“That sounds like heaven. My parents are great, but honestly, if I don’t get out of there soon I’m going to go bat-crap crazy.” She rolled her eyes to emphasize how close she was to the nut house. “My mom is bored, and that’s never, ever a good thing. You saw who she fixed me up with last time. And now that she knows that Lee and I are seeing each other again, she’s started leaving copies of Modern Bride magazine around the house. I found a copy of Martha Stewart Weddings in my underwear drawer this morning.”
Marisol nodded sagely. “That’s why my mother lives in another country.”
“Lee says that you’re seeing someone.”
“It’s not serious, but yeah, Jason Anderson and I are...” She shrugged. “I don’t know what we are.”
She smiled at her around a bite of sandwich. “Are you having fun?”
“Oh yeah. But if mi mama knew it would be all over.”
The conversation paused for a moment while she chewed and her new friend sopped up ketchup with more fries.
Finally, Marisol asked what she was obviously dying to know. “So what’s going on with you and Lee?”
Well now, that was the grand question, wasn’t it? “I don’t have an answer for that.”
Marisol nodded and took a contemplative sip of iced tea. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to butt in. Just be careful with him. Holly says you’ve seen the Palace of Misery, so you know he’s a lot more fragile than he’d like to admit. He’s a great guy. I’d really hate to see him fucked over, you know.”
Candace smiled at her. “I know.” When had she become such a liar? She wanted to use him. That was the idea wasn’t it? She was probably going to hell.
“Bueno.” The last of the fries disappeared. “When are you moving in?”
“Uh, what are you doing right now?” Candace said, only half kidding.
* * *
Lee turned the last screw on her bed frame, and they lowered the box spring and mattress into place. She finally had him right where she wanted him.
She and Lee had the run of the place for the next three days while her new roommate and the man-who-shall-not-be-labeled took a long weekend to New Orleans. The several guys Lee had conned into helping him move her few things out of storage and into the new place had left with much thanks and a twelve-pack of Bud Light. Now they were alone. With the exception of Jose the Cat and Romeo Darling, who were still slinking around the house sizing each other up, she and Lee were alone in the house.
“Somewhere in one of these boxes there are sheets.” Candace stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the stacks. It seemed too much to hope for that there would be one labeled bedding.
A suntanned arm wrapped around her waist and turned her to him. “I wanted to wait until after dinner to do this, but I can’t.” His mouth covered hers, warm and soft. A calloused thumb traced along her jaw while his fingers curled behind her neck. She swayed into the steady column of his body. When Lee kissed her she couldn’t think of anything else. He nibbled her bottom lip before soothing the spot with the tip of his tongue. She opened and his tongue swept inside to stroke the softness of her mouth. When he finally lifted his head she was left feeling loose and liquid.
“I’m not sorry I did that,” he whispered with a sheepish grin.
“Me neither. Don’t stop now.” He felt so, so good, and she was dying to get this out of her system so she could get back to rational thought processes. One good fuck ought to set her straight again. Lee was not on the long term agenda and as soon as she got that through to her sex-crazed alter ego, her train would get right back on track. She slipped her hands under his T-shirt and smoothed them up his body, along his ribs and caressed the ridges of his abs with her thumbs.
She smoothed her palms down the ropy muscles that defined his arms.
It was his hands that did it for her most. His fingers were long and his palms wide. Calloused, masculine hands. They worked hard. Yet when he held her, stroked her, petted her body, he could be as gentle as he was rough. The same fingers that manipulated the tile in his house with intricate precision could tenderly tuck her hair behind her ear before kissing her or worry a nipple until she was begging. She needed those hands on her body, doing those things that made her desperate.
His stubbly beard was scratchy when his lips traveled across her jaw to nuzzle her neck. “Mmm mphh mmphhmm.”
Candace arched backward. “What?”
Lifting his head, he grinned at her. “I said, you’re hot.”
“So are you.” She inched her fingers under his waist band and pinched his butt.
“Well, yes, you’re that, too. Outrageously sexy.” He kissed her nose, then bit her chin. “But I meant that your skin is hot.”
“Oh.” That was disappointing.
“Don’t fret. I have a plan.” He waggled his eyebrows while he raised himself onto one elbow. He tugged at the hem of her tank top, slowly revealing her stomach, then her bra. She lifted her arms and shoulders, willing him to hurry up, and he pulled her shirt off over her head.
She wanted hot, raunchy sex, but he was being tender and sweet. She slipped her knee between his and moved her hips. He was as ready as she was.
“See?” He feathered kisses along her ribs. “Don’t you feel better already?”
“Uh-huh.”
She got Lee’s shirt off as well, then ran her hands along his suntanned skin, feeling the dip and rise of his shoulder muscles and along his arms. With his free hand he massaged her breasts, then finally slid the satin of her bra down to release one breast to his gaze. “You’re so beautiful.”
She responded by yanking her bra off and flinging it to the side.
She pulled him down with her onto the bare bed. One leg wiggled between hers, and he settled half on top of her. He rasped his tongue over her nipple, then blew on it. She shifted restlessly under the weight of his hips and legs. He did the same to her other breast until both nipples were tight and demanding more attention. His beard softly abraded the tender skin under her breasts as he ran his tongue further down. He kissed her sternum and belly, stopping to circle her navel.
“You’re still hot.” He met her gaze with mock concern.
“Hotter by the minute. Are you gonna put me out of my misery?” She lifted her hips immediately when he unbuttoned her shorts and encouraged him to pull them off.
He kissed each hip, then left a tiny row of open-mouthed kisses where the top of her panties met her skin.
“Aren’t you hot?” Good grief, was she panting? He’d reduced her to panting.
“Oh, baby, I’m burning up.” He rose to his knees and she leaned forward to undo his cargo shorts, but not before he pulled a string of foil packages out of his pocket and tossed them on the bed. He didn’t need her help to push his shorts and his boxers off. All she could think of was getting one of the packages open and on him. God, he was beautiful. Her gaze followed along his pecs and down the hollow between his abs, tracking the path of soft chest hair that led across his flat belly to his cock. The shorts landed on the floor with the growing pile of clothes.
She smiled and spread her legs so he could settle between them. He pressed her into the mattress. He bent and filled his mouth with one breast, grazing his teeth along on her nipple then sucking on it hard. His other hand kneaded her other breast, pinching that nipple.
Candace hummed in encouragement. She didn’t want to be worshiped. She wanted to be fucked. This wasn’t about tenderness.
Her fingernails skated up his back, starting at his ass, lightly scoring his skin, then sunk into his hair. She pulled him back to her mouth so she could kiss him aggressively, tangling her tongue with his.
He pressed her bent knee to the side, opening her wider and those fingers she loved so much found her opening. His thumb—a digit she’d previously undervalued, she disco
vered—rolled her bud under light pressure and her hips jerked up in response. One finger slid inside her and the two of them groaned in concert.
She arched her neck and moaned. “Now.”
She felt behind her head for the string of condoms and pulled one free. She tore it open, then reached between them, intent on rolling it over his cock. His hand grabbed hers.
“Hold on. Slow down.” He kissed her fingers, then her lips, before trailing his lips down her belly. Fingers and thumb worked together and she wasn’t prepared when the orgasm hit her. Her muscles contracted around his fingers and she keened as pleasure coursed through her. Lee chuckled in satisfaction but didn’t stop the relentless massage on her clit. He took her nipple into his mouth again, sucking in rhythm with her contractions.
“Oh my God, Lee. Oh my God.”
When her body finally relaxed he rose up so he was kneeling between her legs. “Look at me.”
She met his gaze. Those green eyes looked at her, full of tangled emotions she wouldn’t acknowledge. Before she could look away, he grasped her hips and plunged into her, sliding all the way to the base in one fluid movement that threatened to shove her over the edge again. He flinched and clutched her hips harder.
Breathing as hard and fast as she was, he pulled almost all the way out, then pushed back in. Each thrust came harder, faster until Candace was desperate to come again. She squeezed him tightly and raised her hips higher, pushing for the finish. Oh yes. This was what she needed. She rose up to meet him each time, riding the steady friction. She closed her eyes so that she wasn’t distracted by his intense gaze, so that she was just being used as much as she was using him.
But he wouldn’t let her.
“Look at me,” he said again, and caressed her cheek, ran his thumb over her lips. “Watch me.”
Almost there. She wanted to call out, call his name like she’d used to do. Why couldn’t this just be about sex? Her body strained for the climax, rushing and moving with each thrust. He kept her gaze captive as he made love to her.
He drove into her, his grip on her hips turning almost painful, desperate. His eyes closed. Yes, that was what she wanted. Greedy, desperate, grasping. She wanted bruises and marks from crazed release, not tenderness and whispers and caresses.
“Come, baby. Now,” he commanded.
There it was. One more surge from him and she plunged over with a scream. His orgasm followed. He arched his back and tossed back his head, every muscle straining as it wracked him.
Eventually they relaxed. He curled next to her on the bed, his head on her chest, his fingers curling into her hair as their breathing slowed. His other palm rested flat on her belly. His thumb drew lazy circles on her skin. Several minutes later, he raised his head and kissed her, slow and satisfied, the urgency from moments ago gone. “Wow.”
She blew out a heavy breath and turned her face. “Yeah.” She couldn’t look at him and she sure as hell didn’t want him looking at her. She curled her body away from him and struggled to breathe.
“Baby?” His hand moved against her shoulder and he pressed her flat, but she kept her face turned away. “Honey, what’s wrong. Did I hurt you?”
Five years ago he’d devastated her. This time, she’d done it all by herself. It was too late to pretend that this was an itch she could scratch, that she didn’t want him to hold her and love her and tell her everything was going to be all right. She knew that if she cried she could curl up in his arms and he’d do everything in his power to make it better. But what if he withdrew that affection again? She was lost and there was nothing she could do to save herself now. She would not allow herself to cry. When she squeezed her eyes tightly against the emotion, the tears leaked out anyway.
He pulled her into his arms and shushed her. “It’s okay. Please don’t cry.”
Wishing the tears weren’t signaling her nervous breakdown, she pulled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed. But he was still there. A gentle hand stroked her back. A long finger tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Talk to me,” he said, his voice infinitely kind. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just scared.” She whispered the words because saying them out loud made them terrifyingly real. “We were always really good at that. I thought it would be different this time. I hoped it wouldn’t happen this way again.”
He kissed her shoulder. “I know. But I’m glad it did.”
“Now what?” It was too late to go back.
She felt him shrug, the rise and fall of his shoulders behind her as he moved to hold her. “It’ll be better this time.”
This time, better might just kill her.
Chapter Fifteen
So long as there were no squirrels around to distract him, Oliver was doing a way better job walking on his leash now that Lee was walking him through the neighborhood every day. Candy said the puppy needed a ton of exercise to keep him out of trouble, and Lee had taken that advice to heart.
Even with all the trouble Oliver got himself into, Lee was as shocked as anyone how much he enjoyed having the dog around all the time. He found himself talking to the animal as if he was another person. And he’d made fun of Holly for that.
“But you’re way cooler than Milo, huh, dude?”
Oliver perked up his ears and wagged his tail with excitement and agreement. As far as the dog was concerned, Lee was the smartest human to ever walk the planet. That was heady stuff.
Lately it felt like the life he was leading was someone else’s. He and Candy were doing awesome. After the two of them had gotten past that weird false start, it was like the last lonely five years had never existed. People said you could never come home again, but Candy was home and he was there. It was way too soon to suggest she move into his house, but they spent most nights together at either her place or his. He got up early to run with her, something he’d previously hated, and they were in the middle of watching Breaking Bad since she’d been out of the country when it originally aired. There had been a feisty wrestling match that ended in epic sex when he’d accidently disclosed a plot point too early.
So long as he suppressed that itchy feeling that she hadn’t loved him enough the first time around and that it could always happen again, he’d never been happier. He’d told her he was over it and he was trying hard to make that true. Nevertheless, he spent a lot of time surreptitiously watching her when they were together, eyeing her reactions and questioning her true feelings. She seemed happy and he made an effort to relax.
Besides, the sex was out-of-this-world good. She made him crazy. He was practically running around hard all the time.
He clipped Oliver’s leash to his collar and they jumped out of the truck. He slipped the leash over his wrist and pulled the pop-up canopy from the truck bed. He saw Candy’s blonde head and those of her brother and father milling around the park with other exhibitors at the summer animal fair.
“Hey, babe.” He kissed her on the cheek, then nodded to her older brother Clay and shook her father’s hand. “Doctors Claesson. What do you call a collection of veterinarians? A practice of vets?” He laughed at his own joke but only got blank stares from his audience. “So where do you want the shade?”
“Good to see you,” her father said to him, then turned to his daughter. “All right? You’ve got this, then? I’m gonna go.”
She had Oliver sit. “Bye, Dad.” She waved the dog’s paw at her father.
Candy was busy loving on Oliver, so Lee addressed his questions to her brother.
“Over here.” Clay directed him to an aisle between a dog groomer and a baker who made organic dog biscuits. The bakery lady was staring at Clay, who really did look like Thor. It was ridiculous, with all the honey-colored hair and muscles.
The two of them had no problems getting the canopy erected and the long table set up to put the information
about the new neighborhood veterinary clinic.
“Candace,” Clay called to his sister. “How do you want to put all this stuff out?”
“I’ll do it.” She stopped kissing on Lee’s dog and came over. “I want it to look right.”
Once everything was set up to her liking, he and Oliver wandered through the crowd to see what there was to see. Lee was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of money that could be spent on one’s pets.
He also had no idea how many food options there were. The vendors tried to make him feel guilty for not feeding him the best possible menu, like his dog who ate furniture cared what the hell his kibble was called. He refused to fret about their dire warnings. After all, his personal veterinarian had endorsed the food Oliver ate.
And if he thought the amount of money people spent on toys was outrageous, he nearly busted a gut when the pet psychic offered to “read” his dog and tell him what he was thinking.
He declined, saying, “I’m pretty sure he’s thinking, ‘Where’s my ball’ or ‘Let’s go for a walk’ or ‘I’m gonna take a crap in the kitchen’.”
Oliver was very handsome, but Lee was not under any delusions that his dog was a canine genius. His Great Dane was like the doggy equivalent of a frat boy. He was an all id, follow your bliss, hey let’s have a beer kind of dog.
Still, Lee was having a great time. He’d been told that puppies were girl magnets but he’d had no idea how very true it was. If he’d been in the market, he could have collected twenty phone numbers. That made him think of Candy and how she was faring against all the guys with bait-dogs hitting on the hot vet, so he turned Oliver around and they ambled back in that direction.
“Hey,” he said when he recognized the couple and their dog standing at her booth. “Milo, my man, how you doin’?” He stooped to pet the Yorkie.
Holly scooped up her puppy in the face of Oliver’s obvious interest. She kissed Lee’s cheek. “I didn’t think we’d see you here. I forgot you bought a dog. Or a pony. Wow, he’s really growing, isn’t he?”
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