Fake flame, p.11
Fake Flame, page 11
“A little harder.” Her eyes were closed now, seemingly in absolute surrender. God, how he liked that. No. Loved it. He dipped his head and sucked the peak into his mouth again, tugging on it with more force and swirling his tongue. He was rewarded with a breathy groan, so he tried the same thing on the other side, appreciating her shivers and the slick rosiness of her skin where he’d sucked on it.
“My girl likes it a little rough?” He pressed a kiss to another newly detected freckle, this one on her sternum.
“Sometimes. A little.” He looked up and her eyes were open again, her gaze held by his as if he was a snake charmer. Or maybe he was the snake being charmed.
“You tell me what you want. More. Less. Harder. Softer. You’re in control here. It’s all about you.”
* * *
She was in control? Ha. One thing she’d learned was that Sean was very much in control almost all the time. And he was so genuine, so decent and so kind, she was fine with that. She welcomed it. It was lovely to be able to let the world fall away for a little while, to let someone she trusted take charge.
But what he was saying was important. Communication was important. And oh, shit.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“We never had the testing talk. But I’m okay. I tested after I found out you-know-who was...you-know-what.” She didn’t want to bring Darren’s name or his cheating into this room, this moment.
“I’ve been tested since I was last with someone. We’re good.” His eyes glittered with understanding and humor. “You’re all tensed up. Now I have to get you all nice and relaxed again. Oh, darn. What a shame.” He set his attention on her breasts again and it wasn’t long until she was a puddle. A writhing, needy puddle, but a puddle nonetheless.
“That’s better,” he said as he pulled her panties down and threw them aside. Testing her wetness with one probing finger caused her to groan.
“I think I might be obsessed with your hands,” she said as he added a second finger, pumping and rocking the heel of his hand against her clit. He stretched out beside her and teased her nipple with his mouth until she rocked her hips, riding his hand, chasing her pleasure.
“Take it. Take what you need,” he said, then blew a cool stream of air across her wet, heated flesh, sending her flying, squirming and moaning. “That’s it,” he said, gentling the movement of his hand but keeping up the pressure and movement to draw out her orgasm.
When her shuddering ebbed, she raised a hand to his face, cupping the severe angle of his jaw and appreciating the wicked gleam of accomplishment in his eyes. “You are a goddamn miracle, you know that? You’re magic.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Wanna play with my wand, baby?”
She laughed at that, helpless and wrung out. “You’re also terrible.”
Pulling his fingers out of her, he sprawled out over her body, his erection trapped between them. “Wanna be bad with me some more?”
She feathered her hands over his hair, down the strong column of his neck, to his shoulders. “Yes. Very much.”
He kissed her then, long and slow and decadent, stoking pleasure to a new blaze inside her. Then he grabbed the condom from the nightstand, tearing open the packet and rolling it slowly down, looking at her with hooded eyes as she watched every movement. “Like what you’re seeing, dirty girl?”
She nodded, licking her lips. Who was she becoming? Normally, the first few times she was with someone new, she was self-conscious and a bit tentative. But Sean brought out a new Eva, an uninhibited, almost reckless person she didn’t recognize.
She liked that new Eva, if she was honest.
“What’s your favorite position?” Sean asked.
“What does it matter? You already took care of me.”
He wagged a finger at her, one of the ones that had until very recently been inside her. “Nuh-uh. Once is not enough for you tonight. I want to make you come at least twice and the idea of you squeezing my dick like you’ve squeezed my fingers really turns my crank.”
His words almost made her dizzy. “Wow. Okay, then any position, but I need clitoral stimulation to get off.”
“I figured.” He grinned. “Then I guess we’ll just keep you right where you are.”
* * *
Eva looked like a goddess, her flaming hair flowing over the pillows around her gorgeous face. She reached her arms up and he leaned forward, allowing her to draw him down, their bodies flush. “Legs wider,” he ordered because she seemed to like it when he got a little bossy. Yeah, there it was, her pupils flaring, eyes widening. But her legs spread, too. “That’s it.” He drew his cockhead up and down her slick, welcoming entrance, loving the way her eyes went a little hazy when he grazed her clit. “You ready for me?”
She nodded, her eyes meeting his and God, the tender feeling that ripped through him nearly undid him. He pushed slowly, relishing her body’s welcome, the warm, wet embrace of her. When he was completely inside her, he gave a little grind of his hips, making her breath hitch.
“Is that what you want, sweetheart? Talk to me.”
“Yeah. That. It’s good.” Her voice was low and breathy, sexy as hell. He did it again, a slow retreat, a slow thrust, a grind. All the while she traced patterns on his back, making electrical currents dance over his skin. He kissed her, closing his eyes as their lips and tongues played, inhaling the light, sweet scent of her skin, loving her taste.
Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead on hers, continuing his slow grind, battling for control. He was not going to come until she did again. “God, Eva. You’re so sexy.” He could have gone on. So beautiful and smart and funny and I could get lost in you if I let myself.
Her hips had caught his rhythm, rising to meet him as he moved, swiveling as he ground against her. He loved that she sought her pleasure. Loved that she helped him get her there. She lifted her head, pulling him down to meet her as she initiated another long, lingering kiss, sucking on his bottom lip before she trailed kisses across his jaw and then lightly bit his earlobe.
He groaned. “I’m trying to make this good for you. You start playing with my ears and any control I have is going to go out the window.”
“Mmm. Good to know.” Her voice was husky, sultry, like dark chocolate and sin. She laughed as he shuddered, her breath fanning against his ear, stoking him further.
Well, he could play that game, too. He kept deep inside her, pulsing his hips as he found that place behind her ear that had made her shudder before. She let out a startled, “Oh!” and he knew he had her, grinding his hips, kissing her neck and leaning on one arm so he could tug at a nipple with his other hand. Her body tensed, locked tight, then she shuddered with release, rippling and pulsing around him, sending his control out of the building. She gripped him with arms and legs as he pounded into her, his vision going white as pleasure ripped through him and he collapsed.
When he’d regained his breath, he kissed that special spot once more. “Am I too heavy for you?”
“Never.” She tightened her starfish grip around him, making him grin.
Fourteen
Sean was aware of the unfamiliar fall of light before anything else, slowly drifting awake and feeling happier than he could remember being in a long time. Then a floral scent mingled with the earthier smell of sex tickled his nose and he rolled over, opening his eyes to find Eva, curled up almost like a child, both hands pillowing her cheek as she slept. Last night, after cleaning up and straightening the bedclothes, he’d cuddled her on his chest and they talked until they both drifted off.
The cuddling and quiet conversation was almost as good as the sex had been.
Almost.
As if his gaze had reached out and touched her, Eva’s eyes fluttered open. “Morning,” she said, her voice cloudy with sleep.
“Morning, beautiful.” With one finger, he pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead.
“I’ve seen myself in the morning. Not sure I would agree with that,” she said, then yawned.
“I meant what I said, woman.” He scooted forward and pressed his lips to hers in a single, fleeting kiss. “I have to get going for a shift soon, but do you have any coffee?”
“Do I have coffee?” She scoffed. “I’m an academic. Coffee is work juice. Coffee is life.” She rolled to her back and stretched like a cat, then got out of bed and walked to the door where a robe hung on a hook. He let himself appreciate the curve of her bare backside and the graceful line of her spine until she shrugged the garment on.
After she went downstairs, Sean found his trousers and tugged them on, pulled on his shirt, then gathered up the rest of his clothes, folding them into a tidy bundle. Shoes in one hand and unworn garments in the other, he found her in the kitchen, a coffeemaker burbling contentedly at one end of the counter.
“I like the look,” she said, pointing at his unbuttoned shirt.
“Glad to hear it. I’ll do the stroll of pride into the station, then grab a shower and change into work clothes.” He had spare clothes in his gym bag in the truck—he always did—but he was under a little more time pressure than he was comfortable with.
“Stroll of pride?” Her eyebrows went up.
“Yeah. Opposite of the walk of shame. Because I’m not ashamed of a damn thing.” He bopped her gently on the nose with a finger and she rolled her eyes.
“Men. You all get to make whatever rules you want.”
“Yeah, I know. It sucks. And I wish I didn’t have to do the stroll of pride or any other walking away from you today, but duty calls.”
“Do you have time for breakfast?”
“No. I wish I did.” He could see that scene unrolling in front of him, the cozy breakfast in her sunny kitchen, refilling her coffee, taking her back to bed...
She nodded, unaware of the way he was mentally rearranging both of their lives, and turned to rummage in a cupboard. Unearthing a travel mug, she filled it with rich-smelling, caffeinated goodness. “How do you take it?”
“That’s perfect just like it is.” He took it and just gazed at her for a few heartbeats. God, she was beautiful. A pang shot through him when he recalled that she wasn’t truly his. But she kept making it clear that their agreement was definitely holding true. “See you Tuesday night for the next self-defense thing?”
“Sure thing.” And with that, she rose up on her toes, grabbing the back of his neck and planting a quick kiss on his lips. “Be safe out there, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The grin on his face took him all the way to the station, past his catcalling, whistling coworkers and straight into the shower.
* * *
After he left, Eva fed Timmy before throwing some clothes on and taking him for his walk. Realizing upon their return that she hadn’t seen her phone since the evening before, she found it in her purse. A notification on the screen said that her mother had called her several times the night before. One voice mail.
“Ugh.” Eva heaved out a sigh and tapped to listen. Her mother’s voice was sharp and displeased.
“Eva, this is your mother. I simply cannot believe how rude you and that...young man were this evening. Your father was deeply upset. And now you’re not taking my call. I just don’t know what to think. This is not how we raised you. Call me when you stop sulking.”
Wow. This was one hell of a reframing job. Her parents had apparently managed to construct an entire alternate reality around last evening. She worried her lower lip with her teeth, thinking. She had about twenty-five percent battery life at this point. If she called her mom now, the phone might quit mid-tirade.
Well, okay. That could work.
She tapped her mother’s contact info and only had to wait two rings before her mother got on the line. “Eva, thank goodness. I was starting to worry.”
Years ago she might have been lulled by that opener. But she’d been the child of this woman for a few too many decades to fall for it. “Okay,” she said.
“Your father is expecting an apology from you.”
A surge of anger flowed through her. “Well, he can expect for a lot longer, because I have nothing to apologize for. You guys were the snobby ones who insulted my boyfriend. I’d say I expect an apology from you, but I’m not delusional.”
There was a long beat of shocked silence from her mother. “I don’t for one moment believe that that...relationship will last. You have nothing in common.”
Eva didn’t even try to hold back the bark of laughter that roared out of her. Oh, they had tons of compatibility. And they’d proven it very handily last night.
“And did you say something about Darren cheating? What did you do to make him do that?”
Her laughter turned instantly back to rage. Inspired by the way she’d unloaded on her parents the night before, she took a deep breath. “Okay, Mom. I’ve really had about enough of everything. I am not responsible for Darren’s infidelity. That’s on him, one hundred percent. The fact that you would support his lying, cheating, gaslighting ass over your own daughter is just the latest thing you should be apologizing for. But because, as I said, I’m not delusional, I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m going to get off the phone now before I really say something I regret. Have a wonderful time with all of Dad’s awful former colleagues. Goodbye.”
As she briskly tapped the screen to end the call, Eva had a small pang of regret for the days where you could slam the handset of a landline down into the cradle.
* * *
Sean got to the second self-defense class and stopped just inside the door, blinking. They’d had about a dozen students before. But now there were at least two times that many. Am I in the right room? he thought. But yeah, he recognized several faces from the last session.
Behind him came a low whistle. He turned and saw Eva, blue eyes wide and staring. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Just got here myself. Seems like we’re a popular destination these days.”
The student who’d asked to record them the week before bounced up to them then, face shining with glee. “You guys are like, famous.”
Eva stepped forward to stand beside Sean, her face pale. “We’re what?”
The student handed her phone to Eva. Sean bent over to look at the screen where the TikTok upload of the video she’d taken of them was playing. “See the comments?” the student asked, practically dancing.
Sean followed her pointing finger and his eyes nearly bugged out. The number under the comments icon was over a thousand. Eva glanced up at him, her expression questioning, then looked back at the phone and tapped the icon. Sean scrubbed the back of his neck as she scrolled. There was some variety to the sentiments, but mostly it was variations on:
Holy crap. They’re hot.
CHEMISTRY FOR DAYS.
I need the movie about their love story like, yesterday. Inject it into my veins.
Cutest. Couple. Ever.
“Um...” Eva was more at a loss for words than he’d ever seen her. She handed the phone back gingerly, as if it was a bomb and she wasn’t sure if she’d cut the correct wire. “That’s... I don’t know what to say.”
“The internet loves you,” the girl gushed, her gaze swiveling between the two of them.
Sean shook his head as if to clear it, then looked at Eva, laughing a little. “I really don’t know what to do with that, but okay. I guess if people think we have chemistry maybe they’re also learning about keeping themselves safe?” And if even perfect strangers thought he had chemistry with Eva, he must be even more obvious about how he felt than he’d thought before.
She punched him lightly on the biceps. “Way to see the silver lining, big guy. I guess we’d better get this show on the road?”
“Anything for our adoring fans.” He winked at Eva and the student nearly swooned.
“You guys. Not fair. I wasn’t recording!”
Eva held up a hand. “No personal recordings, Madison. Just the self-defense stuff. We don’t want our privacy to be invaded.”
The young woman pursed her lips to the side. “Okay. Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away at how great you guys are together. I totally ship it.”
Sean, at a loss for what that meant, looked at Eva helplessly.
“I’ll explain later,” she murmured.
* * *
Eva was wiped by the time they wrapped up the lesson. Sean? He was fresh as a freaking daisy.
“Thanks for a great session everyone,” he called out, needing to raise his voice above the excited chatter of the students. The energy at this session was off the charts, starting out giddy, then getting more serious as they did a review of last week’s moves and then continued to additional, more advanced maneuvers. Now they were giddy again. “Remember,” he said, cupping his hands around his mouth. “The key to successfully performing any of these moves is practice. If you’re rusty, you’re more likely to freeze up, and every second counts, especially those early ones.”
The student who’d taken video of them gave him a thumbs-up and started doing something with her phone—editing, probably—this kind of social media wasn’t exactly in Eva’s wheelhouse.
“Ready to go?” Eva asked, approaching him with a hesitancy she told herself was about possible cameras and not about the way all-too-real emotions seemed ready to bubble up inside her.
“Do we have a thing planned?” he asked, looking genuinely distressed.
“Oh, no. We didn’t have anything planned. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed—”
He cut her off with a raised hand. “No worries. I was just concerned I’d forgotten something.”
“If you have somewhere you need to be or whatever...” Had she babbled this badly once in the last decade? She really didn’t think she had.
