Pulling into her driveway, she had to admit to being a bit relieved he hadn’t beaten her back. She’d made a few more stops before heading home and figured he’d had some errands of his own. He said he’d be back this afternoon, and she didn’t doubt him. There was a job to do, and even if a personal line had been crossed in the adult store, he’d finish the work on her house.
She pressed the button on the garage door opener and drove in. She grabbed her purse and her purchases and exited the car. Leaning against the warm metal, she closed her eyes, still thinking of Buck. The arousal from earlier in the morning when she’d taken coffee to him out at the shed combined with the arousal from the adult store thrummed through her. She took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. What’s done was done, and it was time to get to work and stop thinking about it for a while.
“Yeah, you go ahead and try that,” she muttered to herself, pushing away from the car in the direction of the door to the house. Straight into her home office, she shrugged out of her hoodie and tossed it and her purse into the corner before setting the bag from the yarn store on her worktable. She had an order to fill for a crochet basket for a newly pregnant woman. The mother of the mom-to-be ordered the theme basket as a birthday gift, and Caroline needed to get it out in the mail first thing tomorrow.
She pulled a set of three boxes with a pale green stripe pattern from the top shelf of the closet. In the bottom box went a spiral bound crochet patterns for baby book and three skeins of hand-dyed yarn—baby green, baby yellow and a variegated purple ranging from dark violet to very light lavender. Being they didn’t know what sex the baby would be, the mother’d requested colors other than pink or blue. In the middle box she put crochet needles, handcrafted and personalized with the name of the recipient. The mother’d requested that, also saying she had been given needles with her name engraved on them. It seemed to be a tradition passed down from mother to daughter during the first pregnancy.
The top box would contain a pair of white baby booties, crocheted by Caroline herself. Throughout the package, were little hidden gifts—a crochet charm, a little book about being a first time mom, a baby duck stuffed animal, even packets of decaf herbal teas and a small journal.
Caroline smiled. She loved the baby ducks. They were her signature of sorts, her extra special touch. For every gift she put together, there was always a baby duck.
She went to the chest of drawers on the opposite wall from her table and in the top drawer, rifled through the ribbons. She had a pretty purple ribbon with very thin green and brown stripes somewhere. It would be perfect for the boxes, but damn if she knew where it was. She closed the drawer and opened the second one. Nope, still nothing. Surely it wouldn’t be in the third one, that’s where she kept…other things, but she looked anyway.
“What are you looking for?”
Caroline slammed the drawer shut and turned her head at the voice in the doorway. Buck. She hadn’t heard him drive up, hadn’t heard him come in the house. “Hi. How long have you been standing there?”
“Since you started looking through the first drawer and mumbling to yourself.”
“Oh.” She stood from her crouching position. “I’m looking for a ribbon.”
“To be tied up with?”
She grinned. She didn’t mean to. It just happened. She should have been shocked instead, right? Well, maybe not, probably not, considering their earlier encounter, but it seemed her uncertainty when she was driving home of having maybe pushed went right out the window when she was face to face with him.
It had always been the other way around with other men, but with Buck, from the first time they met, she was comfortable with him. It didn’t hurt that he looked like he wanted to devour her at times. And she had to remind herself that Buck wasn’t a lover chosen for her by another man, by Derek. He was just a man and maybe they were choosing each other.
“Well no, but now that you mention it…” She winked at him and was rewarded with heat flaring in his eyes and a smile spreading over his mouth.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I brought the stuff I needed for fixing the deck out back and the new screen door. I’ll be working on it tomorrow.”
“Okay. Are you leaving for today? I mean, you could have picked up what you needed tomorrow instead of coming back now.”
“No, I’m not leaving today. But I am done working outside. I have some things in the house I need to do.”
“Sure, okay.” Arousal was back full force, and her blood was hot. He was going to be in the house working. She’d be able to hear him, probably even see him when she left her office. It was time to honestly admit how much she wanted him, and it wasn’t just a little bit. No, it was a whole hell of a lot.
She turned away, intent on going back to work. She put her hands on her hips and gazed around the room. The ribbon had to be there somewhere. She—
Her thoughts were interrupted by his voice again, though this time from right behind her, his breath on her neck, his body a solid wall at her back.
“You didn’t ask what I’m going to be doing in the house.”
“Oh. Was I supposed to?” She really didn’t care what he was going to do. She just liked the idea of him being nearby. She was coming to like that way too much.
“Yes, you were.”
“Okay. Well, what are you going to do?”
His lips feathered kisses at her ear. “You. I’m going to do you.”
“I…I have to finish this for a customer.” She waved her hand toward the worktable piled high with projects needing to be completed.
“Yes, I know you do, but it’ll still be there in a few hours.”
True. She had all night to complete things, to finish filling the orders. But would she want to? Would she want to tear herself out of Buck’s arms and away from his body to start working again? She highly doubted it.
“I won’t keep you away for long. I’ll make sure to have you back to work soon as we’re done.”
“Promise?” Her heart sped up, and she wiped her hands against her jeans. When had they gotten clammy? When had she gotten nervous?
“Oh yes, sweet Caroline, I promise.”
She turned and kissed him, harder than she had in the toy store. Her lips pressed into his, and her arms wrapped around his neck. His tongue pushed at her lips and she opened them, letting him inside, tasting him and purring with delight. He tasted like tea, sweet and sugary with lemon. He smelled of aftershave, but she didn’t know what kind. She liked it though and wanted to know the name of it. She wanted to be able to go places and find it, smell it and remember this time with him. She sucked on his tongue and nibbled and when she slid hers alongside his and into his mouth he did more than nibble, he bit. He ended the kiss and dropped his head to her neck, licking a trail up to her chin.
“Have you ever been with a younger man?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “I haven’t.”
“That’s good, I guess.”
His hands, rough and strong wrapped around her back and tugged her into the hardness of his body. “You guess? Got a thing for naughty man on man sex?”
“Mmmm. Not really, but I could probably be persuaded.”
“I’ll remember that.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?”
“Because, if it’s something you want from me, I should at least be willing to consider it. It’s what lovers do.”
“It is?” She’d never thought about things that way before. Sure, she knew being in a relationship, whether casual or serious, required give and take, but she also knew there were some sexual fantasies most people shied away from sharing or even considering fulfilling for their lovers. Then again, Derek had tried to manipulate her to gain her cooperation in his sexual games, telling her if she loved him, she’d give in. For a few years, she had, but she tired of it quickly when she realized it was for him alone and that he really didn’t care if she participated or not. It had only been a way to keep her from crying adultery. So
on after, he’d stopped caring how it looked. How it appeared. How it hurt her.
“Yes, it is. So,” he said, sliding his hands under her tee shirt to her bra, cupping her breasts through the soft lacy material, “I know about the clamps, the dildos, the naughty lingerie, the crops. What don’t I know? Is there more? Wait, what’s this I feel?”
He squeezed her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, drawing a whimper of need from her. He’d found them. For a moment she wished she’d worn one of her new, sexy shelf bras, but then he pulled the cups down under her breasts, creating a make-shift shelf of sorts. He dropped his hands and pulled her shirt up, exposing her chest.
“Pierced? Your pretty, perfect nipples are pierced? Damn, they’re beautiful like that. Lift your arms, I want this shirt off.”
She lifted, and he pulled it free of her head and arms. His gaze zeroed in on the little silver rings, and she saw that familiar lustful look come over him. “You like them.” It was a statement, not a question, and he nodded. “No one has seen them since I had them done.”
“No one? How long ago was that?”
“December. At a place in Atlanta. I was on my way to a cabin in the mountains for the holidays. I didn’t want to be here when…”
It had been an impromptu decision, made the day she saw Derek’s wedding announcement in the local paper. Things were well and truly over. It was time for her to move on, and that’s exactly what she’d made a choice to do right then and there…move on.
A road trip had been planned for his wedding day and during the drive through Georgia, she decided on a few of the changes she would make. Getting her nipples pierced was just one of them. Starting a home-based business was another. Getting a tattoo and purchasing some sexy, new lingerie she liked and not what someone else told her to wear were the last two changes she’d made until she got to the cabin she’d booked for the Christmas week. Making the decision to move, to truly start her life over away from everything she’d known for the last almost twenty years had been the hardest one and yet at the same time, the easiest.
“When he got remarried?”
“Yes.”
He grasped hold of the rings and pulled. She moaned long and low, arching, thrusting her chest forward, seeking more. “Good. I’m glad you did something for yourself.” He leaned down and took one between his teeth, continuing the pressure.
She knew how much she loved it when she pinched, clamped and clipped her nipples, but she’d forgotten how much she loved it when a man touched them, especially a man with fingers roughened and callused from hard work. She’d missed the scrape against her sensitive skin, and her nipples were the most sensitive part of her body. For now.
“Are you pierced anywhere else?” he asked, continuing to toy with her.
“Not yet.” The changes in her life weren’t complete. If she had anything to say about it, and actually she had everything to say about it, the changes would never be finished. She would always change, grow, learn. Much as she loved submission, she had a brain and dreams of her own and any good dominant would realize stagnation was never good for anyone. That being supportive of her independence was nothing less than ensuring her devotion.
Bright blue eyes lanced her. “Yet?”
“Yet.”
“You’re planning on more? Where? Show me.”
She had to talk herself into not looking away from him. Stripping out of her jeans and panties was an exercise in balance and nerves. His gaze never wavered. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and hide. She wanted nothing more than to stare back at him, show him she wasn’t nervous. In that moment, everything was a contradiction. It was one thing to explore her newfound freedom and sexuality on her own, but Buck was the first lover she’d had in all these months.
“On the floor, Caroline and show me.”
She dropped, lay back on the soft carpet and opened her legs. Heat filled her cheeks, her entire body, and this time she closed her eyes. Doubt swirled inside. She was older than him, but when she felt his hands on her knees, nothing but the hunger mattered and filled her.
“Smooth. I love smooth pussy, Caroline. So much sensation, so much to see, touch, taste. Show me. With your fingers, show me where you want to be pierced.”
“I…I don’t think I can.”
“Oh, I think you have to. Here, I’ll help you. Give me your hand.”
Caroline held her hand out and Buck took it, laying it flat against her sex. Hot, wet slickness teased her fingers into moving, sliding through sensitive flesh. Her index finger circled her clit, tapped it lightly. “Here.”
“Beautiful. Where else?”
She parted her fingers and used them to frame the outer lips of her pussy. “Here and…here.” Her fingertips fluttered against the dark pink inner lips.
“Good. Five little rings. I love it. Maybe we can loop ribbon through them…”
“Maybe.” She didn’t know where it came from, but it was back, the bravado she’d had with him, the ease she’d known since she met him and she opened her eyes. His fingers joined hers in her sex, both of them teasing her until she was trembling, straining, aching. “Please, Buck, I need to come.”
“I know. I want you to. I need you to. Ever since I met you, I’ve wanted to know what your face would look like when you came, what your body would feel like when it shuddered against my hand, my mouth, my cock. You know this though, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know. I want to know the same thing.”
He grinned at her, his fingers never stopped moving, never stopped driving her higher, harder, deeper into the clawing hunger. “Let’s find out then, shall we?”
Chapter Three
Buck lowered his mouth, licked at her fingers, tempted her clit with his tongue. She smelled sweet, like vanilla, but stronger, hotter. He’d wanted women as much as he wanted her, but at the same time, he’d never wanted anyone the way he wanted her. Wanton, almost slutty, needy and desperate for his touch, his attention.
He ate at her, nibbled her cunt lips, drove his tongue inside until she creamed for him, lifting her hips and offering him more, offering him all he wanted. She was the feast he’d been starving for.
She worked her clit, and he fucked her with short stabs of his tongue. She humped his face, and he devoured her. Her free hand gripped his hair in a fist, and she rode up on his mouth, grinding herself to orgasm. Her whole body tensed, and she cried out. She screamed. She whispered his name over and over again until she dropped back to the floor and pushed at him to let up on her.
He looked up, smiled and kissed her lower belly. “Now, back to work with you.”
Her breathing was starting to return to normal, and he slid up her naked form until he could kiss her mouth, transfer her incredible taste onto her tongue. Arms and legs wrapped around him until he was locked tight against her. Their kiss scorched his senses, and he was going to have zipper marks along the length of his cock from being so fucking hard.
“Mmm. Thank you,” she murmured against his lips.
“You’re most welcome,” he murmured back. “Ever worked naked?”
She blushed again. God it screwed with his sanity when she did that. Given all her sexual experience, all her knowledge of the world, she still blushed like an innocent. He knew for a fact her husband had been anything but saintly during their marriage, and she had at times participated, but he loved the contrast in her, the seemingly two sides of her.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Maybe you should. Maybe you should get completely naked and finish your work.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Stay and watch.”
Her eyes widened, the amber liquid color darkening. “You’re not serious.”
“Oh I am completely serious. We’re not done, Caroline. Not by a long shot.”
“I know, but to watch me work while I’m naked? Why would you want to do that?”
He disentangled himself from her arms and pulled her up. Reaching around, h
is fingers trailed up and down her back before tugging the hooks of her bra free and removing it. “Because.”
“That’s not a good enough reason.”
Buck lightly slapped her on the ass. “Tough. It’s the only answer you’re going to get.”
Her lips quirked and heat warmed her eyes. She shrugged and moved out of his arms and over to her worktable, her round ass and hips making him regret letting her go so easily. Then again, watching her move, sexy and confident, her body flushed with lingering arousal, was an amazing sight.
“Okay then.”
He laughed. He had to. She was such a contradiction. One minute she was shy and innocent, even a little uncertain and the next she was sassy and flirty. She was a woman rediscovering herself, or maybe she was discovering herself on her own terms for the first time in her life. He didn’t know which it was, but he would enjoy exploring with her.
At least until her house sold.
He ignored that thought and settled against the wall opposite where she was working at assembling the gift boxes. She was lost in it again and being naked didn’t seem to bother her at all as she’d tried to make him believe it did, neither did him being there. It was simply new and different and out of her comfort zone. Every now and then she turned to the side, and he got a glimpse of full lush breast with the little silver ring hanging from her erect nipple. How could he not have noticed before her nipples were pierced? He’d seen her plenty of times outside, inside, with pointed nipples, and he’d never caught the slightest hint. He knew now though, and he would be playing with them as often as possible and the fact she wanted other piercings… Shit, his cock strained at his jeans again, wanting out, wanting to feel her against him without the jewelry, and then with them.
Sweet Caroline Page 2