Heavy Issues (12 page)

She dropped her eyes. She hated this. How insecure she was about herself and her banged-up body, especially in front of him.

He forced her to look up, and held her chin so that she couldn’t shake him off. “You do believe me, don’t you?”

Yeah, as if
. She shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s just agree to disagree.”

He wanted to argue. It was in his stance, but for some reason he decided to drop it. He bent over and swiped his tongue over her left nipple. Then the other. Suckling and pinching the tender tips until the pleasure took over and all she could think of was the way his mouth made her feel.

“So I got hired, right? You never gave me an answer for my proposition.”

She laughed. “I’m naked in front of you. On top of you. You’re sucking my tits and your cock is pulsing between my open folds. Do you really need a formal answer to that?”

“Yes, I do. I like things clear. I don’t want to have to worry that I’ll go out of town and you’ll go looking for man whores. I don’t share.”

“Of course I won’t,” she said, affronted. “Who do you think I am?”

His eyes were stern, his expression taut in warning. “What happens about the Studs®us.com gala invitation?”

He was worried about that? Please. “The girls drew lots, and Annie won. She’ll be going. You cost me my birthday present, mister.”

The satisfied smile that broke over his face should have irritated her. “I’ll replace it, sweet thing,” he mumbled, nuzzling her tits, his stubble abrading her swollen tips and making her shiver in need. “I swear I’ll make it worth your while.”

He caressed her back, slid his hands down to her bottom, and parted her cheeks while she braced herself on his arms. With him making slow love to her breasts and his cock sliding back and forth over her open folds, she could hardly breathe, let alone berate him for being an arrogant ass.

Urged by his hand pressing at her behind, she began rocking against him, which increased the friction to her pubic area. God, this felt so good. She clutched his shoulders, unable to stifle the whimpering sounds coming from the back of her throat every time his crown nudged at her clit on the downstroke. As he caught her pebbled nipple with his mouth and suckled hard, her whole body suddenly tightened and she went over, the force and speed of her release blindsiding her.

He was watching her like a hawk when she opened her eyes. “Miss Speedy Pussy is on the move again,” he whispered, a grin on his face.

Still breathing hard, she halfheartedly slapped his chest. “Stop calling me that.”

“Why? I like it. It has a nice ring to it.”

“It does not,” she told him with a soft smile.

“I love how easily you come undone for me,” he said, sounding almost bewildered, and cupped her face possessively. “How you respond to my touch.”

It suddenly occurred to her that if this was a one-orgasm-per-one-date kind of deal, she was going to be indebted to him for life.

He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her. “You’re dripping wet all over me, sweetheart. I want inside you. You sure you aren’t too sore?”

She shook her head. She was achy down there, but it had nothing to do with being sore.

“We’ll be needing a rubber then.” Lifting her with him, he stood up.

She squeaked, encircled his neck. “What are you doing? Put me down. I’m too heavy.”

He snorted. “How much do you weigh, sweet thing, one hundred twenty-five, one hundred thirty pounds?”

She shrugged at him, half assenting.

Christy hadn’t been on a scale in ages. If she weighed herself and had lost weight, she’d want to celebrate by eating; if she’d gained, she felt miserable and wanted to eat then too. It was a no-win situation. So she didn’t weigh herself. As long as her clothes fit—and not the spandex ones—she was okay. Besides, her goal weight had always been her birth weight.

“Please, I’ve run for hours carrying battle gear much heavier than you. You’re nothing.”

Yeah, she guessed for someone of his strength, she wasn’t heavy. Even after losing those seventy pounds and keeping them off for years, she still felt fat. Inadequate. She probably always would.

Without dislodging her, he got a condom and brought them back to the sofa.

“Hmm, don’t you want to do this in bed?”
Where it’s darker?
she almost added.

He shook his head. “Nope. Where were we? Ah, yes, you were going to ride me,” he stated while rolling the latex on. “Up on your knees, baby.”

He took himself in hand, sliding his erection up and down her slit until her juices were all over him and he glided smoothly. “Okay, let’s do this nice and easy. Let’s watch this pretty pussy swallow my cock.”

She eyed warily the thick club about to impale her. Nice and easy her ass. She slipped onto him by degrees, jiggling, little by little taking him inside her. He was so damn huge it almost hurt.

“Let me in, babe. Take all of me,” he commanded, his gravelly voice washing over her and sending more liquid heat to dampen her core. Fisting her hair, he pulled her to him, taking her mouth hard and deep, leaving her half-drugged and at his mercy.

She managed to take him all in, but she felt stretched to the limit, her pussy muscles pulsing madly to adjust to the heavy presence.

“I don’t think this is going to work…” His big shaft was burning inside her, unyielding.

“Open wide and lean back. Put your hands on my thighs,” he ordered.

She obeyed, only to realize in this position she was totally open for his perusal. And she could clearly see him, which meant he could see her too. Embarrassment froze her.

“Cole…?”

“Out of your head, sweet thing. Eyes on me,” he commanded. “Watch what you do to me, babe…how much I want you.” At his words, her pussy clenched and he hissed, growing even bigger inside her. “Fuck, sweetheart. You feel so good wrapped around me.”

Her whole body broke into shudders as he caressed her clit with his thumb, his gaze glued to her inner thighs. He was so tense, the muscles of his neck bunching, the veins in his arms engorged. There was such intense need in his expression that she didn’t feel embarrassment. There was no shame or awkwardness, just scorching heat and pleasure. Her womb pulsed, and she began riding him, which earned her a growl of approval.

“Like this, babe. Forget everything, just feel me fucking you,” he said, increasing the pressure on her clit.

She moaned, tits straining toward him, and he leaned over, kissing and petting her oversensitized nipples while she rode him harder, his hips thrusting up every time she bore down on him.

Reaching over, he ran his fingers through the cleft of her rear until he pressed on her back entrance. She stilled and tensed.

“Shh, sweetheart, relax. I won’t go any further. I’ll stay at the door. Trust me. Let yourself go.”

Before she could form any words coherently, he pressed the tip of his finger in her rear while with his other hand he stroked her clit harder. God, too good. Her nails dug into his thighs. He thrust his hips up hard, reaching deep inside her, and she flew apart into a thousand pieces, her pussy spasming erratically and sending jolts of pure fire all over her body while she cried out his name.

“I need some leverage,” she heard him say in a hoarse voice.

Before she could recover, Cole had her on her back on the dining table near the window. He grabbed her by the back of her knees and folded her legs up and wide, spreading her totally for him. Then he pulled out of her and, leaning over, took a swipe from her entrance to her clit.

“Fuck, you taste good.”

Without breaking eye contact, he impaled her with his cock and began furiously thrusting into her. Tits jiggling with each ram, she grabbed the table. With daylight flooding the room, Cole looked like a golden god, a Viking warrior, his gaze intense like a predator about to devour its prey.

She was exposed, but the pleasure was too great and she couldn’t make herself care.

On Monday, as Christy and the girls entered the diner after a whole day of pampering themselves in the spa, Mike, Cole’s foreman, greeted them from the counter with a smirk.

“Playing hooky?”

Christy blushed.

He chuckled softly. “It’s okay, honey. At least I now know you haven’t been shanghaied.”

“Shanghaied? What do you mean?”

“Heads up. Your library was crawling with chicks this morning. When they found out Cole was out of town, they left, but I bet they’ll be back tomorrow. Full force.”

“What? What did they want?”

He shrugged. “Beats the crap out of me. I never understood why women do the shit they do.”

Penny came over with a take-out box. “Here you go. Eight portions of apple pie.”

“Thanks. I better go; the guys are waiting for this,” he said, picking up the box. “Ladies.”

The girls waved at him.

“What’s that about? Why was the library full of women?”

“Oh, that one’s easy,” Penny said. “They’re there to run interference. Since the picnic, word has spread that Cole is vulnerable in the library. They’re giving it their best shot.”

Christy rolled her eyes. “Why is this such a big deal? Hasn’t he been dating?”

Annie snorted. “Chris, anything involving the Bowen brothers is a big deal in this county.”

“Cole does go out with women, but seldom for more than a handful of dates. I don’t recall him ever having anyone steady,” Holly explained. “Cole doesn’t let women in. He behaves like a gentleman, fucks them blind from what I heard too, but there’s always this distance he keeps.

“Which brings me to my next question: How’s being fucked blind working for you?” Holly inquired with a mischievous grin. “I would have asked before, but seeing as we had all these beauty technicians around us and then we were in the sauna and already having difficulty breathing, I didn’t want to risk it.”

Christy blushed bright. “Fine.” And wasn’t that the mother of all understatements. She was still in shock. She’d had no clue sex like that existed. So raw. So animalistic. And yet so deeply pleasurable.

“How is he?”

Her face felt like it was on fire. “Hmmm…”

“That good, huh?”

Yeah. That good. And a couple of thousand bags of chips.

Cole wasn’t gentle or nice, yet his dominant streak and his lord-of-the-manor ways did it for her. Big-time.

Still, she was grown up enough to realize she was so in over her head it wasn’t even funny.

Holly interrupted her thoughts. “Say, Christy, does popular gossip have it right?”

It took a second for her to understand the question. “Soooo not talking about this.”

The girls looked at each other and nodded. “Hung,” they all said at the same time.

* * * *

Cole arrived in Alden Tuesday at noon. He was supposed to come back much later that afternoon, but frankly he couldn’t wait. Without passing through home first and still dressed in the monkey suit, he headed straight for the library.

“Oh, Cole, it’s so good you’re back!” Marie screeched. “You can help us decide where to put the kids’ section.”

He looked around. There were one, two, three, four women in the library, fussing around, his men nowhere to be seen.

“What are you doing?” They were done with the structural renovations, but the place wasn’t ready for the public by far. The shelves were all but empty, the computers still wrapped. Boxes full of books all over the place.

“Silly man,” she said. “We’re organizing this place, of course.”

“Of course,” he repeated, silently praying for calm.

Marie kept chattering, ogling with open interest the package he held in his hand.

“Where’s Christy?”

“We’ve decided a local should be the one in charge of organizing this place and giving it the final touches. She’s not one of us. We know better than to leave such important matters to outsiders. Only God knows what mess she’ll get us into.”

The muscle at his temple pulsed, and he loosened his tie. When he saw Mike, he darted toward him.

“What the fuck is going on?” He’d been out of town for less than forty-eight hours, for Christ’s sake. Couldn’t his men hold down the fort for that long?

“Don’t go giving me that murderous look, pal. They showed up accompanied by the mayor’s secretary. They’re volunteers.”

“Volunteers for what?”

Mike chuckled and looked pointedly at his groin. “This is my personal opinion, but I think to take care of that thing between your legs.”

Jesus fucking Christ. Cole debated smacking that annoying shit-eating grin off Mike’s face but then reconsidered. Injuring him would put Cole one foreman short. Plus he’d have to take on Mike’s karate classes at the gym. “That ‘thing’ is being taken care of,” he replied with a grunt. “Where’s Christy?”

“Last I saw she was in the basement. She’s been fairly amused by all this, in spite of the nasty stares and comments.”

“What do you mean?” Had they been nasty to Christy? Because he’d put up with a lot of aggravation from these women, but he wouldn’t stand for her being insulted in any way.

“Women on the make are ruthless. Take my word for it.” Mike glanced at Cole’s hand. “Hey, you bought me a present. I’m so moved by the gesture.”

Cole willed his hand to stop clutching the packet. “Smart-ass,” he hissed and headed for the stairs. “Not now,” he all but yelled to Marie before she could come closer. The scowl had the desired effect, and she backed away—for the time being, at least.

The basement was relatively quiet, but he soon found Christy leaning over a box, inspecting the books inside and humming. It was weird to see her surrounded by books, the traditional kind that is, and not muttering under her breath. She was dressed unassumingly, like always, her long hair twisted into a knot. Wait, were those red stripes in her hair? “Highlights” he thought was the correct term. Sexy. And the way she swayed too. She was sort of dancing. He took a closer look. Ah yes, earbuds. She was listening to music, or what in her mind passed for it. He came closer and inhaled. Vanilla and cherries. His groin tightened.

What was it about her that pressed all his buttons? She was beautiful, true, but he’d fucked his share of beauties and hadn’t lost his mind over them—far from it. Once his hard-on was taken care of, he never had trouble walking away. Why couldn’t he do the same now? She wasn’t even his type. She was too nice. Too sweet. Homey even. The settling-down kind that he’d always avoided. Yet here he was, hurrying back to her, cutting his business appointments short.