Into the Fire (Bridge Book 2) Read online

  “Just give me one night, Vanessa. One night, and I won’t let you regret it.”

  My back hit the wall of Darren’s hotel room. We were tangled up the way we’d been in the water. Except our touches were no longer tentative. I was needy and frantic, ready to give in.

  Bringing my thigh over his hip, he ground against me and groaned. “God, I want you so damn bad.”

  I whimpered, tightening my grip on him. Our clothes were damp and sandy, and I wanted to strip away all the barriers between us again. He pushed his hands up under my dress, lifting it off and then unsnapping my bra. The cool conditioned air hit my bare skin, making my nipples and breasts tight and heavy.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured, trailing his fingertips over my pebbled flesh.

  A whimper started low in my belly and rushed up past my lips.

  Hooking his thumbs over the band of my underwear, he pulled my panties down to my ankles, planting soft kisses down my thighs. I pressed my palms flat against the wall as my knees weakened. I closed my eyes, relishing the heavenly feeling of his warm lips against my skin. Then his velvet tongue. Softly sucking his way back up, he stopped just shy of the place where I was wet for him, only him.

  “I want to see all of you, Vanessa.” The words were made of gravel and sex as he smoothed his palms against the sensitive inner flesh of my thighs, skimming up to my pussy. He parted my folds and my hips came forward an inch, seeking. I couldn’t bring myself to be shy when I wanted him this much. Once we’d started this dance, all my inhibitions had flown out the window.

  He exhaled sharply. “God, you’re so wet for me already.”

  His touch fell away, and he rose slowly until he was all muscle and man towering before me. Agonizing seconds passed as he stripped away his own clothes. I watched, rapt, as more of his beautiful body came into view. The muted light of the room cast shadows against the sharp planes of his physique. Finally, he peeled off his black swimming trunks and stood before me, naked, proud, an unmistakable hunger dark in his eyes.

  I’d gotten a glimpse of his cock as we’d left the ocean in the dark. Then and now it was fucking glorious. Half of me didn’t want to stare and the other half wanted to get us to his room as fast as humanly possible. Here I could look all I wanted. And touch…

  Before I could reach for him, he left me naked and trembling against the wall. Our gazes clashed, heated and full of promise. I was frozen, pinned in place as he moved with control. He retrieved a condom from his wallet and unwrapped it, carefully unrolling it down the length of his cock. The sensual movement nearly unraveled me. I closed my eyes, and behind them, I could almost see what it would be like. How deep he could be… Now that I’d decided, I couldn’t wait to feel him inside me.

  “Vanessa.” My name fell from his lips like something precious.

  I opened my eyes halfway, and my heart danced a rapid uneven beat at the sight of him. His skin was wrapped tightly over the most incredible physique I’d ever seen. He was a goddamn sculpture of perfection.

  He reached out, and with his upturned palm, that simple gesture, I could move again. Like a magnet, I was drawn toward his heat, his energy. I walked to him on unsteady legs until we were nearly chest-to-chest. He threaded his fingers through my hair, sliding across my scalp as he lowered his lips over mine. I opened for him instantly. Then we were engulfed in another thought-shattering kiss. His tongue was soft and rough at once, deep and demanding, the very taste of desire. I brushed my breasts against him, eager for his skin on mine again. I wanted him close, all around me and deep inside me. He pulled away, his breathing ragged, his grip on me no lighter.

  “I can’t get enough of your mouth. The way you taste…” He shook his head, like he didn’t understand why.

  I didn’t either. I’d never wanted anything this badly. We hadn’t even had sex, and I couldn’t remember feeling this kind of frenzy before with anyone, ever. I couldn’t believe it was the same for him, but the way he looked at me now made me wonder.

  He sat down on the bed, pulling me toward him so my chest was at his eye level. Then he wrapped his lips around my nipple in a tight hungry kiss.

  At the same time, he slipped his hand between my legs. He rubbed gently over my clit. When his touch went lower where I was incredibly wet, he released my nipple and went for the other roughly.

  “I’m going to taste every inch of you, Vanessa. Every beautiful fucking inch.”

  His raspy promise vibrated through his chest and against my flesh as he tasted, licking and nipping at my breasts.

  I gasped, gripping his shoulders to hold myself up. This desire was more than a fleeting wave of pleasure. It radiated under my skin, electrifying every nerve ending that met his touch, pulsing in the deepest part of me. The place I needed him desperately.

  As if in answer to my silent prayer, he slipped a finger inside my pussy and began stroking and massaging. I could have come right then, easily, if I’d let myself.

  “Darren.” I arched into his touch.

  I gripped him tighter, and he curled into me. Something snapped. My patience, all those tension-filled moments of denying myself. All of it fell away. My jaw tightened, and I tugged at the silky hair between my fingers.

  He gazed up at me, an animal hunger plain in his eyes. “You want me now?” His voice was soft and deep.

  I’d wanted Darren for months, and these last days the ache had been so acute I could have flogged myself for ever denying his advances. Any heartbreak seemed worth the chance to sate this hunger. I nodded, because right now I didn’t give a damn.

  “Then come here, sweetheart. I want to feel your tight little cunt all around me.”

  His dirty words conjured a potent vision. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he licked my essence from them. A violent fever rushed over me, and I had a feeling that being with Darren wasn’t going to be like any kind of sex I’d ever had before. He tugged me down confidently, straddling my legs on either side of his rock-hard thighs. With one hand on his cock, stroking over the condom, he used the other to steadily bring me down onto his thick erection.

  We joined, inch by inch. My head fell back.

  Good God…

  My breath caught when I took the last of him. Tension lingered, but every part of me hummed with pleasure, his cock rooted so deeply. I felt only a faint sting against the fullness and the overwhelming sensations sizzling through me.

  “You okay?”

  His breath was a whisper against my neck, moving a wisp of my fallen hair. Strong, warm arms surrounded me, held me like a treasure that was bound to him. In this moment, I was. My body belonged to his, welcomed all of his.

  “Better than okay.”

  Darren didn’t need any more strokes to his ego, but I couldn’t lie. He felt amazing. He was all the fantasies I’d played out in my head on lonely nights and more.

  He moved my hips and brought me down again. That faint sting came again, right next to the incredible friction, and then melted into a kind of pleasure that took my breath away. He’d barely set the pace, and already I was climbing, overwhelmed with how he filled me, how right it felt being in his arms. I hadn’t been with anyone in a while, and Darren was mastering my pleasure like no one ever had. I wasn’t going to last long.

  “Tell me how it feels, Vanessa.” Tension and his potent need seemed to seep into me with his touch, firm fingertips pressing in my hips.

  I reveled in his strength and was equally grateful for his control. Darren was this incredible mass of power, moving me at his whim. So easily he could become someone to fear. But one look in his eyes told a different story. I’d never felt safer or more cherished as I had in this moment.

  I shook my head slightly, in disbelief of everything. Our closeness, a breath apart. That we were here, a place I never believed we’d be. The beginning of an orgasm crept up quickly, heightening that electric feeling that skittered over my skin, from my painfully hard nipples all the way down to my toes curled tight against his powerful thighs.
<
br />   Tell me how it feels. His words echoed in my ears as I fell deeper into the feelings that had no name. I didn’t have the right words except…

  “I’ve never felt like this.”

  He brushed the hair back from my face, thumbing my cheek as he went. Shaking his head, he met my hazy stare. “Me neither.”

  I couldn’t hold his gaze. I couldn’t let myself believe what his look was saying. I brought my lips down firmly against his. He brought my hips down hard, lifting his so I felt his penetration in a new way. I moaned into his mouth, pleasure thick in my veins. A few more minutes and I wouldn’t be able to speak. I closed my eyes and met his drives with more pressure of my own, joining us harder, binding our bodies tighter.

  The shift in his pace answered my silent request, until every hard jolt ricocheted through me. I wasn’t doing anything, just accepting him, letting him bring us to the brink. I held on tighter until the tension was too much to bear.

  “Darren!” My jaw fell, a violent tremble taking over.

  My thighs were damp and tight against his. Every muscle tensed, succumbing to this rush of sensation. He ruled my every movement. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel his on me, like a spotlight on this uncontrollable climb. I couldn’t slow it down, and I didn’t want to. I’d wanted him too damn long.

  I broke, a loud cry leaving my lips. The next few strokes of his cock inside me brought me more pleasure than any man ever had. I rode it out, shaking from the intensity of it.

  He took a handful of hair and arched my head back. A hot and hungry kiss met my skin.

  “Beautiful when you come.”

  DARREN

  I was seeing stars and I hadn’t even come yet. I’d never been so enraptured in someone else’s pleasure. And Vanessa was like a raw nerve. Like lightning you could touch.

  Once she’d said yes, she’d held nothing back. She melted against me, opened for me, moved with me, took everything I could give her. And the pleasure sweeping her features damn near took my breath away.

  I was certain I could orgasm just from witnessing her come apart. Her pussy fluttered around me as she came down from her release. I turned us around and gingerly laid her on her back. I lifted off enough to see her better. She was so goddamn beautiful. I’d known that before, but now she was bare, naked and spread for me. Perfection if I’d ever seen it…and for the moment, all mine.

  I surged into her, and she moved up the sheets with a gasp. I stifled a moan and went at her, harder and deeper. The delicious grip of her pussy on my dick had me right on the edge. Everything in my mind screamed for more, for release.

  Her hands were everywhere. Every desperate touch spread fire over my skin, tugged somewhere in my gut as I fought the urge to bring our bodies closer. It was all too much. Something triggered inside of me. I caught her wrists, pinning them to bed on either side of her head while I thrust with abandon. Just needed to come…

  Her lips trembled. She tensed around my cock, and I waited for her to come again, all the while chasing my own delirium. But she didn’t come.

  A quiet pleading glimmered in her eyes. “Let me touch you,” she whispered.

  Something tugged in my gut again. Without thinking, I withdrew and flipped her to her tummy. Hauling her hips up, I drove deep into her warmth. A throaty moan escaped her.

  The reflection I caught in the mirror was a vantage only I had. She took every inch of me, over and over. It was an erotic sight. Satisfying and arousing. Enough to push me over. The sheets twisted into her fists, and she was there again. Seizing tight around me as she cried out.

  I couldn’t stop. Electricity flew down my spine. My balls tightened painfully, and I came, finding heaven inside of her. I released my death grip on her hips when I realized I was likely leaving marks.

  With a heavy sigh, she wilted against the sheets. I covered her body with mine, inhaled her scent like oxygen I’d been deprived of. I sighed heavily. Relief washed over me—the relief of being close without having to see that look in her eyes.

  Fighting the urge to stay buried deep in her heat, I slipped away. Had to catch my breath…

  Moving off the bed and toward the brightly lit bathroom to deal with the condom, I left her to rest. I caught my reflection in the mirror. Warmth in my cheeks and a satisfied set of my shoulders. Something familiar and completely strange came over me.

  You’ve done this a hundred times.

  Fucked a girl. Got rid of the condom. Got rid of the scent of her, the taste of her.

  I shook my head and turned on the faucet. I splashed cold water on my face and inhaled the smell of Vanessa on my hands. Blood rushed to my cock, but this wasn’t right. That little voice was like metal in my mouth and made me uneasy all over.

  I shut the bathroom door and turned on the shower.

  The water poured down, and I washed quickly, mechanically while my mind went to war.

  She’s not like the others…

  Vanessa was different. Everything about her revved me up. The way she moved, the way she brushed me off because even if she might have wanted me, she didn’t need me.

  But tonight, the way she touched me and reached for me screamed intimacy. I knew then without a doubt that she wanted more from me than a quick fuck. Whether or not she’d admit it out loud or even knew it, I could tell. As if I’d been programmed to take caution at the first sign of intimacy, my brain was suddenly on high alert, overthinking everything seconds after I’d had an incredible orgasm.

  I was getting hard at the thought of being with her again. I wanted her tonight and tomorrow, all damn week, every different way until she couldn’t walk back to her room.

  I toweled off, ready to make good on that thought. Tucking the towel at my waist, I walked out of the fog of the bathroom and into the hotel room, expecting to see her still warming my bed. Except she was gone.

  Chapter Six

  VANESSA

  I’d had the best and the worst sex of my life last night. Eli’s suspicions had been spot on. No doubt about it. Darren fucked like a god. His prowess between the sheets was aligned perfectly with his physical perfection. He was so far from anyone else in the sex department. Comparisons were an absolute waste of time.

  Maybe intuitively I had known it would be like that all along. Incredible. Mind-blowing. Multiple-orgasm inducing.

  Except, at the end of the day—or night—it was all about sex.

  I knew the feeling. I’d felt like this before. Sure, it had been a while for me, but I wasn’t a stranger to the occasional hookup. I knew what it was like to get caught up in the physical moment and then have reality set in after the fact. Along with that twinge of feeling a little bit used and a little bit cheap.

  For some reason I had fooled myself into believing things with Darren would be different. But why would they? He was the ambassador of cheap, casual sex. And who was I but the next patron?

  I’d come more than once. I could hardly complain, but the way it all ended had made me feel so empty. Like he wanted to keep as much distance as possible between us after we’d been so close seconds before.

  Deep down I’d wanted something that didn’t feel quite so…blunt. I was alone with that thought as he walked away from me. Then the sound of the shower he was going to take, alone. No amount of sex-scented hotel sheets could keep the unwanted feeling from creeping over my skin. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  Even if I’d been up half the night regretting it.

  “Are you listening?”

  “What?” I blinked several times, and Eli’s face came back into focus before me.

  “I asked if you wanted to bring a purse to the ceremony or if you want me to keep your things for you since I’m wearing pants.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll bring my purse. Thank you, though.”

  I held my teal chiffon dress up against me as Eli carefully worked the zipper up the side. The bridesmaid gown was a pretty strapless number that came up to my knee. Light and airy, perfect for an island we
dding. Olivia was nearby, putting makeup on Maya, who was still in her negligee under a loose satin robe. Simple white lace that was going to be well appreciated by the groom tonight no doubt.

  Eli looked stellar in a white collared shirt and a teal vest, his hair styled so his black locks were slicked back and out of his eyes. He’d be standing next to me on Maya’s side. He had a hand on his hip. “You look exhausted. You need more concealer. Did you sleep last night?”

  “Not really,” I murmured.

  He handed me a tube of makeup. I dabbed some more under my eyes, trying to make it blend over the many freckles that had cropped up on my cheeks the past couple of days.

  He shot a quick glance to Maya and Olivia and then back to me. “Darren?”

  His voice was low, and for that I was grateful. Last thing I wanted was Olivia knowing I had slept with her brother. I’m sure the news would make it to Mommy Dearest in record time.

  I nodded.

  “Is he a stallion or what?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t know how to answer that. It had been amazing. Textbook amazing. It could have been something even more if he’d showed an inkling of intimacy afterward. Instead I’d left his room feeling like the hookup that I’d worried I’d be if I gave in to him.

  A knock sounded at the door, and I went to it, eager to escape Eli’s line of questioning. Except Darren was on the other side. A flush of warmth crept over my skin in seconds. He was donning the same wedding attire as Eli, and the bright white shirt and vest contrasted beautifully against his olive skin and dark hair.

  Idiot. I was an idiot for letting myself feel the way I did about him. The pope could have warned me, and I would have blindly followed my stupid heart right into the arms of this master player.

  “I have a gift for the bride.” He handed me a long thin box.

  “Oh, thanks. I’ll give it to her.” I took the box and tried to look anywhere but into Darren’s eyes.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?”