by Dorie Graham
She leaned forward. “You think I could maybe negotiate the terms of my return?”
“If he’s like most parents, he thinks he’s doing the right thing. That’s all he really wants. I’m sure he loves you, or he wouldn’t be so worried about you all the time. I doubt he wants to see you miserable.”
“Will you stay while I call him? For moral support.”
“Sure.” Adam settled back in the chair. At least something was going right. If only he could solve his own problems as easily.
9
ADAM TURNED OFF the stove. Two days. He’d given Lauren two days away from him. It was Wednesday and he hadn’t seen her since Monday night. Though they’d spent weeks apart in the past, these had been the longest two days of his life. He’d meant to give her more time—to wait until she called him, but suddenly he’d found himself headed in her direction.
He glanced at her kitchen clock. With luck, she’d be home any minute now. Even when she worked late, she was usually home by nine and it was almost that now.
A shiver of apprehension crept through him. Kamira had been enthusiastic in helping with his impromptu plan to cook a surprise meal for Lauren, but would Lauren feel the same way? She hadn’t made any attempt to contact him since that night she’d walked in on his meeting with Judith.
Since then, he wasn’t sure where he stood with her. After two long days and two agonizing nights, he simply couldn’t wait anymore. Either she booted him out, or they found a way to make things work. One thing was for sure. He meant to remind her just how good they were together.
Maybe he wasn’t her secret admirer, but it wasn’t too late to start wooing her. If she wanted romance, he’d give her romance.
If only he knew what she was thinking right now. Had he been wrong to think she might eventually want the same life he now wanted? Funny how he’d always been able to read her every thought, but now that they’d become lovers everything suddenly wasn’t so clear.
The front door clicked open then shut. “Adam? Are you here?” Lauren called.
He set down the pan he’d been stirring, then found her in the entryway. His chest tightened at the sight of her. She looked frail and run-down, with dark circles under her eyes. How long could she keep up the pace she’d set for herself?
She pulled a slightly wilted rose from the vase on the table. “Hello,” she said and handed him the flower. “I was surprised to see your car out front.”
He took the rose, then wrapped her in his arms, relaxing some when she melted against him. “Hello, sunshine. I hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t wait to see you any longer. Kamira let me in.”
“No. It’s okay. This is a nice surprise.”
“I missed you.”
Her eyes held a sadness when she looked at him. “I missed you, too. I’m just so afraid we’re making a mistake.”
“No. No. Don’t even think it. I can wait forever if need be. No pressure. No hurry.”
“But that’s just it. I may never want the things you do. I just don’t know if I have it in me.”
He couldn’t help the small laugh that tore from him. “It’s there, sunshine. Remember our old clubhouse? You were a regular Susy Homemaker. I wanted a he-man fort, but you made it a little haven for us. The curtains, the tablecloth, all those little touches.”
“You’re talking about games we played as kids. I’m talking about having the guts to live up to the responsibility of raising children. You know I’ve had a taste of it with Rusty, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’m up to raising children.”
“I have never met a single soul who is more responsible than you.”
“I just don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I want to. Look at all the trouble Rusty’s gotten into over the years. Do you know what a load it’s been to keep worrying about him? I don’t know if I’m cut out for that kind of stress. Maybe I just need to worry about me for a little while.”
“Ah, what would you worry about? You’re not the type to get into trouble.”
“That’s just it. How can I be sure? I’ve been so busy taking care of everyone else, I never had the chance to get into trouble myself.”
“You want to get into trouble?”
“Well, not like my brother.”
“Rusty’s doing okay.” Adam’s stomach tightened. She didn’t know the half of her brother’s shenanigans. Hopefully, Sherry would run home to papa before anything bad happened, like the man coming after Rusty.
“So far. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, though. See, even though he’s my brother, it’s almost like I’ve already had a child to raise. How much worse would it be with my own child? I’m not sure if I want to go through this again.”
Heaviness weighed Adam’s heart. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to have his child. The minute she had made it clear that she wanted to be the significant other in his life he had known he wanted to have a family with her. Why couldn’t she feel the same way?
Would it be enough to just have her—to not have children? “Who knows? Maybe I’d be a lousy dad.”
“You’d be a terrific dad. Look how well you’ve done with Rusty.”
Guilt tugged at his conscience. “Maybe I could live without children.”
“Do you really think you could?” She eyed him doubtfully.
Suddenly, he felt more tired than ever. “I honestly don’t know. But if it means jeopardizing my life with you, then I’m not so sure.”
“Adam, you—”
“Let’s not talk about this now. I want to show you something.”
He took her by the hand, then led her into the kitchen. “I tried to clean up as I went, but I’ll get the rest later.”
Dropping her hand, he moved to where he’d been arranging a dinner tray for them. With quick movements, he transferred the sauce from the pan into a small bowl, then set it on the tray beside a dish of strawberries.
She glanced over the tray, lifting lids, sniffing the tantalizing smell of curry, tasting a dip of chocolate. “You cooked.”
“I threw the meal together without a recipe. This was my own creation. Not from the cookbook. I kind of sautéed everything. I sampled as I went. It’s not bad.” He couldn’t bring himself to use the cookbook her real secret admirer had sent.
A twinge of guilt pierced him. He couldn’t tell her the truth yet. Maybe once their relationship was on firmer ground he’d explain how he hadn’t sent the gifts.
Her eyes misted. “This is the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for me. I’m sorry I’m so late. We have this new account we’re trying to get…and the last thing you want to hear about is work.”
“I want to hear about everything that has to do with you.” He lifted the tray, then led her back to the den off the far side of the kitchen.
“That’s okay. I need a break from it. Oh my.” She drew up short and stared.
He held his breath. He’d made a small haven of pillows and a couple of fluffy comforters on the floor, put on soft music, then lit the dozens of candles he’d bought earlier and placed them all around the room. To set the mood further, he’d banked a roaring fire in the fireplace.
“Is it…all right?” he asked.
Slowly, she turned to him. Taking the tray, she set it on one of the comforters, then she turned back to him. “It’s wonderful.”
Her mouth was sweet and warm, her lips incredibly soft. He delved into the richness of her kiss, pressing her to him and savoring her honeyed taste. Her tongue parried his with the same longing he’d felt for the past couple of days.
“Hungry?” she asked when at long last she pulled back.
“Yes.” He made a pass for her mouth, but she ducked and broke away from him, slipping off her shoes as she headed for the pile of pillows.
“I take it Kamira is spending the night at Greg’s?”
“She and Nala hightailed it out of here when I showed up. Said we could have the house to ourselves.”
“Now, that’s a good housemate. And you are a most consid
erate lover. You worked extremely hard on this meal. I can tell. And we won’t let it go cold. We’ll enjoy every bit of it.” She sank to the makeshift bed on the floor, stretching languorously across the pillows.
With a seductive smile, she patted the spot beside her. “Come now, you need to eat your dinner so you can stay strong and fit for me.”
He lay down beside her and she plucked a bite of chicken from the tray. After dipping it in the spicy curry sauce, she ran the morsel over his lips, before letting him bite it from her fingers. Then she brushed her mouth over his, removing the sauce with tiny flicks of her tongue.
“Mmm…delicious. Maybe this didn’t come from the cookbook, but we can still copy their serving instructions.” She swiped a stray drip from his cheek, then sucked it from her finger.
“I think you’ve got the gist of it. Would you like to try the chicken?”
“Yes, please.”
“First we have to get you out of this. Don’t want to get it messy.” He slipped her silk scarf from her neck. One by one he undid the buttons on her blouse, kissing each inch of newly exposed flesh, stopping to run his tongue along the swell of each breast.
Lauren wriggled out of the blouse as soon as the last button came free. As always, her tiredness left her in Adam’s presence. Anticipation washed over her. “If mine’s coming off, so is yours.”
He let her perform the same slow removal he had done, and she kissed her way down his hard chest. As he pulled off the shirt, she ran her hands over him, threading her fingers through the springy black curls that arrowed down to his belly. “All mine.”
Her pulse quickened as he tilted her back to drizzle the yellow sauce in the hollow of her throat. A shiver of desire rippled through her and he dipped a morsel of chicken in the spot, then held it to her lips. She chewed the tender bite as he lapped the sauce from her skin.
“Take off your bra. I want to eat from your breasts.”
Fingers shaking slightly, she unhooked her bra, then tossed it aside, while he pulled off his shoes. She swept back her hair, then stilled at the heated look in his eyes. Warmth suffused her skin and she’d never felt more wanted.
She skimmed her hands over his chest while he caressed her, seeming to momentarily forget about their meal. After weighing her breasts in his hands, he kneaded them, then teased her nipples until they stood proud and erect. With a sound of satisfaction, he took her into his mouth. Heat shot through her. He suckled first one breast, then the other, laving her nipples to attention, while the fire crackled and the candles sent shadows flickering across the walls.
Moaning softly, she ran her palms across his chest as she pressed her lower body against him, delighting in his guttural response.
At some point he raised his head. “I almost forgot.”
With his fingers, he painted the sauce over her nipples. After popping another bite of the meat into his mouth, he licked the sauce from her skin, circling first one nipple, then the next with the pointed tip of his tongue. He again suckled her long and hard, eliciting that sexual ache in the juncture of her thighs.
“Adam,” she murmured. “You’re getting me so hot.”
In answer, he gave her breast one last pull while he undid her belt and slacks. At last raising his head, he yanked the garment from her.
“These have to go, too.” Her panties followed the rest of her clothes and she found herself on her back. “I want to kiss you all over,” he murmured in her ear.
He started with her face, pressing gentle kisses to her eyes, her cheeks, her lips. She skimmed her hands down his chest, then over his belly, but he stopped her from progressing lower. “This is all about pleasuring you right now.”
His words sent a nervous shiver through her. “But I want to touch you—to pleasure you, too.”
A slight frown formed between his eyebrows. “Is it so hard for you to just relax and let me pleasure you without you giving anything in return?”
“But it shouldn’t be just about me. It should be about us.”
“It is about us. It pleases me to love you like that.” He paused, then continued, “Tell me, if I asked you to kiss me all over, would you enjoy that? Say my hands are tied and I can’t touch you in return.”
Her heart thrummed at the thought. “Is that one of your fantasies?”
His eyes sparkled. “Actually, my fantasy is that I get to tie you up, then have my way with you, but I can see the need to work up to that. I think I can suffer through the new version. If you think you’d enjoy it.”
“I could touch you anywhere—kiss you anywhere—for as long as I want?”
He nodded.
She drew a deep breath. “Yes, I’d like that.”
He slipped out of the rest of his clothes, then stretched across a satin comforter. Her heart thrumming, she lifted her silk scarf from the pile of discarded clothes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
In answer, he held his arms toward her, wrists together. She wrapped the scarf around his wrists, knotting it loosely so he could get out of his bonds if he wanted. The soft tones of a violin drifted over her as she let her gaze wander along his muscled length. God, he was beautiful to look at, from the angles of his face to his proud erection.
She stroked her hand over his chest, to his stomach, then down his hard thigh. The man didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. He was all golden skin and hard muscle. Smiling, she stretched out on top of him, rubbing her sensitized nipples across his chest and grinding her cleft against his erection. He moaned softly and she brushed her mouth across his. She indulged in one more long, wet kiss, her tongue caressing his with slow strokes, before shifting upward to sprinkle smaller kisses along his forehead, cheeks, nose.
Cupping his jaw, she nibbled his earlobe, then traced his ear with her tongue. He squirmed and she kissed her way down his neck to his collarbone.
“Mmm, this could take a while, you know,” she said.
A hoarse laugh escaped him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She reached for the bowl of curry sauce. With slow strokes, she painted the sauce around his nipples, then licked him clean. He blew out a ragged breath as she suckled him, reveling in the taste and feel of his taut bud against her tongue.
He banged his fists against the floor above his head and groaned. “This is torture.”
“You want me to stop?”
“God, no.”
She held his gaze. “Then maybe I should move on.”
His eyes darkened and his lips parted as she trailed her mouth down his torso to the washboard of his stomach. She drizzled more sauce in his navel, dipped a bite-size piece of chicken in it, then held it to his lips. He ate hungrily, watching her as she repeated the process for herself.
“Mmm, that’s good,” she said, bending to lave the rest of the sauce from his stomach.
Her hair slid over his groin and his erection moved of its own accord. “Sunshine, you’re my fantasy woman—my goddess—forever.”
“You like the feel of my hair on you?”
His gaze remained intent on her as she brushed a lock of her hair along the length of his penis. His hands still bound, he threaded his fingers through her hair. “Like spun silk,” he murmured.
“Shall I kiss you here?” she asked, her lips a breath away from him.
“Please.”
Taking him in hand, she pressed kisses down his hard length, savoring the hot, velvety feel of him. With slow strokes, she laved him, her own desire building. Her sex grew moist and swollen. After thoroughly exploring the rounded head, she took him in her mouth. It did indeed please her to pleasure him.
He held his bound hands over his chest and rocked against her, rotating his hips in rhythm to the pull of her mouth. Sounds of pleasure rumbled through his chest and she exalted in the feeling of power surging through her. She closed her eyes and savored the salty taste of his desire. The sexual ache between her thighs intensified.
“Stop. Sunshine, you have to stop.” Adam’s breath came in haltin
g gasps. “I can’t…I can’t hold it.”
She placed one last kiss to his quivering manhood, then found a condom in a nearby bowl. “I see we’re well stocked for the evening.”
“Sweetie, could you hurry?”
With sure movements, she rolled the rubber in place, then stretched on top of him again. Shifting her hips, she rubbed her cleft along his length, up, then back again. Heat surged through her veins.
She made another pass. This time, when she drew forward, Adam twisted his hips and slipped inside her. “Ohh…” She levered up over him, her breath catching at the feel of him, the fullness. “This…this is good.”
“Ahh, Lauren…” He closed his eyes and bit his lip. He wouldn’t last much longer.
“Almost.” Fire flared through her. She rode him fast and hard. “Almost.” She gasped as the sexual tension neared its breaking point. “Al-ahhhh.”
He pressed up into her and it seemed her very womb convulsed in pleasure so exquisite, she felt for a moment they’d transcended their earthly existence.
She collapsed on top of him, his heart pounding beneath her ear. He lowered his arms around her, the scarf tickling her back.
When his breathing evened out, he murmured, “My goddess.”
Smiling, she shifted up to meet his gaze. “My beast.”
He kissed her, a long languorous joining of tongues and teeth that sent her blood thrumming. She pulled back and drew a deep breath. “We’re so good together.”
His gaze darkened. “And that was only half the fantasy.”
She closed her eyes, fighting back the nervousness. She couldn’t quite say herself why the thought of being the object of such pleasure made her uneasy, but she’d said she’d give it a try.
“We won’t tie your hands.”
She opened her eyes and the gentleness of his gaze soothed her. “Okay.”
He lifted his arms over her, then presented his wrists to her. Fingers fumbling, she untied him, then tossed the scarf aside. He’d never hurt her, but the thought of giving him complete control over her sent a tremor of foreboding through her.
