Round-the-Clock Temptation

by Michelle Celmer

  “Oh, all right,” she conceded. “But this time we get to use my bed. Later, when I’m alone, I want to smell you on my sheets.”

  She took his hand and led him inside, not bothering to turn any lights on. They were halfway up the darkened stairs when his cell phone rang. Connor checked the display and cursed. He’d hoped to put this off another week or two. He could let it go to voice mail and deal with it later, but the truth was, he’d put it off long enough.

  “I have to take this,” he told Nita, who was already half-undressed and on her way down the hall.

  Though he couldn’t see her face clearly, there was concern in her voice. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s my father.”

  She didn’t question him, just nodded and said, “I’ll be waiting for you,” then disappeared into her bedroom. Most women would have been irritated by the interruption. Of course, Nita had never been like most women.

  Connor went into his own room and shut the door, knowing this wasn’t going to be pretty, and answered, “Hello, Father.”

  “Lyle Edwards tells me you haven’t been in the office for several weeks now. I’d like an explanation.”

  No, hello, son, how’s it been, it’s good to talk to you. It was just like his father to dispense with the pleasantries and get to the point. And to use that tired old disappointed tone he was famous for. Connor wondered if he’d ever really heard himself, if he realized how he sounded. Or if it wouldn’t matter to him either way.

  “I’ve been busy,” he told his father. “Cattleman’s Club business.”

  His father made a noise of disgust. “You and your brother and that damned fool club.”

  Like most people, his father didn’t know the extent of the Cattleman’s Club dealings, the people they’d helped, and Connor wasn’t in any mood to explain it. He didn’t feel the need to justify his life any longer.

  “You have responsibilities to the firm,” his father continued. “I want you back in the office Monday morning.”

  There was no easy way to say this, no way to soften the blow, so Connor decided to come right out and say it. “I’m resigning from the firm, effective today.”

  “You can’t do that,” his father said, as if his word was law, which for the past thirty-eight years, it had been. He was in for a terrible shock, because things had changed.

  “I can do it, and I will,” Connor said. “I’m not happy there.”

  His father didn’t miss a beat. “Your happiness is not my concern. I have a business to run. I’m counting on you to take care of things for me.”

  And didn’t that sum it all up? It didn’t matter what Connor wanted. His father was driven only by his own selfish needs.

  “I’m sorry, I really am, but I’m not going back.” He was even more sorry that he hadn’t done this years ago, when his father decided it would be best for his wayward, aimless son to join the army. Connor may not have been sure what he wanted to do with his life, but it was a decision he should have made for himself.

  “What is it you think you want to do then?” his father asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  He thought of Nita in the other room waiting for him. Nita, who was everything he could possibly want for a future. “Maybe horse farming,” he told his father.

  “Horse farming? That sounds like a supreme waste of your skills.”

  “Maybe, but they’re mine to waste if that’s what I choose.”

  “This is nonsense. I know what’s best for you. The firm is your legacy. You can’t turn your back on it.”

  “I don’t want it.”

  “First the military, now this? What’s gotten into you?”

  His father would never understand, never concede, so there was really no point trying to explain. Not when his future was waiting in the next bedroom for him. “I know I’m disappointing you, but I can’t live my life according to your grand plan any longer. Say hello to Mother for me. I’ll talk to you later.” He disconnected, turned his phone off and snapped it back on his belt. Then he took a long, deep breath. Instead of feeling bad for failing to please his father, he felt…free. He should have done this years ago.

  If only he’d known.

  He walked down the hall to Nita’s room and knocked softly before opening the door. She lay naked on top of her covers with only the silver light of the moon shining over her. He’d never seen anything so beautiful, never wanted anything or anyone the way he wanted her.

  And he would get her, she just didn’t know it yet.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

  He walked to the bed, unbuttoning his shirt. “I told him I’m resigning from the firm.”

  “How did he take it?”

  “He wasn’t happy.” He tossed his shirt on the floor and unfastened his jeans. “He’ll get over it.”

  She rose up on her elbows, watching him undress. “You did the right thing.”

  “I know I did.” He shed the rest of his clothes and climbed on the bed beside her. Nita wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed the entire length of her body against him and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Just like her to always be in a rush. But tonight, he wanted to make it last. He was going to make love to her. And little did she know, now that she’d gotten him into her bed, she was going to have a hell of a time getting him back out again.

  Nita rubbed herself against Connor, loving the way his body responded to her touch. The way his muscles flexed and his skin went from warm to hot. She loved the way he tasted when they kissed. But more than anything else, she loved to sit over him, watch his face as she took him inside of her, watch that look of complete abandon, knowing she made him feel that way. She was able to make this big, strong, quiet soldier lose his cool.

  It was unbelievably arousing, and just plain fun.

  “Roll over,” she said, pushing on his chest. “I want to be on top.”

  He looked down at her through the dark. “Why?”

  She pushed with all her strength, but the man weighed a ton. “Because I do. I like it better that way.”

  “I want to make love to you, Nita. And I want to do it slow this time.”

  “Sex, Connor. Not Love. And you know I like it hard and fast.” She tried again to push him away, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms above her head. Ugh! The man was impossible. “Let go of me.”

  His grip tightened. “Nope.”

  She hooked her legs over his hips and arched against him, knowing that drove him nuts, but he wasn’t fazed.

  “That isn’t going to work,” he said. “This time we’re doing it my way.”

  “I won’t enjoy it,” she insisted.

  “How do you know until you’ve tried?”

  “I have tried. Slow just doesn’t…do it for me.”

  “Do it?”

  Jeez, did he need her to spell it out? “I mean, I can’t come like that.”

  He didn’t look deterred. “I’ll bet I can make you come.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  A grin curled his mouth. “See, now you’ve gone and made it a challenge. Now I have to do it, even if it takes all night.”

  She blew out a long-winded sigh. Then this was going to be one long, boring night. “If it means that much to you.”

  “It does.” He kissed the side of her neck—soft, slow kisses designed to tease and tempt her. Which they didn’t…at least, not too much. It didn’t exactly feel awful, either. But they sure wouldn’t have her screaming in ecstasy. Although she had to admit being pinned was just a little exciting, it would get old real fast.

  He nibbled her earlobe, and an involuntary shiver jerked though her. That was pure luck, she decided. Her ears had always been sensitive, so it didn’t really count. And as good as it felt, it would take a lot more than that to make her come. She didn’t know what he was trying to prove, but this wasn’t going to work.

  She wiggled restlessly beneath him, so he would know this wasn’t any fun. He didn’t even seem to
notice.

  He moved to her throat next, licked her there, and her traitorous head fell back on its own accord. Okay, so that felt pretty good. The man did have a way with his mouth.

  He brushed his lips lightly over hers.

  All right, this was more like it. Kissing she could definitely do, but when she tried to deepen the kiss, he backed out of reach.

  Oh, that was so not fair. If he was going to kiss her, he should just do it. Instead he moved to the opposite side of her throat, licked her there, nibbled her other ear. At the rate he was going, this would take all night.

  She pushed up against his hands, let out a frustrated groan, but he didn’t stop. He licked and nibbled his way lower, across one shoulder, following the path of her collarbone to the opposite side. Maybe if he would touch her breasts this wouldn’t be so bad, but every time he got close, when she felt his breath warm her nipple and she arched up toward his mouth, he’d become preoccupied somewhere else.

  She could feel her skin growing warmer, feel herself getting wetter. Which didn’t mean much considering all he had to do to get her wet was look at her the right way. Right now she was more frustrated than aroused.

  He went for her mouth again, brushing his lips softly against hers. She did love kissing him. She lay perfectly still, knowing that if she so much as breathed hard he would stop again. He nibbled her upper lip, then the lower one, teasing with his tongue. She couldn’t stop herself from touching her tongue to his, and the second she did, he backed away.

  She felt like screaming. Was he trying to ruin this for her, trying to make her miserable?

  He wound up at her throat again somehow, and slowly licked his way down, between her breasts. Her nipples pulled into tight, aching points. He ignored them completely and kept going lower, down each of her ribs, kissing them, one after another. As he descended, he let go of her wrists and she wrapped her hands around his head, tunneled her fingers through his hair. He sank lower still, kissing her belly, teasing her navel with the tip of his tongue.

  Keep goin’, she wanted to tell him, a little farther. Instead he started up. She tried to push him down but he brushed her hands out of the way.

  “Don’t make me tie you up,” he warned. Considering the devilish gleam in his eye, she wouldn’t put it past him to do exactly that. She let go of his head and fisted her hands in the blankets instead. He was going to pay for this, for torturing her. She felt like a rubber band stretched too tight and ready to snap.

  Without warning he ran his tongue across the rounded underside of her breast. She was so surprised she gasped and nearly vaulted off the bed.

  He looked up at her and grinned. “That must have felt awful.”

  “You just startled me,” she said, surprised by how husky her voice sounded. Yeah, maybe she was turned on, but if he thought this was going to do the trick, he was wrong. He was moving too darned slow.

  He licked the opposite breast the same way and though she tried to hold it in, a moan slipped from her throat.

  He looked up at her and grinned. “Startled you again, did I?”

  Oh, he was so smug. He wouldn’t be so cocky later when he realized what a waste this had been. He wouldn’t be smiling then.

  His mouth closed around her nipple, sucked hard. She cried out and rocked against him.

  He lifted his head to look at her. “You want me to make love to you, Nita?”

  She shook her head.

  He settled himself between her thighs. With the slightest shift he would be inside her. “You sure about that?”

  She looked him in the eye and, using blunt language, told him exactly what she did want.

  Though he pretended to look shocked, she knew he loved it when she talked dirty. “Someone needs to wash out that mouth of yours,” he told her.

  “Already been done,” she said breathlessly. “It didn’t help.”

  He shifted his hips, rubbed against her. She couldn’t stop herself from arching up, seeking him out. He was killing her. She was dying a slow, agonizing death.

  “Nita, look at me,” he said.

  She opened her eyes, looked up at him. His eyes were deep blue wells of emotion, and as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn’t make herself do it.

  His eyes still pinned on hers, he slowly entered her. She clung to him, sank her nails into his back. When he’d filled her completely he stopped for what felt like an eternity, then eased out and slowly pushed forward again. She wanted to tell him harder, faster, but her voice wouldn’t work. She couldn’t even focus.

  If he didn’t do something soon she was going to die. Her body was on fire, screaming for release and he moved in the same slow, steady rhythm. Then he lowered his head and kissed her, his mouth hot and sweet, his tongue rubbing sensuously against her own. She wasn’t sure how it happened but one second she was in agony, the next ecstasy, gripped by the most fierce, most erotic orgasm she’d ever had in her life. All she could do was lie there, paralyzed by pleasure. And just when she thought it was over, when she caught her breath and the world came back into focus, she opened her eyes, saw Connor tense with his own release, heard him cry out her name, and she flew apart all over again.

  Thirteen

  Connor was helping Nita and Jimmy unload supplies from the truck the following morning when he heard a vehicle and turned to see Jake’s black SUV pulling up the driveway. It wasn’t like him to drop by for no reason. No doubt he’d gotten a call from their father.

  “It’s my brother,” he told Nita. “I should talk to him.”

  “Go ahead,” she said. “We’ll finish up here, then I’ll get lunch started. What sounds good? Burned grilled cheese or canned stew?”

  “Burgers at the Royal Diner,” he said, laughing and darting out of the way when she tried to swat him.

  “You think you’re so funny,” she grumbled, but she was grinning, too.

  He headed to his brother’s car. Jake climbed out, a perplexed look on his face, and as Connor got closer, he began to shake his head. “Look at you.”

  Connor stopped and looked down at him self. “What about me?”

  “I don’t know,” Jake said. “You look…different. Your hair is longer.”

  Connor dragged a hand through the hair that was about six weeks past its monthly trim. “Yeah, haven’t had time to get it cut. I’m thinking I might grow it out.”

  “It’s not just that. You look relaxed and…I don’t know. I guess you look happy.”

  “I am happy,” he said, and for the first time in his life really meant it.

  “I imagine that has a lot to do with the call I got from Dad last night.”

  Connor grimaced. He should have known after he shut his phone off their father would have been through the roof, hopping mad, and he would need someone to take it out on. “Yeah, sorry about that. I should have called and warned you.”

  Jake leaned against the hood of his car. “So, you finally did it. You told him off.”

  Connor could swear he saw admiration in his brother’s eyes. Which didn’t make sense because Jake had never held back when it came to putting their father in his place. “Actually no, I didn’t. I just told him I was resigning from the firm. I didn’t stay on the phone long enough to hear him rant. Nothing he could say would change my mind, so I hung up and turned my phone off.”

  “Which would explain why he called me.”

  “I’m sorry if he gave you a hard time.”

  He shrugged. “You know me. Everything he says pretty much rolls off my back. But that isn’t the only reason I’m here. Gavin got some new information.”

  “About the feud?”

  “About Jonathan Devlin’s death. It seems that Malcolm Durmorr worked at the hospital as an orderly at the time that Jonathan was injected. He was later dismissed on the recommendation of a board member—Opal Devlin.”

  “Meaning he could have something against the Devlins, and a reason to keep the feud going?”

  “It’s a possibility. He’s had
his share of run-ins with the law. And he’s been seen with Gretchen. She has a horse here, doesn’t she?”

  Connor nodded. “Yeah, Nita said she doesn’t ride it, though. She’s only been here a couple of times to see it.”

  “Maybe he came with her. He could have planted the syringe here. Hell, for all we know she could have planted it for him.”

  “You think she’s in on it?”

  Jake grinned. “I’d love to think that, but I’m biased. I want to win the election, but I want to win it fairly. I want to get all the facts before we start pointing fingers or I could lose all credibility.”

  “Nita never mentioned Malcolm being here, but I’ll see what I can find out.” Connor leaned on the car next to him. “So, Dad was pretty mad, I guess.”

  “At first he was more stunned than angry. He’s used to you doing whatever he asks. After we talked for a few minutes I could tell he was really getting mad. He expected me to drop what I’m doing and take over for you. When I told him no, he just about had a stroke.”

  “I should probably feel guilty, but I don’t. The truth is, I don’t care what he thinks anymore. I don’t know why I ever did.” He sighed, long and deep. “That’s not true. I know why I did it. Because I was jealous.”

  “Jealous of what?”

  “Of you. You were the popular twin. The twin everyone loved. And no matter how much you screwed up, you always managed to come out ahead somehow. I’ve done everything our father ever asked of me, but not once have I felt like he approved of me.”

  Jake laid a hand on Connor’s shoulder. “That’s the difference between you and me. I don’t give a damn what he thinks of me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I don’t have too many regrets.”

  “When we were kids, I used to wish I could be you, just for a day, so I could know what it felt like.”

  Jake laughed. “You probably would have been disappointed. My life wasn’t as exciting as it looked. I was as confused and mixed-up as most other kids, I just didn’t let it show. The important thing now is that despite everything, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. How many people can say that?”