Chapter 4

4

CLAY

M y mind was stuck in the gutter.

First, I’d seen this woman in only her panties. Then I’d had my arms around her. Oh, and in between, I’d had countless conversations with her that had clearly shown she was the kind of woman who intrigued me. A woman who knew who she was and what she wanted out of life.

Was it possible I was already falling for her? Yes, this definitely went beyond lust. But I needed to work on getting us out of this mess.

Or not.

What if we weren’t in such a rush to leave? What if I just chilled and told myself that I’d find a way out of this? Eventually.

“No other windows,” I reported as I walked toward the lobby. “The door’s the only?—”

I came to a stop as the hallway came to an end. The lobby was empty. Frowning, I did a quick U-turn, checking each room as I passed.

I found her in the room where she’d been when I first got here. She was on all fours, looking under the tanning bed. Smiling, I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorjamb, checking out that fine, round ass as it poked up in the air.

“Found it!” she said.

As she pushed herself to a sitting position, I saw she held a small white item. The wireless earbud she’d had in when I first saw her.

When I first saw her…

That image had never fully disappeared from my mind, but now it came back, full force. Along with it came my erection—the subtle stirrings that I knew were only the beginning. I had to get it under control before it got worse.

“Oh!”

Amber’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I pushed away from the doorjamb and lowered my arms, hoping my bulge wasn’t noticeable yet.

“No windows,” I said, repeating my words from the hallway. “I’m going to work on the lock some more.”

“I was just…” She lifted the earbud, then tucked it into her back pocket. “I lost it earlier, when…you know.”

Our eyes met and held, and in that moment, it was clear that we were both thinking about the same thing. I was remembering the sight of her, flat on her back in the tanning bed. She’d worn only a pair of black briefs with lacy elastic at the waist. The image was burned in my mind.

Her features had softened, but her eyes still had that fire in them. Yes, she was thinking about it too. And it was turning her on.

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than what I saw when I walked in here tonight,” I said.

I’d forced the words out before I could lose my nerve, and now I was stuck waiting for her reaction. Maybe even the mention of me seeing her mostly naked would shut her down.

“I was the one who ignored an alarm,” she said, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, like she was fighting a smile. “I should have brought a bathing suit if I was going to be modest.”

“There’s an expectation of privacy when you lay down in a tanning bed. I shouldn’t have barged in.”

“You were trying to save my life. A normal person wouldn’t have been bothered at all by it. Well, maybe a little, but not nearly as much as me.”

My eyebrows shot up. Normal person?

“Do you mean someone who doesn’t look like you?” I asked. “Average looking?”

I didn’t even know what “average looking” meant. All I knew was I couldn’t think of a single woman on Earth who would have had the impact on me that she did. And it would have happened even if I hadn’t seen her without her clothes on before officially meeting her.

“I mean someone who’s been seen naked by a man before,” Amber said, looking down at her fully clothed body. “That wasn’t me. It was a first.”

When she looked up, I was suddenly self-conscious of my own reaction. Surprise had taken over my body. I was frozen, not sure what to say in response to that.

She’d never been seen naked by a man? Did that mean she was a virgin? Not necessarily. She could have had sex fully clothed. Or mostly clothed. Or maybe she just meant no man had ever seen her topless.

“I’ve never been with a man,” she said. “I know that’s unusual in this day and age.” She pushed herself to her feet and stared me directly in the eye. “I’ve never even had an orgasm.”

There was something clinical about the way she said the word. Like we were in a health class. But she was also eyeing the tanning bed. I wondered if she was thinking about getting naked and lying down again. If so, she’d get no argument from me.

“Do you think anybody ever, you know, masturbates in a tanning bed?” she asked.

I nodded, even though she wasn’t looking at me at the moment. “I’m almost positive. These things have been around a long time. Just about everything you can imagine has probably happened in one.”

This conversation wasn’t doing my erection any favors. In fact, it was starting to get uncomfortable. My jeans weren’t nearly baggy enough to comfortably contain what she was doing to me.

“It might be kind of hot,” she said. “The warmth, the risk of getting caught…”

The hard surface that couldn’t possibly be comfortable. But I wasn’t going to point that out.

“You could try it,” I said.

She looked at me then, eyes wide. Those words were sure to scare her off. But as seconds of silence ticked by, I began to find hope that she was actually thinking it over.

“I don’t think I can give myself an orgasm,” she said. “I mean, I’ve tried a couple of times and I’m obviously not doing it right.”

I shrugged. “I know my way around a woman’s body. I could walk you through it.”

Things were getting almost painful behind my zipper. Damn. If I didn’t relieve the pressure soon, I might just pop the seams of these jeans.

“I’ll get naked if you will,” she said.

Holy shit. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined she’d say those words to me. Not this soon. Maybe not ever. And I couldn’t possibly have imagined what those words would do to me.

All I could manage was a nod and hope she knew that it wasn’t done casually. Every cell in my body wanted her. Was consumed by her. Would do anything to have her.

I reached for the hem of my T-shirt and yanked it over my head, tossing it behind me and flexing my muscles. It was a douchebag move, but it came from a good place. I wanted to impress her. I wanted her to want me as much as I wanted her.

I was rewarded with an appreciative sweep of her gaze over my body, stopping at the waistband of my jeans. Did she notice the bulge?

“Could you turn your back for a second?” she asked.

She was nervous about kicking her clothes off in front of a man. That made sense. I’d leave the room if that’s what she wanted.

I flipped around, facing the door, and closed my eyes for good measure. A rustle behind me told me she was removing her clothes, and I was picturing every second of it. The shirt coming off, followed by her bra, those gorgeous tits out in the open. And then she’d go for the jeans, unfastening them and lowering the zipper.

I unfastened my own jeans and lowered the zipper, letting out a breath as my erection got a little room to breathe. I wouldn’t pull my jeans down until I knew she was comfortable, but it wouldn’t hurt to have the zipper open.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m plugging this thing in. Don’t turn around yet.”

The tanning bed fired up behind me, the bulbs brightening the room considerably. A hum replaced the silence around us. There was something kind of comforting about it.

“You can look now,” she said, her voice coming from the direction of the tanning bed.

I turned, my gaze shooting straight to the tanning bed. She was exactly as I’d found her before, including wearing her panties. If she felt more comfortable in them, I wasn’t going to complain. If I had anything to do with it, they’d be off her by the end of the night.

“Can I take off my jeans now?” I asked, feeling like a kid asking a teacher for a hall pass to go to the bathroom.

“Uh-huh.”

Her eyes were closed. Her right hand was on her stomach, her left extended straight out by her side. She looked like she was tanning, but I couldn’t help but think that right hand was ready to move downward as soon as she felt comfortable.

I kicked off my shoes and dropped my jeans, kicking them off to the side too. And then I was standing there wearing only my underwear, my bulge more than a little noticeable now.

She tilted her head to the left and looked at me. “Underwear too.”

She didn’t take her eyes off me as I looped a thumb under each side of the waistband and tugged downward. My cock sprang free, and her eyes widened. I hoped that meant she liked what she saw.

“Do you want me to pull the lid down?” I asked, pointing toward the top part of the tanning bed.

She shook her head. “I don’t have goggles.”

Her eyes were on me, and I wasn’t talking about my face. They were directly on my midsection. She was taking in my cock.

Was it the first time she’d seen one? Probably in person.

“Now what?” she asked.

Her hands were way too still on her stomach. I wanted to see them moving around. I wanted to see her moaning with pleasure.

“What would make you feel comfortable?” I asked.

Her gaze darted to my face, those eyes still wide. “What do you do? When you, you know…”

“Masturbate?” I asked.

I’d use the term jerk off, but that might be too much. Especially since earlier, she’d used the word orgasm instead of come.

“Show me,” she said.

Holy hell. This was supposed to be about her, not me. But if it made her feel comfortable, I’d do whatever she said.

I wrapped my hand around my thick cock and gave it a long, slow stroke, going all the way to the tip, then back to the base. She stared. In fact, it didn’t seem like she could take her eyes off what I was doing.

“Should I touch my breasts?” she asked.

My cock twitched at the question. “Yes.”

I was surprised at the hoarseness of my own voice. But this had begun long before I started stroking. In fact, if this kept up, I’d probably be able to come without touching myself or her.

She moved both hands to her breasts, cupping them. I gave another stroke, then another, as I watched.

“Run your fingers across your nipples,” I said, instructing her as she seemed to want.

She looked at me and gave a nod. Then her eyes slid closed as she moved an index finger over each nipple.

“Oh,” she said.

The word came out sounding high-pitched. More like a squeak. Even that sound turned me on because it signaled her loss of control. She was getting caught up in the sensations. That was exactly what I wanted.

“How does that feel?” I asked.

Now breathlessness had joined my hoarseness. I had to stop stroking so I could keep myself in check. It would be a while before I could come, and watching her was making it hard enough to hold back.

“Oh,” she repeated, squeezing her legs together, and I’d bet a hundred bucks those panties were wet. I couldn’t wait to find out if I was right.

“Now slip your right hand— Are you right-handed?”

I regretted asking that question almost as soon as it was out of my mouth. It could break her focus.

But she didn’t open her eyes. Instead, she nodded and licked her lips. Fuck, this was sexy. She was sexy.

“Slide your right hand under the waistband of your panties,” I said.

She froze, and I worried for a second I’d gone too far. But then her hand dove beneath her panties, and I had to hold back a moan of my own.

If I lived to be a hundred, I’d never forget the sight in front of me. Legs slightly spread, head thrown back, eyes closed, as her hand moved beneath the thin, silky fabric of her panties. She was the hottest woman I’d ever seen, doing the hottest thing I’d ever seen anyone do.

And I just had one question. How did I get her out of those panties?