Cole braced himself for Elle’s response and she didn’t hold back.
“What?” she yelled. “No way. I can act just fine.” She sidestepped him.
“Like the way you did today?”
Elle abandoned her escape. She stuttered, and he could only assume she searched for an excuse. “It will give my family reason to think we’re breaking up, later.”
“Oh, so your goal is to share the holidays with a boyfriend you are breaking up with and ruin your family’s Christmas?”
“Yeah…I mean…no.” She crossed and uncrossed her arms.
“We can break up when we get back home, but if you want them to believe us, we have to break down all barriers.” He pushed her boundaries. But when she stood in her matching bra and panty, he knew she’d be his tonight. Their ruse only provided the opportunity. “You can’t cringe every time I touch you or pull away when I kiss you. When we gaze at each other, we share secrets with a glance. This secret. We don’t have to be in love, but we need to be believable.”
“What if we have sex and it’s awful and I hate it. That’ll only make things worse.”
“Trust me, honey. You won’t hate it.” He bit his tongue. He had found an endearment she didn’t object to when he called her “sweetness.” With bruised ego, his subconscious reverted to the one that seemed to rile her up.
“Cocky ass,” she mumbled. “And for the last time don’t call me honey.” The rise in her tone was lethal.
“Why do you hate that one so much?”
“Because you use it like a condescending weapon, that’s why.”
He swallowed his pride and the retort on the tip of his tongue. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
She breathed heavily, and he stroked her buttery soft skin to soothe her. She avoided his eyes and in his experience with women both as a gigolo and studying psychology, her awkward avoidance stemmed from something more.
“When was the last time you were with someone, Elle?”
Her eyes shot daggers at him and she was about to nail into him, but he continued his caress on her arms and her expression softened. “It’s been a while.”
“But you have been with someone before?”
She laughed. “Yes. I’m not a virgin, Cole.”
She didn’t move away from his touch. The way her chest moved, combined with the flush on her face, betrayed her desire. She wanted him, but she deflected with humor. He continued to probe. He didn’t know why this particular question surfaced but it did. “Have you had an orgasm before?”
She jutted a prideful chin. “Of course, I have.”
There it was, written all over her face. “With someone?” he almost whispered in the most non-threatening way possible.
“Yes.” She avoided his eyes, but he stayed with her.
Something in his lower abdomen stirred but he kept his growing hard-on at bay until she expressed her thoughts to him. “But?”
Her eyes travelled everywhere except to his. “I guess I had to help.”
“Help?”
“Yeah. You know…” She wiggled her fingers at him.
“Ahh…you suffered from selfish lover syndrome.” He made a tsk noise with his tongue several times.
“What’s the big deal? Aren’t orgasms the goal, no matter how they come?”
“Goal?” Cole sucked in his breath and his core ached to hear such words from a woman like Elle. He wanted to flip her over, rub her clit, and show her what the big deal was.
That masturbating was the only way she’d achieved orgasm with men pissed him right the fuck off. She was a queen to be adored, a goddess to be worshiped and pleasured first before any man even thought about coming.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Elle’s voice interrupted his fantasy. “It’s like you pity me.”
He stoked her cheek and pushed a stray afro puff of hair back from her face. He bent to nuzzle his cheek against hers. “I don’t pity you Elle. I pity the men who didn’t recognize the honor of having you in their bed.” His voice dropped even deeper. “The journey before you come is the best part—making you moan, whispering everything from the nastiest shit to the most tender words in your ear. All while fucking you with my fingers, my tongue, my dick…” He caught her earlobe in his mouth and sunk his teeth into the supple flesh.
She released an audible jagged breath.
“I’ll make you beg for it before I ever make you come, Elle. That’s my goal and you’ll love every agonizing minute of it.”
She moaned, and her palm flattened against his chest. “I-I’d never beg.” Her words drenched with doubt.
“No?” His hand grazed her breast and passed over her nipple, tickling with his fingertips.
Her body trembled under his touch. “Cole—”
His mouth enclosed around hers, wetting her lips. He kissed her with possession he couldn’t control, and his tongue slid into her mouth. Her delicious warmth blew him away and he teetered on the brink of madness. He scoured his memory for the last time he wanted a woman this much. Had he ever wanted a woman as much as he wanted Elle?
They fell on the bed, sinking into its memory. From his position above her, his hands explored her body with the novelty of their first time. He held the fullness of her breast as his tongue pleasured the dark nipple. Elle squirmed under him, and like a snake charmer, her moans enticed his dick to rock-hard status. Her hands played wildly in his hair with each suck and nibble on her tender bud.
He kissed her down to her belly, exploring her silky skin. His palms followed and memorized every muscle and contour of her body. He smiled remembering her mention of Caribbean curves and thought her thick, plump curves were good for much more than dancing. They were also good for driving him senseless.
Watching her visage twist in agony, he slid between her legs. He caressed the soft folds of her pussy, drawing the wetness until she was doused, his fingers gliding over her.
“Cole.” She writhed against his touch.
Keeping his fingers moving, he again kissed his way up and captured her opened mouth, his hot tongue wrestling with the coolness of hers. He gently trapped her lower lip in his teeth and applied just enough pressure to make her squeal. Then he laved his tongue in healing pleasure.
“Did you wear those panties and that bra for me?” He rasped against her lips and used his fingers as a truth serum, prompting her admission.
She groaned, and her hand gripped the forearm attached to the fingers working on her center.
“Tell me,” he coaxed. “Did you wear them for me, sweetness?”
“Yes.” She breathed her response, and she peered at him through lids that had lowered to slits.
He wanted to drop to his knees and pray in gratitude because he wasn’t sure he’d survive if she had denied him. She was so sexy and regal and he longed to hear her beg. Beg for him to release her from the sweet, torturous storm he built inside her.
He spread her legs and slid down between them. He joined his mouth to where he played with his hand, covering her clit. His chest heaved. He could come from her taste alone. Elle opened her legs wider and he relished in the aroma and flavor of her. He lost all sense of time and space in the heady drug of pleasuring her like this.
“Please, Cole.” Her legs bucked and her panting increased.
She was close. “Please what, Elle? Tell me what you want, sweetness.”
She twisted against the bedding. “I-I want…to come.” She bit out on the brink of insanity. “Please, Cole. Make me come.”
To hear her beg in submission for him meant more than he wanted it to. He needed her as much as she needed him.
He fetched a condom and readied himself quickly. He positioned himself at her opening and in one motion was buried deep inside her. She was a custom fit and his solid muscle rejoiced. Elle called out as he filled her to the hilt. Grabbing his shoulders, her fingernails dug into him, welting his back with love marks. He pumped into her without restraint, giving them what they both wanted.
“I’m coming,” she yelled, temporarily deafening him in one ear. Her body vibrated in blissful arrival.
His cock inflated and the sensation in his lower abdomen burned. Her canal spasmed around him, milking the orgasm from his engorged organ. He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted without filter. He didn’t give a shit if the whole inn heard them. He shook, emptying his seed, and then collapsed onto her.
Her arms relaxed their grip and as she rubbed his back, he never wanted her to stop.
Shit. He had to get his head back on and quick.