Behind Closed Doors

electric shock had gone through him, pulled his hand from her mouth and began to unbutton her blouse with fingers that shook. “Goddamn buttons,” he muttered.

She laughed up at him. “You don't like my clothes, do you?”

“No, I do not. You're like a box with too much packing tape” “Poor baby. Such frustration,” she teased.

“Watch what you say, if you care about this blouse” he warned.

He got it open and flung it away, rolling her to her side to unhook her bra. He lifted it off with reverent slowness, caressing her breasts, rubbing the taut tipples against his palms. A flurry of peeling, unhooking and unzipping followed, and she lay before him naked.

He stared at her body, running his fingertips over her belly, dipping into her navel and then tangling tenderly in the soft nest of hair at her crotch. “Do you ever touch yourself?” he asked.

Raine was so startled, she couldn't reply. She stared at him, her mouth open, a hot blush sweeping up over her chest and face.

“Come on, sweetheart. Do you?” he coaxed.

“Doesn't everybody?” She tried to sound nonchalant.

“I don't give a shit about everybody. I'm interested in you.”

Her embarrassment melted away in the heat that radiated from him. “Of course,” she said simply.

“Touch yourself for me.” His voice was husky, pleading.

“But—don't you want to—”

He pressed her hand against the hot bulge in his black jeans. “God, yes. The next time. But first I want you to open up for me, all on your own. No pushing.” He settled between her legs and pushed her thighs wider. “Check me out, Raine,” he murmured “Civilized self-control personified. Didn't think I was capable of it, did you?”

“Is this another one of your power games?” she demanded.

“No way. It's a gift. To make up for hitting me.”

She shook with nervous laughter, and tried to wiggle away from him and his wicked satyr's smile. “Damn you, Seth. That's not fair.”

He lunged for her, grasping her waist and holding her still. “Please, Raine,” he said softly. “You're so beautiful. And it's so intimate, so secret. I'm starving for it. Show me that you trust me that much.” He dropped a gentle kiss on her belly, her hip, and let his hands slide, slowly and lovingly, all the way down the length of her thighs. He gripped her knees and pushed them wide again. “I want to know what goes through your head, what you fantasize about. I want to see that beautiful cunt get flushed and hot and soft and delicious. I want to watch you make yourself come. That's my idea of heaven.”

She couldn't answer, couldn't speak. He reached for her hand and pressed her fingers gently against her sex. “Show me.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and did as he asked, shy at first, but his magic was so potent that her inhibitions melted down into hot, sweet syrup. Her bedroom disappeared. They could have been anywhere; floating together in the silent heart of a white orchid, swimming in a tropical sea. She abandoned herself to the dance of shifting energy between them. He taunted her with his eyes, with his rigid self-control. She taunted him with her body and her desire.

A fierce, joyful power swelled inside her. She played with the soft, secret folds of her sex, her body arching and heaving, offering him everything. The feeling unfurling inside her no longer terrified her. It was a burning cloud that expanded in her chest, her belly, in her womb. Hotter, higher, brighter. She wanted to push him to the very edge of his self-mastery, but still he sat there, watching and waiting. His eyes glittered, feverish. Flags of hot color burned on his high cheekbones.

'Tell me what you're thinking now,” he demanded.

“I'm not thinking. I'm feeling,” she said shakily.

“What do you feel?”

“You.” She slid her fingers inside herself and writhed.

“What am I doing to you?”

“You're ... touching me. Kissing me.”

“Am I licking you?”

“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes.” Her hips began to jerk, frantic.

“And now?” His voice was low, hypnotic. “Is my cock inside you?”

“Please, Seth—”

“Am I fucking you now?”

“Yes!” She moved faster, following the swelling surge of pleasure.

“Say it,” he told her. “Say the words. What am I doing to you?”

“You're ... inside me. You're fucking me,” she gasped. The crude words launched her, made it all burst and fly apart.

She cried out and dissolved, shivering all over.

She rolled onto her side and curled up, panting. Reality slowly crept back, and along with it, embarrassment at what he must think of her. Displaying herself like that. She felt more vulnerable than ever.

Which had surely been his intent.

Her eyes flew open at the sound of his belt unbuckling, his fly unzipping. He peeled the black shirt off his lean, beautifully muscled torso, and flung the garment away. He pried off his boots and socks, tossing them into the corner, and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans. He smiled at her wickedly. “My turn.”

She licked her lips. “You're driving me nuts, Seth.”

He pulled his jeans and underwear off. His penis sprang out, jutting hungrily towards her. He sprawled next to her, pulling her against him. “Is that good or bad?”

She put her arms around him tentatively. “I don't know yet,” she said in a small voice.

“I didn't push you that time,” he protested. “You did it ail yourself.”

“Yes, you did too push,” she said quietly, petting the thick muscles of his shoulders. “I don't think you even know what it would feel like not to.”

He slid his arm behind her shoulders, pressing his hard chest against her breasts. His eyes were wary and troubled, “So you think I'm, uh, weird in bed, then?”

Raine almost laughed at the doubt in his voice, but stopped herself just in time. “I don't have any basis for comparison,” she said softly.

His arms tightened. He kissed her forehead. “Keep it that way.”

She ran her hands over the ridges of his muscular back, exploring him with eager, fascinated fingers. “Besides, this isn't a bed,” she pointed out.

“You can't see the mirror from the bed,” he said. “I like the mirror. It's another great view of your gorgeous, bare-ass naked body.”

She looked at the mirror, and blushed again. He followed her gaze, rolling onto his side and pulling her against him so that her backside was pressed against his hard, hot penis. He nudged her legs open, crooking her knee, and slid his hand between her legs with a low, rumbling groan of pleasure. “Beautiful,” he said. “You're ready now. Ask me for exactly what you want, Raine. Come on. Out with it”

She closed her eyes and pressed herself back against his bold caress. “Why do you do this to me, Seth?” she pleaded “You've always got something to prove. It makes me feel vulnerable.”

He nuzzled her ear, pulled her earlobe between his teeth and nipped it. “Face it, babe. You are vulnerable.”

His tone infuriated her, as if he were stating something too obvious to bother mentioning. She tried to pull away from him, but he just pushed her flat onto her belly and rolled on top of her.

He locked eyes with her in the mirror. “Too weird for you, huh?” His voice challenged her, soft and taunting. “You'd like it better if I was a nice, tame, normal guy?”

He pushed her thighs apart and slid his finger inside her. She strained beneath his weight with a soft moan. He slid his hand out and thrust again, with two fingers, deeper. Preparing her.

She couldn't think, couldn't speak, clenching around his fingers. “I like the way you are,” she admitted, in a halting voice. “But I don't know how to give you what you want. It's a language I don't speak.”

He bit her neck. “It's not that complicated. I just want you to know what you want. So I can be sure that I'm