If You Need Me: The Ashford Legacy, Book 1 (7 page)

She whimpered when his hand left her, but then a second later the whimper was replaced by a yelp as he jerked her off her feet and into his arms. “If I remember correctly from the video feed, the bedroom is—” he pulled open the bathroom door, “—not in here.”

“No one can fool you,” she murmured against his neck and followed with a string of soft kisses, wanting so badly to suck his skin into her mouth and bruise it—mark him as hers. Instead, she settled for trailing her teeth and tongue along one particularly delicious cord of muscle that ran down his throat.

He tried another door, his fingertips digging into the flesh of her thighs where he held her. “Stop that. I’m trying to make it to a soft surface. I don’t want you getting rug burn on that perfect ass.”

“Perfect? You haven’t even seen it yet.”

He laid her out on her bed and immediately stripped off her grimy sweats and threadbare cotton panties. “You don’t think I see your ass when you get yourself off on camera? Think again. I see an image of it every time I close my eyes.”

He took her knees in one hand and rolled her sideways on the mattress, assessing the profile of her lower half, then he ran his other hand over the curve of her ass, stopping to sink his fingers into her cheeks and squeeze, as though testing the resilience of her flesh. “Holy shit, woman. How do you not just sit around and squeeze your ass all day?”

Kyle made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, and that wasn’t a feeling she was used to. “How do you know I don’t?”

“So sweet…” He trailed a finger over the cleft of her ass, and a tremor ran through her. “You write about a lot of things, don’t you? But I’m not sure what you’re really into…what you might want to try with me…”

She hadn’t tried every single thing she wrote about—that was what research was for, after all—but at this moment she was hard-pressed to think of anything she wouldn’t do for Kyle. “Like what? Ménage?” Some of her bestsellers featured just that.

“
Ménage?
Are you kidding me? You’re mine, and I’m not sharing you with anyone.”

“I’m yours?” It gave her a primitive thrill to hear it, but he didn’t need to know that. “Since when?”

“Don’t you remember? When I had pad Thai delivered to your door last week, you said I’d earned your undying devotion.” The finger that had been inside her a few minutes before now bopped the tip of her nose. “I’m holding you to it.”

She chuckled. “Then what did you have in mind?”

“Me?” He looked deeply into her eyes. “I want to make love to you, Rayna.”

She leaned up to kiss his firm lips and his clean-shaven cheeks. “That sounds perfect.”
He
was perfect.

When Kyle took command of the kiss, holding her by the shoulders and sweeping his tongue into her mouth, Rayna sighed against his lips. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been as happy in her whole life. Kyle was real and he was here. He was a friend and a confidant unlike any other. He read her work, thought she was smart. He seemed to truly like her as she was—metaphorical warts and all—even as he challenged her to overcome her fears and be something more.

The logical side of her brain, the side that handled concepts such as self-preservation, tossed up bright red flags.
There’s no such thing as perfect. Just wait for the other shoe to drop.
But she didn’t need another warning about potential incompatibility. He lived on the other side of the country, for fuck’s sake.

Kyle broke the kiss and laid her flat on her back. And when he ran his hands from her feet to her knees, then spread her legs apart, opening her to his view, Rayna stopped worrying about what could go wrong. She had other things to focus on now, like the way his gaze locked on to her pussy and how he licked his lips, ready to devour. Animalistic? Yes… But more like a hungry tiger mesmerizing her with his stare before he pounced.

His thumb brushed her clit, sending a shiver through her as he leaned down and whispered against her thigh, “Can I taste you?”

Chapter Six

Rayna spent her days envisioning scenarios like this. In her mind, she’d been a wanton woman, pressing Kyle’s mouth to her sex. In reality, his breath against her parted thighs was so intimate it made her squirm. When Kyle’s tongue tickled the space between her thigh and her short, trimmed thatch of hair, she shifted just the tiniest bit away. He’d seen her on camera, but would he still think she was pretty up close and personal?

“So this is me in high resolution,” she teased. At least that was the tone she was going for. “Am I what you expected?”

She could feel in the hands he slid under her rump that he was trembling. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Ray. I knew you’d be soft and sweet. I had no idea that even your scent would drive me out of my mind. I need to taste you.”

She wanted this. It wasn’t like she was going to let Kyle walk away tonight before she’d explored every inch of his body. So she had to do this. She had to give up control and push back her fear of not being good enough. In answer to his declaration, she let her thighs relax and her knees fall open.

At the first lap of his moist tongue against her clit, she made a squeak like she’d stepped on a mouse. Oh holy shit. That was good.

He lifted his head. “Are you okay?”

She gripped the covers in her fists. “Uh-huh. Carry on.”

His forearms ran under her thighs, his hands coming around to cup the flesh where her ass met her hips. With a growl, he pressed his face to her core. His tongue flattened over her clit, then slicked through her folds and back again.

“Mmmm…” The vibrations of his voice felt so good against her engorged lips. “I should have taken care of myself before I got on that plane. I swear, this is enough to send me over the edge.”

She pressed her eyes shut and let her body take the lead. Perspiration misted her skin, making the air feel cool against her breasts and neck. All of her earlier fears and inhibitions vanished when his lips and tongue found their rhythm. Oh yes. That was… She gripped his short hair and tugged. Had she imagined this? Pulling him to her?

The cold chills…her overheated body…the way Kyle feasted on her. She was so hot for him…hot for her release… Her knees involuntarily tightened around his head. “Just like that—”

Her sharp pant and the tightening in her belly let her know she was close. Her head thrashed side to side, the world spinning, shifting, narrowing to one perfect spot where his mouth met her sex. She felt the contour of his skull under her fingertips. Gripped him tighter. Loved him in this moment, loved what he was doing to her.

She cried out, so loud she sounded in pain. She couldn’t help it. Couldn’t be quiet when the tension he’d built in her body finally snapped, and the ripples of sensation became a torrent, gripping her soul, squeezing her, making her hold on to the only solid thing she could find.

Kyle’s dick was so hard it hurt even pressing against his jeans. He rested his cheek on Rayna’s thigh. He knew now wasn’t the right time to tell her he loved her, but damn if he didn’t. This woman owned him.

He stayed still, letting her breathing slow as he drank her in. If he could feasibly leave her scent on his face for the rest of his life, he would.

After another minute, she stirred. “How can you be so much better than my vibrator? I thought I was a pro.”

He laughed and lifted his head, as proud as if he’d just been awarded the Olympic gold medal in oral sex. “Maybe it’s nice just to relax and let somebody else do the work. Not that I’d call that work.”

She rolled her hips like her pussy needed more attention or she was turned on by the idea of him servicing her needs. He’d known from their video dates that once Ray got started, she was in it for the long haul. The first orgasm just got her warmed up for the next.

Smiling, he stalked up her body and kissed her supple lips while his fingers found her pussy. Oh man. She was even wetter now after her release and swollen so tight he’d probably make a fool of himself by coming too soon. No, he had to make her lose it so many times she wouldn’t care what happened later.

“So you were saying…” He sank his thumb into her and with his fingers found her clit. “You like having me here in the flesh? I was worried maybe you had an Internet sex fetish or something.” He failed to hold back his snicker.

Rayna’s eyes twinkled. “Yeah, I guess this is okay.” As he stroked her, her head fell back and she moaned. “So…why did you wait so long to visit?”

He would have come weeks ago, but when he’d broached the subject, he could see she wasn’t ready. Judging from the feel of her under his hand, she was certainly ready now. He kissed her again, ignoring his dick’s cries for mercy and simply trying to savor his time with her. Her lips were so plump and soft. Everything about her was soft. He wanted to rub himself over every square inch of her body. “I’m not gonna deny I wanted to, but there was no way I was going to rush you and chance ruining what we have. You’re—” He stopped himself from finishing.

If he told her she was everything to him, he might scare her away. She didn’t live cut off from the world because she was good at intimacy. And with his track record—neither was he. He’d never experienced anything so real or so deep in his life. He’d never let his guard down before. Would she still want him when he told her the truth…that his life was more complicated than he’d led her to believe? It would sever him at the knees if she decided he wasn’t worth the risk.

Her hands roamed over his shoulders and then down his back, to the hem of his brown sweater. “Take this off, will you?”

He’d been so focused on her, he’d almost forgotten he was still completely clothed. “I’d have to move my hand… And it’s happy where it is.” To illustrate his point, he rocked his fingers against her clit then plunged his thumb deeper, buried it to the knuckle. Her inner walls clutched at him, milking him in small, grasping contractions.

“Oh shii….” She swallowed a gasp, and her fingers covered his, moving him the way she liked it. Then after a minute of grinding against him, her grip tightened, forcing his hand away. “Take off your sweater, Kyle. I get to play now.”

“No way.” If she touched him, he was going off like a rocket. He had a quick recovery time, but he didn’t want her first memory of their lovemaking to be him going off before the gun. “I’m not finished with you yet.”

“Oh really?” She rose to her knees beside him and coaxed him up with her, smiling devilishly like she thought he was just baiting her. “I bet I can get it off you.”

She was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, naked and on her knees in front of him. Her brown hair fell down around her breasts, brushing the tips of her tight peaks, not quite long enough to cover them. When her small hand came to his abdomen, his cock gave a jerk, twitching against the rough outline of his jeans.

He preempted Rayna’s attack by gripping one large breast in his hand and bending to suckle it. Her skin was the texture of the rosebuds in his family’s garden, and she smelled even sweeter. She gasped when he drew her nipple deep into his mouth, and her own hand slipped between her legs, massaging her tiny little bundle of nerves until she moaned aloud. Shit, watching her finger her clit wasn’t helping his self-control at all.

When he stopped to catch his breath, she grasped his waistband and yanked his hips toward hers. Clasping one hand on his ass, she ground her pussy against him through his jeans—and he was finished. He’d come inside her, or he’d come in his pants. Surely, nothing could be worse than that.

Surprising her, he took the bottom of both his T-shirt and sweater in his hands and yanked them over his head in one smooth motion. The look in her eyes when she inspected his torso made his chest swell with pride—and more than a little relief. She liked what she saw.

“My God. You’re perfect,” she told him. Then she almost killed him dead when she leaned forward and sucked at the skin over his collarbone, raking her fingernails over his flat nipples.

He was shaking again. He couldn’t help it. And his throat felt thick, like he could hardly squeeze words out. “I want to be inside you, Rayna.”

“Mmmm…” she purred when her hand rubbed his cock through the denim. She slowly undid his belt and unbuttoned his fly. His shaft sprang free of the jeans, pulling his boxers taut across the front.

He couldn’t move now. Couldn’t do anything. He thought she might push his boxers lower, but she surprised him by working the head of his penis through the opening in his undershorts.

She licked her lips, staring down at him with hungry eyes. “You’re too good to be true. My turn to taste now.” With a smile, she slid her hand down his abs and over his boxers, then took his shaft firmly in hand.

He grunted when she sucked him into her mouth—no soft licks, no kisses to start him slowly—just pure wet friction and so much pressure his mouth fell open on a swear. “Fuck…” he panted, curling his fingers and fisting her silky brown hair with both hands.

The sound of her suction, the movement of her head over his cock, the sight of her bare ass as she bent to him… He wanted to come in that sweet mouth… He would… But not this first time. “Please, sweetheart.”

She tightened her grip and worked him faster. “Rayna, please…” He gently tugged her head back until she met his gaze. Her eyes were slumberous and her lips were stretched and pink, pools of saliva at their corners. “I need you. I can’t wait.”