Bidding War Read online

  She braced her hands on his shoulders and said, “This is probably a bad idea, but…”

  That single word gave him hope that she was feeling it too. Finally. “But?”

  “But I want you. I have since the first time we met.”

  He remembered that day. He saw her ad in the local phone book and called, asking her to meet him at his latest project. When she stepped out of the car that day, he thought the summer heat was making him delusional because there was no way a woman that beautiful and sexy could have walked into his life without a band of gold on her finger.

  “I remember,” he said, lifting her hair. He kissed her neck, tentatively at first, but when a soft sigh escaped her lips, he slid in closer, closing the gap between them. “You looked incredible in that blue dress with those strappy sandals…” Growling low in his throat, he remembered having to position his clipboard in front of him to hide his reaction to her. “You made me crazy.”

  “You weren’t the only one,” she said, tipping her head back. “I took one look at you and I forgot my own name. I was so sure you would think I was just wasting your time, that I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I was trying so hard to make a good impression, and I just got so tongue-tied.”

  He fisted his hand in her hair and pulled her head back, forcing her to look at him. “I’d never felt that before,” he whispered. “Hell, I’ve been attracted to lots of women over the years, but something was different about you, something that told me you could be the woman I’d been waiting on.”

  She tried to look away, but he settled his hands on either side of her neck, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I know you feel it, too. This thing between us isn’t going to go away, honey. If anything, it’s just getting stronger every damn day.”

  Her eyes fell to his lips as she settled her hands on his shoulders. “I know that, but I have nothing to offer you, Shane. I mean, like I said, my life is a mess. Between trying to build my business and take care of Tommy, I…”

  He kissed her softly, effectively silencing her. “How about just letting me take care of you?” That’s all he wanted, to be her rock when she needed an anchor.

  She closed her eyes and said, “No, I can’t let you do that.”

  “Open your eyes,” he said quietly. He wasn’t going to let her run away or hide from him again. They were going to have this out, and he wasn’t leaving this house until she agreed to give him a chance to prove to her how amazing they could be together.

  She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Don’t you see how dangerous leaning on you, depending on you, would be for me?”

  He knew it would probably be the biggest risk she’d ever taken, but he’d cut his right arm off before he’d let her down. “I’m worth the risk,” he whispered. “Just let me prove it to you.”

  “Don’t you think I want to believe you?” she said, trying to pull back. “Damn it, would you just let me go?”

  “No,” he said, forcing her to look at him. “If I let you go, you’re never going to let me back in. We made progress here tonight. You started to trust me. I’m not going to let you retreat again, no matter what you say.” He knew he was taking a hard line and it could backfire, but he had to risk it all or he would gain nothing.

  “What happens if I trust you, if I come to depend on you, and you leave me?” She shuddered in his arms. “I know what it’s like to be alone, but I don’t know what it’s like to have a partner. I’m not even sure I want to know.”

  “You’ve never had a serious relationship?”

  She looked at the buttons lining the center of his shirt. “No, never. I never had time for a relationship. I worked two or three jobs, went to night school, and then tried to build my business.”

  Tipping her chin, he asked, “Honey, how old are you?” He’d never thought to ask before. It never seemed to matter.

  “Twenty-five.”

  He would have guessed she was in her early thirties, as he was. Not because she looked it, but because she seemed so mature, so world weary. “Have you ever had a lover?”

  Biting her bottom lip, she shook her head. “No.”

  The initial shock of learning that she was untouched was quickly replaced with elation when he realized he had the opportunity to be her first lover, her only lover. “Okay, listen, we can take this slow. We don’t have to make love tonight.”

  “I want to,” she whispered.

  Her voice was so low he thought he may have misunderstood. “What did you say?”

  She looked up, her eyes filled with determination. “I said I want you to make love to me.”

  His body responded immediately as his cock strained against his zipper. Shifting to try and alleviate his discomfort, he said, “Are you sure this is what you want, sweetheart? We’re just getting to know each other, and this is a big step for you.”

  She reached up to stroke his cheek. “I know everything I need to know about you. You’re kind, decent, hard-working.” She smiled. “And something tells me you’d know how to make me feel incredible.”

  Closing his eyes, he tried to rein it in, but she made it damn near impossible. “I want you to know this isn’t something I take lightly.” He hadn’t taken a girl’s virginity since high school, but he remembered everything about that night. He got up to dress afterwards and she cried her eyes out because she claimed he didn’t appreciate the gift she’d given him. He couldn’t make that mistake with Lacy. If she gave him her body, he intended to treat it like the priceless treasure it was as he showed her, in painstaking detail, everything she’d been missing.

  “I know that.” She brushed the pad of her thumb over his lower lip. “That’s the reason I waited for a man like you, someone who would treat me right.”

  She had no idea how right she was. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. He would give her anything she wanted or needed, if only she was willing to give him her heart in return.

  Chapter Four

  Lacy had waited forever for this moment, and she was excited and terrified at the same time. She’d ignored her own needs for so long, pretending she didn’t need a man like him in her life to be happy, but she’d been lying to herself. Pretending to be strong when she felt weak, pretending she didn’t need anyone when she would give anything to have a strong shoulder to lean on. Shane was offering her that, at least for tonight.

  Giving herself to him wasn’t the same as sex with a random stranger. They’d spent months getting to know each other, building a friendly rapport, and like he said, the attraction between them was palpable, even from the beginning. It was finally time to act on that attraction, and for once, she was ready to take action without analyzing the consequences.

  “I want this,” she said, leaning back against the sofa cushions. Fisting the front of his shirt in her hands, she tugged, taking him with her, pulling him on top of her. She wanted to feel the weight of his body pressing her into the cushions at her back, the length of his thick shaft stretching her, filling her, initiating her into a new world of pleasure. “I want you. Now. I’m tired of waiting for my life to start.”

  He moaned, a raspy, choked sound, as though he was trying to restrain himself. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say you want me.”

  She slipped the buttons of his shirt free. She knew his body couldn’t possibly be as chiseled as it was in her fantasies, but… Lord have mercy, the man was shredded. Tight abs, powerful biceps.

  He grinned. “You like what you see?”

  She felt the heat creep up her neck when she realized he’d caught her staring at his chest. She licked her lips. “Sorry, I was just…”

  “You don’t have to apologize for staring at me.” He lowered his head, licking the shell of her ear as he whispered, “I love the way you look at me. God, I get hard just thinking about it.”

  She’d thought she was being subtle in her admiration of his attributes. Obviously not. “You’re so sexy,” she whispered, running her hands up his bare back.
She finally felt free to be honest about her feelings for him. No matter what happened between them, he needed to know. “When I’m lying in bed at night, I think about you. I’ve always wondered what being with you like this would be like.”

  “You’re about to find out, baby.” He dipped his tongue inside her ear, making her shudder at the unexpected, erotic invasion. “I promise it’ll be even better than you imagined.”

  She had no doubt that he had the experience to make good on his promise, which prompted a new level of uncertainty. The women he’d slept with in the past were undoubtedly skilled at pleasuring a man. She, on the other hand, felt painfully inadequate in that area.

  He pulled back to look her in the eye. “Hey, you’re tensing up on me. What’s wrong?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to bury her face. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

  He freed himself from her grip before standing up.

  “Where are you going?” she asked, certain that he had misunderstood her reaction. “I don’t want you to…”

  He held his index finger against his lips to silence her as his eyes locked with hers, daring her to face the unreserved desire darkening his eyes.

  He was so intense it almost intimidated her. But she knew the man lurking beneath that mask of longing would never do anything to hurt her.

  She sat up and slid her t-shirt up and over her head slowly. Watching his eyes track her movements, she reached around to find the clasp of her bra. Seeing first-hand the power she had over him made her feel feminine and beautiful. The bulge of his shaft was straining against the front of his jeans, and just the sight of it made her skin tingle. The feel of it, buried deep inside of her, would surely send her plummeting over the edge of ecstasy. She couldn’t wait.

  “Sweet Jesus,” he muttered when her breasts finally spilled free. “Your tits are spec-fucking-tacular.”

  She was gratified by the praise. The size of her breasts had always garnered a lot of attention from the opposite sex, but she knew not all men were turned on by well-endowed women. Thankfully, he seemed to like her exactly as she was, which gave her the confidence to reach for the button on her jeans. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to shed her clothes, to bare herself for his perusal. She was ready for him to see who she was behind the layers of protective armor shielding her battered heart.

  She rose to her feet and watched him closely as she unfastened the button and zipper. After hooking her thumbs in her panties, she eased both over her hips as his eyes zeroed in on the movement of her tits.

  He licked his lips. “God, I can’t wait to taste you, touch you… Damn, I don’t even know where to start. I feel like I’ve been on a hunger strike for a month and you’ve just set a four-course meal out in front of me.” Taking a step closer, his voice dropped as he said, “I want to start with dessert.”

  His words drifted over her, probing her sensitive slit like a gentle caress.

  He placed a booted foot between her feet, nudging her legs apart with his knee. “Open up for me.”

  She eased her legs apart, allowing her eyes to drift closed as she waited for him to take action.

  “Wider.”

  She could feel the brush of denim as he moved in closer, and even that brief, abrasive contact heightened her arousal.

  He surprised her by dropping to his knees in front of her. Spreading her lips apart with his thumbs, he groaned. “God, your pussy is so wet. I can’t wait to taste you.”

  She whimpered as soon as she felt the flick of his tongue probe her clit. She wanted to thrust her hands into his hair, forcing him to give her the kind of attention she craved. But she knew he was already fixated on her pleasure. Anything he did from now on would only heighten her experience, so she braced her hands on his shoulders and let him have his way with her.

  Arching her back, she tried forcing his tongue deeper into her tight channel, but he sent her a clear message about who was in control when he grabbed her hips, pulling away.

  Looking up at her, he said, “Brace your foot on the couch behind me.”

  She didn’t hesitate to do as he asked, knowing he could withdraw at any moment, leaving her with the urge to crawl out of her own skin. “Please, I need…”

  “Sssh. I know what you need,” he said, sliding a finger into her pussy. “Believe me, I’m going to give it to you, but we’re going to do this my way. We’re gonna take it slow, ease into it. I don’t want to hurt you.” He slid another finger slowly into her tight pussy. “I need you to trust me, okay?”

  She wanted to ride his fingers, his cock. She couldn’t believe she had lived without the sensation of a man giving her pleasure for so long. Now that she’d had a taste, she couldn’t imagine going another day without it.

  “That’s it,” he said, circling her clit with his tongue. “Let me fuck you with my fingers first, get you ready, then I’m going to slide my hard cock into that sweet pussy, so deep, so hard…” He groaned. “Fuck, I wish I could shoot my hot come inside of you, baby. I’d give anything to feel your pussy milk me dry.”

  She shuddered, reveling in his graphic description of what he wanted to do for her, what he wanted her to do to him.

  Her mind wandered, wondering if she should tell him she was on the pill. She wasn’t reckless. She knew unprotected sex was risky, but the way he described it made her wish they could make love without the barrier of latex between them. She didn’t feel the need to protect herself from this man, not when every fiber of her being told her he would do anything to protect her.

  The thought of trusting him, relying on him, thrilled and terrified her in equal measure. She wanted to give herself over to the lure of this connection building between them, but if she was wrong about him and he hurt her, she didn’t know how she would recover.

  “Damn it, just let go,” he whispered. “You’re overthinking this. Don’t think, baby, just feel.”

  She let herself go and fixated on the thrill of what he was doing to her with his hands, his mouth, his heart. He was giving her hope, reason to believe he would catch her when she found the courage to fall. She imagined what it would be like to go home to this man, to curl up in his arms at the end of a long day, fall asleep on his chest at night.

  Her fantasies and reality intertwined; her body responded to her heart’s demands as she scaled the mountain, took a deep breath, and forced herself to jump off without looking down. “Oh God, oh yes,” she cried. It was on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to tell him she was feeling what he was feeling, that she was falling in love with him, but he hadn’t said it, not yet, and it hurt her heart to realize she didn’t know if she would ever hear those words pass his lips.

  He was hungrily sucking her clit, fingering her pussy, as though her pleasure, this moment, was the only thing that mattered to him. “I love the way you taste,” he whispered, gliding his tongue over her swollen lips. “I need more.”

  He tilted her hips forward and hooked his fingers deep inside of her, probing her. Her first instinct was to push him away. It was too much, too intense. She couldn’t handle it.

  He swirled his tongue over her clit as he massaged her sweet spot. “It’s okay, I know it feels intense, but trust me, you’re gonna come like you never have before. That’s what I want.” He kissed the inside of her thighs. “I want you to flood my mouth with your sweet cream, honey.”

  He was getting her so hot. She had no choice but to surrender to him. Wherever he wanted to take her, she was willing to go as long as she could ride this high just a little longer. She wasn’t a drinker, but she knew this is what people talked about when they described an alcohol-induced buzz, that fuzzy feeling in your head when you let go of your worries and fears and surrendered to the moment. That’s what he was giving her now: freedom. “Shane, oh God…” She was torn between wanting it to last forever and trying to reclaim her sanity when he took the decision out of her hands and sent her freefalling over the edge.

  Her whole body tensed as her legs began to tre
mble. Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she prayed he still had the strength to hold her up because she knew her legs weren’t steady enough to support her weight. Just when she thought he was satisfied she had endured the sweet torture long enough, he drew her clit into his mouth again. “No, oh, I can’t…”

  “Yes, you can,” he said, blowing on the engorged bud. “Just ride it out. I’m not gonna stop until your body stops trembling, and I know, for a fact, that you’re satisfied.”

  If she were any more satisfied, she feared she may pass out, but she suspected he may be more in tune with her body than she was in this moment. It still felt surreal to her as the surges coursed through her, claiming her, demanding her complete and total submission.

  Finally, he got to his feet. Cupping her face in his hands, he smiled. “I needed to do that to earn your trust, Lacy. It’s not easy to let go, to risk embarrassment or shame, but I need you to know you can trust me.”

  Shaking her head, she tried to make sense of what he told her. She wasn’t experienced, but she knew that what just happened between them went beyond your average orgasm. “What the hell…”

  He chuckled and brushed a kiss over her cheek before whispering in her ear, “When you let me find your G-Spot, and you trust me enough to give yourself over to it, you’re going to explode, in my mouth, on my hand. Next time I want it to be all over my cock.”

  Next time. God help her, she needed a next time more than she needed sustenance to survive. “My turn,” she whispered. Now she wanted to watch his restraint snap like a dry twig as he fucked her mouth, pouring his come down her throat.

  He grabbed her shoulders. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to…”

  “I want to,” she whispered. “Please, let me do this for you.” She dropped to her knees. She didn’t give him a chance to argue. After fastening her hand around the base of his cock, she tried to get used to the weight and feel of it in her hand, trying to decide how to maximize his pleasure.

  He chuckled. “Baby, you’re overthinking it again. Just trust your instincts. You know what I need.”