Missed Connections: Stepping Out Read online

  “I know.” He balled up his napkin and dropped it on the table. “The good news is the engagement is off. Bad news is she’s still confused about what to do with him.”

  “Besides kick him to the curb?”

  He appreciated her disbelief, because he felt the same. “Besides that.”

  The waiter brought them the check.

  “Let me get this,” Conlan offered.

  But Gwen was faster. She grabbed the bill. “Nope. We’re each paying our own way, remember? Fair is fair.”

  He shrugged. “Fine.” After she’d placed her plastic down, he did the same, and the waiter took the payment. As they waited for him to return, Conlan said what he’d been dying to all evening. “So this. Us.”

  “Us?”

  “This chemistry between us. I’m not the only one feeling it, right?”

  Her cute blush returned, but instead of looking away, she kept her gaze on him as she answered, “No. I feel it too.” She cleared her throat. “What do you think we should do about it?”

  “I was thinking we could discuss it at my place over some wine.”

  “Discuss, huh?”

  Clearly a smart woman. He wanted her clothes off, his mouth over every part of her he could reach, and a few orgasms to cap off the evening.

  “Yeah, like we discussed matters in the restroom at Donton’s.” A test to see what she was made of. He had to work with her, so this wasn’t a smart move. But, damn, it had been a long time since he’d felt this kind of heat with a woman. In fact, he couldn’t remember when he’d been so attracted to someone he was only just beginning to like.

  “We still have to work together,” she cautioned, as if reading his mind. “No hard feelings or clingy drama afterward.”

  “Ah, right. Sounds good.” Sounds great.

  The waiter dropped off their receipts and returned their credit cards.

  Gwen blew out a breath. “Well, no time like the present. Let’s go. I’ll follow you.”

  He left the booth and waited for her to precede him outside. He nearly ran into her when she stopped in front of her car.

  “But I’m warning you, Conlan. No means no.”

  He smirked. “Exactly. So if I decide I can’t handle you, you have to respect my personal space and back off. Some women don’t like rejection, you know.”

  “Funny guy.”

  She put a hand on his chest, and he trapped it against him. He wondered if she could feel his heart racing. “You’re safe with me, Gwen.”

  “Am I?”

  She stared into his eyes, and before he knew it, he’d leaned down to kiss her. Like before, she tasted sweet, heady, and addicting. It took him a moment to realize they stood on a public street, and what he wanted to do to her needed privacy.

  “My place. It’s five minutes that way.” Five hellishly long minutes away.

  She nodded. “R-right. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Four

  Gwen refused to rethink her decision. She’d been hot and bothered all throughout dinner. Conlan wasn’t just sexy. He had a brain he put to good use with intelligent opinions on everything. That they liked many of the same things and had similar viewpoints on life spoke well of their compatibility. She liked that she could get snarky, and he took her attitude in stride. Not afraid of an assertive woman. Check. Amazing shoulders and chest. Check. Wants to get horizontal with me and isn’t playing games. Game, set, and match.

  She swallowed hard as she parked her car and followed him into his home, a cozy bungalow in the pricey Awbrey Butte area. The place had a warm feel to it, full of wood accents and plush furniture with Craftsman-style taste. She wanted to see more, but he moved to take her coat.

  His proximity made her edgy. Despite the short time she’d known him, he continued to affect her in huge ways. Even when she’d wanted to smack him for being a phony and a liar, she’d wanted to lick him up. The man was built like a god, had a smile to die for, and he wanted her. Could he get any hotter? They had chemistry, but more, she liked him as a person. Which made her want him even more. And after five long months of loneliness, she thought she was entitled to be a little rash.

  “I wanted to wait,” he said in a thick voice. “Show you how charming and polite I can be. But hell, Gwen. I’ve been hard all night. I want you.”

  She bit her lip, knowing she’d reached do-or-die time. Time to break her celibacy streak and get back on the horse…so to speak. “Same here.”

  He slid the jacket from her shoulders and tossed it on the couch. Then he put his hands on her waist and pulled her close, looking down at her.

  “You mind if I take the lead?”

  She shook her head, captivated when his head drew closer.

  “You on anything?” he whispered against her lips.

  She nodded. “Yeah, and I haven’t had sex in five months. What do they say in the personals? I’m drug and disease free.”

  “Me too. I’ll see your five months and raise you one. Been six months for me, and I’ve always used a condom.”

  “So it won’t be a problem when you use one tonight.” A test.

  “Not at all.” His smile grew, and he gave her a soft kiss that lit her up from the inside out. “I’m glad I have more than one, because we’re going to need them.”

  Knowing he wanted her gave her ego a boost, as well as turned her desire on full throttle. “Kiss me again. We’ll see if you can earn the right not to use one,” she teased.

  His eyes seemed to darken. “Oh, a challenge. I accept.” And then he kissed her again.

  She clung to his biceps as he teased with his mouth. So hot and hard, sliding into her as if he used his whole body. His tongue penetrated in slow increments, sweeping into her mouth as if he owned it. Then she stroked his tongue with her own, and he groaned and pulled her tightly against him, mashing her breasts against the hard planes of his chest.

  “So good,” he whispered as he slid his mouth from hers, kissing his way down her throat. His hands came up between them, but instead of getting grabby, he glided over her T-shirt, learning her curves with deliberate strokes.

  She gasped when he covered her breasts with his large palms and held her, his touch brushing over her nipples.

  “Yeah. I want to suck on these,” he admitted and teased a spot just under her ear.

  She shot up onto her toes when he sucked hard, loving the foreplay.

  “We’re going to have a lot of fun tonight,” he promised and pulled back. He took off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt, but before he could toss it aside, she stopped him.

  “No, let me.” She parted the shirt, revealing a broad expanse of muscle. Unlike the shaved models on so many magazines, he had a sprinkle of chest hair, which added to his appeal. She scraped her nails across his pecs, flicking his nipples, and he swooped down to kiss her until she couldn’t think.

  Before she knew it, her shirt and bra were gone, and his hands were busy working her jeans down her hips.

  “Fuck. Take off your shoes and jeans. Now.”

  She kicked off her shoes and removed the rest of her clothes while he did the same. It should have been awkward, standing stark naked in front of a man so good-looking, but she was too caught in lust to care. Then too, he didn’t blink as he stared at her, and his erection told its own story.

  “Damn. We need to slow down. If I get inside you right now, I’ll come.”

  “So sad.” She drew her hand over his belly and ran a finger down the thin trail of hair leading to his cock.

  He hissed, and his amazing abs contracted as she grazed him from root to tip, sliding her finger over his wet slit. He grabbed her hand and jerked it up.

  “Didn’t I say slow down?”

  The suddenness of his action took her aback. “Well, that was…forceful.” And totally sexy. From the glint in his gaze, she could tell he liked the control.

  “Too forceful?”

  “Ah, no.” She swallowed hard, and he smiled. She felt herself blush and wished she could tu
rn off her emotions and just experience sensation.

  “Christ. Figures you’d be into my kind of kink too.” He groaned and pulled her close again, this time gripping both her wrists behind her back with one hand. “Now, my personal pain in the ass, let’s play.”

  “Hey.” She gave a tentative struggle and found his hold more than firm. God, he was good.

  “Oh yeah.” He ground his cock against her belly, enough to show her he meant business. “You are a huge pain. You make me hard, and I can’t focus when I think about you. Writing my last column about killed me, because while you pissed me off, I wanted nothing more than to sink inside you.”

  “Oh.”

  He gave her a mean smile, and with his other hand, he took one of her breasts and tweaked her nipple. “Yeah, oh.” Then he bent and took the taut nub in his mouth. And sucked.

  She moaned and wobbled on her feet. “God, Conlan. Do that again.”

  He chuckled as he teethed her, then gave similar attention to her other breast. She wanted to mount him then and there, but he pulled back and stared down at her with a look that made her shake.

  “Time to find those condoms. I think we need to end this first round. Now.”

  “First round?” she asked on a breath as he let her go and nudged her ahead of him.

  “In there and lie down on the bed, with your ass at the edge. Spread your legs.”

  As she did what he said, she watched him hustle to his nightstand, from which he grabbed a condom. He had it open and on in seconds. And it made him look even bigger.

  “A little bossy, aren’t you?” she taunted.

  Instead of answering, he came to stand between her legs. “Five months, huh?”

  It took her a moment to understand his reference to her previous sexual abstinence. “Oh, um, yeah. Is that a prob—Conlan.”

  He’d dropped to his knees and planted a full kiss over her clit, sucking the nub as he licked her to an embarrassingly fast climax. Before she could breathe, he’d centered her on the bed and was over her and in her, pounding away with a thick, hot cock that brought her to a second, overwhelming, and shockingly messy climax.

  “Oh fuck. Yeah, all over me,” he groaned and shuddered inside her. “God, so hot. More,” he ordered as he came, his face beautiful in climax.

  The agony of his pleasure seared itself in her mind’s eye, and she knew she’d have an image to play with for the rest of her life. No matter how much of a jerk he might turn out to be, in this instance, he was the picture of perfection.

  She clung to his forearms while he pumped a few more times inside her.

  When he stilled and opened his eyes, they stared at each other in shock, which turned to embarrassment for her when she realized what a mess she’d made.

  “Oh, I, uh—”

  He kissed her, his enthusiasm more than enough to rev her motor again. When he stopped and pulled back, she had no idea what to say or think.

  “Jesus,” he said on a breath. “I am so glad I didn’t know you could get so wet when I thought you were a skank.”

  “Um, thanks?” She laughed through her embarrassment. “Mr. Romantic you ain’t.”

  He flushed. “That was bad, wasn’t it? Fuck. I mean, shoot. You fried my brain cells.” He remained half-hard inside her, his body a work of art. “Do you have any idea how hot you are? You can’t fake that kind of orgasm.”

  Her cheeks felt hot. “Do we have to talk about it?”

  “You can’t be embarrassed.” He gaped. “Do you have no idea how incredible it is that you can do that?”

  Female ejaculation might be hot on porn sites, but she’d never considered the act all that attractive. “I’ve only done it once before.” When she’d been sexually pent up and Perry had managed not to screw up her orgasm for once. A lifetime ago.

  His broad grin took away her embarrassment. “How about we see if you can do it again?”

  “I think I need a minute.”

  “Yeah?” He slid in and out of her, moving faster as his erection returned. “Normally I need a minute too,” he rasped as he continued to fuck her. “But you’ve got me so turned on.” He thrust faster. “Can I take off the condom? Let me fuck you raw. I’ll pull out before I come. Please? I have to feel you around me.” He groaned. His forehead was slick with sweat, his breath sawing out of him with each stroke.

  “Yes.” Not the smartest answer she could have given, but like him, she had to feel more. The idea of him inside her without barriers aroused her unbearably.

  He withdrew and took off the condom, tossing it on the floor. “Look at what you do to me,” he uttered in a gravelly voice, holding himself out to her. “I just came, but I’m so hard. Gotta get inside you. So hot,” he muttered as he put the tip of himself at her entrance.

  He stared into her eyes as he pushed inside, and she moaned, entranced at how full she felt.

  “God, yes.” He fucked her with long, slow strokes, driving her crazy. “You like that? You want more?”

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to urge him to hurry. “Faster, Conlan.”

  “Touch yourself. I want you to come.” He slammed inside her again, and she arched into him. “Look at those breasts. So big, your nipples are so hard,” he rasped as he took her with more aggressive strokes.

  She put a hand between them and fingered herself, close to orgasming once more.

  “Oh yeah. Gwen, baby.”

  He closed his eyes and pumped harder, so deep she felt him at that special spot inside her that excited her past caution. Then he thrust again, and she lost control. She seized in a mind-numbing orgasm and cried out as her body and mind splintered.

  She felt a gush of moisture leave, and then he pulled out and came over her belly, gripping that thick cock as he jetted all over her.

  “Fuck. Oh yeah, get me nice and wet,” he moaned as he emptied.

  After some time, he let go of his cock and watched her with shuttered eyes.

  “Conlan?”

  “Gwen.”

  He sounded satisfied, and the sleepy grin he gave her turned her lust into something she hadn’t expected. He leaned down and caressed her mouth with the whisper of a kiss that was so much more than desire.

  When he pulled back, they regarded each other with caution.

  “What was that?” she asked, astounded and still trying to catch her breath.

  “That was us, realizing we’re going to need a round three to see if that was a lucky orgasm. Correction—orgasms. Plural.”

  She sighed to hide her happiness. “If you insist.”

  He grinned. “I think I must.”

  “I’ll go along on one condition.” She let him ease her up and off the bed.

  “What’s that?”

  “That we get clean in the process. I’m not the only one who made a mess.”

  He laughed. “You got that right.”

  * * * *

  The next morning, after his shower, as he dressed, Conlan listened to the silence in his now empty house. Good God. What a night. He hadn’t intended that they have sex so soon. Well, sure, he’d been thinking about it. But fucking Gwen, after all that had come between them, was sure to be a mistake. So why had they spent the night together?

  “I am such a bonehead.” He stared at the mess of his bed and the many layers of blankets over the leftover damp spots. And yep, like clockwork, there went his cock, turning hard at thoughts of his sexy lover.

  He missed her already, and she’d only left an hour ago, screeching at the time because she’d been due to meet her cousin for breakfast.

  This—whatever it was—between them should have been simple. Colleagues to lovers, then friends. Yet after getting to know her, he wanted more.

  Stripping his sheets and preparing for a lot of laundry, he cleaned his house and thought about the best way to deal with the woman. Work, fortunately, could wait.

  Snarky, obnoxious, beautiful, without artifice. The real Gwen Wilcox looked at him with eyes both laughing a
nd vulnerable, hard yet soft when she thought he wasn’t watching. Knowing she’d had so much pleasure with him only added to her allure. Unlike Ally, Gwen hadn’t faked her orgasms.

  Conlan groaned and smoothed down his front. “Down, boy.” Stupid cock.

  He finished puttering around the house, unable to stand clutter of any kind. Granted, he’d been called obsessive-compulsive by a few friends, but he didn’t mind. Better that than a disorganized slob.

  His cell rang, and he reached for it only to see a number he could have gone a lifetime without seeing. Knowing he needed to answer, if only to stay a step ahead for Lisa, he hit Talk. “Yes?”

  “Oh, hey, Conlan. It’s Aaron.”

  “I know. Yet I answered anyway.”

  Aaron gave a weak laugh. Asshole. “Look, I know things are shaky with your sister, but—”

  “Shaky? You’re all moved out, aren’t you?”

  Silence, then a muttered “Yeah.”

  “So go fuck as many women as you want. You’re single now. Live long and prosper.” And hopefully catch some insidious venereal disease.

  “I miss her.”

  What sounded like the truth only came out as whiny and pathetic.

  “You know, I can’t believe we were once friends.”

  “Shit. I fucked up. I know it. But I swear, before the craigslist thing, it was only that one time you knew about. Then…I got scared. We are—we were—so close to commitment. It’s… Can you come talk to me? Please? You’re so good at listening and telling me how to deal. For old time’s sake. Hell, for Lisa’s sake. And the baby.”

  The poor, poor kid. One who had Aaron as his or her father. Shit. “Fuck. Fine. I’ll meet you at Drake’s at two. Don’t be late.” He disconnected before he changed his mind.

  One good thing about talking to Aaron, at least. The jackass had ruined any more thoughts of sex for the morning.

  After seeing to his house and doing a few more edits on an article Ted had returned, Conlan sent off his finished product. Then he remembered to check out the advice column Gwen had done for the Bend Voice. An early edition this week, since the paper normally arrived on Thursday.