Skin (20 page)

“Are you jealous, Reese?”

“Hardly.”

That was too bad; she wanted him to be. “Of course. How could I forget? It’s just sex for you, no emotions.”

“Exactly.”

She stalked away from him, then turned to face him across the room. “Do you still want me?”

Reese’s eyes burned hot. She felt his pull, unable to put her finger on exactly what it was. She could see he was fighting an internal battle. His pride, she guessed, still stinging over what he assumed was some type of interlude with Jase. Anger bubbled to the surface. It hurt that he thought so little of her. And being the Donatello she was, Vendetta was her middle name. Frankie chose at that moment to give him a taste of his own medicine.

F
rankie poured herself a glass of wine and slowly sipped it. Reese stood rooted to the floor. She smiled over the rim of her glass. Setting it down on the nightstand, she walked toward him, then circled behind.

Trailing her fingers across his broad shoulders, she leaned into his back. Pressing her breasts ever so slightly against him, she whispered, “Did it bother you seeing Jase touch me?” His body stiffened, so rigid that she thought he would snap in two.

His reaction empowered her. She wanted him the minute he walked into her office the day before, she wanted him when she caught him in the shower, she wanted him with every fiber of her being in her closet, and she realized, at that moment, she was willing to go to great lengths to have him. But on her terms.

Stepping around to face Reese, her legs slightly parted, Frankie dragged her fingers through her hair, then shook her head, allowing her hair to cascade down her back. She knew exactly how good she looked in her stiletto pumps, hip-hugging miniskirt, and form-fitting cashmere sweater. Setting her hands on her hips, she dragged her gaze across Reese’s long form. His eyes burned bright, the only indicator he was a living thing. One foot in front of the other, her hips swaying suggestively, she sauntered toward him. Her lips quirked into a smile, her gaze dipped to his bulging jeans, and she caught her breath.

She stopped inches from him, her warm breath caressing his chin. She watched the throb of his jugular lurch against his tan skin. She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his chin. Reese hissed in a breath but still remained immobile.

Frankie pulled her lips away but continued to balance on her toes. She pressed against his chest just enough to make the slightest contact. The meeting sent a hot flash straight to her core. Still, Reese didn’t flinch. “You think you can resist me?” She laughed low, her voice husky and confident.

Sliding her palm up his belly to his chest, Frankie smiled and pressed her breasts more firmly against him. “Tell the truth, Reese.”

When he didn’t answer but continued to look straight ahead, she chuckled and pressed her lips close to his ear. “You didn’t like coming in and seeing Jase so close to me.”

Not expecting a response, Frankie continued her one-sided conversation. “Did you wonder if he touched me?” She slid her other hand up his chest to his shoulder. In a slow undulation, Frankie moved her hips against his thighs. His body flinched and she felt the surge of his cock against her belly. “Did it make you mad? Thinking I liked it?”

She slid her right hand slowly down his chest to his belly, then the heel of her palm along the full ridge of his pants. “You’re so hard, Reese. Does it hurt?”

He groaned and she smiled, sinking her teeth into his jugular. His body surged, she could feel the tight bunching muscles against her, feel the heat of his skin seep into hers. Yet he kept his rigid stance. The unleashed power of his body as he sought to contain it excited her. The thought of pushing this man over the edge, of possessing control of his body despite his brain fighting it, thrilled her.

Frankie pulled her hands in a slow, unhurried slide from his body, then stepped back, air separating them completely. Her eyes lifted to his and she was met with a dark, brooding stare. The man didn’t forgive easy. It didn’t matter what really happened, it mattered that he was convinced he saw what he thought he saw. And she decided that was okay. Better, actually, because for him to crack and take her meant he moved past it. Reese was a man with pride as big as the state of California. Her determination to make him blink grew stronger.

She turned away from him, facing the bed. As she had done earlier, she dragged her fingers through her hair. She arched her back, her ass brushing the button fly of his jeans. She piled the heavy mass of her hair on top of her head, exposing her neck to Reese. She leaned back against his chest and wagged her fanny slowly back and forth against the hard rise in his jeans. She moaned softly, tilted her head back, and looked up to find Reese’s hard eyes staring down at her. She closed her eyes and softly thrust her breasts out against the warm air. She bit her bottom lip and angled her neck so that her jugular lay exposed.

Her body lit up when she felt warmth engulf her from behind. Large hands slid down her back and Reese’s body pressed against hers. Relief, mingled with a profound sense of craving, filled her. His mouth seized her throat. Frankie cried out, arching hard against the air. His teeth scraped down her neck, his tongue bathing it in moist heat. His hands slid up her waist, ravenously capturing her breasts, his hips digging hard into her back.

“Reese,” she moaned, wanting every inch of him to mark her. His right hand slid down her waist to her thigh, then up beneath her skirt, his fingers like branding irons against her skin. Her legs spread of their own accord and with no precursor his finger dipped into her waiting heat. “Oh, God,” she moaned, arching hard against his hand. Her body swelled and the sheer sensation of her body’s reaction nearly did her in. His teeth sunk deeper into her skin, and her body thrummed in immediate, desperate response. She couldn’t get enough of him. His left hand squeezed her breast rhythmically, his fingers teasing her nipple, his right middle finger fucking her hard, slow, and deep.

An orgasm swept up from nowhere and shattered inside her, the quickness and velocity of it leaving her breathless. Her legs wobbled and when Reese slid his finger from her she cried out, “No, please, don’t stop.”

“Do you want me to fuck you, Frankie?” he whispered against her ear. She arched hard, letting her body give the answer.

“Say it, or I walk right now.”

Her libido grappled with her inherent desire to be in control. Again words failed her, and when she didn’t say what she wanted he withdrew. “No!”

He stopped.

“Stay,” she whispered.

He moved back, giving her his warmth. “Say it.”

“I…want you.”

“How?”

“Inside me.”

He turned her to face him.

His eyes raked her face, making sure there were no doubts. She had none.

He picked her up and carried her toward the bar as if she weighed an ounce, then perched her on the edge of the counter. He spread her thighs with his hands and reached up and pulled her panties down her thighs. When they tangled around her knees he cursed and snapped them in half, then tossed them to the floor. His dark eyes held hers and he yanked his belt undone, then with one hand he unbuttoned his fly.

He pushed his pants and boxers down his thighs and Frankie gasped. His cock was rock hard and jutting proudly between them. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a condom. He ripped the foil package with his teeth, spit the wrapper on the floor, then quickly rolled it on.

Reese pulled Frankie closer to the edge of the counter, closer to him. His jaw clenched and his eyes bore hot. Frankie slid her legs around his waist and he didn’t waste one precious moment. He speared her and Frankie thought she’d died and gone to heaven. The full heat of him filled her to capacity and an incredible wave of emotion rolled through her. It was quickly replaced with the beginnings of an orgasm.

Her chest hurt and her breath came hard and forced, like she was drowning in a sea of erotically charged sensations. Reese inside her made her feel things she’d never felt before and for one panicked moment she was terrified. How could she let something this good go? Would she be able to or be reduced to one of those pathetic piles of female mush? It was too late now to think about it. She’d committed, and she would ride this wild ride with Reese as long as she could.

Slipping an arm around her, Reese pulled her closer, as if that was even possible. “Is that what you wanted, Frankie?”

“More,” she demanded.

And more he gave her.

The temperature in the room had been warm to begin with, but now, in such close proximity and with her elevated blood pressure, the room felt tropical. Her lips suddenly dry, she licked them.

Reese’s low growl close to her ear caused her blood to heat hotter.

His lips touched the base of her neck, the contact sending shivers racing across her skin. The contrasting heat and chill stimulated her higher. His hips thrust in and out, the pace frantic. Their bodies became damp with sweat, their skin sluicing sensuously back and forth, the friction almost unbearable.

Frankie hung on to his shoulders as he rocked her into an earth-shattering orgasm. She cried out his name, digging her nails into his back, wanting the intense feeling to crest over and over. Her body jerked against his and for the briefest of moments she felt suspended in the air, her nerve endings sizzling to the point of combustion. She opened her eyes and gasped. Reese’s blue eyes had turned dark and stormy, the planes of his face rigid in desire. He slid a hand around her neck and pulled her up to his lips, and as his mouth took hers, his hips rocked hard into her and he came in a wild burst of energy.

Their wild undulation slowed, their hot, heavy breaths mingling with their sweat-soaked skin, cooling their overheated bodies.

Still inside of her, Reese pulled Frankie from the counter. With her arms and legs around him, he walked carefully with her in his arms to the bed. Then he flung her onto it. She screamed, the sudden loss of his body and heat shocking her system.

She lay sprawled on the bed, still in her heels.

Reese’s chest heaved as he gasped for more air. The sight of Frankie’s lush rosy body sprawled out on the bed in those mile-high heels sent his libido back to Go. Her skirt was hiked up just enough that he could see her pouty pussy lips, swollen and moist from him. He’d never wanted a woman again so fast. Hell, ever.

“It’s hot in here,” she murmured.

He pulled his jeans up and buttoned them.

“Where are you going?” Frankie quietly asked.

“I’ll be right back,” he softly said, then left the room. Ice. He needed to cool down and he had a dozen different ways he wanted to cool Frankie’s sweltering skin down before he heated her up again. Reason intruded. They needed to sleep, then get on the road.

For a long minute Reese stood with the ice bucket in his hands, daydreaming of all of the ways he could cool her off.

“Shit!”

When Reese returned a few minutes later, Frankie lay reclined against the pillows. From the steady rise and fall of her chest, he could see her breathing had returned to normal. His pulse still raced. He didn’t question his flash of anger when he walked into the room earlier and saw Jase touching her. He didn’t bother to dig further inside himself and ask why for the first time in his life he felt the sharp prick of jealousy. He didn’t bother to unravel the reasons his dick was constantly hard when he thought of Francesca Donatello.

No, instead he was a man of action, one who seized the moment. And he was going to seize every moment with the sultry siren lying on the bed before him while he could.

But not tonight.

He poured her a glass of ice water and handed it to her. He deliberately stood next to the bed, not trusting himself to go near her.

Frankie closed her eyes and took a long drink.

“Sorry about your panties.”

Frankie’s eyes opened and she handed him back the glass, a slow smile sliding across her lips. “I can get more.”

Reese set the glass down on the nightstand. Frankie cocked a brow before moving over, allowing him room on the bed. “I won’t bite you, Reese.”

He kicked off his boots and stiffly lay down beside her. “We broke our rules,” he said.

She smiled at him and resisted the urge to snuggle into the crook of his shoulder. “Rules schmules.”

Reese chuckled and looked over at her. “And here I thought you were a nice girl.”

“Ha, my nice-girl days are history.”

“Nice girls are overrated anyway.” Reese pulled her against his side, his long arm encircling her. He settled back into the pillows and closed his eyes. Frankie lay quiet, enjoying the way her body still pulsed, Reese’s scent lingering between them, hers mixing with it, creating a sexy musk.

“Get some sleep,” Reese said, his voice heavy with fatigue.

For long moments she lay quiet, contemplative, content, her cheek pressed against Reese’s chest, the dull, steady rhythm of his heartbeat soothing. Soon his slow, steady breaths told her he was asleep. Typical.

She yawned and thought about his last words. Nice
was
overrated. If she played cutthroat like her father, she’d be well ahead in the game.

Her brows drew together in a scowl. Look what playing nice had gotten her. Shot at, almost run over, her house trashed, and a handful of wiseguys looking for her.

She fought back another yawn. Her body still twitched from the orgasm deluge. She stretched, her long legs sliding against Reese’s longer ones. She thought that having him would end her ache, but…now she wanted more.

Hmm, how to get it?

As much as she wanted to linger in his arms in the aftermath of their sex, she slipped from the bed. She’d prove to Reese there was no moss growing on her either.

Reese woke to an empty bed. He scanned the room and found it empty. He bolted upright, the tangled sheets twisting around his legs, hampering his movement. He flung off the offending things and in a handful of strides stood before the closed door to the other bedroom. “I’m going to kill you, Francesca Donatello.” He pushed open the door to the separate bedroom and stopped short at the threshold.