“I’m not my mother, no matter how much I look like her. I get absorbed in my work and I have never cared much about looking like the perfect woman. Part of me still feels like I’m not interesting enough to hold Seth’s attention for the long haul. I keep thinking he’ll go back to not paying attention like he did before. He’s enamored of me now, but I wonder what will happen when the lust wears off. I hear it does eventually,” Jenna said, sniffing.
“Well, it changes,” Regina corrected. “I hope like hell it never wears off. Ben Kaiser is like a drug I’m addicted to, and I need my fix to feel like life is worth living.”
“I feel exactly the same way about Seth,” Jenna said. “I guess it’s the same no matter how old you are or how smart. When Mama went to the hospital to make up with Casey, I asked her if she was afraid of getting hurt by him again. She said yes she was, but that she was more afraid of trying to live without him. She said being with Casey was worth any emotional risk.”
“Your mother is a very smart woman,” Regina said. “And so are you. You’re the only one who can decide if Seth Carter is worth the risk for you.”
Jenna nodded. “Well, thanks for talking to me. I’ve been feeling like shit all day and just needed to talk to someone. Now I’m going home to clean up so I can go get my fix from him,” Jenna told her. “It’s been a few days now and I’m climbing the walls.”
Regina laughed as Jenna walked out the door. She got out her cell phone and typed, which was never easy for her on the tiny keyboard the size of a credit card. Five minutes later she finally pressed send.
Feeling extremely grateful for you today. You can have anything you want tonight.
The phone buzzed a short time later. She laughed as she read Ben’s reply.
Teach me something new.
“Something new,” Regina said to the walls of her office as she pondered the possibilities.
She stood and walked to an early book she had published when she was in her late thirties. It had been hard as hell to get through all that sex advice then without a partner to practice on. Well, she had one now. She could only hope Ben’s heart was up to the challenge.
She sat down and typed again.
What do ice cubes, hot fudge, and my mouth have in common? Only Ben Kaiser gets to find out.
The phone buzzed back at her within seconds.
I’ll bring the fudge sauce, but I get to go first. I’m feeling pretty appreciative myself. Love you.
Regina set her phone down on the desk and sighed again for how lucky she was.
Chapter 17
Allen ran his roommate off Friday evening and told him to spend the night at his girlfriend’s house. He had plans for once, and they included using the whole apartment. The woman coming to see him deserved to eat at the dining table and not in his room. He lit a couple of candles on the table and turned on some smooth jazz music, trying to calm himself as he waited.
When the doorbell rang, Allen nearly jumped out of his skin. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been with a woman he wanted this much. He opened the door to find Talia dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and chastised himself for being even mildly disappointed. Even denim wasn’t going to slow him down much, so there was no reason to be anything other than happy she had actually shown up.
Then Allen noticed Talia carried a bag with their food and another small tote bag over her shoulder.
“Hand me a set of chop sticks,” Talia ordered, leaning in to quickly kiss him and pressing the bag of food into his hands. “Put the food in the microwave for a few minutes while I change. I need ten minutes. It will be worth the wait. If you have a pair of loose exercise pants, why don’t you change, too?”
Allen handed her the chopsticks. “The bathroom is in the middle of the hall.”
“Thanks,” she said smiling. “Are we alone?”
“Assolutely,” Allen said, teasing to help him handle the tension and dispel the urge he had to grab her and carry her off to his room immediately.
“Right then. I’ll be back shortly,” Talia said, for once not returning the tease. It was all she could do not to launch herself at him. Not yet, she cautioned herself. Not yet. She wanted him to remember this first time with her.
Allen carried the food to the microwave and started hunting up plates and silverware. Finally, he looked at his pants and wondered if he dared be in anything looser than his jeans around her. There was no way around showing her how anxious he was in sweatpants, but she had practically ordered him to change too. And though he wasn’t used to letting a woman call the shots, Allen figured there was always a first time and first woman to relinquish his control to.
He walked quickly to his bedroom and put on a pair of black sweats that didn’t look too bad. They hung low on his hips but were comfortable. When Talia came out of the bathroom, she was dressed in a short, red, Asian style dress that went half way up her thighs and was held closed by a line of buttons from throat to hem. Her hair was wound and twisted on the top and back of her head, held in place with the two chopsticks she’d taken from the dinner she’d brought.
Allen put his hands on his hips and sighed at what was too quickly happening below his waist. This evening was already out of hand and it had barely begun. They would be lucky if they managed to even eat dinner first.
Talia spoke to him in some dialect of Chinese that sounded very harsh and demanding to his ears. Her words were softened only by the shy smile she gave him and her hand taking his to lead him to the nearest bedroom which fortunately happened to be his. She stopped at his queen size bed with the thick, brown comforter. She was still talking in Chinese even as she patted the space beside her for him to sit.
Making sure the condom was still on the nightstand where he’d put it, Allen sat and then waited to see what she would do.
He couldn’t stop the groan when Talia pulled the chopsticks slowly from her hair and let it cascade over her shoulders. Allen meekly let her pull his shirt off as he studied the long dark strands, and then felt her push him backwards with one hand until he was flat on the bed. She grabbed his shoulders and tried to turn him. Allen complied and rolled to his stomach.
With evidence of his need pressing into the bed now instead of saluting her, Allen felt a little braver about things. He felt Talia straddle his hips and lower herself to sit on his backside. The heat from her was even noticeable through his sweats. She leaned forward and used her hands to knead his shoulders and then his back. It wasn’t long before Allen figured out that the woman actually knew what she was doing in massaging his tension away.
“Arry che,” Allen said, his voice muffled against the cover as his large weight sunk further into the bed, his muscles actually unwinding under her talented hands.
Surprising him with her aggression, Talia grabbed the back of his head by his hair and lifted it from the cover. Again she said something that sounded challenging and harsh in Chinese.
“Ouch. Damn—woman. I was mostly joking. Marry me. That’s all I said,” Allen told her. His head was suddenly released and he felt a slap on the back of it that stung a little. It hurt his pride more than anything.
Talia went back to kneading his back muscles with a vengeance, her Chinese getting more and more agitated. Or at least it sounded that way to Allen.
He groaned under her hands, and flinched when she bent and slipped them under his stomach and down to grab and stroke him. She stretched her long body out on the back of him fully then, her busy hand doing what it could between him and the cover he lay on.
“You’re killing me,” Allen said harshly, flipping her off him deftly. “Speak English and tell me this is what you want because I’m about ten seconds away from being inside you.”
“I was trying to take the edge off so we could enjoy the evening more,” Talia finally said.
“I’m all about taking the edge off, but we’re doing it my way this first time. You can be in control when I know you better,” Allen said, laughing. “I’m too far gone to b
e as nice to you as I had planned. I hope you’re ready for this.”
Talia reached out a long arm and snagged the condom off the nightstand. “Here. I’d offer to do it, but you’d probably have a meltdown on me.”
“No, keep it. I want you to do it. Get on your knees,” Allen ordered, swallowing hard when she did as he asked. He kneeled in front of her, pushed all her hair to the back and wrapped it around his hand. He tugged to see if he had a hold he could control, and then started opening the buttons that ran the length of her dress.
“Better put that on me if you want to be safe when it happens. I’m coming inside you shortly no matter what,” Allen told her, honestly not caring if they had unprotected sex or not. He was ready for just about anything with Talia Martin.
Her hands quivered as they tore at the packet. Allen smiled into her gaze. “Am I tugging too hard?” he asked.
“No,” Talia said hoarsely, her breasts now bared to the air as his hand dropped to the lower buttons. Two or three more and he would know that she didn’t have anything at all on under the dress.
Talia reached out with her hands, slid his sweats down and found him. Fumbling and out of practice for this sort of thing, she finally did manage to roll the condom into place. By the time the task was accomplished, her hands were shaking from touching and stroking his impressive length.
“I swear I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman,” Allen told her.
He released her hair and the last two buttons, taking a moment to sigh at what was about to be his for real.
Then Allen lifted Talia up and over him, sliding up into her as he lowered her breasts within reaching distance of his mouth. Talia called out only once when he had to push up hard to get completely inside her. Allen had to clamp his jaw tightly to keep from calling out himself at how tight she was, further evidence to him about how long it had been for her. It made him unreasonably happy for both of them.
Then his mouth moved from breast to breast until Talia was breathing as hard as a marathon runner and murmuring please to him.
“You are absolutely the most beautiful woman I have ever come across. Now that I finally have you in bed with me, I may never let you out of it.” He held Talia in the air by her hips, in front of his body, moving in and out of her without letting her do more than drag her toes on the bed and clutch his shoulders for support. The red dress billowed like a robe around her, but Talia was opened to him and Allen intended to take everything she let him have.
“Allen,” Talia called. “Allen, you must slow down. Let me down on you. I need—I need.”
“Baby, I know exactly what you need,” he said roughly “And I’m happy as hell to be the one giving it to you. Let’s go over now. We need to rest up for next time.”
“What?” Talia asked hoarsely, not sure she had heard him correctly. Did he just announce her orgasm to her?
Fireworks burst inside her as Allen let her entire weight slide down on him. He pulled her against him as tightly as he could. He rocked back on his knees with her in his arms until his hips hit his heels, then he surged back up with her hard and strong, lifting her in the air again as he rose to his knees once more.
Unable to do anything but enjoy the ride, Talia slid back down toward him on the down stroke and shattered on him as he repeated the process one more time.
When Talia’s legs wrapped around him, Allen could feel the earthquake taking place inside her depths. He promptly decided to add a volcano to their attempts to move both heaven and earth on their first night together.
Using his weight to propel both them both downward, her back and head hit the pillows of the bed even as he moved hard into her with several long, claiming strokes. Allen couldn’t remember a woman ever feeling so good or so right to him when he did this. It was like his sex life started for real when he had rocked them both to climax on her couch earlier in the week.
When the eruption occurred moments later for him, Allen screamed his satisfaction in her ear and scared her into screaming in return. Her scream was promptly followed by equally loud, unrestrained laughter as Talia realized what she’d done and what Allen had done.
“Oh, dear God. We’re going to need sound-proofing in the bedroom,” Talia said sharply against his jaw.
“Or lots of duct tape and pillows,” Allen said against her shoulder in return.
“You bloody screamed in my ear,” Talia informed him, unsuccessfully fighting the laughter that continued to bubble up. “I have to say that you’re quite the most demonstrative man I’ve ever known.”
“I have to say that I love how you get more English sounding after you have an orgasm,” Allen said, mocking her tone. “For the future, I hate Chinese during sex.”
“Why?” Talia said, surprised and laughing at his comment. “It’s a very expressive language.” She began to sing in Chinese, stroking his hair and kissing his cheek.
Allen laughed against her as she sang to him. “Okay. Maybe I could get used to it. How many languages do you speak?”
“Eleven proficiently, I believe. Smatterings of several others. It’s a gift,” Talia told him.
“Yes it is. Now tell me what heritage makes you so beautiful,” Allen ordered softly, running a hand down her arm as he shifted off her and to her side. He wrapped a leg over her so she would know he wasn’t going very far.
Talia lay mostly on her back, head turned and smiling at the now rumpled, relaxed, blond giant lying at her side in the dimly lit bedroom. “My grandmother on my mother’s side was Balinese. My grandmother on my father’s side was a mixed race South African—I forget which tribe. My very English and very Caucasian parents were both quite surprised when the recessive genes from both sides all coalesced into my DNA. I understand there was quite the genealogy search during the first five years of my life,” she said, unoffended. “I have always loved that I have a permanent tan and yet my hair is straight as any Asian. I love being unique. I think I have passed my unusual genetics along to my son.”
“I think you have too,” Allen said, remembering Mason’s dark looks. “By the way, that was a pretty amazing first time. I wanted to let you have control, but I just couldn’t. I’d spent too many days planning what I wanted to do to you.”
“Well, good show, Mr. Steadman,” Talia said lightly, giggling again. “Got any more plans tonight? I don’t have to be home for hours yet.”
Allen leaned over her and fastened his mouth to hers, finding it just as lush and welcoming as the other times. “Yes. Can we eat now? I’m starved. Aren’t you?”
“Absolutely,” Talia said, lifting up to meet his mouth as he started to move away. “I’m starved for you. But I guess I could eat Chinese food now too.”
“Talia,” Allen said, rolling to a sitting position. “I refuse to let this relationship be just about sex. I want more than that from you. I want that to be clear before I end up taking you like a madman against the wall later.”
Talia sat up and crawled down the bed to climb across his knees and sit on his legs just above them. “I hope you don’t think that sex is all I want. I genuinely do like you, Allen Stedman. You’re truly one of the nicest men I have ever met, even if you are way too controlling in bed. This will have to be amended over time—but not tonight. I’m far too excited at the prospect of going up against the wall with you.”
“Marry me and we can play every night,” Allen stated boldly, loving the way she laughed when he joked with her.
But the trouble was, Allen knew he was no longer joking. Talia was smart, exciting, fun, loving, and sexy. God, was she sexy. He also knew he was going to love going home to her and the kids every night. Mason would make him laugh and teach him how to tuck him in. He would learn to carry Kendra in the baby wrap.
He could see it all as clearly as if it were already a reality.
Had he really only known this woman a week? If so, it didn’t seem to matter. Allen wanted to be a permanent fixture in Talia’s life.
“So which poets do yo
u like?” Allen asked, trying to distract himself from doing and saying more than was wise at the moment.
“Be still my fainting heart. You read poetry too?” Talia asked, voice squeaking in surprise.
“Actually, I quote it.” Allen softly recited some lines from his favorite love poems as he kissed his way across her shoulder and down her arm. He laughed loudly when he realized Talia had completely frozen on his lap and was holding her breath.
“I guess I’ve been saving all my best lovemaking just for you,” Allen told her, running a hand down her glossy hair.
“I think we’ll have small wedding just before the holidays. Six months should satisfy propriety. Do you know any Lord Byron?” Talia asked, bending to bite his bottom lip as she pushed him backward on the bed.
Chapter 18
“What do you mean the client won’t be interviewed?” Jenna shouted. “His house is worthy of a magazine cover. He ought to be kissing my ass, not kicking it.”
“No need to convince me,” Todd said, holding up both hands in an attempt to quiet Jenna’s tirade. Construction workers had scattered for break the moment she’d raised her voice. Any other time he would have laughed. Today, Jenna’s temper tantrum was justified.
“Look, you know I agree with you. This place is phenomenal. The fireplace is a freaking work of art. It takes your breath away when you walk through the door. I can’t believe he hasn’t come by here dying to see what you’ve done,” Todd said.
“I want to talk to him,” Jenna demanded. “Give me five minutes alone with him. I’ll get him to change his mind.”
“You can do the story without him, Jenna. It may even look better for you as architect,” Todd said, watching her pace and fume. “Architecture Digest said they will focus solely on you instead. That’s what they mostly would have done anyway.”
“Todd, the man hasn’t even seen the house. Hell, it’s more my house than his. I picked the tile and flooring and the color scheme. I picked the cabinets in the kitchen and all the damn appliances. I chose cherry for the walk-in closet. What if he hates cherry? Not that I’m going to give a rat’s ass if his check cashes for you, but it’s the damn principal of it all. He needs to be appreciative. That’s his job as the client. It’s not going to look very good if all I’ve done is built a perfect damn ghost house,” Jenna declared. “This place was meant to be enjoyed by people.”
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