Chapter Nine

 

 

 

Olivia hadn’t protested the tight hold Cody had maintained on her hand as he’d led her inside and up the stairs. The feel of his palm against hers, their fingers entwined, had helped ground her and pushed back the shame and anger leftover from the last time they’d been together.

She also hadn’t protested his specific warning about no strings and no pressure. He could think what he wanted, but she was determined to use the moment to its fullest advantage—business and pleasure.

But when every tight muscle in Cody’s body eased, the curve of his spine shifted into a more natural position and he smoothed his hands over her back, heating her and encouraging her in ways she’d only hoped he would offer… When he said the word of gratitude—his appreciation for everything she’d done for a man they both loved—she couldn’t handle it.

She shoved back her guilt with a quick attack on Cody’s buttons.

He stopped her and stared into her eyes for a minute before he said, “I don’t know why you’re here or what you really want, but I know that you need comfort tonight, and so do I. I’m glad you came in with me.”

“I’m here because you asked me. As for what I want? Well, like you said, comfort would be a great place to start.”

The second she’d spoken the words, Olivia realized their truth. With all the burdens pressing her into the ground—the fear for Eugene, her mother and her employees, the anxiety of possibly needing to start over somewhere else—she wanted a minute for herself. She wanted a moment she could use however she desired, to do whatever she wanted, with whomever she chose, without thinking of anything beyond the sensual zone she could create—a space in time where nothing else existed.

She rose to her toes and planted her mouth on Cody’s with that driving thought urging her on. Sensuality was her only goal as she dragged her lips over his, lingering in the center to lick the bottom curve. When he opened for her, she snuck into the hot depths of his mouth with a series of slow forays, subdued assaults of her tongue until they found a gliding rhythm, sleek and hot—velvet friction.

Cody hauled her closer and Olivia celebrated the minor victory with a wild undulation that left her nipples peaked and pulsing as they pressed to his chest. Their bodies were so close that she could practically feel his suspicions dissolving. Mission accomplished. Cody had just entered her sensual zone, willingly leaving all thoughts of business and what she might be negotiating for, behind. Unfettered pleasure spread out before them with infinite potential.

She worked on his shirt buttons. He hauled her blouse up her back. Her reluctance to step away so he could undress her seemed to match his resistance to letting go, resulting in a push and pull that left Olivia more breathless than their kiss. Her breasts swelled against the pressure of Cody’s torso and the skin of her lower back rippled under a cool brush of air. Impatiently, Olivia let him have his way, raising her hands so he could rip her shirt off.

Cody held her away from him as his gaze trailed down, lower and lower. The heat in his eyes more than made up for the distance from his body, but it made her impatience worse. Olivia curled her arms behind her and released her bra, flinging it God-only-knew-where.

The breath whistled between Cody’s lips. “Good Lord, you’re beautiful.”

He lifted his hands and cupped her. The motion of his thumbs over her skin, rasping her nipples, dragged sensation through the taut mounds until she jerked with need. Her blood turned sluggish, her muscles heavy, and desire stretched throughout her body, drawing her closer to Cody in spite of the force he used to keep her where he could see her.

Olivia wanted to see, too, but, more, she needed to feel. She pressed against him, lifted her mouth for another kiss and wrestled his shirt over his shoulders. Cody groaned but reluctantly released her breasts. His abandonment made her ache worse, but the moment she freed his chest from the fabric, she thrust her nipples against him, loving the texture of his hair and skin, amazed at how his heart thumped against her breastbone until the cadence mingled with her own rushed pulse.

Heat, comfort and lust combined into something brand new. Olivia had barely gotten her fill when she became distracted by the way Cody snuck his hand into her waistband, stretching his fingers beneath the fabric at the small of her back, drifting over her ass, tracing the seam between the two cheeks. A furious tingle raced down and around, curling beneath her body to sink into the dampening flesh surrounding her pussy and sparking an urgency Olivia had never felt before.

“I need you inside me,” she gasped at the same moment she broke their kiss.

“Yes.”

The word Cody barked was hot and fierce, but his actions were totally opposite. He stroked her body slowly—one hand over her ass, the other up her back and shoulder. He dragged his palm down her arm, the slightly calloused surface strumming her nerves in subtle ways, the drift of his fingers driving heat into her bones. Curling her hand around his nape and letting the other roam over him, Olivia tried to return the favor.

Cody’s muscles weren’t overly developed, but she could tell he’d spent some time in a gym. His skin was smooth but for the crisp path of dark hair angling toward his waistband, and his nipples were nearly as responsive as her own. She scratched a line down his stomach that had him gasping into her mouth then surging against her tongue with dangerous intent.

Humming with anticipation, she tugged at the button of his fly. His zipper echoed softly in the room but was as loud as a jet engine to her libido—and as provoking, as if something adventurous was just around the next corner. Olivia would have said she was too impatient to play games, yet she was enjoying the pace Cody had set too much to alter it—not yet, at least. Not until she teased as much as she could, slipping her fingertips over sensitive skin, scratching, licking, kissing, relishing her ability to make him flinch and moan.

Finally, she peeled back the flaps of his pants, pulled his underwear low and released his cock. She’d felt it before—had held it and stroked until pleasure had erupted from the tip. Her palm tingled with the memory. Her pussy clenched in expectation. She took him into her palm and stroked from base to tip.

Cody groaned. Both of his hands clamped on her ass and he hauled her up his body. Olivia wrapped her legs around his waist a moment before the room spun. She closed her eyes and poured all her energy into a new kiss, hot and wild, clinging to his lips as he turned and put her down across the bed.

Pulling back from her mouth, he licked her chin. He nipped and descended, trailing fire over her neck, sucking gently, scraping with his teeth. Sensation built and transferred to lower parts of her body in a rolling wave, a forerunner of Cody’s caresses. Down and down… Olivia’s lungs seized and heated, radiating urgency throughout her chest.

He kissed her between her breasts. Lifting one hand to fondle, cup, shape and mold one swollen mound, Cody turned his mouth to the other. He left a hot, wet streak to cool under his exhalation, only to tease it again with a quick flick of his tongue. He tortured her with a leisurely inspection of her darkening areola. The noises he made told her how much he enjoyed the taste of her skin.

By the time Cody closed his lips on her nipple, Olivia was beyond breath. With anticipation slicing through her and her thighs cramping around his waist, she clenched her fingers in his hair. His tongue felt like sleek satin surrounding her aching, sensitized flesh when he sucked her into his mouth. Raw lust cleaved her in two. The force he used on her breast drew her off the mattress and an unseen cord burst into existence through the center of her body, stringing her nipple to her clit until both peaks pulsed in time with Cody’s clever attentions.

She writhed and pulled, loving the pressure, loving the ache. With every shift of her shoulders, his grip on her nipple tightened and his mouth on the other grew more fevered. Olivia’s core liquefied and demanded appeasement. Contorting to rub her aching, fabric-covered pussy against his dick, she wrenched Cody’s head from her chest.

She stared up at his expression, noting the beads of sweat at his temples, the harsh line of his lips, the need glimmering in his eyes. He panted over her mouth in time with the brushing of his chest against her belly. Olivia was covered, surrounded by heat, his hips wedged between her thighs so deliciously that she struggled not to squirm, though she couldn’t hold still for long.

True pain edged Cody’s smile. “I want you. Very badly.”

“Good thing I’m already in your bed, then.”

“I don’t have condoms.”

A very brief and passionate debate took place in Olivia’s brain. Half-muddled by lust and nearly totally drowned out by the need pulsing in her pussy, rationality and responsibility tried to make a case for alternative pleasures, but her panties were soaking wet. Her nerves sizzled beneath her skin and her nipples hurt in such a way that only Cody’s touch—his fingers or his mouth, sucking or pinching, tugging and pulling with hot, wet persistence—could bring her ease. Just the memory had her shuddering.

“Rhythm method.”

He pressed close, grinding his erection against her. “That doesn’t work.”

“It has to.” Olivia lost her breath as she lifted, her hips rising fluidly, rocking in a vain effort to encourage more pressure—enough that her clit would stop throbbing quite so hard and her pussy would find a measure of peace, rather than its current contracting, greedy squeeze, nearing pain in its intensity. “I need you inside me.”

Cody wriggled, then Olivia felt him sliding his hand beneath her newly loosed waistband. The heat of his fingers seemed to spread farther than his touch possibly could, covering her mound and writhing over her nerves. She arched, her legs falling from his hips to help ease his way and encourage further advances.

Like getting her damn pants off.

Cody covered her wet folds with his palm and pushed his fingers into her slick depths. He pumped slowly, calloused fingertips dragging over agitated nerves, driving her insane. Olivia planted her heels against the bedframe, kicking at the mattress to make enough room to gain a little leverage. She lifted, driving up on his fingers, taking them deeper with a groan just shy of a scream.

Her body contracted around the intrusion, sending ecstasy radiating out. Gripping his wrist, Olivia lifted again. “Please, please. Now.”

“Can’t.” Cody withdrew from her hot clasp and stumbled back a few steps. He grabbed the belt loops of her jeans and tore the fabric down her legs. Olivia writhed and kicked, helping him free her.

Gloriously naked, she stretched under his raking gaze, appreciating the wash of cooler air on her overheated skin. She struggled to breathe but still plotted the best way to proceed—toward her goals and their pleasure.

Olivia spread her legs. “Cody.”

He cursed then gulped, then cursed again. His gaze riveted to the curls between her legs, he stepped forward, but surprised her by dropping to his knees. “You’re so damn wet, Olivia. You look so…sweet.”

She couldn’t see him with his head tipped down, but she felt his hands push at her inner thighs. His tongue slid up her folds and caught on her clit. Extreme pleasure burst from the flesh he’d just tasted, predominantly spurred on by her excitement. Too soft, so subtle, his lick had her writhing in anticipation, a mental urgency supported by the physical need clawing inside her body.

“I want—” She panted and wheezed. “I want you…inside me.”

She felt his chuckle. She couldn’t see him smile and she certainly couldn’t hear anything past the heartbeat echoing in her ears, but she sensed his maniacal intent. A moment later, Cody peeled her folds apart, holding her with softly massaging fingers, adding an erotic tug to the sleek path he was tracing over her wet skin with his tongue.

“It’s too soft,” she whined. “I need so much more. I need you—stretching me, filling me, pounding into me, Cody!”

His only response was another hot lick, up and around her clit. Then he sucked the peak between his lips and pleasure rioted through her lower body. Olivia screamed. She held on to his hair and rode his mouth as he did wicked things with his lips and teeth. He stroked and rubbed then tracked lower to stab at her entrance.

She tried to resist her own climax by focusing on his. “Your cock.”

“It’s hard.” He blew against her pussy.

Olivia shuddered and clawed at his scalp. “Put it inside me.”

Cody surged to his feet, giving her a short-lived thrill that he would do exactly as she suggested. She gushed, just thinking about his thick length stuffed inside her, pushing in—slow and deep—working over needy tissues that ached so badly to be rubbed.

But rather than do as she’d hoped, he climbed onto the bed. He pulled her, rolled her over and pushed until they were both on their sides, facing each other with her mouth less than an inch from his cock and him rooting for her clit. Curled, slightly awkward, Olivia remained undaunted.

“I’ve never done this position before.” She still sucked his dick into her mouth.

Cody licked her. “Me, neither. Jesus, but I think we’ll…goddamn…figure it out.”

Olivia burrowed her hand between his legs then gripped his balls, squeezing and kneading, tugging just enough to make him squirm. With her other hand, she fisted his shaft, making sure he didn’t shove too much down her throat as her head bobbed and his hips lifted. She shut her eyes tightly, concentrating on her technique, though his threatened to undo her completely.

They found a rhythm. He licked, she sucked. He thrust his tongue into her wet depths and she rasped the tip of his dick in a velvet glide. Urgent, impatient, but dedicated to sharing, they both crashed together, legs over heads and knees pressing skulls. Olivia could only imagine how ungainly they looked, but the pleasure was well worth it.

Cody ate her as thoroughly as any woman could ever experience. Olivia dripped and gushed, riding his mouth and rocking against his chin. She was a wet mess and knew she was making him into one, too, but Cody just kept pressing forward, groaning, wrapping his arm around her and helping her meet every thrust and lick.

Pleasure mounted, rocketing through her, exploding in her clit and her cunt. She clamped down on Cody’s tongue and tightened her lips around his cock. Sucking instead of screaming, she brought him with her as she found her release, and they both writhed. Cody’s dick pumped, even as she wrenched away to snatch oxygen, thick streams splashing over her face and chest.

The air between their bodies congealed with emotions Olivia didn’t know how to define or confront. Cody stroked her ass. She laid her head on his knee. Both of them panted, sprawled across each other and the stained sheets without speaking. For her part, Olivia wasn’t sure what to say or how the breakdown of business versus pleasure would end up.

She suddenly wondered if she’d gotten more than she’d bargained for.