“Are you going to come over here, or am I going to have to—”
“Stop talking,” she said, affecting a boldness she didn’t quite feel as she moved to stand next to him.
He reached out and ran his hands over her legs. She swatted them away. “No touching, either.”
He bowed his head and opened his palms in a gesture of surrender.
She swallowed hard. Okay, the way to do this was just to do it. Skip the preliminaries. They had the rest of the week for preliminaries—the thought took the pressure off.
She fell to her knees.
“Oh my God,” he said, before her lips even made contact with him.
The taste of him was a jolt to her senses. She’d given blow jobs in the past, but they’d always felt obligatory. As she slid her lips over him, she knew he was going to be different. A low hum began in his chest, and she could feel it between her legs. He was silky and hard at the same time, salty and sweet. As she slowly took more of him in, the hum became a growl. His hands came to tangle in her hair, threading it around his fingers and resting against her scalp, which felt like it contained all the nerve endings in her body. The image they must make—it was exactly what she’d imagined, and now she’d created it. Having purposely left some of the lights on, she wondered if anyone in the neighboring buildings could see them. She’d kept it dim enough that they probably couldn’t be identified, but wanted it to be crystal clear what was going on. Though anyone watching would have seen something that looked like a woman submitting to a man, they both knew the truth. Jack Winter had given up his power for a little bit, and it was exhilarating. It was driving her wild.
She’d only made a few strokes up and down, when he gasped, “Shit, Cassie, I’m not going to last.”
She stopped then, and as the vacuum her lips had created unsealed, they made a little pop. “Maybe you need a break.” She laughed—it was an unrestrained laugh of joy.
“Maybe not,” he growled.
“But I’m the one in charge, you’ll recall,” she teased, running one finger lightly over the length of him. He grunted and threw his head back. She relented. She didn’t want him to last. She wanted to make him come as quickly as possible—she was getting off on the power trip, in truth. So she sank her mouth back over his shaft, bracing her hands against his thighs, as she took him as deep as she could. She increased the suction and swirled her tongue over the tip of him, trying to figure out what he liked best.
“Cassie!” he barked. She might have thought him angry if she didn’t know better. His fists clenched in her hair and he pressed, warning her off. She let him guide her away, replacing her mouth with her hand as she sat back on her heels to watch the orgasm rip through him. He was magnificent, his eyes never leaving hers as a great shudder overtook him. His hips jerked as if possessed by some external force, and still he watched her. She felt the hot liquid then, and a ridiculous feeling of satisfaction mixed with accomplishment overtook her.
When it was done, he closed his eyes, just for a moment, as if turning inward to gather his strength. It had the effect of breaking the intense connection between them. When he made eye contact again, she winked, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and stood. “Now,” she teased, “was that so bad?”
“Jesus, woman, you just about killed me.” He lifted his hips and pulled his pants back up.
“Oh, sorry,” she mock pouted.
“I’m not.” He stood up and blotted the wet spot on his jeans. “And I’m going to show you just how not sorry I am.”
She raised her eyebrows, issuing a silent challenge.
He pointed to the door. “Home. Now.”
Chapter Nine
“Race you. First one up gets to be in charge.” And then he hit the stairs—there would be none of this give-the-lady-a-head-start bullshit. No, he left the lady shrieking “No fair!” as she struggled to get her key out of the doorknob.
Everything felt so much easier now that they were out in the open about their arrangement. There was no fear she was going to jump to the wrong conclusion, which left clear sailing ahead. He picked up the pace. As hot as that little encounter in his office had been, there was no way he wasn’t going to put his hands on her this time. He couldn’t just sit back again and not touch her.
So he was going to win this goddamned race. She was gaining on him, laughing as she clattered up the stairs. He started taking them two at a time, putting a good chunk of distance between them so, by the time he rounded the landing to the fourth floor, she was more than a story behind him. “I’m kicking your ass, James!” he called down. Summoning a burst of speed for the final flight, he stumbled to a jog as he covered the last stretch of hallway to her apartment.