And her flavor and her response to him was taking him so damn high. His balls had swelled and hugged the base of his dick and he knew what that meant. Forcing his face from her, he looked up, trying to stave off the inevitable.
But at her blissed-out expression, his cock twitched in painful, gleeful anticipation. Her eyes opened and she ran her tongue along her full bottom lip.
Fucking beautiful.
“Sugar,” he said, his voice rough. “Can you tell me who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?”
And it was clear she couldn’t even parse his question, that she wasn’t even trying to, so he muttered, “Mission accomplished,” and buried his face in her pussy again, this time adding a finger, then two, as she cried out with pleasure.
He fucked her like that, his stiff fingers in a steady rhythm, his tongue flicking her clit as she angled her hips to allow him fuller access. His mind blanked out and he was glad for it, all the worry about this first act after two years having some major import evaporating in the fucking, fucking goodness of her inner walls clamping on his fingers and her accelerated whimpers testifying to the closeness of her orgasm.
Shifting onto his knees, with his free hand he yanked down his zipper and pulled his cock through his boxers and jeans, palming it. He glanced up to see that Lilly was staring there, her mouth half-open, her gaze glassy, her breath seemingly caught in her lungs as he jacked himself. Pleasure pulled inside him, stretching to a fine, quivering line until, as it felt about to break, he dove back to her pussy and clamped the edges of his teeth around her clit. Keeping his hold delicate, he sucked the jewel into his mouth.
Lilly moaned, the sound cut off as her body froze for one long moment, then shuddered in the obvious throes of climax. Alec kept at her, his fingers penetrating her in time with his own strokes of his rampant, aching erection.
Then he convulsed, his seed shooting up his dick to spill over the sensitive head and then onto his fingers, his muscles contracting in waves of almost-painful physical delight.
His blood hadn’t yet cooled before he found himself lying beside her again, his body still buzzing with satisfaction. He wiped his spilled seed onto the trailing edge of a sheet and then carefully unwound the dress from Lilly’s now-lax hands.
Her body boneless, she seemed unaware of him, nearly asleep.
Or she was hiding from him behind her closed, delicate eyelids.
Tenderness swamped him as he gazed on her, transfixed by the emotion filling his chest. He wanted to protect her, cherish her, and yes, spoil her in every way, and not just sexually. By day, he’d put her on a pedestal. By night, he’d drag her off and dirty her in every filthy manner he could imagine.
And he’d been worried that having sex after two years of celibacy might mess him up.
He hadn’t seen it coming, but it was being post-coital with Lilly Durand that was doing something to him that was far, far more dangerous.
Chapter 8
Alec spied Lilly in the patio dining area the next morning, at a table for two near the fountain and not far from the breakfast buffet set up on long, white linen-topped tables. He halted, mulling over his choices.
Smartest was to keep on moving, avoiding her and taking breakfast at the pool bar or even outside the resort. There had to be dozens of cafés in Santa Barbara and it might clear his mind of all things Lilly if he took time away from the resort. After all, no promises or future plans had been made the night before.
As a matter of fact, she’d rolled out of bed ten minutes after he’d collapsed beside her. With a smile and a gentle kiss to his cheek, she’d left him, while he was still sex-rocked and full of unfamiliar feelings he didn’t know how to handle. Back in her clothes, so tidy he almost found it maddening, the Lilly who’d moaned and writhed in his arms seemed a mere memory. All her flushed responses and wet-and-ready passion were neatly tucked away again. Barred from him as if behind stark ledger lines.
It was almost as if he had never touched her, he’d thought as he’d watched her slip out the door, and his hand had passed over the damp sheets to reassure himself it all hadn’t been a fevered dream.
That’s what he could pretend it was, he supposed. It made good sense and if he had any he would have bypassed the row of little shops surrounding the resort’s lobby as he made his way toward a morning meal. There was a flower stall there, a boutique with tropical-themed resort-wear, a sundries store that had a cooler stocked with wine, beer, and sodas. Snack foods were piled in bins and various toiletries and over-the-counter drugs hung on racks. Boxes of condoms marched in a row beside tiny tins of pain relievers and small tubes of toothpaste.
There was no sound reason that a three-pack of prophylactics nestled at the bottom of his pocket right this very minute. No sound reason at all, because nothing had changed between him and Lilly last night. Neither wanted a relationship, he reminded himself. He should have no expectation of getting her naked once again.
At that moment, she glanced up from the perusal of her phone, saw him.
He tensed, wondering what reaction to expect. Would she flush with embarrassment? Turn her gaze away and pretend she didn’t see him? Throw him an annoyed look because she’d made it clear from the first she didn’t want a one-night stand but they’d went ahead with it anyway?
Lilly Durand did none of those. Instead, she smiled, as sunny as the morning, and gave him a casual wave.
His chest loosened, and he realized he’d been holding his breath. Okay, he thought, taking air in, letting it out. She didn’t seem worse for wear or ready to blame him for the fire between his sheets last night.
Well, good. Because that one-night stand had been her idea as much as his.
Now, still smiling, Lilly beckoned him forward.
Alec obeyed. Hey, if she could play it cool, no reason for him not to follow suit.
“Hi,” she said, still beaming when he reached her. “How are you?” With a gesture of her hand, she indicated the chair across from her. “Want to sit?”
“Sure.” He dropped into the seat, eyed the half-glass of OJ in front of her. “Are you finishing up or just getting started?”
“Finishing up.” She crossed one slender leg over the other, her creamy thighs revealed by the short skirt of a blue dress splashed with pink flowers that matched her lipstick. “Did you have a good rest last night?”
He stared at her, contemplating his answer, knowing her breezy tone would be impossible to match. The truth was, he’d stared at the ceiling for hours, recalling every sound she’d made, every restless movement of her body, that moment when she’d shattered, her body a vice gripping his fingers, so damn hard it had shoved him over his own edge.
It probably wasn’t breakfast conversation, however. And perhaps she was going with his first inclination and was intending to pretend last night never happened…so he should follow suit. “I—”
“Wait. Let’s start over.” Her mouth turned down and she shook her head. “That sounded wrong and I don’t want you to think I’m trying to be coy or anything. We had…well, we sort of had sex last night. I’m not going to act otherwise.”
“It wasn’t sort-of sex,” he protested. The orgasms had been completely legit, damn it. He stared at her neck, looking for a light bruise he might have left behind, and with a caveman’s regret didn’t see a single mark marring her beautiful skin. It would have proved their passion.
She waved a careless hand. “You know what I mean.”
The condoms were burning a hole in his pocket. If he’d been so blown away by “sort-of” sex with Lilly, where would the pure act land on the charts? His mind had started to wander in that direction when she spoke again, her voice low.
“I want to say once again how sorry I am.” Her eyes cast down, she drew designs in the condensation on her juice glass. “Things like that—your brother Simon—shouldn’t happen to families like yours.”
His focus tracked back to her, his gaze sharpening. “Families like ours?”
She shr
ugged. “You know.”
He didn’t, but something told him a huge clue had been dropped. A clue to more fully understanding Lilly Durand and what made her tick. Because you always want to learn everything you can about a casual hookup, a smirking voice said inside Alec’s head.
He ignored it. “Lilly—”
The sound of metal clattering against concrete drew the attention of the breakfasting crowd. Both he and Lilly looked over to see a flustered waiter retrieving scattered bundles of napkin-wrapped cutlery. Alec was about to return his attention to his tablemate, when beyond the server he spied a familiar figure scuttling behind an ivy-wrapped pillar.
“Shit,” he muttered.
“Is everything all right?” Lilly asked.
“Yeah.” He shot up from his seat. “I’m going to hit the buffet table, grab some breakfast, coffee. You stay right here until I get back.”
Without waiting for her acquiescence or refusal, he hurried in the direction of the weasel he’d seen skulking. Sure enough, he found Jacob Belcher just around the corner from the patio, lurking in a shaded corridor.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alec demanded.
“I knew you were staying here and I wanted to talk to somebody.” Dressed in board shorts, chewed-up flip-flops, and a faded shirt, Jacob crossed his arms over his chest. “No one will return my texts.”
“Because you fucking ruined a nice woman’s life, you asshole.”
“But you reached out to me.”
Christ, Jacob sounded like the whiney six-year-old he’d been on the bunk below Alec’s at summer camp all those years ago. But they’d forged a bond of sorts through sunrise nature walks and nightly charred marshmallows—the two youngest in the Walden Pond cabin. Eight Julys later, when they’d “graduated” from Camp Northwood, Alec had felt a responsibility of sorts for Jacob. Over the years, he’d saved him from angry hornets, a kayak excursion gone wrong, and an oversized bully called Moon-Faced Morton.
“You wanted to know how I was doing,” Jacob said now.
Not for anything would Alec say he’d made contact on Audra’s behalf. “I wanted to confirm you were properly miserable, you snake.”
Jacob hung his head, his dirty blond hair flopping forward. No expert on male attractiveness, Alec had to take his sister’s word for it that Jacob was what she termed a “California dime.” Jojo used a bunch of weird-ass lingo possibly understood only by herself, but he was told it meant a ten on the apparently higher, California scale of handsomeness. Then she’d told Alec, generously, that he qualified as a “California twelve and a half.”
Sisters.
Jacob’s head came up and he swooped his bangs off his forehead with his left hand, a boyish gesture that he’d been making as long as Alec knew him. “You think I should have gotten married when I didn’t want to?”
“I think you shouldn’t have gotten engaged when you didn’t want to get married.”
With a sigh, Jacob dropped his gaze to his toes. “Audra’s beautiful.”
“I hear she’s doing just fine, by the way.” Alec wouldn’t let the true nature of things slip. “Counting her lucky stars.”
Maybe he sounded harsh, but Alec felt no remorse. The pair had been engaged for fourteen months. Surely Jacob could have worked out his true feelings before the very day of the wedding.
His old friend began rotating a braided string bracelet at his wrist. The color of the twisted fibers looked bright and new and the thing reminded him of something an eighth-grader exchanged with his first crush. “Geez, Jake, are you seeing someone else already? You were just days ago engaged—”
“And that was a mistake,” Jacob said defensively. “Anyway, it’s not like you’re rushing to put a ring on anyone’s finger.”
“Me? Don’t bring me into—”
“How many times have you claimed you’re never getting married? Like three thousand times since Simon died and you started plowing through women.”
Oh, hell. Not this again. “Fuck, Jacob—”
“Maybe I just started seeing things your way. The stats are against it working out. Marriage, I mean. What is it, a fifty-percent failure rate?”
The numbers guy in him wanted to point out that anything involving statistics could be interpreted many ways, but Jacob was still talking.
“In ten years we’d likely divorce anyway,” Jacob said, his expression going dark. “Sharing the kids between two households. Arguing about who has to take the dog or whose idea it was to get a cat…”
Alec could only stare at his friend. “What about a more optimistic outcome?” His parents had been married thirty-five years and though there’d been friction over his father’s long working hours at times, no doubt Vic adored Miranda and their family had amassed good memories that involved shared jokes, holiday traditions, meals that failed spectacularly, and dicey vacation adventures.
Good memories that still survived even though Simon was no longer here to sift through the old or to make more of the new. Still there…even though Simon was not. That thought fell over Alec, another sweet spring rain. Damn. A thought to examine at a better time.
Jacob had wound down with whatever dire outcomes he’d projected for himself and Audra and was peering around the column in the direction of the patio again. “Hey, that’s Lilly Durand. That was Lilly I saw with you earlier.”
Again, Alec decided against mentioning Audra. “She’s taking a few days off before going back to work.”
“Yeah? I’m surprised she can afford this place. She’s got a good job, thanks to the Montgomerys, but I get the impression she comes from trash.”
His old buddy’s offhand classism made Alec want to punch him in his California dime mouth. “I don’t know, Jake, but it seems to me that what people do, not who they come from, determines whether they’re garbage or not.”
The other man flushed. “I didn’t want to hurt Audra,” he mumbled.
“Just stay out of her life,” Alec advised, then stepped around Jacob to return to the patio. Though he scooped up a plate and took his place in the buffet line, his gaze automatically moved to Lilly. Her hair, shiny waves and curls that went this way and that, framed that piquant face of hers with its mysterious eyes and the unforgettable mouth.
He’d kissed those lips, had his hands tangled in that hair, had been entwined with that small body of hers, creamy limbs and slender curves. Again, he remembered the first time he’d seen her, the moment that their hands had met, the shift inside him, the spark of flesh against flesh.
As inescapable as headlights on the highway.
What the hell was this, exactly, between them?
As if she felt his stare, she glanced his way and their gazes caught.
His muscles tightened as he recalled the sweet flavor of her, her gasps of pleasure as he discovered the secrets to her body, this need to know her inside and out, this drive to protect her, to be the one to catch the tears she claimed she did not shed.
What the hell? What was it about this woman that he found so different, so fascinating?
They had the rest of this week to figure it out. No matter how she fought him on it.
“What could I do but agree?” Lilly said, appealing to Audra, who had finally ditched the wedding dress for heather-gray baggy sweats. The lace she’d been using as a headband now bound the bottom of a single braid thrown over the ex-bride’s shoulder.
“I mean,” Lilly continued, when her friend didn’t say anything. “Now that I know she lost her son I couldn’t see myself saying no to her.”
She’d told her friend about Simon’s death and Audra had remembered hearing something about it from her former groom-to-be. “So what is it you exactly agreed to?” the blonde asked now.
Lilly clutched her shopping bag from the resort’s boutique. “The hotel is hosting a pool party movie night. They’re serving dinner first then passing out floats so you can watch Jaws from the water.”
“That doesn’t sound so terrible.”
&nbs
p; Lilly leaped on the hint of interest. “Would you like to join us? I bought a suit at the resort boutique but I know you have at least one in your bag. Please say you’ll come with me.”
Audra was already shaking her head. “And get between you and your swain?”
“You mean Alec?” Lilly tried brushing that off. She hadn’t shared with her BFF what they’d done the night before in his bedroom, though she could feel her cheeks heating just thinking about it. Whirling around, she crossed to the mini-fridge in search of a bottle of water. “There’s nothing to me and Alec. I don’t want there to be anything between me and Alec. If anything we’re just acquaintances, not even friends really—”
“Gaga,” Audra interrupted. “Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’!”
They were playing their game? Perplexed, Lilly tried recalling the lyrics of the song and how they could relate to this emotional moment. “‘Poker Face’?”
“In that you don’t have one.”
Lilly glared. “So funny.”
Her friend gave her a little flippant salute, then her expression sobered. “Has he—Alec—said anything about Jacob? Does he know anything?”
Oh, damn. Lilly crossed to perch on the arm of the sofa Audra sat upon and softened her voice, wishing she could soften the truth as well. “He’s not coming back to you, Audra. You know you wouldn’t want him anyway. Some guys…” Most guys, Lilly thought. “They have misgivings about commitment.”
“Jacob never once told me he had misgivings.”
“I know, Audie. He’s a dick. Let’s—”
“You know what? I want a man who admits to misgivings. I want a man who admits to misgivings to want me beyond them. In spite of them. I want a gorgeous, arrogant man to fall in love with me so hard that misgivings are crumbs beneath my shoe.”
“Well, yes, um—”
“And then I’m going to dump him.” She rubbed her palms together, a classic villain move.
Lilly stared at her friend. “Uh, Audie. That doesn’t sound like you.” The other woman didn’t have a mean or calculating bone in her body.
Our Last First Kiss KOBO Page 12
