For the first time in a long time, Rory’s body started to relax.
After paying special attention to his lower back, she massaged his ass, purposely or incidentally creating a most pleasurable friction between his erection and the bed. His previously relaxed body started to perk back up. She squeezed his cheeks, moved them in circles, spread them wide, exposing him, pulling…it felt so damn good he didn’t care if it had him humping the bed like some horny teenager.
He thought she might move down the backs of his legs then, but she didn’t.
“On your back.”
Yes, ma’am. Happily.
“Close your eyes.”
He did.
“Think happy thoughts.”
Neve. Neve naked. Neve naked and sucking his cock.
Warm oil drizzled onto his chest and her hands went to work, stopping to play with his nipples. So damn good. As she passed over his stomach excitement morphed into a frenzy of heated anticipation.
Touch me. He may have lifted his hips slightly, hinting at what he wanted.
She didn’t take the hint. Rubbing his hips, down his outer thighs, and up his inner thighs, passing close, teasing but completely ignoring the place where he wanted her touch the most.
He bent his knees, spread his legs, and tilted his hips up, more blatantly this time, so aroused, so ready he actually began to worry he might shoot his load too soon.
Finally Neve took his length into her hand and cupped him. Thank you. He let out a breath, part relief he didn’t orgasm on contact—because how embarrassing would that have been?—part absolute ecstasy at the feel of her warm, oil-slicked hand as she caressed his flesh, base to tip, up and down, over and over. “You have no idea how much I want to feel this big, beautiful piece of you deep inside of me.”
God, he wanted that too. So he opened his eyes, looked up, and told her so. “You have no idea how much I want to feel that big, beautiful piece of me deep inside of you.”
She smiled. So beautiful.
“For tonight we’ll have to settle for this.” She dropped her head, separated her lips, and slid her hot, wet mouth over him, keeping her fist wrapped around him at the base, squeezing and sliding over every inch of him.
It felt so fucking fantastic Rory didn’t feel like he was settling at all. “God, baby. I love it when you suck my cock.”
She laughed, then lifted off.
Noooooooo.
With a smile, she looked up at him. “Bet you liked having a chance to say that.”
He remembered his letter and smiled back. “I don’t get to say it often enough.” Now back to work.
Oh yeah. She didn’t make him wait, sucking just the tip this time, swirling her tongue in a motion that felt so good his head was on the verge of exploding, flicking her tongue back and forth across the sensitive underside.
“Suck me deep.” He pushed up onto his elbows. “I love to watch,” to see the glide of his glistening skin disappearing, then reappearing, her glossy dark lips taking him in. “That’s right, take me in, all of me.” Her beautiful head bobbing. “You look so good doing that.” Arousal flowed through every part of his body. Pleasure took over every thought, every feeling, every fiber of his being. The pleasant tingle in his balls started to move, his orgasm building, traveling.
“So fucking good.” He thrust into her, only a little, couldn’t help himself. Too much. Too good. “I’m going to come,” he warned, thrusting faster, deeper, straining out his release. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Rory’s arms gave out, and he collapsed back on the bed, succumbing to pure, unadulterated contentment. The pent-up energy and tension drained from his body, memories of the noise, of the chaos of combat, of maimed, bloody bodies strewn about a muddy road, of friends, so many friends, dead, were replaced by stars shooting across a darkened night sky with him suspended in midair among them, floating freely, weightless and boneless. Free.
—
Rory came awake to bright sunlight, recognizing Neve’s room, feeling her silky sheets against his naked body. Shit. He’d fallen asleep. He shot up, looked around, didn’t see her. Oh God. He leaned over to scan the floor and was overwhelmingly relieved to not see her there. But where was she? Had he gone after her during the night? Had she fled for her safety?
The clock caught his attention. Not possible. Three o’clock? As in three o’clock in the afternoon? Had he honestly slept for over ten hours?
Uh-oh.
He hopped out of bed, searching for his towel. Neve’s morning dose of medication had been due at nine. She couldn’t access her PICC line by herself. And frankly, he liked it that way, because once she no longer needed him, then what?
Opening the door, holding his towel closed, he walked down the hall. “Sorry,” he said as soon as he saw her sitting at the kitchen table, bundled in her fuzzy purple bathrobe.
She looked up from her puzzle book with a big smile. “You’re awake. How did you sleep?”
“Great.” So much so he hadn’t dreamt, or if he had, he couldn’t remember those dreams. Even better, no nightmares, no jerking awake in a cold sweat with his heart pounding, no being scared to close his eyes, no forcing himself to stay awake. “But I’m sorry. Your medication.”
“Don’t worry. I called the nursing agency first thing and they sent someone over.” She stood. “Are you hungry?”
Ravenous. He nodded.
“What would you like? Eggs? Toast? Oatmeal?” She opened the refrigerator and looked inside. “I have oranges, grapefruit, apples, and/or strawberries. Grape jelly. Yogurt.”
He wanted to feast, only not on food. But first he had to know. “Did I…?” He couldn’t find the right words. How did a man ask a woman if he’d done anything inappropriate during the night? If he’d scared her or hurt her or made her feel in any way unsafe?
Neve closed the refrigerator and walked to him, her expression full of understanding. “You fell asleep,” she said, pressing her body to his. “And I can’t be sure, but I don’t think you moved once the entire night.”
Rory hugged her tightly, relief coursing through him. “Thank you for last night.” He kissed the top of her head. “And for letting me sleep this morning. I really needed both.”
“I’m glad.” She looked up at him. “Breakfast? Lunch?”
“Can wait.” He kissed her, tasting something sweet, feeling relaxed and happy to be alive. The only hint of worry, way in the back of his mind, was that he might never see his family or his home again. Because the way he felt right now, there’d be no getting Neve out of his system.
Chapter 10
Friday morning, after her antibiotics infusion, Neve got into her leotard, covered it up with sweatpants and a navy blue T-shirt, then went into the living room. “Would you help me put this on?” She handed Rory the sleeve to cover her PICC line.
Having two hands made the process much quicker and easier. “Going somewhere?”
“To work.”
“Oh no.” Rory stood. “Dr. Glassman said no lifting and no strenuous activity as long as you have the PICC line in.”
“I need to pick up my paycheck.” While she did, in fact, have a paycheck waiting for her, it wasn’t the main reason she needed to be at the gymnastics studio in twenty minutes.
“I’ll go with you.” He reached into his duffle, took out a pair of socks, returned to the couch, and put them on. “I could use some fresh air.”
Leave it to Rory to screw up her plan. “Don’t you want to take a shower first?” So she could sneak out while he was in there.
“No.” He got up, grabbed his boots from the mat by the front door, and started to put them on.
“I’m a big girl,” she told him. “Perfectly capable of driving to work and picking up my paycheck all by myself.”
“Nate said you can’t be trusted.”
Damn pain in the ass, that Nate.
“Okay then.” She slung her purse over her shoulder, snatched her keys out of the bowl on the kitchen counter, and picke
d up the bag she’d put together while Rory had been in the bathroom earlier. Plan B. She’d deal with him when they got there.
On her tiny front porch Neve almost fell trying to avoid stepping on an all-too-familiar rectangular white box of chocolates with a brown bow lying on her welcome mat. Yeah, time to get rid of that. Tonight she’d do a little research into mats she could set to zap unwanted nighttime visitors with an electric charge. A Taser mat.
“Looks like someone left you a box of chocolates,” Rory said.
Ya think? “Well, would you look at that.” She bent over to pick up the box. “Looks like you’re right.” She tore off the note taped to the front without reading it, ripped it into pieces, and shoved the pieces into her pocketbook, remembering when the deliveries had started. We need to plump you up a little so when we play I don’t have to worry about hurting you for real. He’d pushed things too far the last time they were together. Never again.
“You don’t want to know who they’re from?”
Oh, she knew who they were from. A bad sign. Very bad. “Nope.” Going a few steps to the right, Neve placed the chocolates on a little decorative bench beside her mean old neighbor’s front door, then gave a quick knock.
“That was nice,” Rory said, following her down the path to the parking lot. “You do that often?”
Hadn’t had to recently, but for a while there, yes, way too often. “That woman hates me.” Loved chocolates, however—she never turned down a box. And Neve got a kick out of the reluctant, curmudgeonly smile the old woman forced onto her face when she made it a point to say thank-you. “I’m not above trying to keep the peace with chocolates.”
“From one of your admirahs.”
Neve stopped and turned on him. “You got something to say? Say it.”
He held up both hands in surrender. “Only that if you really want guys to leave you alone, you need to tell them you’re not interested. And to do that you need to know who it is who’s leaving you gifts in the middle of the night.”
If only it were as easy as simply saying she wasn’t interested. “As long as they don’t bang on my door, I don’t care who they are.” Neve started to walk again. “If I ignore them, sooner or later they’ll get the message.” She hoped.
“That’s your plan? To ignore them?” Rory asked, walking beside her.
“That’s my plan.” Neve pressed the button on her key fob to unlock her car.
Rory climbed into the passenger seat. “How’s it working for you?”
Okay, or so she’d thought until today. Now it appeared that avoiding her local hangouts and not returning messages wasn’t enough, because for some reason, out of the blue, Adam had started up again. “Just fine.” Not fine at all.
The drive was a silent one until Neve pulled into a parking spot in front of the huge blue building that housed Lil’s Gymnastics Studio and told Rory, “You can wait here. I’ll be out in a few minutes.” Roughly sixty-five minutes.
Rory unbuckled his seatbelt. “I want to see where you work.”
“See.” She pointed to the front entrance, then opened her door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Rory opened his door and climbed out.
“You know, you’re turning out to be as big a pain in the ass as Nate is,” she told him over the hood of her car.
All he did was smile, and rather proudly at that.
Inside she climbed the stairs to the office. Better to have the confrontation she knew would be coming away from her little students.
“Thank you for coming,” said Lil, the owner, head coach, and stand-in mother to all her gymnasts, rising from the chair behind her desk and coming to give Neve a hug. “You know I no longer have energy or patience for the little ones.”
Her hot pink tracksuit swished as she moved. A good head taller than Neve, at least thirty years older, and as prim and proper as they come, Lil couldn’t have been more different from Neve, and they made an odd pair. But Neve considered Lil one of her dearest friends after Brooke.
Rory gave Neve a side-eyed look. Suspicious. Justifiably so.
Neve acted like she didn’t see it.
“Lil, this is the friend I told you about, Rory.” In case she couldn’t escape unaccompanied. “Rory, my boss, Lil.”
“I’m much more than your boss,” Lil said, shaking Rory’s hand.
“I’m not ready to commit to a schedule.” Neve walked to the corner, faced the glass wall overlooking the big open training facility, and toed off her sneakers. Then she removed her sweatpants and socks, purposely keeping on her sweatshirt so Lil wouldn’t see her PICC sleeve and start asking questions. Balling up her clothes she shoved them, along with her pocketbook, into one of the vacant cubbies kept for the staff. “Just filling in.”
“Oh no, you’re not,” Rory said, bulking up, trying to look formidable, quite successfully as a matter of fact—a wasted effort, though, because he didn’t scare Neve one bit.
Lil looked back and forth between them with interest.
“Can he use the equipment?” Neve asked, already knowing the answer. The studio kept five treadmills, three elliptical machines, and one stair climber in a loft area overlooking the mats, for parents to use while waiting for their children.
“As long as he signs the waiver.” Lil reached into a file drawer and handed Neve a piece of paper.
“I’m not—”
“Sign this.” Neve held it out to Rory. “Says you’re in good health and able to exercise and you won’t sue if you suffer any injury or drop dead of a heart attack while using the facility’s exercise equipment. Blah, blah, blah.” She handed him the grocery bag she’d been carrying. “Here. Your sneakers. I also stuck in shorts and a clean shirt.”
“Neve, the doctor said—”
“I know what the doctor said. I was there.” She flattened the waiver on the corner of Lil’s desk, grabbed a pen from her pink pig penholder, and held it out to Rory. “I’m feeling better. I’m smart. I won’t do anything to hurt myself or delay my recovery.”
Rory looked at Lil. “Don’t you need a doctah’s note for her to return to work?”
“After the flu?” Lil waved him off. “We’re not all that formal around here.” She looked at Neve. “You feeling up to it, honey?”
“Yes,” Neve said. “And my class is waiting.” Fine. Since he didn’t want to sign, she’d let Lil deal with him. Setting down the pen, Neve turned and tried to leave the office.
Rory blocked her path. “She doesn’t know?” he whispered.
Okay, new tack. “I didn’t want her to worry.” Neve looked up with what she hoped was her sweetest, most convincing expression. “I’ve missed a lot of work over the past month,” she said quietly. “I need the money and Lil needs my help. I’m only doing one class.” At least for now, but after proving herself capable of handling it, Neve had every intention of picking up some more. “I’ve been on antibiotics for a week. I’ve been resting, eating, and drinking plenty of non-alcoholic fluids. I feel much better. You can watch me from the loft area. You can see everything I do and hear everything I say. If I run into any trouble I’ll call you. Okay?” She stepped around him. “And while I’m working this one small, easy class you can pound out all your frustration with me on the treadmill.” She pointed. “Down to the right.”
“Go ahead, honey. I’ll show him.” Lil walked up beside Rory and tucked her arm through his. The move looked benign, motherly even. But Lil taught Wednesday night’s self-defense class. One wrong move from Rory and she’d take him down.
In the waiting area Neve called out, “I’m looking for some tiny tumblers.” She used her hand as a pretend visor, dramatically searching the room Disney-princess style. “Are there any tiny tumblers out here?”
A few tiny hands shot up. An adorable blond girl, three-year-old Mia, ran from her mom to hug Neve’s leg, almost knocking her off balance. Hmmm. Maybe she wasn’t as ready to return to work as she’d thought earlier that morning. Looking among the moms and
two dads, Neve reminded them, “I have no problem if you want to come in and watch from along the side wall, but no outdoor shoes on the mats.” Turning her attention to her excited little students, she said, “Okay, ladies and gentleman, follow me.”
The little three- and four-year-olds, seven girls and one boy, formed a haphazard line behind her, and she led them into the workout area, loving the morning quiet, enjoying this class in particular because they were usually the only ones on the schedule.
When they reached the center of the large mat meant for floor exercise routines, Neve knelt. “Okay, everyone, gather round.” She motioned for everyone to join her in a huddle, taking a quick glance up to see Rory already running on a treadmill. “A friend of mine is watching from the loft today.” Some of the kids turned to look. “No. Don’t look.” When she regained the attention of most of them she said, “I’m going to count and when I get to three let’s all look up at him and yell, in our loudest voices, ‘Hi, Rory,’ and wave to him, okay?”
Eager smiles, nods, and a few giggles met her request.
Still on her knees, Neve counted, “One. Two. Three.”
On three the group turned and looked up at Rory. Some waved, some jumped and waved, some yelled, jumped, and waved, out of sync and totally adorable. “Hi, Rory!” Neve yelled the loudest and waved right along with them, deciding not to jump because, well, she was on her knees and she was supposed to be taking it easy today.
Rory gave them a big smile and an even bigger wave back. “Hi!” So comfortable on the treadmill, he did it without needing to hold on and without breaking stride. Impressive.
“Okay. Everyone find a place on the mat. Arms out to the side, spin around and make sure you don’t touch anyone.” She walked to the speaker, stuck in her iPod, and played her kid-friendly list of songs.
On her way back to start warm-ups Neve glanced up to see Max’s dad on the treadmill next to Rory.
Crap.
—
All I Need Is You Page 11