His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(77)
Author: Shayla Black

He laughed. “You’re an unpredictable little thing. I like it. I was expecting you to be refined. Totally polite in bed. The real you is way sexier.”

Joaquin pressed their chests together. Bare abdomens met as he kissed his way up her neck and consumed her lips again. At his first touch, he sent her reeling. That dizzying slide into desire dragged her under even deeper, to a place where focus and restraint burned away. She grabbed his steely shoulders and clung as she opened to him completely.

Just as he penetrated her mouth, he dragged his fingers up her rib cage and paused under her breast. Her nipple beaded painfully in anticipation. He raised his head, fixed utterly on her.

“Tell me to touch you,” he barked.

He wanted to be in control, but he’d promised her that he wouldn’t do anything until she gave him a green light. For a moment, Bailey felt a sense of power that balanced the scales a bit. It probably wouldn’t last long; she fully believed he’d take all her control, then leave her whimpering and panting and totally sated.

“I’m not sure I’m ready,” she admitted softly.

He downshifted immediately, skimming his palm back down to her waist. “When was your last lover?”

So far in the past, she was embarrassed to admit it. “A few years ago.”

“Years?” Joaquin let out a stunned breath, then caressed the side of her face. “Don’t be nervous. I love everything I’ve seen so far. I have no doubt you’ll make me sweat when I see the rest. Can you trust me on that?”

When he put it like that? Bailey nodded.

“Good. We’re supposed to have a safe word. It’s something you can say to stop the action if I play too hard with you, but you can also use it if you’re feeling uncomfortable or self-conscious. Would that help you?”

“Totally. Thanks.”

“How about . . . if we stay with traffic lights. You say ‘red,’ and I’ll stop touching you entirely until we talk it out. Now, will you remove that damn scrap of lace over your nipples before I lose my ever-loving mind?”

So masculine, so determined. And so something the female in her couldn’t resist. Bailey did her best to shelve her worries. “Do it for me?”

“Oh, fuck yeah. Sit up.” He tugged her upright and rose above her, crouched over her body, their chests nearly brushing.

His fingers prowled into her hair again, tightening slowly until he tugged, forcing her to arch her neck just under his lips. His breathing picked up speed as he swooped down and covered her lips again, diving in and tasting every recess.

Now that he had her where he wanted her, the hand he’d anchored in her hair skated down her back, making her tingle. His other hand curled around her shoulder until both met at the back of her bra strap.

Vaguely, she realized he must possess a lot of core strength to hold this position above her without leaning on her or bracing himself on the mattress below. But as soon as the thought formed, he’d unhooked the two little wire fasteners across her back and she was free.

Joaquin didn’t bother taking the bra off. He inched back, pushed the cups up, then lunged down, latching onto her left nipple and sucking it as deep as he could.

The contact was a lightning strike to her clit.

His fingers bit into her spine. He sucked in a breath as he all but inhaled her breast past his lips. The suction jumbled her thoughts and blew her mind.

Bailey tunneled her fingers in his thick hair and pulled him closer. She surrounded her fingers with the thickness and gasped. Breathing became irrelevant when he switched to the other nipple, took a playful bite with his teeth, and swept it into the hot oven of his mouth.

Quickly, she realized that the nip of his teeth both made her tingle and prepared her sensitive flesh to take more sensation. She let loose a ragged moan. Her one attempt at sex in yards of taffeta in the back of a moving vehicle hadn’t at all prepared her for Joaquin.

“These are . . .” He shoved her back against the pillows and braced his forearms up her back. His fingers curled around the front of her shoulders, positioning her exactly how he wanted her before he returned to the first nipple. “So fucking incredible. They’re even harder than they were a minute ago. I’m not going to let up on these for a long while.”

And he meant that, taking Bailey along for the ride until her nipples throbbed, fire laced her veins, and her sex ached.

“Joaquin!” She sounded like she was begging because she was.

“Tell me what you need, baby girl.”

Bailey didn’t know. Harder. More. Something . . . She couldn’t get a word out, just panted and fisted his hair.

He gave her a guttural growl. “Give me an answer.”