“Braden?”
He nuzzled her neck with his lips, wrapping his body around hers and tugging them skin to skin.
“Hmm?”
She stared up into his dark eyes, brushing her knuckles against his cheek. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”
“I’m sorry.” He rubbed their mouths together, licking a slow draw over her bottom lip. “I was…afraid. No, that’s the wrong word. I was confused and really trying to do what I thought was best. I knew how much you wanted to go away to school. I didn’t want anyone to steal that opportunity from you, not even me.”
A shot of pain went through her. It wasn’t the time or place to explain the real reason she hadn’t gone.
“I still want to go someday.” It might seem impossible right now, but there had to be a way to earn the money. Maybe it would take another year, but if that’s what it took…
Braden rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him, arranging her like a blanket over his heavily muscled chest. “I’ll do what I can to help you. You don’t have to give up your dream. The part I’m sorry for is that we could have been together for a long time.” He lifted her chin. “I know this is going to sound strange, but I was worried about having to share you with any of the merfolk. I’m still…uncertain.”
“Share me? Is that why you were chasing away the rest of the guys?”
“I still don’t think I can handle seeing you making love with another member of the pod. I know that it’s not right for me to feel jealous, but it’s a reality.”
Chelsea sat up, straddling his hips. Was he serious? She’d never dreamed that would be an issue. “Thank you for telling me, but I’m not looking for another lover.”
“Not right now, but you will. It’s normal, Chelsea, it’s a natural part of the urges you have as a merfolk. My reaction is the one that’s twisted and wrong. Tell me you’ve never had two lovers in your bed—”
“I haven’t.”
“—ah.” Braden choked off in midsentence.
Chelsea leaned over and stroked his chest, loving the feel of the ridges of muscles under her fingers. “I wasn’t a virgin, but when I said you were the one I desired, I meant it. I’ve watched and waited and downright hurt with wanting you.”
“Never?” He looked stunned. “You’ve never…”
She smoothed a finger over his lips. “Shh. You’re right, I might need someone else at some point, but for now you’re more than enough.”
She shifted slowly. The friction between their bodies heated her up and drove her crazy at the same time. Lifting her hips she reached between her legs to grasp his erect shaft, fondling the tender skin covering the head.
“Oh damn, baby. That feels freaking marvelous…holy shit.” Braden fell back with a groan, his head crashing onto the pillow.
Chelsea closed her eyes as she sank onto him, the thick girth of his cock stretching her passage. She rocked downward again and again, each motion bringing him a little deeper. Their skin rubbed together with an erotic flare, her nerve endings sensitized, and she craved more. She switched to long, smooth strokes—savoring the fullness, the sensual pressure and heat. Each propelled pleasure into her core. Braden cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples to hard points then making endless circles with his thumbs over the aching peaks.
Nothing but physical sensation remained. Her climax approached leisurely this time, the languorous pulses of her hips prolonging her building excitement. She wanted to savor every second.
“Look at me.” Braden clasped her hips to hold her still. “I want to watch you. I need to see you come this time.”
She stared down into his face. He released his grasp and let her resume control. They watched each other draw closer to climax. The room filled with the light of a million fireflies as all their tightly held emotion streamed out. Pleasure wrapped around them and tied them together until it burst in a blaze of energy. She cried out his name and he smiled, a second before his eyes closed and he came, his cock jerking within her sheath. The rapid pulses of her orgasm rolled in waves, drawing out his pleasure, setting off another series of reactions within her.
They both took deep breaths at the same time, and Chelsea laughed. She rolled off and curled up at his side.
“You going to be okay if I stay here? I’m kinda still in shock. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and this is going to all be a dream.”
Braden tucked her closer, the heat of his body enveloping her as he tugged the sheets over their naked bodies. “You just try to get away. It’s not happening.”
She settled in and relaxed, staring contentedly at his face until the lights of the room faded and she fell asleep.
Chapter Six
Jamie watched in a daze, uncertain if his blood pounded from racing up the stairs or from the sight before his eyes.
He’d left the bar as soon as he discovered Chelsea was gone. His groin ached, his body on fire ever since she’d stepped out on the stage in that excuse for a bikini. When she’d centered her attention on him, it had been enough to break him. Screw trying to make Braden jealous, he wanted her for himself. He’d slipped backstage only to find she’d already disappeared.
Finding her car in the driveway of the house was reassuring, but when he heard raised voices behind the door and couldn’t find his fricking key, he panicked. He flew around the back and up the stairs, ready to break in when he spotted Chelsea and Braden glaring at each other across the living room. Their shouted conversation confused him and he was ready to put a stop to it when everything changed. Chelsea stripped off her clothing, and involuntarily he took a step forward, drawn with a magnetic force. Shimmering blue paint covered every inch of her body and he longed to touch her, to see if a cloud of blue dust would envelop them as he buried himself in her body, burying the ache in his soul.
Then the tableau changed as Chelsea and Braden kissed and his hopes died. He knew he should turn away, leave the lovers in privacy as they wrapped around each other more and more intimately, but something held him.
He’d never thought of himself as a voyeur. His sexual escapades were tame by some standards and actual live sex shows weren’t his thing. But this, this was more than mesmerizing. Jamie slipped into the shadows, all the while his gaze fixed on the increasingly intimate performance on the opposite side of the glass. When they joined together, he swore he felt it in his own body and finally forced himself to turn away.
The journey to his car took forever, the rock-solid length of his erection making each step torturous. The drive back to the condo passed in a blur. He stumbled up the stairs, into the apartment, dropped his keys to the floor and swore, long and hard.
Damn, damn, damn. Ignoring the need pounding through him was impossible. He opened his slacks and released his aching cock. He stroked from root to tip, swiping his palm over the head and rubbing the moisture already leaking from his shaft. He couldn’t even make it as far as the bathroom, not with the images racing through his mind.
The full tantalizing rounds of Chelsea’s breasts—what he wouldn’t give to be able to weigh them in his hands. To suckle the tips like he’d watched Braden enjoy. Jamie tugged harder, wishing it had been him she’d enveloped with her wet heat. He let his head fall back against the wall with a thud, all his blood pooling in his groin. He dropped his other hand to cup his balls, tightness spreading as he increased the speed of his motions. He pictured Chelsea’s hips moving over him, her body pressed up against his. The sweet taste of her lips. Jamie angled his hips higher and thrust harder into his hand, urgent need overtaking him. His balls tightened, his total concentration on the endorphins spreading in a rush through his whole system. Release came and he groaned out her name, his seed spraying from the tip of his cock to land on the floor and his shoes in sticky strands.