7 Days of Seduction (11 page)

"I…I don't really know what to think tonight, Hunter. I know we said how we'd celebrate tonight, but…" Another deep breath. "But I don't want to do that. I just don't." Tears of frustration and anger spilled down her cheeks. Damn, the mascara. She didn't care. She was losing the man she'd come to care about, so she didn't give a shit if she looked like a fucking clown. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and scrambled in her bag for some tissue, a bank receipt, anything to mop her face with.

"Okay, Ash." He still frowned at her, but he didn't seem angry. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I've always said that." With a shake of his head, he pulled her back to face him, though why he wanted to see her face from hell she didn't know. "If you've reached the point where the adventure isn't fun anymore, then say so. God, did you think I'd force you?" He narrowed his eyes and clenched his hand around her arm.

"No, of course not." She shook her head vehemently. "But I thought…I thought you wouldn't want…." Ashley gave up trying to restrain the tears.

"Ah." He released her arm and stared at her, his lips puckered in distaste. "You thought I'd drop you if you turned me down tonight, didn't you?"

She covered her face with her hand and nodded. What a fucking mess.

"Ashley, look at me."

She sighed, tried to wipe way most of the tears, and raised her head.

"Do you want to go home?"

Another deep breath, but the words stuck in her throat, so she shook her head as a sob escaped.

One step, and he gathered her to him. As his strong arms encircled her, all restraint snapped and she wailed into his chest. He held her, murmuring unintelligible things into her hair, stroking it and her back. When all the uncertainty and anxiety had drained away with her tears, she sagged against him, completely spent.

Then she was borne in his arms and laid on the bed. She lay there, wiping at her eyes until he returned to press a cold washcloth to her face, softly dabbing at the mess that had been her make-up. He tossed the cloth onto the table and climbed up on the bed, crawled over her and lay behind her. He slipped his arm around her and pulled her back against him, the heat of him radiating through both sets of their clothes to permeate her back.

She lay there, listening to him breathe, still uncertain where they were or where they were heading in this relationship, if you could really call it that. In bald terms, they had had sex for six days, though it seemed like more than just sex to her. Maybe it did to him too.

"You have no idea how long I've been looking for you, Ashley." He broke into her thoughts, playing the mind-reading trick again. "For someone like you." He rubbed his hand across her breasts. Her nipples perked up immediately.

"I've been with my share of women, enough to know the majority of them had a little bit of adventuresome and a lot of vanilla to them. To some of my partners I've been the vanilla flavoring, so I know what it is to say no and mean it. I still like to experiment and I like to share my experiences. But it's hard to find someone who enjoys my kind of experimentation without trying to take the lead."

Ashley listened, relaxing inch by inch as his hand continued to caress her body and his words eased her doubts. Hope began to emerge once more.

"The day I saw you in Dr. Hawthorne's office, something clicked for me. Your look, your bearing, that little indiscretion with the student. Every instinct told me that you were the one. That's why I researched you."

"Stalker." She couldn't help but smile.

"Prey." He pressed closer and his thick, hard dick nudged into her backside. Exciting and comforting at the same time. With a gentle hand, he turned her onto her back so she could see his face and the completely different expression it wore. The hard planes softened somehow, as though he had relaxed for the first time since she met him. His eyes were filled with desire, to a degree she had never seen there before. "I had to do something to make you want me. Something that would be intriguing enough, yet show you how I meant for us to go on. And if you'd refused that day in the shower, I'd have known immediately it wasn't right."

He flicked his gaze from eye to eye, as if searching for something in her face. "I don't want tonight to be the end of us, Ash. But that's going to depend on you."

A chill chased through her and she shivered. It had come down to her decision after all.

Before she could open her mouth, he shook his head. "Not about that, Ash. About your drinking."

She struggled to sit up. "My drinking? But I don't drink that much."

He took a deep breath. "I'd like for you to not drink at all."

"But, why, Hunter?" She frowned, desperate to understand.

"When I was eighteen, just before I was supposed to come out here, I got engaged to a girl I'd loved all my life. She'd been accepted at
Berkeley
too, so we were going to be together throughout school and then get married. But like so many teenagers, we loved to party. And one night, two weeks before we were to leave, we went to a huge party with a bonfire and lots of booze. Cherise and I laughed and drank until I passed out. I woke up to the most awful screams I've ever heard in my life. She'd drunk too much, stumbled and fallen into the bonfire. Everyone there was too drunk to save her, including me."

He glanced away from her, hung his head. "I have yet to forgive myself, but over the past six years I've worked on getting my life back together. You're the next step in that, Ashley, a good step for me."

Oh, God. She sat stunned, almost unable to breathe at the thought of what had happened, how he'd suffered. Her heart ached for him. She wanted to hold him, tell him he was good for her too.

"So you see why your drinking is an issue?"

Without hesitation she nodded and said, "I'll stop. You should have told me this before, but yes, I'll quit drinking." Her gaze locked onto his face, its sorrow no longer masked.

"Can you?"

"Yes. I really meant it when I said I only drink at parties." He narrowed his eyes and she shook her head. "Or when I get really nervous, like this week with you." She traced a deep worry line down his forehead. "I promise you, if that's the decision you want me to make, it's done. No more drinking."

He pulled her to him in a hard bear hug. "God, Ashley. I want this to be the beginning of a whole new series of adventures. In bed and out. We've only explored one aspect of each other so far. There's so much we don't know. That's where I want to go from here with you."

Ashley relaxed as though someone had lifted a ton of weight off her. If she concentrated, she might be able to levitate off the freaking bed. She twined her arms around his neck and pulled him down until they were nose to nose.

"How did you know the perfect words to say, Hunter?"

"Tell the truth and shame the devil, my mother always used to say. I guess she was right." He shifted his head an inch and his lips pressed hers, fireworks exploding quietly throughout her body. The weight of him against her felt so good, so right, she had to have more. She urged him on top of her and reveled as he pressed her into the comforter. Their tongues tangled until she captured his, sucked it like a straw and the familiar ache began low in her groin.

She let go and whispered, "I want you inside me, Hunter."

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled against her cheek, kissed it and rose. His grin reached epic proportions as he watched her watch him unbutton his shirt. It floated to the floor and his hands moved to the zipper of his fly. Galvanized to action when his cock sprang free, Ashley sat up and started to pull her white lacy top over her head but he sent a hand out to stop her.

"Allow me." He slid off the bed, kicked his pants to the side then pulled her off the bed to stand in front of him. Her gaze strayed all over his firm body as he plucked her top off. He reached around her to release her bra and her nipples brushed his chest, sending them instantly into hard peaks through the thin nylon. The light contact had her shifting from foot to foot, impatient for more of his hands on her.

A soft whirr of the zipper and her skirt sank to the floor. Hunter followed it, dropping to his knees in front of her. He buried his face in her crotch then with both hands grabbed the strings of the bikinis. As he began to slide the elastic over her hips, he hooked his teeth over the blue satin and dragged the garment off. The slight scrape of his teeth on her taut skin almost made her come right then. She moaned and danced from side to side, more impatient than ever to feel him inside her. Panties off, she stepped out of her shoes and lay back on the bed, opening her legs wide to his impassioned gaze.

"What do you want me to do, Ash?" His soft voice melted her like ice cream on a hot day. His hand stroked up through the moisture that had gathered around her slit.

"I want you to put your dick in my ass, Hunter." The words were out before she could hold them back, but it was what she wanted.

He cocked his head and stared deep into her eyes. "You're sure about that, babe? You know we don't have to." Two fingers slipped into her pussy, stroking slow and steady. Ash moaned, bucking her hips.

"Yes, Hunter. I want to be yours in a way I've never been anyone else's. I want you to be my first." Excitement mounted, both from his hand working her and from the deep desire in his eyes as he raked her body with his gaze. Her heart beat jerkily with the anticipation.

Hunter kissed her hard and deep, his fingers speeding up as his tongue stroked into her mouth. The gathering tension in her abdomen escalated, like a spring winding double time. He released her lips as his fingers left her. Staring into her eyes he whispered, "I would absolutely love to pop that cherry for you, Ash." He reached into the bedside table drawer and withdrew a bottle of lubricant and a condom.

"What color is it tonight?" Her breath came faster as electric sparks seemed to dance along her arms and legs.

"You get the royal treatment tonight. Purple." He grinned and set both items on the table. Running his hands along her legs, he positioned them apart then lowered his face to her mons.

"What are you doing?" Ashley gasped as he tongued her clit. Heat shot through her and she began to pant. He sucked it into his mouth, rolling the little nubbin with his tongue then grasping it delicately with his teeth. She closed her eyes and held her breath, not knowing if she would orgasm or explode. Not that she cared. She sensed some movement but was too near the edge to think about it.

His finger brushed her asshole and she clenched. The edge receded as though cold water had been dashed in her face.

"What are you doing, Hunter?" She wanted this, but reality hit like a slap.

He looked up at her, a lazy smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "It'll be better for you if you're relaxed when I put my cock in there. The best way for you to relax is to come. And the best orgasm I've felt you have was when I played with your ass. It'll also stretch you a little bit, get you ready for me." He lowered his face again and heat began to rise despite her fears as he licked and sucked. His tongue stabbed into her slit as his finger slid into her butt.

"Ahh, Jesus, Hunter." She clenched the coverlet as the upward spiral took her, faster than before. He replaced his tongue with his finger in her cunt, though she barely noted it. All she knew was the delicious heat leading her to the edge. He pounded his fingers in unison until she hovered so close she could...

His tongue touched her clit.

"Aah.” Her body bucked, hips jerking up off the covers, muscles shaking. Her entire body pulsed as the intense current of the orgasm shattered her insides. She gasped in air, and lay motionless, spent except for an occasional twitch where his fingers still rested against her. He prolonged the delicious, sensuous aftermath by occasional strokes until he slid out of her, leaving her empty and lethargic, but oh, so gratified.

Eyes closed, she heard the creak of the hardwood floor as he moved into the bathroom. She savored the sporadic contractions that promised more of the same. Next thing she knew she was sliding toward the edge of the bed. Ash opened her eyes and blinked at Hunter standing between her parted legs, his cock now sheathed in royal purple that glistened with fragrant oil.

"Strawberry?"

"And champagne. Courtesy of
Kama
Sutra." His slow smile made her toes curl. "Only the best for us, Ash." He adjusted her legs, positioned himself then tickled her asshole with more of the oil. "Remember, this is about pleasure. If you want me to stop, say stop."

She nodded and smiled, her stomach quivering with excitement. What if after all this build-up, it turned out to be no big deal? Somehow, she didn't think that would be the case. The head of his dick poked against her and pressure built quickly as he began to push into her. Pain danced around her butt-hole as he slid forward slowly, his eyes on her face.

"Okay? You look uncomfortable. Here, let's try this." He brushed his thumb against her clit, sending a blast of electricity through her groin. Slipping further in, he circled her nub and Ashley moaned, half with pleasure half with pain.

"Good or bad, babe?"

"Both. But not too bad."

"Play with your nipples. They look lonely."

She giggled and grabbed the tips, rolled them and gasped as he withdrew then pushed back, going deeper. Pain made her hold her breath and clamp down on her nipples, the two stinging sensations merging into a dull ache that transformed into an intense throbbing in her pussy. As if she was winding up for an orgasm. He stroked again, and the spring in her groin wound tighter.