Hard Work Read online

  His hands were suddenly fisting in that delicate lace as though he were going to tear it from her body.

  His gaze hungrily poured over her exquisite body. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  She stiffened. “What?”

  “Women don’t look this good.” His gaze shot to her face. His brows drew together. “You can’t be real.”

  She seemed stunned for a second, and then a soft smile spread her lips. “God, you’re good for my ego.”

  “Give me some time. I’ll be good for a lot of other things, too.” He stared at her bustier once again. “I want to keep that”—he nodded at the lace molded around her breasts—“on for a bit longer, but I want this off.” He tugged at her G-string. “Okay?”

  She nibbled her bottom lip and nodded, once again lifting her hips. This time, it afforded him the most fortuitous glance he’d had of a woman’s body in memory. The lacy underwear was a vee that dipped down below her navel, and with her legs and ass taut from her current position, he could stare his fill at the way the G-string disappeared between her ass cheeks, making him want to slap them all over again now that he knew how firm they were.

  The shake alone would give him a heart attack.

  He swore beneath his breath as he tugged the lace over her hips. As he pulled it down her thighs, he learned something else new about Victoria.

  She was a groomer. Everything—from her mound to her slick lips—was bare.

  His hips jerked, his cock longing to thrust along that sweet, wet flesh in a smooth glide. He gritted his teeth and pulled the G-string off entirely, tossing it over his shoulder. “I can’t wait to touch you.” He hadn’t meant to say the words, but they were so true, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret them.

  “Then touch me,” she whispered, planting her heels on either side of him and spreading her knees wide.

  She was going to kill him. All her constant contradictions were driving him wild. This woman, with her legs spread so wide he could see the shadow of her opening, was the same woman who had apologized for kissing him minutes ago.

  He wouldn’t leave her boldness unrewarded. He could feel his cheeks straining to contain a smile as he wrapped a hand around each of her ankles. Her body beneath his fingers was delicate, and he stroked a circle on the inside of her ankles with both thumbs.

  A simple touch, but her lips parted, and her eyelids fluttered as though she were fighting to keep them from closing.

  Which meant she had started thinking again in the wake of her first orgasm. If she was fighting natural responses, he still had some work to do to make her completely let go. He wanted her to revel in those natural responses. It would only be fair, because he couldn’t wait to find out what she did, what noises she made, when she was lost to pleasure.

  “Your skin is so soft,” he murmured.

  He stroked her again, but this time, his thumbs traveled higher, over the curve of her calf muscle. Gooseflesh suddenly leapt from his touch to race over her entire body.

  He stopped holding back his smile—just the slightest bit—as he smoothed his palms over her knees and down the slope of her spread thighs. As he did so, he stretched forward, spreading out on his belly between her legs.

  He traipsed his fingertips over her hipbones, and a shuddering sigh sounded from her.

  Kip glanced up to find her eyes closed. He indulged in a moment of self-congratulations, and he felt his grin broaden.

  But then he looked down at her spread sex, and his smile fell away. A sudden, intense yearning to lean down and place his open mouth over the clit that visibly throbbed before his eyes nearly overtook him.

  But he couldn’t do that. He didn’t have her medical records. She didn’t have his.

  Fuck. He frowned. He’d never wanted to go down on a woman so badly in his life—professionally or privately.

  He felt cheated.

  He . . . felt.

  That got his attention. He licked his dry lips and forced himself to focus once more. Curving one arm around her thigh, he rested an open palm over her belly. The gentle thud of her heartbeat flicked against his palm as, with his other hand, he trailed the curve of her inner thigh to her sweet, tantalizing, bare lips.

  “Gorgeous,” he whispered, knowing his breath would waft against her aroused sex.

  Like he expected, she squirmed.

  He pressed down with the hand over her belly, keeping her in place. Staring up at her expectant face, he stroked down her center, from clit to opening, with his thumb.

  “Oh, God.”

  She bucked against the hand holding her down, but he showed no mercy, this time tightening his arm around her thigh to help keep her still.

  She was more responsive than he could have dreamed. The way she was breathing right now, the fine tremor that racked her body—Kip had no doubt that he could stroke her less than five times and make her come again.

  Victoria had been without a man for far too long. And that lack ended tonight.

  His pinky brushed against the edge of her bustier. He needed, for both their sakes, to get her out of the last of her clothes and his dick inside her body in the shortest amount of time possible. Neither of them were going to last much longer.

  “Okay, honey.” He stroked her one last time, and she moaned. “Sit up for me.” Before I lose all my control.

  She blinked down at him. “W-what?”

  Her eyes were glazed. Beneath the cups of her bustier, her nipples were so taut they looked painful.

  “Sit up. Let me get this off you.”

  She nodded, but he wasn’t sure she’d understood his directions until the muscles beneath the palm over her stomach bunched. She sat up.

  Kip pressed a kiss to her stomach just beneath her belly button, opening his lips and giving her warm skin a slow lick.

  Her belly dipped, and she sucked in a breath. He rasped his chin against her soft skin before looking up at her.

  Her breasts rose and fell in quick succession over the top of her lingerie. With what he hoped was a wicked smile—God knew if he had any game left—Kip reached around her and began unhooking her bustier one tiny hook and eyelet at a time.

  Her breaths increased in frequency, and the color along her cheeks heightened. By the time he finished and gently pressed her back to draw the bustier down her arms, his breaths were just as frantic as hers.

  As he caught sight of her nipples for the first time, though, breathing at all became a challenge.

  Perfection. Her breasts were high but generous—the unicorn among all breasts. Her tight nipples were the color of a delicate pink rose.

  He was afraid he would fall on her and devour her.

  With measured slowness, he knelt over her and lowered himself until his stomach stretched over her bare pubic bone. She was so aroused that, when she wiggled, she slicked across his stomach. By that time, Kip was already closing his lips over her left nipple, so his harsh groan was muffled by her taste.

  She arched her back and threaded her fingers through his hair. “Kip.” She squirmed beneath him, and he had to bite back the desire to tell her to hold still or she wouldn’t get her money’s worth. “No more seduction. Please.”

  Like words from a dream. He should protest. Victoria deserved seduction. Needed seduction.

  But he was just desperate enough that her lust-filled order sounded brilliant to him. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then leaned over the end of the bed, groping for his jeans. Yet another sign that he was out of it. He was always sure to slip a condom under the pillow when he undressed so he could protect his partner and himself smoothly and imperceptibly when the time came.

  And here he was fishing through his discarded pants. After an embarrassingly long amount of time, his fingertips finally encountered one of the several foil packets he’d stuffed in his back pocket before heading over here.

  Before he could turn back, there was a tugging at his briefs.

  His gaze snapped back to Victoria and then down at where bot
h of her hands were fisted in the waistband of his briefs.

  She tugged again. “Off now.”

  God, he hadn’t even remembered that he still wore them. “Certainly.”

  Her brow furrowed, and she bit into her bottom lip. She gently pulled his briefs’ waistband out before pulling down, and his cock leapt to be free.

  “Oh, God,” she whispered.

  Kip bit back a harsh moan as her fingertips moved toward the crown of his erection. But when her touch breezed over his sensitive skin, that moan escaped with a vengeance. He fisted the sheets on either side of her hips and gritted his teeth.

  God help him if she wanted to explore for long, because he had about five seconds left before something embarrassing happened. He wasn’t sure exactly what it would be, but he knew for sure that it would call his professionalism into question. “Victoria,” he begged as she wrapped her fingers around him and stroked him down to the root.

  Her name on his lips seemed to break her from a trance. She jolted—he felt it all the way down to his aching balls—and then she looked back up into his eyes. “I can’t wait for this.”

  Like a lay with him was freaking Disneyland. “I can’t either.” He gently nudged her hand aside and breathed a sigh of relief when she obediently relinquished her hold on his cock, as it bought him precious seconds to get himself together.

  He shucked his briefs as though they were on fire, and then he was tearing into the foil packet, not at all unlike a starving man digging into his first meal in days.

  “Let me.”

  Kip glanced up. Victoria was staring at the condom in his fingers with her hand held out.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Her brow quirked at that, but she bit back a smile as she plucked the condom from his fingers and placed it against the crown of his dick.

  Which immediately jerked upon contact, displacing her efforts.

  Get a hold of yourself!

  Smiling grimly, Kip thought about animal shows where something cute got eaten. Nope, not strong enough. A trip to the mall during Christmas time. It was hopeless. Nothing was stronger than the sweet torture of her fingers against him as she repositioned the condom and began rolling it down his length. When they were fully protected, she wrapped her hand around him and squeezed.

  The most mortifying sound imaginable rumbled deep in his chest—something between a whimper and a plea. She grinned up at him, a surge of confidence in her eyes, and he nearly groaned again.

  This confidence was going to kill him. It promised adventure. Innovation. Memorability. He was doomed.

  She tugged him forward by his erection, and with very little finesse, he obeyed in the form of flopping down on top of her.

  Just as he was getting ready to scramble up on extended arms and apologize, she moaned and wrapped her arm and—holy shit—legs around him, and he slid all the way to the hilt inside her luscious body.

  “Fuck.” He pressed his forehead against her shoulder. “Oh, fuck.”

  She canted her hips, and he sank even farther into her tight heat. He wanted to beg her to stay still. Give him a moment.

  He could never be that weak.

  And, so, since the chance that this was going to be appallingly short was a very real possibility, he vowed to make it the best short encounter she would ever have.

  They could do longer later.

  He propped himself up on one elbow and gave her his best smoldering look. He was semi-successful if the small hitch in her breathing was any indication. Before he could mess up this tiny victory, he leaned down and covered her mouth with his, licking inside with infinite tenderness.

  With his other arm, he wrapped up her thigh and pinned it against his side, sliding his hand down her exposed underside until he could clutch her bottom. With sprawled fingers, he squeezed her beautiful ass and then began to move with slow, measured thrusts.

  She whimpered into the kiss, and her tongue dueled with his.

  His fingers squeezed again, and the pressure of her tight sex around his went straight to his gut, where the dull ache there became an insistent throb.

  Holy fuck, this is good.

  Like, top-ten good. Hell, maybe even top five.

  He was being paid for his services, and this was the best experience he could remember having in recent memory.

  That sobered him quickly.

  His eyes popped open as he kissed her. Luckily, hers remained closed, so she couldn’t witness him freaking out as his body tingled all over, all the way down to his usually dormant heart, which was now beating like a freight train against hers.

  He forced his muscles to stay relaxed. Forced himself to keep pleasuring her. And all the while, he shoved every errant, warm sentiment toward this paying client into a giant, figurative box in his mind, kicking it into a corner.

  Give her what she’s paying for. Nothing more.

  Just as his panic was ebbing, her eyes popped open, and her gaze clashed with his. He put his game face on and turned the passion of the kiss up a notch while grinding his pelvis against her swollen clit as he thrust into her once more.

  She pulled from the kiss slowly but decisively. “Kip?” Her brows drew together. “Everything okay?”

  Fuck. She’d felt him change.

  He ducked his head and kissed and then licked her neck. “Oh, yeah,” he muttered against her skin, deepening the angle of his next thrust.

  She sucked in a breath, then moaned, melting into the bed and grinding right back against him as he circled his hips, pressing into the spot he knew would send her into climax.

  Distraction achieved.

  Now he needed to finish this. Before his control slipped. “So gorgeous.” He nipped her shoulder and thrust again, this time harder, and the breathy moan of a few seconds ago now turned into an earthy groan. “So perfect.”

  “Shit.” She lifted her hips, thrusting with him now. They were moving together in beautiful synchronicity, their bodies conversing as naturally as if they’d been doing this together for years. “It’s so good, Kip.”

  He screwed his lips together tightly around words he shouldn’t—he couldn’t—say. It is so good. It’s not usually like this. I could get addicted to this. I don’t want you to be a paying customer. I want to do this all night.

  Tomorrow night, too.

  Desperate, he palmed her breast with his left hand, tweaking her nipple with a soft pinch that made her arch her back and call his name to the ceiling.

  Slipping more. “Shit.” He was panting. Filling his hand with her breast again, he cupped it to his mouth and sucked her nipple between his teeth.

  She was writhing beneath him now. They were no longer moving together in perfect motion, but it was even more earthshattering than before.

  With a sudden surge, Kip sprang right to the edge of orgasm. You can’t do this! Stop this right now! He was going to come before a client. For the first time in his life.

  Her sex clamped down on his dick so hard, he couldn’t thrust anymore. She arched, threw her head back, and keened.

  “Victoria.” Her name tripped over his lips in an adrenaline-inducing rush of relief. “God, yes.” He shoved into the tight hold she had on him and circled his hips against her clit as stars lit behind his eyes.

  He shut them tightly and buried his face in her breasts as his orgasm overtook him. He bit her—much too hard—but it kept his mouth occupied with something other than all the sentiments that wanted to burst out of him as he filled the condom to capacity.

  Her thighs trembled against his hips as she squeezed him there and with her arms, hugging him with her entire body.

  Both of them relaxed in unison, their orgasms ebbing at the exact same time.

  Kip opened his eyes and stared at the perfect nipple in his vision. His breathing was still far too erratic. His heart thundered.

  And then he did something incredibly stupid.

  He wrapped his arms around her, nestled his cheek against her chest, and closed his eyes again
.

  As though, for all intents and purposes, he intended to cuddle this woman and bask in an after-sex glow.

  Her thighs released their death grip on his hips and ass, and as she lowered her legs, she brushed her foot down the length of his calf in what could only be construed as a tender caress. She next wove her fingers into his hair and hugged him against her.

  And, forget top ten or top five—it was the best thing he’d ever felt.

  As she began massaging his scalp with her fingertips, Kip forced himself to withdraw. But it took two tries for his body to listen. With a groan that sounded like he was in pain, he clutched the condom and pulled out of her.

  Her hands fell to her sides, and something hollow resounded in Kip’s gut. “I’ll be right back, honey,” he murmured, not quite able to meet her eyes.

  She mumbled something sleepily and rolled to her side.

  Kip padded into the bathroom and tore the condom off, the little corresponding snap a much-needed wake-up call. After tossing it in the trash, he looked at himself in the mirror.

  His eyes were haunted.

  He scrubbed a hand down his face and swore under his breath. Forget a shower; he needed to get out of here and now. Before he turned right back around, pulled out another condom and fucked her again—slowly this time.

  He snatched a washcloth from the rack over the toilet and turned the water to scalding in the sink. Wetting the cloth, he gave himself a quick whore’s bath and then stalked from the bathroom, his mood descending with every step.

  He stopped abruptly, however, when he entered the main room once more.

  Victoria was asleep, which was not an unusual way to find his clients. But in the short time he’d been in the bathroom, she’d put a stack of cash on the bedside table, which was also not unusual.

  Because he was a gigolo.

  The money was highlighted in the bright yellow glow of the lamp as though standing on stage beneath a spotlight.

  His clothes were folded neatly at the end of the bed.

  His feet heavy, he walked as silently as he could so he wouldn’t wake her, because God knew what he would say to her if she did wake.