Worth the Risk Read online

  “Yeah.” Saturday night was always pretty bad, but something must’ve been going on to make it this extreme. “You can stay here for as long as you like. I’ll have Donny take you home.”

  She turned to face him, her eyes wide as she stared up at him. “You won’t come with us?”

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Ah, innuendo. One of his favorite flirtation tactics.

  “I—there are a lot of things I want.” She bent her head and stared at the floor. “Things that I shouldn’t want, that I can’t really have.”

  Unable to resist, he reached out, tipped her chin up with two fingers. “Who says you can’t have what you want?”

  “But those—things are bad for me,” she whispered.

  He trailed his thumb across her chin, the tip of it just brushing the edge of her bottom lip. She believed him bad for her. She was probably right. “You won’t know unless you try.”

  “I did try. Once. Briefly.” She caught her lower lip with her teeth, and the last remnants of his defenses came crumbling down. There was no reason whatsoever that should stop him from making this woman his—at least for tonight.

  Unless the woman herself told him he should stop. Above all else, he respected women. Particularly this one.

  “Too brief,” he murmured just before he closed in on her and pressed his mouth to hers.

  The kiss was simple, downright chaste, and he didn’t push. Kept it sweet, kept his hands off her with the exception of his fingers beneath her chin. Once he settled his hands on her sexy body, he was done for.

  Hell, he was barely hanging on to his control with a brief kiss.

  Their mouths parted, reconnected, her lips opening more with every little kiss. He stepped closer, moving his fingers so he could stroke her petal-soft cheek. Carefully, with the restraint of a saint, he touched his tongue to the center of her bottom lip, then slipped it inside her mouth…brushed his tongue against hers.

  A whisper of a sigh escaped her, and she stepped fully into him, her arms sliding around his neck, her hands clutching the back of his head. The feel of her body close to his, the way she touched him, kissed him, moaned for him…

  That did it. The restraint slipped from him like iron shackles being wrenched from his arms and legs after being locked up for an eternity. He was free. Free to touch her, free to do all the things he’d wanted to do to her for months.

  He wound his arm around her waist and hauled her against him, his other hand slipping ‘round so he could cradle the back of her head. He held her there, completely in his embrace, thoroughly searching her mouth with his tongue. Pressing his groin against her so she could feel exactly what she did to him.

  Breaking the kiss first, he stared down at her flushed face, her swollen, damp lips. She breathed heavily and blinked open her eyes, confusion swirling in their green depths. “Why did you stop?”

  Hunter smiled. He loved hearing her say that. “Was that bad for you?”

  She blinked, a slow sweep of thick, dark eyelashes and she tightened her hold on him. “Was what bad for me?”

  “The kiss. Our kiss.” He bent and took her mouth again for good measure. “Was that a terrible idea? Do you want me to stop?”

  “Will you still respect me in the morning if I say no, I don’t want you to stop?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

  Triumph filled him to overflowing. “Of course I would, Gracie. If you told me to stop right now, five minutes from now, hell, ten minutes from now, I’d do it. I’d never push you into something you don’t want to do.”

  A smile curved her lips. It was genuine; it lit her eyes and made them sparkle. Her entire face glowed, and a secret thrill pulsed through him.

  He’d made her feel that way. He was the reason she was smiling and looking so pleased with it all.

  She leaned in close, her lips at his ear, her breath hot when she spoke. “Then take me to your bedroom, Hunter. Do it now before I chicken out.”

  He couldn’t resist that sultry whispered command.

  Without hesitation, he bent and gathered her in his arms, giving her lush bottom a pinch when she offered a halfhearted protest and begged him to put her down. He strode down the hall toward his bedroom, kicking the door open before he entered.

  “Your wish is my command, my lady,” he said with all seriousness. “Whatever you shall desire, I promise to make come true.”

  He sounded like a corny ass, but he meant every single damned word.

  Chapter Four

  His bedroom was large, the bed massive, not that she would expect anything less from Hunter Worth. He dropped her onto the bed, her butt bouncing on the mattress, and she scrambled backward, propping herself on the mound of pillows. She watched as he came down on all fours, crawling so he hovered above her.

  Her entire body tingled from the way his hot gaze raked over her. The dress she wore had risen when she fell, stopping at mid-thigh, and he eyed her exposed legs with particular interest.

  “I’ve waited for this—forever,” he confessed before he kissed her again.

  And oh, the man could kiss. His lips and tongue could be declared lethal weapons, since they demolished multiple brain cells. She could feel them explode within her head with every stroke of his tongue, every assured, lingering press of his mouth.

  Gracie couldn’t resist touching him, running her hands across his shoulders and chest, along his strong arms, down his broad back. He was so big, his body covered hers completely, and when she felt his hand slip between her legs and stroke her inner thigh, she gasped in anticipation.

  He tore his mouth from hers to stare down at her, his hand moving higher. Higher still. His fingers brushed the front of her panties, feather-light, barely there. His gaze never left hers as he stroked.

  Her entire body trembled and her legs were like jelly. She lay there, completely immobile, her breath leaving her lungs in irregular spurts. He teased, damn him, and a smile lit up his face as he continued to watch her.

  “Spread your legs, Gracie,” he whispered, and she did as he asked automatically, spreading them as wide as she could within the confines of her dress. His touch grew firmer, a hard press against her sex and she shuddered.

  “You want this as bad as I do, don’t you?” His voice lowered to a husky murmur and his eyes were hooded, his entire expression slumberous. He slipped his hand beneath her panties, his fingers brushing against her damp curls, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Tracing the seam of her sex with his index finger, he drew it back and forth, pressing harder with each pass until finally he parted her lower lips.

  Dipping his finger into her wet sex, he searched her sensitive folds, his gaze heating when he slipped two fingers deep within her. She cried out, unable to hold back, and he smiled his encouragement.

  “Close?” His murmured question was accompanied by a more firm touch. He drew circles upon her clitoris. Tighter and tighter they grew, and shimmers of pleasure shot through her. She’d never had a man watch her so closely, so carefully looking for her reaction, and she tossed her head back and closed her eyes, moaning when he quickened his pace even more.

  “So—close,” she finally whispered, lifting up her head and opening her eyes so she could look at him.

  Extremely close. She was about to come any second if he kept that pace up. He teased and taunted, his fingers working a sensual magic on her, and embarrassingly soon she was coming apart under his expert touch. Her entire body bowed, and she threw her head back against the pillows again as she cried out in ecstasy.

  He dropped a quick kiss on her lips, then stood, shedding his clothes with a ruthless efficiency that was impressive. She watched him, her body still quivering, new surges of delight coursing through her at first sight of his bare chest, his legs, his…oh, my.

  She widened her eyes and swallowed hard, drinking him in unabashedly. A naked Hunter Worth was quite the sight to behold. His arms were lean, defined muscles that radiated power, his broad chest lightly covered with dark hair th
at she yearned to touch. Flat belly with a hint of the washboard and a trail of dark hair that led from just beneath his navel to the most impressive erection she’d ever witnessed.

  Heaven help her, she wanted to lick that intriguing little trail of hair until it led her to the promise land. His cock jutted toward her, thick and with a drop of liquid clinging to the tip.

  A wave of emotion swept over her, strong and overwhelming, and her nipples tightened in anticipation.

  His gaze dropped, as if he’d noticed that subtle change in her body, and she pressed into the mattress, sighing when he settled over her once more.

  “So pretty,” he whispered as he dipped his head and swiped first at one nipple with this tongue, then at the other. “I could taste you all night.”

  She didn’t want that, no matter how good, how perfect it sounded. She would demand her equal time if she had to, but he ignored her pitiful attempts at a struggle. He had her good and pinned, wrapping his big hands around her wrists like shackles and holding her arms above her head. The position thrust her chest out toward him, and he bent over her, continuing his sensual assault on her nipples and breasts.

  She whimpered at each pass of his velvety hot tongue. Cried out when he bit her nipple with the sharp edge of his teeth. Bucked hard when he sucked and nibbled on her flesh in a continuous rhythm he used to drive her mad with need.

  It worked. She was out of her mind with it, another orgasm barreling down on her with the intensity of a high-speed train rolling off the rails.

  He slipped his hand between her legs once more, rubbing, thrusting. She ground against him with frenzied moments, absolutely out of control, but she didn’t care. Too eager to claim the second orgasm that swept over her and sent her over the edge of bliss.

  Crying out, she shuddered against his hand, his lips still wrapped around her right nipple. Still in the throes of her climax, he briefly left her, rolling on a condom with jerky, shaking movements before he thrust inside her. Filled her to bursting, her inner walls still trembled, pulsating around his thick, hot erection while he began to thrust.

  “Couldn’t wait,” he muttered, his voice ragged, his chest heaving against hers as he pounded within her so hard she moved up the bed. Inch by rough inch she moved up, up the mattress, and she opened her eyes. Watched in fascination while the big, carefully controlled man she was used to seeing day in and day out lost complete and utter control buried inside her body.

  Triumph surged through her, and she grasped his shoulders, wound her legs around his hips so he sank deeper inside her. They groaned in unison, Gracie clinging to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her fingers in his hair and tugged his head down, their open mouths meeting, tongues tangling. Panting, moaning, moving faster and faster until she broke away from their kiss, opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

  He paused, their gazes meeting, and lowered his brows. “What?”

  “I can’t smile at you?” She was having a total surreal moment, naked with Hunter, in his bed, wrapped up in his arms and having sex with him.

  It was, in a word, insane.

  And something she never, ever expected to happen, even if she’d nurtured a crush on him for months. Even after that one fateful night at the pub when they kissed.

  She still had never expected this.

  Slowly his lips curved upward in the most luscious, beautiful smile. Dipping his head, he kissed her, soft and sweet, sending a scattering of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Within her body she felt him swell, and she tilted her hips, urging him into a slow, sensual glide.

  It only lasted for minutes. He was too close, as was she. Again, and she couldn’t believe it. Had a man ever made her come three times in one night?

  No. She’d certainly remember a feat such as that.

  Soon their bodies were slapping together as they raced toward their climax. She came first, a smaller one, not as intense as the previous two but still deliciously wondrous. Hunter held back, the tendons in his neck standing out in stark relief, his splayed hands braced on the mattress, resting on either side of her head. Everything about him was tense, and she smoothed her hands down his front, tangling her fingers in the scant chest hair that grew between his pecs.

  “Don’t hold back, Hunter,” she urged just before she lifted up and pressed a kiss to the center of his chest. His heart raced beneath her lips, and a secret smile curled her mouth. She did that to him, made his heart race, made him desperate to hold on to his control when he was so close to falling apart and letting go.

  She was glowing. Positively glowing at the realization.

  “God,” he moaned as he pumped furiously within her body. He stilled for a brief, telling second before he said her name on a ragged groan and came. He shuddered again and again, and she ran her hands up and down his back, marveling at the strength and vulnerability that he revealed to her in this moment.

  Hunter collapsed on top of her, pressing sweet, damp kisses to the side of her throat. “I’m crushing you,” he muttered and giving her one last kiss, rolled from the bed. Went into the bathroom and most likely disposed of the condom before he came back into the bedroom. Strolling nonchalantly, as naked as he pleased, he crawled into the bed and tugged the comforter over the both of them before he hauled her back into his arms.

  Lying there, stiff and unyielding, she grew more uncomfortable with each passing second. She didn’t do cuddling during the aftermath. She usually didn’t stay long in a man’s bed either. And she didn’t allow them to stay long either, kicking them out pretty quickly after the deed had been done.

  It was some sort of unspoken mutual agreement she’d never had to spell out. Did it have something to do with the men she chose as bed partners? Not that she’d had a lot. Not even a handful.

  Funny how she went from blissed out and in the zone to uncomfortable and freaked out in a matter of minutes.

  “Relax,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on her forehead. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze, forcing her to rest her head on his bare chest. “Let’s try and sleep a bit before I take you back to your place.”

  “Uh…” She trailed off when he gave her another, firmer squeeze about the shoulders.

  “Seriously, Gracie. Relax. I’m tired and I bet you are too. And I know the traffic must still be hellish. Let’s doze for an hour or so and then we’ll take you home. I promise nothing else will happen.”

  He fell asleep quickly while she lay awake in his arms, snuggled close to his too warm body. Her mind raced with unwanted thoughts, images… This wasn’t supposed to happen. She thought she was so strong, so brave, so willing to do what it took to protect herself.

  She fell apart with a few choice words and flirtatious glances. Scorching hot kisses and assured hands, fingers that knew how to bring her to orgasm in minutes…

  Frowning, she lifted her head and glanced at the clock. She should leave before they ended up doing this again. And she so couldn’t do this again, no matter how badly she secretly wanted to.

  Weakling that she was, she couldn’t help but want to be with him again. Kiss him, touch him, feel him move inside her…

  A few stolen moments with Hunter in his bed had her feeling like an addict.

  An addict who wasn’t ready to go to rehab anytime soon.

  Chapter Five

  It was difficult, avoiding the man who gave her three orgasms in one night. A night she couldn’t shake from her memories, no matter how hard she tried. Considering it had been almost three weeks ago, she guessed she could forgive herself. Sort of.

  Gracie did her best to push past it, just as she’d promised Hunter she would. She kept her attention on the brand marketing project she was currently in charge of for the upcoming Worthwhile spring line. Losing herself in the brainstorming, in the strategic planning that kept her at her desk late, night after night, that became easy. The project was exciting, the members of her small team within the marketing department beyond enthusiastic, almost
as enthusiastic as she.

  They were all young and bursting with progressive ideas to take Worthwhile that much further to the edge to appeal to the wealthy, trendy set. She was so involved with the project she had a hard time falling asleep at night, too excited to think of anything else.

  And when she finally did manage to slip into unconsciousness, she would usually dream of Hunter. Of the way he’d touched her, kissed her, looked at her every single day like they shared a delicious secret—which they did.

  She would wake up aroused, troubled. Irritated with her mind always trying to take her back to a place she had no business lingering in.

  So she threw herself into her work. He hadn’t been around much anyway. A meeting in London had taken him out of the office for the majority of last week. That had worked out best, giving her a sort of reprieve from having to deal with him.

  Not that it was a hardship, dealing with Hunter. But her emotions were still too raw after what they’d shared. And her body had a mind of its own. It positively sang with glee every time she thought of Hunter, let alone got near him.

  Yeah, she had it bad. And it could go absolutely nowhere.

  Being a Monday, it was Hunter’s first day back from his trip. He’d spent most of his time in his office, stuck on the phone, stuck behind the computer, just stuck. Not much difference on a usual Monday for him anyway, it was five times worse with his being out of town. He rarely ventured past his office walls.

  Thank goodness. She needed to keep the distance between them, more for her sanity than anything else.

  “Looking good, Gracie.”

  The voice that suddenly came from behind her was familiar, friendly, and she turned away from her desk with a smile. “Hey, Marcus.”

  One of the most valued members of the brand marketing department, Marcus Caldwell also happened to be a joy to work with. In his mid-thirties, handsome and recently divorced after a gruesomely bad marriage, he was just as dedicated to Worth as Gracie was.