by Cari Quinn
“Guess I still haven’t recovered from my shock. I figured if anything you’d want a blowjob and then it’d be sayonara, sister.”
He lifted a brow. He would not feel guilty for a blowjob he hadn’t asked for—yet—tonight, even if he had considered making the request. “Do you really think I’m that much of a bastard?”
“Not a bastard so much as focused on the goal with no time for side trips.” She smiled slyly. “It’s kind of hot in a dysfunctional way.”
He shifted her on his lap. Difficult to get comfortable when just that impish look in her eyes had him hardening. “Last night you called me old and implied I could be influenced by sexual favors. Then you accused me of not being capable of achieving an emotional connection during sex or being able to last longer than—” She laughed at the choked sound he made. “Anyway. Tonight you’re calling me dysfunctional. What is it I like about you again?”
“Good question.” She played with his hair. “My really long legs I’m so willing to spread for you anytime anywhere?”
“Definitely a point in your favor.”
Kelly coiled an arm around his neck. “You know I don’t really think you’re a one-minute man. It’s more the other way around. I could practically orgasm just looking at you.”
“Too little flattery too late. My fragile male ego is hopelessly dented and only one thing could possibly restore it.”
“What’s that?”
“You, naked in my arms, moaning my name over and over again.” He sucked her lower lip between his teeth. Her sound of surprise coaxed his cock the rest of the way to full mast. “Last time I’ll ask. What do you want?”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
She reached up to unhook the straps of her overalls and drew the front panel down to reveal her chambray-blue shirt. Slowly, she pulled the T-shirt over her head and tossed it aside. She straddled him, her winter-white bra with its filigreed roses on each cup mere inches from his face. Creamy flesh taunted him but he gripped her hips and waited.
“I want you to make me come.”
Okay, that was the plan. He started to relax. The flare of need on her face had had him worried.
Then she added, “With nothing but your mouth on my breasts.”
Kelly held her breath. Would he say no? She’d asked for what she wanted most. The idea of Spencer making love to her with just his lips and teeth made her incredibly wet. But maybe she hadn’t thought this through. Her breasts weren’t her best feature. They were nice enough but nothing compared to the pastry vixen’s.
At least hers were real.
“Anything doable,” he said, drawing her glasses off and setting them aside. Just the skim of his knuckles against her cheeks tightened her nipples, which he noted with a sardonic twist of his lips. “That’s not.”
“It’s not impossible. Really.”
“Maybe not for someone with the suction of that vacuum of yours.” He dragged her bra strap off her shoulder as if she’d fastened a lead weight between his legs and asked him to walk the plank. “Mere mortal here.”
She smiled and flicked her fingers through his neatly trimmed blond hair. The humidity had wreaked havoc on his curls, but the messy waves softened his dark eyes and ruthless mouth. “I have faith in you. Besides,” she quelled the nerves flapping in her belly as she reached for the front clasp of her bra, “they’re lonely. You avoid them like the plague.”
“That’s not true.” If someone could appear aroused and uncomfortable simultaneously, that was Spencer. “I’m just…focused. You said it yourself.”
“Foreplay is very good. Didn’t anyone ever teach you that?”
Now he looked insulted, adorably so. “I know all about foreplay,” he muttered.
“Yeah?” She opened her bra and let the sides dangle. His jaw tensed as he slid his gaze over her greedily. “Prove it.”
He palmed her breasts, his wide fingers golden against her pale skin. The sight of him touching her so intimately made her breath hitch, as did the first hesitant sweep of his tongue. That a man so powerfully in control of himself could be thrown off-kilter by her simple request was so freaking sexy.
“I want you, Spencer.” The words slipped from her before she could catch them.
“Not bad for number ten,” he murmured.
He swirled wet patterns over her skin, blew little kisses that rippled like bubbles on a pond. Just as she settled into his lazy caresses, he drew on her nipple hard enough to make her vision cloud.
He wasn’t gentle. She didn’t think he knew how to be. It didn’t matter, because her body responded primally to his rough movements. Strong lips and a purposeful tongue left her weak and wriggling.Spencer’s strong lips. Every time she thought she’d had her hands on him for the last time, he came back again.
She wanted to weep with pleasure as hot, wet suction alternated back and forth between her breasts and his broad palms cupped her as if she were a feast for him to enjoy. She rubbed her denim-clad groin against the rigid length between her thighs. God, he felt so good. She moaned, incapable of muffling the sound. If someone came in early and found them here like this, Spencer’s face buried between her breasts and her dry-humping him, the whole store would be talking about them by lunchtime. Hell, breakfast.
And she didn’t give a flying fuck.
“I think that’s cheating,” she gasped when he rotated his hips, driving his cock against her pussy. The clothes barrier between them made her cry out in frustration when he did it again. “Definitely cheating.”
“Want me to stop?” He sounded so breathless she grinned in triumph. His teeth scraped her flesh. “Your game. Your rules.”
“Don’t even think about it. Or next time I’ll drive your car into the bay.”
His strangled laughter burned her skin. That he smiled and laughed so much more easily around her now turned her on as much as what he was doing to her. She liked him loose. Liked winding him up and unwrapping him as if he were a present she never wanted to share.
She framed his face in her hands and pushed against his mouth. He took more of her breast, sucking hard, each pull traveling straight to her clit. Urgency vibrated through her and she crushed her body onto his, grinding against his cock until his heat multiplied the moisture between her legs.
Crazy. Her feelings for him had always been difficult to ignore but these were damn near impossible. This wasn’t anything but a fling, but the more time she spent with him, the more glimpses he gave her of the man beyond the facade, the harder it became for her to remember that.
And what she didn’t remember would destroy her, if she let it.
She sighed when he widened his attention beyond her nipples. His gaze lingered on hers while she rode him, while he licked and bit her flesh. Tender brushes of his lips stoked her need and left it simmering as she dragged her covered pussy over his steely hardness. The faster she moved, the more arousal darkened his eyes. She saw herself mirrored in his pupils, a wanton woman eager to grasp her climax.
A scared woman afraid to lose everything.
In her mind, Spencer and her job were tied up in one messy knot. Somehow in a few short days she’d become unable to see one without the other. She couldn’t imagine working at The Book Nook and not being his lover. She couldn’t imagine being his lover away from the backdrop of the store—both her comfort zone and one of the myriad reasons he’d never allow himself to get too close to her.
Frustration and desire peaked, erupting from her throat in a loud cry. It wasn’t only about her orgasm but about showing him how much he affected her. In words, in deeds, acting as blasé as Spencer was her only escape from showing the depth of her emotions. Only during sex could she safely reveal how she felt.
“I’m there,” she breathed. She squeezed her thighs together as he drove upward, the contact with her clit just enough to make her come. “God, yes.”
Vaguely, she felt him tugging aside her shorts and panties. He groaned and pumped two fingers i
n and out of her pussy, prolonging her climax until she whimpered.
Kelly dropped her forehead against his, drifting on the rightness of breathing their mingled scents. The light overlay of their sweat made her hunger for more.
They fit. Even their angles rubbing up against each other made sparks. She was addicted to him, drugged by his body and his voice and his mind.
He pulled his hand from her panties and lifted it between them. When she thought he would’ve offered his glistening fingers to her, he sucked them into his mouth instead. He licked them clean, savoring every drop. And then he smiled, very much the content cat after a bowl of cream. “I wondered what you’d taste like.”
“No one stopped you from finding out.”
“You could’ve asked for that.”
She suppressed a shiver. Now there was an image she wanted in her head immediately after an orgasm. His face between her thighs, his blond hair tickling her belly. “I’ll wait ’til you’re interested.”
“Oh, I’m interested now. I can’t wait to drink you dry.” He leaned up to kiss her, sliding his tongue into the recesses of her mouth in a slow, undulating rhythm. “You’re gorgeous when you come,” he murmured as he eased back, and that, more than any edge of teeth or open-mouth kiss, turned her residual quivers into a full-fledged tremble.
“Stop it,” she said, pushing his shoulder with a halfhearted laugh. “You’re putting bad pictures in my head and it won’t be that long before people start showing up.”
“Your fault. You’re the one who insisted on teaching me such…useful things about the female body. I hadn’t realized exactly how responsive it is.”
“Told you it was possible with just your mouth, though there was some cheating.”
“Mmm-hmm. Possible and incredibly beautiful.”
She shifted her face away to stare at the wall. Emotions whirled inside her, glittery, fragile ones she was afraid would show up in her voice. Searching for something to lessen the moment, she braced her hand on the back of the loveseat and smiled. “Compliments will get you everywhere, Mr. Galvin.”
Spencer traced his fingertip under her eyes. “You’re tired, so it won’t get me anywhere tonight. And it’s not a compliment. It’s truth.”
“Your place isn’t that far from here. And I’m not that tired.”
“Liar.”
She wrapped her fingers around his erection and rubbed. “Seems a shame to waste this. Besides, it’s not fair sending you home alone all hot and bothered.”
“That’s what the shower is for.” The full-on grin he gave her left her as dazed and stupid as the two Midori Sours Jack had given her at Kink. “Trust me, I’ll make do.”
“Sometime I’d like to see you make do in front of me.” She thought of the club the other night. “Without my help.”
“That could be arranged. And ditto.” With more gentleness than she ever would have imagined, he picked her up and set her on the loveseat. “I don't want you driving. I’ll take you home.”
“But my car—”
“We’ll park it around back. No one will know it’s here.”
“You’ll have to bring me back later.”
“Oh the hardship.” He slid his laptop into its case and cocked an eyebrow at her when she stared at him. “Is there a problem?”
Kelly shook her head and gazed at the fists she’d balled in her lap.
She’d tried to talk herself out of her feelings before they’d become lovers, telling herself that their tempestuous working relationship was hardly grounds for emotional harmony. He hid so many parts of his true nature. From her. From everyone. She didn’t know him yet. Maybe she never would. But the snatches of himself he had shared, along with the inner voice that wouldn’t let her turn away, made her incapable of shutting down her heart. As foolish as it was.
Oh yeah, there’s a problem. I think I’m falling for you.
Chapter Ten
“It’s not logical. I barely know him. I don’t know much about his family or his interests.” Kinky sex, books and business aside. “I don’t know his favorite food or his favorite color or—”
Alana chuckled. “For real? His favorite color? Is that important?”
“Yeah. It is. To me.”
Kelly took a shaky breath. They were seated in their usual spot at Retreat, their favorite restaurant. That spot just happened to be outside in the bright sunshine, which contributed to the sensation of being lobsters broiling in a pan. The nearly 100-degree temperature didn’t help either.
Of course, she’d also never been in love before. Maybe sweating and the shakes were part of the drill.
“No one falls in love in three days,” Kelly added, searching for empirical evidence to support her hypothesis. Maybe then she’d be able to knock some sense into her head.
“Some people fall in love in three hours. Ever heard of love at first sight? Or love at first fuck? It happens.”
“Love at first fuck. Now that’s eloquent.” Despite her misery, Kelly leaned her cheek on her fist and grinned. “He’s not the instant-love-inspiring type. He can be a jerk. Usually is. But the little moments of sweetness throw you off and make you appreciate them even more.” She sighed and crumpled her straw wrapper. “I’ve never been attracted to emotionally unavailable men before. Why now?”
“Does he have a big dick?” When Kelly’s lips pursed, Alana pointed. “There ya go.”
“I’m not that shallow.”
“You keep saying how pretty he is.”
“That’s just a bonus.”
“It’s enough to totally turn you into a glowworm in three days, so it counts. Kel, you let a complete stranger paw your boobs two nights ago, as part of some weird extended foreplay with him. That’s not you.”
“But it was me.” And that was the craziest thing of all. With Spencer, she didn’t know herself anymore, or know how far she would go. The feeling was both scary and thrilling. “I never guessed I’d be into that. But I am. It’s sexy, with him. Because I know he wants me.”
“For how long, is the real question.”
“Yeah.”
She swallowed hard as the waitress delivered their orders—a salad for Alana, a double-decker turkey club for her. Her diet had gone out the window. She had enough on her mind without counting calories. She also didn’t have her PDA to keep a running tally.
Damn Spencer. He’d fucked with her in more ways than one.
She shook off her thoughts and picked up a hunk of her sandwich. Her appetite hadn’t suffered, that was for certain. “I’m going back to the club tonight.”
Alana forked up carrots and croutons and said nothing.
“You think I’m being ridiculous.”
“No, I don’t. I think you’re following your heart. And other lustier parts of your anatomy.” She winked. “I’m just concerned where they’ll lead you.”
“I am too. But that doesn’t mean I can stop.”
“I hear you.” Alana glanced away and sighed. “Believe me, I hear you.”
Kelly peered more closely at her best friend. She’d been strangely quiet for the past hour and her sarcasm didn’t have its usual zing. “So what’s the deal with you?”
Alana snapped her gaze back to Kelly’s at once. “What deal?”
“Normally you’d be prying me for details about what Spencer’s like in be—” Realizing she’d gone too far, she stopped and forced down the bacon wedged in her throat. “I, uh, didn’t mention his name before, did I?”
“No, you most certainly did not. You let me believe it was some random joker you worked with and I didn’t press you for his name because—” She trailed off and dropped her fork. Apparently she didn’t intend to finish that statement. “Spencer? As in your freaking boss? Number ten?”
“Shh, shh!” Kelly flicked ice water at her. “Keep your voice down.”
“No one knows who he is. Jesus, paranoid much?” Alana narrowed her eyes. “He’s the end game.”
“I…” Kelly took a br
eath and set down her sandwich. “Yeah. I thought it was just hormones. But there’s more there. I don’t know how I knew before I knew. You know?”
“Yes.” Alana stared at her salad as if the cucumbers and tomatoes held the answers to all the world’s questions. “I so do. It’s sick.”
Kelly laughed and tucked her hair behind her ears before picking up her sandwich again. “So what’s going on with you and Ramon? Have you coordinated the next time you’ll be home yet? You have to be out of vacation days from the paper.”
“I am. Not that it matters. I’m thinking of quitting.” Before Kelly could question her further, Alana’s cell phone rang. She glanced at the readout. “I have to take this. Okay?”
“Sure.”
While Kelly ate, she watched her typically outspoken friend talk in hushed tones behind her hair. Even across the table, she could barely make out a word. All she heard for sure was the name Nick.
The minute Alana hung up, Kelly leaned forward. “Who’s Nick? Why are you quitting your job?”
“Not yet, Kel.” She stabbed a lettuce leaf. “When I know for sure what the hell’s going on, you’ll be the first one I tell.”
“But I’m your best friend.”
“Yeah, and I’m yours. And you didn’t tell me about Spencer.”
“I wanted to.”
“I want to tell you too. When I know. Right now all I know is it’s hot as fuck out here and I’m about to need mouth-to-mouth by a really sexy paramedic.” Alana reached for her soda and downed several gulps. Her cheeks were becoming redder by the minute, but Kelly was reasonably sure that had more to do with her phone call than the heat index.
“All right. I’ll wait.”
“Thank you.” Alana gave her a completely inauthentic smile. “Now you were going to tell me how Spencer is in bed…”
* * * * *
Kelly expected to spend the day with Alana but that didn’t play out as planned. While exploring Gimler’s department store in search of a sexy dress Kelly couldn’t afford, Alana received yet another phone call and split.
Something big was up there. She really hoped her best friend hadn’t gotten herself into something she couldn’t extricate herself from—or that if she had, it was good. With Alana, nothing was a certainty.
