The way her body clenched around him, the way he stretched and touched her was amazing. It was better than perfect. She gripped the back of the couch for leverage and increased her rhythm, slamming their bodies together. He held her breasts, stimulating the swollen peaks as she rose higher and higher. Ecstasy hit her with the strength of a freight train. Her entire body tensed, coiling as tight as it would go and releasing all at once. Fireworks lit up her vision until the edges fuzzed. Her toes curled and all of the air was expelled from her lungs.
“That was amazing.” He pushed her sweat-soaked hair off her face as she struggled to come back to reality.
“Oh god,” she gasped, horrified. “You didn’t come.” How selfish had she been?
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist. He sat up, pulled her flush against his chest and kissed her.
“I haven’t come—yet,” he said in his best rogue’s voice.
He lifted and turned, laying her on the couch. She wound her legs around his waist and smoothed her hands over his shoulders. His gaze held hers as he pushed slowly back into her body. She couldn’t help gasping at the intrusion. Ripples of post-orgasmic bliss shuddered through her. Mercifully, he allowed her to catch her breath. On some level, she wanted to weep from the beauty of it, the give and take between them, but now wasn’t the time for tears. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.
The kiss turned into a gasp as he withdrew his cock. There was nothing slow or gentle to him, just as she had not treated him softly. He plowed into her with as much force as she’d used on him. And she liked it. Her eyes rolled back into her head. He held her in place while he pistoned in and out of her body, working his cock into her at a new angle that had her rising to another peak. This time as her muscles clenched down, his body bowed over her, pressing her deeper into the couch. His fingers dug into her harder as climax twisted his face into a mask of pleasure. She hugged him and squeezed, willing them to go on forever.
They lay panting on the couch, a twisted mess of limbs. She held him close, not wanting to let go. He was doing dangerous things to her heart and she didn’t want to say goodbye yet.
“Stay?” she asked against his ear. She closed her eyes, thankful for the darkness that would at least provide a thin barrier. She wanted him for more than kinky sex, and as observant as he was, Daniel would know how attached she was becoming. They barely knew each other, and still she knew that there was potential for something really special between them.
Lips feathered light kisses over her forehead. He lifted to his elbows. “Tonight? Sure. You’ll have to kick me out of bed in the morning. Think you can handle that?”
She could feel him smiling against her cheek. She couldn’t help but return the smile and tug him back down so she could bury her face against his neck. “I’d love to try.”
Chapter Nine
Daniel slathered a toasted bagel with cream cheese and put it on a plate. The table was set for breakfast.
“Chris?”
“Coming.” There was a frantic note to her voice. It was the reason he had given her space since she’d thrown back the covers and leapt into the shower.
“Need me to do anything?” He didn’t know what he could do, but the domestic responsibility of getting her out the door and off to the charity event she was volunteering at was amusing. He hadn’t performed the role often.
“Nope.”
She breezed out of the bathroom, beaming at him. She made ratty old jeans and a t-shirt with a crayon drawing sexy.
“Have a seat.” He slid out a chair for her, only to be left frowning when she stopped next to the table.
“You went down to the bakery?”
“Yeah. I saw it when I came up last night. Is this not okay?”
“Sure.” She shrugged and dropped into the chair. “I just have to go easy on the bread. I have a gluten allergy.”
“Shit. Don’t eat it. I’ll get you something else.”
She snatched the plate up and shielded it with her body. “No way, this is my bagel. Get your own.”
“Are you sure?” He put his hands on his hips. If it was going to make her sick, or if she would have an allergic reaction, he wouldn’t let her eat it.
She took a dainty bite and smiled at him. “Mm, and real cream cheese too. Yes, I’m sure. I just can’t eat it all the time, silly. It won’t kill me.”
Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the counter, pulled his bagel from the bag and hacked it in half. The light bulb flickered on. “So that’s why you went with the vegetarian menu at dinner. What about the pasta last night?”
“Gluten-free pasta.” She smiled at him. “And vegetarian is sometimes healthier.”
“But the pancakes at my place…”
“Small doses are fine, I just can’t eat a whole loaf of bread.”
“I’m an ass.” He chuckled. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment as she savored the breakfast offering. He settled in across from her, content to watch the blissful expression on her face grow. She opened her eyes and smiled. It was corny as hell, but she took his breath away.
Chris leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, watching him over the top of her bagel. “You working today?”
“Yeah. You work every day when you’re self-employed.”
“Well, try not to work too hard?” She wiped cream cheese from her chin. “I’m going to be helping Ginny with her station at the charity event today since I missed entering the run. I think we’re helping cancer-wing kids make masks.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It is. Ginny’s firstborn had cancer. You wouldn’t know it looking at him now, but he’s a real fighter. This bagel is really good.”
“Wait, her kid had cancer?” The idea of a child going through that ordeal tugged on his heart. And her mom had died of cancer. What kind of strength did it take for her to smile and play with kids who were fighting the very thing that had torn her family apart?
“Yeah, it’s been a few years, but he’s cancer-free. She takes him to the children’s ward every month and he plays with kids, talks to them about what it’s like. He’s a real trouper.” She shook her head and sighed.
He couldn’t help getting a little choked up about it himself. “What do you have going on this week?” he asked by way of a change of topic. Her eyes were looking a little glassy, and the last thing he wanted was to have her cry before she left.
“Trade show stuff has to be done by Tuesday, so two days of cramming everything in and then I can relax. Friday’s Valentine’s Day. Dad used to take Mom out for lunch every year because he worked graveyard for a long time. Since Mom died, Lucy and I take off and we do a family lunch.” She drew on the glass of juice with her finger, a soft smile on her lips. “So I’ll do that Friday. I hadn’t thought about anything else, so no other plans.” She looked up at him through her lashes.
“Sounds like a nice tradition. Do you think Lucy will bring the necklace?” If she didn’t, he was going to give Nathan a call.
The smile dropped off her face. “Who knows?”
He didn’t want to start her day off on a sour note. She wasn’t to blame. Popping the last of his bagel into his mouth, he pushed out of his chair.
“Don’t worry about her. Think about coming to my place after you get off work on Tuesday.”
She nibbled on her bagel, peeking up at him as if she were an innocent schoolgirl. “Hm, I’ll need to check my schedule, but I think I could swing it.”
“I order some mean takeout.” He smiled.
“Why does that not surprise me?” She popped the last bite of her bagel in her mouth and pushed to her feet.
“How long is the thing today?”
“I’ll probably be done with our part around one or two. There’s stuff all day though.”
He chewed slowly, rolling his agenda ‘round in his head. “Would it be weird if I went with you?”
She paused, hands digging into he
r hair, scraping it back into a bun. “You want to go to the fundraiser?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Okay, we should go.”
* * * * *
“You brought your new boyfriend along?” Ginny craned her neck, peering over Christine’s shoulder to where Daniel stood talking to Ginny’s husband, Jake.
“I was heading out the door and he asked if he could come. Here’s your latte.” She handed over the steaming cup and curled her hands around her chai.
“So you just brought him? He’s really cute. And he does all that kinky stuff you like?” Ginny hadn’t stopped staring at Daniel since she’d introduced them.
“Stop that,” Christine snapped, dragging her farther away from the men.
“What? You don’t let me meet your boyfriends. I’m intrigued.”
She glanced over her shoulder to where Daniel was now kneeling on the sidewalk, his coat collar turned up and listening intently to Sarah chatter away at him. The little girl had never met a stranger, and felt the immediate need to acquaint every person she met with each of her imaginary friends. She was absolutely adorable and Chris loved to snuggle her.
Ginny gripped her arm. “He likes kids. Keep this one.”
“Stop. We aren’t technically dating even.”
“No. Honey, a guy does not come to volunteer with kids on a frozen Sunday morning unless he wants something you aren’t giving him or he likes you. And considering what I think you’re giving him, it’s the other.”
“Stop elbowing me.” Christine pulled at the collar of her jacket, way too hot for the wool and hot chai. “Can we please talk about something else?”
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered, and no. Do you like him?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course I do.”
“And you aren’t telling him to buy you a ring why?”
“What is up with you? Don’t we need to set something up?” She so did not need help from her best friend about where she wanted things to go.
“Nope, did all that last night. Gives me more time to grill you about sexy man. Oh hey, look who’s headed this way.”
Christine turned, a hopefully innocent smile on her face, and her heart melted. Sarah sat atop Daniel’s shoulders, her little hands holding on to his ears. She’d known him for a week, this shouldn’t make her uterus do quivering things. But damn, the man would make nice babies.
“Sarah, are you being nice to Daniel?” Ginny asked, a hand on her hip.
“Yes, Mommy.” She grinned like the angel she wasn’t.
Jake carried two cups of coffee, one of them Daniel’s. “Hun, I think we need to head over to the starting line. BJ’s group is over there and they’re going to want to make masks soon.” He turned toward Daniel. “Would you mind helping me break down some tables after the race starts?”
“I think I need to check with Sarah first, but if she says it’s okay I’d be more than happy to.” He tipped his chin up and peered at the tiny girl.
“What do you say, Tinker Bell? Can Daniel help me for a bit while you make masks with Mommy?”
She shook her head violently. “No!”
Her parents laughed and Chris did her best to join in, but Daniel caught her gaze. He looked at her as if it were just the two of them. This was so not helping her lady parts calm down.
“Let’s go to the starting line.” Ginny led the march, joining in with other stragglers heading to the north end of the park where the starting line and booths were set up.
Daniel fell into step beside her, following the married couple. He slipped his hand into her jacket pocket to curl around hers. Why did he have to do this? Her heart fluttered even as her brain screamed for it not to let the warm mushy stuff take over. It was way too early to be thinking babies and everything else, but damn, the dream was nice.
“Mommy, Danny isn’t keeping his hands to himself! He’s touching Chris!”
Ginny peered back at them, trying and failing to smother her smile. “They’re adults, Tinker Bell. If Chris doesn’t want Daniel to touch her, she can tell him.”
“But Danny is touching her!”
“Honey, his name is Daniel, not Danny.”
Sarah blinked at her mother as if they weren’t speaking the same language.
“Daniel, did you ask Chris if you could hold her hand?”
She was going to kill Ginny. Slowly, and with cartoon reruns and toys that made noise constantly. With no off switch.
Daniel slanted a look her way. “Christine, can I hold your hand?”
“Oh my god, I’m so going to kill you,” she muttered.
He leaned toward her, Sarah clinging to his head and squealing, and squeezed her hand. “What was that? Did you say you wanted to hold my hand?”
“Yes, please hold my hand, Danny,” she said loudly, staring up at the branches overhead.
“Brat.”
Everyone had a good chuckle at her expense, but she’d get them back. Sarah had been begging for a particularly noisy stuffed animal that was activated by motion. Ginny would hate her. It was the perfect revenge.
They found Ginny’s son BJ holding the rapt attention of about ten other children, all wearing stocking caps and with a similar pallor to their skin. BJ held the hand of the smallest child and had his head bent to speak in confidence with another.
Cancer had aged BJ prematurely. While he could be as rambunctious as Sarah, he also had mature moments like these when he knew, without being told, to treat these children with care. He’d been there, after all. Just thinking of the hardships he’d been through was sobering.
Nervous parents and a few off-duty nurses hovered around the kids, there if they were needed but not wanting to encroach.
Daniel squeezed her hand and let go to swing Sarah to the ground. She tottered forward and wrapped her little body around her mother’s legs, leaving Daniel free to loop an arm around her waist.
“You sure it’s okay I’m here?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“You don’t seem really comfortable with me being here though.”
“It’s not that, I just don’t bring—guys—around very often. Ginny is my safe call, and likes to make it awkward whenever she can. In junior high she thought it was hysterical to blurt out that I liked a guy when I was talking to him. She’s great, but she takes a lot of joy in my discomfort.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like a great friend.”
“She has other redeeming qualities.”
The announcer came over the loudspeaker, calling the racers to the ready. For a few seconds everyone went quiet before a foghorn sounded and the crowd erupted into cheers.
Chris clapped but her attention was more on the man beside her than the racers speeding by.
“Come on, let’s go make some masks,” Ginny said as she turned to face them.
“We’ll be there in a minute. I’m going to steal Daniel and be over soon.” Jake slapped Daniel’s shoulder.
She reluctantly followed Ginny, her brood and the flock of children to where rows of tables were set up to accommodate a massive mask-making event under a tent with three walls rolled and staked into place. There were even heaters to beat back the chill.
With all of the kids wielding glue and glitter, she couldn’t afford to be caught up in her own relationship tangles. She rolled up her sleeves and found a cluster of kids to insert herself in and began lending a hand trimming the premade masks and helping where she could. The kids were all cheerful and energetic, more than her single chai could combat.
The downside to guzzling the chai was that now she had to pee like a racehorse. She slipped away from the kids, who closed ranks as if she’d never been there, and headed for the entrance of the tent.
“Thanks, Ginny.”
The sound of Daniel’s voice on the other side of the tent wall brought her up short.
“Yeah, what’s going on?” her friend asked.
“I don’t know how you do this, but can I write a check? I mean, make a
donation?”
Ginny didn’t reply at first, and Christine could imagine the startled expression on her face. Chances were it mirrored her own. “Well, yeah, you didn’t have to pull me out here. Jesus, this breeze is cold.”
“This is going to sound really neurotic, but I don’t want Chris to know.”
“Because?”
“I don’t want it to be a big deal, and I know from her history she might think I’m doing it out of pity, and I’m not.”
Silence again. She bit her thumb and squeezed her thighs together. Damn him. Yes, if he’d told her he wanted to donate money she would have felt guilty.
“She would not have,” Ginny said. More silence. “Okay, you’re right. You’re good.”
She danced in place, her bladder about to explode.
“Great, I’ll grab my checkbook from the car and slip it to you.”
Leaves crunched underfoot as he strode away and Ginny stepped around the tent flap. She froze the instant she saw her, eyes wide.
“I didn’t mean to hear,” Chris whisper-spoke.
Ginny pointed. “You heard!”
“I’ve got to pee.” She pushed Ginny aside and strode to the cinderblock and metal bathrooms, her friend in tow.
“How much did you hear?”
“Everything. I think.”
“Oh thank god, I wasn’t going to be able to keep that a secret.”
Chris slammed the stall door in her face and shimmied out of her jeans, sucking in a breath as the rough fabric and cool air hit her ass. The bruises stung and the muscles in her bottom and thighs ached. Last night he’d fucked her crazy and today he showed her his sweet side. Her heart was ping-ponging around in her chest. Hundreds of people donated money to cancer causes across the world, but they weren’t Daniel.
Ginny tapped on the door. “I like this one. I want to get you two over sometime so we can do real couple things. I haven’t had a couples’ night in ages.”
But they weren’t even really together. Were they?
* * * * *
Daniel was fighting a serious case of the Mondays. He hated the weeks leading up to an unveiling. He needed to hire an assistant. Someday. That day was not today, however, seeing as he needed to recast two models, handle the catering and cleaning.
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