His hands skimmed her waist and circled her rib cage, ultimately homing in on her tits. “Fuck. Me. Jesus, woman. I’m half-afraid I’m dead and bein’ with you is just a dream of the afterlife.”
“I’m real.” She began to ride him. “I’m sorry I can’t touch you, but I need my good arm for balance.”
What a rush to drive Ike crazy as she savored this intimate connection between them. Stopping with his cock half in, half out, bearing down on just the tip with her inner muscles, waiting for him to beg in that gruff tone for her to motherfucking move. Learning his reactions and pulling out her best arching, hip-rolling moves. She worked him, crazy to see those beautiful blue eyes roll back in his head and hear that throaty groan of masculine satisfaction.
But he didn’t relinquish all control. He gripped her head and bent her backward, motorboating her breasts until she giggled.
Playful sex with Ike loosened that trust she’d been so reluctant to give, because she knew he hadn’t shared this side of himself with many people either, let alone lovers.
The playfulness vanished when he brought her mouth to his for an explosive kiss that left her clinging to him. Panting with their lips pressed together, they breathed the same air and she almost came again from the pure eroticism of the moment.
“Christ, Larissa. I’m about to crawl out of my damn skin.”
“Tell me what to do.”
“Just hold on.” Ike clamped his fingers onto her hips and pumped his pelvis up. The rapid countermovements of their bodies pushed him closer to that surge of release. Every muscle in his body tensed and he groaned against her throat . . . until that moment he roared.
She nestled her cast behind his neck so she could run her fingers through his hair as he caught his breath.
After he’d leveled his breathing, his lips trailed across her jaw. “Sorry you didn’t come. Spread your knees so I can remedy that.”
Keeping their bodies connected, Ike ran his index and middle fingers up and down her pussy lips, focusing on those tender tissues and avoiding her clit. Until the hitch in her breathing and the clenching of her thighs had him redirecting all his efforts to that needy bundle of nerves.
“That’s it,” he breathed in her ear. “I wanna feel you. I wanna hear you. I wanna know I can give you exactly what you need.”
“You do. More than I ever imagined, Ike.”
Then he finished unraveling her with the precision of a master.
Her sex throbbed and pulsed and she let her head fall back, until she felt as if she was falling for real. She jumped and scrambled upright.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Then Ike stood, as if it was no big deal that he had a full-sized woman clinging to him like a limpet. He lowered her onto the bed and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”
After ditching the condom, he crawled in on the opposite side, snaking his arm around her waist and keeping her head beneath his chin. “I’m whupped. Let’s take a breather.”
“Okay. But . . .”
“Whatever it is, Larissa, it can keep for a few hours, can’t it?”
“Mmm. I guess.” She yawned.
Ike didn’t answer and she knew he’d already started to drift off.
Chapter Twenty-three
Getting smacked in the face with a cast was a horrible way to wake up.
One second Ike had been sawing logs, the next he was gasping in pain.
“Ike? Omigod, what did I do?”
Riss scrambled to turn on the light on the nightstand, but Ike was already up and headed toward the bathroom. The light briefly blinded him and he had to press his face into the mirror to see anything.
Holy fuck. She’d whacked him good. His eye socket had already puffed up, as had the section of skin between his eyebrows. His left eyebrow had a small cut and blood dripped down the side of his face.
He reached for a towel just as Riss entered the bathroom.
“Oh, you’re bleeding, I’m gonna be sick.” She swayed and he pushed her against the wall with his forearm across her chest.
“Breathe. I’m fine. Facial cuts and head wounds bleed a lot, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember because my head wound knocked me out! We have to get you to the ER, Ike.”
“Riss. Stop. Right now. Breathe.”
“I can’t believe you’re so goddamned bossy that you’re telling me to breathe when you’re bleeding all over the damn place.”
He knew that would redirect her attention.
“How about if you sit your ass on the toilet and let me look after you.”
“Fine. Get a washcloth and run cold water over it.”
“Still bossing me, jackass. Sit.”
By the time she got his face cleaned up, the cut had crusted over. But he’d have one helluva black eye.
“Stay put. I’m gonna run and get some ice and a bandage.”
Ike caught her by the wrist. “Don’t forget to put some clothes on.”
“Do I have to? It’s four in the morning. I doubt anyone is around the ice machine.”
“Clothes. On,” he growled. “In addition to me not wantin’ other guys gawking at your naked glory, I’ve left love bites in some pretty awesome places that I don’t expect you’d want anyone else to see.”
She blushed and snagged a robe off the back of the door. Then got frustrated when she couldn’t put it on without his help. After she was covered, she grabbed the ice bucket and sailed out of the room.
He managed to last fifteen minutes with ice on his eye before he tossed the ice pack aside. Riss shoved aspirin down his throat to try and stave off a headache. After she put the ice pack in the sink, she went into the living room portion of the suite. Ten minutes later when she hadn’t returned to bed, he went looking for her.
She’d maneuvered herself into a prone position on the couch.
“What are you doin’ out here, sweet cheeks?”
“Saving your handsome face from further damage.”
That was when he noticed she was crying.
“Riss. Baby. Don’t. It was an accident.”
“Why do shitty weird accidents always seem to happen to me?” She paused. “I mean, you’re wearin’ the brunt of it, but you wouldn’t have a black eye and a swollen face if we—”
“Hadn’t spent the previous six hours rolling around naked together lost to everything except mind-scrambling sex?” He perched his hip on the edge of the couch. “We were both exhausted and in a happy place when we drifted off. You stayed with me for two weeks. I know as well as you do that you’re supposed to sleep in that sling. Now I get why.”
“You’re not mad?”
“No. But I will be if you don’t get your ass off this couch and back in bed next to me.”
“Need a damn hug?”
He shook his head. “I wanna be body to body, skin to skin with you the rest of the night.”
“You have to help me put the sling back on.”
“Sure.” He wiped the tears from her face. “But how have you been getting the sling off and on by yourself at home?”
“Louie rigged me up a hook thingy. It works great. I told him he should make a bunch of them and try to sell them on Shark Tank.”
He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder after she stood. “For now, you’ve gotta put up with my help.”
Riss turned her head and brushed her lips across his. “I’ll take it.”
After they were back in bed with her weapon firmly lodged against her belly, and her body tucked into his, he said, “So tell me, what alternate reality have you created to explain my black eye?”
“Nothin’ yet.” She paused. “Why? Do you have one?”
“Yep. I knocked you out of the way and jumped in front of a speeding car.”
She snorted. “Lame. Try again.”
“Some dude was eyein’ you in the bar. I warned him, he didn’t heed it and we settled it the Wyoming way, except his old lady was pissed off and she took a swing at him and I got caught in the crossfire.”
“Better. But you’ve gotta be the hero in your own story.”
“Such as?”
“Such as . . . you were in the grocery store and this little kid was crying in the produce section. You thought his distress was because he couldn’t find his mom, but after talkin’ to him, you discovered he was trying to learn to juggle. So to show him that fruit wasn’t a good choice, you juggled apples and one smacked you in the eye.”
Ike laughed. “You get a gold star for comin’ up with that off the cuff.”
She kissed his pectoral. “Stick with me, babe, and I’ll learn ya all of my tricks.”
“Can’t wait.”
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning, they returned to the room and Riss showed Ike just how sorry she was about the black eye.
On her knees.
It was such a fucking stellar blow job that he could’ve pulled a Johnson and shot his load in less than two minutes. There was something inherently sexy about watching a woman who loved sucking cock. And Riss built him up, giving him a running dialogue with every lick, suck and stroke. So by the time she did let him come, he roared with primal satisfaction and had to sit his ass down he’d gone so weak in the knees.
During the hour-long drive back to his place, Riss crashed with her head on the armrest console and Ike stroked her cheek.
He parked in the garage and led a sleepy Riss inside.
“You know something?” she asked with a yawn.
“What?”
“Not once during the time I stayed here with you did you take me upstairs and show me your bedroom.”
Ike frowned at her. “That can’t be right.”
“You were so determined to keep that line of propriety between us—most of the time—that I didn’t ask for the grand tour. I figured if you wanted to show me, you would.”
“I want to show you now.”
“Thank god.”
As a single guy, Ike didn’t use all the extra rooms in his house, especially those on the second floor. He hadn’t even filled them with junk; they merely remained empty, except for the room he’d turned into a personal workout space. He had questioned Holt about putting the master suite on the main floor while they were in the planning stages, but Holt pointed out he’d have a much larger space on the second floor than on the main floor, so he’d kept the only dedicated guest room on the main floor.
Riss stopped inside the doorway to his bedroom. “Whoa. Look at the size of that bed! I just wanna crawl in right now.”
“Go ahead. I’ve imagined how you’d look between my sheets.”
“I hope I live up to the hype.”
“No hype.” He nuzzled the back of her head. “The reality has already been ten times better than the fantasy.”
“Wanna crawl in with me and take a nap?”
“Hold that thought. We’ll circle back after I show you the master bath. I’ll warn ya. No soaking tub. I’m a shower guy.” Although, after last night he could see the appeal of a giant tub.
Riss took in the space. “I like this. Clean lines. Lots of storage. My bathroom is so tiny in my trailer I can barely turn around.” She stepped away and trailed her fingers along the top of the slate-colored vanity. “So using your guest bathroom was a real treat.”
“Stay with me tonight.”
Riss sauntered back to him. “I can’t. I’ve gotta be at Tito’s at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow.” She walked her fingers up his chest. “You sure I can’t interest you in a quick catnap? My pussy needs a rest. Or petting.”
“Let’s go back downstairs for a bit first. It’d be too tempting to never let you outta my bed once I finally get you in it.”
Ten minutes later as they were sipping cranberry juice in the kitchen and snickering about their other cheap-date ideas, the doorbell rang.
“Please let me get it,” Riss said and skipped off.
Ike laughed. The woman literally skipped.
“Well, hello. I’m not surprised that you all showed up at once, but I’m sure Ike will be thrilled to see you.”
Before Ike reached her, Riss yelled, “Ike, your sisters are here. Hide the dildos and the porn.”
“Dildos?” Jen repeated. “That’s not funny. Good thing my kids weren’t around to hear that.”
“That’s why I said it. We’re all adults. It’s not like I was serious anyway.”
Jen huffed out her annoyance. “Where is my brother?”
Ike turned the corner and stepped into the entryway. “I’m right here.”
Three gasps sounded at seeing his swollen face and black eye.
“What a surprise that you all descended on me at once.” He beckoned Riss to his side and draped his arm over her shoulders. “Riss, you’ve met Jen. That’s Kay to her left and Lea to her right. This is my girlfriend, Riss.”
Riss gave them a little finger wave. “Heya.”
Lea stomped up to Ike. “What happened to your face?”
Ike looked at Riss, silently prompting her to create an alternate reality that’d leave his snoopy sisters’ mouths hanging open in shock.
“Believe it or not, when I rolled over in bed last night, I accidentally hit him with my cast.”
Wait . . . Riss told them the truth?
Jen moved in beside Lea. “I doubt that’s true since you ‘stretch the truth a tad,’ isn’t that right?”
Riss sighed. “I suppose I deserved that.”
“That’s really what happened. We forgot to put her sling on after . . .” We fucked for the fourth time last night wasn’t something he could admit to his sisters, as proud as he was of that fact. “After we called it a night.”
“And this sucker is super uncomfortable to wear naked anyway.”
Ike chuckled. “I’m not crazy about how it rubs against me either.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Riss demanded.
“Because that would’ve sent you back to tryin’ to sleep on the couch. And we’d already established that you sleeping away from me wasn’t happening.” He kissed her temple. “It’s fine, Riss.”
All three of his sisters gaped at him.
Then they huddled together and started whispering.
And they kept whispering and shooting looks at him and Riss without bringing them in on the discussion.
“You know what?” Riss shrugged her shoulders, forcing Ike to drop his arm. “I’m too damn old to wring my hands, hopin’ you all like me, as you rudely discuss me as if I wasn’t standing right fucking here.” Riss looked at Ike. “I’ll be in the kitchen.” She turned on her heel and disappeared.
Since his sisters had become adults, Ike rarely yelled at them. And he had to dig deep to fight that urge now. “Let’s get one thing clear. Your rude behavior is not welcome in my house. That includes dropping by unannounced, insulting my girlfriend and me.”
“Ike. We’re worried about you. Don’t deny you’ve changed everything since you hooked up with her.”
“Last warning about insulting me and her in my home. She is not just a hookup.”
“Whatever. But you have to admit you’ve been acting completely out of character. Especially since all we knew of her before was your mutual hate-hate relationship. We don’t hear from you for two days and when we check on you . . . we see you’ve got a black eye. Which you’re both laughing off. The only way we’d be more concerned is if you told us you’d ‘run into a door.’ If the situation was reversed and one of us had started acting this way? You’d freak out and demand answers.”
Kay had a point.
“And we don’t like that she’s cut you off from your family. None of us have heard from you s
ince the night of Mikayla’s program,” Jen said.
“When we tried to talk to you that night, you got pissed off and left,” Lea added. “We can’t talk to you about her at all.”
“Talk to me?” Ike repeated. “All I hear are accusations. Once you get to know Riss, you’ll like her.”
“We’re hoping she is a passing phase and we won’t have to get to know her,” Jen retorted.
“If you would’ve told us you were interested in dating, there are a dozen women we’d be happy to introduce you to,” Kay said.
Ike was so dumbfounded that words failed him.
That was probably the only reason he heard the garage door open.
Shit. Riss was leaving.
Can you blame her?
Ike didn’t plow through his sisters and take the shorter distance to Riss’s car via the front door. Instead, he spun around and raced through the kitchen and out the garage.
Riss was already in her car.
Dammit. He tried to get in on the left side, but she’d locked the door.
He beat on the window. “Riss. Open up.”
She shook her head.
“Come on. Please.”
She rolled the window halfway down. “What.”
“Look. I know you’re upset—”
“Upset?” she yelled. “I’m furious.”
“At them?”
“At you! At myself.”
Stunned, he said, “What the hell brought this on?”
“Even when we were frenemies or whatever, I wondered why a hot-looking, successful guy like you wasn’t married at your age, or at least in a relationship, or hell, even divorced. So now I know why.”
Please don’t say something that you can’t take back or I can’t forget.
“Your life is already crowded with women. Now I have to wonder whether there’s room in your life for a woman besides your sisters.”
“Of course there is. Please don’t leave mad like this.”
“Mad? Too late. I don’t give a damn if they like me. I thought it was enough that you liked me.”
“Riss—”
“Instead I had to listen to them tell you how horrible I am for you. And when one of them suggested they could set you up on a date with someone better than me? I didn’t hear you leaping to my defense.”
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