by Lyric James
She eased back. “Thank you.”
All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms again and kiss her until the turmoil in his chest flared into lust, but he stopped himself.
Jade spun around again, a radiant smile on her face, and began to explore the butterfly garden. He followed behind her, leisurely, as she moved from one portion of the garden to the next. From the expression of sheer delight on her face, he knew he’d found the perfect place to entertain her.
“Oh my goodness, look.” She pointed upward to a leafy green branch with yellow flowers. “It’s a glasswing. I’ve never seen one before, only pictures in books. The wings are like stained glass windows and reflect whatever they land on.” She stepped a little closer. “Oh. I wish I had a camera.” Wondering around some more, she exclaimed, “This place is like a tropical paradise.”
Rhys agreed. Everywhere they turned there was lush greenery, flowers, and overflowing waterfalls. There was a scent of fruit because they put it out for the butterflies.
“Every butterfly I’ve ever seen in an encyclopedia, in a book, they have them here. I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. Oh,” she marveled. “Look at those blue ones. Blue morpho, I think.”
Rhys watched as about twenty of them flew from one leaf to the next, back and forth, as if they were playing tag. He caught up to Jade and took her hand. “So, how did you grow this fascination you have with butterflies?”
A melancholy look shifted over her face, and she was quiet for a few seconds. “A childhood friend, Kellye.” She stopped walking, touched the necklace she wore, and looked down at her feet. “Wow. I haven’t thought of her in years.”
“You two aren’t still friends.”
Jade dropped his hand and moved forward and said quietly, “No. She died.”
Rhys caught up with her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
This time, she took his hand and wore a sad little smile. “It’s okay. It happened a long time ago. She liked butterflies.”
“How did she die?”
“Leukemia. We met in kindergarten. She was diagnosed, if I remember correctly, when we were in the second grade. The summer after our fourth grade year she got really sick. The chemotherapy wasn’t helping her anymore, so she spent a lot of the spring months in bed. She made me hunt down butterflies and catch them every day before I could visit her.” She grinned up at him. “I’d catch them in pickle jars or sandwich spread jars. Anything my mom would wash out for me and let me keep. I took funky little Polaroid pictures. You remember, the kind with the white strip at the bottom that you had to wave back and forth to wait for it to dry.”
Rhys wrapped one arm around her shoulder and smiled. “Yeah, I remember.”
“She kept a scrapbook and at any given time she would have at least five to ten jars of butterflies in her room until she let them go. She just liked to look at them for a while, then set them free.”
Jade was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke again. “She died later that summer. The gold necklace, the one I wear a lot, was hers. Her mother gave it to me, told me Kellye would’ve wanted me to have it.”
Rhys stopped walking and turned her to face him, wiped her tears away with his thumb. “I’m sure she’s here with you today.”
Just then, a bright orange and black monarch butterfly dropped down on her arm. “Ah,” she gasped and slowly raised her hand, watching as it fluttered there for a few seconds before flying away. A smile lit up her shimmering brown eyes.
“After she died, I sort of became obsessed with them. I had my mom buy me nature magazines, and the B encyclopedia we had at home never left my room. Every chance I got I hunted for them. I think I even did a science report that following school year on butterflies.” She shrugged her shoulders as they made their way around the garden and retraced their steps to the entrance. “My obsession died down after a year or two, but I started a collection after that, mostly jewelry. Every year I made my mom promise that she’d buy me some type of charm for my birthday and for Christmas. But I have some figurines I keep at home in a cabinet too. I guess you can say it’s my hobby now.”
“In memory of an old, childhood friend.”
Jade moved into him, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid the side of her face against his chest. “Yeah.”
They stood there for a little while in an embrace, the comfort and warmth of home surrounded him. Rhys knew he’d finally found the one person he was meant to share his life with. The fact that she’d finally let down her guard and was initiating contact with him, holding his hand, kissing him, hugging him, he didn’t have words to describe what it did to his soul. He could stay like this with her, forever, but unfortunately their thirty minute window of time was closing. He kissed her temple. “Our tour is over.”
“Oh, already?”
He slid his fingers between them and tilted her chin. “If you promise to be a good girl, I promise I’ll bring you again, this time to see the whole aquarium.”
Jade bumped his arm with her shoulder when they began to walk. “I just might hold you to that.”
“Are you ready for dinner? There’s a nice little French bistro not too far from here.”
As they moved toward the exit, she leaned in and whispered, “I have a better idea.”
Rhys smiled, pretty sure his thoughts mirrored hers but glad she would be the one to bring it up. “What might that be?”
“We have that huge suite at the hotel.”
He nodded his head. “Yes.”
“And if I’m not mistaken, there’s a nice table with four chairs.”
When they reached the car, she leaned against the side, grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him toward her, his chest pressed against hers.
Rhys pretended to ponder what she said for a moment and kissed the tip of her nose. “I think I remember a table.”
“Then I suggest we order room service, put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and spend the rest of the evening in our room.”
Their driver opened the door and they both slid inside. Rhys pulled her close, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately. “I think that can be arranged.”
Jade breathed in deeply, wondering what in the world she’d gotten herself into. The time she spent with Rhys was becoming a big deal. At least to her it was. Emotions she promised herself she wouldn’t let come into play were surfacing pretty fast. Over and over she told herself she wouldn’t let them creep into her relationship with Rhys. There was no place for them simply because as soon as her investigation was over, they would be over. As the days dragged by, she didn’t want to analyze what was going to happen when that time came.
Now, it seemed, the only thing she could focus on was him. The polo shirt he wore underneath the well-worn leather jacket he seemed to love. The way his jeans molded to his legs and butt. It was as if all her doubts had drifted away and didn’t matter anymore.
A smile touched her lips when she thought about what he’d done for her. She hadn’t even realized he’d noticed how much she loved butterflies symbolized by the jewelry she wore. As a child, she’d spent hours searching for the beautiful tiny insects. To come to this place where they lived and thrived was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
She placed her head on his shoulder as the car moved along, passing cars on the busy highway, the blue-black sky in the horizon glittering with stars. “If I didn’t say it already, thank you so much for today.”
Rhys brought her hand up and kissed her knuckles. “You’re welcome.”
His lips against her skin sent sensuous shivers up and down her spine. The thought that in such a small amount of time he had such an effect on her no longer came as a surprise. “Why do you have that big grin on your face?”
“I’m surprised you have to ask.”
As soon as they got back to their room, Rhys slid his arms around her waist and ran his hands over her hips until he came around and cupped her backside. Every time he touched h
er, it did something to her.
When his lips met hers, she opened her mouth to take his tongue and wrapped her arms around his neck. This chemistry between them, just as potent and immediate as the first time, left her breathless. Even when they were sitting at a conference table with ten other people, she couldn’t keep her eyes off him. But she’d decided not to explore why things were the way they were between them. She was done with that. Despite the fact he hadn’t confided in her about his daughter, she still enjoyed every single minute she spent with him. Even the simple things like when he never asked her to fetch him coffee but always brought her some when they were at the office. How he listened to her, really listened to her and asked her questions, showing interest in her life and the excitement she got from being a private investigator.
She realized she looked forward to looking into his face every day. And now tonight, for the first time, she’d fall asleep in bed with him and wake up next to him in the morning knowing she was meant to be there.
Jade moved out of his embrace. “I think we have on too many clothes.” And as she proceeded to remove her shirt, her shoes, her pants and her underwear, a huge grin spread over his face. “You too, mister. Strip.”
When they were both done, he reached out and brought her naked body back to his. She reveled in his embrace. Rhys teased her lips apart and dove into her mouth with his tongue, and she moaned deep in her throat. Desire surged through her as his tongue twined with hers. His hands roamed her body, one finding the curve of her hip while the other searched out an aching breast.
In addition to the thrum of sensation in the pit of her stomach, heat emanated from him. She pulled back, took his hand, and led him toward her bedroom.
Rhys’ warm breath tickled her neck and the hand on her butt teased with promise. “Have I ever told you how much I love your sweet ass?”
Jade chuckled. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Ummm. Well, I do,” he rasped, his voice thick with desire. When they reached the bed he told her, “Lie down on your stomach.”
She quirked an eyebrow at him over her shoulders, but complied by sliding onto the cool, plush comforter.
He started at her ankles, teasing her skin with the tips of his fingers as he scraped over her calf muscles with his big hands. It was so different with Rhys compared to other men. There had only been a few, but none of them compared to this amazingly gorgeous man who practically triggered an orgasm with one sinful touch.
“Your skin is so soft,” he whispered as he stroked the back of her thighs. “I love touching you.”
An ache pulsed between her legs. As he pressed his mouth to the curve of her thigh that turned into butt, she gasped. He didn’t stop. With a deft swipe of his tongue and lips, not one inch of her was left untouched. She arched herself against him and shuddered. When he bit one cheek, a jolt of pleasure coiled down and around her body until it seized her clit. She could’ve stayed there all night, on her stomach, as he teased and sensuously tortured her with his lips, but the ache between her legs refused to dissipate. The throb grew stronger, twinged harder, making her so wet and aroused she couldn’t breathe.
She whimpered against the sheets, then twisted around. “Come up here.”
But Rhys shook his head. “When you’ve just put this lovely candy right in front of my face? Oh, no.”
She thrust upward when he clasped her hips with his hands and swept over her clit with his tongue. Rhys Cunningham had gotten under her skin from the second he’d asked her to dance at the wedding. His husky laughter and self-assured grin never failed to make her want him more and more and turn her body from cold to hot in mere milliseconds.
The sound of his voice slithered down her spine and made her hotter. The sight of his hard, naked body sent a raging tornado twisting through her.
He snaked his hands up her legs and caressed her inner thighs, then slid one digit inside her heat. She shuddered out a breath and bucked against his mouth. With a chuckle, he teased her and alternated between licking her clit with feather-light brushes of his tongue and sucking it hard into his mouth.
The more and more she moaned, the more and more he teased her, dragging his tongue over her clit and his finger up, down and inside her wet folds.
She tangled her fingers in his dark hair and pushed his head down, lifted her hips and rubbed her swollen clit against his lips. “Oh god, yes. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” she begged.
Jade knew her tone was desperate, but Rhys didn’t seem to mind because he proceeded to suck at her clit, flicked his tongue against it, twisted it between his lips. The release she craved boiled just below the surface of her desire. His tongue darted in and out, in and out, before he slid it from the tip of her clit all the way down before licking up again. She moaned and clawed at the sheets, her need overwhelming, but he didn’t deviate from the wonderfully torturous pace he’d set.
When she thought she couldn’t take any more, he pumped his finger inside her, hard, over and over, and clasped her clit between his lips and sucked.
She cried out, staggering over the abyss to ecstasy. His hot, insistent mouth didn’t stop until the orgasm ebbed. Jade gasped for air. She’d never come harder in her life. “You are just way too good at that,” she said, trying to pull a much needed supply of oxygen into her lungs.
Rhys slid up until they were eye to eye. Raw hunger glittered in his charcoal gray depths. “I aim to please.” The kiss he gave her then was hungry and rough as he pried her lips open with his tongue and she tasted herself on him. She wrapped her fingers around his upper arms and dug her nails into the hard muscle.
As he thrust in and out of her mouth, the stubble on his chin scratched her face. On a groan, she heard the rip of paper before he reached between them and drove his thickness inside her. Rhys shoved his hands under her ass, cupped it, lifted her off the mattress and, slammed his cock inside over and over, fast, hard and rough.
Her gaze zeroed in on his, and she marveled at his smoldered expression, taut with pleasure. With a groan, he quickened the pace. She wanted more. “Faster. Harder,” she moaned.
His movements became jerky, erratic, as he worked to comply with her request. Then he stiffened and moaned, “I’m going to come.”
Jade lost complete control of her senses as the shocking waves of another orgasm washed over her. She screamed and dug her nails harder into his forearms, bucking against him.
Afterwards, he rolled a little to the side, not on her but not off of her either. She rubbed her hands up and down his back, her breathing labored.
“I think I just died and went to heaven.”
With a tiny smile, she reached up and stroked the side of his face. “Are you sure you can go to heaven for that?”
“Well, if you can’t, some rules need to change.”
Chapter Thirteen
The ringing of the room phone pulled Rhys out of a restful sleep early the next morning. He was tempted to forget about the phone call when the smooth nakedness of Jade’s ass shifted under the covers against his thigh. Before she moved away, he grabbed her around the waist and placed a kiss right in the center of her back. He would have slid lower, but the phone’s persistent shrill changed his mind.
He reached for the receiver and answered. “Hello.”
“Lieutenant Governor,” a light female voice said. “A package was just delivered for you. Would you like the concierge to deliver it to your room?”
The butterfly charm she always wore around her neck shifted during the night and it now lay in the middle of her back. He toyed with it as his attention slid to the dent in her lower back. “Yes.”
“We’ll send someone up with it right away.”
Rhys realized he’d been hit hard by more than great sex. Something had shifted in their relationship this weekend. Some irreversible knowledge had seeped into his brain when they’d talked last night. He couldn’t live without her. “Thank you. Can you transfer me to room service, please?”
“Cer
tainly. One moment.”
While Rhys waited to be transferred, he twisted around and caught a glimpse of Jade just as a blade of sunlight slid into the room through the partially open draperies. She was beautiful, even in sleep with one arm bent and tucked up under her head. They had shared a wonderful night together. After they’d made love the first time, they’d ordered dinner, ate, then watched an old movie on television before making love again. He was becoming addicted to this woman.
“Room service.”
Rhys ordered breakfast for two, hung up the receiver, and leaned back against the headboard, smiling. It was just enough time to get a quickie in before breakfast arrived. But just as reached over and began to slide his tongue across the skin of Jade’s nape, someone knocked, reminding him that he’d received a package. “Damn.”
He got out of bed, found a robe hanging in the closet and put it on as he moved through the suite to the door. When he swung it open, a young man in a hotel uniform handed him a white envelope with his name and room number typed in dark, large letters on the front. Only briefly he wondered why the delivery of the package couldn’t have waited until he got back home later that day.
After he took it, he grabbed his wallet off a table and gave the young man a tip before closing the door. He retreated into the living area and dropped the envelope on the table. Ignoring it until later coasted through his mind, but the fact that someone took the trouble to send it to him here meant that on some level, it was important. But before his mind would even begin to wake up and acknowledge whatever it was, he needed coffee. Plus, once the aroma hit the room, it would wake Jade up as well.
He moved to the small kitchen, made the coffee and stood waiting for it to percolate and drizzle into the pot. When it did, he got a cup, opened two packages of sugar and one package of cream and dumped them in the bottom of his cup. The smell began to add a fragrance to the room that immediately woke his mind and got him ready to face the day. Just as he reached for the handle, he heard water running in the bathroom and knew Jade was awake, and it made him smile.
