The Rules Read online

  Gavin pulled back and Terri lifted onto the tips of her shoes and kept his lips trapped against hers, a fierce wave of hunger chasing away restraint. His firm hands on her upper arms finally penetrated the fog her brain had become, and she reluctantly released his mouth with a moist pop.

  Head spinning, she took an unsteady step back. It was only a kiss—a disorienting, breath-stealing kiss. One that left her out of her depth and, like the kiss atop the Space Needle, knocked her sideways and clouded her brain.

  Sex should be nothing more than a biological release. At worst, a way to pass the time and eliminate boredom. But the way Gavin touched her, the strong feelings he evoked, Terri knew neither of those ideologies applied in this instance.

  He grasped the back of her neck and used his thumb to rub the underside of her jaw. The gentle back and forth strokes provoked a quivering sensation in her skin, and the heat in his eyes all but forced her to melt into a pool at his feet.

  “Let’s go,” he said, and he took her hand.

  Terri followed on shaky knees, up the walk to the front of her building.

  Maintain control.

  The reminder barely registered in the cells of her brain. She tried to remember the dire consequences that resulted when she didn’t have control, when she allowed emotion to rule her actions. But coherent thought had long since evaporated and her only choice was to follow where he led.

  Mumbling a greeting as they passed one of her neighbors on the climb up the stairs, Terri and Gavin made it to the third floor and seconds later were inside her tiny apartment. She walked into the bedroom with Gavin close behind her and tossed his jacket on the five-drawer bureau against the wall.

  The lamp beside the bed cast a warm glow in the room, and he loomed above her in the near darkness. Under the white dress shirt, his chest moved up and down with each labored breath.

  Gavin removed the gray dress, dragging it up and over her body and tossing it to the carpet. When he finished, Terri stood in the middle of the floor as he walked a circle around her and stopped behind her back. A kiss on the side of her neck followed, and she inhaled deeply, leaning into him, relishing the moist pressure of his mouth.

  Another kiss followed to her right shoulder blade, where a red heart with the word Love and an arrow through it was tattooed onto her skin.

  Terri curled her toes and leaned back for more.

  “You are so damn sexy,” Gavin whispered. “I can’t even express to you just how sexy you really are.”

  Two fingers traced the edge of the lacy black cheeky that left half her bottom exposed. Terri arched her back and moaned, despising the way he teased her with such a lightweight touch. The mere brush of his hand made her skin come alive. No one had ever made her feel this way before. No one.

  Gavin unhooked her bra and let it slide down her arms to the floor. Then he peeled the panty down her hips. But instead of letting it fall, he followed it down, easing it past her thighs, then her knees to her ankles.

  Terri looked over her shoulder to find him crouched behind her. She couldn’t even move to step out of the underwear. She was so frozen in place, watching as he dipped his tongue in the dimple at the bottom of her spine and traced the line of red and yellow roses on a vine etched into her skin.

  He rose to his full height and Terri turned to face him. “Your turn,” she whispered.

  He removed his shirt while she undid his belt and dragged down the zipper of his pants. In no time at all, he was naked, and it was Terri’s turn to stare. He stood in place and let her smooth her palms over his dark skin, impressed at the power of the rigid pecs and the coiled strength of his abs. His body was amazing. Tight legs dusted with curly hairs down to his calves. Firm muscular thighs held inches apart with his hard shaft standing straight up and nestled in a thatch of thick black hair.

  “Like what you see?” Gavin asked.

  “Yes.” Terri breathed the answer and stepped closer, folding her arms around his neck and dragging his head down to hers.

  Gavin lowered onto his butt to the bed and pulled her down to straddle his thighs. The kiss started slow but soon transformed into a tangle of tongues. Intertwining, they greedily lapped at each other’s mouth. All the while, he caressed her hips, dragged his hands along her thighs, and trailed his fingers up her back. As if he couldn’t stop touching her.

  His mouth dropped to her neck and Terri’s head fell back, giving him the access he needed to offer her more pleasure. Breathlessly, she clung to him as his mouth traveled lower until he licked her erect nipples. He showered her breasts with attention. Kissing. Nipping the hard peaks with his teeth and forcing her breaths to stumble as they left her throat.

  She moaned and held onto him tighter, forcing his face deeper into her breasts.

  “Gavin,” she whispered in his ear. His mouth felt so good, and he was just getting started.

  His hand slid south between them and found the swollen evidence of her desire.

  “How do you want it tonight, Terri? You want to make love or you want to be fucked?”

  He looked into her eyes and she could barely hold eye contact because he continued to stroke between her legs. His fingers dipped into the slick wetness and his nostrils flared. Terri’s hips bucked against his hand, anxious for him to fully possess her.

  “Fuck me, Gavin. Please.”

  His jaw hardened with resolve and he lifted off the bed with her in his arms.

  He flipped her onto her stomach and as she watched, sheathed himself in a condom.

  “Your wish is my command,” he said in a rough voice, forcing her legs wide.

  She didn’t have time to settle before he was inside of her. Terri gasped at the initial thrust—the power in it, the way he filled her up and slid deep. With firm hands on her thighs, Gavin kept her spread out before him and started to pump his hips.

  “Harder. Fuck me harder,” Terri begged, her voice shaking, her fingers clawing the bedding.

  She buried her face in the rumpled sheets and arched her back, reveling in the bounce of his hips, each punishing thrust against her ass shaking the bed and making it squeak. Every time he withdrew, her body begged for his, forcing contact with the upward tilt of her hips.

  Gavin’s tongue explored the damp skin of her back as he drilled into her. And she edged toward an orgasm, beads of sweat pearling on her forehead as the climax came within reach.

  Then he pulled out.

  The shock of it was so jarring—like someone yanking the chair out from under her when she went to sit down—that she cried out in dismay.

  Angry, Terri turned on him. “What the—”

  “Not yet,” Gavin said, cocky in his sexual prowess. “I want to watch you come. I want to see those beautiful eyes roll back.”

  He pushed her onto her back and fell between her legs again, sliding in with ease. Terri bit her bottom lip and whimpered as he filled her up, stretching her sex with the width of his length.

  His hips started moving again and Terri cupped her breasts, big and overflowing in her own hands. She squeezed them together and pinched the nipples. As Gavin watched, his movements became irregular and accelerated. His eyes darkened to almost copper. Clenching his teeth, he thrust even harder.

  He propped one of her legs onto his shoulder and she lifted the ankle of the other foot to rest on his firm behind. Clenching his teeth, Gavin pumped harder and faster, strain around his neck and shoulders.

  Squeezing her butt cheeks, Terri rocked her hips in a display of wild need and placed her hands on his sturdy shoulders to let him have his way. Gavin crushed his face into her bouncing breasts, his tongue and teeth fastening onto one and sucking with delicious consistency. He tormented her sensitive flesh, plucking at the pebbled peaks.

  “Look at me,” he rasped.

  At first, she didn’t. She simply couldn’t. It was too intimate.

  “Look at me!” he demanded, dragging her hips high with one hand and forcing her gaze to his. They locked eyes as their bodies mo
ved together. In sync, as one.

  Something inside her shifted as she stared into his eyes. Her throat tightened from a block of emotion that seized her. Weak and helpless, she writhed beneath him as she chased an orgasm.

  Before she could think about what was happening to her, a shattering climax claimed all thought, seized her muscles, and sent her spiraling into ecstasy.

  ****

  Terri stretched and lifted her head to see Gavin sprawled beside her on the bed on his stomach. Her gaze traveled over the slope of his back to his ridiculously tight behind, which came as no surprise since the rest of his body was just as muscular. She wanted to reach out and touch him again, perhaps rouse him for another round. But after two rounds, she figured he was probably done for the night. Any more than that was asking for a lot, even from a man in such peak physical condition.

  She slipped from the bed.

  “Where are you going?” Gavin asked. He’d lifted his head to watch her. His gaze roamed over her body in such a way that she almost felt it as a caress.

  Terri reached for the door to the bathroom. “To take a shower. I guess you’ll be leaving soon?”

  “Why do you say that?” He seemed genuinely confused.

  “Because we’re done for the night.”

  “Done for the night.” Gavin sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Because…?”

  “This is isn’t serious. No expectations,” she reminded him.

  “I see.”

  His eyes traveled over her again, and Terri’s grip, which she had maintained on the doorknob as a sort of anchor, tightened.

  “Is that the way it usually works for you?” Gavin asked.

  Terri shrugged. “More or less. I prefer to sleep alone, so…”

  “You prefer once a man does his business, he leaves.”

  “It’s not personal, but I thought we were on the same page.”

  “Oh, we are.”

  Relieved, Terri relaxed. “Good. I’m glad we understand each other.”

  “Absolutely.” His mouth said the right words, but his body appeared tense.

  He was probably accustomed to women hanging all over him and begging for his time, but that wasn’t her style.

  She cleared her throat. “So…thanks. I had a good time.” That was an honest statement. With delicious food, great conversation, and even better sex, tonight marked the best night she’d had in a long time.

  “I had a good time, too.” Gavin didn’t move or make the slightest motion to get up.

  With nothing more to say, Terri entered the small bathroom. She stood over the pedestal sink and tamed her rumpled hair by smoothing her fingers over the strands. Gavin would be gone when she came out of the shower. The way she preferred.

  She strained her ear, listening for movement but couldn’t hear any. Deciding he probably just moved quietly, Terri donned a shower cap and climbed into the tub. She pulled across the colorful paisley shower curtain and turned on the water. The massaging showerhead—a splurge she added a month after moving in—pelted her body with a lukewarm spray. The mild scent of oatmeal and almond filled the bathroom as she rubbed the bath bar into a washcloth.

  All of a sudden, the shower curtain was yanked aside. She jumped back in shock and watched as Gavin climbed into the tub with her.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded, clutching the washcloth to her chest.

  Water bounced off his back and spattered around them. “You really think I’m a chump, don’t you?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  He yanked the curtain closed. “Like I told you before, I’d really like to know what kind of men you’re used to. From what I can tell, they A, don’t know how to treat a lady. B, expect you to put out every time they do you favor. And C, obviously let you do whatever you want. That’s not going to work with me.”

  Sex, then kick them out. Her system had worked fine the past few years, and that’s how she maintained control—the first rule of surviving on her own.

  “You know what, you need to leave. We are done for the night.”

  The flash of anger in his eyes and rigid set to his sensual mouth suggested otherwise. “We’re done for the night?”

  “Yes.”

  He stepped closer in the already tiny space. “After all that mind-blowing sex?”

  Terri swallowed at the thought of him hitting it from the back the first time around, so good and hard she saw stars. Then there was the second time, when he licked her sex and sucked her clit with such dedication that she almost passed out.

  “Yes, we’re done,” she croaked. She did not sound convincing at all.

  “So I should just leave?” Water dribbled down his dark skin in an enticing display.

  “That would be best.”

  Gavin yanked away the washcloth she’d been clutching like a shield. He rubbed more soap into it, the circular movement of his hand oddly erotic. “I need to wash up first.”

  “You need to go home and wash up in your own bathroom.”

  “Matter of fact, I think I’ll help you,” he said, ignoring her order.

  “I don’t need—” Terri gasped as he twisted her around to face away from him. “I don’t need any help,” she insisted.

  “Don’t move.” Gavin massaged her back and shoulders with the soapy washcloth. Not missing an inch of skin, reaching around to push the rag over her breasts and engorged nipples.

  “Gavin,” she gasped, hands splayed out on the cold tile as she strived to stay upright.

  “I’m helping you.” His voice vibrated close to her ear and contained a thickness that betrayed his burgeoning need.

  He tended to her entire body, rubbing between her legs and over her engorged lower lips. She widened her legs to accommodate his movements, grinding against the pressure of his hand until she neared the brink. Cruelly, he abandoned the apex of her thighs and dragged his hand over her hips. She expelled a wail of frustration and closed her hands into tight fists against the wall.

  Terri no longer cared that she expected him to leave. She no longer cared that she should have kicked him out of the bathroom. All she cared about was getting the orgasm he had viciously snatched from her loins.

  “You’re sure we’re done?” he asked huskily.

  She couldn’t reply, feeling extremely vulnerable as he ran the cloth between her ass cheeks. She inhaled deeply and, unable to help herself, stretched onto her toes and bowed her back into the drag of the rough cloth.

  “You sure, baby? You’re sure we’re done?” he asked again. Now he was just mocking her.

  Gavin slipped his bare hand around to the front again and stroked the slick folds of her sex. The length of his thick erection pressed into her backside and the friction from the front and the pressure from the back created an erotic combination that brought her dangerously close to the edge. Gavin squeezed her clit between his finger and thumb and she free-fell. Legs shaking, she cried out his name. Gasping. If not for the cold tile at her cheek and being wedged between Gavin’s pelvis and hand, she would have collapsed.

  His hands cupped her raw, aching breasts from behind and he lowered his lips to her ear.

  “We’re not done yet.”

  Chapter Ten

  He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  Gavin tossed the blue Mont Blanc pen onto the cherry wood desk filled with files and reports and stood abruptly from the chair. How was he supposed to cram information into his brain about the company when all he could think about was honey-dark skin, husky cries of completion, and quite frankly, the best sex he’d ever had? And he’d had a lot of sex over the years.

  He paced in front of the wall-length window in the temporary office at Johnson Enterprises, offered to visiting executives from other corporations or one of the company’s other locations. Though basic, he had everything he needed—a large desk, guest chairs, currently empty file cabinets, a credenza, and a small sitting area complete with a low-to-the-floor glass table flanked by two solid brown so
fas.

  Rubbing a hand across his jaw as he stared over the tops of commercial buildings to the Space Needle in the distance, Gavin contemplated the untenable situation with Terri. The date went well, they both succumbed to mind-blowing orgasms all night, but the next morning, she stuck to her decision of one night only and practically kicked him from the apartment with the heel of her shoe.

  He was Gavin Goddamn Johnson. Rich beyond belief and not bad-looking, even if he did say so himself. So why the hell couldn’t he convince Terri to see him again? Twice, he called and left a message, but she didn’t acknowledge his calls. Not even to send a text to demand he stop ringing her phone.

  Was it because of her not-serious relationship with Dumbo?

  Why him and not me? Gavin thought irritably.

  At a knock on his door, he swung around. “Come in.”

  Trenton strolled in. “How’s it going?”

  “Good.” Gavin went over to the desk and picked up a bound report, an encyclopedia of facts and figures that summarized everything about the family businesses. Pages and pages of data on how many liters of beer each brewery produced, the various brews now in production, and the ones that failed. Information on their restaurants, headed up by his twin sister, Ivy, included menus and details about the casual dining chain and the higher-end restaurant. “Fascinating reading.” He dropped the thick document onto the desk.

  “Hey, you’re the one who wanted to learn about the company. That gives you the best overview.”

  “Actually, I didn’t want to learn about the company. Xavier railroaded me into this, and I still have to get him back for it.” Gavin frowned and fell onto the chair and crossed his ankle over his knee.

  “You seem extra cranky. What’s the problem?” Trenton crossed the room and stood behind the chairs.

  “No problem. Everything’s great.” Gavin repositioned a paperweight on a blue dossier. “Have you talked to Terri lately?”

  “Er, no. And I never talk to Terri unless Alannah’s around. Why?”