“That might not be a good idea, Tal.”
He smiled. Leaning down, he pulled her toward him and lay claim to her through her mouth.
She could feel her bones dissolving into liquid as he held her in his arms, made love to her tongue. He became her sole support against gravity. She opened her mouth wider, taking as much of him into her as he was willing to give. The moan erupting from his throat and the hard ridge of him grinding into her caused her to open her eyes and release her mouth from his.
“Tal,” she whispered against his lips. “I want to. God, do I want to.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Me too, hon.” He kissed her again. This time, as impossible as it seemed, he took their kiss even deeper. He tried to reach inside of her, to capture a piece of her soul. And Kayla found he did, touching something in her that rose up from the depths of her being to meet his need. This time when she pulled back she whispered, “Make love to me.”
He raised his head to look into her eyes. Bending his legs, he placed one arm under her thighs, and picked her up. “How about we make love to each other?” he responded.
“That works for me too.”
He carried her over to the bed and laid her on the down filled comforter. Straightening, he threw his jacket onto a chair in the corner then began to unbutton his shirt. Kayla raised herself up on her elbows and watched, her heart rate increasing in anticipation.
“Enjoying the show?” he asked.
“Please don’t rush on my account,” she said with a smile.
He inclined his head toward her. “Feel free to join me.”
She sat up and removed her jacket. He paused in taking off his shirt to help her get her jacket off, and then threw it on top of his. When he turned back, she was on her knees on the bed and helped him to take off his shirt. She tossed it on the floor, her gaze glued to his chest. She raised her hands to run them across his rock hard pecs and ridged abs. “Mmm, you feel good,” she said. She flicked her tongue out and licked the center of his chest. “Taste good too.”
He grabbed the back of her head and buried his fingers in her soft short curls. Something he’d thought about doing since the first time he saw her. He bent her head back and leaned over her, covering her parted lips and slipping his tongue inside to caress hers. With very little urging she leaned back, stretching full out on the bed. Never breaking contact, he followed her down.
Without disrupting their kiss, he shifted to unbutton the sweater she wore. He needed her skin against his own. Feeling around the edge of her bra, he found the snap in the front and released her from her confinement. Pushing the material aside, he let his hand roam over the globe beneath, finding it just as he knew it would be—fitting perfectly in the palm of his hand. He moved his mouth downward to nuzzle her chin, then her neck until he reached what his hand caressed. He didn’t suckle her gently, but like a man starving at a feast. He devoured her.
Kayla’s body arched into his caress. Her hands moved from his shoulders to press into his hair, making sure he wouldn’t move. “More,” she moaned. “More.” Her voice was husky, almost unrecognizable. If he stopped, so would her heart.
She felt her nipple release from the heat of his mouth as he pushed against her hands to raise his head. No, she almost yelled, but all he did was turn so he could give the other breast the same attention. She relaxed back into the pillow with a sigh of pure pleasure. Satisfied he wasn’t going anywhere she didn’t want him to, she eased up her hold on him.
He used the fact she no longer had a death grip on his head to lift it. He took her mouth the same way he had taken her nipples. With raw primal hunger. And she returned the feeling in kind. They used their tongues like warriors used weapons, but instead of instruments of destruction, they were weapons of desire. She needed something from him. Oh yes, she remembered. “Your clothes. I need them off. I need to touch you, feel you.”
Tal immediately rolled off her, and began to pull his pants and briefs down past powerful thighs. Gaze glued to the display happening beside her, Kayla took instant advantage to remove the slacks she wore, and discard her bra. She left the thong. She was finished first and when he turned to roll over her, she was up on one elbow and stayed him with her palm on his chest. She pushed gently until he understood she wanted him on his back. She watched his lips curve into a smile of anticipation.
“I love a woman who likes to take charge,” he said huskily as he stretched out on the bed.
She straddled him so his jutting throbbing penis was cradled in the apex of her thighs. Dropping forward until they were chest to chest, and she could feel the strength of him pulsing against her. She grabbed his lower lip and sucked it between her own, pulling and sucking gently until she heard him moan. This time it was his hand anchoring her head to his mouth and the other at her shoulder to hold her in place. But she had other places on his body she wanted to explore. This was only the beginning.
Slowly, she began to move. Using lips, tongue, and even a little teeth when she paused at his nipples, she kept steadily moving downward. The feel of his hands in her curls encouraged her on.
She straightened her legs so they lay between his, taking a moment to savor his belly button lying in the mist of a stomach she could use as a table. She felt him raise his knees slightly and widened his legs to make more room for her. Lifting her head, she found him watching her; she flashed him a crooked grin. Maintaining eye contact, she continued licking her way to her ultimate goal. He placed his hands on his thighs, his action made him as open as possible, allowing her greater access to him. And access him she would.
By the time her warm mouth actually enclosed his swollen head, his lower body rose off the bed. She took him so deep he was at the back of her throat and about ready to explode. The sound coming out of his mouth was like none he had ever uttered before. He eased back before surging forward into her mouth again. This time she arched her body to take all of him. But he couldn’t let her continue.
For the first time in his adult life, he was about to lose control unless he stopped. “No,” he whispered hoarsely. “Not this first time. Next time.” He rubbed his thumb on her bottom lip and got her to release him. Once she raised her head, he sat up and grabbed one of the condoms from his night table; with trembling hands he ripped the foil packet open.
She pulled off her thong. “Here, let me,” she said.
He handed it to her and watched as she placed it on his engorged flesh. Holding him, she lowered herself to take all of him inside her. Still sitting up, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled them both until he covered her as completely as she enclosed him. He withdrew slightly only to thrust forward until everything but his balls lay in her. His lover’s body rose from the bed at the force of his invasion. If he were the bow, she was the violin, and he played her body beautifully.
“Oh God!” he cried right before his lips covered her own and their tongues surged together, joining as the rest of their bodies united in the timeless dance of lovers.
“More,” Kayla moaned as she raised her legs and wrapped them around his waist, urging him to go deeper still. This was one woman he would not, could not disappoint. Wrapping his arms around her thighs, he lifted her higher and his rhythm grew faster, his thrust harder. She kept pace with him, filling him, completing him as no woman ever had.
Kayla had never experienced anything like this. She didn’t recognize herself in this man’s arms. He filled her so completely. She couldn’t stop what happened next even if the world ended. And in a way it did. Her world became before Tal and after. He bucked against her hard enough to bring her off the bed once more. The pressure he had already built in her rose up from her core and erupted like an exploding sun. A split second later, even with all of her nerve endings firing time after time, she felt him stiffen before finding his own hard release. For the first time in her life, a man’s ejaculation caused her to climax for a second then a third time.
Both breathing hard, he rolled to his side and pulled h
er to him. Face to face he raised his hand and touched her cheek. No words passed between them. Eyes wide open, they stared at each other. He shifted so his arm rested above her head, and the other he wrapped around her waist. She closed her eyes. His eyelids lowered too. Sated, entwined, they slept.
Kayla awoke, and like an express train, the night came rushing back. She turned over and groaned. The sound came as a result of the soreness in every part of her body. Tal had left no body part untouched in his quest to ‘know’ her, as he put it at one point. In every sense of the word.
She remembered being awakened twice during the night while he explored. But the last time, just before dawn, she had no one to blame but herself. She’d wanted a turn. She smiled at the memory. Then frowning, she turned her head to look at the empty spot beside her. She touched the dented pillow next to her; it was still warm. He couldn’t have been up long. Maybe he’s in the bathroom, but the door was wide open and no sounds came from there.
Kayla got up and couldn’t find her clothes on the floor or the chair, but there was a robe at the foot of the bed. She put that on. First stop the bathroom. She found everything she needed to do her morning routine, even an unopened toothbrush, and took a quick shower. When she was done she put the robe back on and ventured downstairs.
The sight greeting her when she stepped into the kitchen would stay with her for a very long time. He stood in front of the stove, his back turned to her. But it was what he wore, or didn’t, that captured her attention. He had on a red apron tied in a bow at his waist and nothing else. She knew she should have had more light on last night. The man had an ass she was glad was always covered, because even as good as it looked in pants, it was killer in the raw.
She must have made a sound because he turned around and saw her checking him out. He turned the stove off. “I’ll show you more after we eat,” he said grinning.
“I’m not sure I can take any more.”
He frowned. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if I was a little rough last night.”
Kayla smiled. It was the smile of a well-satisfied woman. “Honey, I’ll let you know when you’re too rough with me.”
He returned her smile. “Come on sit,” he said gesturing to a seat at the breakfast bar with his spatula; he had already set placemats with forks and cups on the counter. “Let me feed you to rebuild some of that strength I drained from you last night.”
She came across the room, stopping to give him a quick kiss on his cheek. “I’m just a little sore,” she said moving to pull out a stool, and easing gingerly onto the cushioned seat. “It’s been awhile for me, and I think I used muscles I never even knew I had.”
She watched as he took the pan off the stove. He spooned out the scrambled eggs he’d made onto plates already set out with toast. “I see you do know your way around the kitchen.”
He grinned as he placed one plate in front of her and the other one next to hers. He grabbed the coffee pot and placed it down on the counter between them. Taking her hands, he raised them to his lips. “I need you to know it’s been a long time for me too. And what we experienced last night, all night, is something rare. We’re special together, and so we’re clear about this, we are together.”
“Together,” she repeated. “I like how that sounds. But together as what?” She was full of a lot of mixed emotions right now. An attraction so strong to this man she was willing to jump into his arms only because he opened them. But some part of her brain still functioned in the land of rational thought. He was right, what they experienced was different, at least for her. Maybe for him too, and she was glad to hear him voice it, but still, she wanted, needed more. Her heart demanded it. The minute he became a part of her last night her heart became engaged, maybe even before then. She could trust him to respect her, but could she trust him with her heart?
“As anything we want to be,” he said breaking into her thoughts.
“Lovers,” she challenged, watching the perfectly aligned planes of his face, a face holding the power to leave her devoid of speech.
“Oh, yeah,” he rasped. “Most definitely. Exclusively. And so much more.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest, covering her mouth with his, and bit by bit taking pieces of her heart away from her. She feared it was too late to get any of those pieces back, and worried for the parts still left. The eggs lay forgotten on the plates as he picked her up off the stool; she offered no protest when he carried her up the stairs and back to his bed.
“Answer that for me would you, hon? You’re closer,” Tal said without moving. His body was curled around the back of hers, and she was loath to move out of his embrace. If anything she pushed back into him just as his sex rose to press against hers. “Forget it,” he said on a rasp. “Voicemail will pick up.”
In the next breath, he surged into her from behind. “Oh, God,” he cried quickly pulling out. “I’m sorry. No protection.” Breathing heavily he rested his head on her shoulder. “Never, and I mean never have I had unprotected sex. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.” She turned to face him. “I’ve never had unprotected sex either. I’m on the pill but I always have my partner use a condom.”
Kayla wasn’t quite sure what happened next or who reached for whom first. The next thing she knew, as they lay side-by-side her leg was raised, and he was holding it up as he filled her, stretched her. The phone on the nightstand finally stopped ringing, but then the cell phone on his dresser began to chime.
They ignored that too.
Chapter Eleven
Tal rolled over onto his back and reached for his phone to check his voicemail. After listening, he hung up. He turned his head to find Kayla on her side, her hand propped under her head. “What is it?” she asked.
Tal rubbed his thumb across one high cheekbone. God, he lo… Whoa! Where’d that come from? “I like looking at you, but we’ve got to get up,” he said, but shaken at the thought floating around at the edges of his mind.
“What’s going on?” It was Saturday, and neither one of them was due back at the office until Monday.
“That was Agent Patrosky. Sally Henderson may have been spotted. They’re sending agents to check into it.”
“Well good. At least she’s not trying to pin any more crap on me.”
“I made it quite clear to her already you had nothing to do with it.”
“Well why do we have to get up?” Before she could reach for him, he rolled off the bed and in all of his naked glory, got to his feet.
“Patrosky has a warrant for both Henderson’s home and her office. She’s already searched her house now she wants to search her office. Since nothing’s been moved, she’s hoping to find something there and wants me to meet her at the bank in an hour.”
Kayla only heard about half of what he said; she was too busy watching a ripped naked man. And the more she watched, the more the appendage between his legs swelled.
“Stop that,” he groaned.
“Why?” she said licking her lips. “I so like what I see. I’m sure I have time to…look. I don’t have to go with you.”
“No you don’t have to go with me, but I want you with me. I don’t want to let you out of my sight.” He held his hand out for her to take. “Come on. We’ll take a shower together.”
Kayla raised her eyes to meet his. “Ooh, I like the ideas you have.” Taking his hand, she allowed him to pull her off the bed; he turned around and led the way into the shower.
Fingers entwined, they arrived at Kayla’s bank only ten minutes late. The bank was no longer open on Saturday’s, and hadn’t been for three months before the merger. They found Agent Patrosky waiting for them in front of the locked door. As they approached, the frown on the agent’s face wasn’t lost on Kayla when she saw her with Tal in the same outfit she’d last seen her in. She also didn’t miss the way the agent’s eyes further widened at the sight of their joined hands.
Tal didn’t bother to apologize for their tardiness. He merely used his ke
y to unlock the bank’s door, and stepped aside for Kayla to walk in first. She went directly to the alarm system and disarmed it. Tal and the agent stood behind her, and Tal turned to lock the door.
They followed Kayla as she walked farther into the bank, away from the windows around the entrance, stopping in the hallway in front of her office.
“Now, Agent Patrosky, I believe you have something for me,” Tal said.
Patrosky pulled a document out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Tal. “This is a warrant allowing me to search Ms. Henderson’s office as well as Ms. Michaels.”
“What!” both Tal and Kayla exclaimed. Kayla didn’t give Tal a chance to say anything else. “What do you mean my office?” she asked. “Why?”
“Hold on,” Patrosky said holding up her hand to ward off their questions. “I’m not trying to implicate you,” she said begrudgingly, gesturing her head toward Kayla. “But Newington was in there for quite some time before Mr. Reynolds arrived. According to Zach, we’ve gotten everything we need off the computer. But I just want to make sure there isn’t any physical evidence, files or papers he left behind.”
“Oh, okay,” Kayla conceded. What she said made sense.
Patrosky directed her question to Tal. “Did you happen to notice if Newington was carrying a briefcase with him when he left?”
“No, I can’t say I did. He left from Kayla’s office and he wasn’t carrying anything with him when he walked out of there. But I don’t know if he had one and left it elsewhere.”
“Okay. I’ve already checked with your secretary, and she told me she doesn’t remember him carrying one either. This office isn’t very big and it shouldn’t take long to search it, then I’ll take a look at Ms. Michaels’. But Zach is also on his way over here. I’d like him to take a look at Ms. Henderson’s computer also.”
“Why Sally’s computer?” Kayla asked. “Our computers have the same types of access.”
Chances Are Page 12
