Keeping His Promise: A When It Happens Novella, Book 2 (5 page)

“And when I say I fucked them,” he added in that low, husky voice that still held the rough edge of frustration, “that’s exactly what I mean. I didn’t spend the night with them. Didn’t go down on them. I barely even kissed them. I took them to nice hotel rooms, screwed them with my dick wrapped up, and then left. If that makes me an asshole in your eyes, then fine. But they weren’t expecting anything more from me than what they got.”

It took a couple of shallow breaths before she was able to make her throat work. “And now?”

He angled his head to the side, silently asking for clarification.

“What happened with them?”

“Nothing,” he said flatly. “They both knew it was just sex.”

She ran her tongue over her lower lip. “They…they didn’t try to see you again?”

Jaw tight, he admitted, “They tried. I told them as nicely as possible that I wasn’t interested.”

“And that’s what you want with me?” she asked, struggling to make sense of everything buzzing through her head. “A night of sex?”

His head went back, and he suddenly looked even more pissed off than before—and a thousand times more frustrated. “If all I wanted was to fuck you once, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You’re too damn difficult for something that brief.”

“Oh.”
Oh? What the hell did that mean?

He lowered his head, and his nostrils flared again as he blew out a sharp breath. “But getting inside you is definitely a part of it.”

She stared, stunned by how much those rough words affected her. And absolutely scared down to her marrow by how badly she wanted to forget everything that had shaped her, and just let herself believe what he was telling her. If only for one night. Just one perfect, mind-shattering night, where she could finally feel and let go and stop acting like such a cold, emotionless shell.

Quietly, he said, “Jesus, Natalie. What the hell are you thinking now?”

She drew in a shaky breath, and swiped her tongue over her lower lip again, unnerved by how easily he could read her.

“Damn it,” he hissed, that dark gaze locking hungrily on her mouth. “You’re fucking killing me.”

She took a deeper breath, hands clenching into nervous fists on the tabletop, and forced herself to be honest with him. “I’m attracted to you,” she whispered, making herself hold his gaze when it shot back to hers. “I…I know you get that. That you see it. But this, whatever you’re offering, whether it’s a single night or…or a dozen of them before you’re ready to move on—it’s not the right thing for me.”

His dark brows started to draw back together. “How can you be so sure?”

She made a restless gesture with her hand. “Because I’m not into flings or affairs or whatever you want to call what you’re offering from your bed.”

“And you think I’m incapable of anything more than a dozen hard fucks?”

Oh, God. Hearing him quietly growl
hard fucks
nearly made her come right there at the table.

“I’m talking about
me
, not you, Sean. I’m not judging you.”

Those long fingers were stabbed back through his hair again, the grim bark of laughter on his lips drawing more than a few looks from the tables around them, because there was nothing quiet
or
soft about it. “Like hell you aren’t,” he muttered, sounding done. “And you’ve already decided exactly what I’m good for, which is apparently my dick and nothing more.”

She blinked, taken aback by his tone. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you finished?”

She was startled by the cold abruptness of the question, then realized he was talking about her coffee. “Um, yeah. I’m done.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

He signaled for the server, then turned his attention back to the window. Natalie sat back in her seat, hating that it felt like she’d screwed up, when she was only trying to do the right thing. The smart thing. The thing that would keep her protected.

She reached for her purse when the server put the check down, but stopped when Sean cut her a sharp look. He took out his credit card, passed it over, and they were leaving less than a handful of minutes later, his long legs eating up the ground so that she couldn’t keep up without practically running. She sucked in a couple of deep breaths of the storm-scented air, unable to get rid of the sickening, deepening feeling that she’d made a huge mistake. That he’d offered something precious and rare, and she’d stomped on it because she was too afraid to take a freaking chance and end up like her mother.

I…I can’t,
she thought wildly, watching as lightning arced out over the ocean, the scent of rain so strong now she could almost taste it.
I can’t let that happen.

But if there’d been a part of her worried that Sean still planned on trying to seduce her, testing her resolve, it would have been a waste of time. He barely even looked at her again as he drove her home to her apartment. He parked near her unit, then climbed out, waiting for her at the front of the truck.

His jaw was hard, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, and he didn’t even look at her as he made the short walk with her to her front door. As soon as she reached the welcome mat she’d set out, he turned around and started walking back to the truck without uttering a single word.

Ah. Okay, then. I guess that’s that.

Her throat shook as she reached into her purse for her keys, stupid eyes stinging with a hot wash of tears. God, what had he done to her? She wasn’t the type of woman who let her hormones control her. She’d seen firsthand what kind of chaos that could create, and she wanted no part of it.

Though, in all honesty, it was more than just her hormones that found Sean Cartwright completely fascinating. He’d captivated every part of her, with his brutal honesty, heady sexuality, and bad boy, alpha-as-hell brand of charm. He was the one-of-a-kind type of guy that women fantasized about coming into their lives, all man and freaking incredible, and only that twisting knot of fear in her belly that he could completely crush her had given her the strength to walk away.

Only, in that moment, it certainly felt like strength was just another word for cowardice.

“Damn it,” she hissed under her breath, feeling the first drop of rain against the back of her neck as she dug deeper into her purse, “where are my fucking keys?”

Unable to feel them at the bottom of the purse, she started to search the inside pocket, her fingertips brushing against a tiny piece of paper, and her breath suddenly froze in her lungs.
Ohmygod
. Pulling the little scrap out, she found herself staring down at the fortune from her cookie that day at the restaurant with Sophie and Chris.

Love?
Her heart pounded so hard she was almost afraid she was having a heart attack, but she refused to stop the crazy-sauce direction her thoughts were suddenly taking.

Okay, so Sean didn’t
love
her. How could he? He barely even knew her. But he wanted her, and she wanted him.

And something…
something
magical—as crazy as that sounded—was clearly trying to bring them together tonight. First that stupid fender-bender in the parking lot at Manolo’s with Matt, and now
this
, finding this small scrap of paper at the exact moment that he was walking away from her.

No!
No…no…no, she couldn’t let that happen.

Driven by a painful sense of urgency, Natalie spun around so quickly she almost twisted her ankle in the killer sandals.
“Wait!”

But he didn’t stop or turn around. Hell, he didn’t even slow down.

“Sean!” she shouted, nearly twisting her ankle again as she tried to catch up to him. “Please, wait!”

He stopped near the truck’s driver-side door, broad shoulders tensed as he kept his back to her. “What do you want, Natalie?”

He sounded tired, and like he really wanted to get the hell out of there.

And that question. What did she want? God, too many things to name—and nothing that could actually be hers, except…except for
this
. For a stolen night of pleasure that she instinctively knew would be unlike anything she’d ever known…or ever would. She just had to be willing to ask for it.

And after the way she’d treated him, no doubt grovel, at least a little.

The rain was coming down harder, and it was cold, but her skin was hot. She was burning from the inside out for this man. For this moment. This chance for something that might actually touch her in a way nothing else had touched her in…in forever. Because she’d never let it, her defenses so strongly in place no man had ever really stood a chance.

Whatever force had brought them together—kismet, luck, or the random roll of the universe’s dice—she wasn’t going to throw this opportunity away.

And just then, when she finally found the courage to stop acting like a coward, he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned around to face her.

Refusing to let herself look away from those dark, hooded blue eyes, she took a few more steps in his direction. “After…after all the shit you’ve put up with from me,” she murmured breathlessly, “are you really just going to walk away?”

“Sometimes it’s best to step back and reassess a situation before moving forward.”

Shaking her head, she said, “No. I don’t want you to do that.”

Slowly, as if he were being cautious with his words, he said, “You don’t want me to do what?”

“Step back. Reassess. I…I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

His expression didn’t change, but there was something in his gaze that made it impossible to look away. “So any man would do, and I just happen to be the convenient, nearby dick?”

“No,” she whispered, her lips trembling as she shook her head again. “Not any man. Just you.”

She could see, so clearly, that part of him that wanted to make her pay, just a bit, for being such a bitch to him. But the part that wanted this, wanted
her
, shoved it to the side.

He came toward her, his expression hard and raw and determined, hunger carved into every magnificent, masculine part of him. The line of his jaw. The breadth of his shoulders. The hot, scorching burn of those sky-colored eyes as his gaze moved over every part of her rain-spattered throat and face, before lifting slowly back to hers.

“Invite me in, Natalie.” She knew he was talking about more than her apartment. Probably even more than her body, and it scared the hell out of her.

“Sean,” she breathed shakily, wanting so badly to find the courage to see this through.

His next step brought him so close she had to tilt her head back to keep looking him in the eye. “Invite me in, and I promise I’ll make you come so fucking hard you scream.”

The storm had broken, in more ways than one. She licked her lips, acutely aware of how warm and ready her body had grown for him. Between her legs, she was slick with desire, her blood already rushing beneath the surface of her skin, pulse like the constant roar of a waterfall in her ears.

“You should know right now that I’m not much of a screamer,” she somehow managed to choke out, the hoarseness of her voice taking her by surprise.

“Invite. Me. In.” A hard breath punctuated each rough word, the deep growl of his voice so freaking sexy she could feel herself getting even wetter, her body heavy and ripe with anticipation. “Now, Natalie.”

This was insanity, pure and simple. But in some weird, inexplicable way, she also knew that it was wholly and completely
right
. That it was going to be the best goddamn gift she’d ever given herself, no matter how much of a risk it was to her emotional stability—and while she might be dealing with a thousand different emotions at the moment, there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to walk away from him.

Lifting her chin, Natalie stared straight into his beautiful blue eyes, wanting him to see just how badly she meant what she was about to say.

“Please, Sean.
Please
come inside with me.”

T
he seconds
that followed those heartfelt words were nothing more than a blur. A hot, breathtaking, mind-shattering blur that Natalie clung to like a lifeline.

Somehow, they made it to her front door without tripping over one another. Sean had her keys in one hand, while the other gripped her ass, her legs wrapped tight around his waist as the skies unloaded and the storm crashed down on them, doing its best to drench them to the bone.

She knew she should be freezing, but as he sank his tongue into her mouth, claiming it with raw, wicked skill, she didn’t feel anything but a wild, raging heat that burned her from the inside out.

God, she’d never been kissed like…like
this
. Kissed so deliciously hard and hungry that it literally scattered her thoughts like dandelion fluff caught up in the wind. His tongue stroked hers, tasting and taking in a way that had her hands clawing at his broad shoulders, her fingers digging into the dense muscles there. She wanted his damn shirt off so that she could feel the heat of his skin, taste it with her tongue.

“Jesus, your lips are soft,” he rasped in a deep, guttural voice, shoving her door open and carrying her inside.

“Yours are hot,” she moaned, flicking her tongue over them. “Hot and delicious.”

His grip tightened, and she could feel the frustration of some internal war he was having with himself. Hoping like crazy that he wasn’t contemplating setting her down and putting an end to this, Natalie fisted her hands in his hair and kissed him even harder.

“Fuck it,” he cursed against her tender lips, pushing her against the nearest wall as he kicked the door shut with his boot. “I wanted to spend fucking hours tasting every part of you, but I can’t wait, Natalie. Not this first time.”

Relief surged through her, potent and sharp, with excitement nipping right at its heels from the way he touched her…handled her. His big, masculine hand moved between her legs, pushing inside her panties, seeking out the sensitive folds of her sex, and she cried out at the first hot touch of his fingers.

“So fucking wet,” he breathed against her lips, just before he pushed one long finger inside her.

“Sean, I need…I need to touch you too.” Her voice shook, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was getting him in her hand.

She made some kind of desperate mewling sound that she’d never made before in her life as she unwound her legs from his waist, grateful for the wall at her back as she tried to stand. Then she reached between them, attacking his belt and zipper. She shoved her hand into the front of his boxers, pulling a hard, guttural moan from the back of his throat. But when she tried to curl her fingers around him, he was too big.

Oh…um, wow
. Her skin tingled as she investigated the hard, steely shaft, learning him through touch, while her senses reeled from the way he was thrusting that wicked finger inside her, learning her just as thoroughly.

He was, uh, long. Much longer than anyone she’d been with—and thick. Thick enough to make it hurt, because she knew he was going to stretch her wide when he started trying to push that massive thing inside her.

“Nat, relax,” he whispered, somehow sensing her tension. He kissed his way along the underside of her jaw, while his finger flexed inside her, rubbing against the front wall of her sex. It felt so incredible it made her cry out, her body doing exactly as he’d commanded. She moaned his name, unable to keep her hips from surging against him, pleading for more.

“That’s it, baby. Move for me.”

He pushed another big finger in alongside the first, and found her clit with the callused pad of his thumb, pressing and circling. Her body arched against him like she’d been shocked, and her head went back, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears.

“Jesus, Nat.” His silky hair tickled her chin as he nuzzled her throat, his open mouth pressed against the hammering beat of her pulse. “You’re going to feel so fucking good on me.”

“If…if you fit,” she said with a breathless laugh. She gripped his breathtaking cock in both hands now, and the heavy knot-work of veins beneath his hot, velvety skin gave a hard pulse as she tightened her grip on him. “And that’s a big freaking if.”

“You’ll take me.” There was a smile in the husky words, and she shivered as he rubbed his lips against the sensitive skin just beneath her ear, nipping it with his teeth. “You’re as tight as a fist, but you’ll take me. Every fucking inch of me.”

Pulling his hand from between her legs, he suddenly gripped the sides of her head, holding her still for another deep, ravenous kiss. His wicked tongue rubbed against hers, doing delicious things to her mouth that were melting her down, her sex tingling with a hot, slick pulse of need, her panties so wet they were soaked. Then he pulled back, and dropped to his knees while she was still trying to take her next breath, his downward motion forcing her to release his cock.

“Wha—” she got out, just before he pushed her thighs farther apart, took the front of her panties in both hands, and ripped them off of her. Then he cursed something raw and husky, the dirty words still rumbling on his lips when he angled his head a bit to the side and shoved his face against her. She made a sharp, keening sound as she dug her hands into his thick hair, stunned by the feel of his hot mouth on that most sensitive part of her. He went at her with his lips and tongue and teeth, holding her open with his thumbs, sucking on her so hungrily she could hear the wet sounds of his mouth moving against her flesh.

Holy, holy, holy shit
, she thought when she looked down, thinking that had to be the hottest freaking thing she’d ever seen: Sean Cartwright on his knees in front of her, his eyes on hers, tongue lapping at her wet clit, while his hands were busy tugging a condom he must have pulled from his wallet over his massive cock. The sight alone was enough to make her orgasm—which was exactly what happened.

It was a little embarrassing, how quickly she came undone for him. But not even an act of God could have stopped the flood of pleasure that tore through her, every nerve ending sizzling, while liquid heat poured through her veins, melting her down. Her throat shook, eyes hot with tears, so much emotion and feeling building inside her that the climax just kept going, and he devoured every part of it, his tongue greedily licking at her drenched flesh and thrusting inside her, eating at her like he was some kind of sex god who’d been starved for her taste.

She was still coming—still completely lost in the most incredible, devastating orgasm of her life—when he lifted her against the wall, reached down to line his cock up with her pulsing entrance, and thrust hard into her soft core, forcing her body to stretch around him as he pushed inside her.

Oh…oh fuck!
she thought, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to find her way through the shocking jolt of pain-edged pleasure.
Just…um, yeah
.

She wasn’t a virgin—had dated a guy her last year of high school and a few in college—but she clearly didn’t have anywhere close to the experience a woman needed to deal with a man like Sean Cartwright. Natalie could count the actual number of times she’d had sex on one hand, and it’d been almost a year and a half since the last time, which was when she’d decided that guys were a hell of a lot more trouble than they were worth.

Plus, she’d never really been able to let go with a guy enough to enjoy herself. And it didn’t have anything to do with her being a prude, because that so wasn’t her. It just all came down to trust…and the fact that she’d yet to meet a man who she wanted so badly, who she lusted for so greatly, that it was impossible for her to do anything
but
feel.

But she’d definitely met one now.

His penetration was so intense, she could feel him throbbing inside her, the pulsing rhythm making her breathless. He made a thick, guttural sound deep in his chest, then took her mouth again, his body holding still while he slipped his tongue past her trembling lips. He licked at her, and lapped, stroking over all the moist inner surfaces as thoroughly as he’d tasted her sex, while she struggled to adjust to that massive thing he had lodged inside her, her fingers digging into his powerful biceps beneath the sleeves of his T-shirt.

“Don’t keep your eyes closed,” he rasped, brushing his lips against hers, his voice tight with restraint. “Look at me. Let me see you.”

“I can’t.” Her voice was soft…breathless. “It’s too much.”

He nipped at her lower lip, and she could have sworn she could feel him smile. “No. It’s incredible, Nat.”

“It’s t-too much,” she repeated, not knowing if she was talking about his size or the devastating swarm of emotions that were crashing through her, threatening to rip her apart.

“It’s fucking perfect,” he groaned, pushing into her a little deeper. “You’re so fucking tight. Christ, I can’t wait to feel you on every inch of my dick.”

Her eyes popped open, wide with alarm. “Oh, God, there’s
more
?”

His response was to throw his head back with a deep, chest-shaking laugh that made his cock jerk inside her, her body clasping onto him even tighter.

“This isn’t funny.” She tried to growl the words at him as he looked down at her again, but his smile was infectious, the little lines crinkling at the corners of his beautiful eyes only adding to his rugged appeal, and she ended up giving a groaning laugh instead. He must have taken that for permission, because he pressed another thick inch into her, and she gasped both from the pleasure and the shock of the burn as her sheath stretched to make way for him.

“Shh, it’s okay.” He pressed his lips to her damp temple in a tender, open-mouthed kiss. “I’ll go slow while I put the rest in. Just breathe and relax for me, baby.”

“That’s easier said than done,” she moaned, finding it odd that she enjoyed the way he called her “baby”, when she’d always hated it from other men. “But I’ll try,” she tacked on, cringing over the way she sounded like a freaking whiner, when she wanted him to see her as strong.

He smiled against the side of her throat, his voice thick with need. “That’s my girl.” And then, “Now hold on.”

“Whoa! What are you doing?” she asked, throwing her arms around his shoulders as he wrapped one arm around her back, the other under her ass, then turned around and started carrying her toward the short hallway that led back to her bedroom and bathroom.

“I want you under me,” he said against her ear. “As hot as it’ll be when I finally fuck you against a wall, I want to fuck you on your bed for the first time.”

“But this is crazy,” she wailed, painfully aware in that moment of exactly how differently she was built from the other women she’d seen him with. “You can’t carry me!”

He snorted, jostling her in his arms as if she weighed less than a bag of sugar. “The hell I can’t.”

“Damn it, Sean.” She thumped him hard on his shoulder, which only made him laugh. Practically growling now, she snapped, “You’re going to break your back. I’m too freaking heavy to carry!”

“Fuck that. You’re perfect,” he rumbled, pressing his lips to her temple again.

“I’m…curvy,” she heard herself mutter, wishing she could shove her own foot in her mouth to shut herself up.

He pressed those warm lips to her cheek, nuzzling it with a heady combination of affection and lust, while his fingers dug deeper into her ass. “Hell, yeah, you have curves. And I’m damn grateful for each and every one of them.”

She shivered at the intoxicating need she could hear in his rough voice, and could feel her inner muscles gripping onto him like they never wanted to let him go.

“
Fuck
,” he growled, drawing his head back and staring down at her as he laid her back on her double bed. “You feel so good, Nat.”

“You…you feel good too,” she panted, digging her nails into the mouthwatering curve of his biceps. The only light in the room was a soft glow spilling in from the hallway, but it was enough that she could still see him clearly. He was looking at her like she was the only woman on earth who could make him feel like this, and she felt some of the tension knotted inside her begin to ease, while her need pulled tighter, making her restless and demanding.

“You’re like a hot little mouth sucking on my cock.” His voice was getting deeper…
huskier
. “Only tighter. Sweeter.”

With most of their damp clothes still covering their bodies, he came down over her, bracing himself on one muscular arm, his big hand planted just beside her head. He kept his feet braced on the floor, as he lowered his lips to the side of her mouth, kissing her there, while his other hand ran up and down her side in soothing strokes.

She knew he was trying to get her to relax enough that she could enjoy herself, and as his mouth started to do just as much exploring of her skin as his wandering hand, she found the sting of pain from his penetration melting beneath the steady rise of heat…of pleasure.

It was like a huge, slumbering beast inside her was slowly climbing its way to the surface, blinking against the bright rays of light pouring into its world as it slowly stretched its way into awareness. It licked its lips, blinked a few times with sensual appreciation—and then decided that it was fucking
starved
. For more. For Sean. For
all
of him.

Clawing at his T-shirt covered shoulders, Natalie heard herself chanting words she never, not in a million years, ever thought she’d hear: “Sean…Sean…Oh, God.
More.
I need more now. I need all of it.
All
of you.”

“Not yet,” he rumbled, the muscles beneath her hands vibrating with restraint as he buried his face in the side of her throat. “You’re not ready yet.”

“Now,” she demanded, practically shouting at him. “I want it now!”

“It’s too soon,” he bit out, still waiting for her body to fully adjust to his penetration, his hips moving in slow, coaxing nudges that were suddenly driving her mad. “Damn it, Nat. I don’t want to hurt you.”

The roots of his hair were damp with sweat as she gripped handfuls of it, then yanked his head back so she could look him in the eye. “I don’t care. I need it. I need
you
.”