“I don’t know about you, Effie Wilson, but I’m not cured of anything. If we’re going to put one fling behind us, we can put two.” He flipped them over, her under him now, the sheet wrapped around him.
She’d wanted him for months, and their time together in the wheelhouse hadn’t done a blasted thing to squelch it. Obviously it hadn’t squelched anything of his either because his erection was pressing full and firm and ready between her legs. “This isn’t why I came here.”
“I don’t care why you’re here.” He kissed her, his lips firm and delicious. “I’m just damn glad you are. You look sensational in moonlight, by the way. Hell, you look sensational in any light.”
She was in Ryan’s bed, under his incredible body, ready for action, and he thought she was beautiful. Lust pooled between her legs, making her hot and wet for him. Saying no to having sex with Ryan required one heck of a lot more willpower than she possessed right now. “Are you naked under that sheet?”
He grinned, his teeth white against the darkness. “Why don’t we find out together?”
He slid his tongue to hers, and her hips arched hard against him, the thin barrier of material between them driving her crazy.
“Ryan,” she breathed heavily, looking into his eyes. “What are we doing?”
“You can figure it out in California, and I can figure it out here.” He levered himself up on his elbows and snagged her nightshirt into his fist, bunching it at her waist. “I want to see you again, Effie. Every luscious inch of you. I’ve been lying here thinking about you naked, the way I saw you on the tug.”
“What happened to your only thought being sleep?”
“Lied.”
Oh, hell. Truth be told, she’d probably lied, too, saying she just came in here to talk. No woman went into a man’s bedroom at night just to talk!
She pushed against his shoulders and using her foot for leverage rolled them over, teetered on the edge of the bed for a second before sliding. She grabbed to keep from dropping off the edge, Ryan did the same but all they managed to do was drag the sheets with them as they tumbled onto the floor in a soft thud.
She smothered a laugh against his shoulder. “I’m not too good at bedroom bingo.”
He whispered in her ear. “Neither am I.” He rubbed the back of his head where it had thumped against the floor. “You are one dangerous female. I think you’re trying to kill me.”
“Are you okay?”
“My tooth is still chipped.” He smoothed her mussed hair from her cheeks, his eyes sultry as the Mississippi heat. “But I’m fine right now,” his voice a husky rumble.
He brought her mouth hungrily to his, kissing her, taking little love bites from her sensitive lips. Her toes curled, her stomach somersaulted and any thoughts about discussing Thelma and Conrad right then crumbled like a shanty in a California earthquake.
Panting, she sat up, her bare legs straddling his narrow hips, his erection throbbing through the sheet right into her, open and ready and wet for him. Sweat collected on her upper lip, and she yanked off her nightshirt and tossed it on the bed, leaving her in yellow panties and a deep blush. Sitting over a man like this was a new experience. So was his hard cock burning beneath her. “I still don’t know what’s under that sheet.”
He arched his left eyebrow and smirked. “Oh, I think you know.”
She felt his erection growing harder as he cupped her breasts, driving the air right out of her lungs and making her skin tingle. “They’re perfect,” he said. “Just made for my hands and my mouth.”
He stroked the pad of his thumb over her sensitive nipples, making her suck in a quick breath. She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out and waking the whole house. They’d had enough problems with audiences for one day. His blue eyes turned as dark as the shadows around them. Her need increased with every look, every touch, every tease.
“You had your way before.”
“Are you registering a complaint?”
“I am. I get naked and you don’t. No more.” She slid off of him, taking the sheet, breathless with anticipation to see his—”Boxers? You’re wearing boxer shorts to bed? What happened to sleeping in the buff? Isn’t that what all studly guys do? You have a reputation to live up to, you know. Boxers aren’t part of it.”
She plucked at the material and looked closer. “They have little lips all over them. You bought these? Paid good money for these? Is this like some ... fetish I should know about?”
“No fetish, least for boxers with lips. Though I do have a thing for the inside of a woman’s thigh.” He laid his hot hand possessively on her leg. “Here, where your skin is so soft and smooth and vulnerable and made for a man to kiss.”
Her gaze melded with his. The air around them nearly sizzled.
“The boxers,” he continued, his eyes not leaving hers, “were a Valentine’s Day present I got in college from some girlfriend. I found them in my bottom drawer, and sleeping in the buff with all that’s going on in this house didn’t seem like a great idea. Too many surprises.”
“Hope you’re in the mood for one more.” She snagged the waistband and pulled it below his hips. “Now that’s more what I had in mind. Better. Much better.” She looked again. “And bigger?”
“You tell me.”
She leaned over him and kissed his lips, her fingers massaging his hard length. His hands skimmed down her bare back, stopping at her panties. “These have got to go. You want to take them off or should I?”
She gave him a siren’s smile, knelt and stripped her panties over her hips to her knees. She sat, then slid them all the way off, twirled the bit of yellow on her index finger, then flipped it off into the air.
“You’re incredible.”
“I’m glad you think so.” She leaned over, but instead of his lips, this time she kissed the tip of his engorged penis.
“Effie,” he hissed.
The rest of his words faded away as she coddled his testicles and licked one side of his erection, then the other, taking her time, savoring the length and heat of him.
“You’re a devil.”
“What happened to incredible?” Then she took him slow and deep into her mouth, loving the smooth, sleek, firm texture and savoring the intimate connection.
Ryan felt every muscle in his body go hard for wanting Effie. He gripped the sheet tight, keeping control as her mouth stroked and fondled him. The experience probably singed his eyebrows, her desire to give him pleasure, something he never expected, catching him completely off guard. But pleasure went both ways, and if he didn’t stop her right now, he was done for. He wanted Effie, and this time he wanted it to last more than ten minutes. It had to because this was the last time they’d have sex. No more. Then they’d move on, right?
He sat up, snagged her left arm and tugged her up, her face only inches from his. “Enough.”
Her eyes shone smoky green, lips wet, and she purred, “I wasn’t finished.”
He opened the top drawer on the oak nightstand behind them and pulled out a condom. Her eyes cleared a little, and she studied it. “You knew I’d come here?”
“I’m here, you’re across the hall and we had incredible sex not all that long ago.” He tore open the package. “If you didn’t come to me, I sure as hell was coming to you.”
She grinned, and he knelt over her this time, took her hands in his and kissed the palms. “Sex with you is amazing. I want you to know that.”
Then he took her hands and brought them together over her head and wedged his body slippery with perspiration between her silky legs. The heat from her sex enveloped his erection, and he could feel her moist and ready against him. “Do you know how much I want to just push into you and take you right here and now?”
“Okay.”
Her hard nipples rubbed against his chest. “But then I’d miss all the delicious parts of you just waiting for me to enjoy. I want to taste you, Effie, have you in my mouth, your sweet skin against my tongue, and kiss you in places you’ll never forget.�
��
She tried to free her hands, but he held tight, wanting to give her pleasure. She said, “This is cheating. You had your turn on the tug. That was all you. This was my turn.”
“Sugar, we had ten minutes on that boat. That wasn’t a turn; it was a preview.” He kissed her. “And now I’ll show you the rest.”
He kissed her once more, lingering this time, her lush lips on his, fueling the flames searing his insides. “You’re kind of sneaky, and I don’t trust you to let me have my fill of you.” He sucked her bottom lip slowly into his mouth, then released it. “And I intend to have my fill.”
“You think you can have your way because you’re stronger than me?”
“You won’t mind, I promise.” He set a line of kisses across her cheek to her ear, his tongue dipping into the delicate folds there, then the tender space behind. She gasped as he laid out more slow, sensual kisses to her other ear, nuzzled her neck, then suckled her lobe.
She squirmed. “You’re getting more than your turn.” Her words were uneven and breathy.
“I know.” Keeping her hands in his, he brought them down by her sides and trailed kisses from her slim throat to her sternum, pausing at the apex of her lovely round cleavage, inhaling her womanly scent of sex and unrepentant need. He licked one taut dusky nipple, then breathed against it, cooling her flesh, watching it bead harder still.
She moaned, “Oh, Ryan, no more.”
“Oh, yes. You started this when you sent your panties flying.”
“That was just a tease.”
“I can tease.” He grazed his teeth across her stiff peak, watching her quiver. She whimpered, squirmed, her back rising off the floor as he ran his tongue over the areola, then gently took the nub between his lips, tugging ever so gently.
“I can’t do this anymore, Ryan. You’re killing me.”
“You’re not dead, I guarantee it.” Then his mouth fondled her other breast.
Her hands fought against his.
“Just a few minutes more to enjoy all of you.”
“This is it. You’ve seen it all.”
He lapped at the indention of her navel and planted a kiss next to the little ring that tantalized him. He released her hands and put his flat palms against her silky thighs, one on each side, and pressed her apart. “Not all.”
“But...” Her words trailed off as he nuzzled the velvety soft curls between her legs. He pushed her legs farther apart still, and his tongue anointed, then caressed, her wet waiting sex.
She whimpered, her hips arching as he said, “You are so sweet, so hot and ready for me, Effie.”
His tongue tasted her again, then again as he spread her more, taking in every inch, building her passion and his own as he made himself a special part of her.
Her legs quivered. “I want you inside me. I want you with me,” she pleaded.
He released her legs and kissed his way over her delectable mound, across her navel and chest to her face. He framed her flushed cheeks with his palms and kissed her damp red lips that so welcomed his. He slid himself hard and deep and swiftly into her, filling her with his thrust, her legs opening to take him in.
She gasped, and he swallowed her desperate whimpers as he drove into her again and again ‘til she climaxed, bringing him to his own climax, more powerful than he ever imagined.
His breaths came in uneven gulps he couldn’t control, his mind numb, his heart beating wildly in his throat.
“Oh, God, Effie,” his voice rang hoarse with emotion and awe. His head sagged next to hers, tangles of her hair teasing his cheek. He lay there for a few moments, wondering what the hell just happened. No sex had ever been like this. Finally, he pushed up on his elbows and gazed into her watery eyes. He kissed the tip of her nose. “That ... You are sensational.”
Her breasts rose and fell in short pants against his chest. “You are an incredible lover.”
He froze, their eyes holding, the term lover hanging between them. Her gaze cleared. “Not that this has anything to do with making love.”
“Mutual pleasure and mind-blowing sex is what this relationship—”
“Or lack of relationship is all about,” she added, trying to clarify what just happened.
A cocky smile fell across his mouth. “Guess this was kind of a bon voyage party.”
“Right. But then I need you to do something for me.”
“Sugar, I don’t know if I’m up to it right now, but give me a few minutes—”
“Not that,” she whispered and gave his arm a playful swat. “I need you to take over my Save Thelma Campaign, I ran into her downstairs. She’d just gotten home from a date with Conrad. That’s why I came in here, to tell you we have a problem. There won’t be time tomorrow. I have a ten o’clock flight, and this is important.”
He rolled off of her and sat on the floor. Not that he wanted to, but the moment was clearly shot to hell and back by Ms. Buttinski. “Do you ever mind your own business?”
“Well, not really, but this is different than the lunchroom pool. This is watching out for someone. If you saw a blind person walking toward a cliff, wouldn’t you try and stop them from taking the plunge?”
“What Conrad and Thelma do isn’t any of your business or my business. Leave it up to them to figure out.” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned her face to his. “We have all we can do to figure out our own situation here. Thelma’s a mature woman with—”
“Who has no experience with shyster men.” Effie pulled her head away. “I don’t think she has all that much experience with men period, and guys like Conrad are way out of her league. She is so heading for that cliff, Ryan.”
Effie snagged her nightshirt dangling from the edge of the bed. He liked it a hell of a lot more when she was in the mood for tossing it there.
“You’re overreacting,” he whispered. He stood, took a tissue from the nightstand and disposed of the condom, then snagged his boxers from the floor. He sat on the bed. “Think about this. Conrad can only like Thelma for Thelma. There’s no motive for him to like her for any other reason. She has nothing anyone wants, especially Conrad. A few thousand dollars in the bank and a Pontiac Sunfire are not shyster material. Conrad’s got family money, the family business ... though from what I hear it’s not doing that well. There’s no reason for him to go after Thelma other than he truly cares for her.”
“He’s building a patio.”
“Gee, that sounds like a shyster to me.” Ryan helped Effie up, and she sat beside him.
“He and Thelma are building it together. She talked him into it, which means Conrad’s agreed to work. Work? Conrad? Doesn’t something about that picture bother you, like he’s trying real hard to impress Thelma? But why is the big question.”
Moonlight tangled in Effie’s hair and kissed her cheek. He wanted to do both, but the Save Thelma Campaign raged full force. “Conrad said be was changing, and he is. I don’t see the problem.”
“It’s Dearborn and Emmerson all over again. They’re cut from the same cloth. The kind that has dollar signs on one side and a broken heart on the other.”
“Consider this. What if you stick your nose in and mess things up for Thelma? You ruin the best chance she’s ever had at happiness? She’s from a rotten family, had a crappy childhood, had no self-confidence and never dated. But now this great guy, least she seems to think so, shows an interest in her and is even willing to change his ways for her.”
“The bottom line is Conrad’s going to ruin Thelma for some reason we don’t know about. It’s up to you to find out what it is and put a stop to it since I won’t be here. You think she had no self-esteem before; wait ‘til Conrad makes a fool out of her. The whole town will know.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “I am not getting into this. I don’t see the problem. It’s strange, but since we just had sex in a wheelhouse and on my bedroom floor we’re in no position to call someone else’s relationship strange.”
“You won’t take
over the Save Thelma campaign?”
“Hell no. There’s nothing to save her from. Conrad likes Thelma, end of story.”
Effie’s eyes lit with the fire of fight. “Fine. Then I’m staying. I’m not letting Thelma jump off a cliff.”
Ryan took in the determined tilt of Effie’s chin and cringed. “What you mean is you’re going to snoop.”
“Snoop is such a distasteful term. I prefer to think of it as investigate, and if that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.”
“You’re a damn architect. What do you know about investigating anything but a building? Leave it alone, Effie. I know Conrad. He’s a harmless SOB. Maybe he’s realizing he’s not happy and wants something stable in his life. Thelma’s not a glamour queen, but she is kind and sincere and loyal.”
“Has Conrad Hastings ever in his whole entire selfish life shown any interest for someone of those qualities? I’ve been used like Conrad’s using Thelma, Ryan. It sucks. If you don’t want to help figure this out, fine. I can do it myself.”
“Butt out, Effie.”
“Go to hell, Ryan.”
She stood and turned for the door.
“Effie,” he stage whispered. She turned, and he tossed her panties to her. She tossed them back. “Keep them as a souvenir because you sure won’t be getting into them again anytime soon. This time I think we found the real cure to our problem, and I don’t have to go to San Diego to make it work.”
———
The grandfather clock in the hall chimed six p.m. as Effie frowned at the blueprints for the Sundance Mall spread out over the dining room table. She said to Ryan, “These plans are a piece of crap.”
“They’re not that bad. We’ve been working at them all day, and you’re just tired.”
“What I’m tired of is you and your know-it-all attitude and insisting you’re right. The parking garage should be on the north side, and a fountain in the center of the mall.” She jabbed her finger at a rectangle on the paper. “Your parking garage is too high, has too big a footprint and is ugly as a buffalo’s butt. How can you not see that?”
“That’s a garage. It’s not going to look like the Louvre. Anything other than a concrete box is going to take the project over budget.”
Til There Was U Page 11