12. Sutton

12

SUTTON

June's soft body pressed against me, a vivid contrast to the cool, hard door at my back. She was all heat and curves, and the kind of desire that would burn me alive if I wasn't careful.

I'd suspected she had this side of her hidden away since our kiss at the Sunset Deck Party. It was probably tucked away in a little box that she kept so tightly under wraps that even she forgot just how passionate of a woman she could be when she loosened the reins.

I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her deeply as she battled the buttons on my suit jacket. A hint of champagne lingered on her lips, sweet and tart. The distant sound of conversation filtered through my hazy mind, and I turned her, never breaking the kiss as I kicked the door shut behind us.

Jesus, she already had me so spun up that my hands were trembling to explore her body. The desperate need to hike her dress up and finally fucking taste her clawed at me.

I didn't want to rush this. I wanted to enjoy every last second but having her in my arms again after two days of torturous distance was stealing my resolve.

Her hands slid up my chest and over my shoulders, forcing me to release her gorgeous face as she wrenched my jacket down. I fought to peel it off one arm, not caring when it ripped because all that mattered was the way her deft fingers attacked my belt.

Too fast.

I knew what she wanted, and fuck, I wanted it too. I'd already imagined what it would feel like to pin her to the bed and drive into her so deep that she would be screaming my name for the rest of our lives. But I had one potentially serious problem.

I caught her by the wrists. "I didn't plan on meeting anyone on this trip, June," I reminded her. "So, I'm not exactly prepared for this."

Her brow furrowed. "Prepared how?"

"I don't have any condoms."

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "Have you been tested?"

I nodded. "I'm clean."

"Me too."

My pulse jumped, and my fingers twitched around her wrists. "Birth control?"

"Take it every day like clockwork," she said, leaning forward. She nipped at my bottom lip and a groan escaped me.

I pressed her against the wall with my body, pinning her hands over her head as I took her mouth. The kiss was rougher than I intended, more raw, but it only seemed to rile her up more.

Fighting to steady my breath, I pulled back far enough to search her gaze. "If this is all I get, we're doing this my way," I growled.

Hesitation flickered across her face. "And what way is that?"

I dropped her wrists, slid her dress up her thighs until I caught her just below that luscious ass of hers, and lifted her. Those strong legs wrapped around me like we'd done this a thousand times. "It means I'm going to take my time," I rasped. Then I nipped her exposed neck to drive my meaning home.

Her weight in my arms was the perfect counterbalance to my spinning thoughts. She anchored me in a way I couldn't explain, and when I kicked the chair out of the way and set her on the edge of the small wooden desk, her gasp was the only sound that existed in my world.

Not the drum of my pulse in my ears.

Not the low hum of the ship's engines carrying us across the waves.

"I want you, June, but it's been a long time for me." Years, in fact. My body knew what to do, there was no question in my mind about that, but I'd never felt a need as powerful as the one gripping me now. "Promise me you'll tell me to stop if you get uncomfortable or if you start to have second thoughts."

I wanted everything she was willing to offer, but more than that, I wanted to give her a night that would be seared into her memories for a lifetime. And it needed to be there for the right reasons.

She searched my face and nodded. "I promise."

"Good." I kissed her again, fiercely, letting my hunger guide my hands as they slid down her body.

I kissed and nipped my way down her neck, reveling in the way she stretched to give me better access. The soft, warm scent of her earthy perfume clung to her skin, and I inhaled deeply. "Fuck, babygirl. You smell incredible."

A shiver raced through her, hardening her nipples to two perfect little pebbles. I took one in my mouth through the fabric of her dress, grazing my teeth over the sensitive nub. One of her hands came up and sank into my hair as I traveled to the other side and repeated the tease.

She leaned back when I trailed my hands down her thighs and sank between them. Temptation was just a few short inches away, but I continued down, running my hands over her calves as I slipped her heels off one at a time.

How was it possible that every part of her body was wrapped in seduction?

Working my way back up, I took my sweet damn time, intent on memorizing every delicious line and curve of her body.

Her little hiss when I nipped her inner thigh would live rent free in my mind for years. And of course, that was the moment I realized she wasn't wearing anything beneath that slinky dress.

Wicked woman.

Wetness glistened between her shapely legs. I licked my lips before glancing up to check in. Some women didn't enjoy oral sex, and even for those who did, it was a unique kind of intimacy.

Fire burned in June's brown eyes, telling me everything I needed to know.

That first erotic taste of her sent a jolt of excitement up my back. And her little whimper? God save me.

I yanked her closer to the edge and devoured her until her hands fisted in my hair and she was writhing in my grip.

"Oh. Fuck," she panted. "Don't stop."

Like that was even an option. I spread her legs wider and slid a finger inside her, swallowing a groan when her inner walls fluttered. She let out a cry, and when I added a second finger, stretching and stroking and sucking in time, she detonated.

Her thighs clamped tight around my head, muffling the sound of her climax, and I could have died a happy man right then and there. Save for the raging erection straining against my zipper.

Prying her trembling thighs apart, I stood and grabbed her face with both hands. I kissed her again so she could taste herself on my lips, then I hauled her up and carried her across the small room.

I was tempted to toss her on the bed but managed to hold back long enough to set her on her feet and slide that devilish dress up her body and over her head. Her chest was still heaving as she reached for my shirt without a word, and I didn't stop her, watching with a hungry fascination at the way she bit her bottom lip a little harder each time a tiny button slipped free.

Then her hands were all over me. Her kiss had my head buzzing like I'd had one too many drinks, and her fire consumed my desire to make this night last. I nudged just hard enough to send her backward onto the pillowy mattress as I followed her down.

I kissed a path over her beautifully soft belly, trailed my tongue up between her breasts, and kissed her hard as I settled between her legs. My slacks were still half zipped and my shoes still on, but I didn't care.

"I need you," I breathed, pressing the evidence of that need against her center. "Now."

She was right there with me, her hands slipping between us to free my aching cock from its linen prison. I sucked in a sharp breath at her touch and held it as she stroked my length once, twice.

"Careful," I panted.

"It really has been a while, hasn't it?" she asked, sounding pleased.

"Years," I confessed with an unintentional growl.

She swallowed hard and stroked me again. "Same."

"Really?"

She nodded just once, a shy move that sent my possessive side into overdrive, and my control snapped. I grabbed her hand and pinned it to the bed beside her head. Then I used my other hand to drag the head of my cock through her welcoming heat.

"Should I stop?" I asked, my voice little more than gravel rumbling from my chest.

June shook her head without a second's hesitation. She snaked her free hand around the back of my neck and pulled me down for another intoxicating kiss as I sank into her, burying myself to the hilt in one swift thrust.

She bit my bottom lip with a whimper.

Her nails dug into my skin.

And I found heaven.

I pulled back and drove into her again with a grunt, and fuck me, she felt so right it hurt. There was a part of my brain that knew I needed to slow down, to ease up, but I couldn't. She was mine. My body knew it. My heart knew it.

I slammed into her again and her eyes fluttered shut with a moan that made my balls pull up tight.

"No, you don't." I let go of her wrist and grabbed her by the jaw. "Eyes on me, babygirl."

She blinked up at me, a question swimming in her gaze. Maybe I should have asked what she was thinking, or tried to dial down the intensity, but I held her stare and sank into her again. And again. She rolled her hips to meet every thrust, her inner walls milking me like a fist.

There were no coherent thoughts left in my head. They'd all been shoved aside by the primal need to claim this woman as mine.

"Fuck," I growled. I was riding the edge.

When I anchored myself inside her, grinding deep, her fingers clawed at the mattress, and finally, blessedly, she unraveled for me. Her eyes slipped closed as her back arched on a broken cry.

It was all too much. Too good.

My climax slammed into me, sending a violent shiver through me even as an almost painful pleasure threatened to drown me with my release. I let out a sound that was more animal than man and drove into her one last torturous time.

Two heaving breaths later, my arms gave out, and I barely managed to roll to the side before crushing her and all her delicious curves under my weight. Still dragging ragged breaths into my screaming lungs, I pulled her into my side.

June curled up next to me, draping one lovely leg over mine, and we laid like that in silence, my pulse gradually inching down as my thoughts spiraled.

I knew a night with her would be hot, but this woman redefined the meaning of the word.

"Why do you call me that?" she asked, yanking me out of my head with the whisper.

When I angled back to look at her, a vulnerable curiosity lingered in her eyes.

I trailed my fingertips over her back as I tried to remember the mindless words I grunted and mumbled. "Babygirl?"

She nodded.

I'd said it before, when we were getting ready to go on the ATV tour. It wasn't a pet name I'd ever used, but it rolled off my tongue without a second thought.

"Because it feels right," I admitted. Because she was kind and sweet, with just enough sass to make a man want to be on his best behavior around her.

And because I was already falling for her.

"Do you hate it?" I asked.

She didn't respond for a long time, and when she did, she didn't use words.

We moved together slowly, savoring each other, using our bodies to say things we didn't dare say aloud. And when she fell asleep in my arms, it felt like I'd finally found that illusive piece of the giant puzzle of life that made everything else in my world make sense.

So, when I woke the next morning to daylight streaming through the sheer curtains and an empty bed beside me, I wasn't ready for the hollow ache that threatened to swallow me whole.

I wasn't a fool. I knew June asked for a one-night fling to get me out of her system, but all last night did was reinforce that she was it for me.

That was why I flew out of bed and threw on the same shorts I'd been wearing the day before. I shoved my arms back in the sleeves of my dress shirt because it was the first fucking thing I could find and raced up to her deck with a lump in my throat that was roughly the size of my heart.

There was just one problem, I didn't know which suite was hers. I didn't have her phone number. All I knew was her name, and when I walked down the barren passageway, housekeeping was already hard at work in a couple of the rooms.

My stomach dropped. Please tell me I didn't miss her.

I caught the attention of a small woman pushing a cart of supplies between rooms. "Has everyone from this deck already disembarked?"

She nodded. "Disembarkation for suites began at seven a.m."

"What time is it now?"

She glanced at the bulky black watch on her left wrist. "Eight-thirty."

Pain bloomed in my chest. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

By the time I made it back to Colorado the following day, I'd almost convinced myself that things had turned out the way they were supposed to. I might not have said the words, but unless she was oblivious to the signs, there was no way she didn't know how I felt.

June, on the other hand, had remained steadfast in her mission. After all, she was the one who proposed the fake relationship. She imposed the one night limit. And she was the one who snuck out without so much as a goodbye.

Regardless of how twisted up I might be about the whole mess, I was the idiot who fucked up by falling for a woman who clearly wasn't interested in more.