All Fired Up (DreamMakers)

by Arend, Vivian

  “Pepper just drove into Texas. She’s planning on buying me some cowboy boots and making me pose in them for the family Christmas card. Ha. Fat chance.”

  “Pepper?” Lynn said blankly.

  “My sister. Remember, I told you she’s road-tripping home from the East Coast?”

  “Wait a minute. We’ve been dating for three weeks and you only now decide to tell me your sister’s name is Pepper?” Lynn snickered. “Do you also have a brother named Salt?”

  “Ha-ha.”

  “Seriously, her name is Pepper?”

  Sighing, he offered a nod.

  “Why?”

  Parker ran a hand through his messy blond hair, shifting awkwardly on his side of the booth. “Okay. I wasn’t planning on telling you this until I was sure you wouldn’t dump me for it, but…I was named after Spiderman.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “Peter Parker,” he clarified. “You know, Spiderman’s alter ego. My parents named me after him. And my sister is named for Pepper Potts.” Another sigh rumbled in his chest. “There. I’ve said it. You know the truth.”

  He looked so miserable Lynn choked down her laughter. “Your parents are really into comic books, huh?”

  “You could say that. They’re both illustrators for Marvel.”

  Her jaw dropped. “No way. That’s so cool.”

  “What do your parents do?” he asked, sounding curious.

  “My dad worked in insurance, and my mom taught high school math, but they’re retired now.”

  “Really? Already?”

  “Yeah. They’re both pretty old. They had me when Mom was forty-five and Dad was forty-nine. I was a late-in-life surprise.” She sighed. “They’re also kind of boring, if I’m being honest. I think it would have been way more fun growing up with comic-book-artist parents.”

  “My folks are awesome.” He suddenly grinned. “And I guess I’m lucky they didn’t decide to name me Wolverine or Thor or something equally horrifying. My sister can’t say the same—you wouldn’t believe how much she was teased growing up.”

  Lynn could imagine. Pepper wasn’t exactly a traditional female name, and kids could be cruel when it came to anyone who was “different”.

  “Well, I think your names are unique,” she said. “And you should have totally told Suz the story. She could have mentioned it in her article—readers would have gotten a kick out of it. Good publicity.”

  He shrugged. “Trust me, the article already got us enough publicity. We’re goddamn swamped because of it.”

  Lynn grinned. “Do you still have men lined up all the way around the block from the office?”

  “No, but we have so many new clients we had to turn some away.” He reached for the glass of iced tea the waitress had dropped off and took a quick sip. “What about you? You still haven’t heard back from your department head about the program?”

  “Nope, not since she emailed to tell me they’re still considering it.” Lynn worriedly toyed with the straw poking out of her Coke glass. “And Suz heard from someone in marketing the executives have been whispering about potential changes at the paper, and something about ‘reshuffling’, whatever that means. Normally I would ask Phil about it—he’s the only person in management I would have been comfortable asking—but that’s out of the question now.”

  “Is he still bugging you at the office?” Parker’s tone was cautious, but there was no mistaking the note of displeasure in it.

  Lynn stalled by taking a long sip of soda, then decided not to tell Parker about Phil’s latest romantic gesture. The man had been hounding her ever since she’d ended it, first with the flowers then with a box of chocolate-covered toffees—she hated toffee with a passion. He’d followed that with an enormous stuffed panda bear she’d given to one of the kids who lived in her building, and yesterday, he’d surprised her with a star.

  Yep, the jerk had bought a star and named it after her. Well, to be exact, he’d named it LynnAndPhilForever.

  Needless to say, she’d crumpled up the certificate he’d handed her and tossed it straight into the trash.

  But Parker didn’t need to know that. Whenever she spoke about Phil, Parker tensed up, and she got the feeling he didn’t like hearing about her ex. The only time he’d responded without a scowl was when she’d confessed she hadn’t slept with Phil in the five months they’d been dating. Parker had looked so overjoyed that she’d had to laugh, and she sure as heck wasn’t complaining about the way he’d ravished her right afterward.

  “Naah, he’s been staying out of my way,” she said lightly.

  Parker nodded. “Good.”

  Their lunch arrived, and Parker wasted no time digging in. He ate so fast, in fact, Lynn broke out in a grin.

  “Are we in a hurry?” she teased.

  He looked surprised she’d even asked. “Of course.”

  “And why is that?”

  A seductive glimmer darkened his green eyes. “Because the faster we eat, the faster we can get back to my place so I can fuck your brains out.”

  Oh my. Lynn scrambled for her fork.

  So what if she got indigestion from bolting down her food? The reward was totally worth the risk.

  Parker loved afternoon sex. There was something seriously hot about fucking in the middle of the day, with sunlight streaming in through the open curtains so every inch of Lynn’s delectable body was highlighted perfectly.

  “Why am I always the one getting naked first?” She stood at the foot of his bed, arms crossed over her bare breasts.

  “Because.”

  “Because why?”

  He flashed a grin. “Just because. Now c’mere.”

  Although she looked exasperated, she still climbed onto the bed, draping herself over him and grinding against his crotch in the most delicious way.

  Parker ran his hands down her smooth back and cupped her ass, giving her firm buttocks a good squeeze. “Fuck, you’re sexy.”

  “Are you seriously not going to take your clothes off?” she grumbled.

  “You can do it for me. Later.”

  “You’re always so bossy.”

  Her indignant tone made him snort. “You love every fucking second of my bossiness, and you know it.”

  Lynn paused, a frown creasing her forehead. “Wait, what do you mean, later?”

  He cocked a brow. “Get up here.”

  Her confused expression changed to a wide-eyed, rosy-cheeked flush as he tugged her up his body, his hands on her ass maintaining control as he directed her to exactly where he wanted.

  When her knees finally settled on either side of his head, Parker looked up, admiring the glorious view from her pussy to her rapidly blinking gaze.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to—”

  She fell silent as he licked her. A fleeting taste, barely teasing his tongue between her folds. He held her firmly in position to counter the involuntary wiggle she seemed to develop. Squirming that only got wilder as he gave in to the need to feast. Harder licks, tormenting the bundle of sensitive nerves with his tongue, then his lips before finally putting his teeth to her clit and lightly biting.

  “Parker. Ohhhhh—”

  If he hadn’t had such a tight grip she might have bounced right off the mattress, her orgasm hit so hard. She pulsed her hips forward, riding his mouth as he lapped and licked and worked her until every last gasp had escaped.

  She’d shoved her fingers into his hair at some point, but now instead of using her fists to hold him to her, she petted his head gently as her breathing steadied. “Wow. You are so good at that.”

  “Dedication to the task. Rangers lead the way.”

  She laughed, letting him ease her to the mattress beside him. He was achingly hard from touching her. Looking at her.

  Being with her.

  Lynn continued to stroke him, drawing designs with her fingertips on his chest. “Thank you.”

  So sincere. As if bringing her to an orgasm didn’t drive him fucking nuts wi
th pleasure. “You’re welcome. Now be a good girl and unbutton my pants.”

  She eased up on one elbow, her hair falling in a curtain over her face.

  Parker tucked his fingers into the soft mass, gathering it together and tugging lightly. “I want your hands on my cock in the next thirty seconds.”

  When her fingers instantly reached for his zipper, Parker’s cock thickened even more, his pulse kicking up a notch. He loved how she didn’t tell him to screw off whenever he issued a wicked order. He’d been a soldier for so long he didn’t know how to not call the shots, but Lynn seemed to like it.

  And damn, but he liked her. He liked her a helluva lot. After three weeks, he still hadn’t gotten his fill of the woman, and he was starting to suspect he never would.

  “Now take them off,” he rasped.

  With a little smile, Lynn peeled his jeans off his legs, then slid back to tug on his boxers. When his cock sprang up, her breath hitched.

  He chuckled. “You do that every time.”

  “Do what?”

  “Gasp when you see my dick.” He shot her a smug look. “It’s spectacular, huh?”

  “And you’re very full of yourself.” Her lips twitched. “But yes, it’s spectacular.”

  Parker raised himself up so he could whip off his T-shirt before settling on the bed again, this time naked. He circled his fist around his cock and grinned. “Well, since you like it so much, how about you wrap those sexy lips around it?”

  “Okay.”

  Her easy agreement raised his suspicions, though he wasn’t sure why. He groaned when the heat of her mouth surrounded him, but when several seconds passed and she didn’t move, he realized he’d been right to be distrustful.

  “God, baby. Suck me.”

  She released him and peered up innocently. “I was told to wrap my lips around it. You said nothing about sucking.”

  Parker glared. “I thought that part was implied.”

  “Well, it wasn’t.” She stuck her tongue out, looking incredibly pleased with herself.

  “Fine,” he said, tugging on a long strand of brown hair. “I guess I’ll make myself more clear—suck my cock, Lynn.”

  “Okay.”

  The woman was liable to drive him insane. She took him in her mouth again, and this time sucked him all the way down to the root. Pleasure rocked his body, gathering in his groin and tingling in the tip of his cock.

  “Hell. Yes. That’s what I want.” His fingers tangled in her hair, stroking the soft strands as she licked her way up his shaft, then swallowed him again.

  Her muffled moans vibrated in his dick and coaxed him to the brink much faster than he expected, but just as the pressure threatened to detonate, Lynn’s mouth disappeared.

  “I was about to come,” he choked out.

  Her smile was downright angelic. “I know.”

  An anguished noise tore from his throat. “So you decided to stop?”

  “Well, you see, I was told to suck your cock. You said nothing about making you come—”

  With an animalistic growl, Parker yanked her into his arms so he could kiss the living daylights out of her.

  Lynn’s delighted squeal echoed in the bedroom, her lips eagerly returning the hungry kiss. As their tongues met in a greedy duel, Parker’s arms shot out in opposite directions—one reached for the condom on the nightstand, the other moved between Lynn’s legs. He groaned again when he felt how wet she was, and no way he could keep kissing her mouth, not when his tongue was dying to be somewhere else.

  Once wasn’t enough. It was never going to be enough.

  “Goddamn it, I’m addicted to you,” he mumbled as he flipped her over and desperately slid down her body.

  The moment his lips found her clit, she reared up and let out a wild cry. Parker lapped her like a man dying of thirst, over and over again, until it became impossible to ignore the ache in his groin. Christ, he needed to be inside her.

  So he did just that, covering her body with his as he drove his erection into her hot pussy. The second he was buried deep he knew he wouldn’t last long, especially when she quivered, her body squeezing tight around him. Her eyes and mouth opened wide as if in shock.

  A long, low cry escaped her lips as she rocked under him.

  He would have gloated at having set her off again so quickly if he weren’t seconds away from exploding himself.

  “I’ve got five strokes in me, maybe six, before I come,” he confessed, his gaze locking with hers.

  Lynn smiled, bone-deep satisfaction clearly written on her face. “I appreciate your honesty.”

  She pulled him down by the hair and kissed him so deeply his estimate was cut in half—he exploded after three deep thrusts, coming so hard he saw stars. The force of the orgasm left him stunned, turning him into a sweaty, shuddering mess as he collapsed on top of her.

  Her hands stroked his damp back, laughter continuing to tickle his ears. “You poor thing,” she clucked. “We’re going to have to work on your stamina.”

  Parker cranked his eyes open and managed an insulted look. “How dare you question my stamina. Just for that, I’m going to fuck you five more times today to prove you wrong.”

  She batted her eyelashes. “Promise?”

  They ended up taking a break after round three, sliding under the covers and lounging in bed for the rest of the afternoon. Parker had never felt more content than lying there with Lynn snuggled up beside him, and, if he were being honest, a little confused.

  He’d dated a lot of women in his life, some for much longer than he’d known Lynn, and yet he’d never connected with any of them the way he connected with her. And he’d never wanted more with them. His military life had made it difficult to consider—or maintain—any lasting relationships, but even after he’d rejoined civilian life, he hadn’t really thought about settling down with one woman. He’d been happy to play the field.

  Until now. Because right now, playing the field was the last thing he wanted. Nope. He just wanted Lynn.

  “Is it always like this?” Her uneasy question broke the silence between them.

  “Is what always like this?”

  She shifted, propping herself up on one elbow so she could meet his eyes. “Dating. Sex.” She gave a sheepish shrug. “I’ve never been with anyone like you before, and I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun with a guy. I was wondering if that’s normal.”

  He traced her jaw line with his fingers. “Of course it’s normal. Sex should be fun. Dating, too.”

  “The men I’ve dated have always been older,” she admitted. “And they were always more interested in quiet dinners at quiet restaurants, or going places where we didn’t talk.”

  He grinned. “Sounds boring.”

  “Sometimes it was. But I’d say it was more, I don’t know, passive than boring. I tended to gravitate toward serious men.” She smiled. “I like this better. You bring out my fun side.”

  “I’m glad,” he said gruffly.

  Out of nowhere, a rush of guilt trickled through him, a reminder he still hadn’t told Lynn the truth. He’d been holding off until they got to know each other better, but now that they were officially “together”, he had to quit stalling and confess their meeting hadn’t been a coincidence, or a twist of fate.

  “Do you…” He had to clear his throat. “Do you trust me?”

  Her eyes widened. “Of course I do.”

  “You know I’d never hurt you, right?” His throat closed up all over again, and this time he had to gulp hard to ease the lump. “At least not intentionally.”

  Lynn’s forehead creased in concern. “Where is all this coming from?”

  “I…” Parker searched for the words. “I wanted to tell you someth—”

  His ringing phone cut him off, bringing both irritation and relief. “Hold that thought,” he murmured, reaching for the nightstand.

  The screen displayed Jack’s name. Parker instantly took the call.

  “Hey, I’m glad
I caught you,” his partner said. “Do you have a sec?”

  “Sure. What’s up?” Parker asked.

  “I need you to handle the Simms recon tonight. Dean needs more help with the Johnson event, and Didi’s come down with a stomach bug, so I have to step in for her.” Jack sounded frazzled. “Simms’s girlfriend is going clubbing and I was supposed to tail her, but now I can’t.”

  “No problem,” he said immediately. “I’m on it.”

  “You sure? I know it’s your night off.”

  “I’m on it,” Parker repeated.

  “Thanks, man. I’ll text you the deets.”

  He disconnected the call and turned to Lynn. “Change of plans,” he said regretfully. “I know we were going to do pizza and a movie, but Jack needs me on recon.”

  “That’s fine.” Interest flickered in her blue eyes. “What kind of recon?”

  He slid up into a sitting position. “We’re planning a date for this client, Barry Simms. His girlfriend accused him of not having a romantic bone in his body, so he’s out to prove her wrong. But the guy’s hopeless. He seriously has no clue what she considers romantic, which means it’s up to us to find out.”

  “Us?” She beamed. “Does that mean I can come?”

  “I meant us, as in me and Jack and Dean, but…” Parker thought it over, liking the idea more and more. “Actually, I’d love it if you helped me.”

  “Oooh, I can’t wait.” She damn near bounced on the bed. “Do I need to wear all black? Are we going to use walkie-talkies?”

  He snickered, reaching to help her off the bed. “No.”

  Lynn looked disappointed for a second as she searched for her clothes. She was in the middle of pulling up her pants when her expression changed, as if she’d remembered something. “Hey, what were you talking about? Jack’s call interrupted you.”

  Parker faltered, his previous burst of confidence having vanished. “Uh, nothing important right now,” he lied, keeping his tone light.

  “Oh. Okay.”

  He ignored everything they had to do to get ready. Instead, he jerked her against him, covered her sweet lips with his, and kissed her until they were both gasping for air. Her body nestled tight to his, not an inch of space between them.