Pick Me Up. Samantha Hunter

from the wonderful strain of it.

      “Brett…oh my God…” she panted, drained and exhausted in the most lovely way.

      He brought her against him, snuggling her face in his shoulder. While he rubbed her back, she stretched like a cat, aware of the pressure of his erection against her lower stomach. She was anticipating that, and planned to make his patience and creativity worth the wait.

      Pushing upward, she looked down into his eyes as she trapped his erection between her thighs and moved in just such a way that he groaned, twisting beside her. He had wonderful laugh lines carved into his face, she noted—probably from so much time in the sun, and what she hoped was a happy life. He had some stubble, and she rubbed her cheek against it like a kitten seeking a pat.

      “You’re incredible,” he whispered, his eyes dark with pent-up passion, his body tight and hard.

      “Brett?”

      “Hmm?” As aroused as he was, he seemed preoccupied with running his hands over her, smoothing them over every inch of her skin. She reached up, tipping his face to hers, looking at him meaningfully.

      “The condoms are in my bag.”

      3

      BRETT HAD NEVER REALLY cared for the word bliss—it was a prissy word—but he was pretty sure he finally understood the meaning of it. In spades. Lauren made him feel like a teenager again. He was excited to an almost painful degree.

      He wanted it to last, unable to remember any time he’d felt like this with a woman, or when he’d felt like this at all. Everything inside of him was busting loose, and he was letting it go. For once, he wasn’t going to hold back, or think about anything else. There was only her, and what was happening between them.

      As he took out the strip of condoms from her bag, his own heart rate picked up, anticipating how it would feel to be inside of her. He wanted to have her every way he could possibly manage in the next twelve hours, and didn’t think the four or five condoms would be enough—if they ran out, he supposed they’d just have to be creative.

      He chuckled, shaking his head.

      “Something funny?” she asked, lying across his bed like a Victoria’s Secret model who wasn’t keeping any secrets. He stopped, looking at her. He loved looking at her, to make sure she was real.

      “No. You’re just tempting me to try to exceed my limits.”

      “All we can do is our best…”

      She smiled, crooked her finger, beckoning him in the way men dreamed about a beautiful woman doing. He was on the bed in a flat second, covering her completely and pressing her down into the mattress. He liked the way she felt beneath him, pliant and soft, warm against his skin. She giggled breathlessly as he weighed the entire length of his body against hers, trapping her wrists on either side of her head, capturing her mouth in a kiss that didn’t let either one of them breathe for several long, wet minutes.

      When they parted, she said, quite seriously, “Could you put one of those on, please? I don’t think I can wait.”

      He didn’t have to be asked twice and lifted up, straddling her hips, letting her watch him cover the length of his shaft and stroking himself a few times as their eyes met. Her mouth was swollen from his kiss, her skin flushed. She slid her teeth over the edge of her lip as she lifted a hand and placed it over his, sliding up and down his length together, until he was getting far too close and needed the real thing.

      “Brett?”

      “Yeah, sweetheart?”

      “Do you mind if we talk?”

      “Talk about what?”

      “No, I mean, will it bother you if I tell you what I want, you know…in graphic terms?”

      His eyebrows flew up as he reached down, brushing a kiss over her flushed cheek.

      “You mean you want to talk dirty?”

      “If that’s something you’d like.”

      “Hell, yeah,” he uttered, leaning down to her ear and giving her a demonstration of what she was asking for, telling her in the coarsest terms he could think of what he wanted to do to her, how hard, for how long, and then what he wanted to do all over again. He felt her breath hitch, and knew it had worked for her.

      As he settled down between her thighs, pressing against her but not entering, she returned the sentiment, but she upped the ante. Putting her hands on either side of his face and staring directly into his eyes, she told him in the coarsest language he’d ever heard a woman use what she wanted him to do to her, how hard, for how long, and then what she wanted to do all over again.

      It was a mega turn-on and before they could say another word, in one smooth move, he lifted her legs up over each of his shoulders and slid inside of her without hesitation, burying himself to the hilt. She cried out in pleasure, welcoming him, and he had to settle for a moment, stilling as he sank inside of her.

      “Sweet Jesus, Lauren, you’re so tight…incredibly freakin’ hot inside…”

      She only moaned in delighted response, her breath coming in hard, short pants that kept rhythm with his thrusts. He pushed deeper, her internal muscles clenching around him. God, if there was a heaven, this was it. His body was tied in a thousand tiny knots. When she started to come, he watched her, each of those knots gloriously releasing as his own climax exploded.

      He went deeper, and deeper still, his arms wrapped around her thighs, holding her in place, seeking whatever it was his body needed. His mind disengaged completely as sensation took him over, and he followed it wherever it led him. When his vision finally cleared, he was trembling from head to toe. So was she.

      He moved over and dropping to her side, drew her up against him. She was hot, slick and breathing hard. She smelled like flowers and the best sex of his life.

      “Are you okay? I kind of lost it there at the end, I hope—”

      She put a finger to his lips, and whispered, “It was fabulous. But be quiet now.”

      She snuggled into him and promptly dozed off. Brett chuckled, and did as she said.

      LAUREN WOKE UP FACEDOWN, crosswise on the bed, her feet hanging over one end, her head precariously close to tipping over the corner. Her black dress and underwear were spread around the room, which itself looked like it had been subject to a minitornado.

      “Man, housekeeping is going to love us,” she said, laughing, rolling over and noting several well-used muscles protesting in the best way. Her body had never been so delightfully used and she sat for a moment, gathering her thoughts. She counted one, two, three, four—and oh, yes, there was number five—condom packages, and she smiled again.

      What a night. Who knew she could be so wild, or that a man would like it?

      She felt like a new person—one who badly needed a hot shower.

      “Brett?” Sensing she was alone, as she got up she looked around and saw a slip of paper on the table by the door.

      Morning, gorgeous. Went to get some regular clothes, and will meet you for breakfast at the café across the street? Don’t hurry. I’ll wait. B.

      She smiled, putting the note down and then picking it back up again. It was a…momento. Something she’d have to keep besides memories of a night she wanted to remember every day for the rest of her life. It would remind her how crazy she could be, how passionate and free. It was like really being herself for the first time. It would also remind her of what being with a real man could be like, someone who wanted her and didn’t hold back.

      Humming, she picked up her clothes, dressed and walked back to her room, smiling all the way. She’d get a shower, get dressed and have breakfast with the man she’d remember forever. Then she’d get on with the rest of her life.

      SHE FOUND HIM SITTING in