Suddenly Sexy (14 page)

But she was also very aware of how average she was. Common. Just Julie. Nervousness twisted her stomach and she tried to calm down. It was no use. She wasn’t dangerous or exotic. She didn’t have extensive knowledge in the sexual arts.

If only there were something personal in his hotel room! Something that gave her a little insight into Eric’s innermost desires. Not only did she want to live out her fantasy, but she also wanted to give him a night to remember. She wanted to give him something no other woman could.

Eric’s hand drifted to her shoulders. She loved the feel of his rough hands. He skimmed his fingers down her dress until he found the zipper at the side.

Julie licked her lips. She wasn’t ready to shed her alias just yet. She needed the dress, the shoes and the attitude to maintain the role. Just for a little while longer until Eric was so hungry for her he didn’t notice when she reverted back to simply Julie.

She turned and kissed Eric. Her lips teased with his mouth. As she playfully bit his bottom lip, Julie slipped her hands under his T-shirt. His skin was hot and tight. She hummed with pleasure as her fingertips glided over his ripped abs.

Eric crushed her dress in his hands. He kissed her deeply as he fumbled for the zipper. She retreated.

“Don’t tease me,” he said with a smile as he gathered her in his arms again.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said against his mouth. She bunched the heavy cotton of his shirt and pulled it up. Eric raised his arms so she could strip it off and toss it on the floor.

She caressed his sculpted arms with a sense of awe. Julie enjoyed the feel of his sinewy muscles and the soft hair on his forearms. She couldn’t get enough of his masculine beauty.

But she was no match for him. She’d found that out in the supply closet. She had submitted to Eric and would do it again in an instant. Yet, a part of her wanted to be in charge. She wanted him begging and pleading.

Eric kissed her, plunging his tongue into her mouth as he boldly cupped her breast. She melted against him before she even realized it. When she tensed, Eric broke the kiss and stared intently into her eyes.

“What’s going on, Julie?” His eyes darkened and he loosened his hold. “You’re acting as if you’re scared of me.”

“Scared? No way!” How could Eric think that? When she was with him, she felt safe and uninhibited. There was no other place she’d rather be than in his arms.

“I’ll be gentle,” he promised. “Nothing like last time.”

Her heart ached when she saw the regret in his eyes. She didn’t want him to hide or temper his responses. She wanted Eric to bare everything to her. “Last time was perfect,” she said as she brushed her lips against his. “It was everything I dreamed about.”

He didn’t return the kiss. “Then why are you hesitating?”

“It’s just that…” She didn’t want to highlight her shortcomings, but she knew she would have to confess her fears to avoid any misunderstandings. “Once my clothes are off, it’s just me. No slinky outfits. No sexy aliases.”

Shock flickered in his eyes. “You think I’m attracted to your aliases?”

“Yes.” It wasn’t easy to say the word. She felt extremely vulnerable and her face grew hot.

He stared into her eyes. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Eric cupped her jaw and grazed his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips. “Why would you think that?”

“You didn’t really start to notice me until I used the aliases,” she said in a mumble.

“That’s not true,” he said as he pressed his thumb gently against her bottom lip. “I noticed you the second I walked into that office. But I had promised myself that I wouldn’t make a move on you.”

“And what changed?” she asked. “The aliases, that’s what.”

“No.” He dragged his thumb down on her lip. “You made a move on me. I didn’t expect that.”

“Oh…” She exhaled slowly as she remembered how she had seduced him with her good-girl charms. No extra makeup or change of clothes. She had drawn him close and took the initiative. Within seconds she’d had him right where she wanted him.

“And when you did, you weren’t using an alias. You were a mix of sweet and sexy. Naughty. Nurturing.” His gaze softened as he remembered. “It knocked me off balance.”

“It did?” Julie wanted to hear that. She needed to know that she wasn’t the only one who was caught in this web.

“You were brazen. Daring.” He dipped his thumb into her mouth. She closed her lips around him and sucked. A feral gleam leaped in his eyes. “I want you like that again,” he confessed hoarsely.

“I want it, too,” she admitted as she let go of his thumb. “But this time, I want you naked.”

“Then get me naked,” he said with a sly grin.

Julie leaned into Eric and placed a kiss on his throat as she let her hands roam his chest. She explored every line and angle as he kicked off his shoes. When she reached his jeans hanging low on his hips, she was so eager for him that she wanted to yank them off. Instead, she carefully dragged the zipper over his erection.

Eric’s hands bumped against hers. His movements were rushed and clumsy as he unzipped his jeans, and pushed the faded denim and his boxer briefs down his legs.

“Patience,” she replied as she brushed her lips against his chest, flicking her tongue against his nipple.

She caressed the compact muscles of his ass before trailing her hands along his pelvic bone. She slowly wrapped her fingers over his hard cock.

Eric slipped his hands into her hair and tilted her head up to meet his kiss.

As she caressed him with one hand, his fingers clenched her hair as a groan tore from his throat. He gave a warning bite to her lower lip until she loosened her hold. She stroked him until he couldn’t get enough of this pleasure, this torture.

Eric tore his mouth from hers and dropped his hands to grasp her wrists. He was breathing hard, his skin taut across his cheekbones.

“Take off your dress,” he ordered. “Slowly.”

He dropped her wrists when she took a step back. Julie stood still for a moment as she allowed her gaze to travel down his body. She watched the rise and fall of his chest, the clenching of his hands at his sides and the twitch of his cock. Her skin tingled and the throb deep in her belly intensified. She wanted to crawl all over Eric and taste every inch of him.

Julie held his gaze as she peeled the dress from her breasts. The muscle in his cheek bunched. She gave a slow shimmy as she pushed the red dress past her hips. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears as her dress fell to the floor.

She stood before him wearing a pair of red panties and her platform heels. Julie didn’t want to cross her arms. Instead, she placed her hands on her hips and allowed Eric a good, long look. She should feel shy or vulnerable, but she didn’t. She wasn’t going to dip her head or hide her face behind her hair.

Eric’s awestruck expression made her feel sexy and powerful. She stepped out of the dress. “Anything else, Eric?”

“No,” he said hoarsely.

Her heart galloped as he reached for her. “What about my shoes?” she reminded him.

“Keep them on.” He grabbed her by the waist and carried her to the bed, laying her in the center of the mattress.

Eric knelt over her, his hands bracketing her head. She was exposed to him and she enjoyed the spotlight. Julie stretched and arched her back, reveling in his rapt attention.

She brushed her shoe against his muscular calf. She could do serious harm to him with the heels, but he didn’t seem too concerned.

“I want to be on top.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’ll have to fight me for it.”

She pushed at his chest but he didn’t budge. Now she wished she had taken the advanced self-defense course. “That’s not fair—” Her next words dissolved in her throat as he took her nipple in his mouth.

Julie’s spine bowed as Eric caught the tight bud between his teeth. She bucked her hips against him and extended her arms as the pleasure zipped through her veins. She was open to him. Exposed and willing.

Eric’s touch slowly drove her wild until she was gripping the bedsheets and panting hard. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her shoes digging in the small of his back, as she wantonly rubbed her sex against him.

He curled his hands along the edge of her red panties and dragged them down her hips. She wanted to kick them off, rip them, but Eric got onto his knees and slowly tugged the red lace down her legs.

As he discarded her panties, Julie sat up and pushed at his chest. “My turn on top,” she demanded. Much to her surprise, Eric smiled and silently laid back, his head at the edge of the mattress.

She quickly straddled his hips. Excitement swirled deep inside her as she saw him lying underneath her.

Eric wasted no time and clutched her hips to guide her slowly onto him. She tossed her head back as white-hot sensations streaked up her spine. She shivered, her skin flushing, as her body drew him in.

She rolled her hips and gasped as the intense pleasure unfurled through her veins. She rode him slowly, enjoying the stinging need that swirled low in her pelvis.

Julie rocked harder. She moaned when Eric held her breasts and the heat rippled through her. When she placed her hands over his and squeezed, she felt the tingle of it in her swollen clit.

She had to chase the pleasure. Julie rode Eric harder. Her hair fell around her face as she stared, mesmerized by Eric’s expression.

He looked just as she felt. Primal. Aggressive. She tried to hold off her climax. It was too soon. She wanted this to go on forever.

Eric’s gaze was intense on her eyes. His movements grew urgent, as if he knew she was on the edge. He reached between her legs and stroked her.

The hot, jagged climax forked through her. Eric thrust a final time. Her mind tumbled into a kaleidoscope of colors and sensations and she reached the pinnacle. The pleasure burned through her. She heard Eric shout out his release before she tumbled down and into the void.

* * *

A
FEW HOURS LATER
J
ULIE
curled up next to Eric and watched him sleep. He lay sprawled on the bed. His arms were bent above his head. One leg dangled off the mattress as the other pinned her ankles down.

She had never seen him so unguarded. He looked younger and relaxed. Julie sighed with contentment. She splayed her hand against his chest and felt his solid heartbeat.

Julie leaned her head on his shoulder. What they had was supposed to be a fling. A sexual escapade. She wasn’t supposed to have fallen in love with him.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the truth punched at her. She wasn’t even sure when it happened. It had snuck up on her. One moment she was lusting at the sight of him, then infatuated by his skills and training. The next thing she knew, her heart was full with adoration as she watched him struggle with his code of honor.

He was supposed to be her fantasy. The secret one-night stand. But behind the scars and lean muscle she discovered a man who took care of his tribe.

Eric had immediately taken charge at Gunthrie S&I so he could lift the burden from Perry’s shoulders. Every day he had given his time to her colleagues and shared his knowledge so they could improve their skills. He took care of this tribe without expecting anything in return.

Falling in love with Eric Ranger was probably the most reckless move she could have made. He was a special agent who never stayed in one place. She was a woman who daydreamed about spies and villains to escape her boring job.

He was leaving in just over a week. She didn’t want to think about it. They were mismatched and any relationship was doomed from the start. She knew it all along, but it didn’t stop her from giving her heart to Eric.

But she had no expectations that this vacation fling was meant to last. She would treat this as a brief affair, hide her pain under a sophisticated veneer and accept the inevitable end with grace and dignity.

And that started now. She wouldn’t cling or smother him with attention. That meant she shouldn’t stay the night, no matter how much she wanted to.

Julie quietly sat up and dragged her feet to the floor. She wasn’t sure where she had flung her platform heels. She peered over the edge of the bed when Eric startled her by clamping his hand over her wrist.

“Leaving so soon?” His voice was rough with sleep.

“I should go home.”

“Why?” He tugged at her hand. “Do you have a plant to water? A goldfish that suffers from separation anxiety?”

She laughed. “No.”

“Stay,” he whispered.

That was all she needed to hear for her to tumble back into bed. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“I disagree.” He rolled on top of her and settled between her legs. “I refuse to walk you back to your car when we could be here.”

She stiffened. “Oh, my car! I forgot all about it. The parking fee is going to be astronomical.”

His eyebrow rose in disbelief. “I’m lying on top of you—naked, I might add—and you’re thinking about parking? You are hard on the ego.”

“Think you can make me forget about my car?” she challenged. “Not a chance.”

There was an unholy gleam in his eyes as he boldly cupped her sex with his hand. No warning, no seduction, and yet she found it incredibly arousing.

She couldn’t drag her gaze away from his as he glided a finger inside her. She blushed at the sound of her moan, and Eric smiled with appreciation.

He slid another finger into her core and her hips undulated from the invasion.

“What are you thinking about?” he taunted.

She wouldn’t give up that easily. “I was wondering where I put my parking stub.”

“Liar,” he said with a chuckle as he teased her intimately.

Her breath came out in little puffs. “I can’t remember which floor I parked on.”

His hand fell away. Julie groaned with disappointment. She’d pushed it too far, determined to win the challenge. She should have remembered how fragile a man’s ego was.

Eric bent down and placed his mouth against her sex. Julie gasped at his audacity. Her breath caught in her throat as he flicked his tongue.

“Eric!” She grabbed his hair with her fingers. Eric knew exactly how to give her maximum pleasure. Within seconds her hips jerked and bucked against his mouth. A soft climax rippled through her.