It was a whirlwind one, and she had to admit the condo was cute and comfy and closely located to downtown. As they finished up in the living room, her gaze was drawn to something hanging on the way.
She walked up to the calendar that was in a frame, forever stuck on the wrong month and the wrong year. It was Lucas, half-naked in his firefighter uniform and a sexy grin on his face.
“You were Mr. May.” She pressed her fist to her mouth to avoid the giggle that threatened.
“Oh that.” He cleared his throat. The tips of his ears turned a little red. “Yeah. A couple years ago I made it onto the firefighters calendar. My sister-in-law gave this to me last Christmas as a gag gift. Gives me shit if it isn’t hanging up. I swear I’m not just a raging narcissist.”
“Mmm hmm. Right.” She finally let out the small laugh and moved to continue down the hall.
He caught her around the waist and lifted her off the ground. She squealed as he turned her in his arms, but it quickly turned into a sigh as he kissed her again.
Her back hit the wall and he slid his hands down to cup her ass through dress. His tongue dove deep as he kneaded her flesh. When he lifted his head to kiss her neck, she gasped and clutched his hair.
“This isn’t helping your case of convincing me you’re not easy, Mr. May. I thought we were going to lunch?”
His lips moved to her cleavage. “I’ve got something else in mind to eat first.”
Heat flashed through her whole body and her legs went weak. He couldn’t possibly mean...
She made no move to protest as he moved to kneel in front of her. He gathered the fabric of her dress in his fists and dragged it up her legs. Past her thighs. Over her hips. And then the air in the room brushed her damp panties and she closed her eyes.
“A taste, sweetheart.” He nuzzled her through her panties. “Just let me taste you.”
Strong fingers grasped her panties and tugged them to the side, exposing her sex to him. Arousal and a tiny stab of embarrassment slid through her at how blatantly exposed she was. But as he groaned and placed a kiss on her sensitive flesh, any self-consciousness washed away in the first wave of pleasure.
She stared down at him, choking on a gasp as he parted her folds and licked her length. His murmur of approval had her whimpering and holding onto the sides of his head.
He licked her again, tasting her, before he made a deliberate move to find her clit. Immediately flicking and lashing it steadily.
Pleas and whimpers spilled past her lips as she rode his mouth. He licked her. Sucked her. Brought her to the edge so skillfully and quickly.
She rose to her tiptoes as her climax neared, and his tongue followed her.
“Lucas.”
He brought her over the edge and she cried out in ecstasy, clenching his head between both her hands and thighs as she rode out her orgasm.
With her heart thundering and her mind fuzzy, she was vaguely aware of him pulling her panties back into place and letting her dress fall back down.
“I like the way you cry out my name.” He stood up and cupped her face, kissing her. Letting her taste herself. A moment later he lifted his head and gave a slow smile. “Now I’m going to show some restraint, even if it kills me, and take you on that date.”
His condo was close enough they could walk into town. And she’d looked at him as if he were crazy when he’d announced it was time to have their date. Maybe he was. Because his dick had been begging to be let in on the action. But going down on her, bringing her release and feeling her melt against him was what he’d wanted most at that moment. He could wait a bit longer for everything else.
They held hands, fingers interlaced, as they walked down the semi-busy sidewalks. She hadn’t worn a coat, so he’d lent her a North Face fleece that hung on her petite curves in the sexiest way.
“So what’s for lunch?”
“Well there’s a Korean/Mexican fusion food truck I’m hearing awesome things about, so I figure them for lunch if you’re game?”
“That sounds all kinds of amazing. Yes, I’m game.”
The food trucks were huge in Portland and he’d made sure to try just about every one of them. He loved that Kim seemed to enjoy them too.
“After we eat, maybe we can walk around the city a little and drop by Powell’s books?”
She stumbled and turned to look at him. “Wow. I love that you just suggested Powell’s. You scored major points. I try and hit them up at least a couple times a month for new reads. I’m woefully overdue.”
Surprised at how animated and excited she’d been by that suggestion, he arched a brow. “Not an electronic reader fan, huh?”
“I have one, but there’s something about the smell of a book. The feel of one in your hands.” She sighed and started them walking again. “Maybe because I grew up in Portland and visiting Powell’s was a weekend activity for my family. It’s probably more nostalgic than anything else.”
He smiled slightly. “Your childhood weekend activities sound a lot like mine. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve met before when fighting over the same book in the kids’ section.”
“Brawns and brains. Well you’re just the whole package, aren’t you, Mr. May?” She squeezed his hand and gave a soft laugh. “I’m going to have to fight off all the other girls who’d like a chance with you.”
For some reason that last line didn’t sit right. Maybe because there was some truth to the fighting off the other girls part. He was used to dating different women. Not sticking around. It had never seemed something to be ashamed of before. Had never made him uncomfortable. But lately it felt different. Felt a little sleazy. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to be that guy anymore.
“I was kidding.” Her soft words made him realize she’d taken his silence to be a not-positive reaction.
“You’re fine.” He squeezed her hand. “And right now you’re the only girl I’m thinking about.”
She didn’t reply and when he glanced over there was a small furrow between her brows. The conversation ended there, though, because they arrived at the food truck and ordered lunch.
Conversation turned light as they shared Seoul beef sliders and a Kimchee quesadilla. In the midst of a conversation about maybe going snowboarding next weekend, he saw her stiffen. Her gaze was locked on something beyond him and her mouth went tight.
He glanced over his shoulder to discover what had instantly put her on the edge. It took only a moment before he spotted the douchebag—Kim’s ex-boyfriend—he’d fought with at The Blue Lounge, standing by another food truck.
“Let’s go,” she tossed the rest of their food in the garbage nearby. “He doesn’t see me, it’s not worth—”
“Well if it isn’t my sexy-ass ex-girlfriend.”
Chapter Six
The words rang out from her ex, causing several people to stop talking and glance over at him.
Lucas’s jaw clenched. Clearly, he had seen her.
“Please, let’s go. We can eat and walk.” She tugged on his arm.
“This isn’t your new boyfriend, is it?” The guy yelled out.
More than anything he wanted to give the guy a piece of his mind. To tell him what a scumbag he was and to move the hell on from Kim. But the plea and desperation in her eyes had him nodding. People were watching, and they’d officially become a Saturday sideshow.
They turned their backs on him and began to walk away.
“Hey you uptight bitch, I’m talking to you.”
The rush of footsteps behind them and the gasp of several onlookers was the only warning Lucas needed. He turned around, fist flying toward the bastard’s face.
His knuckles connected in a satisfying crunch to the guy’s nose in a punch that immediately dropped him.
Lucas leaned down and grabbed him by the shirt. “Hey, asshole, now I’m talking to you. If you ever touch her, try to talk to her, or so much as even look her way again, I will personally see you regret it. Do we have an understanding?”
W
ith blood pouring out of his nose, the other man just gaped at him.
Lucas tightened his grip on the shirt and shook him. “I said do we have an understanding?”
The guy nodded dumbly.
“I thought so.” He dropped him back to the ground, slid an arm around Kim’s waist, and steered them away from the scene.
With anger still thrumming in his blood, he snuck a glance at her after a moment. Her eyes were wide still, but she didn’t look afraid anymore. There was relief.
“Thank you,” she whispered, leaning into him. “That was amazing.”
“He deserved it. I don’t think the guy will come near you again.”
She glanced up at him. “I don’t think so either. I think he may have peed himself he was so scared.”
Lucas smiled. “I would love it if he did.”
“You know what else you’re going to love?” She came to a stop and turned in his arms, rising to her tiptoes to kiss him and then whisper, “The grateful blow job I’m going to give you later.”
***
They didn’t make it to Powell’s. They barely made it into the front door of his condo before they were stripping off clothes.
He shoved her against the wall and slammed his mouth on hers, grabbing her dress and tugging it up her body. They broke the kiss just for a moment to remove it completely. The sight of her curves in the pink bra and panty set had his mouth drying out. When he tried to reach out to remove them, she shook her head and swatted his hand away.
“My turn.” She fell to her knees in front of him, reaching for the zipper on his pants.
Within seconds she had his cock free and in her hands. He went rock hard as she stroked him. God, he needed more. Needed her mouth on him.
Lucas groaned and thrust his fingers into her hair, urging her head down. She didn’t freak out, but parted her lips and let him slide inside.
She took over from there, rolling her tongue over his length and taking him in and out of her mouth. He couldn’t talk. Could barely hear her moans over the roar of blood in his ears.
He stared down at her, watching her please him. Saw the pleasure in her face and how she seemed to love this moment with him.
One clear thought radiated through his lust. It had never, ever, been this intense with another woman. There’d never been this kind of connection.
If he weren’t so close to coming in her mouth, focusing on pleasure, that realization probably would’ve terrified him.
Before he could lose all control and make a mess, literally, he pushed her away from him with a groan.
“I need you. Now.”
***
Kim could barely form a thought, let alone a sentence, as he pulled her to her feet and deftly stripped her out of her bra and panties. Then she was in his arms and he was carrying her up the stairs like she weighed nothing.
“I swear, women everywhere would set their houses on fire if they could be in your arms like this.” Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she stroked her fingers down his nape.
He didn’t laugh, but she saw the faint tilt of his lips as he increased his pace. They moved into his bedroom and he set her down naked on the bed.
While staring down at her, he began to remove the rest of his clothes. The cock that she’d had in her mouth moments ago stood long and hard, and the anticipation of it being inside her had her heart rate doubling.
“Do you,” she swallowed her embarrassment. “We should, um, use a condom.”
“Of course. I’ve got one.” Naked now, he climbed onto the bed.
Instead of reaching for a condom to get to the main dish, he surprised her by dipping his head to kiss the flesh between her legs.
“Love the taste of your pussy, sweetheart.”
Her cheeks heated and pleasure rocketed through her as she parted her thighs. He took immediate advantage, licking and sucking her flesh once more. Teasing her clit, sliding his fingers into her and bringing her to an orgasm even more quickly than he had earlier.
When she was trembling and weak, he kissed his way up her stomach, dipping his tongue into the crater of her belly button, before moving up further. When he caught one nipple in his mouth, she cried out in pleasure.
He rubbed her swollen clit and suckled her nipples, bringing her so close to another orgasm.
Before she reached it, though, he flipped her onto her stomach and then lifted her onto her hands and knees. Her thoughts were jumbled and her body was on fire with pleasure. The sound of him opening a condom barely registered, and she rocked back against him, loving the feel of his hard cock pressing against her opening.
“I hope you’re ready for me.” He didn’t seem to expect an answer as he gripped her hip with one hand and guided himself inside her with another.
Her breath caught as he stretched her with his girth and kept sinking deeper. He was long. So long.
Oh god.
His ragged groan was indication that it felt just as amazing on his end.
Before she could fully adjust to him, he was moving inside her. Taking her hard and fast. She gripped the bedspread, whimpering her pleasure and trying to keep up with his pace. But their joining was so frantic, so heavy with need, it was completely primal.
Pleasure built up inside her again, growing more intense with each thrust. She rocked back against him and her world exploded into another climax.
“I love you.” His raspy declaration reached her ears before he came with a roar-like groan.
Later, when she was curled into his arms and they were both drowsy and content, she knew it had to have been the heat of the moment that had made him say it.
He was so quiet for a while, she had to lift her head from his chest and make sure he wasn’t asleep. His eyes were open and he stared up at the ceiling, clearly thinking about something. Was it the lust driven love comment? Was he just dissecting the sex? Maybe even thinking about the dishes he had to do? God, trying to read men made her angst.
He tilted his head to glance at her. “Are you hungry?”
Hungry? Really?
“Not really. I mean we just ate a couple hours ago.” She traced her fingers over his chest, which was just as solid as she’d imagined.
He was the first man she’d slept with who had a legitimate six-pack. It was a little intimidating when she compared it to her squishy parts.
“I need to grab some water.” He slid out from under her, so abrupt and clinical now that it sent a wave of alarm through her.
She watched him go, striding out of the room like a confident, modern Adonis. And that’s what he was. He was on a calendar to celebrate the fact.
Kim fell back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling. While her heart wanted to stay optimistic, her mind argued something had changed.
She thought about the tacky woman who’d come up at dinner the other night and hit on him. Thought about what her boss had said about firefighters. Her stomach twisted and she closed her eyes.
No. She wouldn’t do this. She would not overanalyze and assume the worst. Lucas was a good guy. There was absolutely no reason to think he’d just spent a little more time investing in her to get himself laid.
Chapter Seven
He didn’t call.
One week went by and she didn’t hear a peep from him. Not even a text.
“You don’t look good. Are you sick?”
Glancing up from the chart she was staring at, but not really reading, she met her boss’s concerned gaze.
“No. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re really not. Are you pregnant?”
“Not even a little bit.” She tried for a small smile
She was a combination of heartbroken, exhausted, and stressed from the sudden knowledge that she had to find a new home in the next two months. Her grandparents needed to sell the place, and her cousin had already moved back in with her parents. Which left Kim with no place to live and no roommate.
The bags under her eyes didn’t argue much for her case that sh
e was fine. Maybe if she’d been a little more forethought, she’d have tried to put on makeup or something. Oh, but that meant a lot of effort, and the only effort she was putting forth was in moving on from Mr. May.
She’d been so irritated by his lack of communication, she’d gone home and created a dating profile on a website. Not that she’d followed up on any of the men who’d contacted her. But she would. Soon. Someday. When she was ready.
“Is it the firefighter?”
Kim didn’t answer, but went to put the chart away. She loved the dental office she worked at, even loved Sheryl, but some days the woman acted more like her nosey sister than her boss.
She heard Sheryl’s heavy sigh. “I hope it’s not him. Usually I like being right, but this time I’d rather not have been.”
Sheryl had, apparently, been dead on. At least about Lucas. Fortunately her boss let the subject drop there. When Sheryl left the office at the end of the day, she gave her a sympathetic shoulder pat, but that was all.
Knowing maybe she’d have the possibility of sleeping out of sheer exhaustion tonight, she actually looked forward to going home. Though before hitting the sheets, she’d have to search online for an apartment. The clock was ticking on her living situation.
As she made her way out to her car, the street lamp in the parking lot flickered, drawing her gaze to it. She froze as she spotted the truck parked beneath it.
Her heart began a rapid thudding as the man leaning against the truck straightened and walked toward her.
***
How to get the girl back when you’ve royally fucked up.
That was it. The title of the book he was going to write and make a million dollars on.
Lucas approached her in the cold, barely lit parking lot and hated himself a little more when he saw the anger and hurt in her eyes.
“Did a building nearby burn down?” She lifted one shoulder. “Any reason you’d be hanging out near my work?”
He thrust his hands into his pockets and swallowed his pride. “I came to see you.”
“Ah, sorry to hear that.” She turned her back on him and unlocked her car door. “Because you’re wasting your time. I’m not booty call material.”
Taming the Alpha Page 41
