Time to Pretend (16 page)

He swung their hands playfully between them. “I’m twenty-six, Lainie. Erectile dysfunction is still a few years away.” She breathed an accepting sigh. “If you say so.” Glancing up at him, she pondered the ethics of sleeping with a man who wasn’t fully sober, especially given that she’d slept with his best friend the night before. Which one of them saw her as a one-night stand?

The slurred speech had disappeared, and he appeared capable of rational thought.

“You’re giving me one of those looks,” he said, quirking one brow at her. “What kinds of dissection are going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

She didn’t care for the condescending description of her head, but she let it slide. “I was wondering if sleeping with you was ethical, given your current state of intoxication.”

“And you are a very ethical person.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it again. “How about a compromise? You let me lick you until you pass out, and then we can have sex in the morning.” The invitation and the tone in which it was delivered made her pussy wet. Remembering how impossible it was to wake him the last time, she quirked an eyebrow back at him. “Are you going to actually wake up this time? I rubbed my breasts all over your body, and you didn’t move the other day. It was very bad for my ego.” She had barely touched him at all, but this seemed an appropriate time to attempt flirting and banter.

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They rounded the corner of his building. Like the rest of the buildings on the street, it was older and made of brick from back when bricklaying was an art form.

He released her hand to fit the key into the lock. “I’m a solid sleeper.” He turned the handle and pushed the door open before turning his body sideways to indicate she should enter first. “But I’ll wake up if you touch my face lightly.” The expression on his face was a strange mix of regret, longing, desire, and something else Alaina couldn’t quite identify. She lifted a hand and touched his face lightly. His eyes closed. He swayed, rocking forward.

She thought he was going to fall on her, but he locked his arms around her waist and claimed her lips in a kiss that set her stomach to fluttering. She played her hands over his chest, gripping his shoulders hard.

One hand slid up her back to free her hair from the French braid she had so carefully arranged that morning. Warning bells had her pushing him away. Her curls would rebound from their prison with wild abandon, giving her a heathen, hoydenish appearance. Even though it didn’t seem to turn him off last time, she didn’t want him to see her so undone. Curiously, she had been all right with Evan seeing her this way. Why was she holding back with Danny?

Hastily repairing her hair, she brushed past him and headed up the stairs she knew would take her to his place.

The loft apartment stretched almost the entire length and width of the building. The practice studio downstairs was divided into several large rooms. Alaina thought the second floor would be similarly divided, but she was wrong.

It was a nice apartment. The walls were painted sage green while the ceiling and moldings were a creamy white. It made the room seem even taller.

Three skylights interrupted the roof on the back side of the building. Venus winked at Alaina. She took it as a positive sign.

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At the side where they entered, a kitchenette curved along two walls. An island counter sat slightly off-center. Looking closer, Alaina realized it had wheels.

In front of that was a formal dining table that would have looked great in her dining room. She thought it needed a centerpiece or a runner and candles.

Noting the details gave her a purpose, something on which to focus that wasn’t the swarm of moths swirling around in her stomach.

She continued looking around.

The other side of the loft featured a living room group with two sofas and two oversized chairs. Situated on either end of each sofa and between the chairs, walnut end tables supported a few small bowls and sets of coasters. Mounted on the front wall, a flat screen television filled the space. Speakers were strategically placed around that side of the loft.

A square room along the back wall did its best to divide the loft, but the vast space swallowed it. She deduced it was the bathroom.

Looking around, she noticed the absence of bedroom furniture. There was no dresser and no bed.

Metal hitting wood drew her attention to the island counter.

Daniel’s keys were there. She put her purse and keys next to his. Nosy habit had her checking the pile of metal and noting the number and type of keys and key chains.

Long, strong fingers pressed into her hips. Daniel turned her to face him.

She wrapped her hands around his biceps as far as she could, loving the solid feel of him. Teeth worried her bottom lip. Daniel’s pile included handcuffs.

“Handcuffs, Dan?” Alaina had engaged in that kind of sexual behavior before, enough to know it didn’t appeal to her. She wanted to know what Daniel planned.

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Daniel bit her bottom lip, nipping at it gently before deepening the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her. Heat flooded her system. His lips moved to her neck, feasting on the tender skin there.

“Sophia put them in my pocket.” He nibbled lower, heating her neck with his breath. Her pussy throbbed. “She told me you were a keeper.”

He pushed his hips into her, guiding her across the room toward the sofa. Alaina felt drugged and magnetized. She couldn’t move away from him, and she couldn’t get enough of him.

“I agree with her, but I don’t think I need to force you to stay.” The sofa cushion pushed into the backs of her knees, forcing her to bend them. She sat heavily, bouncing on the surprisingly firm cushions. Her panties shoved against the wetness between her legs, soaking them through.

“Of course, if you won’t let me take your hair out of that ridiculous braid, I can use them to keep your hands out of the way.” He straddled her, kneeling so that his weight rested on his own calves, but his heat still pressed against her. She ran her hands up his thighs. With quick, practiced motions, he freed her hair, running his fingers through it.

Alaina closed her eyes. Heat stained her chest, and she willed it to stay there and not travel to her face. She didn’t want to see his reaction to the disarray he was causing with her hair. The last time, he had only pulled out her ponytail. He hadn’t combed it out, teasing it into something that people would have killed for in the Eighties.

“You’re a tigress in bed,” he said.

The breathlessness and awe had Alaina opening her eyes.

Daniel gazed at her with undisguised adoration. “You dress in such sedate clothes, and you try to tame this passionate red hair. I like seeing you like this, Lainie.” In a fluid motion, he removed the red polo shirt he had been wearing.

She liked seeing him like that, bronze and hard. She wanted to lick her way along each valley crossing his chest and abdomen.

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With graceful athleticism, he backed away to kneel on the floor in front of her. “I like unleashing your inner sex kitten.” His words and his voice contributed to the moisture between her legs as much as his kiss had. He ran his hands up her thighs, bunching her skirt on his forearms as he went. The skirt was loose below the knee. It tightened considerably as it approached her upper thighs.

Daniel exhaled at the restriction. Hastily withdrawing his hands, he reached behind her. The zipper ripped open. Daniel hooked his fingers into the waist of her skirt, hose and panties. Before Alaina could utter a word of protest or point out they weren’t in a bed, she was naked from the waist down.

The quick motion slid her bottom half toward him. Her head reclined against the back of the sofa. Alaina held her breath and hoped he would touch her weeping pussy.

One hand traveled up her abdomen and over her blouse to envelop her throat in a possessive caress. His dark chocolate eyes impaled her.

“Don’t hold back, Lainie. I want to see your face when you come in my mouth.”

She hadn’t held back with him last time. With a lover as demanding as Daniel, holding back wasn’t an option. Her entire body quivered, acquiescing to his dominating gesture. She consoled herself by promising it was just this one last time.

He waited, forcing her to respond. At her meek nod, his hand relaxed and slid down her body, ignoring breasts that ached to be fondled.

He gripped a knee in each hand and pushed her legs apart to stare at the evidence of her arousal. Never tearing his eyes away, he licked his lips. Alaina felt like the main course at a banquet for one.

A single finger slid between her exposed folds, flicking back and forth in short bursts. Alaina moaned. She angled her head to watch him. Two thumbs parted the blend of red and brown hair she had so carefully trimmed that morning. Gears turned behind Daniel’s eyes.

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“I like what you’ve done to your pussy,” he said. “I want to do it next time.”

Alaina started, jerking because of what he said and how he touched her. “You want to trim me?” It was a stupid question, but his declaration took her by surprise.

He shrugged. The rise and fall of those broad shoulders didn’t interfere with the swirling of his finger around her hole. “I like anything you have going on between your legs as long as I’m part of it.”

Putting a halt on anything further her nervous mind might think to say, he lowered his head. Alaina watched the bottom half of his face disappear from view. She liked that Daniel was into having her watch what he did to her.

Gripping her pussy lips more firmly, he peeled them back to open her completely. The stretching sensitized her skin even more. His tongue lapped at her juices. Alaina gasped at the light contact. Tiny moans sounded at the back of his throat.

His tenderness didn’t last long. In the grip of passion, Daniel was not a gentle man. He pushed his face into her, sucking her folds into his mouth. Alaina yelped in surprise and in pain. Daniel ignored the implied protest. His teeth joined the act, pinching tender skin.

She yelped again and pushed her pussy tighter against his mouth.

The sweet sharpness heightened the pleasure. She bucked and surged, both craving and dreading the next punishing pinch of his teeth and tongue.

His hands released her, but it didn’t matter. His cheeks and jaw kept her parted for him. Arms circled her legs from underneath, holding her immobile. Her legs rested on his shoulders, and she clenched at his hair, pulling hard. She screamed in fear, wanting him to release her from this new experience and afraid he would stop.

He ignored her protests and the deep moans of pleasure issuing from the same place. Some of the pain faded when he thrust his
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tongue into her hole, licking and sucking the juices that spilled uncontrollably from her core.

There was no tight coil of tension or heat building in her womb, heading toward release. The maelstrom mastered her entire body, concentrating nowhere. Alaina screamed again and again, long, loud cries that were meaningless. She lost track of the orgasm that had too many breaking points.

Her body writhed, jerking wildly, but he held her still.

Then she was free. The heat was gone, but she was changed, a docile thing temporarily incapable of movement.

Daniel was back on the couch, kneeling over her. “Your mouth,” he panted. “I need to feel your mouth on me, Lainie. Can you do that for me?”

Dazed and glazed from the electricity still running through her body, Alaina stared up at him. Did she want to do to him what he did to her? Yes. Could she move? No.

A flick and a push and his jeans opened, lowering just enough for Daniel to pull his fully erect penis from his pants. Her tongue darted out, spreading moisture to her lips. Fresh moisture spurted between her legs. She wondered if he had a condom in those jeans, too.

He slipped a finger in her mouth, testing her consent. She sucked on it, tasting the mixture of her cream and the delicious saltiness of his skin. He added a second finger, rocking them in and out of her mouth.

She made a small sound of anticipation at the back of her throat when he withdrew. He grasped his cock with one hand, feeding it to her slowly.

His good intention was lost when she sucked him deep and hard, forcing him into her mouth faster. Weakly, she gripped his hips.

Daniel leaned one hand on the back of the sofa and wound the other in her wild curls. He thrust into her, his pace increasing in time to the kittenish sound of satisfaction she made in the back of her throat.

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The hand in her hair tightened, pulling her away in warning. As she had before, she sucked him harder. He came, and she swallowed, greedily sucking him even after the warm saltiness stopped spurting from his cock.

Daniel extracted himself and collapsed on the couch next to her.

Alaina let her head drop against the cushion. Her eyes closed as a wave of exhaustion swept through her bones.

“You don’t have a bed,” she murmured.

It was a minute before Daniel answered. “We’re sitting on it.” Alaina opened her eyes and looked between the two sofas in the room. “I guess this is a good way to prevent women from overstaying their welcome.” She laughed as she said it, not offended to count herself among the notches on a bedpost that turned out to be very figurative.

Rousing herself, she rose unsteadily, snagged her skirt and headed to the bathroom. She needed to freshen up and splash cold water on her face if she was going to be awake for the short drive home.

Alone in the bathroom, she studied the figure in the mirror. Clad in only a white, short-sleeved blouse and with her mussed, untamed hair falling to her shoulders, she wondered what Daniel saw. Her entire appearance was unorganized. Any semblance of class was absent. She was sex incarnate, a wild, fantasy woman.