Perfect Together (13 page)

Nicole had been packing for her move, and once they
were at her apartment, boxes surrounded them but the atmosphere didn’t matter. She and Sam had been building to this moment since they’d laid eyes on each other months ago.

She shut the door behind them and Sam spun her around, her back coming up against the wall. She didn’t know who was more desperate. Her hands went to the hem on his shirt, his to the bottom of her tank. Clothes ended up in piles on the floor.

He cupped her breasts and she fit perfectly in his palms. She arched her back, pressing her nipples against his flesh, seeking pressure. He gave it to her, brushing his thumbs over the turgid peaks. She moaned and he tweaked them harder between his fingers, working both breasts at the same time. Sensation spiked from her nipples to her core.

“You are so much more beautiful than I imagined,” he muttered. “I need to see more.”

With a fast rip, he tore the flimsy bra from her body, baring her to his hot gaze.

“Oh, man.”

She trembled beneath his yearning stare, so sinful and hot, she could almost come from that look alone.

“This is why I ended things with Tyler,” she said.

Sam froze.

Her limbs felt heavy, her body already his. “I knew, if I felt like this just meeting you, I couldn’t marry someone who didn’t give me one tenth of this feeling.”

With
a low growl, he bent down and swung her into his arms, carrying her the few paces across the apartment to her bed.

In her entire life, she’d never felt so desired. She’d never wanted anyone as much as she did Sam. She stared up at his handsome face, his hazel eyes glittering, his jaw set. He stripped off his jeans, taking his boxer briefs off along with them. Freed, his erection stood proudly against his stomach and she swallowed at the sheer size and beauty of him.

Her mouth watered and her clit pulsed with desire, her insides clenching with need. As if in a daze, she reached for him, wrapping her fingers around his rigid length, sliding her fingertip over the head and the drop of come there.

He groaned, his hips jerking forward into her waiting hand.

Her hips bucked upward of their own accord. “Sam—”

“I’ve got you.” He eased her jeans down her hips, then her legs, tossing them on the floor. Keeping his promise, he cupped her mound, his thumb brushing over the thin fabric of her damp panties.

He had her all right, in more ways than one.

She jerked beneath his touch, sensation shooting through her, pleasure just out of reach—but he wasn’t. She pushed up on her elbows and cupped his firm erection in her hands once more. Silk and steel, she thought, the need for his hard shaft inside her building like the rising tide.

He shook his head and jerked away. “If you want me to last, no more touching beforehand.”

She laughed. “Then get on with it, Detective,” she said, her voice huskier than she’d ever heard it.

Her underwear went the way of her bra earlier and as he stared at her body, she found herself oddly unembarrassed.
He slid one finger through her wet folds and a keening sound escaped her throat. She would have been mortified, but he immediately followed by inserting the same finger inside her and beginning a steady pumping rhythm that built her need. In and out, in and out, pausing only to make sure she was with him. And oh, she was. She so was, and when he pressed inside her, on a spot no one had found before, she cried out. He followed up with his other hand on her clit and the crescendo had built to epidemic proportions.

“Is this working for you?” he asked.

“Oh yes.” Her entire lower body was on fire, but the slow pressure he exerted wasn’t enough. “And no. More, please.” Her hips gyrated with unanswered need.

“Like this?” His fingers worked magic inside and out. He rotated his thumb over her clit, harder and harder, then pressed upward with the single finger inside her.

She cried out, her body spasming. “Oh God. More. Harder.”

He replaced his thumb with the heel of one hand and her climax took hold and from a distance, she heard herself chanting. “Oh God, oh God, Sam, yes. Yes.”

Her womb contracted, his finger kept up a delicious pulsing inside her, his whole hand worked her sex, and wave after wave of pure pleasure crashed against her body.

It was the most amazing orgasm she’d ever experienced. On and on the sensation went until she collapsed, spent, against the mattress.

She heard the crinkling of a condom wrapper, thanked her lucky stars he was prepared, and then the head of his erection pressed against her wet heat.

She forced her eyelids open and met his gaze just as he thrust deep and filled her, thick and hard, pausing to give
her time to adjust. Time in which she felt him completely, and to her shock, her arousal rose again from the sensation of him throbbing inside her.

Her eyes opened wide in amazement. She was barely a mini-one-orgasm girl. From the aftershocks still rocking her body to the new sensations building again, Sam was surpassing anything in her admittedly limited experience.

He braced his hands on either side of her head and began to move, sliding in and out, his hot gaze never leaving hers. Another thing that was different—by looking at her as if he could see into her soul, he increased the heat, the urgency, the intimacy of their joining.

“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he ordered.

Knowing her eyes were still wide with wonder, she did as he asked, and suddenly he was harder, rooted further in her body. Even better, the position provided more friction to her clit and she began the slow, steady climb once more.

When he pulled out and pushed back in deep, he hit that place inside only he’d ever found. She moaned and clenched around him.

“Damn, you feel so good,” he said. “So warm, wet, and tight.” With those words, he picked up the perfect movement that synchronized their bodies and drove her higher.

Her hands gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into skin. He groaned his approval and pumped his hips faster until she saw stars behind and in front of her eyes, the pleasure so beyond anything in her world that once again, her orgasm hit without warning.

“That’s it, come for me,” he said, and the ripples and waves of pleasure continued, finally cresting.

“Sam!”

His
name on her lips triggered his release and he pumped into her once, twice, and on the third time, his groan vibrated through her body, which was just beginning to come down from her climax.

She held on to him as he came, aware that this wasn’t the tepid sex she’d had before. This was explosive. It could get addicting. What scared her most of all? So, she feared, could he.

Tyler paced the small room he was renting at the
Serendipity Inn, which in reality was a large Colonial that the owners had remodeled into a bed-and-breakfast. The floral décor and the warm colors were soothing at a time he felt anything but. Macy had been right when she said he’d be comfortable here.

Hell, she’d been right about a lot of things, including the fact that Nicole meant what she said and wasn’t coming home to him anytime soon. The thought should bother him more than it did, but instead of focusing on Nicole, he couldn’t stop thinking about Macy.

There was something appealing about the dark-haired woman, and it wasn’t that she looked a little like Nicole. Macy Donovan was a force of nature, a gorgeous woman who wasn’t intimidated by anyone, who said what she thought and did what she wanted. He admired her a lot.

Unfortunately, he was also extremely attracted to her. But he didn’t have the luxury of acting on it. Indulging in anything beyond friendship with Macy was something he could not afford. Even if he had gone to bed thinking of her instead of Nicole, the woman he was trying to win back as his fiancée.

He’d
been shocked to feel the stirrings of desire for Macy when he’d been so convinced he and Nicole were meant to be. But meeting Macy had forced him to reevaluate Nicole’s breakup words—maybe she had a point about there being no fireworks after all. With Macy, her quick wit, and her ability to force him to do what she wanted, there were sparks aplenty.

How had his life gotten so out of control? Tyler ran a hand through his short hair. Not long ago, he’d thought everything was perfect. Family investment firm doing well, him due to take over when his father and Nicole’s retired. And Tyler had been engaged to the woman he’d been in love with for what felt like forever. Turned out he’d been living in complete denial.

First Nicole had informed him that what she felt for him wasn’t love, it was comfort and expectation born of being used to each other. There were no sparks between them, she’d said. Tyler convinced himself his fiancée was just getting cold feet. He figured she’d come to her senses.

Then she up and moved to Serendipity, and he realized she was serious about starting her life over without him. If that wasn’t humiliating and life-altering enough, his father informed him that Nicole had come into possession of information that could bring down the entire business and put them all in jail, Tyler included. Then Robert Stanton admitted he’d added mob money to help their coffers when the market was bad, and now he was in too deep to ever stop.

He’d ordered Tyler to get himself to Serendipity and return with his obedient fiancée in tow—or he’d have no choice but to tell his
clients
that there was a chance Nicole had overheard a conversation and knew about the money laundering. And those
clients
weren’t the type to leave any loose ends no matter how uncertain. They would put out a hit on Nicole,
and Tyler would be responsible. He wanted to believe his father was bluffing but couldn’t take that chance.

Nausea and panic threatened to engulf him—still did—but he ruthlessly pushed those feelings away. He couldn’t afford to give in to weakness in the huge mess he called his life. Tyler was in deep trouble and so was Nicole. So he had no choice but to remain here and try to persuade her to reconcile and pick up where they left off—with her running his mother’s campaign for borough president, him heir to the family financial firm, their marriage set.

And he had to persuade her without letting on that he knew about his father’s illegal dealings. Though it would be damned easier to get her to come home with him out of fear and loyalty, there was still a chance Nicole didn’t know the truth, and his admission would be filling her in. The more people who knew, the greater the risk of someone going to the police. Especially Nicole, who was now involved with a cop.

Of course, Tyler was considering turning his father in himself. But he needed time to insulate himself, his mother, whose campaign accepted funds from the firm, and Nicole. Tyler also needed Nicole to cooperate. But from the way she looked at Sam Marsden, he didn’t see them separating anytime soon.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do everything in his power to try. Even if guilt rode him the entire time and he couldn’t stop thinking about a woman other than his ex-fiancée.

Sam woke in a strange bed, with a warm body
wrapped around his. Since he didn’t normally spend the night anywhere but his own place, he came awake immediately
and realized where he was and who he was with. Instead of relaxing, he tensed even more because no sooner had he realized he was with Nicole than he instinctively pulled her deeper into him, wrapping his arms tighter around her smaller body. She fit him perfectly.

Sex last night hadn’t been good, it’d been incredible. And that was what put his radar on high alert. The last time he’d felt anything remotely like this, he’d been a naïve younger man, being duped by his fiancée and best friend. And he was enough of an adult now to be able to look back and see that what he’d felt for Jenna paled in comparison to the beginnings of what he felt for Nicole. Young love had been just that, he realized now. And if Jenna was able to hurt him, what kind of havoc could Nicole wreak on his heart if he let her?

He wondered if he could extricate himself without waking her. He was just about to roll over when she stirred, easing onto her back and looking up at him with big blue eyes.

“Hi there,” she said in a sexy morning voice.

“Morning.”

“A good one, I hope?” she asked, vulnerability shining in her expression.

Obviously she wasn’t used to mornings after, and no way would he hurt her just because he was running scared. “After last night, how could it be anything but?”

The tension in her body fled fast and her smile sent awareness shooting straight to his groin, which apparently hadn’t gotten the memo about keeping a safe distance.

Now to work on his tension. As long as he took things slow, guarded his emotions and his heart, he’d be fine. Just because they’d had great sex didn’t mean their agreement
of nothing serious didn’t still hold. Leaving now would be his best bet.

“Breakfast?” she asked. “I packed up the big stuff for the move later today, but I have enough to whip up an omelet or pancakes.”

His stomach rumbled, answering before his brain kicked in.

She laughed, the happy sound making him feel like an ass for his darker thoughts. “So which will it be?”

“Pancakes, if it’s not too much trouble.” And then, because he couldn’t resist, he leaned over and settled his lips over hers, kissing her until the churning in his stomach and the bout of nerves became a distant memory.

“Mmm,” she said when he broke the kiss. “Better than food.”

He grinned.

“But I need to get up and shower . . . Joe said he’d help me move boxes to the car around ten this morning.”

“I have to work, or I’d help. But I’ll carry some down before I head out.” He’d have to stop home and change clothes before going to work.

“Thanks.” She eased out from beneath the covers. Before he could get a look at her incredible body, she swiped her robe from a nearby chair and wrapped it around herself. “I’d ask you to join me but we’d never get moving today.” Her eyes twinkled, and he knew he’d accomplished his goal of not making her panic along with him.

She showered, and he jumped in after her while she made breakfast. While he was drying off, the doorbell rang.