Bare Devotion

by Thorn, Lacey

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Bare Devotion

  ISBN 9781419914058

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Bare Devotion Copyright © 2008 Lacey Thorn

  Edited by Helen Woodall.

  Photography and cover art by Les Byerley.

  Electronic book Publication February 2008

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/)

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Bare Devotion

  Lacey Thorn

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to all the men and women who fight the flames, giving all that they can to serve and protect. You selflessly give of yourself, risking everything to ensure the safety of others. It can never be said enough—from the bottom of my heart… Thank you.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Jeep: Daimler Chrysler Corporation

  KY Jelly: McNeil-PPC, Inc

  L’Oreal: L’Oreal Corporation.

  Nautilus: Nautilus, Inc.

  Plexiglass: Rohm & Haas Company

  Trans-Am: Sports Car Club of America

  Wild Turkey: Austin, Nichols & Company, Inc.

  Ziploc: S C Johnson Corporation

  Prologue

  He struck the long match and held it in his hand, enjoying the sweet smell of sulfur that filled the air and the first bright flame. The scent of gasoline was thick and he couldn’t resist the urge to breathe deeply, filling his lungs with the smell of his handiwork. He glanced into the room one last time taking in the two sinners entwined on the bed that he had prepared so thoroughly for this funeral pyre. Everything was as it should be.

  It amazed him still how foolish people could be, how accommodating to him. They never checked under the bed, never saw what he had placed there. They never noticed the minor changes he made to their rooms, changes that enabled the flames to attain their goal, his goal. They never paid attention to the sweet smell that seeped from their pillows, pulling them into a deeper sleep, granting him the time he needed to prepare their cleansing.

  He closed the door with a sharp click and finally ran the lit match along the wall, igniting the gasoline. He watched with glazed eyes as the blue flames fed hungrily from the fuel and the walls surrounding the bedroom began to burn. The snap and crackle filled the air and he held his gloved hands out to it as if to warm them in the fire. This was his favorite moment. The hiss of fire, the pungent smell filling his lungs and the beauty of the flames as they leaped and grew around him.

  Fire—such a wondrous gift to man, a means of purification. Didn’t the Lord speak to him through the flames as He did to Moses? And now it was his turn to bring God’s message to the world. It was his destiny to purge the world of sinners with the fires of damnation and hell. For the days of reckoning were upon us and the time to repent was long past. He was The Messenger and his message was clear.

  With his hands still in the air he delivered his message, “Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions and evil actions lead to death. James 1: 14-15.” He nodded his head and smiled at the congregation of lost souls in his head as he watched the flames a moment longer.

  Then he turned and walked away, opening the front door and closing it softly behind him. He carelessly dropped the used match on the porch where it would be easily seen. It was his way to show that The Messenger had been there. In a quiet voice he spoke again, “For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23.”

  With that he nodded his head once more and walked away smiling and whistling “Onward Christian Soldiers”. For tonight, his work was done.

  Chapter One

  He used the key she had given him to open the apartment door, entering quietly and shutting and relocking the door behind him. He knew exactly where to find her at this time of the morning. She would be in the kitchen sipping her first cup of coffee, preparing to start her day. If it were up to him they would be sharing that routine every morning for the rest of their lives. She had children though, fully grown children with lives of their own, who she refused to upset. She hid her relationship with him, seeing him in private, refusing to acknowledge in public what they had come to mean to one another.

  He had gone into this relationship with his eyes open. She had only been a widow for two short years and it had taken him a month of smooth talking to even get her into his bed, despite the sparks that ignited between them. She had been up front with him, just sex, discreet sex, and no one was to find out. She was a woman, yes, but a mother first. That had been fine with him until he got his first look at her naked.

  She was a breathtaking woman at the age of fifty-seven. She still had the sleek shape of her youth, her thighs still lean and her skin smooth. Her breasts might not have been as high and firm as they once were but they were beautiful to him. He especially loved the little pudge of loose flesh at her waist, a subtle reminder of the four children that she had carried inside her body. Then he had bent to taste her. Just a gentle glide of his tongue between her glistening folds and he was hooked, couldn’t get enough of her.

  He was no spring chicken himself at forty-six, but with her it was like he was a randy teenager again. He just had to breathe her unique scent, hear her voice or, better yet, see her and his cock jerked up to attention, eager with anticipation. He knew what it was like to be inside her, to feel the harsh contractions of her pussy around his cock and tongue. He knew the way her brown eyes would darken to chocolate when she came, the little noises that she couldn’t hold in.

  He also knew of the unconditional love that she had for her children. So unconditional that she would rather deny her own happiness than risk upsetting them. But he was through letting her, through walking away and pretending that he wasn’t in love with her. He was through sneaking around and hiding in the bedroom when someone showed up unexpectedly. It was decision time. Once and for all, she would have to decide if he was worth it, if they were worth it. But first he would remind her just what she would be giving up if she chose to walk away.

  He entered the kitchen and there she was. Her brown hair lay softly around her shoulders still tumbled from sleep, her eyes still soft with her dreams. She was wearing a soft chenille robe and he knew from experience that she would be naked underneath it. She looked up with a startled expression when he walked in, her eyes widening, her breath catching before panting out in small breaths.

  “Roman,” she said, “I…I wasn’t expecting you today.” She grasped her robe with one hand seeming unsure of what to do or say.

  “Rin,” Roman called to her holding out his hand as he sat down in a chair at the table. “Come here, darling.”

  “What…What are you doing here so early in the morning?” Catherine asked as she crossed to him.

  “Aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked and the look in his eyes was sharp, as if he was searching for some answer from her. An answer to a question he hadn’t asked and she was so afraid of.

/>   “Of course I’m glad to see you. Don’t be silly, Roman.” But he never just showed up unannounced, especially not using his own key. What if one of her children had been with her?

  “But they’re not here, are they, Rin?” She startled as he answered her unspoken question. How had this man come to know her so well?

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You deserve so much better than me, than this. Maybe you should…”

  “Don’t piss me off, Rin. There is no one any better than you. Not for me. Now come show me how much you’ve missed me.” His eyes were silver flames of desire and a thrill of excitement worked through her as she thought of how lucky she was.

  She still couldn’t believe that he was with her. Oh, she wasn’t that bad, but still. At fifty-seven she had seen over ten more years than he had. Her hair was still brown, with the help of L’Oreal, and she was still slim and trim, mostly because she stayed active. She stood only five foot one and her frame wouldn’t allow for extra weight. When she had married her husband at the age of twenty-one she had barely weighed ninety pounds. Now thirty-six years later she fluctuated between one hundred and one hundred five pounds. Her skin was still good from years of lotion and staying out of the sun. But it still stunned her that such a sexual man would choose to be with her.

  Roman was tall, standing six foot five inches, two inches taller than her husband had been and two of her sons were and one inch shorter than her youngest son. He had sandy brown hair and light grey eyes that changed to almost silver when he was turned on. He still had the rugged muscular physique of the Marine that he had been and she knew that he still continued with a daily regimen of push-ups and sit-ups and a run whenever he could. He was perfection in her eyes and perhaps the smartest man that she had ever known. He was incredible, wonderful, and she was falling in love with him more and more every day, something that truly terrified her.

  Her late husband Mick Daniels had only been gone for two years, although some days it felt like longer and some days it felt like just yesterday. He had been the love of her life and the only man she had ever slept with before Roman. Mick had been almost eighteen years older than her but they had loved each other instantly and married as soon as she convinced him that there would never be another man for her. She had loved him from the first moment she met him when she was eighteen. He had been the one to encourage her to go to college and see a little more of the world before they settled down. It hadn’t made any difference to her though. She had only had eyes for him. As soon as she graduated with her degree in business administration they had married and she had happily stayed home. Their children and their home had become her priorities, second only to him.

  Then one day Mick fell from the scaffolding at a building site that his company, Daniels Construction, had been working on. He was in his early seventies at the time but still fit. Although their son Doug worked for the construction company, sometimes Mick still went up on the sites. She had wished a million times that he hadn’t that day. His neck had been broken in the fall and he had died instantly. A part of Catherine had died that day as well, a part that would always belong to Mick. But Catherine had moved forward, knowing that she had to for her four children. She had pushed her pain aside and comforted her children, made them the only priority in her life. Unfortunately, she had never stopped. Now when she had this second chance at happiness she found herself shying away, afraid of how her children could be hurt by her choice. To them she was a mother and their father had been and would remain the only man in her life. She didn’t know how to open their eyes to the fact that she was still a woman. She had been dropping hints since she had sold the family home and moved to Legacy when her oldest son, Gil, had become engaged. In fact, Gil had recently married Moira Madigan and they had celebrated with a private welcome home just a week ago when the happy couple had returned from their week-long honeymoon in the mountains of Tennessee.

  It was through Moira that Catherine had met Roman. Moira’s father, Jack Madigan, was the best of friends with Roman. The two men had been in the Marines together and she still wasn’t sure what all they had done after leaving the service before Jack had opened Midnight, Inc., a securities company that did a little bit of everything. Midnight was the name that Jack had been called in the Marines. Roman’s name was actually Caesar Davis, but few people knew that and no one called him anything but Roman or Mr. Davis.

  Jack had spoken with Catherine briefly at Moira and Gil’s welcome-home celebration, warning her that if she didn’t quit hiding her relationship with Roman and forcing Roman to hide it as well, she might lose Roman. Jack thought that Roman might pack up and move away from them, leaving Legacy behind for good if she didn’t quit hiding behind her children. She needed to act like the woman she was and be honest with her children about her relationship with Roman. Catherine prayed with all her heart that wasn’t the reason Roman was here so early in the morning. She still didn’t know what she should do. She didn’t want to hurt her children, but the more time she and Roman spent together the more she knew that she loved him.

  “I’m waiting Rin,” Roman spoke again, pulling her out of her thoughts and back into the here and now.

  “What…” she started to ask as she stepped close to him but she cut herself off with a loud squeak when he lifted her off her feet and sat her on the table in front of him.

  “I’ve come for breakfast,” he murmured, reaching for the belt to her robe and removing it. He opened her robe slowly, reverently, like unwrapping a present, and his grey eyes went silver when he took in the beauty of her naked flesh beneath. “Do you know what I want to eat, Rin?”

  “What?” her voice came out husky with need. She moaned at the feel of his fingers on her thighs spreading her legs wide so that he could scoot his chair up between them. She leaned back on the table bracing her weight on her arms and Roman lowered his face, breathing deeply of the scent of her passion.

  “Smells sweet and delicious,” he told her, running the fingers of one big hand between her glistening folds. “Perhaps I should sample a little first.” He bent further forward and ran his tongue along the plump lips of her sex, gently tasting the dew that lay there. “I was right,” he whispered, “delicious.” His fingers spread her lips wide and he dove into her with his tongue, pumping into her channel with shallow strokes before swiping upwards and caressing her swollen clit.

  She cried out her pleasure as he sucked and ate at her pussy. He was ravenous for her taste and let her know it. Catherine gasped for breath as he pushed her toward orgasm with nothing but his mouth—the soft stroke of his tongue, the sharp nibbles of his teeth, the greedy suction of his lips. Finally he latched onto her clit, sucking it harshly into his mouth, and thrust two thick fingers into her pulsing channel. With two quick strokes she reached orgasm, drowning him in her release. She relaxed back onto her elbows as he slowed his caresses but never ceased his torment.

  “I need you, Rin,” Roman looked up at her and she knew that she could never deny him anything, never again.

  “I’m yours,” she told him, talking of things greater than the moment. “I’m all yours.”

  Roman surged to his feet between her sprawled thighs and the chair skittered back and crashed to the floor. He made quick work of the button and zipper of his jeans and pulled his long thick cock out into his hand. It was lush and full, already seeping with desire. She licked her lips, remembering well the taste of him. He hastily grabbed the condom from his front pocket and ripped it open with his teeth, wanting to don it as quickly as he could. But Rin stopped him with the gentle glide of her fingers over his arm until she reached his fingers and took it from him. God, he loved this woman. She was fire and ice and everything he had spent his entire life searching for.

  “Let me,” she whispered and put action to her words. Using one hand she started at the base of his cock and softly let her grasp run along its turgid length till she was holding the crown in her hand. “So soft and yet so hard,” she sighed as she
used her other hand to place the condom over his tip and then used both hands to glide it down his swollen shaft. When she looked up at him her eyes were the deep chocolate that he had come to treasure. “Take me, Roman. Take me to paradise.”

  He moved forward lining his cock up with her slick entrance before grasping her hips and thrusting deep. They both shuddered at the feel of that first powerful stroke that joined them as one.

  Roman held still, filling her with every inch of his pulsing erection and reveling in the tight clasp of her channel. She felt so good to him, like the other half of his soul, and he was devoted to pleasing her, sexually and emotionally. He wanted her completely—body and heart, mind and soul.

  Rin gasped for breath as he began a slow, easy rhythm that had her on the cusp of orgasm almost immediately. He made her feel so young and beautiful. There were times he made her feel like a naïve virgin. The things he did to her, that she did to him, were far different from the vanilla sex that she and her first husband had shared. Oh, she hadn’t known at the time that it was vanilla, but Roman had opened her to new things, new positions that should be impossible for her. He made her laugh, really laugh, for the first time in a long time.

  Roman’s pace increased until his balls were smacking against her ass with every harsh thrust. He moved one big hand over and opened her so that her clit was exposed to his thrusts as well and she came, tightening like a vise around his pumping shaft. Their cries mingled together filling the kitchen and apartment with the sounds of pleasure as he exploded into the condom with hot jets of his creamy cum.

  She lay flat on her back on the table gasping for breath and Roman leaned down and gave her a slow passionate kiss, his tongue a soothing balm against her own. “I love you, Rin,” he murmured softly before kissing her again. “Remember that.”