Chapter Five

She’d had some racy dreams in the past, but in reality, her sex life was as routine as every other part of her life. She’d dated nice guys and even had a few hookups with her accountant because neither of them wanted a relationship but every six months or so they needed sex. She’d never thought there was anything wrong with that, but until now, she hadn’t realized what she’d been missing out on by having sex with Terry.

She’d avoided anyone like Nicholas because it was tied too tightly to the girl she’d been—a teenager on the verge of blossoming into a woman…who’d suddenly had her world destroyed. After that, she’d rejected everything that reminded her of magic…including charismatic men like Nicholas.

Nicholas was taking his time, and a part of her cynically thought it was because he was a showman at heart. He knew how to draw out the anticipation for bigger impact at the end.

His fingers moved slowly down the side of her neck, then pulled back, his bright blue gaze meeting hers. She swallowed, not sure she was going to make it to the end of whatever he had planned. Gooseflesh spread down her arms, making her nipples tighten and her stomach clench in anticipation.

The nightshirt and boxers she wore hadn’t seemed like much until she was sitting on the counter, touching his warm, naked skin, and wishing she was naked, too. But his chest distracted her. She’d always been a sucker for muscled men. As a child, she’d spent a lot of time poring over industry magazines that had come to their home, looking at the strong men who sometimes were part of the elaborate big shows. Her family had a signature trick that drew crowds with its daring and history, so they’d never needed someone with Nicholas’s build. But she needed him now.

She drew her finger over the padded muscles, tracing her way from his neck, corded with strength, as he wrapped one arm around her waist and lifted her slightly to tug at the hem of the T-shirt that had gotten trapped under her butt.

She felt the cool, conditioned air on her back as he lifted the hem of the T-shirt up until her waist and her belly button were revealed. She stopped touching him, reveling in the feeling of his fingers sprawled over her stomach.

“I wanted to see what I was missing. I never got a chance to ask you to remove your shirt before you put the tequila away,” he said.

She licked her lips as his words sent fire spreading down her body and pooling in her core. She pulled the T-shirt up and over her head, tossing it behind her on the counter. She sat there in front of him, aware of the freckles on her body and the smallness of her breasts. She’d never minded them—it was her body, and she had always refused to see anything negative in something that was her.

He lifted his hand, cupping her breast and running his thumb around her nipple, which beaded even tighter at the attention. His other hand held her waist loosely, tracing the pattern of freckles on her skin and moving in a seemingly random path up her ribs. “You’re gorgeous.”

She smiled to herself. “I am.”

He threw his head back and laughed, and joy spread through her. The shadows that had been in his eyes earlier were gone, and the ones that had lingered in her soul retreated…for now, at least. This was a moment meant for fun, meant for enjoying each other. And she wasn’t going to waste it.

“I’m glad you know it.”

“Thanks. And I’m sure you know that you are hot as hell,” she said.

“Women seem to like it,” he said. “But they aren’t you. I’m glad to hear you…find me pleasing.”

She nodded, drawing her finger down his smooth chest. She suspected he waxed it but didn’t know for sure. Many illusionists did. It made doing some tricks easier for the performer. He was hot and hard, and the way he shivered under her touch was reassuring. He was as deeply moved by her touch as she was by his. It was exactly the kind of reaction she’d always wanted to find in her intimate partners.

She let her fingers move lower and realized she wasn’t on the pill. And not every guy would use a condom. Hell’s bells.

“I’m not on the pill,” she said, scraping her nail over the waistband of his leather pants.

“Damn! I didn’t come here anticipating sex,” he said.

She smiled. “I have some condoms.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m the one who can get pregnant, not you, so I always take that seriously.”

He nodded. “Okay. Where are they?” he asked.

“I’ll go and get them,” she said. Her body was buzzing as she ran to her bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, pulling out the box she kept there. She came back into the kitchen and found him leaning against the counter. She stopped in the doorway, watching him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was quietly waiting for her.

“Nicholas?” she asked tentatively, knowing that this kind of interruption could make some men change their mind. She desperately hoped he hadn’t.

“Zelda.”

“Do you still—” She couldn’t get the words out, which wasn’t like her, and she realized in that moment how much more than sex this was. Damn. She’d wanted it to be a hookup, but hookups were casual—doing it with a partner instead of her vibrator. But now she realized that it wasn’t just a partner she wanted tonight, but Nicholas.

“Have you changed your mind?” she asked at last.

“Not a chance in hell,” he said, then came over to her and took the box from her hand, lifting her off her feet and carrying her back to the counter. He set the box next to her hips and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her forward until her naked breasts were pressed against his chest. She wrapped her hands around his neck and tangled her fingers in his thick hair. “I think we were right about here.”

…

Her tight, beaded nipples pressed against his chest, making him realize how turned on she was. There was no way he could ever stop wanting her. He hoped that sex would ease some of this obsession with her. Despite the fact that he was an unconventional man, he normally didn’t knock on a woman’s door after midnight.

Or do shots all night and then have sex on a woman’s counter. But with Zelda, this felt right and normal. Which should be sending alarm bells ringing through him, but it wasn’t. The only thing he wanted was to taste every inch of her freckled body and then take her again and again until they were both fully sated.

He hadn’t felt this keen desire for a woman in a long time…not since Jade. It was impossible to not think of her, since she was the one who had stolen so much from him. She’d taken the illusions they’d developed together and left him and Leo, claiming the tricks as her own and leaving them with nothing. Jade had cemented his belief that everyone was lying about something. But tonight, there was nothing to worry about. This was hot sex with the redhead who had entranced him from the first moment he’d set eyes on her, across the street from her shop. Her nails scraped down his spine, and he lowered his head to take her mouth.

Her tongue thrust deep into his mouth, and his erection started to throb. He wasn’t sure he could take the time he wanted with her, but he was determined to try. Life had taught him to savor these kinds of moments. And this was one he wanted to draw out for as long as he could. As the kiss deepened, he drew one hand up her side, cupping her breast with his palm and placing his other on the small of her back to force her to arch her spine.

She did, and he felt her nipples brush against his chest as he pulled his mouth from hers. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her lips swollen from their kisses. He’d never seen anything so beautiful, he thought, as he nibbled along her jawline. Her long, curly hair framed her heart-shaped face, and he used his nose to push the long tendrils back so he could kiss her neck. She smelled of lime and summery peaches. Her skin was smooth and dotted with those freckles of hers, and he couldn’t help sucking against the strongly beating pulse at the spot where her neck and shoulder met.

She tightened one hand in his hair. He felt the light touch of her nails as she traced her way over his bicep, drawing a pattern on his skin that made his cock jump in anticipation.

He moved his mouth lower, tracing her collarbone and then her shoulders. He kept the thumb of one hand idly stroking her breast while he caressed her arms, shoulders, and back. But when he got to her wrist, he noticed an old scar, one that looked familiar. But her hand had moved lower on his back, caressing his butt, and he couldn’t think of anything at all but getting her completely naked.

He circled his finger around her belly button, and she sighed, letting her head fall backward. Her long hair brushed over her back, and he caught it in his fist at the same time he caught the tip of her nipple in his mouth, sucking deeply. The scent of her was stronger here. He knew it was a smell he’d never forget—woman, passion, and tequila. The desire to have Zelda bordered on a craving and he normally didn’t let that type of intensity into his personal life.

He hadn’t realized how lost he’d been until this moment. She wasn’t his salvation or his destiny, but she made him realize how ungrounded he’d become. She was bringing back desires and needs that he’d told himself he could live without.

He lifted his head and straightened, looking down at her. Her head was back, her spine was arched, and her eyes were closed. Her thighs parted, and he could see the barest hint of her feminine secrets through the thin fabric of her boxers. He wanted her naked.

Lifting her off the counter, he tugged at the waistband of her boxers until she realized what he was doing and shoved them down her thighs to her knees. Then he set her back on the marble countertop and pushed her boxers off her legs. She braced herself on her hands, leaning back, her thighs slightly spread. Her lips were opened, and he could only stand there, transfixed by her inherent sexuality.

She wasn’t hiding any of her desire…and that turned him on more than he’d expected. He fumbled for the fastening of his leather pants and undid them in quick, jerky movements, shoving his pants down and then his underwear a moment later. He felt his cock spring free and, before he could reach for the box of condoms, her hand was on his erection. Her fingers were cool but not cold. She wrapped her hand around his shaft and stroked him up and down.

He braced himself and reached for his control—something that had deserted him the moment she’d offered him tequila. It was foolish to pretend that he’d had any choice tonight. Lust and need had driven him to this point, and he finally acknowledged it as he felt her finger sweep over the head of his cock. His hips jerked forward as a drop of moisture came out.

She touched it with her finger and brought it to her lips, and he groaned. He’d come all over her thighs if he didn’t get inside her soon. He jerked the box of condoms toward him, the packets spilling out on the countertop and floor as he fumbled for one.

She took the packet from him, ripped it open, then handed it to him. And in the process, she proved who was really in control.

…

He sheathed his cock, then put his hands on her thighs. She could tell he was trying to take his time, but it felt like she’d hadn’t had sex in eons, and she was ready to come. She wanted to just feel straight-up pleasure—straight-up, explosive, mind-blowing pleasure.

She crossed her feet together behind his lean hips and tightened her legs, bringing him closer to her. He put his hands on the counter near her hips and pulled her forward until the shaft of his cock rubbed over her cleft.

She ran her hands up and down his chest as he came closer. She wanted him completely at her mercy. There were so many things she was unsure of right now, but having Nicholas between her legs in her kitchen, his hard muscles rippling as he lifted her closer to him, was definitely not one of them.

She flexed her nails into the pad of his pecs to see if he liked it, and he moaned, his head falling back. She leaned up and bit the spot she’d just nicked with her nail, then licked his nipple. He pulled back, looking down at her, his hand on the back of her head.

“Do you like that?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he replied.

“I can stop,” she said, drawing her fingernail around his other nipple, and his spine undulated, pushing his cock against her.

“Don’t,” he said, the word coming out of him on a long exhalation.

She flicked her tongue over his nipple again, then drew her finger down his stomach to ease it around his belly button. But Nicholas’s hands were busy, too, and she soon found herself distracted from her exploration of him.

She felt his big fingers on her back, spread wide so that he could caress all of it, and he took her waist in one hand and then pushed her back to arch away from him. He caressed her back and spine before cupping her ass and drawing her forward. As he leaned toward her, her eyes drifted closed when he ran his finger around her intimate flesh.

Her clit was swollen and begged for his attention. She felt him part her and then the brush of his finger over her sensitive folds. He touched her lightly, tapping his finger gently on her, and she reached for his head, pushing him toward her, wanting his mouth where his fingers were.

“Nicholas…” His name was drawn from her as he first licked the sensitive bud and then took it into his mouth, sucking on it until she couldn’t think of anything but this moment. She couldn’t get enough of him. Tunneling her hands through his thick hair, she held him to her as her hips lifted up into each movement of his mouth. He reached up with his free hand and squeezed tightly on her nipple. She screamed as her orgasm was rippled through her. She couldn’t stop her hips from thrusting up toward him even as he lifted his mouth.

She was beyond waiting even another second for him, and she reached for his cock, stroked it, and then directed him toward her sex. He pulled her forward on the counter, then entered her slowly, inch by inch, taking his time. But she wanted more and planted her heels against the small of his back, drawing him toward her. When he was finally fully seated inside of her, she sighed.

“Got what you wanted?”

She shook her head. “Getting what I want.”

He laughed. She could tell she’d surprised him, but she’d surprised herself, too. Sex wasn’t normally this much fun. She leaned up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He took that as a sign to start thrusting into her, lifting her higher so that she was in the right position for his cock as he drove into her again and again. He lowered his head, and she felt his mouth on her breast, sucking her nipple between his lips as he moved between her legs. She felt her orgasm coming again and threw her head back, calling his name as it spread through her. He continued pounding into her and came a moment later with a primal grunt.

He carried her to the chair he’d been sitting in earlier and sat down, holding her on his lap. She felt his ragged breathing down her back as she rested her head against his shoulder. He held her softly and dropped the gentlest kiss on her temple, and she held him back.

This was perfect. But she knew it couldn’t last. It never did. She was meant to live alone. Besides, there could never be anything long-term between her and Nicholas. Her life and her past were too complicated to even contemplate anything other than a hookup like this. Well, they weren’t usually like this, but she was definitely not complaining.

“Hold on to me,” he said before standing up. “Where’s your bedroom?”

“Down the hall, second door on the right,” she said.

He cupped his hands on her butt and carried her down the darkened hallway to her bedroom. The sheets were still a mess from the nightmare that had driven her from bed, and he set her on her feet next to it. “Let me clean up, and then… Did you want me to leave?”

No. Hell’s bells, of course she didn’t want him to leave. He’d just rocked her world and then some. And the bed was right there, reminding her of her nightmare. “Do you want to?”

This was what she hated about intimacy. She didn’t want to be the one to be vulnerable first. She didn’t want to tell him to stay if he wanted to leave.

“I don’t,” he said.

“Good. I’d like you to stay.”

“Hop into bed, then, and I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing into the bathroom. He came back a few minutes later, getting into bed and holding her through the night. She tried not to fall asleep, but she was so comfortable in his arms she couldn’t resist drifting off.

She slept until her alarm went off at seven and woke up to an empty house. She might have thought she had dreamed the entire encounter, except for the faint soreness between her thighs and the dirty shot glasses in the sink.

She knew that neither of them had intended for last night to happen. She was cool with that.

Really, she was.