Redline Lover: Take Me, Lover, Book 1

by Charlene Teglia

  “So how was lunch?” Anne asked as she settled herself back in her recliner. Joey was latched on to nurse, and the table beside them was well supplied with water and juice and a snack for Anne, plus a paperback thriller Maggie had picked up when she stopped to shop for essentials on her way back.

  “Lunch. Um, it was good, but I think maybe I should watch my diet.” Maggie frowned at the memory of Adam’s sure finger gliding over her clitoris when it emerged from its protective hood, the rough hairs on his thighs and the heat of his flesh pressing into her sex. The expert slide of his tongue inside her as he’d taken her with his mouth. She’d meant to go, and he’d made her come instead. Then he’d left her rocked with emotion when she returned the favor. Their physical connection hadn’t faded with time and distance. If anything, it had intensified.

  Sex with Adam might prove to be too much of a good thing. What if their plan didn’t work? What if it backfired? What if, instead of burning him out of her system, she only became more and more addicted, more dependent on the only thing that could give her the rush she craved?

  Of course, if this thing with Adam blew up in her face and left her with an addiction she couldn’t break, she’d still be going cold turkey when he was done with her. One way or another she’d be kicking the Adam Richards habit soon. And unless she could change his mind, she’d be doing it without a story to show for it.

  “Do not stand there in your size eight jeans telling a woman who just gave birth that you’re too fat,” Anne said. “She might be tempted to throw something at your head. Hormones might even make her lose control and do it.”

  Maggie laughed. “Sorry. I just meant I should watch the fast food.”

  Fast food, indeed. Once she was done with a fast man who liked fast cars, maybe she could transition to the dating version of spinach salads.

  Too bad she hated spinach.

  Okay, bad analogy, Maggie told herself. Forget vegetables. She could just learn to like fasting. Go without. A woman without a man was like a fish without a bicycle, right? She didn’t need Adam or any man.

  “Oh, fast food. That stuff will kill you,” Anne agreed. “You need to make healthy choices.”

  Too right. “That’s my plan,” said Maggie.

  Remember the plan, Maggie lectured herself as she slid into Adam’s car the next evening. He’d called five minutes earlier to say only, “I’m on my way to pick you up. Be ready,” and the sound of his voice was enough to make sure that she was. His voice, his touch, the sight or scent of him, that was all it took. She’d been ready before he joined her in bed just because he was there, and she was ready now.

  Her nipples felt tight and she pressed her thighs together hard to alleviate the ache between them. She felt hot and on edge. She fought the impulse to flip down the mirrored passenger side visor to see if the naked lust consuming her showed on her face.

  Instead, she buckled the seatbelt and asked, “Where are we going?”

  “Does it matter?” Adam checked for traffic instead of looking at her as he answered. His foot on the gas and his hands on the wheel sent them into a smooth acceleration.

  “I guess not.” She watched his hands and remembered how they felt on her body. Sure, knowledgeable, driving her to intense need and then shattering satisfaction. Where didn’t much matter for them. It never had. “I can’t stay out late,” she added, more to remind herself than him.

  “I won’t keep you longer than you want me to.” A muscle jumped in Adam’s cheek as he spoke. His voice sounded hard and Maggie watched the needle creep up as they turned onto a main road.

  Telling him that would be impossible was not the right thing to say, so she said nothing.

  After a few minutes of silence, Adam shot her a look for the first time since he’d leaned over to open the door for her without getting out of the car. “Did you think I would?”

  “Would what?” She frowned, wondering what she’d missed while she fantasized about his hands.

  “Keep you.”

  She opened her mouth, closed it again, and finally shook her head. No. He wouldn’t want to keep her, and if he thought she needed reminding, she needed to work harder at getting over her pointless yearning for what she’d never have with him and focus on what she did have right now. While she was at it, maybe she could spare a thought for her career.

  “That’s something,” Adam muttered. He reached over to take one of her hands, his fingers twining with hers.

  Maggie stared down at their joined hands and flashed on the memory of their joined bodies. The small contact seemed somehow equally intimate.

  Adam spun the wheel and turned into a parking lot, then shut off the engine. “We’re here.”

  She looked around, trying to orient herself. Then she recognized Lake Anne. A few boats bobbed on the water in the distance.

  His hand tightened on hers, then let go. He reached across her to open her door. Maggie tried to remember to breathe as his arm brushed her nipples. His head was turned towards her and he caught her reaction. He stilled. The moment drew out as their eyes locked and the air grew electric from the current arcing between them.

  The kiss was inevitable. He bent closer. She turned into his advance. Lips met and clung, parted, met again. She dug her fingers into her palms to keep from burying them in his hair or tearing at his shirt. His arm pressed against her breasts, hard, deliberate. Her nipples tightened in response.

  “Maggie.” His voice was a rough whisper spoken against her lips.

  “Mm.” She touched the tip of her tongue to the corner of his mouth.

  “Get out of the car or I’ll take you right here.”

  Why would that be a problem? She tried to focus, but she was too close to him and he felt too good. Then it clicked. Sex in public, bad. Well, it would be sex with Adam, and therefore good, but still.

  Adam drew back as she pulled away from him, both of them struggling to put space between them and maintain some degree of decorum.

  She managed to stumble out and then leaned back against the car, gulping air while he came around to her. He planted a hand on either side of her and shook his head at her. “You are not making this easy.”

  Maggie stared at him in disbelief. “I’m not making this easy? I got naked for you after I’d been back in town for all of twenty-four hours. That’s not exactly playing hard to get.”

  Adam touched his forehead to hers, his body close enough for her to feel the warmth. “You’re not making it easy for me to show you that I won’t just attack you any time you come within reach.”

  She tried to make sense of that one. “So you want me to attack you instead?”

  He gave a low laugh. “No. I want you to know I won’t push. I don’t want you to think I expect you to be ready for sex at the drop of a hat.”

  If you drop your hat, I’m ready, Maggie thought but managed not to say. And wasn’t that the problem? “Adam, we agreed to make like minks until we got each other out of our systems,” she pointed out. “It’s not like I expect you to call me when you want to go fishing.”

  “Good thing. We’d never catch any fish and we’d capsize the boat.” He rubbed his forehead against hers and leaned closer, the hard muscled wall of his chest just brushing the soft curves of her breasts. “But our deal doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to change your mind or not be in the mood.”

  Maggie slid her arms around him. “Do you think I don’t know that? I’m here because I want to be. I turn into a lust-crazed idiot whenever you’re within a foot of me because I want you.” If he wanted to get technical about it, less than a foot. The same room was enough. Hell, being in the same town seemed to do it.

  “Lust-crazed?” Adam drew back just enough to study her face. Whatever he saw there made his eyes take on a light of satisfaction. “So I’m not scaring you.”

  “You scare the hell out of me,” she blurted without thinking. “I see you and I lose my mind. Followed by my underwear.”

  “Just so it’s a good kind
of scare. Like riding a roller-coaster.”

  “That’s a fair description.” From the minute you got on, you knew the whole time the ride would be over, that every twisting thrill brought you closer to the end, she thought with a pang.

  “All right, then.” He gave her a hard, heated kiss that ended almost as soon as it started. “Come on.” Adam stepped back and her arms dropped away, falling to her sides. He took one of her hands in his and pulled her along with him to the rear of the car. “Take this.”

  She caught the blanket he tossed at her, felt her brows raise when he pulled out a basket. “Is this a picnic?”

  “Yes.” He closed the hatch and started walking. Maggie let him lead the way, feeling bemused. A picnic. Holding hands. She’d imagined all kinds of scenarios when Adam called her, but none of them had been acceptable in public.

  Adam rented a boat and helped her onto it. He motored away from the shore and stopped when he reached the spot he’d chosen. Maggie shook out the blanket and spread it on the deck. They sat with the basket between them like a chaperone and looked out at the water. Little waves made the boat rock up and down. If any tension had been left in her body, that alone would’ve made it drain away.

  “This is nice.” She turned to smile at Adam.

  He reached out to trace the curve of her lips with his thumb. “When’s the last time you did this?”

  “What? Smile?”

  Adam shook his head. “Sit and just unwind. Feel the wind in your hair and watch the sun sparkle on the water.”

  “Oh.” She blinked and looked away, back at the lake’s rippling surface. “It’s been a while, I guess. During the week I work. There’s usually something I didn’t have time to finish to catch up on over the weekend, and the usual chores. Also, Chicago isn’t the kind of place where you sit around and commune with nature.”

  “Then you’re overdue.”

  Chapter Five

  Half an hour later Maggie rested her head on Adam’s shoulder as she finished the last of her wine and decided he was right. She was overdue for some down time. Right now there wasn’t a phone she had to answer. No crisis in need of immediate action. Adam’s lack of enthusiasm for giving her a story that would satisfy her boss was a problem she had time to solve. Anne would be fine for the short time she was away. Their private picnic spot made a little space out of ordinary time.

  The basket barrier between them had been set aside after the chicken salad sandwiches were eaten. They crunched apples in companionable silence, and then Adam had handed her a glass of white wine, leaned back, and curved his arm in invitation.

  He didn’t have to ask twice. She’d curled up with him, enjoying the peace, the wine adding a mellow glow to the moment. And now she was snuggled up to the man who was her lover again for a little while longer, feeling oddly content.

  His lips brushed the curls at the top of her head and she smiled, turning her face to him.

  He smiled back at her, then gestured at her empty glass. “Done?”

  “Yes.” She handed her glass to him. They both shifted as he leaned over to tuck it back in the basket. That left both of them with their hands free, and awareness sent a curl of anticipation through her.

  Adam resettled her against his side, his arm hard and warm around her. She turned into him. He cupped her face with his other hand and ran his thumb along her lower lip, a prelude to a kiss. Maggie spread one hand over his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin under the thin material of his tee shirt and the rhythmic beat of his heart. When his mouth settled on hers, her head spun from the mingled tastes of tart apple, sweet wine and the distinctive male flavor that was Adam.

  Their lips clung, separated, clung again, in a series of kisses that drugged her senses. Each one lasted a little longer, went a little deeper, ended with her wanting more. Her fingers tightened on his shirt and she moved closer, her knee sliding up until her thigh rested on top of his. That put his leg almost between hers, better but still not enough.

  His hand moved into her hair, until he cupped the back of her head to hold her in place while his tongue licked between her parted lips and mated with hers. The small shift into a more possessive hold telegraphed a sexual intent that made her heart thud.

  The arm that held her body in the curve of his tightened around her. His hand moved down until it gripped the curve of her ass, molding her closer, pressing her pubic mound against his thigh.

  “I want to touch you,” he muttered against her lips.

  “God, yes.” Maggie pulled his shirt up, hands hungry for contact with bare skin, shuddering as she ran her palms over the tight muscles of his lean abdomen.

  Adam’s fingers slid just inside her jeans, his hand on her lower back, teasing the beginning swell of her buttocks and the valley between them with his fingertips. She arched into him, aching for his hands on her breasts, between her legs, everywhere.

  He broke the kiss and rolled her onto her back so their positions reversed and he came up on his side, looking down into her face. She stared back at him, her lids heavy, lips parted, breath coming fast, waiting for whatever came next.

  He held her gaze while he settled his hand at the upper slope of her breast and moved down in a slow, steady stroke that made her groan as his palm rasped over her nipple, down her ribcage, over the curve of her belly. The sound of her snap coming undone in his fingers sounded overly loud. He caught her zipper and drew it down with a metallic whisper, and then hooked his fingers into the thin fabric of her panties, moving lower until his palm cupped her mound and his fingers pressed against her labia.

  Adam made a low sound and covered her upper torso with his as he pushed the pads of his fingers into her. “You’re so soft and slick and ready for me. Every damn time. Just when I think I couldn’t want you more, I get my hand between your legs and find you like this, so hot and wet. I could almost come just from the thought of burying my cock inside you.”

  Maggie angled her hips up, inviting more, the ache in her breasts assuaged by the heated press of his body against them. It wasn’t enough. She wanted the full weight of him on top of her, the hard, heated length of him inside her. “Adam.”

  “You could almost come thinking about it, too, couldn’t you?” He kissed her hard and thrust two fingers all the way inside her sheath.

  “Yes,” she admitted in a ragged whisper. She kissed him back, open-mouthed and hungry, tongues tangling while he penetrated her with practiced skill, pushing in and almost out, a little too slow to let her find her rhythm, a little too shallow to hit the spot deep inside that would send her over the edge.

  “Not so fast,” Adam murmured. Her breath caught as his fingers curled in an interior caress, then slid out. He turned her onto her side and pulled her body into the curve of his, her butt cushioning the erection his jeans did nothing to disguise. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, as his hand moved down to cover her mound. Her open pants didn’t create any kind of barrier. She could feel the warmth of his hand through the thin fabric of her panties.

  Maggie closed her eyes and breathed out a soft sigh. “We can’t do it in an open boat on the lake, can we?”

  “No.”

  “That’s why you brought me here, isn’t it?”

  His lips moved against her hair. “Yes. I’m going to hold you and touch you and kiss you, and that’s all.”

  “All?” She arched her back and rocked her pelvis against his hand.

  “Don’t sound so disappointed. I can make you come without taking off my pants.” Adam traced a pattern over her mound, teasing her through the light fabric. “I can make you come without taking off your pants, too.”

  “You can probably make me come by kissing me alone,” Maggie admitted.

  “It’d make an interesting experiment.”

  “You really are determined to push me to the limit.” She made a restless movement, unable to keep still when he slid his hand inside her panties and petted her pubic curls. His other hand came up to cup her breast,
exerting a gentle pressure that soothed and stimulated at the same time.

  “You like it.” His voice rasped low near her ear.

  “I like it.” Maggie rubbed her head against his chin like a cat. “I like everything you do to me.”

  The boat rocked beneath them. Water lapped at the sides. Engines droned in the distance as the light softened. The world seemed dreamy and distant, on the verge of evening. Adam massaged her breast and stroked the pad of his finger over her clit, the magic of his touch merging with the magic of the moment. His body curved around hers as he held her, protective and possessive, while he shattered her with a series of tiny caresses. She came with a shuddering breath that wasn’t quite a gasp or sigh. His lips brushed the nape of her neck, a tender kiss in a vulnerable spot that made her tremble with emotion.

  Adam slipped his hand free of her pants, smoothed the fabric of her underwear, and drew her zipper back up before fastening the snap. Then he continued to hold her, bodies fitted tightly together, his hands moving over her as if he took pleasure from simply having her there at his disposal to explore at his leisure, and found equal satisfaction in stroking the curve of her hip or belly or the hollow of her throat as he did in the more obvious erogenous zones.

  He unsettled her. Lust she could understand. It was ridiculous to be at the mercy of hormones and chemistry, but at least it made sense in its own way. Surrendering to it was like accepting the inevitable. A picnic on the water in the gentle warmth of early summer with limited physical contact felt like something different.

  “What is this?” Maggie asked, shifting a little in his hold. “An exercise in denial?”

  “I didn’t deny you anything. You got yours.”

  She wiggled free and rolled to face him, feeling defensive. “Am I supposed to feel guilty because you didn’t?”

  He raised a brow. “Do you feel guilty?”