by Candis Terry
“So that’s what you meant at Dean’s wedding? That actions speak louder than words?”
“Yes.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “Jesus, Kelly. Do you even know why I pushed you away?”
“I don’t think I need to know. Actions—”
“Yeah. Yeah. I got it. For your information, it wasn’t because I didn’t want you, Kelly. It was because I wanted you to remember.”
“What are you talking about?”
He dropped his chin and shook his head. When his head came back up and his eyes met hers, something in their depths—something undefinable—changed.
“When we were together at Kate’s wedding,” he said, “you were drunk. But you were funny and flirty, and I’ve wanted you practically my whole life. When you offered yourself I took advantage and we had a hell of a great time that you seemed to forget. Then you ran and never looked back. I swore if that opportunity ever came again, I wanted you sober. I wanted you to remember who made love to you. I didn’t want to be just a shadow in your memory or someone you tried to avoid. I wanted you to remember me. Is that too much to ask?”
“No, but—”
“The night I took you home from the bachelorette party you’d been drinking.”
“I wasn’t drunk. I think . . . you’re just using that as an excuse.”
“An excuse? Are you kidding me?” His voice raised a level. “I’ve lost sleep over you, Kelly. I think about you all the damned time. Even when I do sleep I’m thinking about you. I can’t get you out of my head for one minute. And you think I’m making up excuses not to kiss you?” He reached for her.
His words didn’t make sense. Then again, maybe she had been looking too hard to find an excuse herself. To find a reason why a man like him would ever be interested in Sister Serious.
“Wait—” She flattened her palm against his bare chest, but not before the bowl of warm chocolate flipped upside down and fell to the floor. He looked down to where the handful of chocolate she’d grabbed now dripped from her fingers and onto his bare chest. “Oops.”
Sparking with disbelief, those dark eyes shot back up to her face. She let go a nervous laugh and backed away. “Sorry, I—”
“You want to play dirty, Counselor?” A corner of his sensual mouth lifted in amusement. “Count me in.”
He grabbed her by the spaghetti straps and yanked her against him. He kissed her long and hard, slow and soft. His tongue caressed and attacked. He tasted wild like unrestrained passion and hungry male. When he pulled back, his breathing was unsteady. He glanced down at the chocolate that had now spread from his chest to hers, and he smiled as if he approved.
“How do those actions speak?” he asked.
“I—”
“Shhhh. Rhetorical question.” His tongue gave a slow lick up the side of her throat. “Kiss me again,” he murmured in her ear.
She didn’t have time to decide. He was on her, kissing her with the taste of chocolate on his tongue, touching her everywhere with gentle, greedy hands. For several seconds she’d been stunned. When the initial surprise evaporated, she gave into the hot ache spreading through her belly. The beat of desire pulsing through her blood. She leaned into him, and the kiss became feverish. A hot tingle shot from between her legs up into her breasts. Her hands slid up through the chocolate on his chest and wrapped around his neck as he pulled her even closer. Then his big palms slid down the small of her back and cupped her bottom. He pressed his long, thick erection against her pelvis and a sound of pure need groaned deep in his chest.
“I want you, Kelly.” He lifted his head and he looked down at her through eyes dark with desire. He kissed her cheeks, her ear, her mouth. “For months I’ve waited for you to want me back. Tell me you want me.”
Her skin was flushed with need, and she became mindless to anything but wanting him deep inside her. “I do want you, James,” she whispered.
“Thank god.” His mouth crushed against hers as he kissed her, teased her, and drew sensation to focal points in her breasts and between her legs. Slowly, step by step, with his leg between her thighs he moved her backward until her back hit the wall. He leaned into her as his hands came up to her face, held it, and tilted it for better access while his tongue plundered and withdrew. Caressed and stroked. Teased and taunted. Then his big hands brushed the straps from her shoulders and pushed the bodice of her dress down. The fabric fell to the floor.
His tongue did a slow slide from the side of her throat down her chest to her breast. “I’ve waited a long time to have you like this,” he said, his breath a warm whisper across her aching nipple. He flattened his tongue across the puckered flesh and gently sucked her into his mouth.
Kelly wound her fingers into his hair and held him there, sure that if he stayed for any length of time she could orgasm without him even touching her below the waist.
But he wasn’t satisfied with that. He gently sucked at her nipple while his big hands slid down her body in a sensuous caress then touched her through the tiny panties.
“Mmmm.” He smiled against her skin. “You’re wet. I like that.”
With a long moan, Kelly dropped her head back against the wall as his long fingers slipped beneath the silky fabric and he found her slick, hot flesh. He explored, stroked, and circled. Everything about him sent her into overdrive. His scent. His warmth. His heart.
She may have had alcohol in her blood when she’d made love with him before, but she remembered what James Harley felt like. And she wanted to feel. All of him. She pushed the chocolate-streaked uniform from his shoulders, and it sailed to the floor. Her hand clasped onto the tattoo circling his bicep. His head came up, his eyes dilated with passion. “Tell me what you want, Angelface.”
“You. Inside me,” she panted. “Now.” Her hands went to his belt buckle.
“Hold on a sec.” He reached behind him, pulled the semi-automatic from his waistband, and set it on the counter beside them. “Wrong kind of fireworks.”
Kelly looked at the weapon, and her hands stilled. For some reason, knowing the man carried a weapon to serve and protect turned her on even more. She looked back up at him and smiled. “That puts a whole different spin on going off.” She lowered her hand and wrapped her fingers around his erection through the khaki pants. “This is the kind I’m interested in.”
He reached into his wallet and pulled out a condom. “At your service, ma’am.”
No further words were necessary. No questions needed to be asked. They were going there, and she was in a hurry to get to their destination. While she unfastened his pants and pushed them and his boxer-briefs down his muscular thighs, he slid her panties down her legs. His long, thick penis jutted free into her palm, hard and smooth, and she rolled on the condom. The latex stretched tight as she stroked him from base to tip. He pushed himself into her grasp and she felt him grow even larger.
“I need you, Kelly.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “I have to have you right now.”
“Then I’m all yours.”
His hands smoothed down her bottom and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. The hot head of his cock nudged her slick opening. Their flesh met and melded as he tilted his hips and thrust up inside of her. The penetration was powerful and complete, and it pushed the air from her lungs in an erotic sigh. He paused a millisecond as her body stretched and welcomed the invasion.
His fingers gripped her bottom as he slightly withdrew then plunged deeper with a slow roll of his hips. She tightened her legs and hooked the toes of her boots around him as she moved with him on each thrust and retreat. Her breasts and hardened nipples pressed into his chest, and the added friction drove her mad as his thrusts grew faster. His breathing grew harsh, and her heartbeat pounded in her head while he pushed her closer and closer to orgasm. He shifted his hips and dove in even harder. There was nothing smooth or refined in the way the intense pleasure grabbed hold and twisted her from inside out. As the tremors shoo
k her, the fire spread in a flash across her skin and stole her breath.
His arms crushed her to him, and he swallowed her scream into his mouth. Her muscles contracted, pulled, and gripped him tight. His heart pounded against her breast. As her spasms took hold, a deep groan rumbled in his chest and beneath her hands his muscles tensed.
“Remember me.” Her name rushed from his lips as he pushed into her one last time. Her arms and legs tightened around him as he let go of her with his hands and braced them against the wall beside her head. He held her against the wall with his body as it shuddered, and his knees nearly buckled. Kelly clung to him, too immersed in the hot tingles dancing through her body to worry about him dropping her.
When the sensations eased, he rested his forehead against the tattoo on his bicep until his breathing slowed. Then, still pulsating deep within her body, he pulled back to look at her. “You okay?”
Her body buzzed with the after-effects of the powerful orgasm. “I’m great.”
“Me too.” He slid out of her, kissed her deeply, then headed toward the bathroom. She grabbed her dress and her panties off the floor in an attempt to put herself back together. In a dress smeared with chocolate? Not so easy.
James reappeared, shirtless with pants fastened. A sudden wariness came over her. Funny how when the heat of the moment was spent, everything went back to the way things were. A little awkward. When he picked his shirt up off the floor, she expected him to give her a quick exit speech.
“Well this is a mess,” he said with a chuckle, holding up the chocolate-smeared uniform shirt. Then he looked at her. “That dress isn’t in much better condition.
“No. I don’t suppose it is.”
“Guess there’s only one thing to do.”
“What’s that?”
He grabbed her hand and started hauling her toward the back door.
“Where are we going?”
“To bathe.”
“But . . . I can’t leave. Kate will kill me if she sees this mess. She warned me.”
He tugged her into his arms. “If you only knew half of what your sister has done in this bakery, you wouldn’t worry.”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Then come with me now. I promise to show you some amazing things.”
“What kind of amazing things?” He kissed her, and with the smile he’d just given her, Kelly knew she’d follow him anywhere. Even straight into hell. Although she may have already done that.
“By the way.” He grinned. “You owe me fifty bucks.”
A gasp stuck in her throat. Had that been the point of all this? To prove he could have her one more time? She opened her mouth to retaliate, and he had the perfect come back—a hot, wet kiss that knocked her silly thoughts right out of the ballpark.
He lifted his head and smoothed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “But don’t worry if you don’t have the cash. I’ve decided to take it out in trade.”
Then he lowered his head again, and she realized she’d pay him more just to keep his kisses coming.
“No way.” Kelly backed away from him. “You are not going to get me to do that. Not even with that smile.”
The night air was warm and scented with pine. A full moon floated in the sky accompanied by a blanket of glittering stars. James stood beside the calm waters of the lake and sank his toes in the sand watching the woman he’d fantasized about for years back away from him. He didn’t know how far he could push her fun meter. The fact remained that he wanted her to want to break out of that serious shell she’d locked herself behind. Still, he thought he’d try another approach to see. And since she apparently wasn’t beyond making a bet . . . “You said you wanted to see my favorite swimming hole.” He waved his hand toward the lake, where the moon reflected off the water like a spotlight. “This is it.”
“No. You said you wanted me to see your favorite swimming hole. You mentioned nothing about climbing up into a tree, swinging out over the water, and letting go. That’s just crazy.”
“Kids do it all the time. It’s fun.” He folded his arms and grinned. “I think you’re just chicken.”
“Me?” She pointed at those pretty little buttons dancing up her dress. “Chicken? I’ve already gotten on your ATV and your motorcycle. I think that proves I’m not chicken.”
“Fifty bucks says you won’t do it.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I already owe you fifty.”
“Sweet. And since I already said I’d take it out in trade, let’s make it a hundred.”
She glanced behind her at the huge cottonwood and the long limb that dangled over the water with a knotted rope attached.
“All right.” She exhaled a huge sigh. “You’re on. I’ll do it.” Her sundress clung to her thighs as she started to walk toward the tree.
“Naked.”
She spun around. “What?”
“That’s part of the deal, Angelface. You jump naked.”
She laughed. “You’re crazy.”
About her, maybe. “Come on. It’s late. There’s not a soul around for miles. Who’s going to see?”
“You are.”
“I’ll close my eyes until I hear the splash.”
“You are such a liar.”
He held up two fingers. “Scouts honor.”
“Were you ever actually a boy scout?”
“Not that I can recall.” Again she laughed. The sound rippled through his heart and danced across his skin.
“Then it doesn’t count.”
“Will you do it if I jump first?”
She gave him a playful smile. “Naked?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” Never one to be shy about his body, he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the tree. When they reached the shade of the canopy, he stripped off his pants. She giggled as he stepped up onto the low overhanging branch and held out his hand. “Your turn.”
“Oh, my god. I cannot believe I am doing this.” The moonlight danced in her eyes as she began to undo the buttons down the front of her dress. His fingers itched to give her some help, but watching her slow, steady movements was more exciting than watching a strip tease. When her fingers reached the buttons below her small waist, she pushed the soft cotton away. His breath caught in his chest when she reached for her tiny panties and did a little hip wiggle until the strip of fabric fell to the sand.
Much to his surprise—and pleasure—she did not try to cover herself. Her body was firm. Her curves luscious. She made his mouth water.
The moonlight played over her shoulders, the peaks of her breasts, and her shapely thighs, and cast shadows on her narrow waist. If he could capture that picture in his mind forever, he’d die a happy man.
Eyes bright with trust, she looked up at him. His heart shifted into a higher gear. He’d never had a woman affect him the way she did. He wanted to hold her close and never let her go.
“Happy now?” She reached for his hand, and he pulled her up beside him.
He wrapped her in his arms and knew at that moment nothing had ever felt as amazing as holding her bare flesh against his own. Feeling her heart beating wildly against his chest.
“Now I am.” He kissed her quietly. Softly. Just a gentle meeting of lips. “You ready?” he leaned his head back and asked, sensing no trepidation from her now.
In response she slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. The hardened peaks of her small, perfect breasts pressed into his flesh. Her hips pushed into his and between them his penis came to life. She gave him a bold smile. “Hmmm. Looks like you are.”
He lowered his head and took her mouth again—more urgent this time. He reached behind her and cupped her bottom, then pressed his erection against her to relieve the ache. She lifted onto her toes so he hit just the right spot. And while her amazing mouth responded wildly to his kiss, and she clung to his neck, he grabbed hold of the rope, and together they swung out over the water like Indiana Jones and his damsel in distress.
He let go.
Kelly shrieked. And they both landed feet first with a splash.
“Oh my god.” Kelly came up laughing and wiping the water from her eyes. “That was amazing.”
As he swam over to her, the smile on her face lifted his heart. “You want to do it again?”
While he treaded water, she wrapped her arm around his neck then reached below the water with her other hand and cupped his testicles. “I’m ready if you are,” she whispered against his mouth.
The sudden shock of the cold water may have momentarily diminished his ardor, but it was back with vehemence and he moaned. “Wrap your legs around me.” She did and he maneuvered them to where he could touch the sand and not drown them both. He liked that she felt comfortable enough to at least let him know what she wanted, and when she wanted it. Because god knew he was ready for her all the time.
When he finally touched ground he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her closer. Not shy, she fed him hot, wet kisses that made everything below his waist rise up and pay attention. His blood boiled in his veins. If he had a million years he could not make love to this woman enough.
He started moving them closer to shore and the blanket he’d laid there. With his arms wrapped around her, he couldn’t think. But by the desperate, reaching little moans coming from her he knew she needed more than what he could give her standing up. He needed more, too.
“Hold on,” he moaned as they came up out of the water and made it to the edge of the blanket. Gently he laid her down and followed.
Her wet hair spread out like a fan, and chill bumps pebbled on her skin. He warmed her with his hands, his mouth, and as he moved lower down her body, he heated her with his tongue. When he finally allowed himself to sink into her, she rewarded him with a soft sigh and a long moan. He made love to her slowly and gently until he joined her in that free-fall over the edge. When their heartbeats eased he lifted his head and looked down into her amazing eyes.
Her soft fingers caressed his cheek. “How about after another swim . . . we do that again?”
James knew he needed to get home, but for the moment Alex was in good hands. And though he knew it was selfish, he’d waited so long to feel Kelly in his arms again he hated to let her go. He usually got into trouble when he let his selfish side take control, but tonight he would gladly pay the devil for just a few more minutes with this woman who made him feel like all was right with the world.