Beefcake & Cupcakes

by Fennell, Judi

  “What about me?”

  “What about you? You’re getting the business license like you wanted.”

  His mouth twisted sideways. “I guess.”

  “Is this any different than you having Gina hire me to cater her party?”

  He opened his mouth, but then closed it. Then he swiped a hand over it. “I guess not.”

  “Gee, don’t sound so thrilled.”

  “No, you’re right. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now how about you take me out to celebrate? I haven’t had a chance to eat anything today and I’m starving.”

  “What, exactly, are you starving for?”

  In that instant, with his voice low, and his blue eyes honed in on her mouth, the teasing banter was gone, replaced with another type of teasing.

  Lara licked her lips.

  Gage groaned. “God, Lara, not here. I won’t be able to walk out and all those people will think they were absolutely right about BeefCake.”

  She couldn’t stop the twitch of her lips. It was good to know she affected him as much as he affected her. “We can’t have that, can we? Not when Mr. Davis is going to all the trouble to convince them otherwise.”

  “Then let’s get out of here while I can still walk upright.”

  She resisted the urge to look down.

  Well, almost.

  “You are killing me.” He grabbed her arm and steered her toward the door, and for the first time since she’d met him, he didn’t stop to talk to any of the women who tried to get him to.

  And, yes, Lara was feeling just a little bit pleased with herself about that.

  Chapter 25

  They ended up back at Donegan’s, only this time, there were no onion rings, no loaded baked potatoes, and no lap dance bets—because that was pretty much a given.

  She ordered the Irish chicken, he ordered a burger, and they scarfed them down in no time flat. Gage had even asked for the bill with the food, so they were ordered, fed, and paid in under thirty minutes.

  Twenty minutes after that, they were naked.

  “God, Lara, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. About this.” They stood in her living room, their clothing thrown all over the place and he ran his hands over her perfect breasts, taking their weight, his thumbs brushing her nipples until they hardened.

  She arched into him. “It feels so good, Gage.”

  “Yes, you do.” He had to taste one. He leaned in and brushed his lips over it gently, smiling when she gasped. He nibbled it then, softly, just his lips, smiling even more when she held his head and pressed herself against him.

  “Lick me, Gage.” Her breath was harsh, her voice desperate.

  He knew the feeling.

  Gage did what she asked—what he wanted to do—swirling his tongue around the stiffening peak, then sucked it into his mouth, the taste and the feel of her threatening his sanity. He had to get her to the bed.

  He scooped her up in his arms and caught her gasp with another kiss, strode down the hall, and laid her on the bed without breaking the kiss at all.

  God, she felt good under him. Soft where a woman should be. Cradling him where he needed the pressure, and the silken slide of her legs against his was pure heaven.

  He propped himself up on his elbows and captured her head between his palms, her curls jumbled among his fingers. “I’ve missed you.”

  She nipped his chin. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  “You are so beautiful, Lara.” He nipped her nose, the playfulness new for him, but he wanted every part of her. He wanted her smile and her cute little giggle. He wanted her moans and her shallow, gasping breaths. He wanted his name on her lips as he gave her the best orgasms of her life.

  “You make me feel beautiful, Gage.”

  He shouldn’t have to; she should feel beautiful without him. Because she was. Inside and out. How caring she’d been with Connor, with her cousin. And how she gave herself to him unreservedly. That utter generosity and selflessness made her a beautiful person and the gorgeous curls, warm sensuous eyes, that cute turned up nose, and those lips… God, those lips… They were all just window-dressing to the beautiful soul they housed.

  “Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not, Lara. There’s so much beauty inside of you that it just shines through. Someone would have to be an idiot not to see all of that in you.” He’d kill her ex-husband. Vanilla—was the guy insane? Lara was so not vanilla. She was decadent chocolate with swirls of strawberry and peppermint, a feast for his palate that he wanted to taste over and over again.

  She blinked—twice—against the tears at the corners of her eyes. “Thank you.”

  Her voice broke at the end and Gage couldn’t have that. This wasn’t a night for tears. This was a night for smiles and laughs, and oh yes, long drawn out moans of pleasure. Maybe even a scream or two—or seven—of his name. If he could last that long.

  He kissed her. Not carnal, not lightly, but enough to show her all he felt about her. Every good deed, every wonderful smile, every aching thought he’d had of her since they’d met.

  He’d deal with all that meant for him later.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me, Lara, and I’m going to make sure you know that before morning.”

  Lara shivered at his words. She wanted to believe him—and maybe, if she let herself, she would. “Just make love to me, Gage. Take me out of myself like you did the other night. That was beautiful.”

  “Your wish is my command,” he said with that knock-her-sideways smile just before those beautiful lips descended on hers to sweep her up in a maelstrom of excitement and sensation she could barely believe.

  Everywhere Gage touched turned to fire. Her nerve endings shuddered beneath her skin, ripples writhing over her, her tummy aflutter in a response only he’d been able to elicit, and heat stole along her limbs, wending its way into her heart and wrapping around it so tightly she couldn’t breathe. She was so far into him this could be a disaster of epic proportions if it didn’t work out.

  Lara thrust that thought from her mind. At some point she had to let go of the doubt and learn to trust again.

  Trust. It was a big issue with her.

  Gage nibbled his way along her jaw line and down her throat, taking sweet care with her collarbone, dipping into the hollow at the base, his tongue swirling there, radiating slick, hot desire to every part of her.

  “God, baby, you taste amazing,” he muttered against her skin and Lara could only nod.

  And writhe. She did that rather well when his lips found her nipple.

  His fingers played with her other one and the sensations rose in her, fracturing her mind from anything but the glorious friction of his fingers and his tongue and the hard length of him against her thigh.

  She ran her hands over his back, every inch an experience of sensual proportions. He had not one ounce of fat, and every muscle clenched and flexed beneath her touch, generating an answering clenching in one very specific area. “I want you, Gage. In me. Now.”

  He raised his head, those beautiful aquamarine eyes hooded with desire. For her. “You’ll have me, Lara. But we’re going to take this slow. Make it last. Make it beautiful.”

  It already was.

  Gage kissed his way down her body, delving into her navel, his tongue swirling even more sensations there, each one spiraling out from that center to another one, a little lower and much needier.

  She squirmed beneath him, needing pressure—ah, yes, there. God, the length and strength of him…

  He cradled her hips with his hands and then, oh, God, then his tongue found her.

  “You taste amazing,” he whispered against her curls before he took what she so willingly wanted to give him.

  He drove her insane with need. His talented tongue and fingers spiked her desire higher, taking her to the precipice, only to fall back and keep her dangling, every part of her quivering with need. She clenched the sheets, she tossed her head, pressed down ag
ainst his mouth, searching for that ultimate release, but Gage would only tease her with it.

  “Please, Gage,” she panted, half out of her mind with desire, the other half so firmly focused on what he was doing that it was as if she could see him behind her closed eyelids.

  “I’ll please you, Lara, but you’re going to have to work for it.”

  Her eyes shot open and she met his teasing gaze. “What?”

  He smiled then and it curled her toes.

  “Roll over.” He picked her leg up and turned her until she was on her stomach and her backside…

  “What are you going to do?”

  “It’s not what I’m going to do.” He slid off the bed and put his strong hands around her ankles… and dragged her off the bed. “It’s what you’re going to do.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him as she tried to manage standing. That wasn’t working so well; her body was so jacked up her knees were threatening to give out.

  “You’re going to dance for me.”

  Her knees did give out and she fell onto the mattress. “What?”

  He gripped her around the waist and tugged her upright. “Remember the lap dance?’

  “But you owe me.”

  “And I’m going to give it to you. But then you’re going to give me one.”

  “Why?”

  That damn sexy sideways smile was back. “Why not?”

  Oh. Yeah.

  “It’ll be fun.”

  Fun, erotic…tomato/tomahto.

  “Stay there. I’ll be right back.”

  She didn’t move as he left the bedroom. She couldn’t.

  He was back quickly, with his phone in his hand and a condom on his erection.

  The guy was amazing.

  He tapped the screen a few times, then music emerged.

  “You’re kidding,” she said, recognizing the lead-in. Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistible.

  He smiled. “Nope. This has a great beat and the words are perfect. You are simply irresistible, Lara.”

  “You seem to be doing a good job of resisting me, though, since you’re all the way over there.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be all the way over there in a few seconds.” He set the phone on her dresser. “Now watch.”

  Like she was able to do anything else. He. Was. Naked.

  And aroused.

  And dancing.

  For her.

  “First you get your hips moving.” He demonstrated that oh-so-well. “Put a little push into the booty area.”

  Oh yeah. That worked for her.

  “Some shakes.” He turned around and her mouth dried up like a desert.

  Or was that dessert? The man could shake his ass and it was a thing of beauty.

  “Now combine all of that with some arm movements.” He put his arms behind his head, swiveled around, and his pecs and eight-pack started their own dance contest—which he moved closer.

  Over-her-lap closer.

  From the back.

  Lara trailed a hand down his spine. Electricity sizzled all the way up her arm.

  “What do you think?” he asked, looking back over his shoulder as his butt brushed her abdomen and his sac skimmed her legs.

  She couldn’t think, especially since he was dancing with a full on erection.

  He stood back up and held out his hand. “Come join me.”

  She wanted to join with him. Now. Here. Immediately.

  She took his hand, though, and shakily got to her feet.

  Then Gage spun her around and spanned her waist with his hands, his pelvis still gyrating against her, and oh, God, the feel of him brushing the cleft of her backside threatened to take what little strength she was barely holding onto away.

  “Just follow my movements, Lara.”

  She tried. Really she did. But it was only because his hands were guiding her that she managed to. Her brain was on fried as every brush of his skin against hers sent it into overload and all she could see was the wide expanse of the bed in front of her where she wanted to be spread out beneath him, taking that pulsing, throbbing part of him that was doing terribly sinful things to her backside inside of her to completion.

  Then Gage cupped her breast and licked the curve of her shoulder.

  “Isn’t this fun?”

  Fun wasn’t quite the right word for it.

  Lara bit her lip and looked back at him. “I can’t take much more.”

  “Sure you can. I do this for an hour at a time on stage. You can give me a couple of minutes.” He released his hold on her then and stepped back.

  She wobbled.

  Gage caught her. “Uh uh. You can do this. Come on, Lara, show me what you’ve got.”

  Embarrassment flooded her. What she had wasn’t anywhere near what he did, but…

  But he seemed to be into it, so why not? She had nothing to lose but this moment if she didn’t.

  She didn’t want to lose this moment.

  Taking a deep breath, Lara rolled her shoulders back and turned around. She could do this.

  Gage changed the song. Addicted to Love. Was he trying to tell her something?

  He sat on the chair by her bed and his smile was utterly charming. And encouraging. “Dance for me, Lara.”

  The first beat hit and Lara felt it thrum through her. She could dance. In clothing anyway.

  Her hips started to move. Apparently she could dance out of it, too.

  “That’s it, baby. Shimmy for me.”

  She did, and the feeling of her breasts swinging before him—and the look in his eyes when they did—was utterly freeing. She put her arms behind her head, raising them, and put a little more swivel into her hips.

  His eyes flared. “Ah, that’s good. So good.”

  Yeah, it was.

  She put out her toe and pivoted off it, her hips picking up every drum beat as she let the music flow through her. She tossed her head back and closed her eyes, feeling the downbeat in her blood, allowing it to course through her, to dictate her movements.

  “That’s it, Lar.” His voice was low and raspy. Like the feeling she had low in her pelvis. “Come closer.” This was whispered, but she heard him over the music.

  She gyrated her way over to him, her gaze meeting his and not letting go.

  His fingers flexed on his thighs. His cock twitched.

  Oh yes, she was affecting him.

  “Turn around.”

  She did. Slowly.

  “Move back toward me.”

  She did. Straddling his legs. Open and wet and aching.

  Gage groaned when she bent her knees.

  She hovered there, over his lap, letting her hips tempt him as she ran her fingers through her hair and over her body. She cupped her breasts, knowing he couldn’t see but would know she was touching herself.

  It was wicked. It was decadent. It was the most erotic thing she’d ever done and the power of what she could do to him rose inside of her. It gave her the encouragement, the strength to circle her hips a little faster, brush her backside a little lower, tease him all the more.

  “You are killing me,” he muttered.

  “What a way to go,” she whispered back with a hint of laughter. God, the empowerment she felt.

  “You are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, Lara.” His fingers brushed her hips.

  She felt like the sexiest thing ever. “Don’t touch, Gage. Isn’t that what you tell your clients? No touching?”

  His laugh was harsh. “You saw how well that works.”

  She looked back over her shoulder. “So what are you going to do about it?”

  His eyes flared again and he clamped his big strong hands on her hips and yanked her against him. “I’m calling an end to this dance and I’m going to impale you on my cock like this and let you ride me through the rest of my playlist.”

  And, oh, he did just that.

  He took her there, in the chair, with his hands on her thighs holding her wide, his fingers playing with her, demanding s
he reach behind his head so her breasts were high and tight and he could watch them over her shoulder as he pumped inside her in time with the music.

  “God, baby, that’s it. Ride me.”

  She did. Bowed her back, flexed her toes on the carpet, and took him inside her, feeling every velvety steel inch along her entire passage and this was the most erotic thing she’d ever done.

  There were a lot of firsts with Gage and Lara was honestly glad he was the one she was experiencing all of them with.

  Their harsh breaths were drowned out by the playlist that must be what his guys practiced dance moves to because each song had a heavy, throbbing downbeat that reverberated through her blood, spiraling down to that spot where they were joined, raising the heat and need and desire until she was gasping, her head falling back, and she clenched his hair because she needed something—anything—to hold on to.

  The wave rose up, a roiling, swirling, blur of aching need, the sensations stealing her breath until, at last, it crested over her., in a pulsing, pounding crash, urging her on as she clenched him and milked every sensation when he came, the moment infinite…

  Gage was the first one to move. He twitched inside of her, drawing Lara back into every deliciously sated nerve ending in her body.

  “You’re amazing,” he murmured against her neck, his hot breath sending more shivers through her.

  “You’re pretty amazing yourself. I’ve never done that before.”

  “Could have fooled me. You were a natural. All sensuous and alluring and you had me harder than a block of granite. I swear, I thought I was going to explode just watching you.”

  She couldn’t contain a self-satisfied grin.

  “Feeling pretty good about yourself, are you?” he teased.

  She nodded against his shoulder, feeling the raspy scruff of his beard against her cheek. She wouldn’t mind feeling it between her thighs.

  Oh, God, she felt herself swell at the thought.

  “What are you thinking?” he breathed. He’d felt it too.

  She told him.

  “That, my dear, can most definitely be arranged.”