Spice Box: Sixteen Steamy Stories

by Raine Miller

  Which he didn’t seem want to do.

  His arms wrapped around her, lifting her onto his lap without breaking the kiss.

  She had a brief moment to thrill to the fact that he wasn’t pushing her away before she lost herself in his taste. In tangling her tongue with his and letting her fingernails scrape against his scalp. His body tightened beneath hers and the hard ridge of his erection pressed against her thigh.

  She wanted to twist around, plant her knees on either side of his hips and sink down onto him, feel the heat of his erection pressing against her sex. But he held her too tightly. As if afraid she’d try to get away.

  She wasn’t going anywhere for a very long time. And neither was he, if she had anything to say about it.

  Wriggling against him, she was rewarded with a deep groan…just before he took over.

  His hands tightened on her shoulder and her hip then began to roam, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t touch her enough. She felt each of his fingers as they caressed from her hip up her stomach to between her breasts. She wanted him to cup her breasts, pluck at her aching nipples. Instead, he reached for the knot tying the two halves of her sweater together.

  He tugged and worked until finally it released. Pushing back both sides, he stopped, breaking the kiss to pull back and stare down at her.

  She froze, not wanting to risk having him come to his senses and pull away. But when she opened her eyes, she realized his expression was far from senseless. His attention was locked on her with laser precision. His gaze narrowed as he watched his hand brush against the thin material of her t-shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra so when his fingers slid beneath the material, he encountered bare skin.

  It was her turn to gasp as he pulled up her shirt to expose her breasts.

  “You’re so damn beautiful.”

  His words rasped against her skin, making her nipples pebble. And when his fingers brushed against the sensitive flesh, she shivered.

  His arm tightened around her shoulders, as if he thought she’d try to get away. She had no idea why he’d ever think such a thing when right here was where she’d always wanted to be.

  Instead, she arched her back, offering herself up to him, wanting him to take her in his mouth.

  He didn’t give her what she wanted. Instead, he stroked his thumbs over her taut nipples. Melting heat washed through her. She trembled, her hands clenching into his biceps as her eyelids flickered but didn’t close, maintaining the intense bond between them.

  CHAPTER 10

  Nic felt like he’d been waiting for this moment for years. To have her in his arms, at his mercy.

  Begging him to strip her and take her.

  They hadn’t gotten to the begging yet but, if he didn’t ease at least a little of the raging desire he had for her, he would be soon enough.

  His thumb brushed against her nipple, her flesh like velvet. His mouth watered to taste her but he restrained himself, knowing when he put his mouth on her breast it wouldn’t be long before he dragged it down her body to the juncture between her legs.

  And after that… Well, he wouldn’t be satisfied until he made her come with his tongue.

  He needed her closer. Sitting up, he grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked it over his head. Then he dragged her t-shirt up her body and tossed it to the side.

  Christ almighty. She’s fucking beautiful.

  Biting back a groan as she lay back in his arms, naked from the waist up, he let his gaze eat her up.

  Pale skin. High, firm breasts that fit in his palms. Cherry-red nipples, tight and pointed and begging for his mouth.

  Unable to wait any longer, he crushed her against him. He closed his eyes, enjoying her warm skin against his, her breasts pressed to his chest. Dipping his head, he nuzzled his nose into her hair and breathed in her scent. Her arms wound around his neck as her mouth sought his again, but he had other plans.

  With his hands under her arms, he lifted her until her breasts were at the right height for him to draw them into his mouth. The sound she made as he sucked her nipple between his teeth made his pulse skyrocket and the sweet taste of her skin made his already throbbing erection harden even more.

  With her hands braced on his shoulders, she made it clear she wanted him to lean back into the cushions. He obeyed but kept hold of her, pulling her with him. When she resisted, he grabbed her hands and lifted her arms, causing her breasts to shift higher.

  He couldn’t resist putting his mouth on her again, sucking on the plump mounds. He could feast on her forever and never die of starvation. Every sound she made, every whimper, every shudder fed a deep-seated need he’d suppressed for years.

  When her whimpers turned to moans, he released her hands and cupped her breasts before stroking from her ribcage to her navel. He wanted to follow with his mouth but she tangled her fingers in his hair and stopped his downward motion.

  She tugged until he looked into her eyes.

  When she made sure she had his attention, she slipped one hand down to cup his erection through his jeans. He wasn’t prepared for the shock that ran through him and his groan echoed loud and untamed through the room.

  Their gazes locked, she held him, watching his reaction.

  He wanted to thrust into her hand or, better yet, rip her hand away and rub his erection against her mound. He did neither. He waited to see what she’d do.

  And when he didn’t think she was going to do anything but hold him, she squeezed him gently before releasing him and slipping the button on his jeans free.

  His lungs contracted, his stomach muscles painfully taut as he dropped his gaze to where her hand worked at his jeans. Her fingers looked slim and pale and erotic as all hell on the tented denim.

  “Annie.”

  She placed her free hand over his lips to shut him up and began pulling down his zipper, one tooth at a time.

  Christ, he couldn’t breathe. Opening his mouth to draw in air, he caught her middle finger between his lips and sucked on it. She gasped and he bit down gently before releasing her.

  “Annie, you’ve got to be certain this is what you want.”

  She looked straight into his eyes, her gaze steady. “I’ve always been certain, Nic. You’re the one who could never make up his mind.”

  “My heart always knew what it wanted, Annie. But the rest of me can be too damn stubborn for my own good.”

  A fleeting smile crossed her lips before she grabbed his chin and kissed him. Hard. Swept her tongue into his mouth with burning need and swept away his inhibitions until he was panting like a teenager.

  All the gut-churning need, the roiling emotion he’d kept locked away for so long… It was all there, burning a hole straight through him.

  Take her. Bury yourself in her and stay forever.

  Yes.

  But first he had to make sure she was safe. When he finally got her into his bed and under him, he wanted nothing to keep him from totally enjoying the experience.

  But he wasn’t ready to stop just yet. He soaked in the scent of her, the taste of her lips and the darker hotter taste of her mouth when he licked into it.

  As her arms locked around his neck and the bare skin of their upper bodies melded together, she shifted her hips and brushed her sex against his.

  His cock tightened and hardened even more, urging him to get closer, get her naked. Make her his.

  She moved to do it again but he grabbed her hips, drawing back until he broke their kiss.

  “Annie, slow down.”

  Her eyes opened to a slit of vibrant green. “I don’t want to slow down. I know you, Dominic. You’ll overthink this and you’ll go back to keeping your distance. I’m not going to let that happen this time.”

  His lips quirked into a smile at her determination. As her eyes widened, he reached up to sink his fingers into her hair. “That won’t happen this time. But I don’t want to rush. And I’m not going anywhere.”

  She considered that, her head tilting to the side.
“Will you sleep with me tonight? I want you in my bed.”

  Lust rose up in a heated rush that threatened to take him under. She conjured images in his mind that nearly choked him.

  And the flush on her cheeks simply enhanced her beauty.

  “And I want to be there. But tonight it’ll just be sleep, Annie. We don’t need to rush into anything.”

  “Jesus, Nic. We’ve had five years of foreplay,” she countered. “We certainly don’t need more time to get to know one another . I’ve know you almost all my life. I’ve wanted you since I knew what the words meant.”

  Every word she spoke made him want to throw her over his shoulder and throw her on the nearest flat surface. But he was trying to be a gentleman here. “I’m not going anywhere. One more night won’t make a difference.”

  Yes, he wanted her but he needed to keep his head on straight to keep her safe, needed some time to get his response to her under control so he could keep her safe and make love to her until she didn’t remember her own name.

  After another few seconds, she nodded. Then she looked down, her mouth quirking as she realized she was half naked on his lap.

  With a rueful sigh, he eased her t-shirt back over head, though he wanted to keep her naked and exactly where she was.

  “I’ve got a couple of cases to clear this week.” He started to talk, more to keep her mind occupied but also to put his thoughts in order. “And I promised your girl at the center I’d teach her self-defense. I’d like to start that tomorrow.”

  Annie nodded and began to inch backward. He caught her before she could get away, lifting her to reposition her on sideways on his lap. With his arms around her, he actually felt calm descend.

  And when she leaned back and let her head rest against his shoulder, he realized he’d been an idiot for the past seven years.

  “I usually spend a few hours at the center Saturday morning. Then I was going to practice but I want to rest my hip.”

  “And I’m going to have to skip Toni’s soccer game. I don’t want this whackjob getting any ideas.”

  She paused but he could sense she had something else to say. “So what do we do now?”

  “Now, we’re just gonna sit here and see if the Phillies can’t manage to win one this season.”

  ***

  Around four a.m. Nic’s eyes opened.

  He registered the fact that he wasn’t in his own bed right before his brain immediately began to run through yesterday’s events.

  His anger over the asshole taking his life into his hands by threatening him couldn’t completely dispel the lust because he knew Annie slept in the next room.

  Which is why he had an erection so hard it was almost painful.

  He’d carried her up to bed at ten-thirty. She’d fallen asleep in his arms around ten but the game hadn’t been over yet—

  Hell. Just admit it. He hadn’t taken her up when she’d fallen asleep because he hadn’t wanted to let her go.

  By six a.m., he had his laptop open on the kitchen table and had gotten a lead on Tiffany Jones’s ex. That bastard needed to be neutralized but so far had evaded Nic, which royally pissed him off. He wasn’t sure if the guy was just that good or if his own head hadn’t been in the job.

  And that was unacceptable.

  This lead required another trip to Baltimore. He’d have to leave Annie with his brother for the day. There was no one he trusted more. He’d take her along but she’d be too damn distracting.

  He’d also gone through a case that’d come from his dad. A local couple, friends of his parents, had a runaway teenage son. The kid had a drug habit and they were worried the boy would wind up dead on the streets.

  He’d been planning to interview some of the kids’ friends today, see if he could dig up a lead. Come to think of it, maybe he’d ask Karen for a few places to look when he saw her at the shelter today.

  Around seven-thirty, he heard movement upstairs. He reached over and flicked on the coffee pot he’d set up earlier. Then he turned on the oven to bake the banana-nut muffins he’d made from a mix he found in the cupboard.

  By the time Annie arrived in the kitchen, the muffins were on the table and he had a cup of coffee.

  Dressed in worn jeans and a loose-fitting, button-down shirt, she didn’t seem to be limping, so hopefully she didn’t have any lasting damage from last night’s fall. She’d tied her hair back in a simple ponytail and wore sneakers. Now she looked like she’d fit right in at the shelter.

  She smiled at him when she entered the room but her gaze was wary as she checked him out. His jeans were just as worn, and his shirt was cotton, but where he’d left his shirt untucked, her tails were neatly tucked in her jeans. Her cuffs were buttoned but his were folded back and pushed up. At least he’d shaved.

  “Good morning.” She waved in his general direction. “Thanks for starting the coffee. I need it this morning.”

  “How’s the hip?”

  She flashed a relieved smile in his direction as she stood at the sink. “Better. I don’t think I’ll have any problems with it.” She sat across from him at the table and took one of the muffins from the basket. “Wow, you baked, too. Maybe I should keep you around more often.”

  He stamped down the impulse to grab the back of her neck so he could pull her close for the good morning kiss he wanted.

  Fuck it.

  He leaned forward and planted one on her lips. Fast and hard and hot. When he pulled back, he swallowed his smile. She looked a little dazed. He liked that. A lot.

  “Found the mix in the cupboard. You need to eat something more than that twiggy cereal I saw.”

  She shrugged, blinking, then took a bite of muffin, nearly making him salivate when her tongue peaked out to catch the crumbs on her bottom lip. “Sometimes I do. I guess you didn’t see the Pop Tarts next to the cereal, huh?”

  He gave a slight chuckle. “Yeah, I did, but I wasn’t going to mention it.”

  She gave him a wide-eyed look. “Why not, when we’re discussing such innocuous things like muffins and cereal?”

  Looked like Annie was back to her regular self this morning. He liked her much better this way and deliberately changed the subject.

  “I figure we’ll leave when you’re done eating and head over to the shelter. Don’t want to disappoint Karen.”

  Her expression softened at the girl’s name. “Thank you for that. I’m really worried about her but she seems taken with you. Of course, you have a way with females of any age, don’t you?”

  He snorted. “Yeah, I’m a real heartbreaker.”

  Idiot was more like it. He’d never had any problems attracting women but he’d never found one he wanted to see every morning and every night. Except for Annie. But he’d be damned if he’d let her know just how much he’d allowed his attraction to her to rule his life—

  Annie stood, walked over to him and removed the coffee cup from his hand. Then she shocked the hell out of him by sitting in his lap, arms around his neck, staring straight into his eyes.

  “You broke mine at nineteen and we spent the past seven years being pissed off about it. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

  His breath stilled in his lungs at the intensity in her eyes. He didn’t want to move and break that connection.

  And when she leaned forward and kissed him, he didn’t devour her like he wanted to. He submerged that primal instinct to conquer and let her kiss him.

  Sinking her hands into his hair at the nape of his neck, she let her lips move over his, sweet and slow. She didn’t try to deepen the kiss, didn’t stroke her tongue along the seam of his lips to gain entrance. She simply gave him a deceptively sweet kiss…that made him feel like he’d been dipped into hot lava.

  When she pulled back and opened her eyes, he brought both hands up to cup her face in his as he sucked in a deep breath. “You’re determined to drive me nuts, aren’t you?”

  Her lips tilted up just a bit. “Consider it payback.”

  Yeah, payback
was a bitch.

  Before he knew what she was doing, she slid off his lap and grabbed another muffin. “Come on, let’s get to the shelter.”

  ***

  Annie stood in the hallway just outside the doorway to the workout room in the basement.

  Nic and Karen had been down here for the past hour and, while she’d tried to keep her mind on the paperwork that had to be done, she’d finally given up the fight and come down to watch.

  She’d nearly swallowed her tongue at her first sight of Nic in black sweatpants and a tight white t-shirt, barefoot, his hair tied back in a short ponytail at his nape.

  His body should be declared illegal, she’d decided. He didn’t look like a muscle-bound thug but, god, was he ever ripped. Broad shoulders, defined chest and abs, thin hips and, oh baby, firm thighs. She had a thing for Nic’s thighs.

  Shaking off thoughts of running her fingers along those perfect muscles, she took a deep breath. She didn’t want anyone catching her like this.

  Still, she let herself enjoy Nic’s movements as he took Karen through what looked like a typical street fight. He taught her how to fall, how to block punches, how to break various holds. He never talked down to her and never patronized her. He didn’t cut her any slack either.

  Annie winced as Karen hit the mat with a smack for what had to be the tenth time

  But Karen showed no weakness. She bounced back to her feet immediately.

  “You’re still giving away your next move with your body language,” he said. “Don’t even think about throwing that punch. It has to be instinctive.”

  Karen nodded, dark braid swinging down her back, face set in determination. When she threw her punch this time, Nic blocked it, but nodded.

  “Good. Now let’s work on those kicks.”

  With a sigh, Annie tore herself away and headed back upstairs to call Colin. She filled him in on how she was feeling but refused to let him pry for more information on Nic. He didn’t push but she knew she’d only gained a short reprieve.

  Then she called her mom, since she hadn’t talked to her all week. Beatrice was surprisingly maternal for a change, asking about the competition and her job. She didn’t tell her mom about her hip or her current roommate. Beatrice tended to go berserk at the mention of a hangnail. Fallout from her dad’s death, Annie knew.