CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

 

Demetrius

I didn’t want to scream at her, but it looked to me as if she was just standing there, doing nothing, and the whole reason we were in this stupid situation to begin with was to listen in on Nikolai.

Jesus Christ, this was my fault, wasn’t it? Whatever I’d done to her had ruined her, and now she couldn’t even concentrate to do her job.

She was staring at the screens, shaking her head over and over, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Kiera,” I said. “Kiera, snap out of it.”

“Shut up,” she said quietly. “You are breaking my train of thought.”

“Thought? Don’t think. Fix it.”

She glared at me. “Okay, I could restart the system, that might fix it. That’s what I’d typically do first. But that will take time, and I don’t know if that’s the problem or not. Everything looks fine on my end, except that I’m not getting any signal from the—”

Abruptly, she started walking around the desk where all the computers were set up.

“Kiera?” I said.

She knelt down behind the desk, going through the cords, which were all tangled up. “Come on, come on, where is it?” she muttered.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I said.

She seized a wire which was connected to another wire, and she jiggled the connection.

A burst of static.

And then, Nikolai’s voice, booming and loud. “…money will be waiting for him when he completes the job, not before.”

I winced, putting my fingers to my ears. It was really loud.

Kiera scrambled to her feet and ran back around to the computers. She did something with the mouse and Nikolai’s voice was back to a normal volume. “Sorry,” she said. “I turned it way up before.”

I nodded, rubbing my temple. I was pretty sure I was going to have a headache from that.

“Tell him that if he tries to get more money from me again, I will have someone else do job,” Nikolai said.

“Look, I’m just the messenger here,” said the other person in the room with him. That person had a typical American accent.

“Tell him that next time he wants to send message, to do it himself, not send some go-between like coward,” said Nikolai. He was angry, and the angrier he got, the worse his English seemed to get.

“I’ll tell him,” said the other person. “I’ll tell him exactly that.”

“Good. Then get out, because I do not want to look at you anymore.”

“Hey, hey, I’ve got no beef with you, sir. I just—”

“Out,” thundered Nikolai.

The man scurried out of the office, apologizing.

It was quiet for several minutes. I sank down in a chair.

Kiera sat down too. “The connection was loose. That’s all. I should have checked them before I went to sleep last night, but I was a little distracted.”

I rubbed my temples again. Yeah, I had a headache all right. “It doesn’t sound like it was an important conversation, anyway.”

“No,” she said.

We were quiet.

She cocked her head. “Demetrius, I’m not sure this is the best way to get this information. I know that you were sure that Popov would mention it to Nikolai, but does that really make any sense? I mean, if they both know where the girls are, why are they going to talk about it?”

I pressed my lips into a firm line.

“And everything with us being here, it’s… a mess, so maybe if you and I weren’t doing this—”

“You said I sucked at planning this,” I said. I scratched my chin. “Hell, maybe you’re right. I don’t even know why I’m doing this stupid job.”

“The girls have got to be down that elevator, right? It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“You looked at the schematics, Kiera. It’s a maze down there. They probably keep all kinds of shit down that elevator. We need it narrowed down.”

“I know that, but maybe this is not the best way to do it.”

I studied my palms.

“Those cells we saw in the schematics—”

“They might not be cells.”

“Well, maybe we should go in and look.”

“You’re the one who said that we couldn’t get down that elevator,” I said. “You said that you can’t fool the retinal scan.”

She sighed. “Maybe if I took down the whole system, just knocked out the power—”

“Then there’s no elevator at all.”

She was quiet.

I took a deep breath. “We give this another night. Tomorrow, at the end of the day, if we’ve got nothing, we’ll try something else.”

She nodded.

More silence.

I got out of the chair and went back to the window. I was getting sick of the view from here.

“Danger?” she said.

I turned. “Yeah?”

“I think you should go.”

“I already told you that I’m not comfortable with your being here alone.”

“Well, fine, then have someone else stay with me.”

I snorted. “Who? Blaze? You think you’d be safe with Blaze?”

“I think I’d be safe regardless. But if you won’t be satisfied if I’m by myself then maybe he could—”

“If you got annoyed with Blaze and told him to leave, he would. Plus, I couldn’t even be guaranteed that he’d show up.” Furthermore, I’d seen Blaze with women. I wouldn’t put it past him to take advantage of her.

Of course, I guessed that I had taken advantage—

But I wouldn’t do anything like that again.

Hands off.

“Fine,” she muttered. “It’s just that it’s very awkward between us.”

I ran my hands through my hair.

“If you would stop apologizing all the time, stop being weird—”

“I’m being weird?”

She just glared at me.

I sighed again. “Okay, okay, fine.”

“Let’s pretend nothing happened. Deal?”

I placed my fingertips against the window pane. The glass was cold. “Deal.”

* * *

 

Kiera

“Danger said you wouldn’t show,” I said, leaning against the door frame as Blaze came in with his arms full of grocery bags.

“Yeah, I guess I almost did forget,” said Blaze, giving me a sideways grin. “I should have been here yesterday, huh?”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Better late than never.”

He set the bags down in the kitchenette.

I peered into one. “What’d you bring?”

“Stuff,” he said. “You got a little stove here, I remembered. I figured you could cook something. There’s like hamburger and some pasta and some vegetables. Oh, and I got bread and shit for sandwiches.”

I rummaged through the bag. “You got horseradish!”

He nodded. “Yeah. You like it?”

“I love it,” I said, hugging it to my chest. “Oh, thank you so much.”

He laughed. “You really like horseradish, don’t you?”

“It’s just that it’s so boring here,” I said. “Nothing is happening, and this whole operation is going nowhere, and knowing that I have horseradish to look forward to—”

“Blaze,” said Demetrius, coming into the kitchen. “Thanks for stopping by.”

Blaze shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, not a problem. Said I would.”

“You should have come yesterday,” said Demetrius.”

“Forgot,” said Blaze. “You could have called me.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We should have called him.”

Demetrius looked from Blaze to me and back to Blaze again. “Well, aren’t the two of you getting on so well in here.” His voice was hard.

Blaze snorted. “Don’t get any ideas, Danger.” He nodded at me. “See you around, Kiera.”

“Oh, you’re leaving? Too bad,” said Demetrius, who didn’t sound the least bit upset about it.

Blaze clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m not even trying to mess with that, man. Remember what I told you? If it really is so boring around here, why don’t you just get it out of your system, huh?”

“Shut up,” Demetrius growled.

“Get what out of your system?” I said. “What are you two talking about?”

Blaze just laughed. “Enjoy the horseradish,” he threw over his shoulder. And then he was gone.

I folded my arms over my chest. “What the hell was that? Why were you rude to him? He brought us food.”

Danger didn’t say anything. He started going through the bags and putting away the groceries.

“What?” I said. “Now you’re not speaking to me? I thought we agreed we were going to stop acting weird.”

“I’m not acting weird,” he said, throwing open the door to the mini-fridge. He slammed the hamburger inside. There was also an onion, a pepper, and some mushrooms.

“Hell, he really does expect us to cook,” I said. “Well, that’s not happening. I’m shit at cooking.”

He straightened, shutting the fridge and turning to me. “If you don’t cook, what do you eat?”

“I microwave Weight Watchers frozen entrees,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

“Shut up,” I said. I left the kitchenette and went back to my computers. This place was starting to feel stifling. I wished there was somewhere else for us to be. These empty offices were beginning to drive me nuts.

“You don’t need to eat Weight Watchers,” he said from the doorway to the room. “You’re not even remotely fat.”

“That’s because I eat Weight Watchers,” I said. “I’m watching my weight, not losing it. Just trying to maintain.”

“It seems to me that you’re a little bit of a control freak,” he said.

“I’m not the control freak,” I said. “You’re the control freak. You’re the one who’s always up in my business, trying to keep me from doing shit.”

“I promise that will stop,” he said. “After this job is over, I will stay far, far away from you.”

“Oh,” I said. That was surprisingly disappointing. “Well… well, good.”

And then I didn’t say anything to him for hours.

We sat in silence, watching Nikolai’s office. Nothing was happening. He wasn’t even getting any phone calls. He seemed to be spending all of his time staring at his computer screen. For all I knew, he was playing games on there or something.

I didn’t talk to Demetrius, but I kept thinking about him. I kept thinking of the way his skin had felt when I touched him last night. Warm and smooth and solid. I thought about the way he’d kissed me. Hard and fierce, like he couldn’t get enough of my lips. It made me feel a little dazed thinking about it.

I kind of wanted to kiss him again.

Damn it.

And this was why I didn’t allow myself to get into these kinds of entanglements with guys. Because I was distracted now. All I could think about was him. That wasn’t good. I needed to be focused on the job.

Except, of course, there was nothing to focus on.

I started thinking of other ways we could find out Natasha’s location. Maybe we could just capture Popov and torture him. Sure, that would tip off Nikolai that we were pulling something, so it was probably a bad idea, which was maybe why Danger had decided not to do it. But I didn’t know. Maybe it would be worth it at this point.

Finally, it was time for lunch. I made myself a sandwich with horseradish and cheddar cheese and pastrami. It was amazing. Even better than the kind I got at the deli, I thought. Maybe I should start making my own lunch and bringing it with me to work.

Lunch was a welcome distraction.

But it didn’t take nearly long enough to make the sandwich and eat it. I thought eating lunch would kill a half hour, maybe forty-five minutes. It barely took fifteen.

Demetrius made a sandwich too. It took him longer to eat than me.

I watched him, wishing I had taken my time.

Part of me wanted to bail on everything. I should just drop out of the job, let someone else deal with Danger. I could recommend some other hacker who could take over for me. It was too weird between us now, and I was distracted, and I wasn’t good on it anymore.

But the thought of doing that made me feel cold all over.

I was Kiera Quill. I did not give up. I did not quit. I saw things through. And I made sure to do everything right.

So, no. No matter what, I was not giving up on this job. I would keep going to the end, no matter how uncomfortable things got with Danger.

As the afternoon wore on, I tried to force the sexy thoughts out of my head.

I did my best not to look at him. When I looked at him, he always looked so absolutely masculine that it turned me on. I didn’t know why. I wanted to go back to the way it was before, when I couldn’t stand him.

Of course, if I was honest with myself, I’d always found him easy on the eyes.

Eventually, it started to get dark again.

We both stared at Nikolai, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

“I’m going to make myself another sandwich,” I announced abruptly.

“Really?” said Demetrius. “But we have all those groceries.”

“I told you,” I said. “I don’t cook. I wouldn’t even know what to do with that shit.”

He got up out of his chair. “Why don’t you let me take a look at it?”

I arched an eyebrow. “You trying to tell me that you know how to cook?”

He spread his hands. “That so hard to believe?”

I looked him over. “Um, yes. You are the antithesis of a person who cooks.”

He laughed. “My nonna taught me to cook.”

“Your…?”

“My grandmother,” he said. “She’s passed now, but when I was a little boy, I spent a lot of time at her house. My mother worked, and Nonna took care of me. I would spend hours in the kitchen with her, sitting on a little stool watching, and she would explain everything she was doing. Now, I have to admit, my cooking skills are mostly limited to Italian specialties, but I know a thing or two.”

“Really?” Huh. I never would have thought that about him. “So, you think you can make something? Because he got pasta, but he completely didn’t get any sauce.”

“He got tomatoes, though.”

“I figured that was for the sandwiches.”

Demetrius laughed. He went into the kitchenette.

“You’re going to make sauce from two measly tomatoes?” I said. “I don’t see how.”

“Gravy not sauce,” said Demetrius, grinning at me. “And it’ll be shortcut gravy. It’s something my Nonna taught me. You want to help?”

I shifted on my feet. “Help? I don’t know how to do anything in the kitchen.”

“I’ll teach you,” he said. “Come on.”

I followed him into the kitchenette.

He went searching through the drawers for knives and came up with an enormous blade and a paring knife. He handed me the paring knife. “Okay, what you’re going to do is dice the tomatoes.”

“Dice? What’s that mean?”

“Cut them into little cubes.” He handed me a tomato and a plate to use as a cutting board. “I’ll chop the rest of the vegetables.” He started to get to work on the onion.

I stared at the tomato. How was I supposed to cut into cubes? “Um? Demetrius?”

He turned to look at me, and he laughed. “You’re really that helpless?”

“I’m not helpless.” I glared at him.

His big, strong arms came around mine. He set the tomato in the center of the plate and guided my hand to used the knife. “Cut it in half to start, like this.”

I leaned back against his chest, feeling engulfed by him. I felt tingly, as if I was starting to wake up again.

“Now cut each of these halves into slices,” he said, demonstrating. “You do the other half.”

I did. “Like that?”

“Not so hard.”

I looked up at him.

His face hovered above mine.

We gazed at each other for a moment.

He pulled back, coughing. “Well, uh, anyway, just cut those slices cross ways and then cut the strips into dices.”

I turned back to the tomatoes.

We worked in silence for a while.

When I had diced both tomatoes, Danger put them in a skillet which was already sizzling with oil and onions and peppers. “This cooks the water out of the tomato quickly,” he said to me. “Makes a quick gravy. I wish we had some basil, but salt and pepper will have to work.”

It smelled divine.

He tossed the pasta into some boiling water and browned some hamburger in another skillet.

I tried to watch everything that he was doing, to memorize it. I wanted to be able to do this on my own. I had to admit that I’d never had what he had. I’d never watched anyone cook. My mother hadn’t been around when I was growing up. She’d skipped out when I was young, and it had always only been my dad and me. Dad hadn’t had any idea how to cook.

At the end, I’d always wished I could do more for him, but I couldn’t even make him a home-cooked meal. I had failed him in so many ways.

No more failure, that was what I’d vowed to myself.

And now, here I was, standing next to Demetrius, and everything about him was distracting me from what was important. I couldn’t let his presence make it impossible for me to do my job. Maybe the problem was that unfinished feeling that I’d had last night.

Maybe… if the two of us actually did what we’d started last night, but properly, I’d get it all out of my system.

Of course, I didn’t know if he’d want to, after the disaster of the previous evening.

But he had seemed eager enough before…

I wasn’t sure.

I puzzled over it as the pasta finished cooking.

Then Danger dished up plates for us. After I took the first bite, all thoughts were wiped out of my mind. The food was delicious. The sauce was fresh, full of tomato-y flavor, and the onions and peppers were perfectly cooked. I chewed with my eyes closed, not wanting anything to distract me from how wonderful it tasted.

I might have moaned.

“Good?”

My eyes snapped open. “Oh, yeah, it’s great. Sorry for, um… for…”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I like watching you eat.” His voice lowered. “I really like watching you eat.”

I blushed again. I turned my attention to the pasta. I could have shoveled bite after bite into my mouth, but the truth was that I liked the way it tasted, and I wanted to slowly savor each bite, chewing slowly before I swallowed. So, I only took another small bite.

“You obviously love food,” he said. “You should learn to cook.”

I twined pasta around my fork. “I never really had a chance. No one in my family really cooked growing up.”

He shrugged. “That’s what YouTube is for.”

I laughed. I put another delicious bite in my mouth, and closed my eyes to chew it again. Even though the taste wasn’t new, it was still so good. I didn’t care right then about carbs or calories. All I cared about was taste.

Demetrius cleared his throat. “Uh, Kiera, I know you don’t want to talk about what happened last night, but I think that—”

“Actually, I have a proposition for you.” I opened my eyes. The yummy food was making me bold, apparently.

He furrowed his brow.

I pointed at him with my fork. “So, okay, there’s obviously like tension between us. I thought it was just me, and maybe after I made such an ass of myself last night, it is just me, but—”

“You didn’t make an ass of yourself. What are you talking about?”

I pushed noodles around on my plate. “It was kind of embarrassing.”

“Huh.” He considered. “I guess I can see how it might have been that way for you. I just feel really bad—”

“Well, stop.” I ate another bite of pasta.

“I can’t just stop. I can’t stop thinking about it, and I want you to know that I’m not that kind of guy. I don’t just… just force myself—”

“What?” I wrinkled up my nose. “Don’t be silly. I was into it. You didn’t force me into anything. Anyway, we’re getting off topic.”

“We are?”

“Yeah, I was saying that I think there’s tension between us. Physical tension.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay, I see that.”

“I mean, like I said, I don’t know if you still feel it, after everything.”

“No, I definitely still feel… tension toward you.”

My heart skipped a beat. Why did that make me feel so good? “Well, like I said, it’s physical, right? It’s probably why we’re always arguing.”

He licked his lips. “You think that’s why?”

I nodded. “Oh, definitely. It’s probably just this undercurrent to our interaction. I mean, you’re an attractive man, and when I look at you, it’s really distracting sometimes.”

“Really? You’re distracted by me?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Because I find you very distracting.” His voice was ragged.

I sucked in breath. Wow. That was nice to hear, too. I looked up at him.

His brown eyes were intense and deep.

I had the sudden urge to set down my plate, go to him, and run my fingers through his facial hair, kiss his forehead, kiss his nose, put my lips on his lips… I ate more pasta instead.

“So, um, even after what I did last night? You don’t hold that against me?”

I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have lied to you. I just… I didn’t want you to think…”

“I get it.” His jaw twitched.

I took a deep breath, trying to get myself back on track. “Well, okay, so maybe the only way to break the tension between us is just to go ahead and give in to it. Maybe we should try it again.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Because it would help,” I said. “If we just got it out of our systems, then we wouldn’t fight anymore. It would be like deflating a balloon.” I thought idly that Blaze had said something about getting something out of Danger’s system… He couldn’t have meant…

Demetrius rubbed his jaw. He wasn’t looking at me.

“And,” I said, rushing forward, “it would sort of be a favor to me.”

“A what?” He was incredulous.

“Because,” I told my uneaten food, “I’m sort of in this kind of weird virgin/not virgin space right now, and I’d rather just get it over with, and I think you’re very nicely shaped, and you did all these things to me last night that were so amazing, and I feel all flustered when I’m around you, and I’d really appreciate it you’d just… if we could…” Damn it. Now, I began shoveling the pasta into my mouth. Why had I even brought this up? He wasn’t going to go for it. I had thought I was embarrassed before, but that didn’t compare. Now, I just wanted to die.

“Look, I don’t think that it’s a good idea,” he said slowly. “Don’t get me wrong, I want…” He swallowed. “I just don’t know if I’m the right person to do this for you. I’m not… I’m not a good man. And I don’t know if I…” He got up out of his chair and took his plate over to the sink. He started running the water. He said something else, but I couldn’t hear him over the rush of the faucet.

“What?” I said. “Turn off the water.”

He turned it off, but he didn’t look at me. He gripped the counter, head bowed, the muscles banding in his forearms. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to keep control of myself. Last night, the things that I wanted to do to you… Those things shouldn’t be done to a virgin.”

Something leapt inside me, and my clit throbbed. His words excited me somehow. They shouldn’t have. But I suddenly wanted him with vicious force. My mouth dry, I whispered, “I can handle it.”

He looked over his shoulder at me. “Kiera,” he rasped. “You don’t understand.”

“So, show me.” I set down my plate and stood up. I went to him.

He let go of the counter and reached for me, but then he stopped. He shook his head. “I won’t. I promised myself I wouldn’t hurt you.”

I closed the distance between us, put both my hands against his pecks. “You won’t hurt me,” I murmured.

He shut his eyes. “It’s not only that.”

I molded my hands to the angles of him. He was warm granite, living and breathing, but sculpted and perfect. “Please. If you reject me—”

“Kiera, I’m not the person you want to give your virginity to.” But his voice wasn’t strong.

I dragged my hands down over his stomach. “Stop talking about it like we’re in some stupid after-school special,” I breathed. “This is a solution to a work-related problem.”

He opened his eyes. “What if… you…? Sometimes, having sex makes people feel…”

I pressed against him, looking up at him. “I’m not going to fall madly in love with you or something like that. Get over yourself.”

He let out a short burst of nervous laughter.

“After we do this, we’ll go back to the way it was before,” I said. “Only it will be better, because there won’t be all the tension.”

He shook his head. “No, this is a bad idea.”

“It’s a good idea,” I said, and I stepped back away from him. I tugged my shirt over my head.

He let out a hissing breath. “Don’t do that.”

I reached back and unhooked my bra. Slowly, I peeled it away, revealing my breasts.

He groaned.

I reached down and undid the button of my jeans.

He was staring at my naked chest with parted lips. He looked slightly dazed.

The power of that made me feel lightheaded. I unzipped my zipper.

His tongue darted out, wetting his bottom lip. He didn’t take his eyes off me.

I peeled my pants over my hips, taking my panties with them, baring myself completely to him. I should have felt self-conscious, but the look in his eyes was so hungry for me that I only felt aroused and pleased.

“Fuck.” He tried to look away from me, but his gaze came back, as if he couldn’t help himself.

I stepped out of my pants and then I went to him again.

His jaw worked.

I took one of his hands and I placed it on my breast. “I liked the way you touched me here,” I said softly, and now I felt a little shy. But it was too late to go back now. “I never knew anything could feel so good.”

He reached out and rubbed the back of his knuckles over my cheek. “You’re beautiful.” He didn’t take his other hand away from my breast.

“So are you,” I said.

“I’m hard for you,” he said in a choked voice, reaching for my hand and putting it against his pants.

I felt him through his clothes, straining and stiff. I gasped. I had forgotten about the hugeness of him. A little tendril of fear shot through me, but it was swallowed up in anticipation. “Kiss me,” I whispered.

“Fuck,” he said again. “I’m going to hell.” And then his lips were on mine, and they were just as sweet and urgent as I remembered. He parted my lips with his tongue, nudged it against mine, and claimed me. He brought his other hand up to my other breast, and then his fingers were on my nipples again, and it was sublime.

I moaned against his mouth, jolts of pleasure going through me, lighting me up, making me clench between my legs.

We stayed that way for some time, his fingers working at my breasts, teasing my nipples stiff, pinching them, rubbing them. All the while he kissed me thoroughly, making me crazy with his tongue.

My hand was still on his cock, but I wasn’t really sure what to do with it there. I couldn’t quite grip him through his clothes, so I just tried to rub him.

He responded to me, his hips moving against my hand, and he kissed me harder.

I guessed I was doing it okay. But I was starting to get a little bit more frightened, because he seemed to be getting even bigger. Still, that fear was exciting as well. I liked riding this edge, challenging myself to each new part of this experience.

He lowered his mouth to my breasts, kissing and licking my sensitive, stiff nipples. He sucked each into his mouth. He grazed them with his teeth.

I cried out, throwing back my head. I wanted to climb him, and suddenly, I was, wrapping my legs around his body.

His hands went around me, cupping the cheeks of my ass, holding me in place effortlessly.

The feel of his clothes against my naked skin was stimulating. Especially rubbing my inner thighs against his jeans. The sensation took me to another level of pleasure.

His pelvis was against mine, now, and there was no barrier between us except his clothes. I could feel his erection pressing into my most sensitive place. He thrust against me.

I clenched. I sighed. I wanted him there. I felt empty, I realized, and I needed him to fill me up. “Please,” I whispered.

He grunted.

And then I realized that I was wet and getting my juices all over his clothes, and I was embarrassed, and I wanted to pull away.

But he was carrying me into the other room, the hungry look in his eyes almost ravenous, and that expression made my pulse pound. He lay me down on the air mattress.

My legs fell open, and I felt self conscious. I tried to close them.

He grasped my knees and pulled them apart. “I want to look at you,” he said in a hoarse voice.

I started to tremble. I wasn’t sure why. It was just that suddenly, I felt so very exposed, and I wasn’t sure.

His finger nudged my clit.

Everything went away in a mini-earthquake of twitches. I huffed.

He rocked back on his feet and yanked his shirt over his head.

I wanted to touch him, but he was back between my legs again, slowly tracing circles around my clit.

I was dissolving. That felt so nice. My breath quickened and my hips started to buck of their own volition.

His finger went lower, circling my opening. “Are you… sore?” he breathed.

“I don’t… think so,” I muttered. I was having a hard time thinking of anything more than the fact that I wanted his fingers back on my clit.

Very slowly, he eased a finger inside me.

Oh, that was so good. I moaned.

“Jesus, you’re tight,” he said in strangled voice.

“Mmm,” I agreed, rotating my hips against his pleasant invasion.

“Can you take another finger?” He pushed it inside me.

Even fucking better. I pumped against him enthusiastically.

“This is okay?”

“Better than okay,” I managed. “Do it. I want it.” I sought out his gaze and looked deep into his eyes. “I want you.”

He hesitated. But then he was taking off his pants, and he was naked, and he was kissing me, pressing against me, all of him bare and solid and silky against my skin.

And I was kissing him back and letting my fingers roam over his back and cupping his ass, which was gloriously round.

He fumbled with a condom between his legs, and then he was pressing against me.

I shuddered. Now, it was real, and he was going to do it, and I tensed.

His cock pushed at me.

My body resisted him. It was like before. He was too big, and there was no way this was going to work. I felt like crying. I was frustrated and turned on and apprehensive all at the same time.

His fingers were there instead. He stroked me, spread my wetness out. “Relax, Kiera,” he whispered.

“I…” I realized that I’d slammed my eyes shut at some point, and now I opened them.

He was looking back at me. “Do you want me to stop?”

I shook my head, but I wasn’t sure.

“We don’t have to do this.”

“I want to. It’s just….” I swallowed. “You’re very big.”

He let out a little sigh. “You keep saying that. It turns me on when you say that.”

“I’m not trying to turn you on,” I said in a tiny voice.

His tone was rough. “That just turns me on more.” He kissed me. “Let’s take it slow, okay?” he muttered in a strained voice.

I nodded, but he’d said that last time, and it hadn’t felt very slow.

His thumb put gentle pressure on my clit. He rubbed it. And he pressed against my entrance at the same time.

I yelped.

He was in me again, and he was stretching me.

It didn’t hurt, but it felt a little uncomfortable, and I wasn’t sure…

He slid out of me. He rubbed my clit some more. “You feel amazing, little one,” he rasped. “You okay?”

My body flooded with pleasure. I liked that I pleased him. I nodded.

“A little further this time,” he whispered, his cock pushing into me again.

Oh. Oh. That actually felt very, very—

He groaned. “I don’t know if I can…”

I moved my hips, bringing them up, pushing against him.

He slid the rest of the way inside, filling me to the brim.

I gasped.

He gasped.

We looked into each other’s eyes.

“This feels nice,” I whispered.

“Yeah?” He rolled his hips, thrusting into me.

Oh, whoa. I hadn’t actually realized that he could go even deeper. My hips moved with his, almost instinctively.

A wave of richness rippled through my sex.

Oh, oh, oh.

This was happening, really happening. We were moving together, my hips seemingly in perfect time with his pistoning pelvis, and it was like being transported, being melded.

We were in sync, and it sent even more delightful waves through me.

I gasped, gripping him.

He huffed. “I’m trying to hold back,” he said in a tight voice.

“Don’t,” I said. “I want it all.”

He drove himself deeply into me.

And before I even knew what was happening, another wave of pleasure ripped through me, a ecstasy of twitching and clenching as I climaxed against him. I arched my back, clutching him, writhing against him, crying out.

He thrust again, deepening the pleasure, making it grow and expand, and it was swallowing me, and it was purple and electric and shooting through my torso and limbs, all the way from my toes to the roots of my hair.

I clutched him. I clamped my thighs tight around his body.

“Fuck, Kiera,” he breathed. “If you don’t stop doing that, there’s no way I can hold back.”

“Please don’t hold back,” I managed, from the throes of my orgasm.

He thrust into me again, and he began to move inside me hard and rough, jamming his thick member in and out of my sensitive passage.

Every thrust drove me to a higher plane of pleasure. I had never felt anything like it before. I felt like he was massaging my clit from the other side, like I was coming from the inside and the outside all at once. I knew nothing in the world except Demetrius’s cock. It was the only thing that was real. And I adored it.

I seized him, pulled him down, kissed him hard.

His hands found my hips, holding them in place, and he kept fucking me nice and fast.

I was still coming, and it kept getting better and better.

And better…

Until it was too much, a confetti shower of pleasure falling around us, as my body spasmed against his member over and over and over again.

I went limp, throwing my arms back and gasping.

He was still moving in me, but I was spent.

“That was… the most…” I let my eyes roll back in my head.

He buried his face in the crook of my neck and sped up.

My mouth formed a silent O. I was still so sensitive down there, and he was pounding me with everything he was worth. It was intense. I didn’t know if I could handle it. It was almost too much, because I’d been taken to such heights—

And then he stopped, going rigid.

I felt him release into my body.

He grunted.

And was still.

* * *

 

Demetrius

I was careful not to settle all of my weight against her, but I was exhausted in a way that I hadn’t thought I would be. It had been while since I’d had sex with someone, true, but I didn’t remember it being so… all-encompassing in this way. I’d been riding the edge of an orgasm, barely holding it at bay as she moaned and thrashed under me. It had been hands-down the most erotic thing I’d ever experienced, watching her fall apart beneath me.

I hadn’t wanted to let go, not while she was enjoying it so much, but it had been sweet agony holding it in.

And there was something about the savagery of it, something that had kept me fucking her like I couldn’t be stopped, taking her far harder and far faster than I ever should have done. But she hadn’t seemed to mind.

She turned half-lidded eyes to me. “What did you do to me?”

I laughed a little. I disengaged, slowly pulling my softening penis out of her. I didn’t want to—damn, she was so tight. Her hot little cunt had practically been milking my dick the whole time I was in her, the walls of her pussy squeezing me eagerly. But the condom. It wasn’t a good idea to lose the condom. “Sorry,” I muttered.

“It was good,” she said.

I rolled over onto my back.

She propped herself up on one elbow, looking down at me. “You could tell I thought it was good, right?” Her voice was heavy, thick with sex.

“I gathered,” I said, reaching up to pull her down and kiss her.

She thrust her little tongue into my mouth.

Ah, fuck, I half-thought I might get hard again.

She pulled back. “And it was okay for you?”

“Sweetheart, you’re…” I laughed again. “Yeah, it was okay for me.”

She bit down on her lip. “I never had an orgasm like that in my entire life. Jesus Christ, no wonder people have sex so much.” She threw herself down on her back next to me. “I don’t smoke or anything, but I totally want a cigarette.”

I groaned. I was starting to get hard again. Her exuberance was sexy as hell.

“I thought that it was hard for women to have orgasms,” she said, sounding concerned. “But the minute you were inside me, it just started happening. I think it’s because you’re freakishly huge.”

I ran my fingers over her nipples. “Freakishly?”

She looked at me. “Well, I don’t know, I guess. I haven’t really been up close and personal with a lot of penises. But I watch porn, and I thought guys on porn were supposed to be well-endowed. But you’re like really, really thick.” She reached between my legs to touch me.

I shut my eyes. I was getting stiffer and stiffer by the second.

She stroked me experimentally. “Why does it get bigger when I do this?”

I groaned again. I pushed her onto her back, draping both her legs over my shoulders.

She giggled. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to put my freakishly huge cock back inside your sweet pussy,” I said, concentrating on reaching over to find another condom.

“Oh,” she said, breathless.

“Is that okay? Can you take me again?”

She nodded.

“Can I fuck you?” I said, raising an eyebrow, seeing how she took the coarse word.

Her breath hitched, and she nodded again.

Lazily, I caressed her breasts. “Say it.”

“Say what? That I want you to fuck me?”

My balls tightened. “Yeah,” I muttered. “Say it again.”

“Fuck me, Demetrius,” she breathed, her eyes wide. “Please fuck me.”

I slammed the condom over my swollen erection, and plunged into her. This time, I did it all in one stroke, burying myself in her wet snugness.

She gasped.

“You all right?” I was already beginning to stroke inside her. I couldn’t help myself. But if she didn’t like it, I would find some way to make myself stop. I promised myself that.

“Uh huh.” Her breath was shallow. Her hips were moving in rhythm with mine now.

I told myself that I’d slow it way down this time. Take my time with her. Stretch it out and make it good for both of us.

But she was whimpering and then she was writhing, and then she was grabbing my ass and urging me into her.

And I lost it. I couldn’t contain myself. I fucked her as hard and as rough as I had before, and she moaned and bucked against me, and came in my arms again, and I…

I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do.

She might be as perfect a woman as ever had existed.

I was fairly sure that her pussy had been created precisely to hug my cock. I didn’t know if I could keep my hands off of her after this.

And she had said… She’d said that this was a solution to a work-related problem, that we’d never do it again.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

This wasn’t a solution at all.

Everything was worse now.