Somebody to Love Read online

  She tasted so sweet! Fresh and womanly. He loved the intimacy of exploring her most precious place with his tongue and lips. Her every thought was translated in her movements and he read her with his tongue. A slight shift in her hips and he corrected, moving right or left, up or down until he had her purring like a sports car engine.

  He loved whisking her away on a sea of sensation. She was so responsive to everything he did. She tossed her head from side to side, restless and begging for more.

  Gently, he suckled her veiled hood. He ached to be inside her. To feel her pulse around him. He wanted to join her, to fly to the stars with her, but he would not. This was all about her. This was his best friend. He could not be selfish. He wanted to share everything with her. For now and forever.

  Sensing that she was edging toward ecstasy, Jericho adroitly strummed his tongue across her straining hood.

  The orgasm teased her, elusive but near. He could feel it inside her. A quivering tuning fork. A dam waiting to burst. Pressing … pressing … pressing. Closer and closer. Lifting, soaring, ready to converge.

  “That’s it, sweetheart,” he cooed. “Yes, yes.”

  Zoey let out a strangled cry, and tensed in his arms. He felt her muscles contract against his tongue. Her body glistened with perspiration.

  He moved up, wrapped his arms around her, and they lay there in the bed of the truck, sweating, shuddering, panting for breath.

  “Wow,” she said.

  “One down, eleven to go.”

  Her throaty laugh stirred a hundred different emotions inside him. He longed to linger, to cradle her in his arms, kiss her face, brush her hair from her eyes, tell her how absolutely wonderful she was. But before he could, she sat up, hair tousled, mouth grinning, and pushed him back against the bed of the truck.

  With a wicked laugh, she said, “Not yet. Now it’s your turn.”

  Chapter 18

  Direct impacts: Influences that would directly affect a site.

  BEFORE she had a chance to make a move, Jericho pulled her into his arms and kissed her solidly. No hesitation. And from the looks of it no regrets. She stared into his eyes and he into hers, and she felt the same hot, sparkly charge of sensation she felt every time he kissed her.

  No, that wasn’t entirely true. This kiss was hotter than ever and she was so thrilled to be held in his arms, to have his palms cupped against her cheeks, to simply be taking this leap from friends to lovers with him, that she wanted to holler her joy from the mountaintop.

  Finally, he ended the kiss and she nuzzled his neck, wishing she could push her body straight into his, but he wasn’t satisfied with that for long and quickly kissed her again. Blood rushed through her body, heady, dizzying, and in nothing flat she was edgy and trembling.

  “I could get seriously used to this,” he murmured.

  “Me too, but back to that other thing …”

  “What other thing?”

  “Giving as good as I got.” She kissed the hollow of his throat, his pulse warm and bounding beneath her lips.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  She canted her head at him. “I want to do it.”

  A masculine groan escaped his lips.

  She was determined to pay him in kind for the sweet thing he’d already done for her. Twice. He was the most unselfish man she’d ever known. His altruism deserved a big reward. Oh, plus she had to tell him that she was totally kidding about the dozen orgasms thing.

  Zoey wrapped her hand around his steely shaft and let out a soft sigh. “Impressive.”

  “Just wait,” he said, his silky tone both promise and threat.

  “Don’t get smart.” She wagged a finger. “Right now, your fate is in my hands.”

  She stroked her hand over him. Strange how he could be both hard as marble, and at the same time, have skin soft as velvet. She cupped his balls, and that pulled a ragged growl from his throat.

  When she went on her hands and knees, leaned over, and slowly took him into her mouth, he groaned again, louder and longer. He threaded his fingers through her hair, drew her head downward, guiding her to where he wanted her to go. She did not mind his direction, and greedily twined her tongue over his impressive length.

  “Zoey, you are so freaking hot,” he exclaimed.

  She smiled against him. He tasted salty, manly. She peeped up at him. He was gazing down at her as if she’d slid straight down from heaven on a rainbow.

  He spread his fingers lower, cupping the back of her head in his big palm. He rocked his hips, but gently, holding back. She stretched her mouth wider, folded her lips around her teeth, putting firm pressure against his shaft as she moved her head up and down at the same time she curled her tongue around the head of him.

  “Wh-what are you doing?” he gasped breathlessly.

  “Driving you crazy.”

  “Honey, I’m already insane with desire for you.”

  She shifted, stroking his shaft with one hand while her tongue did a dance over his head, flicking and twisting and making him groan all over again.

  “Wonderful as this is, I gotta be inside you, Zoe-Eyes. I want to feel myself buried deep inside you.”

  Gently, he put his arms around her waist and moved her aside as he fumbled for his jeans in the dark, finally found them and pulled out a square foil packet.

  “You carry a condom in your pants at all times?”

  “Only since that night in the lab. I would have done you then, darlin’, but I didn’t have a condom and I vowed not to let that happen again.”

  “Even with a hands-off policy?”

  “Hey, I know how tempting you are. Not the strongest man on earth could resist you forever. Besides, much like a Boy Scout, a good archaeologist is always prepared.”

  “Well, FYI, I started carrying one in my pocket as well, ever since that night, so now we have two. Double your pleasure, double your fun.”

  “My smart girl,” he praised.

  Zoey beamed.

  He rolled on the condom, and then took her in his arms for an ear-scorching kiss that spun her around and turned her upside down. The other kisses he’d given her had been spectacular, no doubt about it, but this kiss …

  This kiss crossed some kind of threshold.

  There were no words.

  Liquid gold couldn’t have been prettier or worth more. It was like a kept promise. It was the ultimate summer vacation. It was the longed-for Christmas gift. It was the opposite of overhyped. It was simply the most erotic thing she had ever experienced in the almost twenty-four years she’d spent on earth.

  His tongue was sublime, lips nectar of the gods, but what really rocked her world, were the feelings his lips and tongue and teeth stirred inside of her.

  She heard a humming deep inside her, like the sound of the earth spinning. She felt an electric tingling that raced through every nerve ending in her body. Her nipples tightened. Her skin burned. Her sex soaked instantly and she was dripping for him.

  “Zoey,” he whispered against her mouth. “You taste so damn good.”

  Did he feel it too? This wild rush of chemical reaction?

  His hand slid up underneath her back and he pulled her closer. His erection was iron against her thigh. Wherever his mouth touched—her cheek, her chin, her forehead, and her eyelids—she burned.

  The wonderful thing about sleeping with your best friend was that you knew you could trust him. You didn’t have to worry about what secrets he might be hiding when you knew him as well as you knew yourself. No fear of betrayal. No worries that he wouldn’t call you in the morning. No concerns that he’d speak of it with his guy pals.

  Blindly, without purposeful thought, Zoey lightly ran her tongue along the pounding pulse at the juncture of his throat and collarbone. How she loved his salty taste. His rugged skin tightened beneath her mouth.

  “Baby girl, baby girl, what you do to me,” he groaned. “You gotta stop or I’m going to come right now.”

  The pressure inside her was
so intense she couldn’t stand it a minute longer. Zoey tugged at him, whimpered. “I want you, I need you.”

  “Hey, Zoe-Eyes, slow down,” Jericho murmured. “You’ve got nothing to prove. You’re with me, remember?”

  “I want you inside of me,” she growled. “And I’m tired of waiting. Now. I want you now!”

  His eyes darkened. “You want it hard and fast?”

  “Yes,” Zoey demanded, and then nipped his bottom lip up between her teeth.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “We only get one first time,” he murmured.

  That made her pause. Could she delay gratification, sacrifice friction for that moment to savor? One look into his eyes and her heart melted. He was right. They could do hard and fast later.

  “Sweet,” she said. “Give it to me sweet and slow.”

  “Good choice,” he said. “I approve.”

  He pulled her to his chest and held her close and she listened to the steady strum of his heartbeat. Overjoyed to finally be in his arms the way she’d always secretly dreamed. He traced a lazy pattern over her buttocks with his fingertips. Tingles of anticipation started at the base of her neck, crept across her face, over her scalp, darted along her shoulders, trickled down her arms, and finally shuddered softly up her spine.

  Electrified by his touch, she felt like a desert flower joyfully blooming after a rare soaking rain. How had she gone for so long without this? It seemed insanity now that they’d never done this before.

  They kissed and kissed and kissed, the joining of their mouths a frenzy of happiness. This was a kiss of boundaries being crossed.

  Of old personas being shred.

  Of welcoming change with open arms.

  They melted into each other. A cloud moved over the sky, blacking out the moon and stars. But they didn’t need a light to see. They knew each other so well. They’d been emotionally intimate for years, telling each other things they’d never told anyone else. Now they were simply making it official with their bodies, a physical intimacy that completed their bond. Full circle. United. One.

  She uttered a low sound and slipped her arms around his neck. His fingers knotted in her hair, his energy blazing as hot as her own. They were tuned to the same frequency, both vibrating with heightened awareness of each other.

  The ridges and swirls in her fingertips traced the landscape of his face as they kissed; absorbing the subtle yet distinct changes in terrain from the high planes of his cheeks to the hollows below. She moved, feeling the shape of his head like a sculptor. Her fingers traveled over him, memorizing every inch. She ran her hand through his hair and traced her fingers over his beard stubble.

  So familiar and yet at the same time so strangely foreign to be here with him in this way.

  Transcended. Together they transcended who they once were and were emotionally reborn.

  Friends to lovers. Lovers and friends. It did not get any more intimate than this. It was almost more than she could handle. Tears welled up in her eyes and her heart stilled with the wonder of it all.

  He kissed her harder, as if sensing her changing mood, pulling her back with him to the passion, to the flame. His tongue sweeping her up in a divine pleasure that no man before him had ever unfurled inside her.

  The tender sweetness was almost too much. She understood why he feared this could ruin their friendship. If things did not work out between them she could never again be around him without remembering acutely what she’d lost.

  He ran his hot palms up her belly. She moaned softly, encouraging him, riding the winds of desire, reveling in the dervish of sensation.

  Tingles of anticipation started at the base of her neck, crept across her face, over her scalp, darted along her shoulders, trickled down her arms, and finally shuddered softly up her spine. She was sitting in his lap, between his spread thighs. Such big, muscular thighs, full of power and promise.

  “Ah,” he said, and in the darkness, his mouth found the hardening tip of her nipple.

  Zoey sucked in her breath at the delicious shock of his warm moistness suckling her tender breast.

  He curved one arm around her waist, pulling her closer against him. She sighed as a strange alloy of electricity and chemistry fused with emotions sent a surge of bittersweet pleasure flashing through her.

  The blackness surrounded them, encompassed them, and defined them. She could feel his erection prodding against her pelvis. He rubbed his beard-stubbled jaw along her breasts, seeking the other nipple. The sensation sent fresh prickles spiking through her.

  He tugged lightly on her nipple and she sank closer to him, pressing her pelvis against his and nuzzling his neck. He laughed and the sound was pure delight. He raised his trembling hand and curved it around her breast. The weight of him felt glorious against her skin.

  “Such breasts,” he murmured. “Such beautiful, magnificent breasts.”

  “Thank you. I like them.”

  He went for her lips again, but she moved too quickly and he ended up kissing the tip of her nose.

  They laughed. What might have been awkwardness with someone else was nothing but an understanding chuckle between friends. The cloud passed over and the moon was back, shining a soft glow over their naked bodies.

  “Let’s try this,” he said, and flipped her over onto her back.

  “Ah, good old missionary-style, huh?”

  “There’s a reason it’s so popular.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing like face-to-face, eye-to-eye.” He hovered over her, supporting himself on his elbows, and looked down at her.

  She gulped.

  “I still can’t believe this is happening,” he said.

  “Finally,” she said.

  “What took us so long to get here?” he murmured.

  “Idiots,” she said.

  “We both had to be ready. You were too young before. I worry that even now—”

  “No more talking,” she said, sandwiched his face between her hands, and kissed him again.

  She had to have him inside her or go mad. She ran her hands down the length of his bare back, on down to cup his tight buttocks. So hard!

  Gently, he bit one of her nipples. His sharp teeth against her tender skin made her gasp in surprise, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, what she felt was the exact opposite of pain. Exalted pleasure.

  “Make love to me,” she demanded. “Take me now!”

  The air was musky with the scent of their desire. He settled himself between her legs and slid his throbbing shaft into her, made a hissing sound in the back of his throat. “You feel so good. So tight and warm.”

  They made love like crazed things, scratching and grappling, banging against the side of the truck—writhing and pumping and arching their sweat-slick bodies. There was no control. They gave vent to heated moans and deep-throated yelps. Zoey wrapped her legs tight around Jericho’s waist as he thrust into her again and again. She had three orgasms, four, five, oh, she finally lost count, but still it was not enough.

  “More,” she begged through gritted teeth. “Give me more.”

  He complied, pounding into her until her sex throbbed with the sweetest ache in the entire world.

  “Don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t—”

  He silenced her with a kiss as he plunged deeper and deeper until she feared his big, hard cock would rip her right in two. Jericho plowed one hand up the back of her neck, threading his thick fingers through her hair. He pulled her head back, exposing her throat. He suckled on her skin, moving kisses down toward her breasts again.

  She reached down to caress the shaft of his penis as it slipped in and out of her. She brought up her fingers, dripping with her own juices, and smeared the wetness over her swollen breasts.

  Jericho opened his mouth wide over her nipple, taking in as much of her as he could, suckling her as if he wanted to swallow her whole.

  Zoey gasped, almost sobbing with the bliss of it all.

&
nbsp; He groaned her name and then he just groaned. He kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue in her mouth as his cock thrust up hard inside of her.

  She was close. So damn close.

  His corded muscles tightened against her, his buttocks stiffened. He was close too. Blood pulsed hot and fast through her veins. Her womb clenched. She looked into his eyes and he looked in hers and time evaporated.

  “You keep doing that and I’m gonna come.”

  “Doing what?”

  “You know what you’re doing.”

  “You mean this?” She flexed her inner muscles.

  He groaned. “Wench.”

  She grinned. “You love it.”

  “Please don’t make me come yet. I want you to go first,” he said, slowing his rhythm. “What’s it going to take?”

  She touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. “You’re doing it.”

  “Come for me, sweetheart,” he crooned, his voice low and guttural. “I want to see your face when you come.”

  Jericho moved faster then and deeper than she ever thought possible.

  In an instant, Zoey felt sensations splintering inside her and the orgasm clutched her. “Jericho!” She moaned out his name and all the air left her body as explosion after explosion rolled through her body.

  “Zoey,” Jericho whispered. “Zoe-Eyes.”

  He shoved into her one last plunging thrust and she felt the convulsive throb of his own release let go. “Zoe-Eyes,” he whispered again. ‘Bright as diamonds.” He buried his face against her neck and held her tight.

  Slowly, in a tangle of hazy lust and sweaty limbs, they sank back to earth, leaving a trail of stars above them in the sky. He zipped up the sleeping bag around them, pulled her into the curve of his body, and there they fell asleep, a couple of spoons nestled perfectly together.

  Later, Jericho’s rough palms slid over her smooth belly, an erotic contrast that drew a shiver from her. His breath was warm against the nape of her neck, feathering the fine hairs that grew along her hairline. Was he awake or simply shifting over in his sleep?

  Should she say something? Why did this feel so awkward? They were best friends. It should have been so easy. But of course that was the problem, wasn’t it? Best friends trying to carve out uncharted territory and uncertain if rocky shoals lay just ahead.