First to Bid: A Bachelor Auction Romance (Unraveled Book 2) Read online

  She was sighing, her arms thrown out to the sides, luxuriating in the swirling water.

  That girl didn’t wait for anyone.

  I slipped in and she didn’t move. Either she didn’t care, or she hadn’t heard me over the jets. I was content to watch her pleasure.

  She wiggled and floated her legs up, expressing her delight as freely as she had when eating.

  With a long exhale, she opened her eyes and yelped. “When’d you get here?”

  I chuckled and eased farther into the water. Heat seeped into my bones, and the long-standing stress that kept my muscles tight oozed out of my fingertips. Never had I relaxed so fully.

  “I might just fall asleep,” she murmured, her lids drifting shut.

  We soaked for a few minutes before she zeroed her gaze back on me. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  Dangerous territory. I gave her my most dazzling smile to take her mind off earlier. “Don’t worry about it.”

  She didn’t return my grin but seemed to consider me. “I won’t go into the lake without telling you again.”

  I shoved off the bench and floated over next to her. She straightened, brows raised, her gaze sweeping my shoulders and chest. She wasn’t going to drop the subject of my reaction to her swimming alone. I’d expected her to be curious. The accident had happened before high school and no one remembered I even had a sister.

  Settling next to her, I threw an arm across the back. She scooted a few inches away so she could face me without burying her face in my shoulder, which I wouldn’t have minded.

  When had cuddling Tilly Johnson become an idea?

  “When did it happen?”

  She was asking about my sister’s accident of course, and she probably assumed Lynne had died. I’d rather let her. My feelings for that nightmarish day sixteen years ago hadn’t been resolved and nothing I’d done since then had helped. “Some summer before you changed your name.”

  She frowned and narrowed her eyes. I could’ve stayed evasive, but she was just as averse to talking about herself as I was, and I wanted to prove a point.

  She licked her bottom lip and looked away. “Before high school then?”

  “Yes,” I whispered, gazing at her strong profile. The ends of her hair were wet from the water, baring her graceful neck, a neck I wanted to nibble.

  But it bothered me. Why had she changed her name? And why wouldn’t she tell me? When we were sixteen, I could’ve snapped my fingers and she would’ve written a damn book to answer any question I had. Was I losing my appeal?

  Anxiety churned in my stomach. After the deliberately atrocious sex, I should be happy. But what if it had worked? What if I had stomped out her crush on me?

  Suddenly, knowing the reason behind her name change became the most important thing ever. No—her telling me the reason was what counted.

  “Who all knows about why you changed your name?”

  A moment of panic rippled over her face and she clasped her hands together under the water. “A few people, I guess.”

  She was getting nervous. Afraid she’d bolt, I edged closer, kept my voice low, steady. “Like your friends now? Or friends from school?”

  She cast me a droll look. “There were never any friends from school.” Her breath caught, and she tensed.

  I turned enough to snake an arm around her and pull her to me. She tilted her head up and I dropped a kiss on her mouth.

  “Mara?” I asked.

  “What?” She exhaled, her body going molten against mine.

  I dropped another kiss along her jawline. “Does Mara know?”

  Tilly dropped her head back to give me more access. “No. I haven’t known her for very long.”

  “So it’s deeply personal?” I nibbled down her neck, relishing her tiny shiver.

  “It’s private, yes.”

  “And you don’t talk about private things?” I feathered my hand along her torso, fighting the urge to rip away her swimsuit. But I liked it too much.

  “I don’t like to talk about it.”

  I clamped my mouth over a pulse point on her neck and swirled my tongue around it. She squirmed, her legs moving farther apart. I used the move to slide my fingers along the seam of her leg until I reached her sex.

  “Flynn…”

  I smiled against her skin. “Tell me, Tulip. Why’d you change your name?” Her body went rigid again until I licked a path back up to her mouth. She groaned when I caught her mouth at the same time I dipped under the fabric to spread her folds and circle her nub. I pulled back. “Tulip.”

  “Don’t call me that!” Her flare of frustration rocked her against my hand and her eyelids fluttered. “It…it makes me remember how cruel my dad was.”

  I jerked back. Not the answer I’d expected. I cursed myself for never having considered she might have such a serious answer.

  She gripped my wrist and brought it back. “Can you help me forget?” Her other arm threaded through my hair and shoved my mouth back to hers.

  Yes. I’d help her forget. Picking up where I left off, I massaged her clit. She rode my hand, sending gentle laps of water up to the edge of the hot tub. My erection throbbed, begging for more each time her hip nudged it.

  Our tongues twined. I couldn’t break the kiss if I tried, she had a ferocious hold on me. She drew her knees up as I tightened my hold on her with my other arm.

  Our bodies bumped and she bucked. She wanted more. I moved my hand lower, hitting her clit with my thumb and threading a finger inside.

  A low moan escaped us both while we kissed. She was as soft as velvet and burning hot. Her hand was still clamped on my wrist. Thrusting was difficult, but I didn’t have to do much. She clutched me and her sex squeezed. How I wanted my cock inside, but I owed her this—for insisting on the story of her name and for leaving her unsatisfied the night before.

  I stroked her in sync with my tongue and my hand. Past partners seemed to like that move, but Tilly more than liked it. She writhed like it was my superpower. I totally needed that after my reputation-destroying performance.

  She broke our kiss with a gasp, her body arching back. I lined light nips along the cleavage bared by the water.

  “Flynn— I— Yes!” Her body went tight with another cry, and my hand flooded with her heat as she shuddered through her orgasm.

  I lifted my head to watch my handiwork. Her eyes were squeezed closed, her mouth dropped open, her legs spread wide. Damn, what a fine sight.

  She released me and sat up. I mourned the loss of her body heat, even in the steaming water.

  “Whoa…that was…that was nice.” She laid the back of her hand against her forehead. “Wow, it’s really hot in here.” Blinking at me like she’d forgotten I was there, her red, kiss-swollen lips formed a timid smile. “Now that was more like it.”

  “More like what?” Of course. “Oh.”

  Her eyes flew wide. “Oh. I mean—”

  I chuckled. Leave it to Tilly to feel bad for pointing out my failure to pleasure her, though she didn’t know I’d set out to do just that. “I know what you mean. About last night—”

  “I didn’t mean it was bad. It was…”

  “Bad.” If by bad, I meant losing my load after a few thrusts. “For you.”

  Her expression was perplexed. “It wasn’t bad for you? Oh, shit, I mean—”

  “Tilly.” At least I wasn’t the one stumbling over my words this time. “It looks like I need to prove my sexual prowess.” I stood, the water splashing around us, but I stopped. “Um, Tilly, if we do this…”

  How could I say it? I’d never had to before. The girls I was with before might hope for more, but they had understood their temporary place in my life.

  “I’m not asking for a marriage proposal.” She shuddered like it was an awful idea. Shouldn’t Crazy J be overly zealous about the prospect? “We both want to have sex. If it’s only for this week, so be it. Let’s take it one day at a time.”

  I gawked at the goddess who offered a no
-strings-attached week of sex. That meant I wouldn’t have to tell her my dark family secret, which meant she wouldn’t think I was a worthless asshole, which meant I could fuck Tilly all week long.

  I held out my hand and when she clasped it, I yanked her to me. “I might have to pick up another box of condoms.”

  Chapter 7

  Tilly

  My belly fluttered with delicious nerves. I’d just orgasmed, but my body was already primed for another round. Even if Flynn wasn’t any better at sex than our first time, if he could work that kind of magic with his fingers…best vacation ever.

  I dried off. We were going to do this. But I doubted he had any protection down here since he was just wearing his swim trunks. Would we make our way upstairs in awkward silence? Would he expect me to say sexy, coquettish things, whatever those would be? As he bent over to dry his legs, an evil idea formed. I wound the towel and snapped him, the fabric cracking in the air just short of his ass.

  He snapped straight. “What the—”

  With a devilish grin, I used my Harley Quinn imitation. “Race ya!”

  Spinning on one foot, I darted for the stairs. The clamber of Flynn racing through the door spurred my hysterical laughter and I took the stairs two at a time, not caring one bit how much my butt jiggled.

  His deep laughter was supremely satisfying. I streaked down the hall, about to go to my room, but he likely had the condoms in his, so I veered into his bedroom and dove onto the bed.

  Bouncing, I was still laughing when he landed on top of me on his hands and knees. His grin was stretched wide and he was breathing hard from the quick sprint. His impressive erection caught my attention. Broad from tip to base, he was hard and straining for me. I’d wanted more of it last night and I’d make sure that happened tonight.

  “When’d you take your trunks off?”

  His green eyes gleamed with intent. “That was the reason I didn’t catch you.”

  “I’m getting your bedding wet.”

  “You will be,” he growled, sending a wave of heat through my core. He wove his fingers through my straps and dragged them down, staring at my breasts when they bounced free.

  My nipples were painfully erect and when he lowered his head and dragged his tongue across one, I whimpered. “More.”

  He seemed to forget about my swimsuit as he tongued my nipples, first one, then the other. I cradled his head, shivering at the air wafting over my wet skin and the fiery sensations he was sending through my body. I arched my back. He released my nipple with a pop to peel the rest of my suit off. Tossing it aside, he dropped his body down, his lips on my stomach.

  I was giddy with excitement. So…no wham, bam tonight—I was getting the royal treatment.

  He kissed and licked his way down to the apex of my thighs. “Flynn?”

  He raised his head enough to cock an eyebrow.

  How did I even… I didn’t want to dissuade him, but if he failed again, I wanted him to know it wasn’t his fault. “I just got off.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Say I do it again while you’re…down there. Then I probably won’t when we…”

  His smile sent a wave of lust through me. He wedged himself between my legs, my knees up, feet on his shoulders. “Tilly, baby, let me show you what I can really do.”

  His hot mouth cupped my nub and his tongue attacked me. I wrenched off the bed with a gasp of ecstasy. That felt good. He worked me until I was needy, rocking against him for more, before he inserted first one finger, then two. Only, the intrusion was slow and steady, unlike his tongue on my clit. The dichotomy was too much for my nerves. I wanted to be filled with him, but for the love of all things sexual, I didn’t want him to ease up with his tongue. A second orgasm was imminent. Sure, that’d happened before—when I’d done it myself after a date that’d ended in mediocre sex, and it had been mostly to see if it could actually happen.

  He set a steady, slow rhythm with his fingers. Then he tilted his head and oooh… Was he sucking on my clit?

  With little warning, I exploded. I would’ve jackknifed off the bed, but he held me in place until I fell limp. He could impale me and go about his business and I didn’t care to move a muscle, but I’d miss being an active participant.

  He reared over me, his gaze intense, his chin glistening from my juices, but he didn’t rush to don the condom, hadn’t even pulled out the box.

  “What you’re saying is,” he planted his hands on either side of my body, “that you’ve never had three orgasms in one night before.”

  “Truth. Have you?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Eh, maybe.”

  Not the response I expected. “How could you not remember? Did you have more?” I sounded shrill. I snapped my mouth shut. When I got shrill, Flynn started to stutter.

  But this time, all he did was lift the side of his mouth. “I guess if I did, they weren’t worth remembering.”

  She nodded. “I get that. An empty orgasm.”

  His gaze stuck on mine. “Yeah. Empty.”

  A girl could take those words the wrong way. Like I’d be an empty orgasm for him, too. But the stark realization in his gaze chased those thoughts away.

  My body was recovering from round two, but my goal wasn’t to get myself off. I wrapped my arms and legs around Flynn and pulled him down to me, seeking some way to deepen the connection between us. I’d wanted Flynn forever, but that was with the fervor of a young girl who’d made her crush out to be everything she’d needed him to be at the time. Today, he was just Flynn, a man who needed his bed partner to care about him. And I did, even if I couldn’t share all of me with him. We weren’t the same kids we used to be, but Flynn would always be special to me.

  Our mouths met for a languid kiss, his erection pressed between us. He shifted until he stroked my wet folds. One little tweak and he’d be at my entrance. He broke our kiss to nip along my neck as he reached for the nightstand. While he took care of the condom, I ran my hands over his broad shoulders. A few scars marred his hands and wrists.

  He noticed me tracing them with my fingers. “Hazards of the trade when you don’t do things right the first time.”

  I loosened my legs to give him room to roll the condom on. “I like them. The rest of you is…”

  He paused. “Is what?”

  “Too perfect.”

  His gaze swept my body where it held his. I was spread under him, completely naked and more open than I’d ever been with a guy, but I wasn’t embarrassed. No negative emotions were allowed to rain on my time with him. But there was no denying which of us ate right and got a lot of physical activity in this bed. Defined abs, firm pecs, and solid legs. He was nothing but muscle.

  “See. Your body’s sick.”

  The corners of his mouth kicked up. “And you were holding out on me with yours.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  He placed himself and my breath caught. Don’t let me down. I couldn’t ignore that I’d fantasized about how Flynn would shame all my former lovers.

  He didn’t shove in and get down to business, he fed himself inside of me, so slowly I almost started begging.

  Rolling my hips up, my voice came out whiny. “Flynn.”

  He jerked forward and impaled me. I closed my eyes and sighed. The only thing that had kept our first time together from sucking was how well he’d filled me. Just being seated within me, he hit so many of the right places.

  The air rushed out of him and he collapsed to his forearms. “Tilly.”

  Wrapping my legs back around him, I twined my arms around his neck. He slid out, then crashed back in, his ass clenching under my calves.

  A whimper escaped. Shouldn’t I be too sensitive or too numb for it to feel this good already?

  Another lingering slide out, then he swiveled his hips and teased his way in.

  His forehead touched mine. “Tilly, you’re killing me. It’s all I can do to hold back.”

  “Don’t then.�
�� Just fuck me!

  “No, I need to prove myself.” Another leisurely thrust, belied by all the desperate tension in his body. He set an unhurried pace, goading me into desperation.

  “I think you’ve proved yourself enough. I need more.”

  A low chuckle vibrated through his chest into mine. “I told you to let me show you what I can do.”

  He claimed my mouth again as he claimed my body. His shaft stroked my desire to violent flames until I was panting at the effort of keeping up with him. A third climax built, and he hadn’t even had one.

  He’d proved himself, so thoroughly.

  Then what had last night been?

  Before the question could burrow in, he wedged a hand between us. His finger landed on my clit. I twitched. Too much, that was too much!

  But he just rested his hand there as he rode me, his tongue licking me senseless and his hips plunging into me over and over again.

  I squeezed my legs and wrenched back, but his other arm was a steel band that anchored me to him.

  The orgasm crested and I cried and moaned, but he didn’t ease up. I shook, my legs clamping down hard, then falling loose as I rode out the massive wave of ecstasy. My core was coiled so tight I feared I’d create a void within, then fly apart, only to collapse in on myself again. Over and over until I was dizzy with the release.

  Flynn grunted and slammed into me one last time, his entire body an unyielding wall of man on top of me. He shuddered and groaned, but maintained contact, his kiss morphing from urgent to languid as his climax faded. He held my clit hostage with nothing but the pressure of his finger, but he released it and wrapped his arm around me.

  I was breathing like I’d run a 5K. His chest heaved as if this round had been as profound for him as it had for me. Because Flynn had blown every freaking guy off the planet. He looked as good as he did and he could conjure an orgasm from me as deftly as Dr. Strange summoned a new realm.

  Best vacation ever.

  Flynn

  I woke to a warm body curved into me. Tilly slept as freely as she lived life, sprawled half across me and over the rest of the bed. Her mouth was slightly open as she puffed air, a thick chunk of light brown hair plastered over her face.