A Bit of Sass Read online

  “Again,” he whispered in her ear.

  He pressed against her. She opened her eyes. She eased back, the tight muscles parting reluctantly at the insistence of his well-lubed fingers. He kissed her again as her delicate ring spread around him, taking her little cries and gasps as his, moving his hand to the hollow of her spine, keeping her clit connected with his shaft, pushing up when she stopped, completing the possession.

  Mine! The word echoed in his head, shocking him with its absolute certainty. The scent of her passion surrounded him. The heat of her body scalded him as slowly but surely he accepted the reality he’d been avoiding. She was his. That was why everything felt so good with Sass, why he hadn’t dated anyone else since she’d come along. He’d thought he was getting old, but in reality, he’d just been too dense to realize when he’d come into Sass, he’d come home.

  He scissored his fingers within her, stretching her as the knowledge spread easily through him. He was home.

  He pulled his hand free and flipped her over, laughing hoarsely as she wiggled her butt on the last bounce, tempting him. Three tugs and he had her hips at the edge of the tall bed. In two more, he had the pillows under her stomach and that delectable ass propped up. He stroked one white cheek lovingly as the realization hit him again. Son of a bitch, he’d been waiting a long time for her.

  “Jacob?”

  Soft and sweet, her uncertainty reached out to surround him. “Right here, sweetheart.”

  He leaned over her, working his hand between her stomach and the pillow, easing it down the damp skin until he found the soft pad of her mound. He slipped his fingers between the plump lips, searching for the eager nub of her clitoris as his cock settled into the well of her vagina. He discovered both at the same time. He circled the engorged flange gently as he worked his cock into her sheath. She was always so tight at first, he feared hurting her. So delicate. He pressed forward into the moist opening, gritting his teeth against the taut resistance that flayed his control with a smooth whip of bliss as the muscled parted, wrapping around him in a fist tight kiss of acceptance. He threw his head back, bearing the lightning hot strike of desire as she took half of him on a purring moan, finding control on a hard breath as she clenched around him.

  “Easy sweetheart.”

  Her hair flared out, lashing his cheek as she glared at him over her shoulder. “I don’t want easy.”

  No, she never did. She was a wild thing when she got going, but he gave it to her anyway, gradually increasing the tempo of his caress as he pulled out. She arched under him, straining to hold on. Her muscles clamped with almost painful intensity on the thick wedge of his cock. She bucked under him in protest. “No.”

  He slapped her right buttock, watching as the soft flesh jiggled under the reprimand. Her sharp, delighted cry cut straight to his balls. Her head dropped, and her back curved in a purely feminine invite. He obliged, adding another stinging slap just to the right of the imprint of his last. Her pussy spasmed. Cream poured from her center, bathing the head of his cock in welcome. He leaned over her, using his greater size to limit her movement.

  “You need patience,” he whispered in her ear.

  She grunted and pushed her back against his chest, her sheath rippling with the same desperate rate of her respirations. “I need you.”

  “You’ll get me.”

  “Now.”

  He shook his head at her, her demands breaking loose a smile from the rigidity of his need. Because she liked it so much and because it pleased him to please her, he spanked her four more times in rapid succession, each one a little harder than the last, until her gasps were indistinguishable from her breaths and the taut ring of muscle guarding her core eased.

  “Hold still now.” The bed shook as she trembled, but she didn’t move as he leaned forward, working the head side to side, taking her slowly, gently—teasing them both with the wet friction, the deliberate stretching. “Relax,” he whispered in her ear as the head popped in. “Just relax.”

  Instead of relaxing she tensed, once again clamping down with those surprisingly powerful muscles. He shook his head and traced the tight skin around their connection.

  She always fought him at first, as if afraid of the pleasure he wanted to give her. He fucked her steadily, slowly, until she relaxed against his hand. The signal he’d been waiting for. With a smooth thrust, he slid to the hilt within her heat, his eyes closing as desire tore through him, primitive and strong. He pressed his thighs into her buttocks, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more. Sass grunted as he ground against her, her inner muscles massaging his shaft in an erotic invitation. Her whisper wove through the silence, echoing his thoughts, “More.”

  He tapped her feet wide, taking control away from her, and made love to her as he wanted, soft and sweet, deep and hard, every way he could think of while working her clitoris in time with his movements. She cried and shook beneath him, straining for leverage. Her pleasure soaked his hand. Her sultry moans prodded him on. He gritted his teeth against his pending orgasm. He wasn’t ready for this to end. He didn’t know if he’d ever be ready for this to end. He worked his cock back in. Sass shuddered and arched beneath him, broken, incoherent pleas bursting from her lips. She was almost there. He stilled his fingers and pulled his cock free. Her protest was immediate.

  “No.” Her head thrashed on the bed. Her feet scrambled for purchase. “Damn it, Jacob!”

  He straightened his legs until his hips were higher than hers, until his shaft, so much darker than her fair flesh rested along her back, its length perfectly aligned with the crevice between her lush buttocks. He arched his back. His cock, shiny with her cream, slid smoothly down that dark crease until it caught on the tiny puckered star. He bent his knees slightly and pressed forward, letting her feel his size. Letting her anticipate his possession, knowing how the combination of fear and desire would spike her passion.

  “Jacob, I don’t think….”

  He kissed her spine between her shoulder blades, letting his weight come to bear on that point of connection. “Trust me, baby.”

  Her fingers stilled on the covers, opening slowly before closing with equal slowness. Her nod was a terse acceptance, but her body showed none of her mind’s reluctance. Her excitement poured over his hand in a steady flow of joy. Her breath came in short uneven gasps and her hips pulsed in eager anticipation. A twist of his wrist and he had her tender clit back between his fingers. Her instinctive gasp and thrust back tore at his control. He had to stop and take a breath, the urge to take her fast and hard almost overwhelming. She was such a lush, hot, willing, welcome temptation. But he would maintain his control. This was Sass. There had to be pleasure for her. Always for her.

  He stroked her clitoris gently, easily, teasingly. She grunted and pushed back again. He didn’t change his rhythm. Her breath hissed out in a curse that was his name. Then, and only then, did he give her two quick squeezes to get her primed before beginning the strong milking motion that never failed to bring her off like lightning. She thrashed beneath him, her hips straining forward for his touch He pinned her with a hand on her shoulder as he pushed his cock against the tight bud of her anus. He watched as the puckered skin flattened, the creases smoothing as the pressure forced a well his cock immediately filled. Sass cried out as her flesh opened to his insistence. Bucked against him as he stroked her clit. He shifted his grip on her shoulder higher, holding her still as the tiny hole gradually, miraculously began to spread over the tip of his cock.

  Her body twisted against his hand, pressed back, arched forward, caught between pleasure and the threat of pain. Her spine glowed with a sheen of sweat. Her fingers clawed at the covers. He was right there with her, the need clawing at her, tearing at him. His balls pulled up tighter. His cock ached and burned. But it wasn’t enough. More. They just needed a little more.

  He pressed deeper, pulled her clit harder, taking her past her fear to her submission. She gave it to him as, on a high splintered cry, the climax took
her, her torso arcing in taut pleasure, her ass swallowing half his cock head in a fervent kiss.

  She bucked into him, screaming his name. As the last note echoed around him, he let loose the violent need burning within and spattered those ultra-sensitive walls with his come. With every spurt, she moaned and pushed back, begging for more. Always more. When he didn’t have anything left to give her, he gave her what he could.

  Opening his palm over her groin, he pulled her hips into his and bore down. His seed easing the way for both of them, he buried his still-hard cock to the hilt in the silky wet flesh of her hungry ass. With his groin pressed tight to the soft cheeks of her rear, his balls slapping against the pad of her cunt, he reached deep within and gave her something he’d never given anyone else before. Himself.

  Chapter Two

  She lay quietly beneath him, her breath coming in harsh rasps. He propped his weight on his elbows, not breaking their connection, needing to hold onto it a little longer. He pushed back on his hands. She looked so tiny lying there, the vertebrae of her spine a delicate ladder between the curve of her shoulder blades. Almost insubstantial. As if she could disappear if he didn’t watch closely enough. Bind her to him hard enough.

  He bent down and pressed a kiss dead center of her shoulder blades. The next landed on the curve of her neck. The last just under her ear. She sighed and nestled deeper into the mattress.

  The way she cuddled in made him think of a sleepy well-satisfied kitten, bringing the smile he felt inside to the surface. “Marry me.”

  The stiffening of her muscles was almost undetectable, but this close he couldn’t miss it. She turned to look at him over her shoulder, flinched as the move tugged intimately at their joined flesh. A wary expression crossed her face as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “What did you say?”

  “I said ‘Marry me’.” He braced his palm in the middle of her back, keeping her still as he worked his cock back. She moaned and bit her lip. She was sore, and no wonder. He wasn’t a small man, and she’d taken all of him. He rubbed the tense muscles in the hollow above her rear, easing her through the transition as, with a soft pop, he broke their connection. Another moan.

  He slid off the bed, taking a moment to kiss the rise of each buttock before whispering against the left. “Just lie there a minute and don’t move.” He reinforced the order with firm pressure on her spine. It was just a few feet to the bathroom, but every step was one too many in the wrong direction. He wanted to be with her. To hold her. Cuddle her. He paused in front of the vanity, staring at his reflection as he washed up, processing the information.

  Son of a bitch. He loved her. The novelty of the realization flowed over him. He tossed the washcloth into the tub. He was in love with Sass Miller. He ran another washcloth under warm water, glancing at his reflection, specifically at the eight little half moon marks decorating his chest. He should have realized it long before this. The woman had been putting visible and invisible marks all over him for months and his only reaction had been satisfaction rather than his normal distaste. He turned off the water and gathered up the washcloth. Damn. He really was in love.

  Sass lay on the bed as Jacob had left her, her body throbbing in muted echoes of satisfaction, her mind racing at ninety miles an hour as she listened to the water running in the bathroom. Jacob McConnally had asked her to marry him. Hope waged war with common sense. While Jacob was not a man to be carried away with emotion, he couldn’t want to marry her. It didn’t make sense. She was the total opposite of free and easy. The water in the bathroom shut off. She held her breath, counting the soft thuds of his footfalls as he crossed the carpet, releasing it in a rush as the mattress dipped. Every nerve ending in her body strained as Jacob knelt above her. His touch on her buttock made her jump. His fingers spread her gently, as gently as his “Easy, baby. I’m just going to make you more comfortable.”

  Something hot and wet pressed against her anus. It stung. The mattress dipped again as he leaned forward. Hips lips brushed her cheek, her ear. “Just give it a minute.”

  The stinging was already gone, soothed by the moist heat. It felt good. Good enough that she couldn’t help wiggling just a bit against the pressure. Jacob’s cheek pressed against hers with the smile she could imagine so easily. His body came down over hers, enveloping her in his heat and scent. “You liked my cock in your ass.”

  Heat bloomed at the blunt statement, but she didn’t deny it. “Yes.”

  “Marry me and I’ll wake you every morning with the pleasure.”

  She could just imagine it, riding the dark delight to awareness, his big cock stretching her, tugging at sensitive nerve endings as he pushed deep. He’d tease and torment her until she couldn’t help but scream. He liked to hear her scream, but screaming wasn’t an option with kids around. One satisfied scream from her and her kids would burst into the room wanting to know what was wrong. The image hit her like a splash of cold water.

  She wrapped her hand around Jacob’s wrist, sliding her fingers down the back of his hand until she could twine them with his. She brought them both back to reality. “It’s not that simple.”

  Cool air washed over her flesh as the washcloth was removed. A soft plop indicated its landing on the floor. Then the heat of Jacob’s body warmed her as his stomach pressed to her back. His cock nestled between her thighs like a homing missile. He was hard again. Ready to go. And just like that, so was she.

  “How ‘not that simple’ could it be?” He propped himself over her, his hand turning in hers, squeezing once. “I love you, you love me, so what’s the issue?”

  She twisted beneath him, elbowing him in the stomach until he gave in and let her flip onto her back. She had to see his face for this. “You love me?”

  “Yes.” He said it with no hesitation and no smile. A flat statement of truth.

  Hope ran amok inside her like a wild thing. He was serious. “Since when?”

  He did smile then, a tender smile that melted her insides to a puddle. She brought her finger to the corner, cementing the memory in her mind. He caught her hand and brought her palm to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the center. “I’ve probably loved you since the beginning, but I just pinpointed what it was today.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t know what to say except, “Well, how do you know I love you?”

  He had the gall to look smug. “You tell me with every touch and every sigh.”

  That was such a load of crap. “I said something, didn’t I?”

  He dropped down to his elbows, pressing his entire body along hers, including that big cock which pressed along her crease with unerring accuracy. The smile on his mouth spread to his eyes. “You have a tendency to scream it.”

  When they made love. She closed her eyes on the embarrassment. “You could have had the decency to say something.”

  “Why?” Soft as down, his lips brushed over her closed lids. “If I had, you would have stopped, and I liked hearing it.”

  She just bet he had. “That is so completely unfair.”

  He pulled back. “You didn’t know I loved you?”

  He really was surprised. “I didn’t have a clue.”

  “I thought you women had an instinct about these things.”

  “Mine must be broken.” Right along with her common sense, because Jacob’s saying he loved her didn’t change anything. He still wasn’t father material, and any man she took up with on a permanent basis had to be first and foremost a father.

  She caught a strand of his deep auburn hair in her hand. She loved the color of his hair. It was so symbolic of the man himself—calm and steady on the surface, flaring with fire and highlights when hit with the right light.

  His thumb under her chin brought her face up. “I believe this is supposed to be a happy moment.”

  “It is…”

  “But?”

  She hated to bring up the but. “Love isn’t always enough.”

  “It will be for us.” And if it wasn’t, his expression said he’d ma
ke it so.

  She wished it was that easy. “What we have here isn’t what we would have if we were together every day.”

  “I’m pretty sure we can manage a fair approximation.”

  He so did not have a clue. “I have kids, Jacob.”

  “The kids will love me.”

  She shook her head. He had no experience so he couldn’t see the reality of what he was getting himself into. “The kids don’t know you and may very well resent the hell out of your presence in my life.”

  “Whatever their feelings, we’ll work it out.”

  There was so much conviction in that statement, she found herself believing it. Joy blended with hope, rising from deep within, leaving her breathless. She closed her eyes, savoring the elation, the pleasure. His laugh echoed her emotions, buffeting her cheek before the firmness of his lips mated to the softness of hers, the stroke of his tongue a request. She opened her mouth—her soul—to him. She slid her hands up over his well-muscled shoulders, pulling him closer, allowing herself for the first time to believe in the dream even as she succumbed to the last niggle of conscience that demanded she give him one last out. “It won’t be easy. Kids can be tough.”

  “Relax, Sass.” He kissed her once, twice, separating their mouths a millimeter, his breath mingling with hers as he whispered. “I’m marrying you, not your kids.”

  And that easily her dream shattered.

  Chapter Three

  Sass made it home the next day just in time to put the kids to bed.

  “Hi, Mommy!” CJ launched himself at her as she came in the door. She caught all fifty-eight pounds of his strong body to her, feeling the same delight she had the day he was born. He smelled of soap and orange juice and chocolate. Obviously her mother had been spoiling the little urchins with before-bed treats.