They needed air. That’s the only reason he released her lips even though he couldn’t resist placing a few more soft nibbles all along them before making his way to her ear. His breath was short and his heart wild. Running his hands soothingly up and down her trembling back he fought to hold himself back.
“Your dinner’s getting cold.” He knew to hold onto her this time until her legs were okay. He didn’t pull away this time either from the way she clung to him, or the way her body trembled in his arms. No, he reveled in it, enjoyed it, as if it were his due.
There was more than a little pride in his movements when he reached down to pick up the discarded bag, still with one of her hands in his, before leading her into the kitchen. She was quiet as he unloaded their dinner and set the other bag with the rest of what he’d brought at his feet.
“Did you get any writing done today?” He opened up the conversation as if she hadn’t just damn near exploded all over him. It was going to take her a while to get herself together but she had enough strength left to answer him even though there was a frog in her throat. “Yes I did.”
“How’s it coming you having fun yet?”
“Oh yeah, I get lost when I’m writing, it’s like being in a whole new world.”
“You gonna let me read it when it’s done?” She almost choked around the straw she’d just put in her mouth. “Um…” She thought of how much her hero was beginning to sound and look like him and knew there was no way in hell that was ever gonna happen.
“Never mind, you look like you’re about to expire at the mere thought.”
“It’s not that it’s just…you wouldn’t want to read that kind of stuff anyway. It’s the equivalent to what guys call a chick flick, boring.”
She was lying out her ass. Since he came along it was more like soft porn than anything else. She was having a time of it not having her characters hop into bed every other page.
She grabbed some plates and silverware and they sat down to eat as he plated her food for her, piling her plate high with his offerings. Wow, she could get used to this kind of pampering. He did everything but cut her meat for her. When was the last time anyone had taken the time to do anything for her? Until a few days ago, never. Not since her grandma had passed.
“How’s your dinner? He changed the subject for which she was eternally grateful. The steak with all the trimmings was nothing short of spectacular. But it looked like he’d bought the biggest one they had in the restaurant. Knowing him she wouldn’t be surprised if he had.
“It’s amazing, but I hope you know I can’t eat all this.” The man must have no idea of female eating habits if he thought she could. The thing could feed a small family she was sure. Though she was gonna give it a good try.
She’d heard stories about the amazing things they did with steak at that restaurant but had never had the pleasure. It was melt in your mouth good.
“That’s okay, eat as much as you want.” They continued in relative silence as Kyle kept his own counsel.
He hadn’t quite decided how he was going to tell her about the house he’d bought for them to share. His first option was to do what he usually did, state it as a fact and move the hell on. But she wasn’t a business venture and she was still gun shy. Not to mention the fact that they’d known each other less than a week.
When he thought of it, someone looking in from the outside would see his actions as those of a madman, but that someone would have to know him to know how his mind works. He wasn’t in the habit of denying himself anything and she was the first ‘something’ that he’d wanted with such intensity in a very long time, if ever.
He’d gone after business deals with a fervor lacking in his opponents, but never had he approached anything personal in his life with the same drive. There was never any need before. Now he felt as if he didn’t lock her down soon she’d get away from him. Like fuck he was gonna let that shit happen.
He watched her every move as she ate, looking at her through new eyes, through the eyes of a man who had staked his claim, at least in one of the ways that counted. He would make sure that the other didn’t take too long.
“You’re beautiful, I told you that already didn’t I?” Even with her hair a mess from where she’d dragged her fingers through it, no makeup that he could see, and her lips swollen from his kisses. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
But more than that beauty, the thing that got him in the gut was the way she made him feel. The fact, that she even made him feel anything at all. Looking at her, even here in the wreck of an apartment, her beauty touched something deep inside him. Something he never knew was there.
She felt his stare and lifted her head to look at him. “Thank you.” How could two little words mean so much? When he’d said it before on the sidewalk she’d put it down to a come on. But the look in his eyes now told her that it was more than that. Kyle caught her look and was amazed that he already knew her so well.
She was a mixed bag his Kerry, one of strength and vulnerability. He was beginning to think she knew too much of one, and not enough of the other. She had no idea of her worth. But how could that be? He’d known lesser women who would’ve given their eyeteeth for half of what she had, and yet portrayed themselves differently. Here she was, the one who had brought him down essentially, and she had no idea. That gave him an idea.
“That lady today, Sarah, were you two friends at one time?” She fidgeted in her seat as she always did when he turned those orbs on her full blast.
“I thought so.” Her shoulders shrugged.
“What happened?” He cut into his steak and took a bite, enjoying the succulent taste of the well-prepared morsel as he awaited her answer.
Kerry could feel the food turn to dust in her mouth at the change in conversation. She didn’t want to think about that part of her life but knew him well
enough by now to know he wouldn’t let up.
“She was more Jen’s friend than mine I guess. When the divorce happened, most people chose Jen and Paul…” That sickening feeling at her failure wasn’t as strong now. She didn’t feel like she was sinking in thick mire with tentacles pulling at her ankles to suck her into the dark. So dramatic Kerry, damn.
“I don’t understand, what do you mean chose them? Were they mean to you, these people?” The words were spoken softly but she sensed the underlying menace. But why should that be? Why should he care one way or the other?
“I wouldn’t say mean per se. They just let their preference be known. Most of them were part of the in crowd. Their husbands are lawyers and doctors, businessmen, you know, the town’s elite. I was accepted into that crowd because of my marriage to Paul. When that ended, well, there was no place for me any longer.” It was sad really. She’d believed at one time that some of those people actually liked her.
Kyle lifted his glass of water to his lips and took a sip as he watched her over the glass. Beaten, broken, that’s what she was, or what she had been rather. He meant to change that shit and give her back what it was she thought she’d lost. And he wasn’t going to be nice about that shit either.
“Are any of them still your friends? Anyone come around?” Why was he asking her these questions? What difference did it make? Still she answered even though the answer made her feel
ashamed.
“No, no one. But then again I stopped answering the door.”
“How hard did they try?” There was no answer she could give. In the beginning when she’d been moving from couch to couch until she could find a place to stay, some of them had made an effort to call to check up on her. But then after everything was final and they’d all abandoned ship, she’d started to believe they’d only been looking for news to gossip and laugh over. That had gutted her.
He didn’t ask her any more embarrassing questions about her past and she was able to eat in peace. She was halfway through as much as she could eat when she realized she didn’t need to make a mad rush to the bathroom to throw up. It
was a small victory but meant a lot. She sat back when she was done and patted her full stomach.
“There’s dessert, but we can save that for later with coffee.”
“What did you get?”
“Red velvet.”
“Umm my favorite.” Yes he knew. He had ways of learning things without seeming to be on a digging expedition. All you needed was the right person to tap into and you could learn damn near a whole life history.
Like he’d learned a hell of a lot from one of the waitresses at the restaurant tonight, by asking one simple question, ‘do you know Kerryanne?’ He had a knack for sniffing out prey, and tonight he’d hit the jackpot.
Shit that would’ve probably taken him a month to get out of this one had come spilling out almost faster than he could keep up. He’d come away from that little conversation knowing one thing for certain. It wasn’t only his gramps and Lucille that were in his girl’s corner. It seemed most of the town’s people thought she’d gotten a bum deal.
“I’ll get the coffee started.” Again he surprised her by clearing the table. Then he walked around the apartment checking the windows. He didn’t say anything but she knew he hated the place. When he grabbed his bag and dropped it on the couch she stopped what she was doing to watch.
“You got any extra sheets sweetheart?” If her eyes got any wider they’d pop. “You…you’re staying here?”
“Looks like. Sheets?” She walked on shaky legs to the bedroom to get the sheets and grabbed a pillow for good measure. She wasn’t sure how or what to think of this turn of events. He on the other hand seemed totally relaxed.
He was setting out the cups for their coffee when she returned and she stood next to the couch not knowing what to do next. “Just drop them there I’ll get it when we’re done.”
“No it’s ok, I can make it.” She fell right back into caretaker mode as she spread and straightened out the sheet over the old ratty cushions and patted the pillow into place.
She was a nervous mess just standing there as her mind went to what this all meant. Her mind might be wondering but her body was already way ahead.
Her stomach was in knots and that place between her thighs thrummed with a beat of its own. Was she really doing this? How had they reached this place so fast? And what did she really want? It’s not like he’s asking to share your bed Kerryanne, it’s just the couch. Yes, but how long before it’s the other?
“Come have your dessert.” She jumped as his voice intruded on her thoughts. Making her way back to the table she took her seat again and willed herself to calm down.
Kyle knew she was jumpy, that the thought of him spending the night had unsettled her some, but he wasn’t about to change his mind. Better she get used to him now because he had set himself on a course of action and he wasn’t about to turn back now. She should be happy he hadn’t gone straight to her bed.
She dug into her cake and he watched with his dick on the rise. The way she slid the sweet concoction off the fork onto her tongue gave him visions of his cock going in and out of her mouth. “Dammit.” He grabbed her by the back of her head with the fork halfway to her lips and covered them with his instead.
She was halfway out of her chair and in his lap as he ate at her lips. She was so sweet it made his heart ache. How could anyone have held this, hurt it, and let it go? “I’ll never let you go.” What the ever- loving fuck? He hadn’t meant to say that shit out loud. Before she could question him he pushed his tongue back into her mouth and took them both back under.
The cake and coffee were forgotten as he tortured himself by taking her onto his lap and kissing her for the next half an hour. She kissed like a woman who’d been starved. She also kissed like an innocent.
“Like this.” He showed her how he liked to be kissed and learned what she liked. How she liked to be held, touched. He kept his hands from straying too far, only teasing the sides of her plump tits as he fucked her mouth with his tongue.
He had a plan, one that might kill him before it came to fruition, but his lust, his need had to take a backseat to hers. It was a true testament to what he was beginning to feel for her, that even as his cock leaked behind his zipper he held off. “Calm down baby before you hurt yourself.” So much fucking heat.
“Uh-uh.” She pressed herself harder into that lump she felt under her ass. She was gone, caught up in the fire. She’d never felt anything like this, so all-consuming. For once in her life she wanted to give into that fire that had sometimes scared her. She wanted to let go and fly free. Would he rebuff her? Would he find her hunger too much too…desperate?
He calmed her with a soothing hand up and down her back as he brought their kiss down from fever pitch to a slow simmer. When they were both breathing easy again, he pushed the hair back from her face and looked, just looked at her as if seeking something in her eyes.
“You’d better get to bed.” He tapped her ass to get her to move off of him even though what he wanted most to do, was take her to the couch or her bed, which was a few steps farther away, and bury himself to the hilt inside her.
Not here, and not like this. It had only been two days for all that it felt like a lifetime. He knew he could take her, that she had no power to stop him, but he knew it would be wrong. Not only because of what she’d been through, but because of what he wanted them to share. For that, for the future he envisioned for the two of them together, he needed to give her more.
It wasn’t easy watching her walk away from him, not when she looked as though she didn’t want to either. But with a sigh he watched until she disappeared behind the door. It was going to be a long damn night.
Chapter 8
***
She tossed and turned with him in the other room until sleep finally took her just after midnight. Her dreams that night were of him. There were no shadows, no dark cloudy skies, just laughter and the two of them in some very compromising situations. They were so hot they felt real, so that when she jumped awake just a few short hours later, she expected to find him in bed next to her. Her cheeks were flushed and her body in heat. That secret place between her thighs throbbed with longing.
She looked around the room her breath short and choppy as if she’d ran a marathon, but he wasn’t there. She dealt with the bitter taste of a different type of disappointment, even as she asked herself if it wasn’t better that it had all been in her head.
Slipping from the warmth of her bed, she tiptoed to the door that she’d kept closed last night. Now that she was awake her body had another pressing need that had nothing to do with the wetness between her thighs that had followed her from her dreams. She clamped her legs together and calmed herself down, preparing herself for what was beyond the door. Geez Kerryanne, get a grip. You’ve lived with a man for ten years just go to the bathroom for Pete’s sake.
Peeping around the door she saw the lump of his body still on the couch, fast asleep. Her heart did aerobics in her chest as she snuck out of the room heading for the bathroom down the hall. I don’t want him to hear me peeing. Of all the things to be embarrassed about, she thought. Her body wasn’t having it anyway, and she was soon sitting on the toilet releasing her bladder in spurts, trying her best to quell the noise without much luck.
She brushed her teeth and washed her face while she was in there before creeping back out like a thief. He was still laid out on the couch having not moved an inch it seemed. She let go of the breath she’d been holding and made her way in the direction of the kitchen to get the coffee started.
The closer she got to the couch the more her heart raced and the little imp on her shoulder told her it would be a great idea to take a look. No. Just one little peek, he’s probably not wearing a shirt, it was warm last night. And didn’t you want to see what all he has drawn on his chest? She rolled her eyes at her inner musings knowing that she wasn’t brave enough to risk it but still her feet headed in his direction.
She drew in a sharp breath when she reached his side and looked down. He was
huge. Not potbellied huge. His muscles looked formidable without his shirt. His stomach was rock hard and her fingers itched to touch. Her eyes took in everything at once. Dammit, the lightweight blanket covered the good parts, barely. There was a noticeable tent below the waist that she would’ve given anything to feast her eyes on.
Since when did you become a wanton hussy? She chided herself before letting her eyes trail back up to his chest, which was safer. He was beautiful, like a work of art. She’d never given much thought to tattoos before, the meaning behind them. But his seemed to tell a story.
The colors and the way they popped on his skin drew the eye. She got caught up in trying to read the story that his tattoos told and forgot to be careful, moving in closer for a better look. She was also breathing like a racehorse coming in for the stretch with his nemesis on his ass.
When his eyes popped open and he reached for her, pulling her down to his chest, she let out a little yelp. “Seen enough?” He covered her mouth before she had the chance to answer. If she thought the kisses they’d shared before were hot, this one was incendiary. His sleep warm body felt amazing beneath the thin cotton of her nightshirt. Her breasts tried valiantly to poke holes into his chest, and his arms, those arms she’d just been admiring, wrapped around her like a blanket and drew her in.
Kyle had been lying there waiting for her to wake up. He’d awakened maybe fifteen minutes before she did. The hard-on that woke him had hurt like a son of a bitch and he’d gone into the bathroom to clean himself up and take his mind off of it. No way was he gonna rub this one out, this was all for her. He was gonna let the shit build up for as long as she made him wait and empty it all deep inside her.
His thoughts had only made him hotter, so when he was finished brushing his teeth he’d gone back to the couch and did some breathing exercises. Willing himself the whole time not to go into the room where she slept and fuck her awake. He’d stolen a glimpse of her last night after she’d finally fallen asleep so he knew well enough what she looked like curled up in bed, and he couldn’t get the image out of his damn head.
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