“Sounds good to me.” She smiled. The prospect of seeing Reid again thrilled her. “I’ll be ready. I just have one question, though.”
“What is it?”
“Is this a professional dinner, where we discuss our collaboration, or something else?”
“It can be whatever you want it to be.”
“Good answer. See you then.”
* * *
So much for a professional dinner, Lila thought as Reid wrapped his arms around her waist.
She had barely stepped into his foyer when he was on her, his lips pressing against hers. He was frantic, but no more than she was. Their discarded clothing littered the floor as they made their way into the house. They got as far as the kitchen, wearing only their underwear, and Lila knew they wouldn’t make it any further than that.
She didn’t have a chance to look around, take in the view of the backyard, or even check out what he’d cooked, food which was simmering on the stovetop. But that was fine. She could get the tour later.
Reid lifted her onto the countertop, and ran his hands down her body, while she busied herself with his. She reached down and squeezed his length through the material of his boxers, and he groaned in response, letting her touch him for only a moment before he pushed her hand away and dropped his own between her thighs.
Touching her, he found her wet, needy. The minute his fingers met her clit, a bolt of electricity shot through her. Reid was different than any other man that she’d been with. Just his touch was enough to set her ablaze.
He stroked her and her heart rate increased, as he slipped past the satin barrier of her panties and slid a finger inside of her. She could feel herself tighten around his finger and she gripped him even harder when he inserted another. He moved his hand back and forth, plunging his fingers in and out of her, circling her clit with the master’s touch of his thumb. He was driving her crazy, as she was splayed on the countertop, trapped between the wall behind her and the hard muscles of his chest. Her breathing increased, and she clenched her hands into tight, little fists, finding it difficult to hold on.
It had only been a couple of days since she’d been with him in New Orleans, but even that had been far too long. She needed him again. Now!
“Reid,” she gasped. “Condoms. In my purse,” she told him, apparently unable to form complete sentences.
“Aren’t you eager?” he teased, slowly the speed of his touches, lazily drawing out her pleasure.
“Reid, now. Please,” she pleaded.
“You don’t have to ask me again,” he told her, pulling his hand away from her and bringing his fingers to his mouth, licking his digits free of her juices. She was so far gone, that just the sight of the pleasure he took from it, almost pushed her over the edge. She squeezed her eyes shut, to get her hormones under control, but it was useless.
When she opened her eyes again, she watched, riveted, as Reid rolled the latex over himself, and took position again between her spread thighs. He roughly grabbed her hips in his large, strong hands and entered her. Her eyes fluttered shut in relief, but she opened them again, not wanting to miss the look on Reid’s face as he pushed into her over and over.
The look that came over him was rough, serious, as he possessed her, rearing back, almost pulling his entire length from her, before slamming back into her again. He squeezed her hips in a tight grip as he filled her, possessing her so fully, as he held her in place, thrusting his hips against her with a force that made her head crash against the wall cupboard door. Immediately, he put a hand at the back of her head, cushioning the blows, but not slowing his pace.
Lila felt her orgasm grow again. His movements grew more strained and she knew that he was close, as well. He pulled her close, and hit her just right, and soon, her orgasm erupted with force, and bliss overcame her, as he continued pumping his hips. “Reid,” she yelled out, barely recognizing her own voice, as she exploded. But her cries were muted by his lips, as he entered her one more time, before he stiffened and came with his own thick groan.
* * *
Waking up in Reid’s bed the next morning, Lila felt warm, firm chest at her back. A strong arm was draped over her middle and it took her several seconds to remember where she was. But when she inhaled Reid’s spicy cologne and the unmistakable scent of their lovemaking, it all came rushing back to her.
She turned in his arms, and he kept his eyes closed, still sleeping. His face was soft, but day-old stubble peppered his chin. Her fingers itching to touch it, she reached out and felt the rough bristles under her fingertips. His eyes opened slowly and when they focused on her, he smiled.
“Morning.”
“Sorry to wake you.”
His eyes shifted downward, at their naked bodies pressed together, and his smile turned devilish. “I’m glad you did.” Between them, his cock hardened, and she felt him grow against her belly.
“Well, hello down there,” she said, and he flexed his hips against her.
He laughed and cupped her cheek, coming close to kiss her, but she drew back, and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. “Watch out,” she warned him. “Morning breath.”
He moved her hand and leaned in, kissing her anyway, before he pulled back and grimaced. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Lila laughed. “Jerk.”
Reid laughed and kissed her again, taking his time, his tongue brushing against hers. “I’m kidding. You’re good,” he assured her, before kissing her again to prove his point.
She moaned into his mouth, and he rolled her over onto her back, holding himself over her with his strong forearms. She ran her fingernails up the soft dark hair and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled Reid closer, and they kissed more before he pulled away. “Aw, damn,” he muttered against her skin, his lips skimming down her throat.
“What’s wrong?”
“We used all of my condoms last night.”
The bubble of desire popped. “Are you serious? For such a responsible guy, you don’t keep your place stocked with the necessities?”
“Sorry for my poor planning. But that doesn’t mean we can’t improvise.”
Lila spread her legs, and flexed her hips upward, allowing his midsection to rest more fully on top of hers. “What do you have in mind?”
He quirked an eyebrow upward. “This,” he said, before disappearing below the thin blanket that covered them.
Reid kissed, licked, nibbled his way across her chest, stopping to circle one tight nipple with his lips. He sucked and swished his tongue across the bud. He cupped the other breast with his large hands and pinched the nipple between his fingers, making her cry out. Her back arched off the bed as he worked, played over her breasts, plucking at strings of desire that settled in her center. “Reid,” she gasped, not understanding how it was possible that he could have such an effect on her, as he played with her breasts. “I can’t wait anymore.”
He released one rosy bud from his rounded lips with a light pop, and he grinned. “You got it, sweetheart.” He ventured lower, dipping his tongue into her belly button, before he found his destination. He threw off the blanket, left her exposed to the chilly air of his room and maneuvered her legs so that they draped over his back, thighs on his shoulders.
From his position, he looked up at her, a playful smile perched on wicked lips, amusement putting a glisten in his eyes. This was a different Reid—not the hard, serious, callous jerk, with a tongue that could cut. No, he was having fun—he was playful, funny, cute, even. With an even more wicked tongue. His mouth descended upon her flesh again, his tongue snaking between her folds, and hit the spot she needed him to. He closed his lips around the bud and applied pressure, giving her the same attention he’d given her nipples. Stroking, pinching, licking, feasting.
While one hand fisted the cotton bedsheet, her other gripped the back of his head. Wanting him to get closer and
relieve the delicious pressure. The feeling was almost too much for her, and she whined, pushing her hips closer to his mouth. He pulled back momentarily and flipped over so that he was on his back, and he pulled her to him, so that she straddled his head between her thighs, he held her so closely, that she wasn’t sure how he was able to breathe down there. He nipped her clit with his lips just right and she let out a wild yell. She began to move her hips, riding his face, surely cutting off his air supply. And yet he still didn’t stop. She swayed and shook her hair behind her shoulders as she chased her own pleasure. If he dies, he dies, she reasoned, not caring about anything how he made her feel. Every muscle in her body tensed, as he ate from her, and she barely noticed the hand he snaked across her ass, and the finger he pressed into the crevice.
Her breath went short and her orgasm powered through her and she continued to ride him, as he held on to her, guiding her climax. When her body quieted from the rapturous pleasure, she rolled over in a heap on the bed. Her heart was pounding, and she tried to regain her breath. Reid lay by her side, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
“You okay?” she asked him, putting a hand on his sweat-glistened chest.
“Yeah,” he said in between breaths. “I thought I might black out there for a moment,” he added with a laugh.
“Sorry I almost killed you.”
“It was worth it. It would have been a good way to go.”
She smiled, and then rolled over onto him so that she straddled his hips. “Well, don’t go anywhere yet,” she told him, grabbing his length. “It’s your turn now.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ON MONDAY MORNING, Reid walked into the distillery with a smile on his face, whistling as made the way to his office. He’d had a spectacular weekend with Lila. She’d gotten under his skin, and no matter how much he scratched that itch there was no relief like being inside her. He may have resisted her at first, but he’d found himself wanting to be with her. It was a need at this point. And he’d almost skipped work to stay with her in his bed.
“Well, aren’t you in a good mood this morning,” he heard Quin say, coming up behind him. “What’s put the jump in your step?”
“I’m in a good mood,” he told him. “Is that allowed?”
“It’s allowed. It’s just not very common, coming from you.” His little brother narrowed his eyes at him. “What were you up to this weekend?”
“If you have to know, I was with Lila.”
“Oh really? Just discussing business, right?” he asked with a wink.
“We did a little, but really, I barely thought about work at all.”
“The woman deserves an award for keeping your mind off the office.”
Reid rolled his eyes. Quin could use his imagination if he wanted. Reid wouldn’t provide any more details about Lila. “Can I help you with something? Or do you not have enough of your own work to do?”
“I stopped by to tell you that Gemma wants to see both of us in the distillery.”
Reid checked his phone and didn’t see a message from her.
“She texted me this morning,” Quin explained. “And you weren’t anywhere to be found so I told her I’d let you know.”
“Thanks.”
Side by side they made their way down to the distillery where Gemma was waiting for them.
“So, Lila, huh?” Quin asked.
“Yeah, I guess so. You have anything to say about it?”
“Not at all. Good for you, man,” he said. “I really like her. And you guys are so different, it seems like a great fit. Do you see a future there?”
“You’re getting way ahead of this,” Reid told him. “It’s nothing serious. We’re just hanging out. She’s got her work, I’ve got mine. Especially if she’s partnering with us. We’re having fun for the time being because it won’t last forever.” There was no way that two people as different as he and Lila would ever be able to work romantically in the real world.
“Why not?” Quin asked.
Reid was about to give him reasons he’d given himself—their differences, work, propriety, blah, blah, blah—but he didn’t. The more he thought about the reasons, the less sense they made.
Reid walked into the distillery alongside Quin. Gemma was standing next to the large copper fermenters with several of her employees, directing them. Reid was proud of the way she ran her distillery. She was a fierce, talented leader with a firm but gentle hand, all wrapped up in a small package.
“About time you guys got here,” she told Reid and Quin.
“What did you want?”
“I’ve got some news,” she told them. “Let’s talk in my office.”
They followed her to the small, cluttered office in the distillery, and Reid and Quin took seats on the battered couch next to her desk. “What have you got?” Reid asked.
Gemma handed over a notebook, and when he flipped through the pages, he found diagrams, notes, recipes, random scribbles. “What am I looking at, Gem?”
“It’s very preliminary at the moment. But I may have come up with a way to quick-distill and quickly age our rum.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m not sure. But here’s what might work,” she said before going into an in-depth discussion of the science behind distilling. Reid was impressed. She had come up with a way to speed up the aging process, taking what would typically be at least a five-year process for their dark and spiced rums and turning it into a six-month one. But he had reservations.
“Will the quality suffer?” Quin asked.
“That’s the beauty of it,” she told them. “I won’t know for sure until we get some test batches done. But I don’t think it will. I’ve played with something before, but nothing on a grand scale like this.”
“So along with the prohibition recipe, you’ll be quick-aging all other batches. What about space or equipment?” Reid asked.
“I already ordered the special equipment we’ll need. If this works, we’ll need to expand, so the sooner we get to converting our current properties, or buying new ones, the better.”
“That really puts some pressure on us. We haven’t planned on expanding this quickly. I guess you’d better get started and we’ll handle the facilities,” Quin told her. “This is a lot,” Reid said. “It’s risky. I hope it’s worth it.”
“It will be.”
“I’m not one to take a risk.”
“We all have to be on board here,” Quin reminded them. “It’s how we do this. Either we waste the opportunity we’ve been given with this newfound popularity, or we let it ride on expansion and a procedure that’s completely new to us.”
“All in favor of new to us?” Gemma asked, raising her hand. Quin did also.
“Guys, we have to be careful here,” Reid maintained.
“Raise your hand, Reid,” Quin warned him. “We’re doing this.”
“Fine,” Reid relented. “We’ll do this your way.” He raised his hand and he hoped to God the decision wouldn’t ruin them.
* * *
No matter how hard she tried, Lila couldn’t will herself to get out of bed, not as long as she could smell Reid on the bedsheets, still see the indent of his head on the pillow next to her. She’d slept so soundly in his bed, against his chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her that it had felt like only minutes had passed when his alarm sounded that morning and he’d gone to work. They’d spent the night wrapped up in each other. They ran so hot and cold—between goading each other and tearing each other’s clothes off. Teasing him provided her with just as much a rush as sex with him. Maybe it was all part of the same emotion.
She pushed herself up from Reid’s bed and looked around his room—so masculine, neat, and ordered. Just like the man himself.
She picked up the shirt he’d discarded the night before and held it to her nose, taking in his scent bef
ore throwing it into his clothes hamper.
She hadn’t gotten a good look at the place last night. When she’d showed up, they’d immediately taken things to the bedroom. Not that she had any complaints, of course. Her stroll to the kitchen took her past a couple more immaculate bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, and his office.
Knowing that Reid didn’t trust easily, it meant a lot to her that he let her stay there without him. In such a short time, they’d come a long way.
Her phone rang and she saw it was a call from her agent in LA.
“Lila, where are you?” he asked, skipping the traditional greetings.
“I’m in Miami,” she told him. “Why?”
“You were supposed to stay in LA for the contract negotiations.”
Lila sighed, and despite the great opportunity that a television network provided her, she increasingly felt doubt about signing the contract. “I had to take care of something in Miami first,” she told him.
“That rum thing?” he asked, indifferent. Lila knew he didn’t care about it because she’d lined it up without him, excluding him from ten percent of her paycheck. “That’s not your future. This internet fame you have—you’re a flash in the pan, girl. You have to strike while the iron is hot,” he said, mixing metaphors in a way that bugged her every time.
He was right. She had to take advantage of every lucrative opportunity that came her way. Even if it meant doing something she didn’t really want to do—like sign her name, image, brand over to a corporation. “Can I do a video chat with them?” She still had things to take care of with the distillery. And whether she admitted it to herself not, that was the deal she wanted to sign.
“No, we’ll need you back in LA as soon as possible.”
“Okay,” Lila agreed with a frown. Sure, it was just a matter of hopping a flight, but part of her felt like she would be cutting off an important piece of her life. Her independence, her freedom.
And Reid.
* * *
Taming Reid Page 14
