“Thanks for your help,” she said in a quiet voice, and turned back toward the entry.
Just then they both saw a white delivery van pull into the driveway. Main Street Floral, the side panel said. A guy jumped out of the van and came up the walk with a long narrow box under his arm. Mrs. B opened the door.
“Delivery for Melanie Blaisdell,” he said.
She took the box and gave the guy a bill from her pocket. As he went back down the steps, she set the box on the hall table and lifted the top off.
“I’ll just be getting back to work then.” Sandy started to brush past her. As he did, he glanced inside the open box. There, lying among the folds of red tissue paper, was a big bunch of black roses with extra long thorns. Whoa! Somebody sure had a twisted sense of humor.
And just as Sandy was wondering who that twisted person might be, Mrs. B let loose with a string of swear words that stopped him in his tracks. For a moment he just stood there, watching helplessly as she shook her fist at the ceiling and damned someone named Alex to hell and back.
What should he do? Was something seriously wrong? Who was this Alex guy anyway, and why would he do something as rude as send black flowers to a nice person like Mrs. B? A fresh surge of protective feelings riffled through him.
And then suddenly all the fire seemed to go out of her. She dropped her fist and her shoulders slumped. To Sandy’s horror, tears made shiny tracks down her cheeks. She looked up at him mutely and gave a loud sniff.
“Hey,” he said, stepping forward. The next thing he knew, his arm was going around her shoulders; he just couldn’t seem to help himself. “Hey, it’s okay.” He rubbed slow circles on her back. “Don’t cry. It’s okay.”
He was actually touching Mrs. B! His pulse rate rocketed.
After just a moment she squared her shoulders and lifted her head, giving him a quivering smile.
“Thanks for the pep talk,” she said. “I can really use it today.” She ran her hands back through her hair, releasing an invisible cloud of woman-scent that made more crazy things happen in his groin. Mesmerized, he kept his hand on her back, circling gently.
“So who’s this Alex guy?”
“He’s my rotten kid brother. He loves to give me a hard time.”
“Why would he do that?”
She gave him a sideways look, like she was measuring him in some way. Finally she sighed.
“The truth? Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m turning forty. Seeing those black roses, it suddenly hit me that I’m officially old now.”
Sandy gaped. Forty? This soft, sexy woman he’d fantasized about nearly every day for the last five years?
“No way!”
She smiled. “You’re sweet. But yeah, I’m gonna be forty.”
“No way,” he said again. “You having a big party?”
She crinkled her nose and shook her head. “Nobody but Alex knows. I prefer it that way. Besides, I have drawings I have to finish this weekend for work.”
He stared down at her for another minute, loving the way the warmth of her back came through the t-shirt and into the palm of his hand. Loving her smell, and the fact that she wasn’t moving away from his touch, a crazy idea popped into his head and he blurted it out.
“Come with us.”
“With you?” She drew back.
“Yeah. To the beach. Lincoln City. We’ll totally help you celebrate. Come with us.”
Chapter Three
Melanie stared up into the earnest expression of Sandy, her lawn maintenance guy. In the space of three minutes he’d gone from hunky, young enigma to something quite different. Before, there had always been a yawning chasm between them, made up of a mix of factors like age, gender, privilege, and employer/employee relationships. Suddenly, all of that was gone. He’d bridged that chasm entirely with his simple act of compassion.
And oh how good that felt! As she reached up and wiped away her tears, she was acutely aware of his clean male scent and the broad wall of his chest crowding her shoulder. His big, warm hand continued to caress her back, raising lovely tingles of gooseflesh all over her body. Even her nipples were getting into the act now, tightening into hard little nubs of anticipation.
Oh. My. God. She drew herself up. How inappropriate!
Here he was, offering her true friendship and sincere support, and suddenly all Melanie could think about was how much she wanted Sandy’s talented hands on other parts of her body. A long slow blush moved up her chest and warmed her face. She started to move away. He moved against her at the same time, and her arm came in contact with the firm, unmistakable ridge of an erection straining at the fly of his jeans.
An erection! Wait a minute. Did that mean this big strapping guy was sexually aroused too?
By her?
A thrill streaked through her as she struggled to focus on what he was saying.
“Well, what do you think? Wanna come?”
“To Lincoln City?”
“Sure. We’re gonna make camp right on the beach, sleep in the back of the truck. I’ve got a camper shell that fits down over it. We’ll all be warm and dry.”
An enthusiastic grin lit up his whole face. Oh how she wished she could be that young and carefree again. To just pick up and go and not worry about anything but where to park a truck. How great would that be?
And what about that other tantalizing thought that kept playing at the edge of her imagination? How great would it be to have Sandy touching her in all the places no man had touched her in way-too-many-months? The goose bumps fizzled over her again and she let out a long sigh, wishing like anything that the erotic images going through her head were more than a silly fantasy.
But she wasn’t twenty-five anymore. She had to act like a grownup. She had work to do this weekend. And whatever the cause of that erection, she was certain that the idea of actually making out with a forty-year-old woman had to come in close to the bottom of Sandy’s list of favorite things.
“I’m sorry. I can’t. But thank you so much for offering.”
“You’d have your own bed,” he assured her, “if that’s what you’re worried about.”
His big gray eyes were so innocent. Weren’t they?
She felt herself blushing again.
“Oh I wasn’t worried about that—”
“You weren’t?” His pupils suddenly darkened and he leaned in closer. If possible, the erection pressing against her hip grew even more rigid.
Melanie’s mouth went dry. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she shook her head. “No, I wasn’t worried,” she whispered. Her belly did a crazy little flip at the avid expression on his face. Then Sandy lowered his head and took her mouth.
And she let him.
It was a sweet and tentative kiss at first, his lips firm and barely brushing across the surface of hers. Then he groaned and grabbed her upper arms, holding her in place as he deepened the kiss. Melanie’s mind whirled, her body caught in a maelstrom of wonderful sensation. Part of her—a small part—knew she should stop him. But most of her was melting…melting under the power of his persuasive mouth as he claimed her thoroughly.
Where had the kid learned to kiss like this? Her knees felt all wobbly, like they would surely buckle beneath her. Good thing he was holding her arms like he was. And her heart was thundering like the last turn at Santa Anita. She felt herself opening her lips to him, felt herself pressing her breasts into his chest, heard her own little moaning sounds of excitement.
“Oh. Yeah. Mrs. B,” he whispered as he pulled away for a moment. His voice was low and ragged, his breath uneven and raspy.
She gasped. “Don’t call me that.”
“You don’t know. You just don’t know,” he said, planting little kisses on the side of her face and into her hair.
“Don’t know what?” she managed as his teeth began to tug at her earlobe. An electric charge skittered over her skin. Earlobes! Who knew?
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you like this.”
> “Really?” She pulled back and eyed him for a moment. There was no trace of insincerity in his face. Just the glitter of pure male arousal in his eyes. It seemed that he really did want her.
Wow!
She remembered hearing it said that the best aphrodisiac was being the object of another’s desire, and it was proven right here: her body was responding in ways it hadn’t done in years, inspired by the sexual hunger in his gaze, the eagerness of his kisses. Her nipples felt as if tiny propellers spun at their tips. The junction of her thighs began to throb.
Pushing the last of her reservations to the back of her mind, Melanie lifted her lips for more of Sandy’s kisses, accepting the thrust of his tongue as it invaded her mouth with a primitive rhythm that made her squirm. After a moment she answered that rhythm with the play of her own tongue. And then she felt his hand brush against one of her breasts. He cupped it gently at first, lifting it as if weighing it. Then he took possession. She whimpered a little as he began to knead her flesh, scraping his thumbnail across her nipple so that it pushed out against the fabric of her shirt, begging for exposure.
“Oh. Oh. That feels so good.” Was that really her own voice, so thick with passion? Was she really arching backward to give him easier access, practically thrusting her breasts up at him? Just as his mouth found hers again, she felt him lift the hem of her shirt and push it up and out of the way. Their tongues danced again, exploring, delving, finding the warm, wet recesses of each other’s mouths. And his big rough hand began to ply her naked breast with an expertise that made her quiver all over.
Suddenly all Melanie could think about was getting her own hand around the thing that was making that prominent bulge in his jeans. As her fingers grasped his zipper and edged it down, he groaned into her mouth.
“Not here,” he said, panting. But she snaked her fingers inside, finding his boxers. She rubbed her knuckles against him, up and down. He pushed back against her hand, his breath ragged on her cheek. “Not. Here,” he said again.
Finally, Melanie let her eyes drift open to focus on their surroundings. She realized with a start that they were still standing in the entry hall, with the front door ajar and the box of black roses on the table nearby. Seeing the roses brought her back to the present with a thud. She started to pull away, but Sandy’s hand remained on her naked breast.
“Maybe this isn’t the best idea,” she said, not raising her eyes to meet his. She felt foolish all of a sudden. What did she think she was doing, standing here in front of the whole neighborhood with her shirt hiked up and her hand down the lawn guy’s pants?
That’s when she heard someone else clear his throat. Wes pushed the door all the way open and stepped over the threshold. His expression was one of eager interest, his dark eyes throwing sparks.
“On the contrary,” he said softly. “It looks like a great idea to me.”
Chapter Four
Melanie’s jaw dropped and she jerked her hand out of Sandy’s pants as if they were full of fire ants.
“We—we—” No suitable excuse came to her mind. She felt her face flame as Wes let his gaze fix on her breast, which was still cupped by Sandy’s hand. She tugged her shirt down to cover her nakedness, but Sandy kept his hand right where it was, way up under her shirt.
“We were just celebrating Mrs. B’s birthday,” Sandy told Wes. “Can you believe she’s turning forty tomorrow?”
That really seemed to capture Wes’s attention.
“Serious? You’re damn hot for forty,” he said, strolling in a lazy half-circle around her as if he was assessing a side of prime beef. His eyes kept returning to Sandy’s hand where it rested beneath her shirt.
Melanie stood stock still. A funny thing was happening to her. She was beginning to like the way Sandy and Wes were looking at her, with all that heated male arousal so plain on their handsome, young faces. It felt so great to be desired again. Streams of sexual excitement rippled through her, coalescing in her moist center. Somehow, she didn’t feel at all afraid. Not with the front of Sandy’s big warm body up hard against her like some kind of sexy shield.
Wes sidled up against her. She could smell the fresh outdoor scent of him as she looked back over her shoulder into his face. She saw the tiny flare of his nostrils when he caught her scent. His sapphire gaze raked over her.
“You ever made it with two guys?” His voice was rough and low, suggestive of all kinds of scenarios she had never even let herself imagine. She couldn’t stop a gasp from escaping her mouth, even as a hot arrow of excitement shot through her.
“No!”
“Ever think about it?” He pushed up closer, sandwiching her trembling body between his and Sandy’s. His gaze dropped down to her breast. And ever so slowly he reached around and pulled that side of her t-shirt back up, exposing her once more. Then he slid his hand up next to Sandy’s and nudged it aside.
Now it was Wes’s hand that cupped her naked breast!
Melanie couldn’t believe this was happening. She clamped her eyes closed as Wes ran this thumb across her nipple a time or two and then gave it a tentative pinch. A startled cry broke from her lips at the searing spiral of pleasure coiling through her. When she let her eyes come open again, he was grinning at her. It was a knowing grin, ripe with sexual awareness, self assurance and raw desire.
“Never?”
“Not until now,” she said boldly, forcing herself to speak the truth. She locked her gaze with his. She knew the husky quality of her own voice gave away just how turned on his touch was making her feel.
Sandy began to nuzzle her cheek then, raining small kisses at the edge of her mouth. She turned her face up so that his lips could find hers again, wanting his reassurance as Wes shifted and pressed up hard behind her. She could plainly feel the firm length of his growing erection nestling between her butt cheeks. She’d never felt anything quite like this before, being touched by two different men at the same time, both of them looking at her with such naked lust. Her body felt so alive all of a sudden! She swallowed hard, wishing like hell that she knew the rules of this game.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Wes whispered near her ear. He began to move against her buttocks in a sensuous rhythm, and his other hand came around her and pushed the other side of her shirt up, baring her other breast. Sandy leaned back, giving Wes room, and watched avidly. Melanie squelched a little gasp at the familiar way Wes began to handle her breasts, teasing and caressing them until she couldn’t stand still.
“Mmm. Nice. Just perfect.” His breath was warm on her neck, his hands even warmer as he cupped her firmly and lifted her swollen nipples towards Sandy’s face.
“Aren’t these sweet?”
“Oh yeah.” Sandy’s voice was hoarse as he lowered his mouth to the sensitive little buds.
Melanie cried out as Sandy’s lips and teeth began to tug on her tender flesh. He suckled with eager abandon, drawing her deep into the hot cave of his mouth. Thrills of intense sensation telegraphed a searing path from her nipples to her pulsing core. To have Wes holding her breasts captive, offering them to Sandy to suck, was more erotic than anything Melanie could have imagined. Her head fell back against Wes’s chest and she let out a long, low moan, giving in to the tide of sensual arousal that overtook her.
“You want this, Mrs. B?” Sandy asked, his voice ragged as he pulled his lips away. Then he used the tip of his tongue to tease a circular path around her areolas. “You want us both? ‘Cause we sure want you.” He began running his hands down her rib cage and over her hips, kneading and caressing, bringing her pelvis up hard against his. It was all Melanie could do to remain on her feet.
“Now would be the time to say no, pretty lady,” Wes crooned softly against her hair. She felt the ever-stiffening prod of his cock against her ass.
“How—how does this work?” She felt breathless and confused, like she was oozing into a decadent puddle of sexual hunger as the two young men had their way with her willing body.
But she also had the clear realization that they hadn’t removed her clothing or theirs. They were eager, yes, but there was no force involved. They really were allowing her to decide whether to go forward. She was the one in control, the one with all the power. Nothing had ever made her feel as desirable.
“You just say yes,” Wes whispered, his hand sliding suddenly between her legs from behind, “and we’ll do the rest.” She couldn’t seem to stop herself from parting her legs a bit and wriggling back against him as his fingers began to tease her there through the fabric of her shorts. Oh my!
“Say yes,” Sandy coaxed, his eyes playing over her face. “Let us make love to you. It’ll be your best birthday ever, Mrs. B. I promise.”
Through her haze of arousal, Melanie’s mind struggled to focus. Should she take a chance on doing something so wild and crazy? Could there possibly be a better way to forget that she was turning forty tomorrow? Or would she end up regretting letting the two men into her bed?
Just then Wes’s questing fingers found their way inside the elastic leg band of her panties. Melanie blushed furiously, knowing what he would find there; she was already slick and hot where he touched, her body betraying just how turned on she was. What were they going to think of her?
Wes chuckled softly in her ear.
“Damn, woman, your pussy is wet and ready. I’d say that’s a definite yes, wouldn’t you?”
What was the point of trying to deny any longer how excited she was by their invitation?
“Yes,” she sighed. “Yes. Yes.” Then she began to giggle as Sandy pulled her t-shirt off and over her head.
Chapter Five
Suddenly, big arms went under her, lifting her up with ease.
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