He held out his hands to her. Reaching forward, she took them, feeling the calluses on his fingers on the back of her hands. She shivered as she thought of how that rough sensation would feel on her soft skin. He pulled her over him. She straddled his legs. Now she could smell herself, spread open like she was.
He put his hands in her hair again. Her hair instantly unknotted, spreading over her shoulders. “I feel like saying all these politically incorrect things about beautiful Native American maidens.”
“How about you stick with beautiful and leave the rest,” she murmured. “Luckily it isn’t politically incorrect to think dirty thoughts about rock stars.”
“Maybe someday. We’ll get our turn.” He shifted underneath her. “What with all the persecution we face from streaming services and music pirates.”
“And all those diseases you pick up from flying internationally.”
“Right.” He traced a design down her arm. “But I’m not feeling downtrodden at the moment. How about you?”
“Starting to feel ill-used,” she admitted.
“Yeah?”
“You’re all glowy and I’m still, well, not.” She pressed her lips together.
“You didn’t even get spanked.”
She shook her head as her nipples peaked. Instinctively she leaned forward so that they brushed his chest. His broken heart tattoo disappeared behind her own flesh. He pulled her forward, roughly, and devoured her with his mouth. His tongue swept into her with a delicious display of power. “Is that what you’re into?” she asked when he came up for air.
“I believe in exploring anything and everything with a lover.” His mouth was an inch from hers. His breath had wintergreen on it. “How about you?”
“Small town girl.”
He chuckled. “Small towns are the craziest. Sure, rock stars are known for the sex toys and pretzel-y models and all, but places like this? You’ve got your sex parties and wife swapping.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. My parents were into some crazy shit. I blame it on my mother. You can find it all in a small town, it just isn’t so blatant.”
“How have I missed all this?”
“I think a lot of the experimentation comes with the boredom of a long relationship. Not everyone keeps that crazy chemistry going.”
She ran her short fingernails down his chest. “We have to enjoy it while it’s here.” Her fingers slipped into the nest of dark hair where belly turned to hips. “Oh, wow.” She glanced down. “Seriously? You’re hard again?”
He picked her up with ease and flipped her onto the bed, then crawled over her. “I’m starting to feel like it’s a public service to be your lover. Haven’t you slept with anyone under forty?”
She laughed and pulled up her knees. While she caught him glancing down quickly, his eyes darted up for just a second before returning. A double take, over her body, no less.
“You’re so wet,” he groaned. “I just have to taste.” He slid off the bed, onto his knees, and lowered his head to her sex.
She felt the slide of his tongue from her clit to the bottom of her labia. He wriggled his tongue into her channel. Her hips bucked, her back arched. She’d meant to invite him to open one of those condoms, but instead, this. Sounds escaped her lips. Was she begging? Probably. Wow. He returned to her clit, circling it with his tongue, vibrating it against her.
“I need,” she begged.
“I know what you need, babe.” Two of his long, strong fingers slid into her, spreading her, doing delicious, knowing things to nerve endings.
She luxuriated for a moment, moving her hips. Tension coiled low in her belly. He was sending her so high, so fast. Weeks of waiting for her first orgasm with him. Wait. Her eyes popped open. She pushed at his shoulders, slid back on the bed.
“What?”
She stared down at him. “You. I want you in me, Bax.”
“I was.”
“No.” She lifted her hand. “You. Come here.”
He climbed up on the bed, crawled over her. “You can have more than one orgasm, you know.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I’m not like that. I want you in me.”
“Sweetheart, I promise you, you can. You’ve just been doing it all wrong, with the geriatric population.”
She pushed at his shoulders, feeling wide-eyed and crazed. “I want what I want.”
He glanced around. “Seen the condoms lately?”
“I can’t even focus right now.”
“Right.” He swiveled until his feet were pointed in her direction. Sliding half off the floor, he reached for the box. “Ha! Got it. Don’t mind my ass in your face.”
She slapped the sexy globes. “No tats there.”
“Have to draw the line somewhere.” He ripped the box open and held a condom into the air. “He shoots! He’s gonna score!”
“You’re insane.”
He grinned. “And you love it. Now, assume a position and get comfortable. We’re gonna be here for a while.”
She was already on her back. Yes, she knew there were other ways to do things, but she and her high school boyfriend had never managed anything but fumbles in the back seat that only lasted a couple of minutes. In college, she’d been introduced to straddling, given the composition of dorm rooms. There’d been the ends of beds, and desk chairs, with her college boyfriend. Then…her thoughts stilled. Had she really not had sex in over two years?
He tore open the packet. “Yakima? You look like you’re thinking hard. Never a good sign at this moment.”
“I only have had sex in two positions. And not in over two years.”
He nodded slowly. “Then you’re going to get an education.”
That was it? Apparently so. She watched, fascinated, as he rolled the condom on. He grabbed for her closest leg, and pulled her toward him until the tip of his erection met her opening. “I don’t think we’re gonna need lube.”
He stared into her eyes as he clasped her hips, pulling her around him, instead of thrusting in. Her eyes fluttered closed as her body fought to relax around his intimidating bulk. He controlled every movement, his arms locking her thighs against him, his hands around her hips.
“How flexible are you?”
“Fairly?”
He slid his hands up her legs, unbending her knees until her feet were on his shoulders. “Look, it’s a new position.”
“Yeah.” It came out more like a groan. Her head went back. He felt so good inside her, so right.
His hands moved from her hips. She felt his fingers on her, circling her clit, then he ground his palm down. Panting, she pressed up, circling her hips, trying to get there, but it was too fast, they’d only just started, she…broke apart, her body shuddering.
When she returned to her senses, she discovered her knees were folded over his elbows and her entire body had gone limp. He leaned over her, his gaze fixed with concentration, and he kissed her forehead.
“That’s one,” he said in her ear. “Good girl.”
She wrapped her arms around his back as he moved into a familiar position. When she had a little strength back, her legs folded high over his back. He slid his hands up and down her sides.
He let her go easy for a while, but then he changed his position somehow. Her clit came back into play. She pushed her feet into his thighs and rocked with him. Couldn’t stop herself, didn’t even remember she couldn’t come twice. His breathing was harsh in her ear, no words now.
When she felt it again, that glorious spiraling, she cried out his name, and let go. She felt him arch into her, her body pulling his down into pleasure.
Chapter Thirteen
Bax woke slowly, feeling an unusual level of lassitude. He rolled over, smelled unfamiliar shampoo on the other pillow. Ah. He hadn’t spent the night alone. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and looked for Yakima. For once the sex hadn’t been meaningless. The girl he’d been trying to get with for weeks had finally succumbed. Christmas at home with a gir
lfriend for the first time in years. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d shared the holidays with someone special. His relationship with Remy hadn’t become official until after last year’s holiday season.
As he pushed the covers back, he whistled a jaunty version of “Up on the Housetop.” When he glanced at the Brad Paisley calendar Will Dealy had pinned up in his bathroom as a gag when he’d visited, he saw that it was the twenty-first. He couldn’t screw up things with Yakima in only four days. Better think of something good to give her for Christmas.
A few minutes later, he came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He heard noise downstairs, like the front door opening and shutting, but when he went to the window at the top of the staircase, he didn’t see anything. Yakima’s sedan was still in the drive.
The noise came again. The back door? The garage door? His thoughts went to the robberies. Blue wasn’t barking, but he might still be shut up in the dining room. He’d gone down once after Yakima had fallen asleep to direct Blue into the backyard, not sure how often he needed to be taken out.
Another noise. This time something like a rustle against a window. He went back to his bedroom and pulled out the baseball bat that he kept under the bed.
When he went back to the steps he called, “Yakima?” No response. He went down fast. Could he hear into the kitchen from the stairs? He didn’t know. Remy had been his only sober houseguest so far and he wouldn’t find her in the kitchen. He reached for his cell phone and realized he had no idea where it was. The wages of a hot date; nothing was where it was supposed to be, not even his clothes.
He clutched his bat in one hand and his towel in the other, senses on high alert. Opening the dining room first, he looked for Blue. The dog wasn’t there. He darted through the room, which already smelled of dog food, and into the kitchen. Empty.
He opened the garage door. “Yakima?” Nothing.
Next, he tried the laundry room. She wasn’t there, and the door into the backyard was closed, but the screen door swung open. His heart rate dropped slightly. Yakima must have taken Blue out.
But why had he heard noise at the front and back of the house, and at the windows? With a sense of leaving his castle unprotected, he stepped down the wood step into the yard.
Blue came out of nowhere, barking. Bax’s body convulsed in a shiver. He swore. Coming outside in December with wet hair and a wet towel was nuts.
The dog reached the end of his leash and reared back. Yakima ran forward. “Everything okay? I heard you swear.”
Blue swiveled around as Yakima reached him. He nipped at her leg and she dropped the leash like she’d been shot. She stumbled back and tripped over something in the frosty grass.
“Yakima!” Bax dropped the bat and darted toward her. His towel fluttered to the hard, sharp grass. Reaching to her, she pulled away. “What happened?”
“He bit me,” she shrieked, loud enough to wake the neighbors.
“No, he nipped. It’s a characteristic of his breed.”
“Bax!” She wrapped her arms around her leg, shaking.
“I thought Tony said he was well-trained but I guess not.” He reached down a hand, aware that his legs were trembling with cold. A barefoot, bare ass idiot, that was him.
Instead of taking his hand, she scrambled back. “You aren’t going to keep him, are you?”
“Of course. I’ll hire a trainer.” He lifted his hands. “Come on.”
“He just nipped me.” She repeated, then folded her legs and stood without touching the grass with her hands.
Ballet training, he suspected. “Nipped. You aren’t hurt, right?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Why are you glaring at me? You brought me the dog.”
“Merry Christmas, Bax Connolly.” Her scathing glance at his privates had him wanting to lower his hands from his chest.
“They don’t look their best when they’re freezing off!” He yelled at her departing back. “All this over a little nip from a new dog?”
Grabbing for Blue’s leash as he muttered angrily to himself, he bent down and picked up his bat, hoping no one was peering over his hedges and fence, and dragged both his irritated dog and his naked self back into the house.
This time, when he heard the front door slam, he knew exactly what was going on. His lover of one night was leaving him. What was it with her and dogs? He remembered the alarm and went to check it. Why hadn’t it gone off with all these doors opening and closing?
The alarm was off. Of course. More date night idiocy. He needed to get into a routine no matter what the circumstances.
After he took Blue back into the dining room, he refilled the dog’s water bowl, shivering, then went back upstairs, only half feeling his feet after their adventure on the grass. When he reached the top step, he realized he’d left his towel outside and the alarm off.
He swore a blue streak the entire time it took him to grab his robe and a pair of socks, then went downstairs to set the alarm. The last thing he needed was a home break in. And he liked his new, fluffy towels.
~
Bax had started texting Haldana as soon as he calmed down. She and Yakima were working hard because they’d been asked to cater a last-minute dinner for eight that night, but when Yakima had to send Haldana to Costco to pick up wine and meat for the job, she called him and said he could meet her there.
Yakima hadn’t been inclined to respond to his texts at all. So, at noon, he met Haldana next to the long double row of shopping carts just outside the warehouse. Haldana had her hair tucked under a knitted pink hat and her cheeks and nose were red with cold. He felt a surge of affection for the one relative who had accepted him whole-heartedly.
After he gave her a hug, she pulled back. “What’s going on with you? You aren’t usually Mr. Affection.”
“Maybe that’s part of my problem. I’ve learned to be too standoffish over the last dozen years.”
“Is it causing trouble?”
“I didn’t know how to comfort Yakima this morning. She took off in a huff.”
Haldana’s face sharpened into a knowing expression. “So she spent the night, huh. First time?”
“How old are you?” he asked as she pulled her Costco card out of her wallet.
“Twenty-one.”
“I’m not sure you’re old enough for this conversation.”
“Grab a cart, Ancient One, and follow me,” she shot over her shoulder.
He wrestled a cart away from its twin and rolled it behind her. She flashed her card and they were in. The warehouse wasn’t too overcrowded with people, despite how close it was to Christmas, but the lines were long. They’d have plenty of time to talk.
“Couldn’t Yakima have sent you to one of the stores in Battlefield?”
“Yes, and I think she would have, except I have to pick up party favors for the guests. I’m hoping they have gift sets here for the right price.” Haldana surveyed the store. “Let’s go straight back to the wines and meats. I think gift stuff would be on the other side.”
“Okay. Can I talk about my problems now?”
“Of course.” She let go of the far end of the cart and waited for him to catch up with her.
They passed the Optical department, which was almost empty and headed into office supplies and kitchen wares. People were stacked three deep around the food storage container options. “So, yeah, she spent the night. She also brought me a dog.”
Haldana did a double take. “She did what?”
“Yeah. A nice big Australian Cattle dog. Blue seems great, but she took him into the yard this morning and he nipped her.”
“Uh oh.” Haldana winced. “That could not have happened to a more vulnerable person.”
“Yeah.” Bax nodded. “Total freak out and she took off. She seemed mad at me, wanted me to return him. But I can’t.”
“She has a history.” Haldana’s tone was full of Important Things.
“Well, she brought me a nip
ping dog,” he snapped. “If she’d researched the breed she’d have known about that issue.”
“See, you’re behaving like a Connolly about this, and it’s not okay.” They reached the wine section and Haldana lifted the first bottle she saw, set it down, and went to the next one.
“What do you mean?”
“She was bit by our dog, well, Aunt Tricia’s dog. Bad enough to need stitches, and I guess no sympathy was to be had from her or Uncle Harry. Her parents got into it with yours.”
He put his hand to his forehead. “When was this?”
Haldana shrugged. “When she was a teenager. I actually remember the dog. Nasty little thing.”
“She was only nice to Mom,” Bax agreed. “I remember. Not the bite, though.”
“I remember you just hanging out in the laundry room with your guitar all the time, totally checked out of the real world.”
“Great acoustics in there.”
“Yeah, I know. But I think the standoffishness started long before you moved away. I don’t even blame you. Your mom was all over the place, right? Your dad could barely cope with seven kids and a sick wife. We’re all still dealing with what happened in our own ways.”
Tell me about it. “What do I do about Yakima in the here and now?”
“She slept with you, right?”
He nodded. “Can we get out of the wine section? It makes me uncomfortable.”
“Yep.” She quickly set a two dozen boxed bottles into the cart.
“That’s a lot for eight people.”
She consulted her list. “Just following orders.”
He followed her into the meat section.
“So, answer my question?”
“Yes, the answer is yes.” The pressure in his chest lessened. Stress still made him want to reach for alcohol and it was best to avoid it.
“Okay. She has a temper, just like the rest of her family, but it blows over quickly. My best suggestion is to just move forward as if it didn’t happen. She doesn’t hold onto stuff like we Connollys do.”
“What about the dog?”
“I think the dog needs to go,” Haldana said. “You need to focus on her.”
The Rock Star's Christmas Reunion: contemporary holiday romance (A Charisma series novel, The Connollys Book 1) Page 16