She shuddered. “I’ll never forget that. You were very cool headed. You untied my bikini with a quickness.”
“Already training to be a paramedic,” he said virtuously. “Lucky for you. Then I remembered the thing about baking soda and begged some from a food truck at the beach.”
“That’s right. I was crying so hard I didn’t know what was happening until you came back. As a matter of fact, you did such a good job that I don’t even have a scar.”
“That’s impossible. You’d better go ahead and show me.”
She tugged her lower lip between her teeth. All this teasing, and the way he was standing there bare-chested, looking at her with those hot eyes, was getting her stirred up beyond bearing.
“Fine.” She sat up and pulled up her sweater to reveal the side of her bra-encased breast. “It was about there, I think.”
“Oh no. It was more like here.” He touched the underside of her breast. A shudder of pleasure trickled through her. “Yes, this feels familiar. Or maybe it was the other one.” His voice roughened as he slid his hand under her top and cupped her other breast though the black silk of her bra.
Which he could see for himself when he eased her top all the way off her body. She got the sense that he was gobbling her up with his eyes as he devoured the sight of her in nothing but a bra and that miniskirt.
“God, you’re fucking beautiful,” he muttered. He slid his finger along the edge of her bra, dipping down to the valley between her breasts and then back up. That light touch sent starbursts of heat along her skin. She arched her back to make access even easier.
The next time, he slid under the fabric and found her nipples, first one, then the other. A gentle touch, then a squeeze had her biting her lip hard at the fierce sensation. She dropped her head back, savoring each caress.
With a groan, he abandoned the soft approach and filled both hands with her breasts. “I don’t remember all this from that bee sting,” he murmured. “I probably would have fallen off my feet.”
“I was pretty flat then. But I was still embarrassed, when I stopped writhing in pain.”
He snuck one hand behind her back and unsnapped her bra. Quick work—one-handed too. The man had skills. “I intend to have you writhing again, just so you know. Not from agony though.”
She sighed. He sure was off to a good start. The bra fell away from her body and he bent his mouth to the aching tip of her breast. The instant his tongue touched it, sharp pleasure ran like a zip line from the nipple to her sex. She let out a sound that would have made her laugh if she hadn’t been too swept up in the sensations.
She propped her hands behind her on the bed and abandoned herself to the magical effect of his tongue and lips on her nipples. His hair, so tawny and tousled, brushed softly against her chest with each movement of his head. She loved the delicious contrast with the bronze-brown of her skin. Like a piece of artwork done in different shades of deepest sepia.
He planted his hands on the bed, on either side of her, and eased her farther back, until her head rested on her plush comforter. His torso was all muscles and straining tendons and golden skin. He was beautiful, this man who used to be her skinny little friend.
He lifted his head from her breasts, allowing air to flow against her sensitized nipples. “You doing okay?” he asked in a rough voice.
“Yeah. Are you?”
“Oh man. I’m so okay right now.” He tilted his hips so his erection slid against her upper thigh. It was hard and throbbing, even through his pants.
“Take those damn things off,” she ordered him in her best voice of authority—which was pretty damn good, by all accounts.
He just smiled. “Make me.”
“Oh, so that’s how you want to play it?”
She used a wrestling move to flip him over onto his back. It wasn’t easy, since he was so big and strong, and if he’d resisted at all she wouldn’t have been able to do it.
She straddled his hips and unsnapped his fly.
That’s when she noticed that he was grinning widely. “This is like the ultimate fantasy right now.” He planted his hands on her breasts and flicked her nipples with his thumbs. She bit her lip to keep from crying out from pleasure.
“You planned this?”
“More like I willed it into existence. I want Maya sitting naked on my lap. Repeat it enough times, and now here you are.”
While he talked, he played with her nipples, until her breath came in hard gasps and sweat beaded her forehead. She tugged down the zipper of his pants. Navy-blue boxer briefs peeked from under his fly, and beyond them, hard glorious flesh strained against the fabric. She outlined it with her palm, her mouth going dry as she mapped its length and girth through his briefs.
When she slid her hand underneath and wrapped it around his shaft, he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.
“I can’t look at you right now or I’ll come,” he ground out. “This is—I’ve thought about—your hands on me. So much better. Imagined.” His words came in short bursts, apparently all he could manage through his clenched teeth.
The fact that he found her so desirable was very, very satisfying. Especially after—
Don’t think about that now.
She eased up his body, closer to his groin, and rotated her hips against the ever-hardening bulge of his cock. Her skirt was all the way around her waist now, with nothing between her and Rune except for her favorite burgundy silk panties. She’d always liked the way their jewel color looked against her skin.
He obviously agreed, because when he finally opened his eyes again and craned his neck to watch what she was doing, he groaned out loud. “Damn, Maya. Just…damn.”
After that, things shifted and started moving fast. He used her own wrestling move and flipped her over, onto her back. In seconds, her skirt was off her body and somewhere on the other side of her princess bed veils. His pants were gone too, vanished into the same oblivion. As if everything outside the bed was a blank.
“Underwear next,” she told him, just in case he had any doubts.
“Yes ma’am.”
Hers went first, as he tugged the burgundy silk down her thighs. “Sweet mama,” he murmured. He brushed his hand across the soft hair guarding the vee between her legs. He slid a finger along her already slick folds and found the aching nub of her clit. Pleasure arrowed through her when he touched the beating heart of her arousal.
“God, Rune,” she gasped as she arched upwards. “Don’t stop.” She needed more, craved more. The way he handled her with his strong, skilled fingers made heat surge deep in her core. Her hips moved restlessly, seeking more of the friction he generated with his thumbs and his tongue and his knowledge. Pleasure zapped across her nerve endings, building, speeding, chasing…
She slipped into an orgasm as if he’d pushed her down a water slide. It exploded so naturally and beautifully, like the perfect union of two opposing chemicals. Her climax pulsed through her body in long, sweet, endless arcs. Release and joy, pleasure and oblivion chased through her being. And the whole time, Rune was there, his hand right where she needed it, not moving an inch, no matter how she arched and writhed.
Just like he’d promised. I’m here for you.
Chapter 21
At first Rune thought Maya had fallen asleep. Deal with it. Let her be. He’d have to deal with his own ferocious arousal. Maybe later, back home.
But he was wrong. Maya opened her eyes, which were lit with such soft satisfaction that he could have beaten his chest in triumph. “I have condoms in that top drawer over there.” She gestured at the bureau outside the curtains of the princess bed. “Want to grab them?”
“Hell yes.” He lifted himself away from her, taking a moment to feast his eyes on her limp and boneless form, radiant as precious bronze. His cock pulsed hard under his briefs.
“Hey, weren’t you supposed to take those off?” Maya complained. “You know, so I can see your scar?”
Oh lord. This was going to be in
teresting. That scar had never healed right because he’d refused to stay still.
“I’ll show you my scar. No mocking, though.”
“I’d never.”
He slid to the end of the bed and stood up, his back brushing against the filmy curtains. First he had to pull the tented cotton away from his erection—hoping he didn’t spontaneously climax in the process. Then he pushed his underwear down his thighs and turned his back to her.
His plan had been to flash her for a brief moment, then duck out to find the condoms. But instead, the damn princess veils got in his way. He was still clawing his way out of them, trying to find the opening, when he heard her burst of laughter.
“Hey, I said no mockery.”
“That was before I saw it. I mean, it’s a happy face. How am I not supposed to laugh?”
“Fine, laugh your ass off.”
“Laugh your ass off.” His little joke just made her laugh harder. “You know I’m not laughing at you, right?”
“You’re not?” He swatted at the netting around him.
“No. I’m laughing at your ass.”
He grumbled through his smile. “Can you take a break from your hilarious laughter to tell me how to get the hell out of here?”
Still giggling, she crawled naked across the bed and found the gap. “There you go. Mind if I watch you walk over there? I want to see if your happy face smiles when you clench.”
“You’re a child,” he said with as much dignity as a guy with a happy face scar on his ass could manage. He stalked across her room toward the chest of drawers she’d directed him to. Conscious of her gaze, he made sure to flex his muscles as much as humanly possible. His scar might have drawn her attention, but maybe his ocean-honed muscles would get her hot again.
It must have worked, because by the time he got back with the condom, she was kneeling on the bed, her lower lip between her teeth, a dark flush on her cheeks. He shoved the princess fabric out of his way and stood before her, bracing his legs apart, his erection rearing between them.
She touched him lightly, her lips parting as she gazed at his shaft. He knew that if she so much as touched her mouth to the tip of his cock, he’d explode. More than anything, he wanted to be inside her. So when she swayed toward him, he put a hand on her shoulder to keep her where she was.
“I need to be in you,” he muttered. “Just hang on a second.”
He ripped open the foil and rolled the condom onto his penis. Safely covered, he strode forward until their bodies met. When they were pressed against each other in this position, his erection was at the level of her lower belly and her breasts were squashed against his abdomen.
Which was nice and all, but not what he was after right now.
He edged her backwards so he too could kneel on the bed. His cock slid between them and he nudged her legs farther apart. Slid his fingers between them to play in the slippery heat of her sex, until her sighs grew urgent.
He moved his hands around to her ass to lift her a few inches higher, just enough to poise his tip right at her entrance.
There, he paused to gauge whether she was ready. My heart is yours, he wanted to say. This is it for me. You’re the one. The only one.
But he held his tongue, because he hadn’t forgotten how she’d reacted to his first declaration—with total confusion. He didn’t need to confuse things further right now. They were fucking and enjoying every second of it and he’d take it.
She reached around him and clamped both hands onto his ass. A shudder passed through him as she urged him closer. God, it felt incredible. She felt incredible. Slick and hot, her channel gripped his penis. He flexed his hips and pushed into her. His own hand was still on her ass, where he could rotate and move her just where he wanted. He tilted her so he could penetrate deep, deeper, right there. He slipped one hand between them to stimulate her clit, then plunged again, and again, deep, powerful, fast, hard, again, until her breath came in urgent gasps and her body clenched around him and everything exploded into a blinding orgasm that had him collapsing onto the bed, wrapped in her arms.
Still joined together, he convulsed inside her for long, exquisite moments of sheer pleasure and release. All the buildup of holiday parties and boat trips and conversations and just being around her detonated into a full-body experience that he wouldn’t even limit by calling it a climax. It was more than that. It was a…revelation.
You’re the one. The only one.
Slowly, he came down from that high-as-a-kite peak and opened his eyes to find her watching him with a soft smile.
“You okay there?” She sounded almost amused by how hard he’d come.
“Oh yeah. Doing fine. You?”
“Still good.” She brought her hand to his face and fixed a lock of his hair that had fallen in his eyes. “Very very good. Your hair is doing that thing it used to do.”
“Mmmm.” Sleepy, content, he let her mess with his hair.
“Did you ever think we’d end up here, like this?” she whispered.
“Did you forget the time I said we should get married someday?”
Her eyes lit with laughter. “Right after we kissed behind the lifeguard stand. I remember now. I threw sand at you.”
“Such a romantic moment.”
He drifted a bit after that. The princess curtains gave him the sense that they were floating together out on the ocean. It was a wonderful feeling that he knew wouldn’t last—too many dangers were lurking out there under the surface—so he wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.
She was still stroking his hair with gentle fingers. In his half-sleeping state, it brought him back to childhood, to the time when his mother had had her shit together. When she’d tucked him into bed and whispered stories to him so he’d sleep. Stories about knights and dragons and castles and moats. “You’ll be a hero one day,” she’d whispered. “Never doubt that. Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” Quoted from a magnet on their refrigerator.
What kind of hero wandered from state to state, simply trying to keep his sister away from a stalker? The only kind of hero he could be. And somehow, magically, that journey had brought him here.
Where would it take him next? He didn’t want to think about that. Not now, when he was right where he wanted to be.
His sleepy reverie was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. “Station calling?” he murmured. Who else would call her phone this late?
Maya rolled over and stretched out on her stomach to reach her phone, which had somehow ended up on the floor.
“It’s Cara,” she said, with a glance back over her smooth brown shoulder at him. “Why’s she calling me?”
He went instantly alert. “Maybe my phone died.”
“But how would she know we’re together?”
“I am your fake holiday boyfriend,” he pointed out. “It’s not much of a stretch.”
“Right.” She shook her head, the light finding deep copper glints in her hair. “It’s getting hard to keep track of it all.” She answered her phone. “Maya here.”
“Maya, have you seen my brother?” Cara’s panicked voice carried into the room. “He’s not answering his phone.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a noise outside and we thought it was just an animal or something, but it keeps happening and I’m scared.”
“I’ll be right there.” Maya’s calm tone was exactly what Cara needed. “Lock the door, stay inside. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
“Can you find Rune too?” The anxious waver in her voice made Rune’s heart clench. He nodded at Maya and slid off the bed.
“Yes,” Maya said, leaving it that. “Do you want to stay on the phone while I head over there? Will it help?”
“No, that’s okay. We’re up in the loft right now and piled up some stuff like a fort. Maggie has her knife, too. She says she can hit a squirrel at two hundred feet.”
Maya made a face. “On my way.” She ended the call
and swung her feet off the side of the bed. Rune was already peeling off his condom. “We need to get there before Maggie knifes a squirrel.”
“Bathroom?” he asked, holding up the condom. She waved at the corner of the bedroom, where a door stood open. He ran over to it and found the wastebasket, taking note of the profusion of bath salts and lotions and creams everywhere—and the deluxe two-person tub taking up half the room.
He could think of a few things to do in that tub.
Later.
If there was a later.
He rushed back to the bed to find Maya already dressed in sweats and a hoodie. She handed him his clothes, which he yanked on in record time.
This could be it. Their last time together. He knew it, but he could tell that it hadn’t sunk in for Maya yet. She was simply responding to a call for help. Doing her job. She wasn’t gaming out the scenario to its logical conclusion.
If the stalker had arrived, he and Cara would be leaving.
How could fate be so cruel, to rip them apart just when they’d found each other?
So he took a moment, even in their hurry to get to Cara, to cup both his hands around Maya’s face and give her a deeply passionate kiss. My heart is yours. You’re the one. The only one. Don’t forget me.
And then the two of them dashed for the door.
Chapter 22
Maya could still feel the effects of that kiss as she raced toward her car. It had made her head spin and her knees wobble. But she pushed all that aside. Time for Police Chief Badger to take charge.
“I’m driving this rig,” she called to Rune. “You can drive yours if you want, but I need this one in case there’s an arrest.”
He slid in next to her. “I’m coming with you. You might need backup.”
She didn’t argue, since backup was always a good idea, and Rune had proved his abilities earlier that night with the rescue of Jerome and Leeann.
It felt like a month ago since they’d spotted that red Jeep, instead of hours. So much had happened since then. Rune had told her he was in love with her. They’d had sex. Now they were racing toward the moment that might end it all.
Head over Heels for the Holidays Page 16
