B. G. McCarthy - A Thief At Heart

by A Thief At Heart (lit)

  He reached out and brushed the backs of his fingers over her puckered nipples, then slowly over the crests, lifting them in his hands. She bit her lip and lowered her head shyly to his shoulder as she felt her breasts tauten almost to pain, twinge from his attentions. “You’re awesome,” he rasped. “So sexy. My nightly fantasies didn’t come close.”

  Robbie was still braced against the wall, his head a little lower than hers. He pulled her mouth down for another kiss, moving up into her, letting her think she was taking control. She knew she was out of it, totally out of her mind. His hard, work worn hands cupped and lifted her breasts, the rough texture of his thumbs and fingers grazing her nipples, sending arrows of pleasure to flare between her legs.

  Robbie kept kissing her; his body couldn’t seem to be close enough to hers, his hands all over her. He ground her hips down against his braced thigh, making her gasp and sway as he trailed his tongue down her shoulder to her breast, his eager mouth sucking hard on one tender nipple while one hand clasped her hip, holding her tightly against his body.

  Too fast. Too much. Not quite enough.

  Then she could feel his hand slide over her thigh, gliding over the curve of her buttocks. His fingers eased up the loose fabric of her shorts, delving along the edge of her panties. She felt him shudder, felt his long fingers glide over her. She was so wet, so juicy, she felt ashamed. He pressed insistently against her. She jerked--flustered even though she knew what was happening--ready to bolt and hide.

  The look he gave her changed her mind about bolting. No one had ever looked at her quite like that: reverent, anxious, wanting to please. “You really want me to do this, don’t you, Riley?”

  She wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement. She nodded because it was true. She did want him. More than she could imagine wanting anything--anyone.

  He stroked between her thighs again with slow deliberation, watching her face. She bit her lip to stifle a cry, her body immediately answering the touch of his clever fingers. Things were happening everywhere, beyond her control. She felt dazzled, like a stranger in a sparkling new realm.

  Her head fell back in helpless shock as he slowly rubbed her tingling flesh, drawing her breast deeply into his mouth once again. Riley felt something exotic and astounding happening, a dark, deep quickening inside of her. The dubious prospect of losing herself forever to this boy flickered to mind and she was crying out as rapture suddenly burst within her.

  Robbie led her to his mussed up bed, his blue eyes now glittering slits, his voice grinding with effort. The backs of her shaky legs bumped the edge. “Did you just come?” he asked. She could feel his body trembling against hers as they fell.

  Robbie really seemed to care about her part in this. She liked that, cherished the boyish play of emotion she saw on his face. “I never knew that it would feel that nice with--” she muttered. She was such a weenie. He had to know that!

  “That was the first time you ever--” He smoothed her hair back, his touch tender. “--that someone gave you one?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” she answered softly, shaken and self-conscious. She brushed her fingers over his kiss-swollen bottom lip. “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “I hear it gets even better with practice.”

  “You practice this a lot, do you?”

  He gave an awkward laugh and mumbled something she didn’t quite catch about being intimate with tube socks. Tube socks?

  She felt so naked sprawled there, her flesh still throbbing between her legs. He devoured her breasts with his beautiful eyes as he undressed, shrugging his jeans, his underwear and socks down and off in one smooth motion. She swallowed hard at the sight. Heat shot through her, weakening her limbs. Maybe it was fear. She was insane. Maybe this, this particular part, was a little too much.

  His body covered her, his mouth locked again on hers, one hand braced on the mattress, the other supporting her waist. She felt the damp surface of his chest against her bare skin as his lips trailed over her neck, her shoulder.

  “Riley, you don’t have to do this.” His voice sounded throaty, almost harsh. She looked into his blue eyes; they seemed to be brimming with worry: the very real fear that she’d stop him most likely. “It’s okay,” he said, brushing her hair out of her face. “I’ll understand if you want me to stop now.”

  “I know.” Robbie was being far too accommodating. He made her want to cry, to take him up on his offer to halt this fearful desire, ask him if he would please just hold her close instead.

  He ran his fingers lightly down her thigh. “We don’t have to go all the way. I like touching you a lot. Maybe you could touch me.”

  She stared at him, lost to his charms forever now, knowing that everything he said, did, the way he looked at her, made her want him more. She didn’t know the words to say so she didn’t say anything else. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a breathless kiss, her fingers pressing into the smooth flesh of his shoulders, telling him without words.

  He broke the kiss, trembling as he slipped her shorts off, gazing into her eyes the whole time, his rough-skinned hands rasping her skin. He slid her panties down her long legs, letting them dangle on one ankle. She kicked them off. Her leg accidentally brushed his groin. He jerked and groaned as if in pain, then he laughed.

  Robbie buried his face in her neck, still laughing; sifting her hair in his fingers. “You’re so beautiful, Riley Jane. You feel so good. Your hair smells like chocolate chip cookies. I’m never going to eat cookies again without thinking of you. God, I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She closed her eyes, swallowing hard, wondering if he meant now--the sex act--or some hazy time in the future when he might break her heart? “It’s okay. I want you to do it.”

  Robbie turned from her, fumbling with a foil packet, then came back to her again. He kissed her deeply, but not long enough, then parted her legs and entered her in one, smooth thrust, sucking in his breath as he filled her. She arched upwards with a cry. It hurt. Really bad.

  He began to move experimentally inside her. She could tell that he was holding back. He was sweating, wanting to thrust harder. He held himself rigid, straining, the muscles of his arms on either side of her neck tensed like iron. She tensed against the pain.

  “I need you,” Robbie groaned, lowering in a push up of sorts, kissing her hair, her temple, her closed eyelids. “Tell me if it hurts. I’ll stop. Don’t make me stop... this feels so good.”

  “It’s okay,” she lied. “Don’t stop.”

  She was not going to cry but she could feel the urge building like a mass in her chest, filling her throat. She held on tightly to him, wrapping her arms around his lean waist. His skin was warm and smooth and damp and his body was so solid despite his lean build. She was overcome by what he made her feel, a love she’d always tried very hard to suppress.

  Robin’s orgasm was turbulent, intense. His body stiffened as he lost himself within her, groaning and shuddering, saying her name like a litany. With it her pain left and she relaxed, overcome by pride that she’d given him such sweet release.

  For the sheer emotion he’d been able to stir in her, no one else in her life had ever come close, she thought hurtling back to the present. It seemed stupid to think now that she’d never gotten past the hurdle of her blind, doomed love for that teenaged boy. Riley suddenly felt better, maybe more at peace, having allowed herself the luxury of remembering that right of passage now.

  Six

  Rob heard the toilet flush, heard the splash of the water in the tub. He waited a second then reached up into the top of the French door casing. The house was old, wired for security probably only recently. He rubbed his fingers along the wood, found the wire and gave it a tug. The magnet that caused the beeping signal was just sitting there, secured by a bit of glue. It slid out easily. Disarmed.

  He opened the door and slipped out onto the patio, taking gulps of cool air into his lungs.

  He’d come close to blowing it. For someo
ne who took great pride in what he did for a living, he was really close to losing whatever so-called credibility he’d actually possessed.

  That thought had just crossed Rob’s addled mind when he heard the unmistakable grind of the double front gates. A pair of headlights lit up the drive, hopefully not shining brightly enough to illuminate his position on the verandah outside Riley’s room beside a huge potted topiary.

  Todd and some buddies here for some drinks? Rob mused. Or a late night business meeting? From the way the men who’d followed him in exited their cars and met a wobbling Todd in the drive in a sort of showdown, Rob suspected it wasn’t for drinks.

  He looked through the glass. Riley had just walked back into the room, fresh from her bath.

  He took in the knee-weakening sight of Riley in a tee shirt and tiny, white cotton panties, sitting cross-legged on the bed to comb out her thick, wet, caramel-colored hair. She was laughing about something on the soap opera. He imagined the sound of it in his head. He’d never forgotten that husky little giggle, never would as long as he lived.

  Maybe he could coax that giggle out of her if he tried a little harder.

  He decided to stay put for a while. Knowing that she was alone in the house with Todd and his friends, it was a no-brainer that he’d be spending a cold night crouched on a marble floor behind a potted plant.

  ~ * ~

  Riley lay awake staring at the ceiling long after she’d heard Todd’s car come back. While knowing Todd had come back to the house with his friends caused her some concern, there was little to do about it, so she might as well try to get some sleep. If she called Craig and asked if she could come back to the loft, he’d laugh at her. If she got dressed and left the house she’d just rouse Todd’s notice, so she might as well stay where she was.

  Where the hell would she go anyway?

  Rob Murphy came into her mind. She shivered, getting a sudden, disturbingly strong mental picture of Robert in his hotel room.

  In bed in his hotel room, to be specific.

  Splendidly naked to the waist; nothing more than a white sheet rucked over his lean hips. He was giving her this wide, come-hither smile and patting the empty side of the bed with one of those big, manly hands.

  Damn! What the hell was she doing?

  She flipped over on her stomach, pressing her face into the pillow.

  Oh, God, he was gorgeous. She remembered that kiss from hours ago. Not really much of a kiss as far as kisses went, but it had promised so much more. Just a taste of what could be.

  She longed to feel it again. Feel his body pressed against hers, feel his hands on her face. The longing was so wild she could barely believe it.

  Thoughts of tanned, muscled, naked torsos were suddenly conquered when she heard some loud voices in the hallway.

  Todd?

  What were they doing on this floor? Were they coming this way? Or going to the suites and offices at the other end of the corridor?

  The voices did not get louder. They were obviously going to Blake’s wing. Mary had made that part of the house out of bounds to anyone but the maid since Blake’s death.

  Riley closed her eyes, counted to ten and willed herself to relax. She really wanted to rock back and forth against the mattress, hugging herself close, a comfort thing she’d done as a little girl. It had always worked to get her to sleep, to dispel the anxiety of hearing her mother during one of her psychotic episodes or when her mother was fighting or having sex with one of the strange men she frequently brought home to the small apartment. Riley hadn’t stopped rocking herself to sleep until her teen years when she’d finally felt safe in Aggie’s house.

  Later she didn’t know if she’d really been asleep or just in the midst one of those weird twilights states, half in dreams, half awake, but she woke to loud voices.

  Todd’s voice was the loudest. He didn’t sound like he did when he was in one of his snits with his grandmother. Todd usually had come off as smug, thinking he’d win those battles. At the moment he sounded scared witless, not even striving for swagger.

  What the hell was going on?

  Whatever it was, it was none of her business. She wasn’t going to go out there and stupidly try to put a stop to it. She couldn’t do anything. She just hoped she didn’t have to get the police involved for Mary’s sake. She opened her door a crack, sure that with the yelling no one would hear the noise of the creaky door hinges.

  Todd stood at the end of the hall near Blake’s office with two men. They didn’t look like his usual kind of friends. More biker types, one sporting a braid that reached the small of his back. The other was slender, black-haired, bearded and leather-clad. Scary. He looked like the kind of guy her mother often brought home.

  “Look after it, buddy. We’ve given you long enough. This little problem is yours now. He’s getting impatient and he don’t like it when he gets impatient.” said Pigtail.

  “Sure. I know that,” a visibly agitated Todd was saying. “Like I told you the other day, it’ll be taken care of. Everything will be fine. I just had some other things to look after. I was gambling a little too much, then I had problems at the office. I have to be careful there--”

  “Just take care of us first. We’re counting on this. Playing around in the paddling pool isn’t going to do you any good anymore, kid. We’ve got big sharks with us, and they’ll hurt you bad, if you get my drift.”

  Bearded man looked at Pigtail and they laughed. Riley didn’t quite get the drift, herself, but the aquatic imagery was compelling.

  Hopefully that idiot Todd would think so, too. Cement boots didn’t quite compare to alligator shoes.

  “I can get the money to pay those other people off by tomorrow, then I can devote my time to you guys. I swear it was just an oversight. No problem. Don’t like sharks much.” He tittered. It sounded so funny Riley wanted to snort with glee.

  What kind of sharks exactly? she wondered. Loan sharks? Riley pondered, her spine tingling. Oh, poor Mary...

  “You’re sure you guys want a Mercedes this time?” Todd asked.

  “Yeah. That’s what the big man wants. Go figure.”

  “It’s a nice little car,” Todd said. “I can get the car by Monday. No problem. Any color preference? I’ll just have to get some papers in order and arrange a few things.”

  “Color preferences?” The other man laughed. “How about blue to match the bruises you’ll have if you crap around like you’ve been doing. We need to get this car on its way to Mexico by Wednesday. The client is anxious to have it for a birthday gift. If you want to hang onto your balls, do it kid. Remember those sharks like a nice big breakfast. We’ll be in touch.”

  “Interesting way to put that,” Todd said with a stiff laugh. “In touch.”

  Riley could have sworn that she heard something from the balcony just then. What the hell? Was someone out there? Had the wind just blown over one of the geraniums again?

  That had to be it. A wet, cold wind was blowing off the inlet tonight.

  Her agitation had caused her to lean on the door a bit and it gave a slight creak. It sounded loud as thunder to her, but maybe Todd wouldn’t have heard it.

  A few minutes later she heard a car drive away. She’d just climbed back into her bed when the phone beside the bed rang. Riley almost leapt out of her skin. She fumbled for it before it rang again. “Yes?”

  “Jane, I know you’re there. Open the damned door,” Todd hissed in the phone. “I’m standing on the other side talking on my cell.”

  Her heart hammered. “I can speak to you perfectly well this way. And keep your voice down. Mary’s sleeping in the next room. You know she wakes easily.” Lies had never come easily to Riley, no matter how many of them she’d told in her life.

  “She’s here? Where’s the Bentley?”

  “She gave Brian the car for the rest of the night. He went to his girlfriend’s place, I think.” It wasn’t uncommon for Mary to do that. Her driver was a good guy and trustworthy. “We came home ea
rly. Mary was tired.”

  “What did you hear?”

  “Just now? Nothing. I looked out in the hall because I was surprised to hear voices. I assumed you had some noisy friends here and that you’ve been looking for the key to the wine cellar. Mary’s gotten after you for that before.” She’d just given him an easy out and hoped that he was actually smart enough to catch on.

  “Yeah.” Riley heard the catch of relief in Todd’s voice. “I was doing some business. I left important papers up here in Dad’s office and we were going to have some hundred year old brandy to seal the deal.”

  “I’m sure Mary will understand that. I won’t say anything to her about your being up here.” Not until I find out what the hell you’re up to, Riley thought. Loan sharks. Gambling. Maybe even smuggling luxury cars. Fool.

  “You say anything and I’ll get your pretty little ass fired.”

  “Really?” she scoffed.

  There was a pregnant pause. “Or maybe we could make an arrangement. I keep your little secrets. You keep mine.”

  “Not interested in any deals, thanks.” Riley had a hard time keeping the quaver out of her voice. “Make sure you’re quiet so you won’t wake Mary. We’re leaving early in the morning for a spa treatment.” If she knew Todd, he’d sleep until noon. She set the phone back in its cradle and ran her hands through her hair, hugging her knees under the covers.

  She had to do something about this. She wasn’t a fool. And she wasn’t stupid enough to let something serious like sexual harassment slide just because she had a job and good money at stake, was she? Was she?

  Did she risk telling Mary about Todd’s late night meetings with big, harsh biker-type bruisers in the very sanctity of Mary’s house? That her grandson was playing with sharks? That he had gambling debts? She told herself she could handle this--her friendship with Mary was worth a little inconvenience.

  She had a feeling the crap was going to hit the fan soon enough for good old Todd. Mary was already onto him. Maybe Todd would get kicked out on his plump butt and she wouldn’t have to deal with him any longer.