Rey glanced at her, his mood still light from her earlier teasing. But when she leaned back against the door and looked up at him, his gut tightened with need. "There are some things a man might want more than a warm meal," he said and braced one forearm against the door above her.
Bianca met his gaze and swallowed. "Really. Like what?"
He bent his head until his lips barely grazed her. "For starters, a nice warm kiss," he said and proceeded to demonstrate what he meant, nipping at her lips with his until she opened her mouth. He tongued the fullness of her lower lip and breathed in the shaky breath she exhaled.
"Mmm, just like this," he confirmed.
Bianca met his mouth with hers, savoring the hardness of his lips and the soft wet slide of his tongue against hers. She moaned in the back of her throat as he leaned against her, his big body dominating her, becoming a part of every bit of her space.
"Rey," she murmured, shifting her hips to press against his and moving her hands to the waistband of his jeans.
Rey stopped kissing her to softly utter a questioning "Are you sure?"
“Very sure,” she said and he moved his mouth to the crook of her neck, biting at the sensitive spot he had discovered the other night.
Bianca inclined her head to give him greater access, loving the feel of his mouth and lips at that one erotic place, and grabbed hold of his side. He flinched as she did so and she realized she had accidentally brushed against the angry scratch she had noticed earlier.
That it bothered him so much told her it might be more than the scrape visible from the tear in his t-shirt and she gently eased him away.
"Let's go take care of this, Rey, as well as clean ourselves up," she said.
There was no argument, just a slight nod of his head. He took hold of her hand, turned, and led her to his bathroom, where she couldn't help but marvel at the space.
It wasn't overly large, just slightly bigger than a standard-sized bathroom, but whoever had designed it had made the most of the space.
"Did you do this yourself?" she asked as she ran a hand along the marble covering the walls which matched the light peach-colored stone on the floors.
Rey ducked down into the counter beneath the sink, but looked up at her and nodded. "It was my one luxury, although I wish I’d had the space to do a large whirlpool tub."
Instead of the tub, he’d installed an oversized shower with jets that came at you from both the sides and above. The enclosure was big enough to accommodate a man of Rey's size quite comfortably.
"This is really nice also," she said and ran her hand across the glass door of the shower.
He murmured his agreement, stood, and handed her a first aid box. "Can you help?"
Bianca peeked into the box and found an assortment of bandages, tape, and disinfectants. "I guess injuries are part of your job."
Rey shrugged and made a face. "The occasional smashed thumb or cut. Luckily nothing more serious. I try to run a tight ship to avoid major injuries."
From what she had seen of him and his workers during the course of the last week, that was very true. He insisted that everything be kept organized and the debris cleaned up to avoid falls and other accidents.
When he stood before her, she laid the box on the edge of the sink, grasped the edge of his t-shirt, and helped him remove it, revealing not just an angry scratch, but a larger nasty scrape and some bruising.
"What happened?" she asked and reached behind him for the first aid supplies. She removed some cotton gauze and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to cleanse the area.
Rey glanced at the area and swore. "Someone who wasn't watching what they were doing nailed me with a two-by-four. It had a really rough edge with a jagged point where he hadn't sawed it right either."
She nodded, doused the gauze with the antiseptic, and brought it close to the wound. "This is gonna sting," she said and winced on his behalf in anticipation.
She placed the gauze over the scratch, and he jumped slightly, his muscles tense. She leaned forward so she could see the area she was cleaning better and realized just how close she was to him and all that masculinity. As she finished swabbing his side, she placed a hand in the middle of his chest and noted the strain in his body.
She met his gaze and understood then that it had nothing to do with the pain of the slight injury. Moving even closer as she reached behind with one hand to toss the dirtied gauze into a wastebasket, her body brushed the length of his. It was only too easy to bring her lips to the wall of his chest and sample the saltiness of his skin.
"You taste good," she said, continuing to kiss and bite at the taut muscles of his chest while she raised her hands to hold his waist.
"Quite a compliment from a chef as good as you," Rey said as cupped the nape of her head with one big hand, slipped his other hand against the small of her back and beneath the edge of her t-shirt.
"Taste is just one of the things a chef considers."
She ran one hand across his chest and brushed it against the hard point of his nipple.
"We think about the texture of things, like how smooth or hard it is," she continued, passing her thumb across him and then replacing it with her mouth, suckling him.
Closing his eyes, Rey let the physical sensations she was creating flow over him. Let her words carry him to another place, one where had not been before.
"We think about the color of things, how rich and creamy it might be, and how it feels against our lips."
She demonstrated by raising her other hand to cup the defined muscles of his chest and took a teasing bite of his nipple before soothing it with her tongue.
He held her there, letting her explore him. Enjoying her mouth on his body. His breathing grew hard and rough and his body was aroused to an almost painful state. Still, he continued their little game.
"So tell me," he rasped, groaning as she wrapped her arms around his back and brought her body full against him. "Do I pass the taste test?"
She gazed up at him and for the first time, he noticed how flushed she was, and that her breathing was as unsteady and erratic as his own.
"If you were on the menu, I'd never have an empty table," she admitted and what little control he had snapped at that point.
Taking a hard hold of her waist, he lifted her off the floor, and moved the few steps until she was up against the wall, his hips cradled by the Vee of her legs. He kissed her then, a long, breath-stealing kiss that had her whimpering.
Grabbing hold of his shoulders, she lifted herself until she was straddling his hips and his erection pushed into the most intimate part of her. He rocked, pushing her against the wall, pinning her there.
She moaned and when he reached for the hem of her shirt, her hands were already there, helping him lift the t-shirt off.
Quickly she unclasped the front of her bra and her breasts spilled free against his chest. He slipped his hands beneath her buttocks and raised her until he grazed her tight nipples with his lips.
"My turn to taste," he whispered and took her into his mouth, suckling and biting her until she was clutching his head to her.
"Mmm," he said as he retreated and gazed at her. "Absolutely the best until. . ."
Bianca had no time to wonder at his meaning as he shifted away, forcing her to loosen her legs from his waist and find some stability on her feet again.
He bent, dropped a kiss on her breast, and then worked his way downward, dancing his tongue across the middle of her abdomen as his hands bracketed her waist. When his mouth reached the waistband of her jeans, he quickly undid the fastening and zipper and parted the well-worn material to reveal a triangular section of her belly.
He dropped to his knees, placing a kiss in the middle of the gap he had created, and reached down, got rid her of her sneakers and socks.
When he looked up, she met his gaze and any hesitation she might have had faded in the face of the desire and love evident in his eyes.
She tugged off her jeans and kicked them aside, lea
ving her standing before him in nothing but a pair of wispy, cream-colored bikini panties.
He spanned the width of her hips with his hands, his thumbs riding along the edge of the panties, teasing the soft skin of her belly with tiny little circles. He leaned forward, opened his mouth against her navel, dipping his tongue in before moving down a little, then a little more, slipping the panties away with his hands to free her to him.
She fell back against the wall as he put his mouth against her in the spot that had slowly been growing wet and swollen for him. He brought his hands around to part her, allowing him to kiss her in that most intimate spot.
She closed her eyes as the sensation weakened her knees and made her insides tremble.
Grasping his shoulders, she shifted one hand to cup his head as he savored her, his tongue and lips alternately licking and tugging at her, until she was panting. Then he increased the torture, sliding his thumb along the wet of her and penetrating her.
She came with a hard shuddering sigh that shook her body and made her nearly slide to the floor, until he rose and glided one hand beneath her buttocks to steady her.
He kissed her, his lips tasting of her passion and another wave of need curled through her. She fought it, wanting to share her completion with him. To feel him inside her.
"Rey, come with me," she urged, moving her hands to his jeans and undoing them.
He left off tasting her mouth only long enough to drop his pants and sheath himself in a condom. Then he was inside her, his long slow thrusts driving her up against the wall.
Rey groaned against her mouth, still spiced with the flavor of her, and slowed his movement, wanting to prolong their loving as long as possible. She was so wet, so fluid it was nearly impossible, especially when she again wrapped her legs around him, deepening his penetration until he was buried to the root of his erection.
"Bianca," he moaned against her breasts as he left off kissing her lips to relish the feel of her hard nipples in his mouth. To savor the sweet berry-like essence of them.
She was trembling everywhere as she clutched him tight, but Rey had to see her. Had to know what she was feeling with him buried deep inside.
He met her gaze. Nothing but love and amazement there.
"I want you, Bianca," he told her and she smiled, bent her head, and kissed his lips, her breath unsteady as she repeated his words. "I want you, too, Rey."
Resting his forehead against hers, he slipped his hands behind her back, surrounding her with all of him and cushioning her back. He drove into her, his thrusts growing faster and more determined as he sensed her peak approaching. When she cried out his name, almost like a prayer, it was his undoing and he joined her, his body emptying into the warmth of hers.
He continued pressing her against his arms and the wall, steadying her as their passion ebbed. The muscles of his legs protested the strain as she slowly relaxed and loosened her hold on his hips.
He slipped out of her then and gave a nervous chuckle, trying to smooth over the moment with a tender soothing kiss.
"Don't you think it's time that we got cleaned up?" he said softly, brushing away a damp lock of hair from her forehead.
She grinned and whatever unease he might have felt evaporated with the force of her smile and her words. "Only if you help me scrub my back."
Chapter Fourteen
Bianca lay in his bed, spent, pleasantly numb even, after their shower together.
The heat of the water combined with the heat of their passion had drained her of what little physical reserves she had left. She pressed a hand to her heart and wondered whether it could survive the wild ride as well.
For the first time in her life, she had jumped in, feet first, without truly testing the waters. She had only known Rey for all of a month. Had only really gone on a date with him once, she groaned silently.
But inside, deep in the heart that pulsed regularly beneath the palm of her hand, she knew him better than she had any other man. From the moment she had seen him, everything about him called to her. Granted, the physical factor was hard to ignore. Blame it on the pheromones, she mumbled to herself. But she knew there was more, so much more, about the complex and enigmatic man that Rey was that had formed a bond with her. One that went well beyond the physical attraction between them.
He returned to the bedroom, his magnificent body bare except for a pair of tidy whities that hugged his sex and those buttocks she had lusted over from day one. In one hand he held a tray of Cuban pastries and in the other, two glasses of soda.
She sat up in bed, propped herself against the pillows, and accepted the plate as he handed it to her and settled himself, cross-legged, on the bed beside her. He placed the glasses on the nightstand.
"This looks tasty." She grabbed a meat-filled pastry and held it up for him to bite.
He grasped her wrist, his touch tender, and bit off nearly half of the puffy pastry in one chomp.
She wiggled an eyebrow as she watched him scarfing down the pastry. "Hungry?"
Rey swallowed and grinned, "Very. How about you?"
She told herself not to respond to the hidden meaning in his words, certain she would never be able to get up in the morning if they made love again.
"Famished for food," she clarified and finished off the pastry in two delicate bites.
Rey nodded, smiled, and reached for another one. "I'm sorry I don't have much in the way of food."
"Your Mom usually leaves you a dish. Admit it. Despite what you told me when we made our little deal," she teased him as she took another pastry as well, this time one of the longer cigar-shaped ones filled with guava paste and cream cheese.
Rey blushed and quickly devoured his food. "Okay, so I stretched the truth a little. I wanted the job."
"Liar. I've heard from the crew about how much work you have and how you're turning people away. You didn't need our job, especially since I suspect that while it may not be a loss for you, it certainly isn't giving you the kind of profit margin you would normally want," she said, suddenly feeling guilty about the deal they had struck.
He cradled her cheek and met her gaze. "It wasn't the profits I was thinking about when I took the job, Bianca."
She didn't need to ask what he had been thinking about. It was obvious in his gaze and in the loving way he caressed her face.
"I. . .I," she stuttered and bit her lip. "I don't want you to feel cheated, Rey. I want, more than anything, for us to be honest with each other."
He stilled the motion of his hand and almost physically flinched from her words, withdrawing into himself. "I haven't lied to you, Bianca, but, there are things. . ." He shook his head and looked away.
She set aside the plate of food, crawled out from under the covers, and into his lap. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close and his body was tight, unyielding. Kissing the side of his face, she murmured, "I know one thing, Rey."
She cupped his head in her hands, moved her lips over the side of his jaw, dropping kisses all along the way. She kissed the edge of his mouth, trying to will away the resistance in him.
"What?" he asked, even as he accepted the comfort of her mouth on his.
"You're a good man," she said and urged him down onto the bed.
* * *
The chirp of his cell phone woke him from the soundest sleep he'd had in a long time. Groggy, he fumbled on the nightstand for the phone, finally found it and swiped the face to answer the call.
"Rey Ramos," he answered.
"Boss man, where are you?" John-John shouted over the din of power saws and hammering.
Rey bolted upright in bed and glanced at his clock, realizing they had slept through the alarm.
"I'm running a little late," he said and glanced over at where Bianca lay, sleeping soundly on her stomach, her body bare beneath the sheets.
"I'll be there later. A lot later," he added as she turned in her sleep and one creamy breast peeked at him from beneath the covers.
He groaned and c
losed his eyes, willing away his arousal.
"Hey, Rey. Eduardo wants to talk to you," John-John let him know and Rey gruffly told him to hurry it up.
Eduardo came on the line a second later. "Rey, listen, I'm a little worried about Bianca," he said, and a mix of embarrassment and guilt blasted through Rey. "We haven't been able to reach her all morning."
"She's all right, Eduardo. Don't worry about her. I'm sure she'll show up later," he said, but Eduardo was apparently reluctant to take that for an answer.
"How do you know? Bianca is never late. She’s totally anal about being on time."
"Trust me, Eduardo," he stressed.
A sudden strangled cough on the other end of the line was followed by a chagrined, "Oh, okay. We'll see you two later?"
"Yes, later." Rey signed off, placed the phone back on his nightstand, and lay down on his side of the bed. Reaching out, it took all of his will power to pull the sheet up to cover her nakedness. To avoid further temptation, he leaned close, cupped her cheek, and softly whispered, "Bianca. It's time to get up."
She sighed and mewled in protest, scrunching her face in complaint.
"Five more minutes," she whispered huskily. She threw her arm out to wrap it around him and snuggled into his side.
Rey grunted his agreement, tucked her head onto his shoulder, and gently stroked her back, hoping to slowly rouse her to wakefulness. More than five minutes passed and Bianca failed to stir. He bent his head again, nuzzled the side of her face, and softly urged, "We need to get going. People are waiting for us."
The faint kiss of his breath stirred against her skin and Bianca raised her face until her cheek was pressed to his. Without opening her eyes, she moved her lips against his jaw, and trailed her hand across his shoulder.
"I don't want to leave this bed, Rey."
He chuckled, rolled onto his side partway so that she was on her back and his thigh rested across her belly. Running his thumb across her cheek, he stroked it over and over until she had no choice but to open her eyes and meet his gaze.
When she did so, he smiled at her indulgently, bent, and kissed her, his mouth slow and tender as it plucked at her lips. He broke away from her for a second and whispered, "You can spend the night again tonight. Come with me tomorrow to our monthly family get together."
Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set Page 13