Harlequin Desire February 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: The King Next DoorMarriage With BenefitsA Real Cowboy (Kings of California)

by Maureen Child

  This will be good, he told himself as he plucked her wineglass from her hand and set both glasses on the step. Get her into bed and get over it. Once he’d had her, Nicole would be like every other woman he’d ever met. She’d stop taunting his every damn thought and he’d be able to sleep in peace again. Then they could both move on.

  Hell, this was brilliant.

  He should have come up with this idea himself, and if she hadn’t been making him so nuts lately, he might have. But, he told himself, he wouldn’t have made a move on her anyway. Not with the single-mother thing. Not to mention the fact that his cousin’s wife would kill Griffin if he hurt Nicole.

  Well, hell, what was a little threat of death when compared to a completely alluring woman in a tiny bikini?

  “No strings,” she whispered.

  “No promises,” he agreed.

  “Just a fling.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I brought condoms.” She pulled a few foil packets from where she’d stashed them beneath the ties at the side of her bikini.

  “Good thinking,” Griffin murmured just before he took her mouth in a kiss he’d been thinking about for days.

  The first touch of her lips was electric. The sensation sizzled through him like a live wire dropped onto wet pavement. He was on fire. Every cell in his body shouted hallelujah.

  He parted her lips with his tongue and she opened for him willingly, eagerly. Her tongue tangled with his, shooting fresh need through his system. He dragged her closer, pulling her onto his lap, bending her back over his arm, his mouth locked to hers. Her arms came up around his neck, her hands sliding over his warm, wet skin.

  The glide of her fingers against his back was frantic, as if she couldn’t touch him enough, and Griffin felt the same. He held her tighter, closer, and still he wanted more of her. Her body was slender yet curvy in all the right places and he wanted to explore them all.

  He slid one hand to cup her right breast and she arched into him. His thumb brushed across her hardened nipple and she shuddered.

  “Griffin!”

  “Oh, yeah,” he whispered, drawing back to look down at her. Her eyes were glazed, her mouth parted on a sigh of pleasure as his fingers continued to tug and toy with her nipples, one after the other.

  She wiggled on his lap and he hissed in reaction. He was as hard as stone and so tight he felt as if he might explode with one wrong move.

  So he was going to make all of the right ones.

  He took hold of her waist, drew her up and set her across him, straddling his lap. Damn near killed him, but he maintained. Her knees on the bench seat, she leaned in toward him and smiled as her breasts brushed across his chest. “This is great. Really.”

  “It’s about to get better,” he promised in a hushed tone barely audible over the roar of the jets.

  “Show me.”

  “Just about to,” he said and kissed her again. God, the taste of her, he thought, losing himself in the sensations pouring through him. The feel of her in his arms. Her legs pressed to his. Her breath sifting into his mouth. Griffin was nearly blind with lust. He’d never wanted any other woman so much. Never had been so dazzled by the taste of any woman that he was like a man dying for more.

  And though a warning chime went off somewhere in the back of his mind, Griffin ignored it. Whatever was going on between them was a worry for some other time. All he wanted, needed now was to be inside her. To claim her body as thoroughly as he’d dreamed of doing.

  He slid his hands to the sides of her bikini bottoms and tugged. Following his lead, she went up on her knees and slithered out of the fabric as he drew it down her legs. By the time she was free of them, she was nearly breathless. So was Griffin.

  “Touch me.”

  “Plan to,” he assured her and cupped the core of her.

  She groaned, a deep, throaty sound that seemed to reach for the center of his chest and squeeze. Hunger radiated through him, and yet there was more than his own need gnawing at him. There was the need to watch her orgasm. To feel release ripple through her body. To see the flash of satisfaction gleam in her eyes.

  He slid one finger inside her and smiled when she gasped again.

  “That feels so good...”

  “Gonna be better,” he said and dipped two fingers into her heat, pushing them high, stroking, caressing the depths of her body until she was trembling and swaying on her knees. He wrapped one arm around her back to hold her still and used his fingers to drive her wild. His touch claimed her in swift, sure strokes as his thumb caressed that one sensitive nub of flesh at her center until she clutched at his shoulders for balance. She threw her head back and her blond hair swung in a wide arc behind her as she gave herself up entirely to the feelings he was causing.

  His gaze locked on her, his own body clamored for release, but he was caught up in what she was feeling. His heartbeat thundered, his mouth went dry and as he gently pushed her over the edge, he held her safely in his arms.

  * * *

  Nicole could hardly breathe and wasn’t sure if she cared or not. All she could think of was the dazzling pleasure she’d just found. It had been so long since a man had touched her, and even then, she was forced to admit, it had been nothing like this.

  She looked into Griffin’s summer-blue eyes and read the passion she’d longed for. That she’d come to him to find. She still couldn’t believe she’d had the guts to lay out this proposition to him, but she was so glad she had. The fire, the heat she saw in his eyes was something she wanted now more than ever.

  Her hands slid across his shoulders, slick with water, and she felt the taut muscles beneath his skin. His hair was as black as midnight and the light in his eyes shone just for her. For this one moment, anyway, Nicole was the only woman in Griffin King’s life, and that thought spiraled through her mind and body like a straight shot of warm tequila.

  The hot water lapped at her body as he lowered her to his lap. She felt the hard length of him pressed against her still-quivering core and the fire inside her jumped into life again. This was the best night ever.

  “That was so good,” she said, leaning forward to plant a quick kiss on his mouth. He caught her there and deepened the kiss, dragging it out until her head swam and her blood boiled. The sweep of his tongue against hers, the feel of his breath sliding into her lungs, the touch of his hands at her back, it was all sensation overload.

  She was melting against him, folding into that broad, sculpted chest she’d been sneaking peeks of for so long. When he finally released her, he slid his hands to the front clasp of her bikini top. “Only the beginning,” he said.

  “I am so glad to hear that,” Nicole whispered and shrugged out of her top. He tossed it over the edge of the tub and she instantly felt more...wicked. Naked in a hot tub with Griffin King. The kind of thing dreams were made of, she thought absently as his hands moved to cup her breasts.

  Then every thought in her head cut off completely. How could she think when Griffin was touching her? She sighed and didn’t bother trying to hide her reaction. “You have magic hands.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  “I’ll bet you have,” she said. And if a warning bell sounded in her mind, she ignored it. She had known going in that he was a player. That a lot of women had been where she was now. Oh, all right, not in this particular hot tub, but with him. Feeling what he was doing to her.

  But tonight, she didn’t care about how many women he’d been with. The point was, he was with her now. That was all that mattered. One night. One week. She didn’t care how long it lasted. This was her fling and she was going to enjoy every minute of it.

  “This was the best idea I’ve ever had,” Nicole said softly, and meant it. No matter what happened after tonight, she wouldn’t regret anything.

  “Have to agree,”
Griffin told her.

  Warm water bubbled and frothed around them. The jets pulsed like a quickening heartbeat in the darkness. Nicole savored the feel of the water caressing her skin even as Griffin’s hands moved up and down her back. He leaned in and kissed the line of her throat and she tipped her head to one side, allowing him more room. His hands fell to her waist and with one smooth move, he lifted her off him.

  “Hey—”

  “One second—” In what seemed like less than that, he’d stripped off his board shorts, stood up to sheath himself in one of the condoms she’d provided and reached for her again. He positioned her exactly the way she had been and this time when Nicole lowered herself onto his lap, there was no swimsuit between them. All she felt was him. She sucked in a gulp of air and met his gaze squarely.

  “Gotta have you,” Griffin said, holding her hips in a firm grip.

  “Oh, me, too.” Nicole raised up and then, still keeping her eyes on his, lowered herself again, this time taking him inside her. Inch by glorious inch, he filled her, and Nicole’s body stretched to accommodate him. It had been so long since she’d been with anyone, it was as if it was the first time.

  Only better.

  “Oh, yeah,” he whispered and pushed himself even deeper inside.

  Nicole gasped and wriggled her hips, creating a delicious friction that only made the ache she was feeling sweeter, more desperate.

  “You’re gonna kill me if you keep that up,” he warned.

  “You want me to stop it then,” she asked, tossing her hair back from her face.

  “God, no,” he countered quickly. “Never stop. I’ll risk death. It’d be worth it.”

  “Just what I was thinking,” she admitted and began to move on him.

  His hands at her hips guided her and still she couldn’t move fast enough. She needed...needed...

  “That’s it,” Griffin muttered and shifted. Keeping their bodies locked together, he twisted around until Nicole was reclined on the narrow bench seat and he was looming over her.

  “I need you bad,” he confessed and Nicole read the truth in his eyes. He was as inflamed as she. As lost to the amazing sensations. Need was alive and tearing at them both. Hunger roared around them and they answered.

  She slapped one hand onto the lip of the hot tub and held tight as Griffin moved on her. He withdrew and then plunged even deeper than before and she groaned even as her hips lifted to meet his. Again and again, he pistoned against her, his hands firmly gripping her thighs, holding her in place while his body claimed hers.

  The orgasm he’d given her earlier was nothing compared to what was coming. She felt tension clawing at her. Felt her release hovering just out of reach. She worked for it. Sliding her free hand over his chest and around to his broad, slick back. The feel of him under her hands was nearly as sexy as the feel of his body sliding deep.

  Her breath shortened, her heartbeat thundered and the friction within sizzled.

  “Griffin!”

  “Go,” he urged, his voice a rasp of urgency. “Let go, Nicole.”

  “With you,” she said, just as desperately, feeling her climax begin to crash down on her. “Both of us.”

  He laughed harshly. “Stubborn woman.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she agreed, then clutched his behind and pulled him tightly to her just as they exploded together and rode that flash of heat as it consumed them.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, they were sprawled in the hot tub, grinning at each other, and Griffin realized he’d never enjoyed himself with a woman as much as he just had. Fling or not, there was more of a connection with Nicole than he’d ever had before, too.

  They’d been friends first, he thought and maybe that was the difference. The question was, now that they’d had each other, would they still be friends?

  “That was...” Nicole said, floating lazily in the water.

  “Yeah, it really was,” Griffin told her, reaching out to stroke one hand along the length of her body.

  She shivered. And turned her head to look at him. “Oh, now you’re just teasing me.”

  “Just keeping you in the mood.”

  “No worries there,” she said on a sigh, “the way I feel right now...”

  “Now who’s teasing?” he asked and grabbed her ankle to pull her closer.

  She wrapped one arm around his neck and slid her free hand down across his chest. “I can see why you like this hot tub so much. It’s great,” she said.

  “It is now,” he told her and caught her hand in his. Her fingers were long, slender. Her eyes were swimming with the glaze of spent passion and banked fires.

  He could hardly believe what had just happened. He’d known Nicole for more than a year, and yet now, it was all different. Of course...

  He chuckled. “Y’know, if Katie ever hears about this, she’ll kill me.”

  “Oh,” Nicole said lightly, “Katie won’t find out from me. I don’t want anyone to know.”

  He just looked at her. Griffin didn’t know if he was excited by a secret affair or insulted that she was so determined to keep him hidden.

  “I mean, really,” Nicole continued, leaning into him, “I’m in no hurry to tell people that I blackmailed a man into a night of sex, which I completely did—because you so owed me for the kitchen.”

  That was something, he supposed. Not that she was trying to hide him so much as she was trying to avoid mention of blackmail. Then he asked, “So have I paid my debt?”

  “It’s a good down payment,” she told him with a smile.

  “Yeah?” He grinned at her. “Well, it was a hell of a fire.”

  “Exactly. Might take a little while to settle up.”

  “I’m a man who pays my debts,” he told her.

  “Glad to hear it.”

  He sensed that she was ready for more, and God knew he was. He couldn’t remember any other time when he’d been this hungry for a woman. When just the brush of her hand against his skin was damn near molten.

  No, there’d never been another like Nicole. And when he was capable of rational thought again, he’d have to spend some time considering what that might mean. But for now...

  “Come here,” he whispered and met her halfway. His mouth was just a breath away from hers when it happened.

  “Mommmmmmyyyyy...”

  A warbling voice erupted from the baby monitor and they both turned to look at it. Just like that, the spell between them shattered. Hearing Connor’s voice was like a cold shower for Griffin, and he guessed the same was true for Nicole. She pulled back and reached for the monitor, turning down the volume. Connor’s cries were muffled now, but no less insistent.

  “Guess our night is over,” she said, reluctance obvious in her tone. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He lifted one hand and smoothed a wet lock of her hair back from her face, trailing his fingertips across her cheek as he did.

  One touch.

  He was on fire again with no hope of quenching it. One damn night. It might have been enough with anyone else, but with Nicole...

  Connor’s voice reached for them from inside the house, reminding each of them that their night was over. That reality had come crashing down on them.

  “You’d better go,” Griffin said quietly. He wanted to grab hold of her and keep her just where she was. But he couldn’t and he knew it. Didn’t make letting her go any easier, though.

  She closed her eyes briefly. “Sorry this had to end so soon.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  “Is it...weird between us now?”

  “Getting there,” he said softly. They were talking to each other like polite strangers when only minutes before he’d had his mouth on her breasts and her long, lovely legs wrapped around his waist. Yeah.
It was weird.

  Connor’s voice had shattered the moment between them and it was probably good that it had. Sex was simple. This situation with Nicole wasn’t. Best to remember that.

  She nodded. “I thought it might be hard between us...after.”

  Sure it would be, Griffin thought. Every time he looked at her now, he’d remember and want more. “Not gonna be the way it was, that’s for sure.”

  “It was still worth it,” she told him.

  “Oh, it really was.”

  Smiling, she started to climb out of the tub, then stopped, sank lower into the water and looked at him. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but would you close your eyes?”

  “Seriously?” He smiled in spite of the tension coiled in the pit of his stomach. “I’ve seen every inch of you.”

  “Yeah, but that—” she waved one hand at the water, vaguely indicating what they’d just been doing “—was different.”

  “You keep surprising me.”

  “A good thing, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess it is. You know,” he said, snaking out one hand to grab up her bikini, “you could just put these back on.”

  “Takes too long to try to wiggle back into them in the water. Griffin, come on. Close your eyes for a second so I can go to Connor.”

  Like nobody else, he told himself. Nicole was completely unique. How she could be shy or embarrassed after what they’d just shared was beyond him, but he was intrigued by her more and more. She was a complicated woman, he thought, smiling to himself. She didn’t react to anything the way he expected her to. She wasn’t easy to read and he found that exciting. Hell, Griffin had known how to deal with every woman he’d ever known, until Nicole. She kept him off balance, though—off his game—and, he thought, that might not be a plus in the long run.

  “Fine,” he said finally and closed his eyes on that last, disturbing thought.

  “Thanks.” He heard the water slosh and her feet as she stepped onto the top level of the stairs. “I’m going to grab your towel, too, since I forgot to bring one.”

  “No problem.” His eyes were still closed, but his imagination worked just fine. In his mind, he saw her wrap the towel around her body. He saw rivulets of water running down her arms and legs and sliding down the curve of her throat and everything in him yearned to lick them all off.