I ground my hips against him, and he moaned as his head fell back on his shoulders. I nuzzled his cheek. “Probably as many times as I fantasized about you taking me up against a wall, or in the shower, or on the floor.”
“Fuck!” he growled and latched onto my neck. I let my head fall back to the wall and roll to the side so he could reach more of the sensitive nerves in my neck. He nipped and sucked his way down to my shoulder and then returned to my ear. When he ran his tongue along the shell of my ear, I meowed and arched my chest into him. He kissed along my jaw, coming closer to my lips. I instinctively licked them, preparing myself for the onslaught.
He paused, hovering before them, as if knowing that the moment he took them, there would be no turning back. I knew it in the deepest part of my soul. I wrapped both my arms around his head and held him tightly, drawing him closer as I squeezed my legs around his waist. “Kiss me, Wallie.”
He was right. The moment our lips touched, he consumed me. My body burned for him. I no longer knew where he started and I stopped. I couldn’t get enough of him, couldn’t be close enough to him. Never had I kissed a man before and felt such an incredible passion pass between us the moment our lips met.
I didn’t even know how we got our clothes off, or who started what, but before I realized it, we were both naked, and his hands were everywhere I wanted them to be, but never there long enough. I begged for more as he slammed into me. I was still riding him, still had my legs wrapped tightly around him, and he still had me pinned to the wall. His hips and legs were doing most of the work as they supported both of us. I’d never felt so much, never experienced such satisfaction so intensely before, and knew that no other man in the world would be able to do this for me ever again.
Wallie was it. He was the man for me. As we sank to the floor in a heap, spent and sweaty, still kissing and unable to let go of one another, I knew that not only had I given him my body, but he possessed my heart and soul, too. He was right. The moment I had walked through that door, I no longer existed: I became us. Now if only I could find a way to keep my job so I could pay off my debt. If I could do that, I might just have the world at my fingertips.
Chapter Six
Wallie
Ecstasy—there was no better word for what I felt at the moment, I was in ecstasy. Nothing in my life had prepared me for what I’d just experienced with Reba.
I’d had wham-bam sex before, but when it had been over, I was the first one to zip my fly, pat the girl on the ass, and thank her for the ride as one foot stepped out the door.
With Reba, I had no intention of zipping my fly anytime soon, and as for heading out any doors, the only door I wanted to go through was my bedroom door with her in my arms.
Reba nuzzled my chest, her fingers teasingly circling my nipple as we both calmed. My left hand was spread wide over her bare hip, covering almost the entire area, and I loved that I could fit that much of her into my palm. I squeezed gently and she curled more tightly against me, sighing.
I kissed her forehead. “Let’s get off the cold floor and go to my room.”
She lifted her face, and I wished that the lights were on so I could see her features better. I was going to make sure that the bedroom lights were on. I wanted to see her eyes the next time she screamed my name.
“Mind if I take a shower?” she asked.
“Only if you don’t mind if I join you.”
She giggled. “You can join me if you promise to wash my back.”
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her face closer to my lips. “I plan on washing every inch of your beautiful body before I taste every single inch of it.”
“Oh, promises, promises,” she whispered against my lips.
I kissed her, tangling my tongue with hers and curling my body around her. I had to put a stop on the kissing to get us off the floor, but once we were up, she wrapped her legs around my waist again, and began to give my neck some very special attention as I walked up the stairs.
I cupped her ass in my palms, loving how perfectly each side fit. I was dying to have her in the shower so I could soap those sensitive folds and tease her senseless. She had already proven that she was a screamer, and I wanted to see just how many times I could make it happen.
My bedroom was at the end of the hallway, past the other four doors. Only one of those rooms had any furniture in it, and that was sparsely furnished with a bed and a dresser in case I had impromptu company. I didn’t expect anyone, but you never knew when a fellow marine might pop into town and need a place to crash for a night or two.
My bedroom was a different matter. It was my sanctuary, and I made sure it had all the comforts that I needed. The California king-sized bed had a thick duvet with a chocolate brown cover and several tan and brown throw pillows. A sitting area off to the left with a suede couch faced a gas fireplace, and a bearskin rug warmed the space.
I hit the ceiling mood lights when I entered the room, and then the controls for the fireplace. A moment later, soft music played from my state-of-the-art sound system, and Reba lifted her head off my shoulder and looked around.
“Nice love nest,” she complimented.
“Glad you like it.”
She stared at the bearskin rug. “You bring a lot of women here?”
“Would you believe me if I told you that you were the first?” I asked her.
She studied me. “Is it the truth?”
I unwrapped her legs and set her on the ground before going to my knees so that I was below her. I wanted her to know that what I was about to tell her was the truth and that I was opening my heart to her. I was giving her the power here.
I took her face in my hands. “I have never brought another woman to this room. I swear to you, Reba. I will never lie to you. I will always tell you the truth, even if it might make me look stupid or it might piss you off, I will always be honest with you.” She bent down and kissed me tenderly.
She glanced around the room. “You know, I kinda love this room. It’s beautiful. It’s you.”
“I have a confession,” I said huskily.
One of her brows hiked quickly. “Did you just lie to me?”
I blurted out a laugh quickly and then sobered. “No. When you first started at the club, I had just bought this house. One night you were sitting in the lounge talking to Murl behind the bar, and he showed you a picture of a room in a magazine. You said you loved it. He said he was thinking of decorating his bedroom that way. You told him to do that. Well, I looked at the picture and stole the idea from the magazine.”
Her jaw dropped. “You did not. You decorated this room because I said I liked it?”
I shrugged and let go of her face, running my hands over her bare shoulders and down her arms, letting my eyes fall to her enticing breasts. I leaned forward and nuzzled first one and then the other. “You had my attention back then, Reba. Besides, I had no idea how to decorate, and when you said you liked that, it caught my attention, and I realized I liked it, too, so I did it.”
She was examining the room again. “Well, you did a good job. I do like it. I could see myself spending lots of time here.”
I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth, and she whimpered when I let it go. “I hope you do.” I got to my feet. “Let’s get that shower. I feel the need to get wet and slippery.”
“I think I already am,” she said saucily as she rolled her bottom lip under her teeth.
I grabbed her around the waist and threw her onto my shoulder. As I carried her to the bathroom, I slipped my hand between her legs and my knees went weak. “Oh, man, you need a warning sign with that.”
She laughed as I playfully smacked her ass cheek.
Reba and I made love again in the shower, and two more times that night in bed. It was early in the morning when she slipped from between the covers to go home. I wanted her to stay the night, but she worried that someone would see her car once the sun rose.
She was right to be apprehensive about th
at. There was someone else from the club who lived in the neighborhood, and he would recognize her car. I needed to clean out my garage so I could put her Jeep in there at night, that way she could stay over—or she could quit dancing, that would solve all the problems.
I was tempted to mention that but figured it was too early in the relationship to say something. I had no doubt that we would be together for a long time and that we’d work out whatever needed to be worked out as we went along. This thing between us just felt right. It had since the moment I had laid eyes on her.
“Do you have a garage at your place?” I asked as she dressed in the downstairs foyer. It wasn’t quite as sexy watching her put her clothes on as it had been taking them off of her. I was already wondering when I would get the chance to see her alone again.
She shook her head. “No, I live in an apartment,” she answered as she pulled up her boots and then bent down to scoop up the items that had fallen out of her purse.
“An apartment. I figured you’d at least have a townhouse like Britt. Where do you live?” I asked her as she finished gathering her things and grabbed her jacket.
“Oh, no place special—so I assume you work tonight, right?”
I joined her in the middle of the foyer, taking her hands in mine. “Yeah, I work tonight. We’re going to have to pretend this didn’t happen, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know.” She smiled. “Are you going to be able to go back to ignoring me?”
I chuckled softly. “Well, my watching you at a distance won’t change, but it’s going to be hard not reaching out and touching you now that I know what you feel like.”
“I do believe I know what you mean.”
I kissed her slowly after she sighed wistfully. She studied me.
“What?”
“Is Wallie your first name?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“It’s not?” She reared back, surprised. “What’s your first name?”
I let go of her and went to the front door. “Wallie isn’t even part of my first name, it’s a nickname. If you want to know what my real name is, then you know where to find me tonight around three in the morning.”
She glared at me playfully. “That’s not very nice. You know my real name.”
“Reba St. James is your real name? It’s not a stage name?”
“Nope, it’s the name I was born with, and with the way things are going, I’m probably going to die with the same one.”
I bit my tongue on the reply that almost blurted out of my mouth about how I already had plans to change that last name. I thought it might freak her out, so I kept it to myself.
I walked her out to her car and then ran back inside before my feet turned to ice blocks. I should have at least put socks on my feet before walking outside at four in the morning in December.
Back in bed, I stared at the ceiling. I could not believe that I’d had Reba here with me for the last five hours. It was a dream come true. I wasn’t kidding when I’d said that our lives would change. I was the kind of man who went all in when it came to a relationship, total devotion to one woman. Yeah, I’d slept with my share of women, but when I had my heart set on someone and was ready to have a relationship, then I was ready. Ms. Reba St. James was the kind of woman who was ring-worthy, and I was damned sure that she would someday very soon be wearing one with my name on it.
Was I possessive? Not normally, but when it came to the woman I loved, fuck yeah. Did I want her to have her own life? Absolutely. Would I allow her to do whatever she wanted? Damned straight I would, but I would want to be part of the discussion on what and how she would do it. I would want to know she would be safe and that she was thinking it through. I would want to make sure she was doing the best thing for herself and our family. I would support the woman I loved through anything that she needed to do, no matter what it was. That’s what a good man did.
It was the complete opposite of what my father had done for my mother, and I was committed to being the total opposite of that patronizing bastard.
Chapter Seven
Reba
I floated on a cloud all the way home. I’d never been so satisfied in my life, and I was pretty amazed that my legs had even held me up after climbing out of Wallie’s bed.
I paused my thought process and tried to remember if I had ever heard Wallie called anything else besides Wall or Wallie at the club. I couldn’t remember anyone ever calling him anything besides one of those two names. How could I not have asked what his real name was? I knew that most of the dancers went by other names. Britt was really Abigail, her middle name was Brittney, so she used that as her stage name. Destiny never told anyone what her real name was. Sassy, who had only been with us for a short time, was Sophia Thayer. Pepper’s legal name was Bonnie. I had no idea how she had come up with Pepper as a stage name.
I did know that Ty’s real name was Tytan, but he preferred to go by the shortened name. All the rest of the guys, Wayne, Bruce, Murl, all used their real names, so why would I think that Wallie would not have been using his real name?
Well, now he had my attention enough that he knew I was going to show up at his place tonight if only to ask about his name. I snorted as I pulled into a parking space near my apartment. Yeah, like that’s the only reason I’d go see him. After how he made feel today, I’d be an idiot not to go back for more. I now completely understood how a heroin addict felt after taking that first hit. No wonder it was so hard to get clean. I wondered if Mr. Monroe paid for sexual addiction rehab. I was pretty sure that after just one time with Wallie, I was addicted for life.
I collected my purse and entered my building. Before I went up the stairs, I stopped by the mailboxes and retrieved my mail. On the top of the stack was an envelope from the bank that held one of my student loans. I had two different loans at two different banks, and both were seriously behind. I wanted to toss the letter into the recycling slot, but I shoved it into my purse instead and tromped up to my apartment. I didn’t need to be told that I was behind, I knew I was.
Once I got upstairs, I climbed into bed, and within minutes was sound asleep, dreaming of strong arms wrapped around me and a deep, husky voice whispering in my ear that everything would be okay because he would make sure of it.
When I woke up hours later, I felt more rested than I had in years. I rolled over and grabbed my phone off the nightstand, wondering if Wallie had sent me a message, but my only message was from Britt. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I hadn’t given him my number. In fact, we’d talked about the fact that we probably shouldn’t communicate that way—not yet. We really needed to be careful. Mr. Monroe was very serious when it came to his no-dating rules.
I didn’t tell Wallie last night, but I was going to speak with Ty and see if there was anything else I could do at the club to make extra money. Maybe there was another position where I could do some part-time work to make extra cash, that way I could leave dancing behind, and Wallie and I could see each other in the open. I didn’t want to sneak behind anyone’s back and risk putting our jobs on the line, and now that we had stepped over the invisible line, I didn’t want to go back either.
I had to stack my small coffee table on top of my sofa in order to give myself enough room to warm up, do my twenty-minute ab and glute workout, and then my yoga routine. Only then did I allow myself to have a cup of coffee after I drank thirty-two ounces of water.
I was getting ready to shower when my cellphone rang and I saw the number for the club. Ty was on the line, “Hope I didn’t wake you.”
“Nope, I just got done working out, was about to shower. What can I do for you?”
“We have a late conference today, and one of our hostesses had to go home sick. I was wondering if you might be able to cover for her. This dinner meeting should be over a little before your shift starts in the lounge, so I thought maybe you might want it.”
“Are you kidding? I’d love it, Ty!” As I replied, my eyes landed on the mail I’
d forgotten to open. “What time do you need me there?”
“As soon as you can get here.”
“I’ll do the best I can, I promise.” I was already wiggling out of my yoga pants as I headed for my small bathroom. After I hung up, I took one look at my messy hair and knew it was going to be an up-do night. I took a moment to wind it up on my head and jumped into the shower to wash off.
Twenty minutes later, I was grabbing my purse and keys and rushing out the door, the letter from the bank still tucked inside. I told myself I’d look at it while I was on break later tonight.
Fifteen minutes later, I parked behind the club and hustled inside. The parking lot was already filling with businessmen, and I wondered just how big the meeting was going to be. I rang the bell at the back door, and Ty opened it a moment later.
“You are a lifesaver. I did not want to have to deal with these guys alone tonight.”
“Who are these guys?”
“Bankers from New York.”
“New York? Why are they down here?”
Ty shrugged. “One of them is a member here. He has a house on the outskirts of town, Claude Wellburn.”
I tried not to flinch as he spoke the name. I was not a fan of the wealthy man. He had flat dark eyes that seemed to look right through me, and they never seemed to change. His smile always seemed forced, and he threw money around like most people threw pennies into a fountain.
“I see you’re not fond of him, either.”
“I didn’t say that.”
He laughed quietly as we walked down the hallway. “You didn’t have to, I saw it on your face. It’s okay; most of the people here aren’t fond of him. Personally, I don’t even think Quinn likes him, he just puts up with him because he has to.”
“Why does he have to?”
Ty tensed as if he’d said too much. “They have some business together.” He pushed open a side door, and we entered another hallway. “Anyway, Corey had everything set up, but her kid had the flu the other day and she no sooner got here and spiked a fever and began to throw up, so we immediately sent her home. We don’t need everyone here getting sick.”
Whispers of Winter: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Romances Page 107
