A slow, dragging withdrawal of that thick shaft that had her sheath clasping desperately, her thighs trying to close to keep him inside her, a keening coming from her as she gripped the cushions, turned her head, didn’t know which damned way to go, how to get what she needed, so at the mercy of the man who had brought her to this beautiful despair of waiting, forced to bend to his will, forced to-
He shoved hard, tunnelling through her sheath ruthlessly, and this time he didn’t stop.
Blue set up a steady pace, hard, deliberate, hips rocking powerfully, the strength in his body surrounding her, in her, every strong thrust of his thighs and hips controlling her, pushing her, forcing her without mercy to race up the splintering high of fragmenting desire, the ardour pouring through her to snap behind her eyes with sparks of carnal heat, unbridled lust, craving that final sliver of erotic fire.
He changed angle, shifted, stabbed deep, hitting that magical spot, pegging it pitilessly, not giving her a chance to adjust to the new fire ripping through her.
With a hoarse scream she shattered, the orgasm exploding through her, ripping her senses apart to send her out into a vortex of mindless voracity.
**
She didn’t know when she finally came to, but Blue was slumped atop her, his face buried in the crook of her shoulder and neck. His weight was pressing her into the sofa cushions.
As she stirred, so too did he, moving to kiss her throat before lifting his head to meet her gaze when she turned her head to see him.
Did she look as thoroughly sated as he did? Going by the satisfied expression that crept across his handsome face, she certainly did.
“Okay, Sunflower?” he murmured.
“Oh yeah,” she said with dreamy huskiness. “Oh, babe, you can owe me anytime.”
“My pleasure.” His chuckle was a little rough. “Give me a little time to recover and we can go for round two.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Sure. Let’s set the alarm for a couple of hours time.”
She giggled.
Still laughing, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face back in the crook of her neck.
Not minding his weight, perfectly content to be wrapped in his arms, feeling both cherished and protected, Charley closed her eyes and let the lazy aftermath of pleasure drift her away.
Chapter 9
“This is killing me.” Luke yanked on his tie.
Standing beside him, Blue rolled his eyes. “It’s like your wedding day all over again.”
“Hey, I don’t like ties, all right? Red made me wear this. I mean hell, I’m here for a charity do, I can be nice and shit, but wearing a tie?” Luke ran a finger around his collar. “This is sheer torture.”
“No, torture is listening to you whining.”
Luke scowled.
“You’ve been back from your honeymoon one day, that being yesterday. Already you’re whining.” Blue looked at Jason. “Right?”
Caught in the act of running his finger around his own collar, Jason dropped his hand to his side. “Man’s a whinger.”
“Up yours,” Luke retorted. “Like I didn’t see you doing the same exact thing.”
“Yeah, but I don’t whine about it.”
“Boys, please.” Elspeth appeared behind them. “What’s wrong? Why the squabbling?”
“Just telling my relatives that a fancy party like this needs proper suits and ties,” Luke said.
“He’s lying,” Jason murmured, his gaze tracking his wife as Izzy came across the room towards them holding two glasses.
“I wouldn’t lie, Elspeth,” Luke said seriously.
Blue rolled his eyes again.
“Now, sweetie.” Elspeth straightened Luke’s tie.
Luke smirked at Blue.
“Straighten it up a little, there’s a good boy.” She shoved the knot tight, almost strangling him, and patted it. “Much better. Leave it alone, dear.” She walked off.
Luke managed to maintain a bright smile until she was out of sight, then he loosened the knot with a gasp. “Holy shit!”
Highly entertained, Blue laughed. “Serve you right, you smarmy bastard.”
“Whooee.” Luke’s expression lit up as Mikki appeared by his side with a tall glass of cold coffee. “Red, you know me so well.”
“Can you believe it?” she asked Blue dryly. “All this champagne and high-end beer and alcohol, and Luke wants the same kind of drink he consumes on the job.”
“Babe, never speak of my favourite beverage with such disrespect.” Luke took a sip, closed his eyes. “Ah, man, that hits the spot.”
One hand in his pocket, glass of champagne in hand, Blue surveyed his brother in amusement.
“Getting a little warm there, sunshine,” a voice said from behind him.
Smile widening, he stepped back to allow Charley to come up beside him. “That does happen when you walk in wearing a dress that-”
“I meant your champagne. You’ve been nursing it for half an hour.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not really my kind of drink. I prefer a light beer, but apparently there’s none here, so…” He shrugged.
“I can find you one,” Mikki offered. “Aunt Elspeth keeps some light beer in the kitchen ‘fridge along with the homemade cold coffee and Coke. She keeps it for Luke and Jason for whenever they come around, which Jason only does with Luke anyway.”
Not in the least disturbed by Mikki’s sly glance, Jason sipped the Coke, his free arm draped around Izzy’s waist as she leaned into him. His wife was drinking Coke as well, in unspoken support.
Blue knew that Jason was very likely not to even touch the light beer. Thanks to his early wild years and his harsh upbringing, he no longer imbibed in alcohol, the light beer the only thing he allowed himself to drink and even then it was rarely. Coke was more his style, as well as Luke’s beloved Iced Coffee.
Catching sight of Aunt Lora and Jim chatting to some guests, Blue chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Izzy queried.
“Look at Jim. The bloke talking to him doesn’t know whether to demand why he’s here, or simply agree with everything he says.”
“He does appear intimidating,” she agreed. “But he can’t help it. He’s really gentle. Right, Jason?”
Jason grunted.
“Jason?”
Another grunt.
“He’s gentle with your Mum.”
“He’d want to be.” Jason frowned across the room at his mother’s boyfriend.
“Come on.” Izzy soothingly patted his hand at her waist. “Let’s go for a little walk, see if we can’t get that frown off your face.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.” Luke jerked at his tie as they left.
Mikki slapped his hand away.
“Jesus, Red!”
Several people glanced over, a hint of disapproval on their faces that changed as soon as they recognised Elspeth’s niece.
Mikki laughed outright.
“What a sook,” Blue said. “Man up.”
“Man up?” Luke shook his hand. “She hits like a man.”
“Poor baby,” Mikki cooed. “Want me to kiss it better?”
His expression switched from chagrin to lascivious. “I choose the place, right?”
“Sure. Behind the curtains, in the hallway-”
“No, I mean the area on my body you kiss better.”
“You wish. Come on, let’s do the right thing and mingle. Aunt didn’t invite us here to just clump into a corner.”
Luke placed his hand in the small of her back as he led her away. “So raincheck on you kissing my body?” His hand slipped to her ample bottom, only to jerk away when she reached behind him to give his backside a pinch. “Holy shit!”
“How about it?” Blue looked down at Charley.
“Mingle?”
“We’ll start by just ambling around, see where we end up.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He offered his bent arm. “Shall we?”
>
She linked her hand through his elbow. “We shall.”
Walking around the room slowly, taking in the rich clothing of Elspeth’s friends and business associates, Blue thought that Charley was definitely more beautiful. Her gown was dark yellow rather than the bright yellow she usually wore, but the ribbon threaded through the intricate knot of honey-blonde hair at the back of her head was playful, a bright yellow that trailed down to caress her back. The bodice was daringly sleeveless, her generous bosom somehow lifted to hold the bodice out.
Whatever bra she was wearing, it was doing the job perfectly though he preferred her braless…with those delicious globes in his palms.
When she swung her head to see something, the dainty little drop pearl earrings quivered, perfectly matching the delicate chain necklace with the tiny pearl that sat just below her throat. A gift from her parents when she’d graduated nursing school.
In Blue’s eyes, she shone brightly and sweetly, a reflection of her nature.
As if sensing his regard, she smiled up at him. “You look handsome tonight, Blue.”
“Handsome enough to sneak out the back and make-out?”
“Absolutely.”
Blue started steering her towards a side door.
“I was kidding!”
“Now I’m crushed.”
“I was kidding about going out the back and making out.”
“Spoilsport.”
“I was honest about the handsome part.”
“No need to stroke my ego, Sunflower. You can owe me later.”
He delighted in the way those apple cheeks pinkened, the small white teeth nibbling her bottom lip, the shy but sparkling glance she gave him from beneath the shelter of those thick, dark eyelashes.
God, she was something, such a contradiction that never failed to delight him. Confident, sweet, funny, kind, thoughtful, and a little shy in the bedroom at times until he got her revved up, then she was a scorcher in the bed. Slowly, however, she was becoming less self-conscious with her nakedness in front of him. Probably because she finally believed that he loved all those lush curves.
He definitely owed Elspeth, Mikki, Luke and Aaron more than he could ever repay for their parts in Charley becoming his renter, because without them he might never have met her.
The thought alone made his elbow involuntarily bend further to hold her even tighter in his grip.
When she sent him a questioning glance, he simply smiled while steering her towards the banquet table set with so many finger foods of various kinds that he didn’t know where to start, much less what half of them were.
Taking a dainty plate each, they contemplated the food.
“What is this?” Charley whispered, pointing towards a tray of…something.
“I don’t know. They look like little wangers though, don’t they?”
“Blue!” She giggled, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth.
“Hey, I’m just saying. Want one?”
“Not after what you said.”
“But you like sampling min-” he began innocently, only to chuckle when she smacked his arm with a half-choked horrified whispered, “Stop that!”
“Okay. Moving right along. Okay, now that I do know.” Picking one up, he placed it on her plate.
“Wow,” she said dryly. “Fancy biscuit with spread.”
“Yeah. How smart am I?”
Laughing, they moved around the table, choosing a small assortment before he led her towards a table in the corner. Skirting the empty table, he walked through the heavy velvet curtains out onto a small balcony hidden from view. It was back lit by a softly glowing lamp in the garden.
“Oh, how wonderful.” Charley looked around, delighted. “It looks over the gardens, too. How utterly perfect.”
Pulling out one of the two wrought iron chairs with thin cushions that sat one each side of the little round table, Blue sat her down before settling into the other chair. “I scoped the place out earlier.”
“What? You just wandered in and poked around?”
“Sure.”
Charley studied the selection on her plate. “I don’t know whether to be horrified or admiring.”
“Admiring. When it comes to me, always be admiring.”
She chose a small, pastry-filled delicacy. “Your family seems quite close to Elspeth.”
“Don’t know about close.” Blue paused thoughtfully. “Though, yeah, I guess we kind of have grown close.”
“Have you known her long?”
“We first got to know of her with the fiasco with Luke, Mikki and Mikki’s then-boyfriend, but we got to know Elspeth personally when she contracted Dad’s company to renovate the old mansion she bought and turned into a hotel. Luke was also contracted to landscape the gardens, which is where he and Mikki spent time together and from there, well, the rest is history. Luke got it on with Mikki, and Elspeth came into the family via Mikki. Not to mention that Aaron has one of his security guards go off with Elspeth, Mikki and Izzy on their crack-brained ghost hunts.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about the ghost hunts.” She regarded him curiously. “You don’t believe in ghosts?”
He paused. “Well…” At her slightly raised eyebrow, he admitted slowly, “I’ve never seen a ghost, but I don’t disbelieve in them. How about you?”
“I’ve not seen one up close and personal, but I’ve seen some strange stuff.”
“Really?” Intrigued, he took a bite of a dainty pastry.
“Yes. A fan in a vacant room turning on by itself. You’d go in there and it would be on. You’d turn it off and unplug it, and sure as eggs next time you walked in it would be on.”
“Freaky. But hospital rooms don’t usually have fans in, do they?”
“This used to be a single room that was turned into a bit of a storeroom. So who knows who died there? The rumour was always that an old matron used to make sure fans were on in the room in summer.”
“So it only happened in summer.”
“No, it happened in winter, too.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, I’m just telling you what I saw, I’m not saying it made sense.”
“What about the nursing home you’re in now?”
“Oh sure. A call bell goes off in one of the rooms intermittently night and day, not every day either. Doesn’t matter if anyone is in the room or not, it’ll go off at odd times. The sparkies can’t find a fault, and we’ve all given up on it.”
“Doesn’t the patient get a little freaked?”
“No patient has ever said anything about it, no mention of feeling anything, and we don’t say much about it.”
“Have you told Mikki and Izzy this? Elspeth?”
“And have them sprung sneaking around the premises and getting arrested? No.” Charley wrinkled her nose at him. “Besides, I’m only telling you in strictest confidence because we do not discuss this outside work.”
“Oohh.” He winked at her. “Sunflower, you naughty girl. You’re telling tales outside work.”
“It must be you,” she replied primly. “Bad influence.”
He grinned expansively. “I own that, baby.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Sitting quietly in contented, comfortable silence, Blue relaxed. He liked that there was no need to talk, no need to fill the silence with chit-chat, that they were comfortable enough with each other to simply enjoy the evening and each other’s company.
It was as if they’d been married for years, and in fact he could imagine them sitting just like this in forty or fifty years time, just enjoying being together.
He flicked a glance at her. Charley was leaning back in the chair, knees crossed, hands linked lightly at her waist, elbows resting on the armrests, her gaze out over the romantically-lit garden. Okay, he was certain of his feelings about her, there was no doubt he was falling head-over-heels in love. While he really wanted to share that with her, he knew it was too soon. But that was okay, because he knew deep in his gut - heart?
whatever - that Charley wasn’t going anywhere. He just knew she’d be here waiting for him.
At that particular second she glanced across the table with a small smile hovering around those sweet, plump lips. “What?”
I love you. I want to marry you. I don’t want to scare the shit out of you by laying all that deep stuff on you just yet. “Enjoying the scenery. Enjoying being here with you.”
“Aw, sweet.” Those adorable dimples popped out.
““I’m also lovin’ that sleeveless dress. I want to check out that bra you’re wearing when we get home.”
She burst out laughing. “You’re such a drongo, Blue.”
“No, I’m sex mad for you. There’s a difference. Geez, woman, you should know me by now.”
“Sorry.” Amusement danced in her eyes. “How could I possibly be so mistaken?”
“I have no idea. I’ve tried to teach you.” Sadly, he shook his head. “Guess I’ll just have to try harder.”
“That’s your mission for the next two weeks.”
“I gladly accept.”
She was still smiling, but a slight shadow crossed her face as she looked out over the garden again.
“Charley?”
“Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, why?”
“For a second…”
“It’s all good.”
But he wasn’t convinced. As he studied her bright smile it hit him. Slowly, he bent his arm, his finger stroking along his chin. “It’s me going away, isn’t it? In two weeks?”
Charley met his gaze levelly. For several long seconds they looked at each other before she said quietly, “I won’t lie. I’m not looking forward to you going away. It just reminded me that we have two weeks left.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s just the way it is.” Her gaze didn’t falter. “This is the way it is. We know it, we accept it, remember?”
“Yeah.” He inhaled deeply. “I don’t like it when you’re sad, Sunflower.”
“There’s sadness that you’re going, Blue, but it’s a normal sadness. I’m not going to be hysterical or a sobbing mess. I knew what I was getting into when we started going out together, so sure, there’ll be bit of crying, but then I’ll have your return to look forward to.”
The Wells Brothers: Blue Page 25
