Her Sexiest Fantasy (The Sexiest Series Book 2)

by Janelle Denison

  “Yes,” she breathed, her lashes drifting shut as he lowered his head to nuzzle her neck, her shoulder. “Oh, yes…”

  The phone rang, and she started beneath him, the obnoxious sound pulling her out of the trance she’d been in. “Kyle?”

  “Let the answering machine pick it up.” His voice was rough with arousal, his body just as turned on. No way did he want to let this woman out of his arms. Dropping his mouth over hers, he kissed her deeply, shutting out his outgoing message that clicked on in the background.

  “Kyle, we’re swamped down here,” Bruce said, a harried edge to his voice. “If you get this message, we could use an extra hand.”

  Leaving his employees shorthanded was something Kyle couldn’t ignore. Dragging his lips from Jade’s eager, pliant ones, he sat up and reached for the cordless phone, muttering, “Damn, I’ve got to hire another bartender. This week.”

  He clicked on the cordless and tucked it against his ear. “Yeah, I’m here, Bruce,” he said, his voice gravelly. “I’m on my way.”

  He hung up the phone and glanced back at Jade, torn between duty and fulfilling the awesome need she evoked in him. “I’ve got to go,” he said reluctantly.

  Her gaze was smoky with passion, but there was understanding there, too. “Yeah, you do.” Pressing her palms against his jaw, she brought him down for another soul-searing kiss. A kiss as erotic as making love. As promising as the emotions blooming between them. She held nothing back, and in that moment Kyle knew she was ready, mind and body, to take the next step in their relationship.

  He groaned, in frustration and pleasure, when she finally ended the mind-blowing kiss. Staring at her face, at the stark desire reflected there, a regretful smile tugged at his mouth.

  “Hold that thought, tiger.”

  Chapter Eight

  Jade held on to that tantalizing thought for the rest of the night, wanting Kyle with a restlessness that hummed through her body in a thrilling, provocative sort of way. In a way she knew wouldn’t ebb until Kyle satisfied the burgeoning desire he so skillfully roused within her.

  After rubbing peach-scented body lotion on her freshly showered skin, she donned a light-weight lavender nightie with a ruffled hem that skimmed her calves. As she stared at her reflection in her dresser mirror and traced the lacy bodice that dipped low enough to reveal a swell of cleavage, she found herself wishing Kyle was there, touching her so sensually.

  Her need for him had flourished to awesome proportions over the few weeks they’d spent together, grown past friendship to something stronger and more promising. And while at one time she would have panicked at such emotional and physical intimacy with a man, she no longer feared the unknown with Kyle, but welcomed it instead.

  When her thoughts strayed to her relationship with Adam, instead of the belly-churning turmoil that usually accompanied such a recollection, Jade only experienced a mellow kind of acceptance for something that had happened in the past.

  Kyle was nothing like Adam, and she was so tired of being alone. So weary of solitary nights with only a fantasy lover for companionship. She had no idea how her relationship with Kyle would end. She couldn’t predict the future, but she could live for the present. And that meant taking risks. And trusting the instincts that told her Kyle was a good, honest man.

  Pulling back the covers on her four-poster bed, she retrieved her sapphire blue journal from her nightstand and settled herself into the mounds of pillows against the headboard. Opening the book to the next blank page, she began writing:

  He is the perfect lover in every way. Physically he is a woman’s dream come true, a cross between a reckless rebel and a delightful rogue. Emotionally he is tender, caring and kind. No longer is he a fantasy, but a real, flesh-and-blood man. A man who senses my deepest secrets and understands my biggest fears. A man who knows my wildest desires and makes them reality. The bond between us is unspoken, but almost tangible in its strength.

  My longing for him is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. He looks at me and I shiver in anticipation. He touches me and I’m breathless with need. His fleeting caresses and rapacious kisses are no longer enough. I yearn for that deep, physical joining that makes two people one.

  Fantasy becomes reality.

  I can feel him sliding his powerful, naked body over mine, settling between my parted thighs, then moving deep inside me in a way that is both fierce and tender. His eyes are a brilliant blue as he watches me come undone, his tousled hair as warm as gold. His smile makes me feel like the most beautiful woman on earth.

  Kyle.

  I’m his, and he is mine. Heart, body and soul…

  Heart pounding, body aroused, Jade closed her eyes and hugged her leather-bound journal to her chest. Oh, Lord, she’d done it. Not only had she finally consummated a fantasy, but she’d given her lover a real face and a name: Kyle.

  The significance of what she’d done wasn’t lost on her. For three years she’d avoided the ultimate act of intimacy with her fantasy lover, choosing instead to keep her entries as safe as real life, by keeping herself emotionally detached and completely in control.

  She was still in control, she realized, and ready to move on. Ready to let Kyle into her mind, her body and possibly into her heart. And by doing so, her fantasies would never be the same. The thought was exciting enough to make her quiver.

  The cordless phone on her nightstand rang, and she smiled. Even before she answered it, she knew who it was.

  Her every fantasy.

  Her lover.

  Kyle.

  She reached for the receiver.

  * * *

  “Hello?”

  The sound of Jade’s hushed voice washed over Kyle, the sexy, husky nuances making his tired body come alive. “Did I wake you?”

  “No, I couldn’t sleep.” He heard a rustling sound, a drawer open and close, then she said, “Are you home?”

  “Yeah.” Moving to his sliding door in his bedroom he opened it and stepped out onto the balcony. Across the courtyard, a light illuminated Jade’s bedroom, and although he could see the foot of her bed, he couldn’t see her. “I debated whether or not to come by your place, but it’s after midnight and I thought it best if I didn’t.” If he had, he would have finished what they’d started earlier on his couch, before they’d gotten interrupted.

  “I understand. Busy night at the bar?”

  Deep, incredulous laughter rumbled in his chest. “It was crazy. Insane. Everybody’s talking about the new restaurant and stopping in to find out when the grand opening is. I posted the menu, and it’s getting a great response. Only the critics’ reviews will tell, though.”

  “Don’t sweat the small stuff, Stephens,” she teased. “Another few weeks and The Black Sheep will be swamped.”

  He smiled at her faith in him. “In another few weeks I’ll have enough employees to handle the overflow.”

  “You’re moving up in the world.”

  There was a sassy smile in her voice that made him grin in return. “Or at least in Santa Monica.”

  “Everyone needs to start somewhere, and considering what you started with, I think you’ve done pretty darn good.”

  It was a heady, overwhelming feeling. Kyle Stephens, responsible, respected business owner. Too bad his family wasn’t impressed with what a moral, upstanding citizen he’d become.

  Rubbing at the tense muscles along the back of his neck, he resolutely dismissed that line of thought, not wanting old resentments to intrude on his time with Jade. Not tonight.

  “So, what are you doing up this late?” he asked.

  “Writing a…a letter.”

  He caught her hesitation, and wondered if she’d stopped herself before saying “fantasy.” He was positive she’d been writing in her journal…and felt a stab of jealousy, which was ridiculous, considering her fantasy lover was nothing more than a figment of her imagination. But dammit, he didn’t want to be runner-up to someone who didn’t even exist! Not anymore.

  He
searched the shadows in her bedroom, and guessed she was still sitting on her bed. He needed to see her, if only at a distance. “Are you on a cordless phone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Go out on your balcony.”

  “I’m hardly dressed for that.”

  Her sudden bout of modesty was endearing and frustrating. “It’s late and dark. Nobody else is out. I want to see you, Jade.” He wanted more than that, so much more, but this glimpse of her would have to do for tonight.

  “All right,” she murmured.

  He waited until she came into sight, watching intently as she rounded her big, four-poster bed and headed toward the door. A translucent gown the color of pale lavender swirled around her body, down to her calves. She looked soft and ethereal, like an angel. He was feeling anything but saintly.

  Opening the screen door, she stepped out onto the terrace. “Hi,” she said, her voice shy.

  “Hi, yourself.” He braced his forearms on the railing. “I missed you tonight.”

  A soft sigh drifted through the phone lines. “I missed you, too.”

  Good God, had anyone besides his daughter ever really missed him in his lifetime? He didn’t think so. And to think that Jade cared that much was enough to humble him.

  His gaze traveled down the length of her, visually outlining the curve of her full breasts tipped with dark centers, the indent of her waist, the flare of her hips and her long, slender legs. He smiled when he saw the gold shimmering at her ankle.

  “Do you know,” he began, his voice low and hushed, “with the light from your bedroom, I can see your body perfectly silhouetted beneath your gown?”

  “Do you like what you see?”

  A slow grin curved his mouth. “Very much.” He sensed a change in her, that acquiescence he’d so patiently waited for. He planned to take advantage of it. “I like everything about you, Jade. Your smiles, your laughter, your spirit and the sweet, breathless sounds you make when I touch you. It makes me wonder what sounds you’ll make when I’m deep inside you.”

  “Kyle…”

  It wasn’t a protest. Not really. His name on her lips held an arousing combination of excitement and shivery need. “Close your eyes, Jade. I want to tell you one of my fantasies.”

  Even from across the moonlit courtyard he could see her body tense. “One of your fantasies?”

  There was enough hesitation in her voice to warn him he’d touched on something sensitive. He was feeling reckless enough to push limits. “You inspire fantasies, Jade. Are your eyes closed?”

  Another pause, then, “Yes.”

  “Good. Imagine my mouth on your neck, trailing warm, damp kisses on your skin. My hands on your breasts, caressing you, making your nipples hard and sensitive. Can you feel me?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He watched her shift restlessly on her feet, watched her diaphanous gown shift over her lush curves. His body grew hard, aching, but that was nothing new. He’d been wanting Jade for over seven months now.

  He drew a deep, steady breath and continued. “My mouth is on your breast, my tongue curling around your nipple. You taste sweet, Jade, like peaches and cream. I want to taste you everywhere…along your belly, the inside of your thighs and where you’re honey sweet and warm. Is your body quivering for me?”

  A quiet groan reached him, the sound as erotic as the fantasy he wove. “Yes.”

  His heart thudded in his chest, and the muscles in his belly pulled taut. “That’s exactly how I want you, Jade, but I wouldn’t leave you wanting for long. I’d kiss you softly, lingeringly…until you came for me. Then I’d be deep inside you, with your legs wrapped tight around my hips. Me a part of you, and you a part of me. Do you want that, too?”

  “Oh, yes.” He watched her hand flutter to the neckline of her gown, heard her labored breathing over the phone. “I’m ready, Kyle.”

  “Ready for what, sweetheart?” he prompted gently.

  “To make love with you.” Her voice was strong and undeniably confident, clear of any uncertainties or doubts.

  A deep, internal shudder ripped through him, primitive and raw and filled with masculine satisfaction. “Do you realize it’s taking every ounce of willpower I possess not to be there in ten seconds flat and spend the entire night inside of you?”

  “What’s stopping you?” she asked, a husky challenge in her tone.

  She was a witch…a sassy, sensual witch he was hard-pressed to deny. But deny her he did. “I want to do it right.”

  “Oh, I don’t doubt that you will.”

  Her double entendre made him chuckle. That she felt comfortable enough to be so playful with him gave him hope for their relationship. “You can count on it, tiger. Have sweet dreams.” He disconnected the line and watched her do the same. She lifted a hand to her lips, blew him a sultry kiss from across the courtyard, then slipped back inside her bedroom and out of sight.

  Kyle shook his head. He had to be completely nuts to refuse such a tempting invitation. She wanted him, was more than willing to take that next step with him. And he wanted that so badly his body throbbed with the knowledge. But physical pleasure was no longer his main goal. Somewhere along the way a simple, no-strings-attached affair had evolved into something deeper and more complex.

  He wasn’t crazy. What he was, he realized in a dazed state of awe, was in love. There was no other explanation for the strange, roller coaster of emotions he experienced around Jade. Or the worthy, invincible way she made him feel. And for the first time in his life he wanted to put someone else’s needs above his own selfish desires.

  If that wasn’t love, he didn’t know what was.

  Giving himself time to adjust to this newest revelation, he stood out on his balcony, gazing at Jade’s condo long after she’d turned out the lights.

  A smile touched his mouth. Yes, it was time for them to make love. And he planned to give Jade a fantasy she’d never forget.

  * * *

  “So what are your plans for the weekend?”

  Jade glanced up at her sister and continued cleaning off her desk. It was Friday afternoon, and while her weekend plans once consisted of spending an occasional evening at Roxy’s, the nightclub scene no longer appealed to her. Now she found she preferred spending her time at The Black Sheep, even if it was just sitting at the bar listening to country tunes and watching the clientele while Kyle worked the lounge.

  She gave a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t really have any plans.”

  Mariah strolled deeper into her office. “No hot date with Kyle?”

  “’Fraid not” She stuffed a client file into her attaché, just in case she had time to work on it this weekend. It was a depressing thought, but a distinct possibility considering she hadn’t seen much of Kyle that week, despite their very seductive and promising conversation out on the terrace the previous Saturday.

  “Kyle’s been pretty busy at The Black Sheep,” she explained to her sister, who’d made herself comfortable in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “The construction of the restaurant is in its final stages, and he’s been conducting interviews for chefs and waiters all week.” Kyle had even told her he’d offered Bruce the position of managing the restaurant and bar, which the other man had accepted, much to Kyle’s relief. He trusted Bruce implicitly.

  “How’s everything going with the decorating?” Mariah asked.

  “Right on schedule.” Jade set her attaché on the carpeted floor and tossed a few invoices back into her IN basket to review on Monday. “Kyle decided to shut down the bar all of next week so we can knock everything out at once and keep the liability risk to a minimum. I have a company going in to strip and refinish the floors and bar, and another crew set up to re-upholster the booths and bar stools. The window treatments and fixtures are going in, too. By the time the bar is refurbished, the restaurant will be ready to start decorating.”

  Mariah’s eyes sparkled enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to see the portfolio on The Black Sheep when it’
s done.”

  Jade grinned, pleased with herself and the project. “Will you and Grey come to the grand opening?”

  “Are you kidding? We wouldn’t miss it. Besides, it’ll be the perfect excuse for us old married folk to go out on a date.” She winked at Jade, a sly smile lifting her lips. “I’ll get Mom and Dad to baby-sit Kayla, maybe even convince them to keep her overnight. Grey’s been hinting around that Kayla needs a brother or sister before she’s too old to play with them.”

  Jade laughed, though she experienced a healthy dose of envy for what her sister shared with Grey, for the family Mariah had created with such love and care. As much as she denied needing anyone, and tried to convince herself that her independence was far more important than the confinements of a committed relationship, it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the maternal emotions creeping up on her. Since turning thirty, her damned biological clock was starting to tick with disturbing clarity.

  She’d known when she’d agreed to an affair with Kyle that he wasn’t interested in anything beyond a mutual pleasurable fling. That had been her goal, as well. But somewhere along the way her emotions had gotten tangled up in what should have been a simple and satisfying arrangement between lovers.

  “Did you ever find that book you were looking for?”

  Jade blinked and lifted her gaze to Mariah. “No.” She’d decided she was being paranoid about the journal, especially when she’d started to imagine Kyle’s seduction tactics were suspiciously similar to fantasies of the past. “With all the cleaning and shifting of furniture I did before the yard sale, it could be anywhere.”

  Mariah nodded thoughtfully. “Since it sounds like you’re going to be solo this weekend, what do you say we go shopping together, get our nails done and do lunch?”

  “I’m not sure, Riah.” The offer was tempting, but if Kyle had a spare moment, she wanted to spend it with him.

  A delicate brow rose. “You’re actually turning down a day to shop? Boy, you must have it bad for Kyle.”