Now it was her time to chuckle. “Since I’m here with you, that’s all that matters.”
“Good morning.”
They both turned to see Daffney Peterson approach them, looking all perky. Claire and Logan exchanged greetings simultaneously. “Good morning.”
Daffney was smiling broadly. The woman, who was just a few years older than Claire, was a true romantic at heart and Claire knew why. Craig and Daffney had met on a flight to Vancouver. Daffney was convinced it was love at first sight for both of them, and they’d quickly become initiated into the Mile-High Club while the plane was thirty-thousand feet in the air. When the flight landed, they somehow got separated before exchanging information. The next day, their paths crossed again when she discovered they were both in Vancouver to attend the same wedding. He was a frat brother of the groom and she was a sorority sister of the bride. Needless to say, less than six months later, the newlyweds were attending Craig and Daffney’s wedding.
Daffney believed that joining the Mile-High Club had helped her find her soulmate, so she made it her business to accommodate couples who also wanted to try it out. As far as she was concerned, if a couple wanted to do more than just enjoy floating in the beautiful sky with the wind in their faces and all the spectacular sights on the ground, that was their business, not hers.
“I’m your pilot for today. I’ve got your picnic,” Daffney said, holding up the wicker basket. “You guys ready?”
Claire felt Logan pull her hand into his before saying, “Absolutely.”
Logan was wondering if he’d spoken too soon. He and Claire were in their section of the basket and Daffney was in the pilot section. He recalled Craig mentioning that the two baskets were separated, but he hadn’t known just how that worked. Now he did. It was as if he and Claire were in their own little world.
His testosterone level had shot up a few notches when he’d helped Claire into the basket, which required climbing over the edge…ungracefully. Claire’s short skirt hadn’t helped matters. Up until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how short the skirt was. The moment he’d seen a flash of what he thought were her private parts, he wondered if she was wearing anything underneath. He’d already figured out that she was indeed braless. The thought that she wasn’t wearing panties had his groin throbbing.
“Before we take off,” Daffney was saying, “I suggest you not eat or drink anything while in the air if you’re prone to getting queasy. If that’s the case, you can enjoy your picnic lunch once you’re back on the ground. This is a three-hour flight and I plan to take you over Albuquerque, as well as parts of the Rio Grande. Also, I will be wearing earplugs, so if a situation arises where I am needed, that red button,” she said, indicating a red button on the other side of the basket, “transmits a signal to me. Otherwise, you’ll forget I’m even around.”
That was odd. Logan had assumed that Daffney would serve as a tour guide, commenting on the points of interest they would be flying over. Obviously not. Since Claire had made the arrangements for this balloon flight, maybe she would know how they would get that information.
“Enjoy the flight,” Daffney said, smiling brightly. And then she went around to climb inside the connecting basket.
“This is exciting, isn’t it?” he said. Claire laughed and Logan thought her smile was as bright as Daffney’s had been.
Moments later the engines roared and they were off, being lifted into the air. A feeling of excitement, obviously the one Claire had been feeling since waking that morning, had spread to Logan.
He glanced down and saw over three hundred balloons still sitting on the ground. Before long, the air would be filled with them. Logan had always been a fan of flying, which is why he’d let Lance talk him into getting his pilot’s license. But he’d never had the desire to get into a hot air balloon until now. He figured they were already close to thirty feet off the ground and steadily going higher.
Claire came to stand beside him. Now that they were more than fifty feet or so in the air, all by themselves, her scent enveloped him, drawing him to her.
He couldn’t resist letting his gaze roam over her. She looked sexy as hell. When she leaned over to look down at the ground below, his heart nearly missed a beat when her short skirt rose to barely cover her thighs. Again, he wondered what she wore underneath. He couldn’t see Claire going without underwear, especially with a skirt so short. It was merely wishful thinking on his part.
He was a man after all. And she was a very desirable woman who he not only loved, but loved making love to. Just being around her in such close quarters, inhaling her scent, was getting next to him.
“How high do you think we are now, Logan?”
“A little over a hundred feet,” he said. Had she inched even closer to him? Not that he was complaining. He enjoyed having her next to him, during the day, and in bed at night. If he had his way, she’d always be by his side.
He glanced around. There wasn’t much room in the basket but it was bigger than most he’d seen. This one had a bench, which meant they wouldn’t have to stand the full three hours. The picnic basket containing their lunch was sitting on a miniature table and the bottle of wine was in a small ice bucket. It suddenly occurred to him just how cozy and romantic the setting was, and all sorts of ideas began flowing through his head. Ideas he immediately squashed.
“Look over there, Logan. Isn’t it beautiful?”
His gaze followed to where Claire pointed. It was the Rio Grande Valley, and she was right, it was indeed beautiful. He noticed that they’d broken away from the crowd. Daffney must have set a different course for them. The majority of the balloons were headed either east or west. They were moving south.
“It’s spectacular.” Being able to see an aerial view was one of the things he enjoyed most about being a pilot. Below them were farms with huge spreads. He could even make out livestock.
Claire had eased closer to him and instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, loving the feeling of having her plastered to his side. Logan smiled. He could get used to this. And he was glad that their closeness was extending past the bedroom. They shared long conversations over dinner and during the afternoons when they would wind down from that day’s activities. They were getting intimate, in every way possible.
He knew she still grieved for the friends she’d lost. That remained a hurdle that would take time to get over. But he reiterated that her friends would want her to be happy, and she seemed to be starting to accept that. She even talked to him about Walter, the man she’d loved and lost. They were becoming close—closer than he’d ever been to a woman. Now he knew her favorite color and some of her favorite foods, and that Claire was actually her middle name, although she used it as her first. Her real name was Thomasina. She’d been named after her father, whose name had been Thomas.
This vacation was the best idea he’d ever had, and he hoped she saw it that way, as well. Still, she would remind him, on occasion, that this was just an affair, nothing more. Yesterday, she’d even told him that she hoped he met the right woman soon, because he was a great catch. He’d come close to telling her that he wasn’t interested in other women, just her. But he hadn’t. Instead, he simply nodded, letting her think what she wanted. He could afford to be patient. And hopefully, by the time he returned her to DC, she would realize that she couldn’t live without him.
Claire suddenly moved in front of him to look closer at the sites below. He drew in a sharp breath when her backside rested against his groin. As if to settle in a good viewing spot, she wiggled back against him a few times, moving her ass to cradle against an erection he figured she had to be feeling.
When she wiggled her backside a couple more times, he reached out and placed his arms around her waist. Leaning down, he whispered close to her ear, “Stay still.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him. “And if I don’t?”
Did she know what she was asking? “If you don’t, I’ll be tempted to have my way with yo
u.”
She turned to face him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in close to his lips. “Go ahead, then. Give into that temptation, Logan.”
And then she leaned up on tiptoes to capture his mouth with hers.
23
Only with Logan did Claire feel she could be this bold. Granted, this wasn’t the first time she’d ever initiated a kiss, but the kiss was just the beginning. She intended to take things a lot further. In fact, she planned to seduce the hell out of Logan Montgomery, something she’d never before had the inclination to try. However, all she had to do was think about what they’d shared over the past five days, all the sensuality he’d introduced her to, and figured it was time for her to show him what skills she possessed. Even if it was something she’d never done in her entire life.
What she really liked was that Logan seemed to be following her lead. He hadn’t taken over the kiss and was just letting her set the pace. It was as if he’d decided it was her party and he would let her do what the hell she pleased. She appreciated that, because it was her party. She’d made the plans and she knew exactly how she wanted it to end.
And it was going pretty well, so far. In fact, it was hot. She had taken control of his mouth, hungrily feasting on it as if they hadn’t kissed in years when in fact, they’d made out that very morning. Before leaving the house. And now they were going at each other as if they would never see each other again. Although he was letting her lead, he was participating in a way that would have made her panties wet…if she’d been wearing any.
She pulled back from the kiss but continued to use the tip of her tongue to lick around his lips, from corner to corner. “Did you like that, Logan?”
“Hell, yeah. Couldn’t you tell?”
Yes, she could. The impressive erection pressing hard against her was hard to miss. And the way his hand had clutched her backside had made her even bolder. Over the last five days, they’d done a lot in the bedroom. But the one thing she hadn’t done was taste him. And before they returned to earth, she intended to do just that.
“Do you know what you’re doing to me, Claire?”
“Seducing you,” she said, matter-of-factly as she continued to nibble at his mouth.
“You planned this?”
She smiled. “Most definitely. You’ve shown me what you can do. Now it’s time for me to return the favor. Just so you know, I’m green at some of it so you will have to bear with me. But, Logan, you bring out the bad girl in me.”
He touched his lips to hers again. “Just how bad are you?”
“Umm, let me show you.” Reaching down, she lowered the zipper of his jeans and inserted her hand. She expelled a deep sigh when she managed to get her fingers beneath the waistband of his briefs to grab hold of the body part that had given her so much pleasure over the last few days. It was massive. It felt hot and was actually throbbing in her hand.
“You’re bad, Claire,” he said huskily, then finished with a groan.
They were standing so close, she could feel his heart pounding against her chest. Leaning in, she whispered, “Then let me see if I can be good. I want to taste you, Logan.”
He drew in a sharp breath at the same moment his shaft flexed in her hand. “You can’t. Not here.”
Claire smiled as she gazed into his heated eyes and countered, “I can. Here. There’s plenty of privacy. Take a look around.”
He did and she became aware of the exact moment he realized just how much privacy they had. The closest balloon to them was miles away. They had this part of the sky to themselves and she intended to take full advantage of it. “But what about the pilot?” he asked.
She smiled. “This is the Petersons’ official Mile-High balloon. We’re not about to do anything in here that hasn’t been done before. But just to ease your worries, Daffney is on the other side of that wall, wearing ear plugs for a reason. Trust me. All bases are covered.”
Claire then leaned in to capture his mouth again in a kiss so scandalous, she even surprised herself. And she was just getting started. Before he could protest, she pulled his shaft from inside his pants.
“Thomasina Claire…”
That was her name and she intended to make sure he remembered her going down on him whenever he said it. Without wasting any more time, she smiled at him before easing down to her knees. She was going to get up close and personal, and give him a ride he’d never forget.
The moment Claire slid his shaft inside her mouth, Logan thought he was going to die. And it would be a slow, pleasurable death. Why did her mouth feel so hot? And why was she intentionally sending him over the edge by greedily licking every hard inch of him?
He reached down to grab hold of her shoulders to pull her up. This was madness. But instead of pulling her up as he’d intended, his hand tightened in her hair to hold her mouth…right there. He was powerless to stop her. His breath hitched and his thighs quivered. Her mouth was doing one hell of a job and he was loving every licking and sucking minute of it.
He released a deep groan and threw his head back to draw in a deep breath of air, but all he could smell was her scent, and his libido went into overdrive.
He could feel everything she was doing with her mouth and tongue. She would take his shaft, lick all over it, even the engorged veins, right before she started to suck him in a way he could feel all the way to the bones. She would withdraw her mouth, just to the tip, then pull him back in and start licking the full length of him all over again.
She kept it up, driving him slowly out of his mind while he held tight to her hair, alternately groaning her name and muttering words of encouragement, praise and support. There were other words he used, too. Words that told her explicitly what he intended to do to her if she didn’t kill him first. He was certain he was about to die. There was no way a man could endure this much pleasure and survive.
Suddenly he felt a warmth flood his body, signaling he was close to the edge. He released a deep guttural growl, as electrical currents seemed to pulse through him. Having a strong idea of what was about to happen, he moved his hands from her hair to her shoulders, intent on pulling Claire to her feet. But she resisted.
Her stubbornness won out and he cupped his hand to the back of her head and called out her name when his body exploded in one hell of an orgasm. He’d yelled so loud, he was certain the birds flying nearby had heard him. He wouldn’t have been surprised, earplugs or no earplugs, if the pilot heard him, too. Hell, he’d bet that somewhere below them, a few people on the ground were staring up in the sky, wondering what was happening.
But at that moment, he didn’t care. All that mattered was Claire, who was, at that moment, lapping up every last drop of him.
While he was fighting to bring his heart rate and breathing back under control, he glanced down and watched as she finally released him from her mouth, licking her lips before looking up at him. The moment their eyes connected, something snapped inside of him and he suddenly realized it was his control.
With an urgency he still felt in his groin, he reached down and quickly pulled her up to her feet. Reaching under her short skirt, he intended to snatch off her panties, then let out a growl when he realized she wasn’t wearing any. Lifting her into his arms--and before she could wrap her legs around him--he entered her with a hard thrust.
They didn’t need a bed. They didn’t need a wall. They had their connected bodies and he could take it from there. He held tight to her hips and like a maniac, he frantically began pumping into her.
He felt the hot licks she began placing on his neck, throat and jaw. Was she trying to drive him mad? If so, she’d already done one hell of a job of it. By the time they returned to the ground, he was afraid that somebody would have to pry their bodies apart.
At that moment, he felt the way her back arched, how her hands tightened around his neck and how she began moaning before finally screaming his name. Her womanly muscles began milking him like crazy and an instant later, he exploded again, giving
her what she’d asked for. This was the first time they’d had sex without using a condom, but he couldn’t stop his seed from shooting off inside of her, even if he’d wanted to. He was too far gone. And so was she.
He then kissed her, as his unprotected erection subsided inside her. This was a degree of intimacy he’d never shared with a woman. Only her.
Moments later, she pulled back from the kiss to whisper his name. “Logan…”
Unable to stand any longer, he eased down on the bench, sitting sideways to keep their bodies connected. He held her while trying to get his breathing back under control. Her hips still rocked slowly against his, and if she kept it up, there was no doubt in his mind he’d have another boner soon.
“Claire?”
“Hmm?” She didn’t even lift her head from where it was buried in his shoulder.
“I wasn’t wearing a condom.”
She shifted her head from his shoulder to look up at him. The dazed look in her eyes and lips swollen from their kisses gave her a very satisfied look. “I know. I enjoyed making love to you, skin-to-skin. And I’m safe. I take injections.”
He held her gaze, knowing that he’d be thrilled if he discovered she was having his child, even now. It was something he definitely wanted…someday. “I’m not taking any injections but I’m safe,” he said huskily.
And then he leaned close to seize her mouth once more.
24
JEREMIAH
“So, Pop, when will we get to meet this Ms. Manchester?”
Jeremiah lifted his head from reading the morning newspaper to glance across the breakfast table at his daughter. He couldn’t help but smile--this was the first time she’d brought up Thea in weeks. He figured Carrie was trying to practice the art of tending to her own business and was certain it was something Connor had convinced her to do. He placed the newspaper aside, deciding to put his daughter out of her misery.
AT LONG LAST (The Playas Series - Book 4) Page 19