Stripped (38 page)

She moved her leg, and her clothing tumbled to her ankles.
Brandon splayed one hand over her tailbone, the other he moved around in front to cup her pussy. Moisture met his seeking fingertips. He slid his index finger through her damp folds and pressed the heel of his palm against her sensitive nub.

Natalya trembled. Her nails dug into his bare shoulders as she leaned against the countertop and curled a slender calf around his leg. Eyes closed, head tipped back, she moaned, “Brandon…”

He had to know. Had to hear her say it. Leaning his bare chest into hers, he eased his finger inside her slick sheath. His voice rang thick and hoarse. “Do you want to come, beautiful?”

Her inner muscles contracted. “God… yes…”

Brandon pushed in deep as his body coiled tight.
Fuck.
The simple utterance was enough to hurtle him to the brink. He sucked in deep breaths to temper the shock of ecstasy. “Go ahead. I want you to, sweetheart. I want you to feel me. Know me.”

“Not without you,” she rasped.

Oh,
holy crap.
That was no way to stop him from coming. And damned if he could fight the pleas of her body any longer. The time for answers had come and gone. He stepped back, yielding to the questing of her hands at his belt. She tugged it loose, the jangle of metal like a gunshot to his frayed nerves. He held absolutely still, scarcely able to breathe as she released the solitary button, then his zipper.

He glanced over his shoulder at the couch—no way would he make it there. Stepping out of the material pooled at his ankles, he grabbed her by the hipbones and set her on the countertop. Her legs wound around his waist. Her mouth found his, hungry and demanding. His low moan mingled with hers, and his erection pressed against her slick opening. A rock of her body urged him to bring them together. To take them both to that delirious place where desire bound them tight and carried them away.

On a shaky breath, Brandon pulled his hips back and pushed through her soft tissues, sliding in deep. She surrounded him. Her hot flesh gripped and squeezed. Her nails scored down the length of his
back.
Fuck.
He couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. She was warm, wet, and perfect. The needy tangle of her tongue fringed with an innocence he couldn’t define. Like a calming breeze before a thunderstorm rolled in. “God, you feel good.”

She leaned back to brace her hands on the countertop behind her and lifted her body into his. Sensation surged down his spine. His cock swelled. Bliss threatened to drag him into oblivion. Robbed of the ability to breathe, he tore his mouth from hers to whisper against her cheek, “I’m not going to last long. But I’ll make it up to you.”

A faint smile crossed her beautiful face as she lifted her eyes to his. Her leg tightened, drawing his body closer as she glided along his hard length. “Me neither.”

He resisted the driving need to slam inside her, determined to let her find pleasure first. Holding on to her waist, he guided her slowly and bit down on the inside of his cheek. Jesus, this was heaven. Unlike anything he’d ever experienced. His body strained with the effort of controlling himself, his arms shook, his thighs bunched tight.

Up and down, she lifted, taking him in deep, then withdrawing until he thought he’d lose his mind if she released him all the way. But just as he felt certain he’d fall from that sweet, hot haven, she pushed forward again, bringing him home.

He made the mistake of looking between them and witnessing the way he moved in and out of her body. Swearing beneath his breath, he dug his fingers into her hips. “Natalya,” he ground out between clenched teeth.

“Feel
me.”

Her response came so softly he had to strain to hear her. It’s effect, however, brought him to his knees. In one thunderous heartbeat, she engulfed his senses. Her perfume carried him away to the naivety of youth, and the rasp of her breath erased a decade of guilt. The warmth of her body sliding against his soothed something restless and untamed.

His arms wrapped around her waist, his mouth crashed into hers,
savage and hard. Unraveled and exposed, he drove in and out of her in wild abandon, oblivious to all but the ecstasy building at the base of his spine.

“Brandon. Oh, God. Brandon…” Her words gave way to a throaty groan.

Brandon felt her flesh quiver around him. Her ragged cry crashed into his awareness, and sent him surging over a high cliff edge. Pinpoints of light burst behind his eyes as release stormed through him. He groaned against the spasming of his body, his breath catching as he came unendingly.

Spent beyond all means, he dropped his head to her shoulder and gasped for air. The last of her orgasm pulsed around his softening erection, and he gave in to a soft smile. He brushed a kiss to her damp shoulder. “I don’t think I can move.”

Natalya’s chuckle danced down the side of his neck. Light fingertips trailed over his ribs. “Me neither, but you’re going to have to. I can’t sleep on this countertop.”

Summoning the last of his remaining strength, Brandon scooped her into his arms and eased her to her feet. The separation of their bodies filled him with a strange sense of disappointment, but it also explained why their lovemaking seemed so much different than anything he’d experienced. As he reached to the floor for their clothing, he glimpsed the sheen of moisture along his sagging cock.

Panic kicked his heart into overdrive. In countless entanglements, not once, not
fucking
once, had he been dumb enough to forget a condom.

He balled their clothes into his fist and struggled to swallow. He was clean, no question about that. He sincerely doubted she didn’t look after herself as well. But there were other repercussions. Long-term ramifications that always had exceptions.

Trying to keep the terror out of his voice, he extended her clothes and suggested, “How about we curl up on the couch?”

“How ’bout we go to bed? It’s after five.”

It was his turn to lie. He hated doing it, but he hated spoiling the magic by explaining his hang-up with beds more. “I’m not ready to crash yet. I’ll put a movie in. You can doze in my lap.” For emphasis, he gave her a meaningful look and added, “I don’t want to let you go just yet.”

At least that was truth. He took her hand in his unsteady one and led her to the couch where he stretched out and drew her into his embrace. Picking up the remote, he clicked on the television. Then, he dragged the afghan on the back of the couch over their bare bodies. Natalya snuggled close, her chin tucked into his chest.

For several moments, they enjoyed the silence. But try as he might, Brandon couldn’t let go of the unprotected sex issue. Fully aware he was making a bigger deal out of it than perhaps he should—obviously if she were concerned she’d have said something by now—he pulled his fingers through her long, silken hair and let out a heavy sigh.

“So. I’m kinda concerned.”

“Oh?” She tipped her head back, looking up at him with the brightest green eyes he’d ever seen.

He frowned, feeling suddenly very childish. If he didn’t ask, however, he’d never sleep. “I just had the orgasm of my life without a rubber glove.”

“Of your life, huh?” Grinning, she trailed a nail down his chest.

To his consternation, his cheeks flushed hot. He tightened the arm about her shoulders, pulling her closer so she couldn’t see his blush. “Yeah.”

“Relax, Moretti.” Natalya pressed a kiss to the center of his chest. “I’ve had an IUD since college and my job requires quarterly testing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Your job?”

“Well, my former job, I guess.”

A law secretary? He frowned. No law firm he knew of required employees to test for STDs every three months. Setting two fingertips beneath her chin, he tipped her head up to look into her eyes.
Truth.

Weird.

To cover the searching of his gaze, he dipped his head and drew her into a languorous kiss.

As he eased it to a close, her palm settled against his cheek. “Tell me more about this
of your life
part.”

Chuckling, he dragged a knuckle over the bump on the bridge of her nose. “How about you tell me how you did this?”

“That?” Natalya laughed softly. “Someone hit me.”

“Hit you?” His voice escalated.

“Yeah. He broke it in three places. I had two black eyes for almost two months.”

“He?” Brandon lifted to his elbow, possessed by the sudden urge to slam the bastard’s teeth into the back of his head.

Natalya looped her arms around his neck and dragged him back into the couch. Eyes twinkling, she brushed the tip of her nose against his. “I broke his jaw.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. Winding his arms around her tight, he hauled her atop his chest. “Listen, there’s something you should know. The graffiti on your car…” Trailing off, he pondered the wisdom of telling her he’d been involved with Jill. She might leap out of his arms and run. On the other hand, she deserved to know why she’d been made a target. At least in that respect. He steeled himself for the worst. “I’m pretty sure Jill’s responsible. I made the mistake of going home with her, and I haven’t been able to get rid of her since.”

“I figured it was Jill,” she answered a bit too quietly.

“It’s not what you think.”

“I’m not thinking anything.”

“And this isn’t the same sort of thing.”

“It’s not?”

He trailed his hands down the sloping length of her spine and cupped her bottom. “No. I like you.”

“I should hope so.” She chuckled again.

Though he’d had his fill of her moments before, the stirring of her
warm flesh against his cock sent desire hurtling through his veins. He felt himself rise against her abdomen.

She noticed the intrusion and ground her hips against his swelling length. “I like you too.”

“Tell me what I have to do to keep you offstage.”

Natalya lifted to her hands and dragged her body down his hardening cock. The damp folds of her pussy enveloped him, taunting with a promise of paradise. Seeking to return her teasing, he fitted a hand between their bodies and pressed his thumb to the hard little nub between her legs.

She closed her eyes and gyrated her hips against his hand. “That’s not… possible.”

“It’s not, huh?” he murmured as he slipped his finger lower, sliding through her moist flesh to swirl around her slickened opening.

Natalya refused to yield so easily. She took him into her hand and closed her fingers around his swollen cock. As she slowly pumped him, the color of her eyes darkened to deep emerald, and she shook her head.

Christ, the woman knew how to manipulate him. He gritted his teeth against the pressure of her fingers, determined to resist. His body, however, refused to comply. Unbidden, his hips lifted into her hand, the pleasant friction nothing less than addicting.

Before she could coerce him into blissful oblivion again, he elbowed her hand aside and caught her by the waist. Lifting her where he wanted her, he brought her body down against his mouth and speared her weeping pussy with his tongue. She bucked forward, her gasp as sharp as breaking glass.

Several thorough minutes and two intense orgasms later, Brandon’s own raging need threatened to break him into bits. He rolled her over into the cushions and positioned himself between her thighs. Taking her without a condom had been exquisite—no way was he going back to barriers between them. As he thrust high and sank into her ready
depths, her gaze locked with his, baring her vulnerable soul. Her soft cry echoed through him.

Brandon knew then, he had one choice, and one choice only. She’d never agree to leaving the stage. For some reason it was important to her. He, however, couldn’t accept that risk. Jill might have painted Natalya’s back window, but someone else left her smashed chocolates, and despite what she said, that gun symbolized her fear. Maybe she didn’t recognize it as fear, but she recognized the threat.

As he lifted up into her, stroking that spot of pleasure few women knew how to enjoy, he whispered, “You’re fired.”

Whether she heard him or not, he couldn’t say. Rapture washed across her face, and closing her eyes, she surrendered to the motion of their bodies. He gave up thinking, caught her hands in his, and let his eyelids fall. As pleasure swept him away, he dimly recognized the flash of headlights that brightened his front room. Attributing it to a passing car, Brandon lost himself to the incredible feeling of Natalya.

N

She pushed at Brandon’s shoulder. He mumbled something, tightened the arm he held at her waist, and pulled her deeper into his embrace. She sighed, torn between spending the energy to struggle free and laying here a while longer.

The low coo of a nearby dove convinced her to wait. Tracing one firm biceps with her fingertip, she admired the man who had loved her so thoroughly throughout the wee hours of morning. It seemed his appetite was insatiable. Then again, the same could be said for hers. No matter how many times he took her to the brink of ecstasy, or whether he did it with his mouth, his hands, his cock, she couldn’t get enough.

He’d fired her too, and in her bleary haze, she’d welcomed the opportunity to be nothing but woman. Fleeting pleasure she’d known would end come dawn. It must. Tomorrow night, Iskatel´ would move on Kate. While Brandon might have barred her from the stage, he couldn’t keep her from Fantasia. He couldn’t protect her either, not when she had to risk her life to save Kate’s.

But for a few hours, she’d known absolute freedom. He’d given her a part of him. Exposed himself in the way he made love to her. And in
so doing, he’d pulled unimaginable feeling from deep within her soul. She liked him. Respected him. Admired him.

If things were different, it would be so easy to fall in love with Brandon Moretti.

The dove cooed again, and Natalya dusted a light kiss over Brandon’s mouth. He’d made her laugh. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so freely. Not even the playful banter she shared with Sergei satisfied the way she’d laughed hours ago.