Page 84 of A Certain Appeal
I arch my hips in assent, greeting his tip with my warmth. “Please.”
He slides into me smoothly, farther and farther in until he’s sheathed to the hilt. He begins to thrust. I raise my hips to meet him, shuddering at each partial withdrawal, clenching at every plunge. He holds me, our bodies pressed together from shoulder to pelvis, physically locked. The pressure in me builds.
We grind against one another, the press of his hand above my ass maintaining pressure exactly where I need it until I’m digging my nails into his back. My breath is a startled snarl.
A twist of his hips, and I’m biting at the muscle between his shoulder and neck. I’d be embarrassed by how quickly he’s brought me to the breaking point, but I can’t hold back. I don’t want to with him. Not ever. He maintains his pace as my climax shatters me, the relief excruciating.
Goosebumps appear on the skin before me, and his body tenses. “Bennet,” he cries, and I pull his face to mine. I kiss him, stroking my tongue along his as he releases, thrusting and shuddering, then slowing. He breaks the kiss to rest his forehead on mine. There’s sweat on both our brows now, and we’re panting.
“Holy shit, Bennet.” His skin is blotchy and red, his hair tousled from my grip. It’s the most disheveled he’s ever lookedandthe most appealing, surpassing even the image of him in glasses.
I giggle, and his body rumbles with a low laugh. With me still reeling from the climax and him stillinme, the movement rocks me with an aftershock. My hips buck and I gasp.
His eyes go wide, and he carefully withdraws. My giggles start up again, and Darcy collapses, one side of his body partially on top of me,an arm and a leg draped over my body. He smiles and I grin right back. That was worth the wait.
His eyes dart past me. “You wanna give that tub a go?”
“That first night I saw you,” Darcy begins.
I turn my head to face him. I lie on my belly, resting my head on my arms. Darcy lounges beside me. He’s propped on one elbow, running his free hand over my exposed backside. He begins at my shoulder, then sweeps down my back, rising up the incline of my ass, down to graze the top of my hamstring before reversing the route.
He smiles and shakes his head. “You scared the hell outta me.”
I’m tempted to feign innocence, but the admission makes me smile. He watches his hand journey up and down my back. “I didn’t know what to think. If you looking at me was part of the show, if that meant I was going to be singled out for something later.”
I cast a meaningful glance at our current positions. “Are you thinking you weren’t?”
“That’s one hell of a long game, Ms. Bennet.” His hand changes direction, cupping along my rear and moving side to side. “That first night, I was determined not to enjoy myself. Charles had made an offer on the property without seeing it, clearly had no idea what it entailed... I was fuming at him. And then you showed up and ruined my brooding with your ‘One way to find out.’ ”
I laugh. “I was only trying to loosen you up. You were so starchy.” I bite my lower lip. “And I didn’t plan to listen in on your conversation that night,” I add. “Ming and I were getting pasties, and I heard you guys out on the landing.”
“Just think if you hadn’t.”
I give a dry chuckle. “It would have spared several people a lot of heartache—”
“I meant that we’d probably have been getting naked together a lot sooner.”
“Ooh,” I coo. “That, too.”
His hand stills. “I’m sorry for what I said then. I was trying to get Charles to lay off, because I knew he’d keep pestering me all night if I didn’t talk to you again. And I had my suspicions about the club, everyone being in on some scheme to ensnare Charles, or get to him through me—”
“You don’t give much credit to your winning first impression,” I say with a smirk.
“Thatwas insolent. And deserved. I couldn’t look at the cards until we’d moved on to the next bar. I wouldn’t even let Charles open his. It took me two more drinks, but I found the Four of Clubs and that was it. I turned around and went back for you, but you were gone.”
“You—you were with Charles when he came to see Jane!”
“You’d vanished into the night,” he laments, and I laugh. “Then there you were, holding Jane’s head together. I can’t even talk about that glove peel. And the Work It party—”
“Me?You were the one being so damn charming and attentive. It almost interfered with my wounded pride.”
“And I was wondering what you had on under the dress. I wanted to believe nothing.” He looks off into the middle distance. “No bra, no panties...”
I laugh, but the idea gets me squirming. “How far did you get with those musings?”
“Nothing realistic. Just you. And me, confirming there was nothing on underneath.”
“That’s—”
