And then there was a brief lull, when the pressure on top of her relented.
A jangling sound. His belt. He was taking off his—
“Condom,” she said hoarsely.
“Got one.”
Thank God, because she didn’t. In truth, she’d thought through so little about this. Although even if she’d sketched it out? She wouldn’t have come close to the real experience. So much hotter and more raw—
Duke reared up on his knees and gave her a shock.
He’d shoved his jeans down low on his hips and his sex was tremendous, so thick and long, standing out straight from his body.
This was going to get … even more intense.
The condom was a Trojan, and he tore off the corner of the blue square with his sharp white teeth, the foil ripping open with obliging ease. And then, as she watched him sheathe himself, she had to bite her lower lip again, especially as his blunt fingers took care of business over the heavy head and that thick shaft.
A split second later, he was on top of her again.
Cait took over from there. When she gripped him, he bore down on his teeth and cursed, his head rearing back on his neck, the cords of muscle popping out on either side.
“Jesus …” he groaned.
She felt the exact same way. Except as she guided him to her, she braced herself. It had been a long time for her, and given the way he was built?
She had no interest in stopping this, however. If anything, each level of this improbable, out-of-control hookup just incinerated her even further—and she relished the inferno precisely for its burn: in the midst of it, nothing else existed, her terror in the parking garage seared away, her weeks of worrying about Sissy obliterated, her years of loneliness and her sadness even still about Thom gone, gone, gone.
She was beyond ready for this. Had been for a while, and not in the several-hours sense.
With Duke poised to enter her, he thrust his arm underneath her shoulders and brought her face close to his. His eyes held hers—
Just before he surged forward, he looked away.
Someone like him being shy? Impossible—
Pain lanced through her, stiffening her body, snuffing out the heat in a split second. And as Duke froze, those eyes shot back to hers in something close to alarm.
“No,” she muttered. “It’s just been a while for me. Don’t you dare stop.”
To prove the point, she thrust her hands down his powerful torso to the small of his back—where she went even lower, pushing under the loose seat of his pants to his totally tight ass. Jacking her hips up and pushing him to her, she joined them properly, from tip to base, deep within her core.
The stretching, the filling, the electric shock of pleasure, it brought back the fire—and that was even before he started pumping.
Stranger or not, he was careful with her, moving slowly at first, giving her a chance to adjust. And oh, God, adjust she did. Her sex reloosened as the friction increased, that great body above her own thrusting with growing urgency, another crest building deep inside of her until he was clapping against her, holding her roughly in place … fucking her.
This was not making love. There was nothing polite about where they were now or where they were headed—and she wanted it just like this, hard, fast, brutal.
It was a shock to realize that she was having the sex of her life, right here on the floor of this bald room, in almost-public. But holy hell was it good.
With a jerk, she brought his mouth back to hers and he was right on it, kissing her as his hips pistoned over and over again until there was no way to keep their lips together anymore.
Breaking off, he groaned again. “You’re so tight. Fuck …”
His head dropped into her neck, and the idea that he was struggling to keep it together made her feel even more sexual, more liberated.
Oh, God, he smelled so good. And his hair was incredibly soft. And his beard scratched against her cheek…
In the back of her mind, she took notes on as much as she could absorb, well aware that she needed to remember each part of this, the whole thing. Because even though she was out of her mind, she wasn’t kidding herself. This was a one-time-only—and it was so totally worth—
Her third orgasm was the most powerful of the bunch, making the others seem like just warm-ups, the rhythmic pulses contracting through her, her eyes clamping shut so hard she saw stars—and he followed along with her, his erection stabbing in and kicking inside of her over and over again…
And then it was done.
So still.
They both went so still except for their breathing, which remained haggard.
In the aftermath, her body glowed from the exertion, her heart rate slowing gradually, the heat rolling out of her muscles and her skin until she began to feel the cool floor beneath her.
So good. The whole thing was exactly what she needed.
Except … as the silence began to sink into her addled brain, she thought, Now what? She had no clue how this was supposed to work—
“Duke?” a male voice said on the other side of the door. “You in there?”
Oh. Crap. Talk about a reality injection.
Her … lover, she supposed was the word for it, lifted his head and shot a glare upward. He also cranked his leg around and shoved his knee into the steel panel to make sure it wasn’t opened—and in the process, reminded her that they were still very much joined.
Dear Lord, what had she gotten herself into?
“No, I’m not,” he said in a guttural snarl.
Pause. “Duke, my man, you got someone in there with you?”
“No.”
“Because the visual and the audio are off and we’re concerned that you’re—”
“He’s not alone,” Cait said sharply. “Okay?”
Pause. Longer this time. “Oh, Jesus, sorry … I, ah, shit, man, we never thought that you would be with a—I mean, you don’t usually do that with the females, or, I mean, anyone, so, ah—”
“Later, Ivan,” Duke snapped.
“Oh, yeah. Sure … absolutely, my man…”
The volume on the commentary drained out, like whoever it was, was walking off the apology. Or tripping over it, as was the case.
Duke focused on her, his expression utterly unreadable. “What he means is, I don’t bang women at work.”
“Then why’d you ask me here?”
“Because I couldn’t wait any longer and you already had a date for tonight.”
“What if I hadn’t gone to the theater?”
“I’d have been stuck having to stalk that idiot singer until I ran into you again.” This was said as if he’d rather have teeth pulled out of his head by a tractor.