Page 21 of The Negotiator

She gulped in a breath as he touched her. Her hands rested against the pillow near her head and her legs fell open. It was a surrender of sorts and he didn’t squander the opportunity. His mouth slipped to her neck then traveled lower. He savored every taste of skin as he nosed her bra to the side and slipped her nipple into his mouth.

She groaned then. Her back arched off the bed. He opened his eyes just long enough to watch her stretch, to see her head fall back, exposing her neck. He wanted to lick every inch of her and vowed to do just that. He would take however long she gave him. And when her hand snaked down between them to find the zipper of his pants, he would have given her just about anything she wanted.

His mouth slid over her, caressing first one breast then the other with his tongue. As his lips worked, his fingers slipped to her jeans. Their hands knocked together as they yanked on zippers and pushed their pants down to the tops of their hips.

She brushed the back of her hand over him through his pants. Once... twice... until his lower body jerked in response.

“Jesus, Lauren.” He could hear the pleading in his voice and didn’t try to disguise it.

“Get the rest of your clothes off.” She glanced down. “And mine.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He loved that she knew what she wanted. There was no hiding her body—or her needs—from him. In the past she’d insisted being six years older than him was a problem, but he was only seeing the benefits.

He stretched up and kissed her again. Their mouths met and she made this soft humming sound. The noise burned through the last of his control. He was almost frantic to get her naked now. He reached behind her and unhooked her bra. Lifted her back off the mattress and stripped the shirt and bra off, leaving her open to his gaze. And he did not wait. His hands skimmed over her and his mouth followed. He licked and sucked until she called out his name. He had never heard anything sexier.

He moved then, slipping down and down. Pulling off her jeans and the tiny pair of white bikini underwear underneath. Sitting up he slipped off her boots and let them thud against the floor. A few yanks and everything was off. Every last stitch of material.

His body screamed for him to grab a condom and slide over her, but she stopped him. Not with words or a hand. No, she shifted her legs, bringing them up until her feet rested flat against the mattress. Then she let her thighs drop open wide.

The move was so sensual, so inviting, that he heard the screeching in his brain as his mind shut off and his body took over. Those lean legs and defined muscles. The tiny strip of hair that covered her.

Fucking damn.

He lowered his head and breathed in, taking in the scent of her. Brushing his lips lightly over the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. Hearing her long, drawn-out moan. Then his mouth was on her, his tongue inside her. He licked as he opened her. Kept at it with his finger and his tongue until her hips bucked and her mouth dropped up.

Looking up the length of her he saw nothing but a beautiful, amazing woman totally in control of her body and handing off her pleasure to him. He happily took over the task. Pushing her legs toward her chest, he opened her even further and saw her suck in a gulp of air in response.

“Garrett, please.”

That’s all it took. That husky voice and the final okay. He practically bounced up from the bed and stripped the rest of his clothes off. His belt flew here and his pants landed over there. He stopped only long enough to think about where he’d stashed the condoms.

The answer hit him fast and hard. The drawer next to the bedside. He’d thrown some in there while she was in the shower. Hopeful thinking and all that. The wooden drawer creaked as he ripped it open and grabbed a packet. Then he came back to her, slid over her, gasping at the friction of her body against his.

The room heated and the sound of their breathing filled the air. The mattress gave under their joint weight, plowing her head deeper into the pillows. She didn’t complain and he didn’t stop. He slid into the space between her open thighs and kissed her again. Slipping his tongue against hers, tangling his fingers in her hair.

He was riding the edge. His control held, but only by a thin tether. So when she dropped her hand, dragging her fingers over his bare chest and continuing lower, he stopped breathing. He couldn’t even feel his heartbeat as she wrapped her hand around his length and pulled. She tightened her fingers and smoothed her hand up and down. The sensation mesmerized him. Had everything inside him tightening and begging for more.

But he wanted to end this time inside her. Condom on, head tipped back and hopefully with her screaming his name. At least that’s the fantasy that played in his head. When he rolled the condom on and pulled her hand away, he knew he hovered right there, so close.

The months of foreplay and wanting had piled up. Touching her was enough to set him off. When he slipped inside her, just enough to feel her inner muscles clamp down on him, he broke out in a sweat. It gathered on his shoulders and across his back.

He tightened his muscles and tried to hold off the final moment for as long as possible, to savor every first with her. He might have succeeded if she hadn’t moved. One lift of her hips, one trail of her tongue down his neck, and he was fucking done.

He plunged inside her, going slow and deep on the first thrust as she wrapped her body around his. Her breath echoed in his ear and her fingernails scraped across his bare shoulders. He could feel her, taste her and smell her. There wasn’t a part of him that didn’t touch her. And when he started to move, pulling in and out, mixing the rhythm and pressing his hips forward with every pass, her fingers slipped into his hair.

She pulled his head close. The sounds of her harsh panting matched his as she leaned up to whisper in his ear. “Faster.”

“Fuck yes.”

He lost it then. All control abandoned him and he rode her. Forget finesse and taking it slow. She didn’t hold back and neither did he. Not now that he was inside her, surrounded by her warmth.

His orgasm hovered right there on the fringes but he wanted her with him. His hand went to the juncture of her legs and his finger slipped over her, hit that spot. He knew when it happened because she gasped and a resurgence of heat moved into her eyes. Then she was bucking, her hips tightening around him. He could feel the orgasm hit her and he let his body follow hers.

Instinct took over. He couldn’t tell how or when they finished. All he remembered was the sound of a rough breath sneaking out of her throat and the insistent pounding of his heart. It thumped loud enough to block out every other noise.

With his body emptied and her lying in a satisfied sprawl beneath him, he finally let his head drop. His forehead touched hers as he fought to regain his strength, his breathing—something.

---