair and then she yanked, demanding. Groaning, he managed to get his beer on the table before taking her mouth.

  PJ swung a leg up and straddled his lap to face him and he hissed at the heat of her as she undulated, rolling her hips.

  He nipped her bottom lip, holding her close as he sucked her tongue and then backed off, licking slow until she’d melted against him. Then he nipped her lip again and kissed his way down to her chin and up her jaw to her left ear.

  She made a sound.

  A low moan. Needy.

  “Shhh. Trust me to get you there. Now that I know you like this…” He licked the hollow beneath her ear again to underline his point. “Well, now that I know it makes you give me that sound? I’ll be sure to do it again and again.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Promise?”

  He laughed. “Oh yes.”

  “All right then. Get to it. But not too hard because the delivery guy will be here soon.”

  Well, that sucked.

  Since he was already violating his rules, he might as well enjoy it. He needed to remember he had a lot more experience than this silly flailing indicated.

  “All right. Let’s see just what we can get up to before anyone knocks on your door.” He cupped one of her breasts through her blouse and she arched into his touch.

  Just right. Everything was just right. The right size. The way she reacted was right. The weight of her on his lap, the way she smelled, her taste, everything.

  Not willing to let go of her breast, he used his free hand at her waist to hold her in place. “I’m wondering how long it takes to make you come, PJ.”

  “You’re already past the surface streets and on the freeway,” she said in his ear before she sucked the lobe into her mouth.

  He shivered. “Good to know.”

  She did that thing again, undulating so she ground herself against him, and the power between them shifted as she began to own her allure. She was confident and certainly not hesitant about demanding what she wanted, but this was new.

  He dug it.

  Warm flesh greeted his caress when the hand he’d had at her waist slid beneath her shirt and across her back.

  “Do you have ink back here?” he asked, stroking fingertips over her skin.

  “I’ll show you if you like.”

  He certainly did like.

  The doorbell rang twice and he groaned, standing and holding her like she weighed nothing.

  “Food’s here.”

  Hormones made her slightly woozy for a moment as she worked to get herself back in order.

  “I’ll handle it.” He put her down carefully, and they both headed back into the apartment.

  He walked like he was in pain, which she supposed if she had a penis she’d understand. “Why don’t you relax a little? Drink your beer,” PJ said.

  He gave her a look that approached an eye roll as he continued toward the door. But she let it pass because he was hotter than the sun and she’d finally gotten him nearly to her bed. Also, she realized Asa was a handful. Like the other alpha males she knew, he’d have to be managed without realizing he was being managed.

  He opened the door with a smile so intense the woman on the other side carrying a tote of takeout seemed to black out for a moment as she tried to process over six feet of hot, clearly sex-disheveled man standing in front of her.

  PJ let him take the bags and then inserted herself so she could sign the credit card receipt.

  “How much do we owe you?” Asa asked.

  “I’ve got it, Asa. Can you please take that to the kitchen?”

  The delivery driver looked back and forth between them and shoved the receipt into the space. PJ grabbed it before Asa could. “I already paid when I called it in.”

  He made a sound she knew meant he’d be giving her his opinion on this turn of events when they were alone. Whatever.

  She signed the receipt after adding the tip and closed the door, locking up when she finished.

  “I asked you to dinner. I should pay.”

  “Huh.” It wasn’t a question. She needed him to understand she wasn’t some silly woman who needed taking care of. “Next time you can pay.”

  He frowned and she got all hot for him again.

  “I’m wondering if I should tell you how hot you are when you glower at me. Will it make your ego worse?” She put the bags down and moved to him. He excited her. Made her feel bold and strong. And yet, also precious.

  He fought a smile but she saw it and he knew that too, so he encircled her waist and pulled her in close.

  “I don’t glower.”

  She rubbed her cheek along his beard. “Oh, you totally glower. Grrr. I’m glowering. Fear my testosterone.”

  He snorted a laugh. “But you don’t. Do you?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t fear it. I like it. It’s sexy. But.” She paused to tiptoe up to kiss him quickly. “I do push back if necessary.”

  He took two handfuls of her ass and pulled her totally snug against him. “I’m wondering if I should tell you how hot you are when you set me straight,” he echoed back at her, teasing.

  “You definitely should.” Not that she thought he’d back off in any case. This was a man who did what he wanted.

  She wasn’t hungry at all. Not for the food on the counter.

  A low hum of pleasure seemed to vibrate along her spine as he drew his fingertips along it.

  He took up so much space in the room. So confident in his skin, the way he moved, like a man who was 100 percent cool with what he had going on. That confidence of his was so totally sexy.

  “It’s very hot. One of the most appealing things about you, as it happens.”

  He kissed her and she sank into it, let herself fall into the feel of his beard tickling her face, of the firmness of his lips, the sharp nip of teeth, and his tongue—oh god his tongue—sensuous, licking, tasting her.

  His cock, hard against her belly, drove her crazy as she restlessly moved from side to side, brushing herself against him.

  Asa groaned into her mouth. “Cold takeout. After.”

  She took his hand and led him back to her bedroom, totally glad she’d changed her sheets just the day before and the place wasn’t a total mess.

  “You keep surprising me.” He stood in her doorway, looking around.

  “That doesn’t sound like you know if it’s a compliment or not.”

  PJ loved her bedroom. In shades of cool blues, deep purple, and a tiny bit of saffron, she’d made a place that was her sanctuary. Fluffy bedding, comfortable enough to read in all day on a Sunday. Heavy curtains covered the windows because she liked to sleep in total darkness, but when she pulled those back, sunlight streamed in. A chair she’d reupholstered during a community college class she’d taken with Audra the year before sat in a corner with a small side table and lamp.

  It was a calming place she sank into every night.

  “It’s beautiful. Feminine.” He walked in and looked around. She liked having him in her intimate space. Made her want to rub on him, mark him like a cat. “You’re most certainly those things.”

  “My layers surprise you? Did you expect cinder-block shelves and a mattress on the floor? Ah, because I’m young.”

  He didn’t deny it, though he sort of tried to be really hot and make her forget.

  “I didn’t say that. I figured you’d have style. Clearly you have good taste in cars and men.”

  She snorted and then popped open two buttons on her blouse.

  “But my being younger bothers you?” Her fingertip hovered at the next button, the one that would totally expose her bra.

  “It’s not that.”

  She slid the third button free, delighting in the look on his face.

  Greed.

&n
bsp; PJ could work with that.

  “It isn’t?” She unbuttoned the blouse all the way, sliding it off. The dark brown of his eyes seemed to go nearly black as he took her in. So much intensity and focus that the power subtly shifted between them again.

  “Take them all off. I want to look at you.” There was no way to interpret that as anything but an order.

  Licking her lips, she unzipped her pants and stepped from them, his gaze on her like a physical thing. Her underpants followed, then finally her bra.

  He sucked in a breath as he moved to her. “Jesus, you’re fucking beautiful.”

  It wasn’t like she hadn’t had a man look at her like she was pretty before. Or that Asa was the first guy to get hot over her body. But this was different. Naked before him while he still wore his clothes rendered her more than physically bare.

  He was so big and sexy there as he circled her, looking at her body. It left her breathless and a little nervous, which was sort of hot too. She was too into whatever was happening to obsess on whether that was weird or not.

  “This is fantastic work.” He traced over the petals of the lotus that sat across the middle of her back in blues and pale purples.

  “Thank you.” She’d gotten the tattoo when she’d decided to drop out of college and follow her own damned path.

  “Are you Buddhist?”

  “No. Did you know the lotus is actually a part of the mytho-religious structure of multiple cultures and religions? A beautiful flower that grows from muddy water. Rising above, reborn as something more than those muddy roots.”

  He kissed her neck as he slid his hands from her shoulders down to her fingertips. He turned her wrist up, moving it close so he could examine the ink there. A little outline of a stick drawing of a cat’s face.

  “My grandfather was an awesome guy. He used to call me Kit-Cat. Not like the chocolate bar, but like a feline. Anyway. He used to send me postcards when he traveled for Colman, and he’d sign them with this little cat face.”

  “I saw him race once when I was a kid. The local boys’ club gave out free tickets and my mom took us all. He was already in his sixties then but still badass.”

  Asa came around to face her after thinking he needed to give himself a moment before he focused on her tits. But the ink on her back, the curve of her spine, and the sweet swell of her ass had wrapped around his cock like a fist. Freckles dusted over her shoulders and that only made her more beautiful.

  He had a thing. For curvy brunettes with red lipstick and great tits. In their thirties and forties.

  And here this blond, sweet-as-fuck package wrapped around what was turning out to be a dirty core was all he could think about. Those big blue eyes of hers, the way her bottom lip had the tiniest bow in it. Sweet, yes. But not innocent or naïve. He’d never met anyone like her.

  And the story about her grandfather, fuck. Together with the way she essentially told him yes he was bossy and that was okay with her but when he went over the line she’d slap him back, only made him want her more. Strong, powerful women were hot as fuck, and this one got to him in ways that he’d be nervous about. Later.

  She looked up at him, her lips curved into a smile. Not trying to hide herself or be coy. Also really fucking hot.

  “Howie Colman was an absolute badass. He taught me how to drive.”

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded.

  Scrolling tendrils of green wound their way from hip to hip. He danced his fingers over the super-sensitive skin. “Pretty.”

  “It’s a work in progress. I added this frog here.” She pointed at her side, where a little green-and-brown frog had been added. “I’ll add little things when something happens that I want to mark.”

  He liked that.

  Not as much as he liked the barbell in each nipple. He tugged a little, twisting the bar, and she arched toward him with a moan.

  “Tell me what you like about this.”

  She caught her breath. “It feels good.”

  He leaned in to nip her neck. “That’s not an answer to my question. Do you like the pain?”

  He licked across her nipple, leaving it slick, and then tugged on it with his teeth before he did the same with the barbell.

  She sank her fingers into his hair, holding him. “I like that better.” She went quiet for a bit, but he could tell she was trying to put it into words. “I don’t like pain. Not without pleasure.”

  “Me either, darlin’. The pain is a way to get your body ready for the pleasure. Like a wave pulls back, gathers force, and crashes over the shore again. The balance is that place between them.”

  “The first time it burned a little longer before it melted into pleasure. I think I must be very selfish because I want the pleasure faster.”

  He cocked his head and thought about that. “That’s my favorite too. The shock of the pain and then the rush of chemicals to flood you with pleasure.”

  “I want to see your body.” She tugged his hair to bring his face to hers.

  He kissed her. “Impatient.”

  “Damn right. I’ve been imagining you naked for five months now.”

  Laughing, he stepped from his boots and then teased her slowly as he peeled off his T-shirt.

  “I’m having a moment. I may need to sit down. But if I sit down I can’t touch you, so that’s out.” She got close enough to do just that. “Hmm. I suppose now we’ll have to test just how you like your nipples and those piercings played with.”

  She bent her head to lick across first one and then the other nipple. He tried not to pant as she tugged a little harder than he had. And when she sucked it into her mouth hard and fast he couldn’t stop the way his hips jutted forward, seeking contact with her body.

  He soaked it in as she ran her hands all over his chest and arms. She sucked in a breath as she traced the tentacles twisting around his shoulders and biceps.

  “Wow,” she whispered as she circled him to take in the rest of the tattoo.

  In teals and muted grayscale, the massive octopus took up Asa’s back. The artist had used the space on his skin perfectly. It nearly looked graceful, even over all the powerful muscles on Asa’s back and forearms.

  And in one of the tentacles curled on his side was an ace of spades. “What’s this?”

  “Just something left over from the army. Ace was my nickname. Not overly imaginative from Asa, but I had that ace of spades done first and then the octopus came after and my tattoo guy worked it into the new design.”

  “It’s incredible.” She gave in and pressed her cheek to his back. So hard. Yum. “Do you have a thing about octopus? Octopi? Octopuses?”

  He spun quickly, his hands at his button and zipper, and she sort of forgot what she’d been saying.

  “They’re smart. They’re capable of changing their shape and size to adapt to any situation.”

  Asa Barrons was a survivor. A guy who was proud of how hard he’d worked and what he’d built, and from what she could tell, he had every right to be.

  “Show me what else you’ve got going on.”

  He unzipped his jeans torturously slow—the look on his face told her he enjoyed the tease—and stepped from them, along with his shorts and socks. Looking at him totally bare, she nearly fell over.

  Not only was he powerful with muscled thighs and hard calves, one bearing an intricate biomechanical-style tattoo, but his cock. Hoo, boy.

  “You’re pierced.”

  He handled himself firmly, and she tucked that away.

  “I am.”

  He had a barbell frenulum piercing, right below the head of his cock. A shiver ran over her skin. She’d never actually been with anyone with a pierced cock. But she wanted it. She licked her lips and the sound he made was nearly a snarl.

  “Go on then.”

  She dropped to her knees, brushing her lips up his left calf, behind his knee, up the inside of his thigh to lick up the line of his cock, pausing at the barbell. She studied it, tongued it gently, tugged on it
with her teeth, and then she looked up into his face and swallowed the head of his cock, down past the piercing, tonguing it.

  “Goddamn, yes.”

  He stared down at her, gaze fiercely lit. The hand that slid from the top of her head and down to her jawline was gentle until he shifted, wrapping her hair around his fist and holding her from taking the head back into her mouth.

  Suddenly she wanted it so much it surprised her. Straining to get closer, she licked across the head, shuddering at the groan he gave in response.

  “Starving for it.”

  She hummed her assent.

  Magic.

  PJ on her knees, those pink glossy lips wrapped around his cock, her cheeks rosy after struggling against his hold to get her mouth on him, was utterly breathtaking.

  He rolled his hips, slowly fucking her mouth. She was tentative with the piercing. At first. Then she pushed a little, tugged a little harder, flicked her tongue faster.

  He rode up to the thinnest of moments before climaxing and then pulled back. Her brow furrowed and she frowned.

  Hauling her to her feet, he backed her to the bed and rolled on with her, tucking her body beneath his.

  He had to take the reins and slow things down. Need beat at him with closed fists but he’d waited for this, fought it, and now that it was happening he needed to pay attention.

  He shifted to keep the majority of his weight off her, his body between those luscious thighs. Her pussy was slick and he groaned when he brushed through it with the line of his cock as he settled.

  When he reached her mouth, he took his time, kissing her long and slow until the heat between them was warm honey. He licked down her throat to the hollow there, circling it with the tip of his tongue.

  She sighed softly, and the nails she’d had digging into his shoulders relaxed as he licked again and then nibbled across her collarbone.

  “I love these freckles,” he murmured over a spot he’d licked and then blew over.

  “Good thing, since I’ve got so many.”

  He licked a trail down her chest, around the outer swell of her right breast, circling up to the nipple.

  It drew tight and darkened as he twisted the barbell a few times. He loved the way women’s nipples looked when they were pierced. All that pretty, puffy glory of the nipple, feminine and soft, with a ring or a bar through it. The soft made even more alluring by the hard.