by Whitley Gray
His tone turned singsong. “But I have a car for yooo. Right this way, por favor.” He took my elbow, pulling me toward the door.
The knots in my belly spiked. I’d probably seen too many crime dramas on TV, but this was Los Angeles. I yanked my arm free and gave him a warning look that said I knew jujitsu and a few other Chinese words.
“No. Thank. You.”
He smiled a knowing, come-hither smile. Suddenly the curve of his lips bore a familiar resemblance. He tipped his face down, peering at me over the glasses. I saw blue. “Are yoo sure? It’s a verrry nice car, señorita.”
My heart stopped. My breathing stopped. “You,” I hissed.
He lowered the glasses a millimeter and whispered, “Yes, it’s me. You didn’t think I’d trust a total stranger to pick you up, did you? C’mon. Wait’ll you see what’s waiting outside.” He held his arm out to me, looking pretty pleased with himself.
I couldn’t care less what was outside. I wanted to drop my bag and throw my arms around him and jump his body right there and then. All the missing him in me instantly snowballed into an avalanche, and I was lost in the middle of it.
It took all my muscular control to limit myself to simply slipping my hand into the crook of his elbow, smiling a calm, easy smile. It made me wonder which of us was the better actor.
He led me toward the sliding doors. “How was your flight?”
“Long but worth it,” I said, breathing in the scent of him. Even in the midst of the car exhaust, the shuttle buses, the taxis, and the distant aroma of jet fuel, his scent found me and filled me from the soul outward.
“I’ve never heard anyone say that about a commercial flight,” he said. “Was it at least a little more comfortable in first class?”
“It was. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up needing a chiropractor.”
“That’s always good.” He picked my hand up and pressed a kiss to the knuckles. “So now I can ruin your alignment when we get home.”
I shivered from a combination of the kiss, the mental image he put in my mind, and from his use of the word “home.” He was really taking me to where he lived, where his world revolved. Not a hotel where the escape from reality could continue. Not a B and B where we could hide together from everything. Home. Shit just got real.
He patted my hand. “You’re quiet. Are you hungry? You want to get a bite to eat?”
I shook my head. “I get motion sick when I fly.”
He tucked his glasses into the breast pocket of his polo shirt. “Good to know, since I didn’t kiss you hello. I was saving it, but now I think I can wait a little longer.”
“No, I didn’t get sick on this flight, but I do get queasy. I can’t eat for a while yet.” Though now that I was off the plane and touching him again, I couldn’t remember being queasy at all. Or hungry. I only felt one thing at the moment and it was actually kind of pleasant. “Did you miss me?”
That quick grin lit up the underground garage. “Is it crazy if I said yes?”
I shot him a look.
“Well, let’s be honest. I meet you out on a lonely road stuck in the snow. We spend a night together and then part ways. A couple texts, a couple calls, and a bunch of e-mails. One or both of us could act like it never happened, but here we are.” He kissed my knuckles again. Slivers of heat shot up my arm, snaked around my heart, and then slid lower. And exploded.
I grinned. “What about that is crazy? Doesn’t everyone meet that way?”
His laughter echoed off the walls and wrapped around me like a wool blanket. He turned his cap around, stopped walking, and pulled me into his arms.
“This is why I’ve missed you,” he said before his kiss stole my next breath.
My bag clunked to the concrete floor, forgotten. I needed my arms free so they could wrap around his neck and pull him closer like all that time apart never happened. His taste, his touch, and his strength, they all came back to me. Having him close after so long reminded me how hungry I really was. I couldn’t wait to learn him all over again.
His hand slid up my shirt and covered my breast, squeezing enough to make me moan into his mouth. He smiled, nipping at my jaw as his fingertips found my nipple and pinched.
“See? Nothing has changed. I can still make you wet.”
“Honey, I was wet getting on the airplane because I knew you’d be here when I got off.”
He roared before suckling at my throat. “I love a woman who can double entendre. Where do we go? The car’s, uh, not really big enough for what I have in mind.” He pulled away and looked around the garage.
“You can’t be serious.”
He pulled me close again, squeezing my breast enough to steal my breath. “It’s been a month since I saw you and it’s over an hour’s drive to Malibu. You want to make me wait that long?’
I pushed myself into his hand. “If it’s worth having, it’s worth waiting for.”
“I hate it when you make sense.” He sighed, then nipped my lower lip. “Okay, fine. Let me show you the surprise, though.”
I picked up my bag and looked around. “This must be the high-end parking lot. A payment on any one of these cars probably cost more than my rent.”
“What is this ‘payment’ thing you speak of? We all pay cash in southern California.” He patted me on the head and then dropped a key ring in my hand. “Hit the button.”
“No way.” I grinned and clicked the key button. A perfect C chord chimed from an aisle over. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
He took the bag from my hand and pushed me toward the sound. “Go. And try not to wet your panties. The seats are leather.”
“They’re what? Oh, and too late.” I clicked the button again. A light flashed from the corner of my eye, and like a cat, I chased it.
One more tap of the button and I stood in front of a cherry-red Alfa Romeo Spider convertible with its headlights flashing a welcome at me.
“Holy shit, she’s gorgeous,” I breathed as I tiptoed around the shiny little beauty. I’d swear the headlight winked at me. I winked back. “What’s her name?”
He laughed and walked up beside me, his hand proprietary at my back. “It’s an Alfa—”
“I know the make. What’s her name?”
“Her?”
“You don’t think she’s a her? Look at her. She’s a finely tuned machine. Sleek and stylish. Powerful to the point of intimidation, yet classic in her design. No fucking way that’s a guy.”
He kissed my ear. “And the backseat’s too small to take you, so yeah, you may be on to something. Name it whatever you want. Feeling up to driving it?”
“For the record, you’ll notice the Spider doesn’t have a backseat. Any playing around would have to be in the front, but the gear shift might make things that much more interesting. At least for me. And seriously? Hell, yes, I have to drive this baby.”
He kissed me so hard and fierce that I almost forgot there was something red and shiny at my hip, begging for my attention. Almost, but couldn’t.
“I love it when my woman takes control.”
“Don’t I know it.” I pulled away from him long enough to reach under the dash and pop the hood lock.
He dropped the bag in the back. “What’re you doing?”
I shot him The Look again. “If you know anything about me, you know I have to look under the hood before I go anywhere. Especially on this baby.” My mouth watered as light fell on the engine compartment. I shuddered.
“You just came, didn’t you?”
“I plead the Fifth.” I leaned in for a closer look at the engine block, feeling the purr of the pistons vibrating inside me. I shuddered again, my eyes soaking in all that chrome loveliness. “I’m going to lick champagne off this thing.”
“We can try that later. Want me to start it up?” I threw the keys. They hit him square in the chest. He groaned. “Right, I forgot you pitched. Okay.” He dropped into the driver’s seat, and the engine turned over, smoother than a polished gem.
<
br /> My heart danced in my throat in time to the rhythm of the engineering marvel before me. After a few minutes breathing in the perfume that makes up a V-8 in motion, I dropped the hood and looked Aaron straight and clear in the eyes.
“Make love to me. Here.”
“Not a problem, baby. When we get—”
I lifted my shirt over my head. “No. Here.”
He jumped out of the driver’s seat, his eyes sweeping the garage. “I thought you said it was worth waiting for. There are a lot more private places out in Malibu. Like my carport? It’s under the house and no one will—”
I kicked off my shoes as I unbuttoned my jeans. “Right here. On the hood. We’re shielded by the Hummer and the Escalade. I promise I’ll be quick. Hell, I’m halfway there already. Take off your pants.”
His expression was nervous, but his hands were on his belt. “You don’t think we’ll scratch the paint?”
“Not if I’m on the bottom.” I stepped out of the jeans and slid the panties down my legs, stepping out of them to sit on the hood with the engine humming beneath my bare skin. The vibrations rolling up through my spine almost finished the job for him, not to mention the dizzying anticipation of taking him inside me again. Yes, it was risky, but I needed to be sure this wasn’t all just a wild fantasy I’d had after one too many margaritas.
His briefs went down with his pants. I wasn’t the only one halfway there. He smiled. “Yes, I missed you too.”
“I can see that.” I slid higher on the hood and lay back, heels on the fenders, and open to him.
His breath came short and heavy, but he fit perfectly on top of me. “This is insane. Tell me this is an ‘I’ve always wanted to do this’ fantasy of yours.”
“Not before now, but now it’s all I want.” I gripped his hips and pulled him inside, arching from the sweet invasion of his cock.
He shuddered, but I still felt his resistance. “Easy. Let’s not scratch the paint. The down pay—”
My grip tightened as I hissed in his ear. “In case you haven’t noticed, there is nothing on me to scratch anything. We have maybe thirty seconds before someone finds us— Oh!” His control broke as he rammed into me, stopping me from thinking about anything but this amazing three-way between me, Aaron, and the cherry-red Alfa beneath us. That thought sent me screaming over the edge. My legs locked around him, and my body writhed with wet, hot pleasure. There would be no scratches to the hood, but I had to hope that cum washed off the paint, or else I’d have some explaining to do at the luxury rental office.
Aaron whimpered, stiffening in my arms before his heat filled me. I sighed and came around him all over again, spent and feeling absolutely perfect.
Still trembling, he gasped in my ear, “I hope to God there are no security cameras watching us.”
“Half the cars in here cost more than a college education. A nick on a fender and someone’s getting sued to hell and back. There’d have to be cameras on every single one of them.”
He shook his head, his face still buried in my neck. “If this gets out, I’m in such deep shit.”
“Regrets?”
“Never. Well, except this.” He pulled out and pushed away from me to stand, offering a hand to help me to my feet. “Why did I wait a month to bring you here?” He brushed a kiss over my lips.
“You weren’t sure it was real.” I pulled up my jeans, sliding into them in one smooth shot. In seconds I was fully clothed again.
His eyes pinned me. “Is it wrong if I said you’re right? Were you wondering too?”
Every waking moment. “A little. C’mon, we can talk serious after food and beer. I wanna drive this baby. How do I get to the Pacific Coast Highway from here?”
Chapter Five
For missing his touch, I’d have held Aaron’s hand the whole way, but the Alfa was a stick shift, and I was still a little nervous. Not about driving a performance vehicle as beautiful as this one. Not because I was on an unfamiliar road. Not because the scenery was amazing and I couldn’t help gaping even as I tried to navigate the twists and turns.
I was nervous because good grief, here he was next to me, for the most part all mine for the next five days and four nights, and I was afraid I wouldn’t measure up to his memory of our brief time together. That night in the mountains, and the past month long distance, it was all one big beautiful fantasy. Beside me sat bold, stark reality. What if he woke up from the dream and didn’t like what he saw? What if I woke up, or worse, found out it was all a big joke?
Facing the road ahead, he couldn’t see the thoughts crossing my mind. Hopefully for all he knew I was intent on driving. And desperately trying to ignore the hand resting comfortably on my thigh.
He gave my leg a squeeze, bringing all my nerve endings sparklingly back to the moment, and pointed ahead. “After the curve, the second house on the left. Pull into the port.”
My heart thumped. The ocean was right there. It practically was his backyard. One good tidal wave and he’d be swimming. I dropped to low gear and put on my turn signal.
“How do you not have to pee every ten seconds? You must hear nothing but water.”
His smile was warmer than the sunshine. “After a while you don’t notice it anymore.”
I shook my head as I pulled into the driveway. “I hope you’re stocked up on toilet paper. It’s going to take me a while to adjust.”
He opened his mouth to answer, but then a mask fell across his face. My gut reacted as a cold burst inside me. The last time I saw him look that upset, we ended up naked on my parents’ living room floor.
My gaze followed his line of sight. I saw a champagne-colored BMW sedan in the driveway. Ordinarily, I might be impressed, but given the coldness in his eyes, I was feeling oddly protective.
“Hey, you know what?” I said. “I’m getting a little hungry. Where’s a good place—”
He took his hand back, shaking his head. “No. Thanks. I’d like to make sure she’s not taking any more stuff out of the house. There’s nothing of hers left. I should’ve had the locks changed.”
I pulled to a stop beside the sedan. Before he could get out of the car, I grabbed his hand, holding on till he met my eyes. He leaned over for a quick, cold kiss.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“I know it is,” he said. “You’re here.” He let go of my hand and got out of the car.
I wasn’t sure if I should bring my bag or not. Facing the ex, I figured better not. Didn’t want her thinking her place had been usurped, even if it was, and even I wasn’t sure about that myself. I hurried to catch up to him, running the stairs two at a time to the crystalline front door. It was probably beveled glass, but for all I knew it could’ve been expensive crystal. The porch wrapped around the entire building for as far as I could see. I was tempted to go investigate it, if only to keep out of the way. After all, this was his fight to have, not mine. I didn’t really play a role here as far as I knew. We hadn’t defined each other as more than lovers. That only added to the fantasy element. Changing that risked ruining what we had, which at the moment was purely existential.
He opened the front door for me. I stepped inside and realized I’d made a big mistake in thinking the fantasy would end by spending more time with him. His whole house was one big fantasy, from the showroom-new furniture to the gleaming glass and brass tables to the theater-quality entertainment system. At least, it was a fantasy for an auto mechanic from the suburbs of Philadelphia. My apartment could fit in his living room. It wasn’t lost on me that the house stood on pilings, yet it felt more solid than Mount Rushmore.
He kissed my cheek and then turned and headed in the direction of a hallway. “Gisele!” He called out loud and sharp enough to startle me out of my skin. Not that I wasn’t already on edge.
“You’re home!” A voice I could only describe as angelic sang out from a room somewhere in this single-story mansion on stilts. It only made me believe that if that’s what she sounded like, I was afraid to know what she
looked like in person. It also made me wonder if I could have plastic surgery on my voice. By comparison, I sounded like Harvey Fierstein.
“Fuck, yes, I’m home, but you’re not. You don’t live here anymore, rem— Jesus!”
I froze. I was as afraid of knowing as I was of not knowing. Was he hurt? Definitely he’d been taken by surprise. I didn’t know what to do with my hands so I shoved them in my pockets and took a few hesitant steps to follow him.
He stood in the hallway, looking into the open door of a room. His face was a mass of confusion. Frustration, anger, and even latent desire crossed his way as I stood there, watching. Then when he glanced at me I saw something else, something I couldn’t name, but something that gave me hope. Hope for what, I didn’t know, but it made me not think when I walked toward him, taking the hand he held out to me.
I looked into a bedroom that fit his style. It was a masculine space decked out in wood tones, golds, browns, and creams. It made me think of mink…much like the mink coat beneath the frighteningly thin and completely naked woman lying across a four-poster bed in the center of the room. I wanted to bolt, run back for the car, start the engine, and find out how long it would take to get to Seattle. Instead Aaron’s arm snaked around my waist, pulling me close to his side.
The woman, for her part, barely flinched. Her gaze drifted over me from head to toe, not registering any expression.
So that’s Botox, I thought, nearly concealing a smile.
“I’m glad you’re finally on board with my idea to add a playmate to our games, darling,” she said. “But you could’ve given me a little warning that you were bringing company.”
“Get out, Gisele. You don’t live here anymore.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t come by for a visit now and then, does it?” She rolled over to her belly, propping up on her elbows. Her breasts were small but well-shaped like her bare ass. I felt inadequate and yet real all at the same time. “Introduce me to your friend there. Is this a recent acquisition, or have you been fucking her for a while now?”
