I’d hoped she wouldn’t notice, but Elena was too smart for that. She pulled back and watched me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I moved my hand out of sight.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Ashton,” she warned, sitting up and crossing her arms over her chest. I reached my good hand up toward her face but she smacked it away. “I don’t think so. Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
Sighing, I pulled my hand out and showed her. The bruising had started to come out and dried blood caked around the cracks.
“What the hell happened?” Without waiting for an answer, she climbed from the bed and went into the bathroom. A few seconds later she brought back a damp washcloth and placed it over my hand.
“Did you just curse at me?” I laughed.
“Don’t start. What’s wrong with your hand?”
“Boy, did you get bossy.”
She narrowed her eyes at me and my cock jumped in my pants. Not once in my entire life had a demanding woman ever turned me on. Something about Elena made everything sexy—even angry. Everything was different with her.
“Your asshole husband showed up tonight and couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”
She flinched at the mention of Dominic. “What did he say?”
I shook my head, really not wanting to tell her, but I knew she’d push after the way she’d acted so far. “A bunch of shit about you that no husband should ever say about his wife. I lost it.”
“You defended me?”
“Of course I did. What would you expect?”
“I’m just not used to it.” Her eyes sparkled. “I have to say I like it. You’re not going to get in trouble are you?”
“No. My dad sent someone down to the stadium to take care of it.”
Gently peeling away the washcloth, she examined the cuts, the heat from her hands warming the cold skin, and all I could think about was those delicate fingers wrapped around my cock.
“Elena.”
Her eyes darkened but she made no move to touch me. Not once since the first time I tasted her lips had she taken the lead. Probably another fucked up thing her husband taught her.
I plunged my hands into her hair, ignoring the pain, and captured her lips with mine. The taste of strawberry mingled with the flavor of whiskey on my tongue and her hands slipped up my chest, stopping there.
Nipping at her bottom lip, I sat back on my heels and began unbuttoning my dress shirt. Her breath hitched when I popped the last one and pulled the shirt off, dropping it to the floor. Elena’s hand came forward, abruptly stopping and dropping to the bed. I caught the longing in her gaze before her eyes shifted away from me.
“Put your hands on me, Elena.”
Her head jerked up. Questioning eyes caught mine. Taking her hand from the bed, I placed it on my chest. Her eyes rounded and I needed to know how deep it went. “You’ve never touched a man?”
Her head shook, eyes filling with moisture. “Not like this. I wasn’t . . . wasn’t allowed. Dominic told me where to touch.”
Fuck.
Her hand trembled under mine as I held it against my body. Without breaking eye contact, I told her, “That man doesn’t deserve anything other than someone’s fist or a fucking branding iron. I want your hands on me anytime you want to put them on me. Unless I have you tied up.” I leaned forward and licked her quivering bottom lip. “And then, that’s only because I want to bring you to heights of unmatched pleasure.”
She moaned at my words, the sound going straight to my cock. Her body responded to me but I had a feeling if I let go she’d take her hands back, and that wasn’t happening. Using my own to guide her, we traced over the skin of my chest. I let her explore without fear. My muscles jumped when her hands grazed over my nipples. It took all of my self-restraint to keep from bucking my hips, afraid of destroying the progress we were making. Not to mention the fact I found the whole situation erotic.
When her hands continued to explore on their own, I moved mine to remove my belt and open the button on my pants. Freeing my dick, I breathed a sigh of relief. Pulling a few fast strokes, I noticed Elena’s hands had once again frozen, her eyes wide but she didn’t look shocked.
She looked aroused.
I took hold of her hand again, guiding it down my body. Our hands reached my cock and I bent forward, close to her ear.
“Touch me.”
If felt weird to have those words roll of my tongue, yet for some reason they felt right.
Her delicate fingers wrapped around my shaft and stroked lightly. Everything about it was tentative, but that just made it so—much—better. Sensation traveled everywhere, igniting a firestorm in my body and the desire to flip her to her back and plunge into her over and over again surged through me. Gritting my teeth, I kept my ass rooted to the bed.
Tonight was about Elena.
Tonight, she was in control.
Hooded, molten brown eyes watched me, her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, her breathing keeping time with each stroke. Our bodies were in sync. The atmosphere in the room turned electric, and something flipped in her gaze, and when she leaned forward and for the first time kissed me there was no way I could keep my hands completely to myself. Cupping her face, I tilted her head to gain better access to her mouth.
Passion ignited and she pushed me back onto the bed, and a low growl rumbled up my throat. She pulled back from the kiss and I opened my eyes to find hers wide, her fingers pressed to her lips.
“I—”
“Don’t stop now.”
I guided her back down. Our lips connected and the heat returned.
Suddenly she sat up again but when I opened my mouth to protest she covered my mouth with her finger. I stilled and waited for her to make her next move. Her hands went to the hem of her nightie, pulling the skimpy material over her head and letting it drop to the floor. Her panties quickly followed.
I lunged off the bed, removing the rest of my clothing and grabbing a condom from the drawer. Taking her hand, I placed the foil in her open palm and closed her fingers over it. Her nose scrunched.
“Tonight is about what you want. I want you to take control.” To show her I was serious I lay back on the bed, hands behind my head.
Her eyes searched mine. “And if I don’t want you to keep your hands to yourself?”
I laughed, my dick bobbing against my stomach with the movement. “Oh sweetheart, I have no intention of keeping my hands or any other part of my body to myself. I simply want you to take you lead. If you haven’t noticed,” her eyes followed mine as they ran down my body towards my cock, “everything you’ve done up to this point has me harder than nails.”
“Then touch me, please.”
Reaching up I cupped her breast, rubbing the pad of my thumb over her already hard nipple. A soft whimper passed her lips. Her hands landed on my chest and her leg slipped over my stomach to straddle me, the weight of her body pressing down on me only heightening the pleasure. Her wet core slid over my shaft and I had to grip the sheets to keep from thrusting up and finding my way inside her delectable body.
I noticed the glint in her eyes and knew I was in serious shit. Whatever had been holding her back before, she’d obviously pushed it to the back of her mind. Bending down she ran her tongue over my nipple.
“Oh fuck, Elena.”
Her tongue traced a path down my chest and back up, laving the other nipple with the same attention and the shocks that raced through my body had me wondering if I was going to die before the night ended. She licked back up my chest, her tongue trailing from the hollow of my throat, up my neck, until she captured my mouth. Letting my eyes slide closed, she devoured my lips, hunger and passion leading the way. Some small functioning part of my brain recognized that this is what women felt when I had their gorgeous bodies below me. Fuck, it was amazing.