Once weâre in the car and the partition between us and Otis is fully up, Malcolm presses me up against his side and his lips come down on mine. He parts my lips and his taste fills me, going like a shot of crack to my heart. A soft noise leaves me as I kiss him back with all Iâve got.
My fingers flutter over his shoulders and then I curl my hands around the back of his neck as we slow down and start kissing more leisurely, savoringly, getting reacquainted again.
âAre you okay with this?â he asks as he sets my mouth free. His eyes are so dark, I can hardly see the green in his pupils.
Nodding and breathless, I slide my fingers into his hair and pull his delicious mouth back to me. He fits his lips to mine, to the way he knows just how to.
He plays with my tongue a little, sucks gently on my lower lip.
The fingers of one hand trail under the fall of my hair and then he slides them upward to cradle the back of my head in his palm, and with that motion alone, heâs got me pinned in place. Iâm helplessly subjected to his hungry mouth, and the way heâs kissing and sucking on me is so downright hot Iâve never been so turned on.
I end up lying down on the bench seat with his body above mine, my hands anxiously gripping fistfuls of his collar.
His tongue sweeps and sweeps into my mouth and when he retreats to give me a smoldering look, I notice the way his green, green eyes have darkened like a night forest.
âI miss you,â he rasps, looking at me so fiercely itâs as though heâs commanding me to understand what this means.
âI miss you too,â I croak feelingly.
âI miss the taste of you, the feel of you, the sounds you make.â Clenching his jaw as if heâs remembering what it was like to miss me, he strokes his curled index finger down the line of my jaw, watching what he does. I watch the emotions play across his features as he opens his hand and caresses my face and neck. Determination. Hunger. Control.
Iâm panting, aching, wanting, waiting. Holding me by the back of the neck, he pulls me up to a sitting position and in for another wet kiss. Leisurely, his mouth slants from one side to the other as he tastes me from all angles. I feel delicious, juicy, luscious. Wanting to taste him just as thoroughly too, I draw his tongue into my mouth and suck, surprised by how the sucking motion causes every centimeter of my body to squeeze and Saint to reflexively tighten his hold on me.
He groans and draws me onto his lap and shifts me so that I straddle him, then he lowers the top of my dress with a little tug at the elastic of my strapless.
âMalcolm, what are you doing?â I gasp, covering my chest with my arms as my breasts pop free.
âIâm looking at you.â Completely shameless and in control, he takes both my arms and lowers them to my sides.
I squeeze my eyes shut, then open them, embarrassed to realize heâs probably noticed I used nipple stickers to keep from having to use a bra tonight. I didnât want my nipples to be poking out, and now my perky breasts are staring up at him with two small, round tan stickers on them.
He runs his thumbs over each. My sex squeezes when I notice his gaze is loving, appraising, possessive. And dark. So very, very dark.
âI meant to take them off before you saw,â I whisper.
He kisses the corner of my mouth. âIâll do it.â Then he leans close and kisses one tip of my breast over the sticker. Then the other, his lips warm and gentle. He then raises his head as he seizes each sticker between his thumbs and fingers and looks into my eyes as he gently pulls off one, then the other.
A frisson of need runs through me.
The act is strangely intimate. Looking into each otherâs eyes as he does this to me.
He lifts his thumb to his mouth and my sex tightens when he licks it. He does the same with his other thumb. Then he uses both to rub my nipples clean, and I almost moan out loud.
He speaks to me in a thick voiceâmy toes curling. I can feel how hard he is between my legs. âTheyâre all mine now,â he says.
He centers me on his lap again and drags the skirt of my dress up to my hips, and once itâs bunched up where he wants it, he ducks his head to take one nipple into his mouth, and when he covers the hardened little point with heat and wet, I rock my hips against his hardness. âSaint,â I beg.
He releases my breast and looks at me. He looks as if he wants to devour me whole as he leans in to continue kissing my lips.
He just wonât stop kissing me, his hands cupping my ass as he draws me up tighter against his erection.
I quiver in need. âOh god.â
Gasping, I rake my nails against his scalp as I drag my mouth across any part of him that I can: the crown of his head that smells of shampoo, his shadowed, raspy jaw. Then I bite his earlobe. My bodyâs acting of its own will, pressing closer, a moan leaving me when he rubs my nipples with his thumbs in the most delicious, heart-stoppingly slow way.
I want to make out forever, and I want to let go when he can let go with me. But heâs hard between my legs, his mouth is killing me, and I feel the tension in my body tighten and tighten for orgasm.
âWe need to stop,â I groan apologetically, fisting a handful of his hair. âIâm at the edge already, and I donât want to be there alone.â
âIâll be right there with you.â
He grabs the back of my neck and only kisses me the rest of the way to his place, and when the car turns into the buildingâs driveway, he stops with one last grazing kiss on the corner of my mouth as he tugs the skirt of my dress down and then pulls the rest of my strapless back up.
I try to pull myself together and fix my hair, a little mortified. âI canât imagine how I look.â
He runs his eyes quickly over me. âYou look ravishing.â
âRavished by you,â I say, shoving his shoulder a little bit with a laugh.
He grins. âYes.â
He smoothes a hand down my back as he leads me into the lobby of his apartment building.
âMr. Saint,â heâs greeted by the staff.
He just lifts his hand in greeting.
Once in an elevator, I get a glimpse of us in the mirror and he looks divine, his lips a little pink, his hair a little messed up, and I look kind of sultry, my hair slightly mussed, eyes heavy. As we ride the elevator to the penthouse, a couple rides with us, and I try to behave and keep my hands at my sides. The couple is whispering and I realize they know who he is. And maybe they even know who I am.
âGood night!â they say effusively as they step out.
âGood night,â Saint murmurs as I smile and nod at them.
The elevator doors shut and he tugs me back to him, his head sweeping down. We kiss, softly, until the ting, and then he pulls away, his eyes as heavy as mine feel.
Iâm shaking in anticipation when he takes my hand and draws me into his apartment.
He leaves me to press a wall switch to turn on a few dim lights, tosses his jacket aside, drops his cell phone, and kicks off his shoes.
The city blazes with night lights behind him as he comes back. And the sight of him in those slacks, white shirt, hair rumpled by my fingers, bulldozes through any fear I could have, any tentativeness about doing this. I donât just want to do this. I never want to stop.
He walks toward me, eyes warm and liquid. He lifts his hand when he reaches me, his gorgeously strong and smooth hand, his fingers slowly caressing my neck.
Pheromones: the delicious scent of him. I swear water is the substance my thighs are made of now, and the rest of me is fireâand Malcolm Saint is the gasoline thatâs lighting me up.
My world feels right again as his fingers drag down the front of my body, over my clothes, down my hips, then up my ass, the small of my back, until they come back up to curl around half of my face.
Green eyes capture mine, and I can see the silent question there. And then, I can hear him asking it, his voice pure dry bark. âSlow and deep? Or fast and hard?â
âBoth,â I breathe.
He inhales sharply, his jaw clenching at my answer, then he coaxes me closer and, as an affirmative, sets a soft but firm kiss on my lips. âYeah,â he says.
I hear him unzip my dress and a sigh of gratitude leaves me as he gently pulls it down my body.
âTake me,â I breathe.
âIâm taking you.â
âUse me. Do anything you want to me.â
âNo,â he says chidingly. âYou use something you discard. And Iâll never be done with you.â
My dress falls in a pool of blue at my feet. I stand motionless as a statue, trembling as the air surrounds me, wearing nothing but my panties and my strappy high-heeled sandals and my heart in my eyes.
Saint kisses my eyelids. As if he sees.
He sees.
Then, he presses his lips to mine as he eases his fingers into my panties, finding my wet folds and playing gently with me. My knees buckle when he touches me; he catches me with one arm and then draws back to stare down at meâthe breaths leaving my lips, my face dewy with lust.
His face is harsh with need as he moves his fingers into my wetness, his eyes the most beautiful shade of all, a kaleidoscope of green. When I gasp as he enters me with a finger, a flash of wild lust appears in his eyes. Then thereâs the dark black of his pupils growing and growing. And the glimmer of greedâgreed for me.
No sooner does another gasp leave me than he kisses me harder, deeper, one instant apart, the next heâs the owner of my mouth, then heâs lifting me up and taking our wet kisses all the way to the bedroom.
âHere you are, Rachel,â he says as if he canât believe it, and lowers me down on the bed.
âDonât . . . leave me, just stay,â I curl my legs around his hips and my arms around his shoulders.
He reaches between my thighs and parts my legs a few inches, locates the wet little groove in my panties and rubs a little. His thumb slides, up and down, finds the swelling bud of my clit and rubs in a maddening circle.
âDoes that feel good?â he asks, his voice raspy on his throat.
Rasping on my skin.
My answer is one word, âperfect,â my own voice textured with my emotions.
He rubs a little harder.
Heâs stroking me with his fingers over my panties as he leans over and nibbles on my lipsâan innocent kiss on my lips, but Iâm so raw with need, Iâm slowly unraveling beneath him.
He reaches between us and tugs my panties down my legs. Iâm still wearing my heels and I think they look sexy but Saint tugs one loose, then the other, dropping them to the floor.
âSaint . . .â
God, this man is going to kill me before he gets to actually fuck me.
He shifts above me, caresses one breast, bending to kiss it, wet and fast. His lips stay there, his hand curving around my hips to the curve of my ass, holding me as he sucks hard.
Pleasure slams me so hard I buck.
He murmurs tenderly, âEasy.â Then he sucks my other nipple gently into his mouth, rolls his tongue over it, then draws it into his mouth again.
I fist the sheets in my hands as the orgasm builds fast and hard, a tension knotting from the core of my body. âSaint, I canât do foreplay right now.â I tremble beneath him.
âGod, I missed you,â he rasps with a happy light in his eye, sliding his fingers up to cup my face, the look on his face so reverent I feel perfect. âYouâre like a spark, Rachel, all I need is to breathe on you and you catch fire.â
Iâm so undone, Iâm a heartbeat away from coming. âMalcolm, please donât let me do this alone.â
âYouâre not going anywhere without me,â he says, not in the least bit worried as he pulls away to look at me with eyes that have never looked this heavy-lidded. I canât breathe. Iâm gasping, my hands trembling at my sides as he starts to undress.
He strips off his shirt and then his slacks, I feel like Iâm dreaming. Heâs shedding his clothes until itâs all bare, all for me.
Tan, cut muscles, over six feet of pure testosterone-primed man. His skin feels so smooth and hot and hard when he lowers himself over me.
âSay you want me . . .â he murmurs, and then he dives and sweeps my mouth with his tongue. He twirls and pushes my own tongue with his, showing it where to move, what to taste, where to go . . . with his.
âI want you,â I groan.
Reaching over his muscular shoulders as he settles between my thighs, I curl my legs around his hips and lock my ankles together. He takes my hands and draws them over my head, then he laces his fingers through mine, and drives inside.
Body-slammed. Perfection in every way. We groan once heâs inside, and our bodies stop moving and stay like this.
âLike that?â He cups my face and looks down at me.
Weâre both motionless from the pleasure. We stare at each other. Weâre each taking in the otherâs face as if we canât believe weâre here.
He pulses thickly inside me and it feels like every inch of my body is holding on to him. And I swear at this moment that I never ever want to let go of him, and as long as I can help it, I never will.
âYes,â I finally breathe, squeezing his hands holding mine above my head.
His green eyes flare bright with an emotion so raw, all my muscles tighten with the urge to orgasm to that look alone.
I donât think Saint has ever looked at me so possessively.
He moves out of me and then back in, and I moan as our flesh touches with his motions. Going up on his arms, he withdraws and pumps in again, establishing a rhythm that is deep and savoring and intense, almost as if he canât control it anymore.
He surges inside me and starts kissing my neck, as if he needs to taste me. Iâm holding tight to him, clutching his bigger body to mine with my arms and legs, my mouth latching to any hard part it can. The rightness of being consumed like this and taken like this by the only man whoâs ever owned me is beyond believable. Itâs Sin inside me, Saint inside me, Malcolm inside me. Tension builds in me fast. Heâs in me; so in me, itâs like we were never apart. Weâre moving as if we never stopped.
He takes my face in his hand, and his voice textures until itâs barely discernible as he deepens his tempo. âLook into my eyes. Donât look away until you come apart for me.â
I do.
I bite his neck, and then I do as he says and look into his eyes.
Watching the way his face clenches every time heâs fully embedded inside me. With all that gentle strength of his perfectly under control, he pulls my arms up over my head, pins them beneath his as his body weight pins me down too, and feeling physically so helplessâas helpless as Iâve been, emotionally, all this timeâI feel a ball of fire burst from inside me. I gasp and convulse beneath him, his name raw on my lips, his green eyes mercilessly watching me unravel. âMalcolm.â
He keeps me in place as I come, driving slower and more deliberately inside me to prolong my orgasm, watching me with burning green eyes and then kissing my mouth the rest of the way through as he pumps faster, deeper, as exquisitely as ever. And then, what most gets me is the way his powerful arms clench all around me and I know heâs letting go, coming with me.
Weâre motionless for a long time after. Saint is breathing deeply, and Iâm breathing fast.
I smile against his face, where he set it down against mine as we recover. He smiles too, and slides a hand down my side to squeeze my ass affectionately. He laughs softly. All hot and male against me. I swear I just want to lie here and be super fucked and be super happy.
âVixen,â he murmurs as he rolls to his back and settles me against his bare chest, brushing my hair back. âYou feel even better than I remember,â he says quietly, looking into my eyes as he curls his hand around the back of my neck and gives it a squeeze, stroking the back of my ear with his thumb. âAnd I remember every time with you very well, Rachel.â
God. These feelings.
âI remember you too,â I finally manage.
We smile a little. And Iâm so affected by his smile, being with him in bed like this, I feel a flush creep up to my cheeks.
I tug the sheet up to cover myself, and he raises a brow, but says nothing.
He disappears into the bathroom and when he comes back, I sit up uncertainly, gauging him. He drops on the bed and rests his back on a pillow, not even bothering with the sheets, his tan skin contrasting with the whiteness around him.
I remain sitting, hesitant, wondering if I should leave.
Using his palm, he turns my head, locks the angle of my face so he can start to kiss me, holding me firmly but gently against his body. âYouâll remember tonight too,â he says.
Body melt.
âIs that a promise?â I ask him.
âI break my promises, remember?â He studies my face, then he speaks, his eyes pure devil, âItâs a warning.â
Weâre sweaty and relaxed in his bed, the covers tangled around our feet when his hand starts wandering dangerously up my rib cage.
âSaint . . . youâre killing me. Youâre just . . . wicked. I canât keep up with you.â
âCome here,â he coaxes.
His arm wraps around the back of my neck and pulls me to his side only to embrace me. His voice murmuring close to my ear brings out the goose bumps on my bare arms. âIâm only going to hold you, Rachel.â
But just as he finishes speaking, he leans and kisses the corner of my mouth.
I feel the kiss between my legs. In my nipples. In my heart. Breathless, I steal a touch and cup his square jaw. âYou said you were only going to hold me. And you just kissed the corner of my mouth. Do you classify that as only holding? Sin?â
âI do.â Although he smiles, the look on his face is intense. âWould you like to pretend I didnât do that?â He rubs the spot and looks down at me with hot eyes. Iâll never forget the lust on his face as he looks at me. âWould you?â he presses, his voice gruff.
âNo.â
He kisses the corner of my mouth again, holding my face in one big hand.
Iâm melting.
Iâm scared.
I want him so much.
âIf you hire me, you canât get away with that,â I whisper.
He looks at my lips with the hunger of a panther. âOh, I can get away with it.â
âYouâve never touched any one of your employees.â
âI make the rules.â He raises a brow in challenge, and then starts lowering his head again.
I sit here, shivering, as his warm breath fans my face on the other side of my mouth. I swallow back a whimper, sliding my fingers into his hair. He exhales and goes to my ear, kissing the back of it, relaxing a little as I let him draw me back into his arms.
We stay there for a little while. I think Iâm going to die tomorrow remembering.
I wrap my arms around his neck.
I want to speak but I donât want to break this. He seems to need to hold me and for me to let him, and I need this connection.
âMalcolm Kyle Preston Logan Saint,â I say.
I feel him smile against my hair.
âWhy so many names? Hmm?â I peer into his face.
âBecause my fatherâs stubborn. He was determined to name the first boy like his father. And my mother wanted to have four children, so she gave my father the right to choose first if she got to use the three she wanted next.â He inhales and peers down at me. âI wasnât an easy birth. When they told her she might not be able to have any more children . . .â
âShe gave all the names to you? Kyle, Logan, Preston . . .â I smile, then breathe, touching my fingers to his chest, âSaint.â
âGod, Rachel, you donât know what you do to me.â
âTell me.â
âOne day Iâll tell you.â
âGood things.â
âYeah. Good things.â
His mouth starts trailing and my lungs start overworking as he puts them on my ear. My forehead. My cheek.
âWhat did you do all this time?â I ask him.
âI worked.â His shoulder lifts carelessly. âBought a new car. Tested a few planes. Got the top four. Three for the M4 directors and one for me.â
âIâve been watching baseball,â I offer, setting my face on his chest with a smirk.
âSince when do you watch baseball?â
I shrug. âYou know. I branch out now and then.â
âDo you?â Heâs amused.
God, I love him amused.
âThis is the year the Cubbies break the curse. Did you know that?â
âReally now.â
âHmm. Yes. With our star pitcher? And that ERA? Itâs definitely the year.â
âReally now?â He purrs, shifting, interested, amused.
âAre you watching? Baseball?â I ask, and peer up into his face.
He peers back down at me with a cocky little grin. âIâm busy watching you talk baseball right now.â
I shove him. âCome on. Have you?â
âYeah.â
I sigh and settle in closer, and he hugs me a little tighter. âYouâre right, it is the year the Cubs break the curse.â He grins at me, and I grin back, melting so hard.
Melting so hard and wanting him again equally hard.
We havenât slept, arenât aware of time or space or place, only of each other. Holy god. Iâm so aware of him itâs as if Iâm memorizing him all over again. The scent of his soap, his sheets, his shampoo, his warm, toasty skin, all the ways his green eyes change as he makes love to me, and how good it feels, right now, as he holds me.
He eases his forehead down on mine, then his hand turns my face aside so he can kiss meâI reach one arm behind me and caress his hair as I kiss him back, him inside me. âYouâre insatiable,â I tease him. âAre you ready to go already?â
He tugs my ear. âAs you know, Rachel, greedy men are insatiable by nature.â
I laugh and drop back, pulling the sheet to cover my sweaty body just because Iâm suddenly shy. Is this really me?
Am I back in Malcolmâs bed?
Fucked to my bones?
My chest feels so full I am grateful, humbled, fearful, joyful. My job situation is a mess and I still worry about my mother and yet if I can slowly fix things with him, I feel like I can do anything.
Malcolm . . .
God, please let him be greedy. Please let him want all of me, not just this.
I watch him get up to get a foil packet and I plump the pillow, rearrange my hair, and pray to god I donât look a mess by the time he comes back. I hear him run the sink water.
I said I loved him before, but shit happened and I havenât had the courage to say it again. What happened after I said âI love youâ the first time must have devalued my words so much that Iâm not sure he even wants to hear them again. But I think he knows that I still love him.
I think the only reason he forgave me was because he seems to have an intuitive knowledge of me and I think he feels the love I feel for him as much as I feel the hurricane of his energy drawn toward me.
God. This falling in loveâitâs the subject of so many movies, songs, books, and artworks. Itâs as common to us as being born and dying and somehow just as mysterious.
Thereâs never a warning.
You think itâs lust first.
That the powerful feelings are something else.
Admiration and respect.
Then the feeling becomes stronger, deeper, and when you would do anything for them, when their happiness is your own, when even their flaws are fascinating, and when you want to be better, worthy of them, you know itâs love.
What now?
He walks back to bed, flops on his back, and pulls me over him. Seeking closer, I twine my legs around his hips and wrap my arms around his shoulders as we start kissing, and after I mount him, and ride him, letting him take me to places only heâs ever taken me to, I end up more exhausted than ever.
When weâre done and I fall onto my back, weâre both panting. I tentatively reach out and place my hand on top of his, staring at the ceiling in the way he isâkind of waiting to see what his reaction is.
I didnât know that I was holding my breath until he turns his hand and grabs mine in his grip, and holds it like itâs the most natural thing in the world.
After our Saturday sex Olympics, we sleep almost all day Sunday.
We wake up slowly, lazily fucking. Then he tosses me one of his shirts as we head to his kitchen. Later heâs in his living room as he works a little bit and I finish my coffee.
âI really should get home,â I keep saying.
âItâs raining out. Just stay here,â he keeps saying back.
And by the time he seems to realize I am going to go change to leave, he stops working, scoops me up, and takes me to his bed, and then the only things raining are hot, smoldering Malcolm Saint kisses all over me.