The Switch Read online

  “Enough, Sean,” she directed when both feet felt relaxed and happy to face new adventures.

  Sean sat back on his heels slowly and looked up at her, his eyes slightly glazed. His chest rose and fell raggedly, above the fat ridge in his trousers.

  “Now take off your sweater and shirt. Fold them and set them aside so I can see your bare chest.”

  Her tone allowed for no argument and he showed no hesitation. He pulled his sweater over his head, then quickly stripped off his shirt, settling them as neatly as she’d demanded. He looked up at her again, waiting for her next instruction.

  Beth studied Sean where he knelt, displaying the upper half of his body for her. The bright hair on his head formed a thick pelt, snatched back from curling by the short cut. Its gold was echoed by the dense mat of hair on his strong chest, hiding the small male nipples there, and the line of darker gold that led down to his waistband. Veins showed clearly under the milk white skin and emphasized hard muscles. Beth doubted that she could get both hands around one of his upper arms. And those beautiful forearms of his, with the elegant tracery of veins under the gilding of hair, were tempting beyond belief.

  She walked slowly around him, studying every detail of his exposed torso. His back was burnished by a light sprinkling of hair, just enough to lend shading to the lines of muscle. He trembled when she ran a finger down his spine, cherishing the silky skin and delicate hairs there.

  Beth swallowed hard, fighting the temptation to simply grab him, and moved to the sofa, dropping her purse on the floor next to her seat. A few details needed to be discussed before yielding to mutual hunger.

  “I’ll take that decaf now, Sean.” She managed to keep lust out of her voice. “Black, please. Have some yourself, if you like. We need to talk about a few things before going further.”

  Sean gulped and stood up. He fixed drinks for both of them and brought them out. Beth accepted the mug and sipped it slowly, watching him.

  “Did you bring the scarf?” Beth asked.

  Sean nodded and fetched the black and gold trifle from his coat pocket. Beth ran it slowly over her hand, feeling the changed texture where his semen had soaked in. She ran her thumb slowly over one particularly sticky spot. She lifted it to her nose and sniffed it, enjoying the scent of masculine musk.

  Sean’s breath stopped in a faint gasp.

  Then she set the scarf down in her lap and took another sip of coffee. Beth indicated the seat next to her and he sat down there, holding onto his mug as the one familiar thing in a changing world.

  “Do you have a significant other?” she asked quietly, unwilling to mention Dave Hemmings’ words. “I was engaged a year ago but broke it off.”

  “No, I’m a single parent; my wife died six years ago.” Sean hesitated a moment before going on. “I’ve got an eighteen-year old son and I haven’t had time to get involved with anyone since then.”

  It was a solid reason for his clumsiness. She did wonder what Seattle women had been thinking of, to let him stay celibate.

  “I don’t have any diseases that I know of.” Beth said quietly, steeling herself for her first discussion of this touchy subject since Genichi. “However, I broke off my engagement because I caught my fiancé with another woman. I’ve been tested regularly since then for diseases that he might have given me, always with negative results.”

  She blinked at the violent look crossing Sean’s face, following very quickly after his first relief. It seemed as if he could commit murder when he heard of Genichi’s infidelity.

  “I don’t want you to have any reminders of Genichi, okay? So let’s say the rule is not to exchange any fluids, just to keep things on the safe side. Agreed?” Beth recommended. She watched Sean absorb the implications and smiled when he nodded hard.

  Beth’s tension faded in his confidence’s bright light and she let herself take another taste of his willingness. She ran her fingertip lightly over the back of his hand, feeling the prickle of hair. She began to lightly trace patterns, exploring the hard calluses and small scars. Her fingers then glided slowly up his right arm over the old scar.

  “Purple heart?” she asked softly.

  “Training accident,” he dismissed.

  Something that big hadn’t earned a medal?

  “Do you have a purple heart?” she whispered, sliding the black metal bracelet around his wrist. Her eyes prickled at its remembrance of a friend named Adam and she quickly looked further to the living flesh underneath. She admired the branching vein, gleaming blue under the gilded hair and twisting over the muscle.

  “Yeah. This bullet wound here, on my thigh.” He showed her with his free hand. She touched it carefully, recognizing its closeness to his hip and the vital organs resting there. His hand dropped back to his side, opening and closing slowly like his other hand.

  “Hospital time for it?”

  “Couple of months,” he shrugged, rejecting the opportunity to brag.

  “Brave samurai,” she murmured in Japanese. His eyes flickered but he didn’t speak as she continued her delicate exploration onto his chest.

  Her finger traced a pectoral muscle to its crowning aureole and his eyes closed slowly. Beth caressed his nipples and chest, savoring the varying textures. Her hand spread flat, fingers sliding into his fur as her palm absorbed his heat. He shuddered and his breathing stopped, then slowly recovered as her hand stayed still.

  “What form of service to a woman are you best at, Sean?”

  Sean blinked and then looked at her. His eyes were very blue and very dazed. There was a long pause before he answered.

  “Going down on a woman, ma’am.” Beth swallowed hard at the thought, feeling her belly clench with lust. Time to shift things into a higher gear.

  “Stand up and take your boots and socks off. Place them with the others, socks folded.”

  Sean obeyed quickly, eagerness blazing from every jerky movement.

  “Now get rid of your pants.” Sean dropped his trousers and set them aside neatly. His cock was visibly throbbing.

  “Give me your wrists.” Sean immediately held out his hands to her. A few quick loops saw the scarf wrapped around his wrists. He could have freed himself in an instant but he didn’t try. He simply stood still, his hands turning slowly as he watched the silk grip him.

  Beth retrieved a small shopping bag from her purse and dumped its contents onto the table next to her. Thank heavens for the stores in this eclectic neighborhood.

  Sean’s stunned eyes focused on a variety of condoms and dams, their diverse functions and sizes hopefully recognizable to him. He shook his head once, as if clearing his thoughts, and looked at her face. His enthusiasm still shone, softened now by trust in her judgment.

  “Begin serving me, Viking,” Beth said hoarsely, her own craving increasing to match Sean’s blatant hunger.

  Sean dropped to his knees before her and carefully removed her shoes. His slow caresses of her legs were followed by gentle laving as his mouth explored her. Beth slid her hands into his hair and savored every sensation. Her knees fell open and he murmured wordlessly as he explored higher, sliding her skirt away. He followed muscle to the vulnerable hollow behind her knee. He licked and sucked first one hidden pulse point, then the other knee. Trails of fire ran up to her core from every touch. The scarf echoed his movements with delicate silken caresses against her legs.

  Beth laid her head back, moaning encouragement, and slid her hips forward on the sofa. He worked higher, growling with pleasure when his tongue slid under the edge of her silk stockings. She groaned when he nipped her bare skin lightly, then licked it sweetly to ease the small pain. He sighed in a tone so deep it almost rumbled, when he finally slid aside her briefs’ black silk and found her melting center, every fold already gleaming with dew for him.

  “Sean.”

  He snarled but stopped before his mouth reached her there.

  “What did you forget?”

  He blinked at her, confused.

  “Wha
t did we agree to do, to protect each other?”

  Comprehension flashed over his face. He cursed softly and turned to retrieve a dam from the heap on the table, then hesitated at the wide selection.

  “Think now, Sean. What color do you think would be best? Remember they’re flavored, if that makes a difference.”

  “Flavored?”

  “Oh yes, darling. Vanilla or perhaps a fruit scent, to add an accent to my taste.”

  He grabbed for one as the last syllable glided into the room. And he fumbled when he opened the packet, releasing the scent of vanilla and cinnamon.

  “Good lad,” Beth cooed and leaned back for him, her eyes dancing as she watched his clumsy placement of the dam over her nether lips. “Careful now. They’re very thin so you can feel everything. Everything, do you understand, darling?”

  She stretched and purred when his tongue found her again. It slid leisurely along her folds, learning her outlines and developing a rhythm that pleased her. Backwards and forwards his tongue traveled to a regular beat that built a matching tattoo in her veins. Her body tightened and flowed wet for him, like a mountain spring under the warmth of a May sky.

  Then he turned his attention to her clit, circling and lapping until it rose proud and strong for him. Beth gasped when he hummed his enjoyment, making her flesh vibrate in delight. Sean was incredibly good at this, his lips soft and flexible while his tongue was capable of surprising strength.

  Beth clasped his head, eager for more contact, her voice husky as she sighed her pleasure. She caressed him, enjoying the primal connection to his muscle and bone and letting her hands telling him when to repeat or move on, when to go lighter or harder, where to go next.

  She eased into her orgasm slowly, savoring every ripple of pleasure that rolled through her body.

  When Sean tried to pull away afterwards, her hands tightened on his neck pulling him back into her.

  “More,” she demanded simply.

  He obeyed, just as simply. Her stockings were discarded at some point and later her briefs. Beth paid little heed to those details, being far more interested in how he used first one finger, then others deep within her. Only the moment’s rapture mattered now as she rode the long, deep waves. Her hands and legs stayed in touch with Sean and his tension.

  He varied his strokes, using a varied pattern that drove her wild when she realized he was writing her name with his tongue. Then he changed his rhythm until she could no longer guess when he would touch her next, whether sooner or later. She dissolved into another climax, her breath sobbing in a plea to him for more.

  Time to finish now, while she still had enough stamina to attend to him.

  “Enough.”

  The word hung in the quiet room. Sean hesitated for a moment and then stopped.

  Beth dragged herself back from near unconsciousness and watched him as he sat up slowly, his face wet from the many orgasms he’d given her. She lay quietly against the sofa, too weak to move while savoring the aftershocks. She could have stayed there forever, enjoying the efforts of his hands and mouth between her legs, the feel of his hair.

  She saw Sean step away and closed her eyes.

  Then a washcloth began to clean her up. She swallowed hard as emotion caught her unawares. No man had ever cherished her like that, pleasuring her and then easing her down afterwards, unless she’d given him a direct order. Amazing that Sean did so, especially when he’d had no satisfaction himself.

  A small door shot open and the cuckoo popped out to begin whistling midnight.

  Chapter Four

  Tuesday, Midnight

  Sean knelt on the floor in front of Beth, fighting himself for control of his arousal. He needed to grab her and pull her down on the floor under him. Fantasies crowded into him, frantic to come to life with a willing woman. Tasting her and driving her into rapture had been marvelous. He had felt so alive and powerful when her body moved in response to his urging.

  But long years of military discipline, learned in the harshest surroundings, restrained him now and kept him obedient to her leader’s voice. So far the rewards of obedience had been better than any fantasy: the smell and taste of her, the shockwaves rippling through her under his mouth and hands. Heedless of such niceties, his body now demanded completion for itself. Just when he thought he had to reach for her, her voice broke the silence.

  “Stand up and take two steps back.” He rose immediately, still facing her, his hands in front of him held together by her scarf. He had retied it when he washed up and it clung to him, still wet from when he pleasured her.

  His fully erect cock throbbed with life. It seemed to leap when he saw her eyes on it. Her voice caught him again, before conscious thought could return.

  “Turn around slowly.” Sean rotated, intensely aware of every change in her breathing as she studied him. His skin seemed to burn under her gaze. He growled softly as he grew even more aroused.

  Beth stood up and walked over to him. He shuddered when she touched his back but began to moan as she lightly caressed him. Her hand traveled up over his shoulder and then down his chest as she walked around him to stand in front of him. Both hands began to play with his pectoral muscles then his nipples, evoking groans from him. Her mouth enjoyed one nipple, nipping and licking, lingering over the taste and texture. His hands clenched in the scarf. Where had she learned exactly how to drive him mad?

  Just when he thought he couldn’t stand it any longer, she shifted to the other nipple. He closed his eyes, totally lost in sensation as she worked first one nipple, then the other harder and harder. Her hands drifted lower but never stroked him where he was hardest.

  “Spread your legs. Wider. Yes, that’s good.”

  Beth broke off suddenly and walked away to the table, where she studied the scattered safe sex supplies.

  “Extra sensation? Yes, you’d probably like those little ribs rubbing you when I start licking.” she mused. “Extra large, of course. Colored? No, I don’t think so. I’d like to see your natural skin tones.”

  His mind struggled back to life, fighting to process the implications.

  Beth’s eyes danced at his expression.

  “Flavored, perhaps?” she offered.

  He choked but turned it into a strangled cough.

  “Like the sound of that? Okay, flavored it is. We’ll go with the classic: mint.”

  He’d shopped for sex accessories and toys before; considered the merits of cock rings, tit clamps, vibrators, butt plugs, and more. He’d bought, played with them in private, locked the ones he liked best in the cabinet under his bed, and discreetly disposed of the others. He’d considered himself an experienced shopper. But he’d never shopped for condoms, never studied their advantages and disadvantages, since he’d left Tiffany’s bed and the need for protection behind him.

  His jaw fell open when she came back and dropped to her knees in front of him. She studied him closely for a long time and his lungs forgot to fill.

  She leaned forward and blew a single, soft warm breath that rippled the clear liquid dripping slowly down his cock. His knees buckled but he locked them fiercely. He would remain standing, somehow, while a woman’s mouth touched him intimately for the first time.

  Her hands were quick and deft as she sheathed him, then leaned back to study her work. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. She was so unbearably skillful with that condom.

  She kissed his groin where it gleamed white behind his deep red cock. Her hands cupped his balls, his blond curls wrapping her elegant fingers as she studied him.

  “Beautiful,” she murmured and puffed on them gently. His hips quivered as her mouth and hands danced with him. Her scarlet mouth closed around him, looking just like his fantasy.

  Then she went to work, humming with pleasure against his inflamed skin. She explored every fold in his foreskin, teasing out every nerve ending until he begged for mercy. Then her tongue dealt long strokes that glided up and over then down his aching cock, deli
cate flicks against the sensitive point under the glans, rich swirls around his tight balls. She cherished each of his balls in her mouth until he was sobbing, overwhelmed by an electricity that he couldn’t resist.

  Beth cupped his ass, guiding his response until his hips thrust in rhythm with her expert touch. Her black hair tangled with his blond thatch, intimate and startling. His world narrowed to the feel of her mouth, driving his need to completion, until he was more desperate than he’d ever been in his life.

  She straightened up and shook her hair free, allowing him a clear view of her movements. Her tongue delicately outlined the slit at the uppermost tip of his cock, then began to swirl around and around, lower and lower. Her breathing shifted as her tongue swept over him, devouring him like hard candy. Her mouth prowled down his cock and took him entirely into her.

  He gasped at the sight, his pulse pounding deep within his balls. Words broke free from deep within.

  “Beth! Damnit, Beth, please. I beg you, you’ve got to…”

  His breath broke as her throat gripped him.

  “Fuck,” he groaned. “Oh, fuck.”

  Her finger circled his asshole and then pressed hard.

  “Yes!” he shouted. “Fuck, yes!” he shouted again as his orgasm burst, every wave thundering through him from the base of his spine, through his entire body, tearing out of his balls and bursting through his cock. She worked him greedily, her hands and throat muscles combining to drain every drop out of him into the condom.

  Sean collapsed on the sofa as his legs gave out on him, panting hard. His eyes closed, unable to accept any further stimulation.

  A few moments later he felt a hot wet washcloth tenderly cover his genitals. He whispered his gratitude as she gently took care of him.

  Beth sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around him, stroking his hair and crooning softly. He buried his face against her shoulder and held on to her, still shaken by the intensity of his climax. She’d even cleaned up the used condom, as he’d tidied up the dams.

  “Let’s go lie down, darling. Come on.” Beth urged him to his feet and into the bedroom. He collapsed on the bed, still dazed, and she tucked him up under the covers. His hand shot out and caught her wrist.