The chuckle turned into a growl, and I bit my lip as I glanced down at his pulsing d.i.c.k. Next time, I promised myself. Next time, I would trace every vein with my tongue. This time, I simply wanted to drive him close to the edge.

I gripped him with my right hand then lowered my head and ran my tongue over the thick head of his c.o.c.k. As I stroked upward, a drop of his pre-c.u.m beaded on the tip and I was quick to lick it away. I loved the taste of him!

I was clumsy, my teeth nipping him from time to time as I took him deep into my mouth. I thought I was hurting him, but he only groaned and begged me not to stop. "Best I've ever had!" he ground out. "Love your little mouth!"

I could feel him growing bigger with each pa.s.sing minute. But I wanted him to come with me, like the last time we had been together.

"Harper!" he cried when I stopped and straddled his waist.

"Tell me you're clean," I commanded. It was the only thing stopping me from taking what I wanted right that instant. I had to make sure he wasn't going to give me something from his years of hard-core s.e.x with random girls.

"Yes. Em makes us all get tested every three months. I just had a complete physical two months ago." His hands gripped my waist, holding on tight. "There hasn't been anyone since I've met you, baby."

"Good." I covered his hands, squeezing his fingers as I told him what I wanted. "I want you inside of me, Shane. I want you to take what I will only be able to give to one man."

"Oh, G.o.ds!" He closed his eyes for a moment, his hands tightening on my hips. "I want that so bad. But I don't have anything..."

I covered his lips with my fingers, stopping his flow of words. "You don't need it. I've been on the pill since I was fourteen." Painful, irregular periods had forced me to start birth-control to help with the problem.

"Are you trying to kill me, beautiful?" He flipped me so fast that I squealed. Chuckling, he kissed my lips quick and hard. "I've never been with a girl without a condom. Never. So this will be a first for me too."

I thought that he would take me then and there, especially when he had been so close just a few moments ago. Instead, he kissed me. His hands cupped both of my b.r.e.a.s.t.s as his tongue tangled with mine. I loved kissing Shane and the way he could make that one simple, intimate act seem so soul consuming.

His c.o.c.k was lying heavily on my stomach, hot and damp from his own liquid desire as it wept for me. I skimmed my fingertips over the thick head, delighting in his shivers.

He broke away from the kiss long enough to say, "Easy, baby. I'm holding on by a thread here. Too much of your soft hands and I won't be any good to you for a good twenty minutes."

Not wanting any length of a delay to stop him from becoming a part of me, I dropped my hands down on either side of me and gripped the sheets to keep from touching him again. Shane grinned and returned to kissing me. His hands stroked up and down my sides, traveling farther and farther with each downward stroke.

When his thumbs reached my pelvic bone, he kept going. Down, down, down until his index finger spread my lips. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out, remembering that I had roommates that would be sure to critique our love session come morning. His thumb was doing things that were driving me to the edge of madness, and I swallowed my screams with difficulty.

"I don't want to hurt you, beautiful," he breathed against my ear. "I need you to come for me, baby. Need your pretty p.u.s.s.y drenched with your sweet liquid heat so I'll fit just right inside you."

I thought that I hated dirty talk. It had always embarra.s.sed me in the past when my friends would start talking like that, but Shane's dirty mouth only added fuel to the flames licking deep inside of me. Licking my lips, I arched against his talented fingers, rocking my hips in time to his thrusting hand.

His lips left mine, nearly swallowing my breast as he sucked my nipple into his hot mouth. I could feel myself getting closer, closer, so much closer! His thumb pressed down and moved in tight little circles, making me wetter.

My thighs tensed and I threw my head back, unable to hide my pleasure as I cried his name. As I came around his fingers, he thrust deeper, breaking through my barrier. There was an intense burning as he broke my hymen with his fingers, but the pleasure he was giving me took away from the discomfort.

As soon as the barrier was gone, he pulled his fingers away and lifted himself onto his knees. I was still half-lost in the high of coming apart from just his fingers. I got a quick look at how damp his c.o.c.k was from his pre-c.u.m before he was pushing it inside me. It was a tight fit, like a puzzle piece being forced into place. Before he was halfway inside of me, he was cursing and grinding his teeth.

"You feel like Heaven!" His hands gripped each a.s.s cheek, spreading me wider so he could slide deeper. My walls clung to him like a damp glove. I began to ache, the burn growing worse as he pushed farther, rocking back and forth to ease his pa.s.sage.

"Shane..." I could only whisper his name, still breathless from my o.r.g.a.s.m and the pain that I was starting to feel.

He must have seen something in my eyes that told him I wasn't enjoying this as much as he was. Shane stopped. He held himself completely still inside of me. Licking his thumb, he used it to rub across my c.l.i.t, making little sparks of pleasure fire through my s.e.x. Soon I was falling apart for him, and he started rocking his hips again.

I could tell he was having a hard time holding back, but he was doing it for me. His jaw was clenched so hard I was sure he'd break some teeth, but he kept his thrusts slow and tender. My emotions rose and choked me. Shane was making my first time so wonderful, so memorable. Even as my inner muscles clenched around his thick length, coming for him again, a tear escaped my eyes.

"Har-per?" He broke my name in half as he raised a trembling hand to wipe away my tear. "Hurting you?"

I shook my head. "No! It's just... This is so beautiful," I whispered.

"Yeah, it is. It is beautiful when two people feel this deeply for each other." He kissed my lips, his hips rocking a little faster now as I sensed his climax building.

I thrust my fingers into his unkempt hair, locking gazes with him as I felt him growing longer, harder, and thicker. Wrapping my legs around his waist to hold him deep inside, I watched in fascination as his eyes turned more gray than blue and he went still above me. That's when I felt it-felt the thick spray of his release, felt his shaft twitching as he came apart deep inside of me.

His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell across me with a shout of my name. "Love you," I thought he muttered against my ear before he went limp.

Chapter 13.

Shane Late summer sunlight peeked through the blinds. Grunting, I snuggled against the warm body resting against my own. When my movements made Harper mumble a protest, I grinned and kissed her shoulder.

"Morning, beautiful."

"Go back to sleep," she commanded. "There is no way I'm getting up this early."

Laughing softly, I glanced at the alarm clock across the room by Lana's bed. It was after ten. "The morning is nearly over, love," I informed her.

She turned over to face me, and my breath caught in my lungs. This was how I always wanted to picture her...No makeup to hide her beauty from me. No gla.s.ses or contacts to hinder the natural color of her eyes. Caramel blonde hair spread out around her, tousled from our night of lovemaking. No clothes to hide that glorious body from me.

The small glare she gave me only added to her appeal, and my body was already responding. "If you want to keep your fingers in prime working order, Shane, then you had better shut your s.e.xy mouth and go back to sleep. Or get up. Whichever keeps you quiet long enough for me to go back to sleep for a few more hours."

I flexed my fingers in front of her face, taunting her before using them to tickle her. She screamed then started giggling as I attacked unrelentingly. "Get your beautiful a.s.s up, woman!" I was the one making the demands this time.

"Make me!"

My d.i.c.k twitched at her provocative words, and I stopped moving. She went completely still when she felt how hard I was against her stomach. Violet eyes turned to indigo and I was lost. "I'm going to love you again, Harper."

Her eyes dilated with the pleasure my words brought her, her little pink tongue coming out to moisten her lips. "O-okay."

"I'll be gentle," I promised, knowing she had to be more than a little sore after the way I had taken her last night. Being gentle hadn't ever been something I excelled at. I liked it rough, fast, and more often than not, hard-core. But for my Harper, I would give her anything and everything she needed.

"I know you will." Her soft reply and the look of complete trust in her beautiful eyes made a lump form in my throat, and I had to clear it a few times before I could breathe again.

Wanting to taste her, I kissed her lips, sucking her readily offered tongue deep into my mouth. I loved how her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were just barely a handful, the way her pebble hard nipples rubbed against the palm of my hand. The way she kissed me harder when I pinched those sensitive little nubs drove me mad.

Her legs spread for me without any coaxing. I fit so perfectly against her, my d.i.c.k sliding between her lips, rubbing her wet little p.u.s.s.y without entering her. She was dripping, her p.u.s.s.y flooding with her arousal more and more with each stroke of my c.o.c.k moving up and down between her folds. The kiss continued, her moans escaping from time to time as we came up for air, and then we went back to making love with our tongues.

When I knew that I couldn't hold back much longer, I flipped us so that I was lying on my back and she was straddling my thighs. With trembling hands, she pushed her hair away from her face. I lifted her hips until her sweet p.u.s.s.y was right over the tip of my c.o.c.k. Her thighs were already trembling, and I swallowed my groan as the head of my d.i.c.k slipped between those wet folds.

"You can take me as deep as you want like this, baby," I told her, guiding her down just a little more.

She pressed her soft hands to my chest to steady herself and took more of me. I released my hold on her, scared that I would force myself deeper than she could take. With my fists clenched at my sides, I let her have complete control over our lovemaking.

G.o.ds, she was beautiful! The way her hair was tossed back, except for a few strands falling into her eyes. Her body honey kissed with a summer tan. t.i.ts heaving as she panted. Flat stomach quivering with each rock of those glorious hips. And that p.u.s.s.y! The way her lips were spread just enough to let me see her c.l.i.t and how it flowered in arousal.

Another inch brought her almost halfway down my d.i.c.k. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bounced as she lifted and slid back down again. With each downward stroke of her tight p.u.s.s.y, she took more of me. I felt her muscles already tightening around me, letting me know that she was close.

She wasn't the only one. I was barely holding on, ready to blow inside of her at any moment.

When she was finally able to take all of me, I cried out in triumph. "Don't f.u.c.king move or I'm going to explode."

"Do it!" she commanded, just as I felt her inner walls begin to spasm around my c.o.c.k.

She didn't move, didn't have to. Just the feel of those contracting muscles was enough to shoot me to the stars.

After we showered together, I left Harper to dress while I went in search of the coffee I had smelled earlier. I expected one or both of her roommates to be up, but neither were present when I walked into the kitchen in nothing but a pair of basketball shorts Lana had stolen from Drake the year before. I knew she had some of his clothes and found them easily in her pajama drawer.

Although I didn't find Linc or Dallas in the kitchen, there was a note on the coffee pot, scribbled in what had to be Dallas's curvy writing. I frowned as I lifted the yellow sticky note.

Glad you had fun with the rocker! Didn't take you for a screamer, Harp. Haha. But anyway... Keep your phone off, okay? Mommy dearest has been calling all morning. She and the evil stepb.i.t.c.h are in town again and want to suck up your happy feelings.

As I read the last line of the note, the cordless beside the coffeepot on the counter rang. My mind on what Dallas had said in the note, I didn't even bother to think about who could be calling as I lifted the phone to my ear. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Linc?" a female voice I didn't recognize questioned.

"Nope. This is Shane. Linc isn't here right now." I turned around just as Dallas came walking into the kitchen. Her hair was a mess and the pajamas she wore looked like they were about three sizes too big. "Can I take a message?"

"Oh, no. I don't want to talk to Linc anyway." The tone was sweet and young sounding. "Would Harper happen to be around?"

"Nope again." I was pretty sure who was on the phone, having read Dallas's note. "But this is her boyfriend, so I'll be happy to let her know you called."

A fist hit my arm and I shot Dallas a glare, rubbing at the sore spot she had just made. f.u.c.k, that girl didn't play fair... "Don't go there!" she whispered fiercely.

I ignored her. The silence on the other end of the phone was noticeable. "h.e.l.lo? You still there?"

A sweet laugh, one that sent a chill down my spine came over the line. I knew that kind of laugh well. Sociopathic b.i.t.c.hes had warmed my bed for so many years which made me an expert. "Yes, sorry. You just surprised me is all. So... Harper has a boyfriend? My little stepsister didn't mention you the last time I spoke with her."

I bet! "We haven't been dating that long, so she probably hasn't had the chance."

"Well then, we have to get together and get to know one another. I am just dying with curiosity about you." Dallas was slinging coffee mugs around now, and I shot her a look that told her to be quiet. Of course she ignored me! "You should have dinner with me and Mother tonight. And make Harper come too, darling. I didn't get to see my sweet sister the last time I was in town and I'm only in town for a few more days..."

"Sure." I told her the name of the restaurant that I knew Harper liked and asked her to meet us at seven. "Sound good?"

"Fantastic!" Ariana Calloway cried. "See you tonight, darling."

I replaced the phone and picked up my coffee cup. "Stop talking to yourself," I said.

"You have no idea what you just did, do you?" she exploded. "Way to f.u.c.k up a good thing, rock star!"

I froze, her words squeezing at my heart for some reason. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that as soon as Harper finds out that you are having dinner with Ariana and Monica you will be out the door so fast your head will spin," she a.s.sured me. "News flash, stupid! Harper's mom and evil stepsister are only after one thing. To hurt and humiliate Harper to feel good about themselves."

I had already guessed that much. I knew that Harper had a self-esteem problem, knew that someone had-and still-made her feel like she wasn't beautiful. After reading Dallas's note to Harper, I now knew exactly who it was that had filled her head with such bulls.h.i.t. And just as I had promised myself, I was going to rip them apart for doing that to her. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"Oh yeah?" Dallas demanded, but I saw a flash of something like hope mixed with a little admiration in her blue eyes.

"Yeah." I took a long swallow of my coffee then sat the mug aside. "Just don't tell Harper about that call, okay? I'm going to deal with this once and for all."

Harper I was pulling on my sandals when my phone rang. I frowned at the screen then had to swallow my squeal of delight and excitement when I saw who it was from.

During the last few weeks I had been getting more and more offers from Rock America for freelance jobs. But the last time I had talked to the editor, he had told me that he had a position opening up and that he was really considering me for the job. I hadn't really let myself think about it simply because I didn't want to get my hopes up.

But if he was calling me now that had to mean something major... Right?

I picked up my phone and hit connect, my heart shaking my chest from excitement.

Rock America was a major magazine that was published monthly but also had web publications weekly. The magazine was based in California, but its journalists could work from anywhere. The editor told me again how much he liked my work, especially my photos. Then he made me an offer I really couldn't turn down...

Fifteen minutes later I left my room feeling as if I was walking on air. I wanted to tell Shane and share my news. When I found him in the kitchen with Dallas, some of my excitement evaporated. I could feel the tension in the air, knew that they had been arguing. Dallas and Shane normally got along well.

"What's going on?" I asked, standing in the kitchen doorway and glancing from my best friend to my boyfriend.

I saw the hard look that Shane gave Dallas and the glare she shot at him before forcing a smile. "Nothing. Just being my usual morning b.i.t.c.hy self."

Knowing my friend like I did, that excuse more than explained the tension in the air. I could only imagine the treatment Shane had to withstand while I was talking to my new boss. "Try not to bust his b.a.l.l.s so much," I told her with a warning frown.

"I'll do my best," she a.s.sured me with a grin, which told me that she wasn't going to try at all.

Rolling my eyes at her, I crossed to Shane and wrapped my arms around him. "Guess what?" I commanded with a grin.

I felt the tension leave him and he dropped a kiss on the end of my nose. "What, baby?"

"I just accepted an offer from Rock America!" I squealed.

"Baby, that's great." He pulled me close, holding on tight. "I knew you could do it!"

"That's great news, Harp!" Dallas exclaimed from across the kitchen. "We should celebrate."

"Yes, definitely." I nodded, liking the idea. "Maybe drinks later?"

"After a celebration dinner." Shane kissed my lips lingeringly, and I almost forgot what we had been talking about by the time he pulled back. "I want to take you out."

Behind me I heard Dallas mutter something under her breath and then she spoke up. "Linc and I will meet you two later at the club then."

"Sounds good." I shot her a smile. "We're going to check on Lana. Want to come?"