She swallowed, her mouth almost painfully dry. “Uh, can I have my panties?”
Brian smoothed her skirt back down her hips and then offered her his arm. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want them.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Oh, well now, that’s a perfectly good reason why I can’t have my panties back.” She lagged along behind him, glancing back over her shoulder at her reflection. “You can’t tell, can you?”
He stopped to get his jacket and then he slid a hand over her butt. “Relax. Nobody is going to know that you aren’t wearing anything under that dress except a bra.” He kissed her shoulder and added, “Nobody except me.”
* * * * *
As far as weddings went, Jaynie decided it was overdone, overblown. Kit was wearing a dress that seemed more appropriate for the royal family instead of the small Episcopal church off Highway 59. She had five bridesmaids and there was barely room for the entire wedding party at the front of the church.
Jaynie decided that Dean looked very GQ in his tuxedo and she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Landon as the best man. The vows the happy couple wrote were suitably sappy. Dean looked ridiculously happy and Jaynie hardly cared a bit.
By the time the ceremony was over, she was shifting uncomfortably on the church pew. Her butt was numb from the hard wooden bench and she was acutely aware of the fact that she was buck naked under her skirt. Not that those panties had really covered much.
Along with the rest of the guests, Brian and Jaynie were being herded toward the back of the church and out the doors. The wedding party would be busy for the next hour, easily, getting two hundred pictures taken and smiling for the camera. “I suppose you are going to insist on hitting the reception,” Brian asked. He had his hand in his pocket and she blushed. Every so often he did that. Some friend of the bride had sung “Ave Maria” and during the chorus, Brian had pulled the panties out. He had kept his hand closed around them but Jaynie had seen them.
He was trying to drive her nuts. She knew it. He’d been acting like this for the past two weeks, teasing, flirtatious. People at work were noticing. He had taken her out to lunch three times and he had hovered over her, so attentive and sweet. By the time the wedding came around, she felt more than a little dazed.
“No answer? Why don’t we head back to my house and…” He slid a hand down her hip, his touch slow and lingering. The soft, suggestive tone sent a shiver down her spine. She covered his hand and pressed it flat. It didn’t help much. The stroking stopped but now she could feel the heat of his hand and she couldn’t help but remember how it had felt stroking over her body.
They hadn’t been together since he’d left her apartment Sunday night two weeks ago, though she hadn’t spent a single evening alone. Her body was aching and she really, really wanted to tell him, Yes, screw the reception. Let’s go back to the house and go at each other like bunnies.
Instead, she craned her head around and whispered into his ear, “Later.”
He covered her lips with his, sighing into her mouth. “You sure?”
She pulled away and wagged her brows at him. “So you don’t want to dance with me at the reception?” They finally made their way through the crush of people at the entrance and she hooked her arm through his. “I don’t wear dresses too often and I’m pretty sure this will be the first time I’ve done any slow dancing while I’m naked under the dress.”
He slid her a hot look. “Okay. You win. But we’re going to dance later too. And you’ll be completely naked.”
Jaynie opened her mouth to tell him there was no way she was going to dance naked. But the words wouldn’t come. After all, she had thought that she wouldn’t go panty-less and here she was, the hot summer breeze blowing around her legs and caressing the naked skin under her dress.
* * * * *
“Jaynie?”
She was proud of herself. When she heard Dean speak behind her, she didn’t jump, didn’t flinch, and ignoring him only briefly occurred to her. Yes, she had been tempted. Ignoring him might have been petty but Jaynie figured she was entitled to be a little petty when it came to him.
Brian had gone to get her drink refilled, which was seriously excellent, she had to admit. She hardly ever drank more than a glass of wine at home now and then—she’d learned the hard way how important it was to be careful.
But she felt safe with Brian, safe enough to enjoy one glass and when he offered her another, she hadn’t refused. Spiked with rum and packing a punch, the concoction already had several people acting like idiots.
She had just now finished her first glass and when she turned to face Dean with a faint smile, she was glad she’d had that one glass, and only that one. At least for now. Her head was clear and when she studied Dean, she saw him with a clarity she’d never had before.
He’d always been a little vain. Jaynie had known that. But she hadn’t realized just how self-absorbed he was. But now? She saw it now. He stood just a few feet away, his head cocked so that his hair fell charmingly onto his forehead, a slight, puzzled smile on his sexy mouth. As though he was on some kind of stage, he had placed his body so he stood close enough for them to speak, but far enough away that she could admire him unobstructed. Unable to stop it, Jaynie smirked a little.
“Hello, Dean. Congratulations.”
He slid his gaze over her, from the top of her hair to her feet. Kate had gathered Jaynie’s hair into a loose twist and secured it with a sparkly clip the same color as Jaynie’s dress, teasing a few strands loose and then curling them. Jaynie had done her own makeup and had to admit that she looked pretty good.
The dress looked absolutely fantastic on her. Jaynie hadn’t been able to quite believe just how fantastic. It had been worth every last penny and every fricking second she’d sat still while Kate fussed with her hair, spritzed her perfume and generally acted as if it was prom night or something.
Dean’s lips curled in a warm, intimate smile and he murmured, “You look gorgeous, baby.”
She cocked a brow at the baby but she didn’t say anything other than “Thank you”. Then she made a pointed effort to find Kit. “Where is the new bride?”
They found her standing by the ice sculpture of two entwined dolphins. It sat in the middle of the huge table of food and made the perfect backdrop for Kit as she stood talking with her bridesmaids and flashing her ring at every opportunity. “Ah, there she is,” Jaynie said with a grin. “So nice to see that she can’t leave your side on this happy, happy day. Well, except to show her ring off to her dear, dear friends.”
Dean shrugged. “Kit’s the social type,” he said, his voice unconcerned. “I know you never had much use for it, but Kit likes being surrounded by people.”
Kit likes attention, Jaynie thought. “Yeah, I know. A minimum of two admirers at all times, right?” Jaynie asked.
He had the grace to look sheepish and she might have said something else, except Dean moved a little closer and lifted his hand to tug on one of the loose strands of hair that framed her face. “I can’t believe how wonderful you look,” he murmured. “I know how much you hate to take the time—”
At that she stepped back. Yeah, she had taken a lot of time on this, for this very reason. Yet, she hadn’t thought about what Dean would think, other than amazement hopefully. She’d wanted him to be amazed, all right. The way his eyes had slid over her and the shock, before he’d covered it, had done wonders for the still-healing wounds he’d inflicted on her pride.
But as the look in his eyes changed, Jaynie started to wonder why she’d needed this so badly. He had a familiar, intimate look in his eyes and his voice had dropped an octave or two, hitting that low, sexy rumble that had always driven her crazy. It wasn’t having the effect Dean had probably planned, though. Jaynie just wanted to hit him. Hard, preferably right in his oh-so-perfect nose.
He eased a little closer, close enough now that she could feel his body heat and smell the scent of af
ter shave. She’d always thought that cologne smelled so sexy, but now she found it a little pretentious. The way Brian smelled, warm and male—like soap and shampoo and something that was uniquely him—now that was sexy.
Dean reached up and laid his hand at the small of her back, his fingers splayed wide, caressing the skin left bare by the low back of the dress. “We should talk sometime, catch up a little.”
“I think you should move your hand off before I take it off at the wrist,” Jaynie said with a chilly smile. She shifted away from him and slanted a look in Kit’s direction. “We don’t have anything to catch up on, Dean.”
His charming smile took on a harder edge. “Don’t we? We have a lot of history between us, Jaynie. That history is why you’re here, right?”
Jaynie smirked. “No. That history is why I didn’t torch your clothes when I came back to get my stuff. The reason I’m here now is because I wanted to see what I would feel.”
Cocking a brow at her, Dean smiled. “And what do you feel?”
“Nothing,” she replied and that realization had her grinning widely. “Not much of anything at all, Dean. Kit’s welcome to you.”
She turned to go and ended up walking into Brian’s arms. He smiled down at her, bent his head and brushed his lips across one bare shoulder. She accepted the drink from him and glanced back at Dean before smiling up at Brian. “Come on. I’m ready to go.”
But Brian slid a hand down her arm and linked their fingers, bringing their hands to his lips. He kissed the back of her knuckles and murmured, “You still owe me a dance, Jaynie.” He slid his other arm around her waist, pulling her up against him.
The feel of him through the thin layer of her dress and his suit reminded her of what she wasn’t wearing—that Brian still had her panties in his pants pocket. The hot look in his eyes turned her knees to putty and she realized, embarrassingly, that she was swaying toward him.
“Besides,” Brian added, “We haven’t really offered our congratulations to the happy couple, have we?”
“Our?” Dean interrupted. Jaynie glanced back and saw that Dean was studying them with narrowed eyes. His eyes lingered down low and she realized that he was staring at Brian’s hand on her lower back. She shifted in Brian’s embrace, to stand with her back pressed to his front.
“Our,” Brian repeated. He kissed her shoulder and Jaynie shivered a little when he touched his tongue to her skin. Then he lifted his head and surveyed the crowded reception hall. “Pretty decent party, I guess. Me and Jaynie, though, we’re probably going to go for something a little quieter.”
It took a minute for his meaning to penetrate and by the time it did, Dean was staring at them with a flushed face and disbelieving eyes. “You and Jaynie?” he repeated.
Jaynie was thinking, Me and Jaynie…what? She turned her head to stare at Brian. He reached around, cupped her chin and angled it up to meet him as he brought his mouth down on hers. His kiss was deep, breath-stealing and when he pulled away, she couldn’t have said anything to save her life. It seemed as though her higher brain function had just shut down.
Dean’s insistent voice cut in through the fog of sexual arousal, buzzing around her like some sort of pesky insect. Licking her lips, she looked back at Dean. “Huh?”
Brian laughed and nuzzled her neck.
“Are you two together?”
The disbelief in Dean’s voice jarred her enough that she came dropping back down to earth. She really should say something. Really. But the way Dean was glaring at her, like she’d done something wrong, totally pissed her off. She slid a hand down and covered Brian’s. Their fingers twined and Jaynie couldn’t keep relaxing against him. “Sort of looks that way, doesn’t it?”
Whatever else Dean might have said, Jaynie didn’t know because Brian spoke over her shoulder. “Congratulations, Dean. Now, Jaynie, about that dance…”
He took her drink and put it down on the table before guiding her out onto the dance floor. Jaynie let him pull her into his arms and then she looked over his shoulder toward Dean. “You shouldn’t have done that, Brian,” she said, even though she couldn’t stop smirking.
“Done what?” he asked as he pulled her up against him. He rested his hand low, way low, on her back. He was practically cupping her ass to hold her against him and she shivered at the slow, deliberate way he caressed her flesh.
“Let him think we’re talking about getting married,” she said.
“Oh. That.” He seemed unconcerned, lowering his head to nuzzle her neck.
“Yes, that,” she responded.
“Don’t see why not.” Brian brought his free hand up and brushed the strap of her dress aside, kissing her naked shoulder.
“How about because it’s not true?”
Finally, he lifted his head to stare at her with a queer little smile. “Oh, it’s true, all right.” He cupped her chin, holding her still so that she couldn’t have looked away from that intense stare if she had to. There was no way she could have looked away just then, though. “You’re going to marry me, Jaynie.”
“I am?”
“Hmmmm.” He kissed her and it wasn’t the sort of kiss that belonged at a very public party. He kissed her as if they were already naked, as if he was already inside her. He kissed her in a way that had her so much more aroused than she had ever been with Dean. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, kissing her deep and hard, circling her tongue with his and then settling into a rhythmic ebb and flow that had her rocking against him and whimpering in her throat. More…more…more…she thought mindlessly as he pulled away.
Kisses like that shouldn’t happen unless she was in a place where she could strip naked and jump on him. But that was exactly why he’d done it, she realized, to make her so stupid with lust that she barely paid attention to what he said. “We haven’t even really gone out on a date, but you’re telling me that we’re getting married?”
He shrugged. “We can do the dating part later. And don’t worry, I know you need a little bit of time to get used to the idea.” He skimmed his hands down her sides, pulled her flush against him. “But you’re going to marry me, Jaynie.”
He stepped back a little, putting a few inches between them as he looked around the room. When he grabbed her hand and started walking, pulling her along behind him, Jaynie numbly went along. She was still trying to process this marriage thing he was rambling about. “Brian, where are we going? And what are you talking about, us getting married? We can’t get married.”
“Yes, we can,” he said as they left the reception hall, but not through the main entrance. He was walking so fast she could barely keep up with him. “And we’re going to. But don’t worry. I’m not in any rush…ah, that’s what I need.”
She looked up and saw the closed door in front of her. She had no idea where they were but figured they were in some administration part of the rental hall. “What are we doing here?”
He opened the door and went inside, pulling her in after him. It was dim—the only light came through a partially opened door in the back. He let go of her hand and went to peer through the door. She saw enough to know it was a bathroom and then she looked back at Brian. The look in his eyes was all the answer she needed to know what they were doing.
With no preliminaries, without saying a word, Brian reached out and fisted his hands in her skirt, slowly raising up and baring her to his gaze. “It’s been driving me crazy, thinking about you naked under this dress,” he murmured, watching with rapt fascination as he bared her knees, her thighs. As the hem edged up past her hips, he sank to his knees in front of her.
He leaned in and put his mouth on her and Jaynie’s knees damn near gave out. She slammed her hands down, bracing herself against the smooth wooden door at her back but it didn’t help much as he slid his tongue around her clit in a slow, teasing circle. Then down…down…down…and in. Jaynie gasped out his name and began to sag down. In an effort to stay upright, she gripped the doorknob, squeezing it until her knuckles went wh
ite.
He stiffened his tongue and stabbed it inside her, over and over. Then he slid his hands up over the back of her calves, her knees, her thighs and cupped her butt in his hands. As he took some of her weight, she sagged back in relief and fisted her hands in the thick, unruly silk of his hair. “Brian…” She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the darkened office. The wedge of light coming in through the open bathroom door fell on him, highlighting half of his face, throwing the other half into shadow. He lifted his head and glanced up at her.
“You’re so fucking sweet,” he muttered, and his voice was thick, almost drugged-sounding. He pressed his mouth back against her.
“Brian, we can’t—”
“We can,” he growled. The vibration of it went singing through her and she shivered. “We will. Come, Jaynie. I’m dying here.”
His tongue circled her entrance and then pushed back inside her. She sobbed, feeling the world around her begin to shake and deep inside she felt a hot, thrumming beat start, pulsing and pounding through her in rhythm with the strokes of his tongue moving in and out of her sex. He stroked his fingers up and down her hip, pulled her in closer to his mouth, away from the door so that she was all but riding him. Then…he spanked her, his hand coming down with jarring force on the curve of her rump. She arched up and screamed his name.
He growled against her and shifted to take her clit between his teeth, biting down with soft, gentle force. Jaynie came, rocking against him and crying as the climax tore through her. Before she had a chance to even breathe, he had her on the floor under him, her legs shoved wide and her skirt pushed to her waist. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rubber.
Brian never looked away from her face as he tore the packet open and rolled the thin latex barrier down over his rigid cock. He covered her, pushed inside her and Jaynie reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. He crushed her into the carpet and muttered in her ear, “You’re going to go out there looking like you’ve been fucked, smelling like me. He’s going to look at you and know he can’t ever touch you again. You are mine, Jaynie. Even if you haven’t figured it out yet.”
One of the Guys Page 8
