But Richard spoke up first, propping himself up on one elbow to gaze down at me. He only said a single word.
"Again?"
All I could do was nod, holding out my arms to him and letting him own every single inch of my body.
Chapter Sixteen
LINDA
*
I spent the night there, naked and in bed with Richard. We made love three times that evening, and then again the next morning when he woke me up with kisses that trailed up my thighs. For a while, I thought I might never leave that bed again, spend the rest of my life there in orgasmic bliss with this man.
Eventually, however, we managed to stagger downstairs to the kitchen and find some breakfast. I didn't realize it until I left his bedroom, but I was ravenous, devouring the leftover desserts from last night with unladylike ferocity.
"Sorry," I mumbled to Richard, my mouth stuffed full of incredible tiramisu. "I'm really hungry."
"Go ahead," he answered, looking at me with that banked fire in his eyes that sent sparks flying down to my core. "I like watching you eat."
I almost blurted out that I liked it even more when he ate me, thinking back wonderfully to how he used his tongue to bring me to an orgasm even as I woke up that morning, but kept the naughty words down. I consumed the rest of the dessert and washed it down with a cup of hot, freshly brewed coffee.
"So, now what?" I asked him, once we'd satisfied our appetites in the kitchen.
He smiled. "I could use a shower, I think. How about you?"
The idea of stepping into a shower with Richard, hot water sluicing over both of our bodies as we rubbed soapy lather on each other and then came together, slick and wet and hot and needing to feel each other in the most carnal way, almost completely derailed my train of thought – but I managed to hold on, if only barely. "Not what I meant," I forced out. "I meant us – what are we going to be, now?"
"You're talking about relationship status, aren't you?" he said.
"Not to be the clingy one, but yes." I shrugged, putting down the empty take-out container from Ciao Bella. "I guess I want to know if this was just a one night thing, or if you want to see more of me."
The fire in his eyes flared. "I definitely want to see more of you." His eyes roamed over my body, barely hidden by one of his shirts that I'd pulled on in case we encountered Sebastian. "I believe that I still owe you a trip to Italy, so you can taste the really authentic Italian food. How about tonight?"
I laughed, more to cover up my disbelief that he still wanted to fly me halfway across the world, just so I could have an authentic Italian experience! "You didn't mention flaunting your wealth like this in our sessions," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "I like spoiling others more than myself, I guess." His eyes flashed at me. "Especially when they're able to move like you did last night."
I laughed, holding up my hand in part to cover up the blush rushing into my cheeks. "You're ruining my professionalism," I demurred.
"Oh? That wasn't lost when you screamed out that you wanted me to go deeper into you as you came on top of me?"
There was no holding back my blush, now. "I really do need to go home at some point," I stammered out, finally forcing my brain to overcome the opposing demands of other parts of my body. "But how about you take me out for dinner tomorrow night? Maybe someplace a little more casual?"
"No point in dressing up fancy if I'm just going to be ripping them off you," he nodded, giving me another wonderfully delicious little distraction. "You're on. And how about this time, I just stop by your place and pick you up?"
I felt a little twinge of shame as I considered how badly my apartment compared to this massive mansion. But when I looked at Richard, I sensed that he wouldn't care about that, wouldn't judge me based off my dingy little building that I called home.
"It's a date," I told him.
"Perfect."
I finished my cup of coffee, set the empty mug in the sink. "And now, I think I'd better go find my dress so that I can get back home."
Immediately, his hands were around me, and I felt the stubble on his cheeks as he nipped me on the neck. He guided me back until my ass pressed against his crotch, and I couldn't resist giving my butt a little wiggle, just to drive him crazy.
"Do you really have to go?" he murmured into my ear, his breath hot against the nape of my neck.
I almost gave in, but somehow managed to hold fast. "Some of us have businesses to run," I told him, even as my body begged me to impale myself on his spear right here in the kitchen, right now. God, hadn't I gotten enough release last night (and this morning) to make up for the last few years of dry spells?
He reluctantly let me go, but gave me one last, heart-melting, toe-curling kiss before opening his front door for me. "I'm already looking forward to tomorrow," he murmured to me. "Consider last night just a warm-up to what I plan to do to your body tomorrow."
I don't know how I managed to keep my legs from turning to wobbly gelatin as I staggered away from his house, my head swirling with a multitude of memories of Richard, naked and driving me crazy as he played with my body, owned me, always with that incredibly arousing heat in his eyes and smile on his lips. Somehow, miraculously, I made it home without crashing my little Honda into any other cars or obstacles.
At home, I took a quick cold shower, trying in vain to slake the heat of my rekindled libido, and then changed into a more professional outfit so that I could head into my office. I don't know if my attitude was more upbeat and chipper, or if Richard somehow reversed my normally crappy luck, but I managed to land two more clients by the end of the day, veterans who agreed to hold regular sessions with me. By the time that five o'clock rolled around, I giddily called up Callie to share my good news.
"Hold on," she cut me off, halfway through telling her about how I had new clients, how great this was for my developing business. "There's something different about you. You've gotten laid!"
"What?" I exclaimed, stopping mid-sentence. She hadn't even seen me! How could she tell?
"You did!" she cried out. "Oh my god, you have to tell me everything! Right now, after work. Happy hour wine and lots of naughty details! Who was it? How did it happen? Were you rusty? What did he-"
"Enough, enough!" I yelled out, laughing. "I'll tell you when I see you! How about Vini, twenty minutes?"
"See you there!" She hung up, and I gathered up my purse and headed out of the office.
"You did! It's true!" Callie cried out the moment that she spotted me fifteen minutes later, as I entered the wine bar. "Oh my god, finally! I'm so happy for you, Lindy! Come here!" And before I could even get out a word, she threw her arms around me and squeezed almost hard enough to crack my ribs.
"Breathing! I need to breathe!" At six inches shorter than me, Callie's face pressed right up against my chest when she hugged me; maybe it was a good thing I didn't have big breasts, or else I might smother her. She finally released me, and I filled my oxygen-starved lungs with a fresh breath of air.
We ordered a couple glasses of wine and settled down in an open booth. Succinctly, I told her about Richard Stone, about how he asked me out after our sessions ended, how he took me to the most expensive Italian restaurant in the city, and then apologized that he hadn't flown me to Italy for the most authentic experience possible. Callie sat across from me in stunned silence, her eyes and mouth both opening wider and wider as my story continued.
"If you were anyone else, I'd say that you were pulling my leg," she finally got out, once I finished my tale. "Holy shit, Lindy! You somehow found the perfect man, right on your first try! I'm out here searching wildly, and he falls right into your arms!"
My own smile slipped slightly. "Not perfect," I corrected. Last night had been amazing, sure enough, but I still remembered the slight sensation that, despite telling me about his fourth tour of duty, Richard had still held something back.
She raised her eyebrows at me over the rim of her glass of wine. "Sounds pretty perfect
to me. And please, please tell me that you're seeing him again, and not backing out and running away!"
"I don't run away!" I replied, stung. "And yes, I'm going to see him tomorrow night."
"Is he flying you someplace exotic this time?"
"I hope not – I asked for something more relaxed," I answered, even as my stomach did a little flip in excitement at the thought of Richard sweeping me grandly away on a private jet. "Maybe just dinner and a movie."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be great." I could tell that Callie had another topic on her mind, which she revealed with her next question. "So, how about the sex? Was he good? Packing a full size rifle, or just a little pistol? Come on, spill!"
I opened my mouth, but couldn't find the words to describe my past night of overwhelming pleasure. "It was..." I began, but ran out of adjectives.
Callie sighed. "That good, huh? Man, now I'm envious of you."
"Envious? What about your date with the hot waiter?"
"Turned out to be a total dud," she lamented. "Great looks, but dumb as a stone, and didn't have any coordination. Just sort of bounced up and down for five minutes, came, and then asked me how good it was for me. I might as well have gone home with a robot – at least they'd have customizable parts."
"Aww. Well, I'm sure you'll find your perfect man, soon enough." I reached across the table to pat her on the shoulder.
"Now I'm not so sure if I like seeing you when you're getting laid," Callie said, reaching for her glass again. "It makes you too cheery. I don't like it."
"I'm sorry." I tried to force the corners of my mouth into a droopy frown. "Is this better?"
She narrowed her eyes at me, and I couldn't keep up the ridiculous expression. "See, I know you're just thinking about how you want to hop back on your new man and ride him like a pogo stick. So no, it doesn't help."
"Callie!" My hand flew to my mouth, even as giggles poured out of me at the thought of bouncing on top of Richard. Although we had done something quite similar, the night before... Heat joined the giggles, and I cursed my pale skin that revealed whenever I blushed.
Callie laughed as well, sitting back on her side of the booth. "You're too easy, Lindy. I can always get to you, read what you're thinking. You need to learn how to mask your thoughts and be all mysterious."
"Yes, that seems like a great choice of attitude as a psychiatrist," I answered. "Now, how about we raise a toast to the fact that I have two new clients? My business might actually succeed, after all!"
Callie held up her glass, clinking it to me. "You can toast to your new clients," she said, "but I'm toasting to you finally having a few orgasms! Here's to my best friend getting laid, after far too long of a dry spell!"
I gasped and looked around to see if anyone overheard her, but still took a sip of my wine. She downed the rest of her glass, thumping her hand on the table as she hopped up to her feet. "Another!" she cried, heading off for a refill.
I waited for her to come back, settling back in my seat and letting my head swim with visions of Richard, naked and strong and smiling at me with that heat in his eyes as he peeled my clothes off my naked body and made love to me until I couldn't even remember my own name, couldn't think of anything but my need for him.
Chapter Seventeen
LINDA
*
The next few weeks floated by like fluffy pink clouds, filled with growth and happiness.
Thankfully, my second date with Richard was less classy, as I'd requested. He took me out for dinner and a movie, although we missed the end of the film; neither of us could focus even partly on the story, and we ducked out halfway through the showing to head home, back to his massive bed. We made love all over his house, including one breathtaking moment when, unable to even wait until we got out of his car and into the house, he took me right in the backseat!
"I don't think I've ever had an orgasm in a car, before," I confessed to him afterwards as I struggled to pull on my clothes in the cramped confines of his sedan's back seat.
"Ah, high school," he responded, a dreamy look in his eye. "Those were fun times, I must admit."
I punched him, but laughed as he apologized with kisses and swept me into the house for dessert and another round of bliss.
Richard might have been okay with spending every second of our time together nude and fucking, but I decided that we also needed to know more about each other. We talked, although we often did so naked, and bit by bit, I learned more about him – this time focusing on his personal life, rather than his military career.
Richard told me about growing up as the eldest of his parents' three brothers, about how he always felt like he needed to look out for his younger siblings. He told me about the time that his parents caught him sneaking back into the house late at night, how his dad bent him over his knee and paddled him until Richard couldn't sit down for a week. "I learned my lesson, though," he told me ruefully, even reaching back to rub his rear in memory of the moment. "Make doubly sure that they're asleep before trying to sneak inside again!"
"What about your parents now?" I asked, running my finger over his bare chest, feeling the slight roughness of the hairs that sprouted between his pecs. "Are they still around?"
His expression clouded, and I worried that I'd said the wrong thing. "It's not recent," he assured me, although his frown remained on his face. "But my father passed away when I was off on my first tour, when Teddy and Sebastian were still in college. Heart attack, sudden. The doctors say that he never really felt anything, there wasn't any pain."
"I'm sorry," I said, genuinely touched. I reached out and patted him, my touch switching from arousing to sympathetic.
He shrugged, although I saw that his eyes were still distant. "It's been a while, long enough for me to get over it," he said. His voice sounded a little unusual, like he had another thought he didn't want to say.
"And your mother?" I asked, hoping that this might be a better change of topic.
I was wrong. He sat up, his arms crossing over his chest. "She had a little bit of memory loss when my father was still alive," he recalled, "but it didn't start really getting worse until after he died. She went downhill pretty quickly after then, to the point where we couldn't trust her at home by herself any longer."
I nodded, not wanting to just fill the air with platitudes.
"She's in a nursing home, now, for memory care," he finished, and I was touched to see tears glimmering in the corners of his eyes. "I still go and visit her regularly, although I think I'm the only one of my brothers who does so."
"That's awful," I said, even though the words didn't seem like enough. "Sebastian and Teddy don't?"
He shrugged. "Teddy claims he's busy with work, and Seb just refuses to accept much responsibility for anything in his life. At some point, that kid is going to need to grow up, but I don't know what's ever going to give him that push."
I nodded, just sitting in silence for a minute or two. "Thanks for sharing with me," I finally said, touching him lightly on the arm.
He smiled at me, a softer, more watery smile. "You could come meet her at some point, if you wanted."
I immediately recognized this as an offering, a chance to build a closer connection with the man. Even beyond the clinical assessment, however, I really felt touched that Richard wanted to open this door for me, let me get closer to him.
"I would love that," I said softly, honestly.
His smile grew a little stronger, and he reached out to put his arm around me. He drew me close, but this wasn't a sexual gesture. He hugged me, pressing his lips in amid the hair on top of my head as I nestled into the crook of his neck.
"Thank you," he whispered, and we sat like that for a while, naked and hugging but doing nothing more.
Richard didn't mention this conversation again for the next few days, and I started to think that he might have forgotten – until one day, when he stopped by my apartment to pick me up after work. "Control your libido," he warned me as I cl
imbed into the passenger seat of his car. "We need to make a stop somewhere."
I nodded, but he didn't reveal any more details until we pulled up outside of the Copperfield Hill Center, a building that I knew handled memory care patients, elderly people who needed constant assistance to live. Copperfield was one of the most exclusive and highest rated facilities in the region, but I suspected that, with his money, Richard would do anything necessary to ensure that his mother received top-notch care.
We signed in at the front desk, receiving large visitor passes and nametags, and then he led me through the halls. The place felt warm and welcoming, with none of the clinical coldness or antiseptic smell often found in hospitals. The nurses and orderlies smiled at us as we passed, a couple of them asking if we needed any help or directions.
Richard slowed as we reached one of the rooms, and I saw him stop and take a deep, slightly shuddering breath. I patted him on the shoulder, trying to lend him strength from my touch. "Are you sure you want to do this today?" I asked him.
He let his breath out slowly, and then nodded. "Yes," he replied, looking steadily back at me. "I want you to meet her."
We went in, and I met his mother.
Richard's mother was named Elanna, and she turned out to be a lovely and charming woman. She commented several times on how big and tall Richard had gotten since she'd seen him last, and I kept my hand on his arm as I saw his heart crack with every word. But she was otherwise happy, and I listened with rapt attention as she shared stories about Richard and his brothers when they were growing up, talking about her glory days when she first fell in love with her own husband.
"Oh, they were so much trouble!" she told me, her wrinkled face parting into a smile as she patted me on the knee. We sat together on her bed, Richard in an armchair that he pulled up next to us. "They always ran around and got into everything, and because there were three of them, I never had enough hands to keep track of where they were!" She laughed, and that laugh seemed to inject new vibrancy and life into her body and soul. "This one, though, he was my good boy. Always looked out for the others, helped keep them from doing anything too dangerous when I wasn't looking."
For Love of Valor: A Bad Boy Military Romance Page 11
