So Tough To Tame

His hands were on her hips, yes, but they were so much bigger than she’d imagined, the strength of them holding her in a steady grip that pressed her to the wall.

The brim of his hat drew sunset around them. They might have been in the stairway of the building, but it felt like complete privacy as she licked at his tongue and sighed at the feeling of him pressing his body to hers.

It didn’t matter that they were in public. Her eyes were closed, the lights had dimmed and Walker Pearce’s cock was hard and pressed to her. Just like that, she wasn’t his buddy anymore. She was a body he wanted to be inside. Strange to find herself fighting for that. To be objectified. Seen as someone worth using. But it was honest, at least. She could trust what Walker wanted from her.

She tilted her hips toward him and took his tongue deeper, twining her fingers behind his neck to pull him down. He was so big, tall and solid and curved above her. For the first time in her life, Charlie felt small. It made her want to whimper and go to her knees for him. Or maybe that was just her reaction to his taste.

“Mmm,” she hummed against his mouth. He answered by sliding his hands up her sides, then back down again. His fingers pressed briefly into the curve of her hips, as if he liked the shape of her.

Then he reached up, drew off his hat and tossed it in the general direction of his door. She was suddenly plunged back into the exposure of being on the bright upstairs landing. But Walker ducked his head and put his mouth to her neck and she didn’t care.

Oh, God, that felt sweet. His hot mouth and hard teeth and the soft warmth of his beard on her skin. Charlie tipped her head back and let him have his way with the sensitive skin of her throat.

“That feels so good,” she moaned. He pressed his hips harder to her. “Oh, that, too.”

He chuckled against her neck, sparking waves of delicious vibrations that twined through her body. She felt suddenly aware of her hard nipples and the pleasure drawing the nerves between her legs tight. She felt her pulse beating through her entire body. She felt it speeding for Walker.

Unable to control herself, she slid her hands over his shoulders, his arms, down his chest...and everywhere she touched he was solid, hard man. Nothing soft about him. Nothing yielding. She plucked at the top button of his shirt, then the next, and now her fingers were touching warm curls of dark hair. When his teeth scraped over her neck, Charlie moaned, already overwhelmed by so many lovely sensations.

She unfastened the next button, and the one after that. Then she pulled his shirt free of his jeans and spread it open so she could glide her hands over his hairy chest.

He eased back so he could look down and watch as her fingers explored every muscle on his chest. “God,” he growled. “Maybe...” He gave his head a slow shake, then tried again. “Maybe we should go inside?”

She nodded, but the spicy scent of him was too much to resist. She pressed her open mouth to his collarbone and tasted his skin. Every cell inside her seemed to sigh with relief, as if she’d been craving this taste her whole life. It was just so damn right. His skin and hair and soap and the faint, delicious tang of sweat. This was the chemistry that had driven her to those slightly blurry, not-quite-dirty fantasies about him in high school. She didn’t know if it was the same for him, but she could package the smell of him and live on it for weeks.

“Charlie,” he groaned, throwing his head back as she slipped her open mouth up his throat. “Let’s go inside.” But his hands roamed restlessly over her back as he pulled her tight against his erection.

Oh, man. That was something she wanted to taste. But...

“We can’t have sex,” she whispered.

“Yeah. Absolutely. Let’s just... What?”

She smiled against his neck. “Well, we can. And quite easily, judging by how wet I am right now.” His throat clenched beneath her mouth as he choked on her words. “But we won’t. Not this time.”

“What?” he repeated, the word still a syllable of drowsy confusion.

She finally leaned back a little to look up at him. “I want to savor you, Walker. Don’t you think you deserve to be savored?”

“I... No? Or maybe. I don’t know what you mean.”

“Come on.” She tugged him toward his door. “I’ve waited a long time for this. I don’t want it all over in just a few minutes.”

“Hey, that’s not how it’ll be.”

She giggled and grabbed his hat off the floor. His door wasn’t locked, so she just led him through and tugged him over to the couch. “Come on. Let’s make out.”

Confused as he might be, he was delightfully cooperative. He dropped right onto the couch and reached for her. Charlie plopped his hat onto her head and straddled him.

“Make out, huh?” he murmured.

“Sure.” Her words got caught in her throat when his hands cupped her breasts, but she soldiered on. “When was the last time you just had some nice, innocent fun with a girl? Don’t you think it would be good?”

He smiled and thumbed her nipples. “Innocent? I’m not sure I can remember.”

“Mmm.” Eyes closed, she arched into his hands, loving the way her nipples got harder under his attention, as though her body wanted him to know it approved. As if they were showing off to reward him. She was actually glad now that they hadn’t done this in high school. Back then, she’d felt overwhelmingly inadequate about her body. Embarrassed by her lack of curves and her A-cup breasts. But now as he eased her shirt up, she helped take it off. His hat tumbled off her head. She hardly noticed.

Charlie didn’t try to hide behind her hands when he unclasped her bra. No. Now she opened her eyes and watched his face as her bra slid down her arms.

Yes, one thing she’d learned was that men liked breasts. Big or small, it didn’t matter to most. They just liked the round shape of them, and the hard, flushed nipples, and they liked to— “Oh,” she gasped as his mouth closed over one nipple and sucked. Yes, they liked that most of all. Sucking and licking and biting.

She groaned his name, egging him on, and he responded in the exact right way, sucking harder. His mouth drew pleasure through her body, pulling everything tight. He’d feel so good inside her right now. He’d feel so good she could barely comprehend that she wasn’t going to let him fill her up.

But she had a first-night rule. Not because she hesitated to put out. Not because she worried about her reputation. But because she’d found a night of making out was a good judge of a man’s skill in bed. Weeding them out before penetration kept her numbers low. Or lowish. She didn’t need love or even commitment to enjoy sex, but she did need a halfway decent chance that she’d leave satisfied. That was just logical.

Still working her with his mouth, Walker gripped her hips and pressed her down so she was snug against his cock. They both grunted slightly at the shock of pleasure.

“You really don’t want to have sex?” he asked, pressing his hips up.

She shivered at the way his words cooled her wet nipple. When he pressed his hips up again, she groaned. He was so hard for her. “No sex. But I do want to have a little fun.”

“Seems like a halfway decent time so far, but maybe I’m being led astray by the breasts.” He pressed a soft kiss to each one.

“Mm. Let’s make it even more fun.” She eased away, sliding backward to rest her weight on his knees. He didn’t try to stop her, he just watched, with what seemed like fascination, as she unbuckled his belt.

She got the first two buttons of his jeans open, then paused for a moment to enjoy the image of him with his dark blue shirt spread wide and his pants only half-fastened. His nearly black chest hair tapered down into a tantalizing trail that dipped beneath his briefs. “You are a fucking treat, Walker.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” He thumbed one of her nipples, making her suck in a breath. The slightest touch from him was enough to make her swoon. This was going to be fun.

She eased his shirt off his shoulders. When she opened the rest of the buttons of his jeans, she brushed her knuckles against the erection that strained at his dark gray briefs. “Mm. That’s nice.”

A dark laugh huffed from his throat. “Thanks.”

“You seem a little tense, though.”

“I am.”

“Would this help?” She snuck beneath the band of his underwear and wrapped her fist around his cock. When she realized he was exactly as thick as he seemed, adrenaline burst into her blood like fireworks.

“Fuck. Yes. That helps.”

Wanting to see exactly what she was handling, she tugged at his jeans and he helped by raising his hips enough for her to slide all that annoying material down a few inches. When his cock sprang free from his underwear, Charlie had to close her eyes for a few moments and breathe. Once she’d steeled herself, she opened her eyes and looked again.

“Jesus Christ, Walker. That is one beautiful cock.”

“You like it?”

She could tell by his voice that he was smiling, so she wrapped her hand around it and gave it a careful squeeze. His cock jumped in her hand and his gasp made clear he wasn’t aiming an arrogant smile at her anymore. Not that he didn’t have the right. He was a work of art, long and thick and straight.