by Alice Ward
I splashed him again, this time in earnest as he slunk into the water up to his nose, his eyes focused on his prey, me. I splashed harder as he grabbed me, and I screamed.
His mouth clamped down on mine, silencing the sound. “Oh my god, Adara. You have a hell of a set of lungs. Someone’s going to call the police thinking I’m murdering you.”
I laughed. “I can hold a note for more than twenty seconds.”
“That’s a long time. I don’t believe you.” He’d floated over to inches from my chest and was looking up at me, a dare in his eyes.
My heart started racing because I had no idea what he was going to do to me. I was totally at his mercy and loving it.
His face turned playfully stern. “I think I’m going to have to test that out, and the only way I can think of to do it, except to give you a raging orgasm, is—” His fingers attacked my sides, tickling, and my muscles reacted, and I was splashing and sending a wave of water shooting over the edge of the hot tub.
I screamed, holding it longer than I would have normally, until he clamped his hand over my mouth.
Putting his forehead against mine, he laughed, a surprised look on his face. Then he grabbed my legs underneath the water, and I yelped before he bobbed up in front of me and lifted me out.
“You’ve been a very naughty girl,” he said, smiling as he cradled me to his chest, which was hot from being in the water.
Despite the cold air penetrating my skin, I could feel the heat radiating from him, and I knew he was excited, his cock jabbing me between my legs.
“What are you gonna do about it?”
Without responding, he lifted me over his shoulder. I kicked and screamed bloody murder as I held onto my mask, hoping it wouldn’t slip off. Just before I started pummeling his back with my fists, he lowered me back into the water. His arms came around me as I caught my breath.
He made me so happy, I suddenly wanted to make him even happier. And I could think of a way. His cock was standing straight out in front of him in the water.
“I dare you to splash me again.” His voice was quiet and villainous.
I knew he was teasing, and I was about to turn the tables on him. “I dare you to sit up there on the side of the hot tub.”
His eyebrows shot up, and he looked at me questioningly, but I only waited, crossing my arms over my breast.
He complied, pulling himself up on the edge of the hot tub in the corner, giving me a place to kneel on the seat. His cock leaped as I moved between his legs. “Now look what you’ve done.”
“Serves you right, making me scream like that.” Then I leaned over and ran my tongue up his dick, right over the pulsing vein.
He sucked in a breath as he began stroking himself with two fingers, holding it steady for me, his eyes fixed on my mouth. “This is a problem, and it’s going to be up to you as to how we should solve it. You’ll have to be creative, I don’t have any condoms out here.”
I eyed his cock and looked up at him, trying not to allow my face to show how much effort it took not to take him into my mouth and taste him. He sat back a little as our eyes met, and I joined my hand with his, wrapping it firmly around him. His hips pumped, and he made a growling sound in his throat.
I continued to make eye contact with him as I asked, “So, you want me to do something like this?” I stroked him, using the lubrication from the pre-cum to slide my fingers across his sensitive skin.
“That’s a nice start.” He smiled and rolled his head back as he worked my hand up and down his shaft. I pumped him as he moaned.
Then, finally, I bent down and took the tip of his beautiful cock into my mouth. I sucked, swirling my tongue around the mushroom head, then up into the tiny slit. Encouraged by his moans, I took his cock in and out of my mouth, taking it deeper, sucking until he hit my throat and my gag reflex. I knew men loved deep throat, but he was a little too big for me.
He raised my head, and his cock popped out of my mouth. I gave him a curious glance.
“Adara.” I could tell that stopping me was costing him. “Only take me into your mouth as far as you can without hurting yourself.” He wrapped my hands more tightly around the bottom of his shaft. “Use your hands to cover what you can’t.”
Stroking his shaft, I lowered my mouth back on his bulbous mushroom and licked. “Who is fixing this problem, me or you?”
I teased his slit with my tongue until I could feel the saltiness of his precum bubble out of him. I increased my speed, taking him deep into my mouth, into my throat as I pumped him with my hand. Focused my attention on giving him an incredible orgasm.
With one hand, I pumped his shaft. With the other, I massaged his balls as I sucked until I felt him thicken inside my mouth. “I’m going to come,” he panted, the words coming out in a breathless rush.
I’d never swallowed before, but I wanted to keep him in my mouth. When he tried to pull back, I held on, taking him deeper as my hands pumped and massaged the base. He swelled inside my mouth then a delicious heat burst out of him and onto my tongue. I sucked, wanting more, and he flailed on the side of the tub, thumping it with his hand. I swallowed down all that he gave me, licking and sucking until he grabbed me under the arms and hauled me up to his chest.
His eyes were fuzzy with satisfaction. “You’re amazing. Your mouth is especially amazing.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes like I’d knocked him silly.
I’d never gotten so much pleasure from giving someone else pleasure.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Roman
After an incredible afternoon at the lake, we dressed and rode back to the house. I’d phoned Ms. White to let her know we were on our way and that she could begin preparing dinner.
When I walked in the door, my cell started ringing. It was Adam, my assistant.
The smile died from my face as I answered and listened. “Sir, all the news channels have taken up the original article’s story. CNN is reporting that Crave dot come and your… greed, sir, is…” Adam cleared his throat.
“Go on, my greed is doing what?” My hand grasped the phone.
“Decimating small villages and helpless people who provide goods to your company. There have been interviews and fake confessions. Have you seen any of this?”
“No, I’ve been…” I glanced at Adara, who was looking at me with a concerned expression. “I’ve been busy.”
I strode to the den, flipping on the giant screen TV. Froze. Adam was right. My company’s stock had plummeted overnight. It was an incredible scandal being spewed from every network I switched to. I paced while on the phone, trying to tamp the stress down.
Punching off with Adam, I called my publicity director, then the COO and CFO of the company. I wasn’t sure when Adara left the room, but when she came back in, I was so involved that I didn’t know she was there until she grabbed my elbow.
I whirled, and she shrank back, fear becoming a living thing on her face. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples. “Sorry. What do you need?”
She swallowed so hard, I saw her neck work to get the emotions down. “I… I’ve been in the kitchen with Ms. White. Just wanted to see if you needed anything.”
After our glorious time together at the lake house, I’d practically abandoned her, turning into a person she was clearly nervous to be around. I took a deep breath, trying to shake some of the stress off. “I’m sorry. There’s a problem with work.”
She looked at the television and nodded. “Clearly. And I think I know why.”
I faced her, my hand still tight around the phone. “Why?”
She swallowed again. “Last night, I made a threat to Jack. He said if I went through with it, he would make sure my boyfriend’s business would suffer even more.” It didn’t come as a shock, but I was still pissed. “Do you think it’s him, or…” She bit her lip and looked at the TV again.
It was like a punch in the gut. She was wondering if there was any truth to the reports, despite the possibility of
it being all at Jack’s hands.
Every part of my body stiffened. “I don’t do what they’re saying. On the contrary, I often put back so much into the towns and people that it becomes more of a human relations mission than a business opportunity. It usually pays off in the end though, both for the people and my company.”
She nodded like she didn’t know what to say, and I was suddenly afraid that this would push her away from me. Or me away from her. Her life had been so full of corruption at Jewel that she probably didn’t want to be touched by any more scandal of any kind. Who could blame her?
But still… it hurt like a motherfucker that she didn’t trust me after all I’d done for her.
My phone rang again, and I ignored it, then cursed when it began to ring again. “I need to take this.”
She nodded and left the room.
After I’d done all I could at the moment to minimize the damage at work, I went hunting for her.
Neither Adara or I knew each other that well, so when we’d played with one another earlier, we’d both taken a risk. I’d been willing to take the risk, to make her relax and forget about my seeing her scars. I’d broken through the thick shell Jewel and her injury had encased her in. We walked a fine line as we got to know each other, each trusting our instincts, hoping the other wasn’t crazy or an asshole.
This was definitely one of those times.
I needed her to know I was neither.
I found her down by the barn with Sissaleigh, who was leaning over the fence, trying her best to hug Adara with her neck. Adara was returning the affection, stroking the horse’s nose as she cooed in her ear.
“You’re going to spoil that horse.”
Adara turned to me with a smile, her eyelids heavy. “Affection doesn’t spoil a living creature. Things do. Too many things and not enough affection, enough kindness.” She stroked Sissaleigh thoughtfully for a moment. “Do you eat alone when no one is here? Except Ms. White, I mean.”
I frowned, feeling like I was stepping into a trap. “Of course. Who else would there be to eat with?”
Her eyes raised to mine. “Ms. White. She seems very lonely.”
The suggestion threw me, but it also was a bit laughable. It, in all honesty, had never occurred to me to invite the dowager to the table. I would expect her to smack me for offering such an invitation. But… I’d never asked. Never given her the chance to say yes or no.
As I considered it, the only real kindness I’d extended Ms. White was to keep her employed and pay her a large Christmas bonus every year. It dawned on me how impersonal and unkind that really was.
“I had staff. You know, before.” It was like she had taken a step back, couldn’t bear to mention Nate’s name. The horse nosed her when she stopped petting and Adara laughed. “I’ve had staff, but I ate with them when no one else was around, got to know their kids. I even took one of them on tour with me as a back-up singer. My staff was my family.” She shook her head. “You live in a hotel-sized mansion in the middle of nowhere, and you’ve never eaten with Martha… seriously?”
“That’s not a reprimand, I hope.” I was attempting to be playful, but I was a little hurt. I was also surprised she was on a first name basis with my housekeeper, and I wasn’t.
And then I got it. Why she’d withdrawn.
She’d let me release the butterfly from her cage like I’d asked for in my note. Only she was too big of a butterfly to just fly to me. The world needed her out there.
The revelation made my chest turn cold. Was Adara working her magic so that I wouldn’t be lonely out here all by myself? After she left.
“All I’m saying is that this poor woman’s probably even more lonely than you are. She never gets out of this place, she’s stuck on a mountain all by herself making phoofy food for you and only you.”
Stuck. Adara considered this place as being stuck.
I stroked the horse, doing my damnedest not to let the worry appear on my feature. “She doesn’t make me phoofy food.”
She crossed her eyes at me. “Lamb shanks with mint leaves?”
I forced a smile. “It’s not phoofy, it’s delicious.”
She sighed.
I threw up my hands. “Okay, I get it. I confess, I’m a snob, and I withdraw from the world, barring even my housekeeper out of my life. Are you happy now?”
Her blue-green eyes stared back at me, as if she were waiting for more. What could she be…?
“Dammit. Okay! Let’s invite her to dinner. Or I can go into Butte. Whoa, good thing my brother-in-law isn’t here, or he’d be all over that.”
She laughed, which had been my intension.
If I had to invite Ms. White and every other person I’d ever employed to my table to show Adara I wasn’t an asshole, I’d damn well do it. “What is for dinner, anyway? I’m starving after all that exercise.”
I pulled her away from Sissaleigh, who neighed her displeasure, and leaned in for a kiss, which I made slow and wet and hot.
“Phoofy herb-crusted halibut.”
I swatted her rear and breathed in the lighter atmosphere. “That’s a tongue twister I’d like to untwist later. What kind of food do you like that’s not phoofy and not pizza?”
“Oh, so many things. I’m sick of salad. At Jewel, I had to Uber into town if I wanted anything that wasn’t a vegetable or low fat. The girls didn’t have that option though. They had to stick to a certain diet to maintain their body fat ratio.” Her eyes clouded, her forehead creasing with worry. “Have you heard anything from your detective friend?”
“Nothing yet.” I put my arm around her, began leading her back to the house. “Let’s ask Ms. White to dinner, then I’ll give him a call.”
I watched her as we walked back to the “mansion” as she called it. I’d never thought of it as being a mansion. Just home.
She was such a contradiction. She hid most of her face behind an exotic mask but called me out for not having a close relationship with my housekeeper. Here she was, an enigma with the kindness of a child, all rolled into an amazingly talented, big hearted, sexy as hell woman. I couldn’t help but begin to love her.
When we got back, Adara set the table and made it beautiful as Ms. White brought dishes heaped with food out from the kitchen. The dinner was awkward to start, but I learned what a wonderful conversationalist Ms. White was when she wasn’t being stiff and formal. Through Adara’s gentle questions, I learned that she’d lived a very interesting life before and between working for us. Her holidays sounded exciting with hiking trips to Peru, backpacking in India, and bicycling through France. She had a group of women she traveled with during her two weeks holiday from work, and I honestly never knew.
Dinner was much more fun than I expected it would be. In one day, Adara had bought more life and joy into this house than I’d been able to muster in my whole thirty-five years of living here.
After dinner, Adara encouraged me to play piano while she sang to an audience of one. It was a stunning performance, and Ms. White practically beamed from being included. While I wasn’t a pro, I’d been classically trained in piano throughout my childhood and Adara had a voice you could die for. It was rich and throaty and made me think of both Pink and Shakira. Her voice had deepened and taken on more of a graveled quality than it had when she was singing before the accident, but I liked this sound better — it was more real and reflected maturity and strength.
I began to think on what a musician like her would need. I knew she’d played guitar. An artist of her caliber needed her own studio.
After Ms. White retired for the night, I asked Adara to fill our wine glasses while I made the call to the detective. As I had thought, progress was slow.
“We don’t want to go in guns blazing,” Thomas said. “Right now, we’re looking at money trails, gaining background evidence so the assholes don’t shut down accounts before we get through the gate.”
I made sense, even though I was eager for something to be done now. Adara watched me anx
iously, listening to the call on speaker phone.
“The investigation could take a while. Several weeks or even months. Ms. Wilde…?”
Adara spoke up. “Yes?”
“Please don’t return to the compound for any reason. Once we have our evidence, things will move quickly, and I don’t want you in the way when things go down. Besides, Jack Marshall will most likely be looking for revenge.”
“I won’t go there. I’m worried about Brandy, but she’s texted, so I know she’s alive at least. I’ll find a way to help them, but I never want to go there again.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. There was nothing more for Thomas to add, so we disconnected the call. I pulled Adara to my chest. “Would you like to join me on my side of the house tonight?” Even though I was playing at being pretentious, the question was still loaded. “There’s a guest suite over on that side too, if you want your space. It’s just a little smaller. My sister stays there when she visits. I’d rather you were closer.”
I’d purposely put her at the far side of the house last night to keep myself away from her. But now I couldn’t have her too close.
“Sure,” she answered lightly. “I’ll have to book the first flight out of my wing and meet you over there in an hour. I’ve got to take a shower.”
“You don’t want to shower at my place on the East Coast?” My tone was hopeful, more hopeful than I’d meant it to be as visions of her naked in my shower with soap bubbles running down her body slammed into my brain.
“A girl needs a little downtime, lover boy.” She smiled and batted her lashes.
“Yes, yes, of course.” I backed down a little. The idea of having a shower with her sounded so nice, but so did being with her in bed, on the couch, on the back porch. Having her just about anywhere sounded perfect.
We finished our wine and parted for a while. She was ready about an hour later, and I got a text asking me to meet her at her room, as she was sure she’d never be able to find my suite.
When I met her, she was wearing a flowing robe and a beautiful nightgown, both in a deep plumb color that strangely reminded me of what she’d worn at Jewel. She was stunning, such a surreal beauty. My cock swelled as it had so many times already today. She turned me into a needy bastard.
