She was his perfect woman, he admitted to himself.
Then, terrified by that thought, he gave in to his body’s desperate demand and plunged deeper into her wet heat, losing himself in the incredible delight of her and losing his heart in the process.
* * *
OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD.
Andrea mentally chanted in time with her panting as Percy took her on a sweet tour of heaven. Her body convulsed with yet another orgasm.
Her fingers dug into the hard planes of his hips as he plunged, each thrust pushing her closer and closer to something beyond a climax. Something she knew was there, just out of her reach. Beyond anything she’d ever felt before.
Then he shifted. He angled his head to take her nipple into his mouth. It was still wet and aching from the delight he’d already given it. She sighed with pleasure. His teeth grazed her flesh.
Stars exploded against the black velvet of her closed eyelids. She gave a throaty cry of pleasure as her body convulsed, clenching tightly around his dick as it plunged again. Once, twice, before he hesitated, stiffening.
Needing to see him, she forced her heavy lids open in time to see Percy throw his head back. His throat worked. The muscles of his shoulders and arms were rock hard as his hips pounded against hers one last time.
He growled, deep and low. She watched him go over, felt the contained explosion of his body in hers.
He was incredible.
He was amazing.
And for just this moment, he was hers.
Wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him tighter, grinding herself against him as if she could wring every last drop of pleasure from his body. He gave her a wicked smile, as if to say, Really?
Then he reached between their bodies to flick his finger along her swollen—and she’d thought spent—bud.
And sent her over the edge once again.
Andrea didn’t know how long she lay there, her body still shaking with aftershocks. Percy’s arms held her close, both absorbing the delight and reminding her of who deserved credit for causing them. Her heart tumbled over itself as she acknowledged that they were just as amazing together as she remembered. He made her feel beautiful. Incredible. Adored.
And most of all, worthy of being adored. Worthy of incredible sex. Beautiful enough to entice, satisfy and keep a man as perfectly wonderful as Percy.
But soon, as the perspiration dried on her skin and goose bumps erupted everywhere she wasn’t pressed against Percy’s warm body, her mind started racing. Chasing away that contented feeling of empowerment and leaving behind the usual doubts and worries. The paranoid, negative, worrying part of her brain woke up screaming, What were you thinking!
She shifted, trying to sink her abundant curves with their extra padding into the pillows beneath her. Trying to hide, in case he glanced down and discovered she wasn’t a size five with perfect thighs and a flat washboard belly.
But he’d looked already.
He’d touched and tasted and worshipped his way over her body. In the light.
As if sensing her tumultuous inner argument, Percy’s hand smoothed soft circles over her hip. He pressed her closer to the growing evidence that he was pretty close to being up for yet another round of sunset seduction.
He wouldn’t do that if her body didn’t give him pleasure. So why was she freaking out about it so much?
Without that voice jabbering in her head, telling her she was unworthy, she didn’t quite know what to think. Should she reach down and see what she could do to speed things up? Did she get up and run away? Was she supposed to listen to her body and do it all over again a few dozen times?
It was completely up to her.
Talk about pressure.
With a deep, shuddering sigh, she decided to do the easiest thing. Listen to her heart, which was still racing from the intensity of that last wild orgasm.
And her heart said, for once, to give it a chance.
But that was the scariest thing in the world to do.
9
WRUNG DRY, EXHAUSTED AND exhilarated all at the same time, Percy forced himself to roll off Andrea’s body so he didn’t crush her. His heart still pounded at a machine-gun pace and he was pretty sure he’d caught a glimpse of heaven.
“Babe,” he breathed. He intended to say more, but his brain function hadn’t kicked in yet. Four times. In half as many hours. Not bad for thirty-two, he thought. Not that he deserved any credit. No, that all went to Andrea.
“You’re incredible,” he said, his fingers tangled in her hair.
Propping herself up on one elbow, Andrea smiled down at him, her face barely visible in the room lit only by the full moon.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she teased. “I’d give you five stars for imagination, another five for execution and four for endurance.”
“Hey, only four?”
“Well, we only did it four times,” she protested with a giggle. “And the last three might not have happened if Medusa hadn’t passed out from exhaustion in the other room. She’s not used to so much upheaval.”
Percy grinned. Clearly, he hadn’t exhausted her enough. He’d have to do something about that. His body whimpered. He’d do something about it later.
Before he could decide how much later, Andrea’s gaze shifted. She stiffened, pulled away from him and grabbed the nearest piece of clothing, which happened to be his jeans, and held it against her nude body.
“What?” he asked, looking around to see what had triggered her shyness. Did his friend Kyle have a camera setup in this place he didn’t know about?
“Medusa,” she whispered. “She’s watching us.”
Percy squinted. He couldn’t see anything. Jackknifing into a sitting position, he grabbed the remote off a low table and aimed it at the overhead lights. The ceiling fan came on, too. Leaving the fan on to stir the air, he hit the button twice to dim the glow. Enough light to see by, not so much it’d ruin the mood.
Then he saw what had bothered Andrea. And wished he was wearing pants himself.
The dog stood in the doorway, glaring at them. Her hair swayed around her as if it were alive. The animal’s ribs were draped in speckled skin. She had that supermodel look of elegant starvation.
“Are you sure that’s a dog? Why the hell did you shave it?”
“She’s not shaved. She’s a hairless breed.”
“She has hair all over her head. Sort of. How’s that hairless? Maybe if you comb out those dreads, you can cover her naked body with all that hair,” he noted, seeing that the twisted strands reached the dog’s shoulders.
With a tsking sound, Andrea yanked her dress over her head. Trying not to grin, Percy tucked her panties under the pillow. Sure, he couldn’t see anything. But knowing she was running across the room commando was its own special thrill.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I want to call and check with the salon again. Just to make sure everything’s okay. Then, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I need to wash Medusa’s bowl and give her her meds, and then I’ll see if there’s anything here for dinner.”
Dinner. Percy lay back, his arms crossed behind his head, and grinned. Yeah, refueling sounded good to him.
A romantic dinner for two, maybe?
He wondered if Andrea would be willing to go out without her panties.
Enjoying the idea, Percy forced himself into a half-sitting position. Taking that as some kind of signal, the dog pranced over and pounced. Putting those reflexes he was so proud of to good use, Percy quickly grabbed a pillow and held it in front of his stuff just before the dog landed on his lap.
“Hey,” he protested. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
The dog gave him a long, adoring look. Then she sniffed his chest, placed both tiny paws on his shoulder and stood. Wincing, he adjusted the pillow. She didn’t weigh much, but still…
Then she started licking his face.
Percy snorted with laughter. He’
d had women chase him before, but this was ridiculous.
“Nope,” he said, gingerly lifting the dog away and setting her on the floor next to him. “I’m a one-woman man now, and I’m spoken for. Besides, sweetheart, you’re really not my type.”
As if she was considering his words, the dog tilted her head to one side and gave him a long, assessing look.
Eyeing her, and with unfamiliar shyness, still holding the pillow in front of his manly parts, Percy got to his feet to retrieve his jeans.
“Quit watching,” he muttered to the dog when she started panting as he pulled on his pants. She ignored him.
He quickly yanked on his shirt but didn’t bother with shoes or socks. It was only fair since Andrea didn’t have panties.
“I’ll make dinner,” he heard himself offer as he entered the kitchen. Andrea, at the counter measuring out a teaspoon of some vile-looking oil, gave him a shocked look.
“What, I know how to cook,” he said in mock indignation.
“You do?”
“I do. Nothing fancy, but enough to make you ask for seconds.”
Crouching down and gesturing the dog over to her, Andrea gave him an arch look. “We’re talking about food, right?”
“For now.” He laughed then poked his head into the freezer. “Aha.”
He pulled out a pair of chicken breasts. “It’s a start. We’re probably going to come up short on the veggies, but we’ll double up on dessert to make up for it.”
Andrea’s giggle was sweet. He watched her give the little dog praise for taking her medicine like a good girl. She didn’t seem like a food snob. Still… “You’re not a lettuce pretender, are you?” he asked.
“Do I pretend to be salad?” she asked with a frown as she straightened, tugging her fingers through her hair, trying to comb out the tangles. Tangles put there by his lovemaking, he realized with a grin.
“No. Are you one of those gals who pretends to be willing to eat anything, but in reality, will only nibble on lettuce leaves and the occasional tomato wedge?”
Andrea’s eyes widened and she gave a knowing nod. “Ah, my sisters are salad pretenders. They claim their svelte figures are gifts of nature, when the reality is that they live on undressed romaine and two hours of cardio a day.”
“And you?”
“Do I look like a starved workout fanatic?” she asked, stepping back and holding her arms wide. His gaze traveled over her body, his mouth watering a little at the sight of her unbound breasts cupped by the vivid fabric. The skirt was loose and full, but he knew what was beneath it.
And, thinking of the tiny scrap of pink lace hidden in the living room, what wasn’t.
“You look perfect,” he said honestly. “You’ve got curves where a man likes curves, lots of smooth silky skin and a way of walking that gives a guy ideas.”
Her smile was an appealing mixture of sassy and sweet. “What kind of ideas?”
Feeling much better about having dinner in the condo and all the dessert possibilities, Percy slowly approached Andrea, cupping her hips with both hands and slowly pulling her against the hard, welcoming length of his body.
“My first idea had to do with your mouth,” he told her, trailing his index finger over the full cushion of her bottom lip. “I thought we’d start with a little kissing, maybe some nibbles.”
Under his finger, Andrea’s mouth curved in a laugh. “Nibbles, hmm?”
“What? You don’t do nibbles?”
“I don’t know. How, exactly, do you define nibbles?”
“It’s more a ‘show’ than a ‘tell’ kind of definition,” he said quietly, his body hardening against the softness of hers. He shifted his hips just a bit to keep her in the loop on how happy his body was to feel hers.
“I’m a big fan of learning,” she said, her words a husky whisper as she pressed closer to his erection, shifting her thigh to rub against him.
Through with the teasing, Percy got down to defining. His mouth slid over hers. Soft and wet, with just enough pressure to make her sigh. His tongue swept over the fullness, then he gently bit, offering tiny nibbling kisses as he sucked her lower lip into his mouth.
Her whimpering cry of pleasure went straight to his dick. Clearly, fifteen minutes was plenty of rest time, since his body was raring to go again.
But just when he thought she’d be willing to enjoy a little tabletop nookie, a sound intruded.
Low. Angry. A rumbling.
Percy tried to ignore it.
But Andrea apparently couldn’t. She gave a regretful little moan, then with an ego-gratifying show of reluctance, pulled her mouth from his.
“I think she’s jealous,” Andrea said with a laugh as she studied the dog.
Percy gave the mutt a worried look. He was afraid Andrea was right. And he’d dealt with enough jealous females before to know he should be wary. Especially with this one.
“I’ll cook dinner,” he said again. He’d never cooked for a woman before. He’d never needed to. But as dorky as it sounded, he wanted to woo Andrea. “You go, take the dog and relax or something.”
Mostly just take the dog. It was intimidating him.
“Do you think your friend would mind if I washed up?” Andrea asked, stepping out of his arms and running her fingers through her tangled hair. “I’d love to be a little more presentable before we eat.”
“Sure. Check the guest room. He usually keeps stuff for company in there. You might even want to relax in the shower for a little while. After the day you’ve had, you deserve it.”
Andrea paused in the doorway and gave him a teasing sort of look. With her hair tumbled in tangled curls over her shoulders and her lips still swollen from his kisses, she was pretty much the most tempting sight Percy had ever seen.
“Since you’re making dinner, I’ll provide dessert,” she promised. The look she gave him made it pretty clear that dessert would include a side of naked.
10
PERFECT.
Percy leaned against the counter, grinning and wondering if there was any chocolate sauce in the apartment. Nothing like mixing chocolate with naked.
Enjoying the fantasy, he popped the chicken into the microwave to defrost and started scouring the pantry. He came across a bag of shortbread cookies. Grabbing a handful, he turned to see the dog. Staring. Again.
Percy glanced at his cookies. No chocolate. He broke off a piece and tossed it across the room. Medusa caught it midair and gulped it down as if she was starving. He tossed her another.
“You like that?” he asked.
The dog pranced over, did a twirly sort of dance that sent her dreadlocks flying in a circle. Then she ran her chilly little tongue over the top of his bare foot, as if in thanks.
He couldn’t help it. It might be the weirdest-looking thing to ever be called a dog, but it was kinda cute. He grinned and, after a quick glance to make sure they were still alone, he bent down to rub his hand over the dog’s head.
Okay, then. She looked happy enough to him.
Munching on cookies, and yes, sharing a tiny piece now and then, Percy started pulling together a meal. Pasta, jarred sauce and chicken. Good enough. He found a bottle of wine in the rack and opened it, setting it on the counter to breathe.
“That, you don’t get,” he told the dog.
She just fluttered her lashes at him as if to say she’d have some if she wanted.
Percy rolled his eyes, but before he could comment, his cell phone rang. Glancing at the display, he growled a little.
Finally.
“You were supposed to stay at the office until closing,” he said to Jolene in lieu of a greeting.
“You texted to say you weren’t bringing in the dog, so I went home. I’m allowed to go home, you know.”
“Right. But we close at five. I called earlier. A lot earlier. You weren’t there.”
Percy opened the fridge, looking for something to turn into a side dish. Kyle had emptied the fridge of perishables, so the pickings were slim.
“You’re supposed to be on a plane,” Jolene argued. “What difference does it make where I’m at if you’re poking your toes into sand?”
Now, there was a euphemism. Percy snickered. Then, grabbing a bag of frozen green beans and a sealed package of bacon, he put a pot under the faucet to fill with water.
“My toes haven’t seen the sand yet, thanks to you. This last-minute job made me miss the plane.”
“You’re not on vacation? No relaxation, no fruity drinks with umbrellas? Oh, Percy, I’m sorry. I made sure to get travel insurance, just in case. It was a little extra expense, but at least it’s paid off. Do you want me to rebook the flight? When do you want to leave?”
Percy rolled his eyes. If Jolene were to be believed, he was as self-sufficient as a five-year-old and just as capable of taking care of himself.
“I’m fine. I don’t know when I want to leave, so let’s hold off on rebooking.” Until he convinced Andrea to go with him, at least. “I have some other work for you to do, though. I need all the info you can get on the dog. What breeders are in the area, other groomers, especially one called Diamonds and Doggies. Besides money, what is this dog’s draw and why would someone want it? Get me a background check on the Days, too, both of them. Go deep. I want to know their financials, why their marriage busted, where they are this weekend. Get me everything.”
“Sure thing. I’ll have it to you by tomorrow,” she promised. Which was three times as fast as she’d usually pull it together. She clearly wanted Percy on vacation. “So what’s the deal? Where’s the dog? Did you retrieve it?”
“I’ve got it. But I’m not turning it over to Day until I know what’s going on.”
“If you have the dog, you really should return it. That’s what you’re being paid for.”
“Someone snatched the dog and tied the groomer to a chair. Something is going on and I’m not handing the dog over until I know what that something is.”
Cutting short Jolene’s horrified exclamations, he told her he’d check in the next morning. It took another three minutes to assure her that he was taking proper care of himself. And of the dog.
Blazing Bedtime Stories, Volume VII: The Steadfast Hot SoldierWild Thing Page 15