by Mari Carr
She giggled. “What are you going to be thinking about?”
He shrugged good-naturedly. “The usual. Vasectomies, cat vomit and my mother. Does the trick every time.”
Georgie grabbed the hot dogs and hamburgers from the cooler, laughing. “And you call me the crazy one.”
Nick took the last bite of his hot dog. The food he’d eaten had done little to ease the other, more urgent hunger that was nowhere near appeased. Georgie hadn’t helped matters by claiming the spot next to him at the picnic table. The smell of her coconut-scented sunscreen was only fueling that craving more.
He’d laid down the law with her, insisting on a platonic friendship. And for the first time in her damn life, Georgie had done what he asked, maintaining her distance physically, restraining herself on those funny little sexual innuendos of hers he loved so much, and keeping her hands to herself. He’d hated every fucking minute of it.
If Nick was being honest with himself, he’d sort of counted on Georgie failing. And it was killing him that she hadn’t.
The conversation at the table turned to talk about resolutions as Shelly discussed her weight loss. Kristen confided she wasn’t doing so well with her attempts at finding a husband. Nick bit his tongue, though he was tempted to tell her the perfect man had just left. Jason had been there earlier, but he’d been down in the dumps over Kristen’s apparent interest in another man, so he took off.
“Any luck finding Leo?” he heard Laura ask Georgie.
She shook her head. “No. Not yet.”
Her response took him aback. He hadn’t realized she still intended to find the man. She hadn’t mentioned him or the resolution in months. “You’re still looking for Leo?”
Georgie shrugged. “I actually haven’t started the search yet, but now that you mention it, I guess I’d better get moving. I’m running out of months in the year.”
“I thought you’d reconsidered after Phillip,” he murmured, though he was aware those sitting closest to them could hear his comment.
Georgie gave him a confused look. “No. Not at all. I have to do this.”
Nick’s jaw tightened. He’d told Georgie they’d have a conversation about the sex thing later. Now, it looked like they needed to add one more thing to that agenda.
Tommy spilled his chocolate milk, which prompted Josie and Georgie to rise and begin cleaning off the table as Bryan asked if anyone else wanted another hot dog.
Rob nudged him with his elbow. “You okay?” his friend asked in a hushed voice.
Nick nodded.
“Come get a beer with me.”
Nick and Rob excused themselves, dumping their paper plates in the trashcan before continuing on to the cooler.
“What’s up?” Nick asked, slightly distracted as he digested the news that Georgie was still planning to look for Leo.
“You don’t seem too keen on Georgie’s plan to look up all her old fiancés to apologize.”
Nick grinned. “That obvious, huh?”
“Yeah. But considering you’ve already gotten your apology, I’m not sure I understand why you wouldn’t want the other guys—”
“I haven’t,” Nick interrupted.
“What?”
“I haven’t gotten my apology. George’s going in order.”
“You guys have been out at least a dozen times the past few months. You mean to tell me it’s never come up?”
Nick sighed. “She marches to the beat of a different drummer, Rob. For some reason, she thinks this needs to be done chronologically.”
Rob looked concerned. “I saw your face at the table, man. You’re not happy about her looking for Leo.”
Nick glanced across the lake at the setting sun. They’d been here most of the day. It had been a great outing. Until the Leo comment. “I’m not. She already tracked down the first ex, Phillip. It didn’t go quite the way she planned. Guy came on pretty damn strong. Not sure how far he would have tried to go if I hadn’t come along.”
“You think this Leo guy would hurt her.”
Nick shook his head. He didn’t believe that for a second. “No. It’s kind of the opposite. He’s a cool guy. Didn’t exactly set the world on fire with his ambitions, but he was the stand-up type and he was really good to George.”
“So you think Georgie might fall back in love with him?”
Nick had considered that. He and Georgie didn’t talk about their feelings. And she’d been very good at following through on his request to simply be friends.
There had always been a strong sexual attraction between them, but that didn’t necessarily equate to love. Everything they talked about these days was superficial stuff. Georgie had tried to bring up the past several times, but he’d never let her get very far. “I don’t know. Truth is I’m still struggling to figure out my own feelings right now. Trying to second guess what George is or isn’t thinking is sort of beyond my abilities.”
“You wouldn’t be hanging out with her if you hadn’t forgiven her for running away from the wedding. And I think it’s pretty obvious from the way you look at her that you’re still crazy about her.”
Jesus. He didn’t spend that much time with Rob. If the guy could read his emotions so easily, Nick must be wearing his heart on his sleeve.
His heart.
He didn’t need to figure out his feelings. He was head over heels in love with Georgie and that emotion wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. He’d fought for months to keep them in this friendship limbo, thinking it was protecting him.
So much for that concept. He was in deeper now than he’d ever been. Jason had told him to keep the upper hand, but Nick has misinterpreted that and held tight to the wrong deck of cards.
Maybe it was time he broke the rules. Took a chance. He wasn’t sure he had much choice. He wanted Georgie in his bed. To do that, he had to stop playing it safe, quit pretending he could control things and keep them in neat boxes.
“Can I ask you something, Nick?”
Nick nodded.
Rob ran his hand through his hair. “What happens when Georgie works her way through the list?”
“What do you mean?”
“It sounded to me like her resolution was about wiping the slate clean on her past, making amends for her mistakes so she can move on. You fall into her past category, but what about her future? Have you guys talked about that?”
They’d talked about nothing. Nick had tried to avoid discussing the past because there was a very large part of him that was afraid to hear her reason for running. That was stupid, he knew, but he couldn’t let go of the fear that perhaps she’d run away because she didn’t love him.
He could handle hearing any excuse, but that.
That would gut him.
Rob continued to look at him, so Nick finally gave him the only answer he had. “No. We haven’t discussed it.”
“Don’t you think you should?”
It was a fair question. And one that was still ringing in his ears even now, as he stood outside her house, knocking on the door in the middle of the night. He’d said goodbye to her at the lake several hours earlier, giving her a friendly peck on the cheek before departing. Since then, he’d done nothing but think about his next move.
Maybe Georgie wasn’t thinking about her future. Maybe Rob was right and she was looking for a fresh start. If that was true, then he was going to be damn sure she didn’t look any further than right here.
He might not have been Georgie’s first fiancé…or even her second. But, by God, he was going to be her last.
Georgie rubbed her eyes. She been tossing and turning in bed for nearly an hour when the knock at the door sounded.
She dragged on a robe as she descended the stairs. A quick glance through the peephole revealed a disheveled Nick. Looked like his night hadn’t been any more restful than hers.
She opened the door. “It’s late.” That was all she managed to say as he pushed her inside. He closed the door, throwing the deadbolt.
His gaze drifted over her. “Why are you dressed?”
She frowned. “What?”
Nick didn’t respond. Instead, he untied her robe and shoved the silky material over her shoulders. She was naked underneath.
“That’s better.”
Georgie tried to catch her bearings, tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Nick had said they’d discuss the sex thing later, but it didn’t look like that conversation was going to happen. At least not verbally.
His lips were on hers before she could question him. The kiss was the only answer she needed at the moment. She’d wanted this too much for too long. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Nick used her hold to lift her off the ground as he pressed her against the wall. Her nipples budded as they brushed against his soft cotton T-shirt and her pussy dampened when Nick thrust his crotch roughly to that oh-so-sensitive place.
There was nothing hotter than being naked and held captive by a sexy man whose attention was only on her.
Georgie groaned. “Want you,” she said breathlessly. Her demand seemed to slow Nick’s roll, as he released his grip on her, letting her slide down the cool wall at her back.
“We’re not rushing this.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I would hardly call living for months at the brink of unrequited lust-driven insanity rushing it.” She pointed to his very erect cock. “I want that. In me. Now.”
As soon as the words passed her lips, Georgie recognized her mistake. While she was no slouch in the dominant lover department, Nick left her in the dust when it came to taking control. She’d held the reins in pretty much every sexual relationship of her life, except with Nick. With him, she’d been thrust into the role of submissive. It didn’t come natural to her, but damn if it didn’t fit her like a glove.
Nick took a step away from her and crossed his arms. His face promised she’d pay for the demand. Just thinking about that made her even wetter. God, she loved Nick’s brand of punishment.
Or at least she used to. Right now, she wasn’t sure she’d survive the sensual torture. The man was an expert at dragging it out—sometimes for hours.
She didn’t have hours left in her. She had ten minutes tops. Then she would most likely spontaneously combust.
She softened her tone as much as she was able, hoping to appeal to Nick’s sense of compassion. “Please.”
He grinned, but the expression offered her absolutely no hope. It was wicked. And dangerous. And sexy as fuck.
“You’re not going to go easy on me, are you?”
Nick shook his head. “You’ve been a very bad girl, George. This punishment is long overdue.”
Her pussy clenched at the sound of his deep-voiced threat. She closed her eyes and pressed her legs together, seeking some sort of relief. It didn’t help at all. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into just one little quickie first?”
Nick chuckled, then he reached for her arm, gently guiding her to the stairs. “I’m sure. I’d rather explore the sex shop you claim to have in your bedroom.”
Oh, hell yeah. She started up the stairs quickly, but Nick halted her halfway.
“Slow down. We’ve got all night.”
She wanted to point out that fact would remain the same regardless of what they did, but from his tone she could tell he wouldn’t be moved.
“Bend over, George.”
Georgie closed her eyes and prayed for strength as she obeyed. She rested her elbows on one of the stairs, Nick standing low enough on the staircase that her ass was nearly eye level.
“Good girl.”
She gritted her teeth to keep from snapping at him. It drove her nuts when he spoke to her like that. Good crazy and bad crazy mingled together until she didn’t know if she wanted to continue to please him so he’d call her a good girl again or beat him senseless for being so condescending.
Nick ran his fingers along the slit in her ass, keeping the touch far too light, too surface-y. She needed him to explore deeper, make that stroke count.
God. If he touched her clit right now, she’d explode. She wanted to explode.
Then he gripped the globes of her ass, using his thumbs to separate them, treating himself to a bird’s eye view of her private parts.
“Enjoying the show?” she asked, unable to mask her impatience as he took his time to look, but not touch.
“Temper, temper,” he taunted.
She started to rise. He had no idea what kind of tantrum she could throw, but Nick merely chuckled, placed a firm hand on her back and held her in place. Then he showed her the tiniest bit of mercy by cupping her pussy, his fingers finally—finally—touching her clit. She jerked, then groaned, then shuddered. It felt so damn good.
Nick bent over and nipped at her ass cheek, the sharp bite surprising her.
“Oh!”
“You want to come, George?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?”
He bit the other cheek, then stroked the sting away with his tongue. It was always this way with Nick. Little twinges of pain replaced by a pleasure that sent shivers along her spine.
He rubbed her clit just one more time and then his hand disappeared. All the air seeped out of her lungs like a two-day-old balloon with a pinprick in it. He wasn’t finished playing yet. The bastard.
Nick grasped her upper arm, helping her stand. “Bedroom,” he murmured in her ear.
She darted up quickly, making sure he couldn’t catch her or delay her again. She was determined to get the frustrating man in her bed.
He leaned against the doorframe nonchalantly when she leapt onto the bed, then turned.
“Why are you all the way over there?” she asked. “Take off your clothes and come play with me.”
Rather than respond, Nick walked over to her closet. She had a wide array of colorful scarves that hung from a rack on the inside of the door. He’d obviously remembered that.
She licked her lips as he selected half a dozen of the longest ones. Nick was into bondage. He was damn good at it too. Before him, she’d never let a man tie her up in bed. Since Nick, she’d never really wanted anything else.
Georgie spent ninety-nine percent of her waking hours in perpetual motion. Nick had taken to calling her the Energizer Bunny. The first night they were together, he’d bound her spread eagle to the bed, joking that he’d finally found the way to make her stay still. Georgie hadn’t been able to laugh because she was too overwhelmed, too turned on.
Once he found what he wanted, he strolled over to her bed, taking way too long getting there.
He sat on the edge of the mattress next to her as she tried to anticipate his next move. And hers. She debated playing hard to get, recalling Phillip’s comment about their cat and mouse game. Georgie was a big fan of the capture fantasy. Unfortunately she and Nick had never gotten around to role-playing the last time they’d been together. She hoped to correct that oversight.
Nick reached toward the drawer on her nightstand, opening it. He frowned when he realized it was empty save for an ereader and a tube of Chapstick. “Toys?”
She grinned. “There were too many to fit in there. I had to move them to a box. It’s under the bed.”
Nick shook his head, but she could tell her response amused him. At least it did until he tugged the long, flat box out and opened it. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered.
“I went a little crazy at one of those sex-toy parties.”
“Did you order everything in the catalog?” Nick asked, as he explored the vast array of flavored lubes, vibrators and butt plugs she’d purchased.
“No. Not quite everything.”
“What didn’t you buy?”
Nick laughed loudly. “Oh damn. I’m so buying you a ball gag.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t wear it.”
Nick leaned toward her. “I wouldn’t ask permission.”
“Oh my God. That is annoyingly hot.”
He kissed her quickly before turning his attention to her sex box. He lifted several toys, studying them before tossing them back. She didn’t speak because she didn’t want to break his concentration. The man was a master at the use of sexual aids. She had no doubt whatever he selected would send her libido into orbit.
Finally he looked at her, his hands distressingly empty.
“Too much to choose from?” she asked.
He lifted one shoulder. “Lay down on your back.”
She swallowed heavily, but wasted no time following his directive. It was clear resisting him was futile…and foolish. While she wanted him inside her more than she wanted her next breath, she wanted everything else he was offering too.
She stretched out, her arms above her head, reaching toward the corner posts on her headboard.
Nick shook his head. “No. Put them directly above your head. Together.”
She obeyed, her pussy tingling when he grabbed a pair of fur-lined handcuffs from the box.
Nick observed her huge grin when he threaded the cuffs through a rung on the headboard and snapped her wrists in the bands. “You don’t want to pretend to be a little afraid?”
She giggled. “They’re my cuffs.”
Her laughter died when he picked up one of her scarves and tied it around her right knee.
“Aiming a little high, aren’t you? My ankle is a bit lower.”
“This is why I’m getting a gag. Are you doing this or am I?”
She pressed her lips closed and gave him a look that said Fine, smartass. She hoped he was able to read the smartass part as that was the point she really wanted to get across.
He repeated the same scarf-to-knee thing on her left leg, but he hadn’t secured the other end to anything. Georgie had to hand it to him. He was damn good at building the suspense.
