“That will be my pleasure, babe,” he said, before crushing his lips to hers.
The kiss was aggressive, passionate, and messy. He continued to stroke her, teasing her, bringing her closer to the edge she so badly wanted to fall over. She slammed her hands onto the edge of the sink and groaned before spinning around to face him.
“Fuck, Lia. A guy could lose himself in you.”
Reid backed her up against the counter, pressing his chest to hers until she had nowhere left to move. In her heels, they lined up perfectly, his erection hot and demanding against her core. She’d thought about their lovemaking many a night since she’d seen him last, but her memories seemed dim compared to the way she felt right now.
“I’m so pleased you decided to stay,” she said as he released her chin and moved his hand to grip her breast. He squeezed it firmly, just the way she liked it, causing her knees to shake.
In a move that was way too close to the end of one of her favorite movies, An Officer and a Gentleman, Reid lifted her up into his arms with ease. “Which way to your room?” he asked gruffly.
“End of the hall,” Lia said. She ran the tips of her fingers along the scruff of his jaw and down his neck. It looked good on him, and she couldn’t wait to feel it on the inside of her thighs again.
Within moments, he kicked open her door and set her down next to the bed. “You wouldn’t believe how many times I thought about you naked this week,” he said, lowering the zipper of her skirt.
Lia smiled. “I may have thought about you once or twice myself.”
“Did you do anything about it?” he asked, sliding the cool silk of her blouse over her head before throwing it to the floor.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Why hadn’t she? The memories she had of him thrusting into her, filling her so deliciously, had taken her close enough. But the truth was, she’d already known deep down that she wanted to see him again, and getting herself off would have been a poor substitute for the feel of his hands on her. “I wanted to wait for you. I wanted you to do it for me.”
“Fuck, Lia. That’s the fucking hottest thing I’ve heard you say.”
“Did you?” she asked, as he kissed her collarbone and reached his hands behind her back.
He opened her bra and slipped the straps down her shoulders. Once her lace bra was removed, he cupped her breasts in his hands. They were heavy and tender.
“You did the sexiest fucking striptease in my living room, and I’m a guy. So, yes, I did. I’ll be getting off to that memory when I’m sixty.”
A vision of him lying alone in that giant bed of his, stroking himself to thoughts of her, turned her on even more.
Reid fell to his knees at her feet. “As much as I love your ass in this,” he said, “I love it in nothing even more.”
Lia looked down and watched Reid slide the skirt to the floor. He pressed his lips to her mound and inhaled deeply. Unable to resist, Lia ran her fingers through his hair and held him close.
“Do it, please,” she encouraged. “Taste me, Reid.”
He stopped and looked up at her, his eyebrow raised. “You trying to take control, babe?”
She shook her head, willing to do whatever it took to get him to continue.
“Good,” he said and winked.
Without warning, he forcefully dragged her panties down and slipped them over her shoes. He pushed her back until she sat on the bed, and then he crawled along the floor until he was between her legs. Lia gasped as his tongue invaded her, licking her wetly. He sucked, and kissed, and nipped her, alternating between teasing her clit with his tongue and his thumb. She tried to ignore the way her heart raced in her chest as he controlled her body, first bringing her closer to the familiar sensation of orgasm, then allowing it to slip away before driving her back to the edge again. He repeated the action over and over until she couldn’t bear it. Until she gasped his name.
“Reid,” she cried, and bucked off the bed as he slid a finger deep inside her. The smooth strokes sent jolts of electricity through her, pushing her closer and closer to her limits.
She wrapped her legs around his back but quickly unraveled them when he groaned. The shoes. She’d forgotten she was still wearing her heels.
“No,” he said, lifting his head to look at her. “Leave them. I like it.”
Lia did as he said, crossing her ankles near his waist, and fell back against the bed. Reid returned to teasing her with his tongue and his fingers, and it didn’t take long until she was hovering close to the edge again. Shamelessly, she rocked her hips against him, desperate to reach the orgasm she knew was close to the surface. His fingers slid deeper and deeper, stroking the one place guaranteed to set her alight.
She lifted her hips and gripped his head, tugging at his hair, forcing him closer and deeper, until she could no longer control herself as she surrendered to Reid’s searing pleasure.
* * *
Reid continued to stroke Lia gently as he watched her. Her chest heaved, her breasts bouncing as she fought to get her breathing under control. They taunted him, and he wondered if she would ever let him fuck them. Everything about the woman appealed to him, from her sassy nature to her caring concern. But watching her fall apart at his touch was one of the most spectacular things about her. And it also left him ragingly hard.
“Jesus, Lia. I look at you and I can’t find the right words.” He rose to his feet and leaned over, placing his hands on either side of her head. Her skin looked almost translucent against the emerald-green sheets. Her eyes were hooded, and she looked up at him lazily.
“Mmm,” she answered.
He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, savoring the way she gasped against him. His balls tightened, and he stood to give his dick some relief from the zipper currently cutting off his blood supply. Reid kicked off his boots and opened his jeans. He wandered to her bedside table and turned on one of the small lamps. A warm glow filled the room, casting them in a golden light. Lia sat up and began to take off her shoes.
“Let me do that,” he said, crouching down in front of her. The scratches on his back from her heels pulled tightly as he bent forward to loosen the buckles. His dick twitched in response. He didn’t consider himself a kinky kind of guy, but the scratch of fingernails or the digging in of heels did it for him every time. As did the way she lay back and let him take care of her now.
Lia let out a contented sigh. When she had stood in his garage, picking up all of the tools and placing them back down on the bench, he’d wondered what it would be like to fuck all that nervous energy out of her. And as he crouched in front of her as she quietly and compliantly let him remove her shoes, he decided it was just as satisfying as he’d known it would be.
He placed the shoes together near the bottom of her bed and stood up.
“You know,” he said, taking her foot in his hand. He kissed her toes before biting her little one in a move that made her giggle. “It really was all about the legs. At least for the first five minutes until I brought the bike to a stop.”
“And now?” she asked, piercing him with those gray eyes that were currently the color of gunmetal.
Reid kissed his way over her ankle and along her calf, stopping to lick and suck on the sensitive skin behind her knee. He intended to savor her, to show her how much he loved her body before driving into her, no matter how much his cock ached with need. Pushing her legs farther apart, he kissed his way along her thigh until he reached her clit that was soaked from her orgasm. She shivered as he sucked on her, and he grinned in response as he wondered what it would take to keep her on the verge of orgasm.
“And now?” she repeated.
He stood and shucked his jeans and boxer briefs. Before he answered, he removed his T-shirt and retrieved a condom from his wallet, swiftly putting it on.
“And now I’ve realized I like the owner of the legs just as much as I liked the legs,” he said, lifting her and placing her in the middle of the bed. He flipped
her over so she was lying on her front and knelt down between her legs. Wasting no time, he lined himself up with her wet center. Fuck. He was sliding against her heat. A desperation overtook him. “And while it is incredibly crass of me to say, what’s between them is pretty freaking fantastic.”
Lia giggled into the comforter until he slid into her halfway, at which point she cried out his name.
“Yeah, babe, I feel that, too.” He groaned against the side of her neck.
Taking his weight on his forearms, he withdrew slightly, and then pushed in farther. They were a perfect fit. She hugged him tightly, squeezed him as he slid deeper and deeper, adding a whole new meaning to the phrase balls deep. Reid paused when he was fully inside her.
“Listen to me, Lia,” he said, brushing her hair away from her face as she turned to look up at him. The vulnerability he saw in her eyes forced him to swallow the lump that lingered in his throat.
“Everything outside of the bedroom door is going to be difficult. So I want you to remember this moment. I want you to remember the feel of my dick so far in you that we feel like one person. I want you to remember how good you make me feel,” he said, sliding out of her. He pushed back in, more forcefully this time. “I want you to remember how good I can make you feel.”
Lia’s eyes flared wide as he slowly pumped in and out of her. She gasped for breath. It felt so good that he wanted it to last forever. “When it gets crazy outside, remember in here.”
“Oh, God,” Lia said, gripping hold of the sheets.
Reid slid his hand down beneath her mound, holding her firmly where he wanted her as he began to thrust in earnest. She was so wet for him, and there was a part of him that wanted to go down on her and taste her again. But he was desperate for his own release now and he wanted to make sure she went with him.
He angled his hips and thrust faster, pressing his fingers to her clit as she rubbed against him. The telltale tingling of his spine, and the tightening of his balls, told him he was close.
“Please, like that,” Lia cried out. She buried her head in the green satin. His lips found the side of her neck and he bit the skin gently.
“You want more, babe?”
“Harder,” she called out roughly. Fuck, he got off on rougher sex play, and it excited him that she did, too. “Bite harder, Reid, please.”
He found the cords of her neck and her body bucked, right on the edge.
The globes of her ass tempted him. He moved his legs so they were on the outside of hers so that they could grip him when he withdrew. The view of his cock sliding between her cheeks into her pussy revved his engine.
“Fuck, Lia. I’m gonna come,” he warned. “You need to come for me, now, babe.”
“I’m so close,” she cried.
Holy fuck. He’d never felt so close, so insanely consumed with the need to come. But he was scared that as soon as he went over the edge, he’d never find his way back to this place again—a moment so fucking perfect that it almost choked him.
“Oh. Yes . . . yes,” Lia cried out.
He felt her walls tightening around him as she dug her fingernails into the sheets and arched her back.
The moment she came sent him desperately over the edge.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lia dozed in the luxurious state somewhere between being asleep and being awake. She felt incredibly rested, despite being awakened in the early hours of the morning by Reid’s skillful hands and insatiable appetite. Never had lovemaking felt so . . . necessary. So vital. She stretched her arms above her head and rolled over, but instead of seeing Reid’s handsome face, the covers had been messily pulled back into place and the pillows fluffed.
The sheets fell back as she sat up quickly. Lia pushed her hand through her hair. She hadn’t gotten confused, had she? No. It was definitely Saturday. She picked up her phone from the bedside table. Seventeen minutes before her alarm was due to go off. There was no message on her phone, just an e-mail from her father that contained information about his event. Reid had bailed on her. He’d crept out in the middle of the night. Lia sagged back into the pillows, confusion bombarding her brain as she tried to sift through the debris of the previous evening. Had she done something wrong? Not that she could think of. She tried to ignore the way her heart hurt a little and focused on the fact that he was a good man and would probably explain at some point later in the day.
Texting him to find out why he’d left might seem a little desperate, so instead she climbed out of bed and threw on a robe. She wandered into the living room, unlocked the door to the balcony, and padded outside. It was her morning ritual to look out over the water. Pixie, her former roommate, used to have a whole gratitude checklist that she’d run through every morning, but Lia just preferred a few moments of silence with nothing but the view to calm her.
When she was done, she walked to the kitchen. Since Pixie had moved two floors down with her rock star boyfriend and his little girl, Petal, Lia’s fridge never contained too much food. It was the one adult thing she’d never mastered. On the counter sat a sheet of paper that hadn’t been there the night before when she’d wiped down the counters.
Dear Lia,
Sorry I had to go. You have no idea how hard it was to get out of bed and leave you in it when all I wanted to do was sleep in and try to find ways to get you to join me instead of going into work.
One of my boys was involved in an accident last night, and his mom is in a mess at the hospital. Hopefully I’ll be back by the time you get off work tonight. IOU a date. A real one. I’ll keep you posted one way or another.
Thank you seems like such a trivial phrase in the context of everything you did for me yesterday. But thank you for being there for me, and thank you for sharing every sexy as hell inch of yourself with me.
I can’t wait to do it again, BABE.
Reid
Lia couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face, and even the word babe was beginning to grow on her. It put a spring in her step as she showered and styled her hair. She wasn’t certain how things were going to go with Trent once she arrived at the studio, but hopefully Harper had gained some peace from learning what had really happened to Reid and why he’d left. Lia carefully applied her makeup, got dressed, and walked to the studio, stopping on the way at her favorite juice bar because, health. And stopping at José’s to pick up a pain au chocolat because, chocolate. She wondered what Reid would make of her morning habit. He certainly didn’t have a problem with her curves, but a body like his wasn’t created on a diet of flaky pastry and sugar.
The rear door was unlocked when she arrived, with both Trent and Harper already there. Truly, the body modification expert, was setting up the private room at the back, which made Lia shiver a little. A private piercing meant needles through parts of the body that Lia really didn’t want holes in. People often assumed, due to the extent of her tattoos, that she must have significant piercings, but aside from the two in her earlobes, her skin was otherwise intact. She’d never been tempted to try anything else. Truly was trying to convince her that having a rook, snug, or daith piercing would look really good on her, but so far Lia wasn’t convinced.
“Good morning,” she said, placing her juice and pastry down on the counter. “First day of September and it’s still a billion degrees outside.”
Silence filled the room. Okay . . . awkward.
“How are you doing?” Lia asked Harper.
“I’m a little overwhelmed, I guess,” she answered, and Trent took her hand in his. “Reid’s back. In my life. You guys know how much I’ve missed him. But we sure as heck have stuff to work through . . . as a family.” She paused. “I think we just need time.”
Lia nodded. It was a lot for everyone to take in. She tamped down the need to leap to Reid’s defense. To justify his actions and lay the blame at their father’s feet. Certainly, Reid had been stupid, but sending him away hadn’t actually helped anyone. “And in case you were thinking of asking—because this is real
ly weird, right?—I didn’t know who he was. I promise.”
Trent stood up and hugged her. “It is weird, and a whole lot messed up, but I certainly don’t blame you for any of it.”
Lia tried to ignore the burn of tears. She didn’t cry. Well, at least not in public. With the amount of eyeliner she wore, tears ended up looking like oil spills on her.
“Me, either,” Harper added. “Is he okay?”
“I think you should ask him,” Lia said, not unkindly. “I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”
“I know. It just feels weird after all this time. And after everything he said yesterday. I used to be able to tell my brother everything.”
“He’s doing okay,” Lia conceded. “Seeing you yesterday like that was a huge shock to him, too.”
“How did you meet him? Does he live here in Miami? I’ve thought of a million questions I should have asked him before I left yesterday.”
Lia smiled at the recollection. “No. He lives in Fort Pierce, and I was just a pair of legs on the highway,” she teased.
Harper laughed. “That sounds like Reid.”
“My car is at his garage. He’s the guy who saved me when my car broke down.”
“He has his own garage?”
Lia nodded and Harper smiled. “Finally. I always hoped he would do that one day. He still owes me a Plymouth. It’s not fair you two have one, and I don’t.”
Trent kissed Harper on the top of her head. “You good, darlin’, if I get started?”
Harper nodded. “All good.”
He kissed her one more time and headed into the office. Both of them watched him leave.
“Is he happy?” Harper asked.
It was a wonderful question and one that deserved a thoughtful answer. She thought back to the weekend they’d spent together. He seemed to have a successful business, a great apartment, and the respect of kids who’d grown up in a rough neighborhood. But now that she knew more, she wondered whether he was simply trying to make amends or make some kind of peace with himself. She knew deep down that he missed his family, and she’d heard the pain in his voice the previous day when he’d explained how his father had asked him to leave.
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