The Summer House

by Susan Mallery

  He touched her other nipple and smiled when it had the same reaction as the first. “There’s another truth about you. You’re sensitive and passionate and so beautiful it hurts.”

  “Silver-tongued devil.” The words were teasing, but the fire’s glow caught the sheen of tears in her eyes.

  “Silver tongue? As you wish.”

  Gently he cupped her breast, holding her ready as he took the tip in his mouth. Her gasp of delight made him smile as he laved the peak with his tongue. She squirmed in his arms as the pleasure spread through her, driving her crazy. He wanted to drive her wild, make her want him as much as he wanted her.

  Apparently it worked because she slid her hands down his chest and went to town on his buttons. When she had them all undone, she tried to brush the shirt off his shoulders but it hung up on his arms. He quickly shrugged out of it.

  “Turnabout is fair play,” she teased.

  Her talk wasn’t cheap, he realized. With one finger, she teased his nipple, which instantly went taut. The touch was like an electric shock arcing pleasure to every nerve ending in his body. She put both palms on his chest, then closed her eyes, smiling as if she was savoring the feel of him.

  “You have just the right amount of hair on your chest,” she said.

  “So do you.”

  Her eyes popped open. “I do not!”

  “Just checking to see if you were paying attention.” He grinned. “You’re completely perfect.”

  “No.” She shook her head and lifted her hand, sticking out her pinkie. “See this scar? It’s from when I was six and stuck my finger in the hinge part of the door and dared Dan to shut it.”

  “And he did.” He winced. “I remember. You sat next to me in the ER waiting to have the tip reattached.”

  Kyle took her wrist and brought her hand close to his mouth. He traced the scar with his tongue then took the finger into his mouth and sucked. Her moan of desire was music to his ears.

  “Way to replace a bad memory with a good one,” she whispered, her voice husky, sexy. “Remember that Fourth of July? I know you were there, and Dan and Megan and Amy. Someone threw a sparkler and it caught me on the back of the leg?”

  “Yeah, I remember.” That one had been worse than the finger.

  “I could use more replacement therapy.”

  “You don’t think it’s dangerous hanging out with me?”

  “Not if you kiss all my boo-boos that way.”

  He looked at her, desire brimming in her eyes. She moved sinuously, like a contented cat. “No more boo-boos. Not if I can help it. Only good memories.”

  He snapped open the button on her denim shorts, lowered the zipper and kissed her abdomen, satisfied when she sucked in a breath. Without removing her clothing, he slid his hand inside the waistband of her panties, then moved lower until he felt her curls and the moist warmth between her thighs that signaled she was ready for him.

  With one finger, he entered her and searched until he found the nub he was looking for. He grinned when that got her undivided attention. Her body stilled in anticipation and he rubbed back and forth until her hips moved, matching his rhythm and pressing herself against his hand. She was breathing harder, faster. Attack, retreat, advance. Over and over he brushed her point of pleasure until she cried out his name. Her heavy-lidded expression and the way she gripped his forearm told him she’d shattered, in a very good way. A good memory.

  She opened her eyes wide. “That was amazing.” Raising herself on her elbows, she said, “Now it’s your turn.”

  “There’s a problem.”

  She blinked. “Don’t even try to tell me you have a war injury. I know for a fact that’s not true.”

  He laughed and shook his head, then let out a long breath. Raking his fingers through his hair, he said, “Not even close. I want you right now more than anything. I want to be inside you.”

  “But?” she asked, confusion casting a shadow in her eyes.

  “I don’t have a condom.” He never made that mistake. He’d told her children weren’t in his plans. But the bottom line was that he would cut off his right arm before hurting her like that.

  “What?” She shook her head. “I’d believe a war injury before an excuse like that.”

  “It’s not an excuse. I came here to be alone and think things through. Not to—”

  “What kind of a Boy Scout are you?”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Always be prepared.”

  “Ah. Is this a bad time to confess I never joined the Scouts?”

  “No kidding.” She groaned and flopped backward, her legs across his thighs, the back of her hand over her eyes. “I thought this summer house was seduction central. Between you and Dan—”

  She dropped her arm and sat up. “Wait. I think I’ve got it.”

  “What?”

  Cassie wasn’t ready for this to be over. Mostly she didn’t want it to end like this. She wasn’t going to let a little thing like a condom keep her from having the most phenomenal, wonderful night of her life. Instead of being nervous, she was completely at ease with Kyle. It was as if they were two halves of a whole. And she wanted to be whole with him in every sense of the word.

  She wouldn’t let anything spoil this experience she’d waited so long for. And she wanted to do everything in her power to make it extraordinary for Kyle, too. Part of not having regrets was doing your best.

  “Cassie? What have you got?”

  She sighed at the spectacular view of his chest, then swung her legs off his. Tipping her face up for his kiss, she said, against his lips, “Wait here. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t move from this spot.”

  “I don’t think I could move if I wanted to,” he answered, his voice the tiniest bit strangled.

  Zipping up her shorts, Cassie turned and raced from the room, across the foyer and into her side of the duplex which, fortunately, she’d left unlocked. Taking the stairs two at a time, she went into Dan’s bedroom and yanked open the nightstand drawer. Scattered inside were magazines, books and scraps of paper.

  Frantically she rummaged through the mess, her fingers scraping the bottom of the drawer. She felt something and shoved stuff aside to pull out a foil packet. She held it up and kissed it.

  “Hallelujah,” she said, and started from the room. Glancing uncertainly over her shoulder, she went back and rooted around until she found several more. “You never know,” she whispered, grabbing a handful.

  Turning, she retraced her steps back to where she’d left Kyle, praying her window of opportunity hadn’t slammed shut. True to his word, he still sat there.

  “What kept you? I could have read War and Peace.”

  She held the squares up as if they were five cards in a royal flush. “Pay dirt. And I wasn’t gone that long.”

  There was a frown in his eyes. “Where did you find those?”

  She sensed confessing it would spoil the moment and simply said, “You don’t want to know.”

  “Okay.” He took them from her and smiled.

  Now what? Standing in front of him, she clutched the sides of her shirt together, her unclasped bra bunching uncomfortably underneath.

  He stood up and cupped her face in his palms. Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her with the promise of renewed passion, making her heart soar.

  “Let’s go upstairs. I want this to be special, not just a quickie on the couch.”

  “Okay.”

  Hand in hand they mounted the stairs. Kyle flipped a switch and illuminated the hall light. They turned to the left, passing the Jack-and-Jill bedrooms with the bath in between. He led her into the master suite, stopping beside the king-size bed covered by a quilt with seashells and sea horses. He dropped her hand to fold down the comforter, blanket and sheet. Then he turned to her, the uncertainty in his expression visible in the light from the hall.

  “Are you sure, Cassie?”

  She nodded. “Very.”

  He rea
ched out and tugged her to him, then turned her so that she was between him and the bed. Nudging his fingertips beneath her bra straps, he slipped it, along with her shirt, from her shoulders and let the whole tangled mess slide to the floor in a heap. She did the same to him, minus the bra. He pulled her against him, groaning as her naked breasts pressed to the bare, hard wall of his chest.

  “That feels like heaven,” he said. The words were hardly more than a breath of air spoken into her hair.

  She knew what he meant. Skin to skin, no barriers between them, she loved the feel of him. He kissed her gently, then nibbled caresses across her chin, her jaw, and lower to her neck. With little effort, he found a spot that made her want to shout hallelujah again. Her body flooded with feeling—tension, expectation, exhilaration—at the contact. Her heart pounded, kicking up her pulse and respirations, not to mention speeding blood flow from head to toe.

  Then he slid his hands to her waist. After unfastening her shorts, he pushed all her clothing off her hips and down her legs, letting her step out of them. Her fantasy of making Kyle regret ignoring her had always ended with his jaw dropping when he saw her in the little black dress. She’d never entertained the possibility of his jaw dropping when he saw her naked. She hoped it would drop—in a good way.

  He reached out and cupped one breast, his eyes telling her that he liked what he saw as he brushed his thumb over the peak. The expression of awe, reverence, approval on his face gave her courage and made her bold. She reached out and unbuttoned his shorts. He slowly pushed them down along with his briefs, letting his erection spring free.

  Then he lifted her in his arms and the romantic gesture melted her insides like butter in a hot pan. It was so tender and sweet and irresistible. She put her arms around his neck and clung to him as he braced one knee on the bed, then set her gently in the middle, stretching out beside her on the cool sheets. His body was strong, his skin warm against her own as he snuggled her against him.

  He took her mouth in a kiss that started sweet but turned wild as his palm cupped her between her legs. When he inserted one finger, she was moist and ready. For him. She felt as if she’d waited all her life for this moment and couldn’t be more ready. Reaching over, he took one of the foil packets he’d dropped onto the nightstand. He held one corner, then ripped it open with his teeth. He put it over the tip of his erection and struggled to roll it down one-handed.

  Cassie tentatively reached out and helped him cover himself, reveling in the sensation of soft skin over steel. Her chest felt tight and her breath caught in her throat. He was all taut muscle and aroused male. He was strong and sleek and so handsome. The sight of him was burned in her mind forever. But she wanted more. She wanted to feel. She wanted him inside her—now.

  Somehow he must have known, because in one fluid motion he was kneeling between her legs, his erection nudging the apex of her thighs. When she extended her hand and closed her fingers around the hard length of him to guide him home, he groaned in pleasure. The sound made her smile even as it became more difficult to draw breath into her lungs.

  He entered her in one powerful motion and she gloried in the way her body stretched to accommodate him. He braced his hands on either side of her head, most of his weight on his forearms to keep from crushing her. Slowly he entered and retreated. Over and over he repeated the movement, subtly picking up speed, his face a mask of concentration. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he thrust into her, spiking her desire, intensifying her pleasure. Tension grew in the center of her being until she couldn’t hold it back. Finally she fractured into a thousand bright crystals, floating, free-falling.

  Before she grew whole again, she felt one final thrust and he groaned. She heard the sound, as if it came from somewhere deep inside him, from the very depths of his soul. A profound, bottomless reverberation of intense gratification. Then the muscles bunched in his arms as he went still. She felt the shock waves that cascaded through him and smiled with supreme female satisfaction. Real life was so much better than fantasy, and naked beat the little black dress all to hell.

  He rolled off her and instantly she missed the warmth of his body. He disappeared into the bathroom for several moments, then she felt the bed dip from his weight when he slid in beside her again. He slipped his arm beneath her and nestled her against him. She was grateful he’d taken the initiative, because that was exactly where she wanted to be. She felt completely boneless, as if she could never move on her own again. Except for the smile that curved her lips.

  “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s the look of a satisfied woman.” His voice held traces of passion mixed with amusement.

  “You’d be correct.”

  “Would I also be correct in assuming you’re no longer upset about Steve?”

  “Steve who?”

  “I guess I kissed that boo-boo goodbye.”

  “And good riddance,” she said sleepily.

  Snatches of a song drifted through her mind. Something about tomorrow. If it never came. About saying I love you.

  She almost wished tomorrow wouldn’t come. She wished she could freeze this moment in time. She didn’t want to think about anything, analyze what had happened. What if it meant more than just washing away regrets?

  She was afraid it meant more than she could bear.

  Chapter Six

  Kyle grabbed his sunglasses and the latest New York Times action-thriller bestseller, then headed outside to the deck beyond the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, he dragged in a healthy helping of fresh, salty sea air. The sky was blue, there was a slight breeze and the temperature was about seventy-two degrees. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. Life didn’t get any better than this.

  He glanced to his right, at the Brightwell half of the patio, separated from his by a wooden railing. Then he thought about Cassie, the fact that she wasn’t there and his good mood slid down the tubes quicker than an egg from a Teflon pan.

  Damn it.

  After a night of the best sex he’d ever had in his life, he should have felt like a million bucks. Instead, he felt restless, irritable, unsettled. Normally this was when he began the mental process of letting a woman down easy. If he didn’t, inevitably talk turned to a house, white picket fence and kids. Cassie was right. Going from woman to woman did suck the energy out of him. But what else could he do? The woman he wanted was off-limits.

  He sat on the chaise lounge and opened the book. After reading the first few pages, he realized he hadn’t a clue what he’d just read. Instead of the words, all he saw was Cassie’s face.

  God, he missed her.

  Running his hands through his hair, he let out a long breath. Pride goeth before a fall had never been more true. In spite of their newly discovered intimacy, he’d been sure he would have the strength to turn away from her when the time came. He’d been so certain he played the game better than her. But he hadn’t counted on the fact that the game had different rules when he was playing with Cassie.

  Instead of finding a way to walk away, he couldn’t wait to see her again. She’d fallen asleep in his arms. During the night, they’d awakened and made love several more times. He grinned, remembering her with the assortment of condoms in her hand. Later he’d been grateful.

  This morning she’d bounced out of bed and said she had errands to do. A pre-employment physical and paperwork for the job she was starting in a week. She’d made arrangements for her furniture to be delivered to her new apartment. He wasn’t sure she wasn’t making her own excuses to walk away, because she regretted making love with him. All the things she’d said she was doing signaled an end—to him, her and this idyllic interlude. The thought hit his gut and sank like a stone.

  As long as he lived, he would remember this time with her as the best he’d ever had. Having her in his bed last night was the icing on the cake and he would never forgive himself if she was somehow hurt because of it.

  Kyle knew he was in a lot of trouble. He should be grateful for this reprieve
, this separation to distance himself from her so he could find the strength to leave her.

  Because he didn’t delude himself into believing there was a snowball’s chance in hell of them having a successful relationship. Not having kids was a deal breaker for her. But he couldn’t be the guy who fathered her children. He didn’t know how to be a good father, and Cassie deserved someone who could give her the house with the white picket fence and the kids to go along with it.

  Then there was Dan and his reaction to the two of them as a couple. What would he say if he found out not only had Kyle ignored his prime directive not to see Cassie, but he’d slept with her, too. Not his finest hour, although it damn well felt like the finest hour he’d ever known.

  “Hi, Uncle Kyle.”

  He looked to his right and saw Bayleigh Brightwell, Cassie’s five-year-old niece, resting her arms on the railing. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts, he hadn’t heard her come out.

  “Hi, Bayleigh.”

  “Watcha’ doin’?”

  “Reading.”

  “It doesn’t look like it.”

  “No?”

  She shook her head, her straight silver-blond hair swaying with the movement. With one finger, she nudged her wire-rimmed glasses up more securely on her nose. She looked like a miniature adult.

  “You weren’t even looking at the pages. Your book is closed.”

  “So it is,” he said, glancing at it in his lap. “I guess I was just thinking.”

  “It didn’t look like thinking. You had a funny look on your face. Like you had a tummy ache.”

  “I did?” Perceptive kid, he thought. This complicated mess with Cass felt a lot like a tummy ache. “Trust me. I was thinking.”

  “’Bout what?”

  “Stuff.”

  “What stuff?”