by Joanne Rock
She wanted him.
He followed her old Thunderbird away from Heartache’s main street past peach orchards in full pink bloom. The car had a custom paint job in royal blue with metallic flecks, but underneath, the pimped-out ride was basically an antique. Erin had a way of rescuing worn-out things and giving them new appeal.
When she turned down the long driveway, he was right behind her. Thinking about her. As much as he’d wanted to be there for his daughter today, Sarah didn’t want to leave Heartache, and he was in danger of alienating her more if he refused to let her spend time with her friends before he took her back to Miami. There’d be plenty of time to figure out what was going on with her once they left Tennessee.
Until then, Sarah had her friends and Remy—unbelievably—had Erin. One night to pretend the past didn’t exist. One night where they wouldn’t worry about the future or the complications of being together. After all, he’d be on a flight home before dawn.
He was out of his car and opening her door for her before she’d even collected her belongings off the passenger seat.
“I kept checking the rearview mirror on the drive here,” she admitted as she took his hand and let him help her out.
He didn’t let go of her. Lacing their fingers together, he held tight to the only woman who had been more than just a blip on his male radar in the past two years. Erin Finley fascinated him.
“You didn’t seriously think you were going to lose me?” He climbed the front porch steps beside her, the mild breeze of a Tennessee spring stirring the scent of flowering trees and the barest hint of Erin’s amber fragrance.
“Maybe not with my driving.” She dug in her bag for keys and opened the door while he held the screen. “But I worried you’d have second thoughts.”
His brain stalled when he noticed how fast she’d gotten inside her house.
“You don’t have an alarm system out here?” He realized there were homes within sight of hers—her sister-in-law’s house even. Still, Erin was a single woman living by herself.
“I haven’t spent that much time here since it was built. I traveled a lot up until last fall.” She dropped her things on the rattan coffee table in the living area and kicked off her black-heeled boots.
She reached into a bowl of cherries on the stand and ate one, handing him one by the stem.
“All the more reason.” He knew it troubled him unreasonably, but he needed to say something.
He took the cherry and ate it mostly to be polite, though the burst of flavor on his tongue was a pleasant surprise.
“You’re right. I’ll get an alarm for sure.” Her eyes were full of understanding as she reached to swipe the juice from his lips.
He swallowed hard, shoving aside the worry about the locks and anything else except for this amazing woman.
“I’m glad you asked me over.” His temperature spiked at her nearness just knowing where this would lead. Knowing there was no turning back.
“I’m glad to have a second chance to make my interest known.” She laid her palm flat against his chest. Warm. Direct.
Sexy and sweet at the same time.
“I like it that you don’t play games. That I don’t have to guess what you’re thinking.” He didn’t have the emotional fortitude for that kind of stuff these days.
She walked her fingers up the buttons of his shirt and landed at the knot of his tie.
“Are you suggesting you know what I’m thinking?” She inserted a finger between his collar and the tie, easing the knot down until the cotton silk released and the whole thing unwound.
His body roared with fresh heat.
“I’ve got a good idea.” He cradled her face in his hands and studied her dilated pupils. Her flushed cheeks. “A very good idea.”
Trailing a hand down her neck, he watched her eyelids flutter and close, her head tip back. Beneath his palm, her pulse went wild, a rapid tattoo against his hand that spurred his own heartbeat.
She opened her eyes to meet his gaze.
“Prove it,” she dared him, lifting another cherry to her lips for a bite. “Show me.”
Twenty different scenarios ran through his head in an instant as he envisioned everything from having her against the door to lowering her to the nearest couch. She had a hot tub out back. A kitchen island that he could seat her on and make himself comfortable between her thighs.
But he nixed all of those to sweep her off her feet.
A gasp that sounded like part surprise and part delight escaped her lips as he hoisted her high against his chest, savoring the armful of feminine curves.
“What way?” He strode toward the stairs as she pointed her answer.
“I’m not entirely sure this is what I was thinking, but I have to admit, I like your imagination.” She popped the top button of his shirt collar as he carried her upstairs.
Her touch felt cool along his hot skin. He couldn’t wait to feel all of her.
“I haven’t gotten to the part you were thinking about yet.” He spoke into her ear, close enough to feel her shiver at his words. “I merely needed the right place to show you.”
She unfastened another button, her fingers diving into his shirt to graze along his shoulder and up his neck. He studied the lay of the land at the top of the staircase. Which way to go? She wasn’t giving directions now. She wasn’t paying attention to where they were going.
Good.
He wanted her distracted and thinking about him. Following where his instincts led, he found a room with a purple sweater hooked over the doorknob and toed the door the rest of the way open. The scent of amber increased ever so subtly and he knew his guess had been correct. Everything was white except for a few anime paintings in bright colors and a red lacquer headboard painted with small birds along one edge. Sunlight filtered in the bottom half of wooden blinds, which had been left partially slatted.
All of which he processed just enough to know where to lay her down.
Except she wouldn’t let go of him when he tried to stand so he could undress. She twined her hands around his neck and pulled him down with her, sealing soft lips to his. Any plan he’d had after that disintegrated on impact. She tasted like lip gloss and cherries, a combination he’d never known was apparently his personal erotic trigger. Need for her pounded inside him and he’d only just taken his first taste of her.
“Erin.” He pulled back, levering himself over her so he didn’t crush her. “I could take all night to kiss you.”
“You could. But I hope you won’t.” She slid her hand around his waist to palm the small of his back. She tugged at his shirt, freeing the hem from his pants in slow, teasing increments. “I’m going to need you to touch me everywhere at once. Maximize your efforts until I can’t think anymore.”
Arching her back, she brought her hips close to his.
There was no misunderstanding her. And while the tiniest sliver of his brain warned him that she deserved to be romanced, the rest of him got on board with her approach. Especially since her fingers worked the buttons on the rest of his shirt, flicking them open until she could push the fabric off his shoulders.
He shrugged out of his shirt and then applied himself to giving her what she wanted. Kissing his way down her neck, he licked the hollow at the base of her throat where her skin was impossibly soft. He skimmed the hem of her shirt up with one hand, palming her waist and tracing a teasing pattern with his thumb. They lay side by side on her bed now, so he stroked her hair with his other hand.
He watched her face as her eyes slid closed to focus on what he was doing. Pale freckles he’d never noticed stood out in the slanting rays of afternoon sun, her lashes a dark auburn as they fanned her cheeks.
Her lips were still stained a darker red from the cherry juice, inspiring him to revisit them. Sucking and nipping, he pulled her lower lip into his mouth. He wanted to taste more of her.
Lifting himself off her, he stood. As he started to remove his belt, it occurred to him he was not prepared
for this. Condoms hadn’t crossed his mind since...a long damn time.
“I didn’t bring anything with me. That is, I didn’t even think about—”
She arched an eyebrow before flipping over and crawling up the bed. Digging in a nightstand drawer, she produced the kind of box he was looking for, the shrink-wrap still on.
“I bought them for Sunday, because...you know. I was thinking about seducing you that night.”
Sunday. When she’d invited him to dinner.
He didn’t bother thinking about how things had gone once they’d taken their drinks out onto her patio. He might not have been ready for this then, but he sure as hell was now.
Not hesitating another second, he stepped out of his shoes. Ditched his pants and the boxers, too.
“My, my.” Erin rose to a sitting position, scooting to the edge of the bed. “I like how you don’t waste time.”
Before he could help her, she tugged her white blouse up and off, tossing it into the growing pile of clothes on the floor. Full, beautiful breasts rose above the cups of a white lace bra with a tiny red ribbon in the center. One strap had already slid off her shoulder as she reached for him, her hand circling his erection and gently stroking.
“You’re playing with fire.” He gripped her wrist, keeping her hand still for a second until he found his breath and got himself under control. “I haven’t been with anyone since—”
And then she was on her knees on the bed, covering his mouth with a kiss to quiet that thought. Tenderness for her hit him square in the chest, a gut check reminding him to treat her well. To do this right.
Willing down all his heat for her, Remy kissed her, taking his time to find the places that made her sigh or gasp or just wriggle closer. Behind her ear made her hold him tighter. The soft place just above her shoulder had her melting all over him. Only then, when she was too distracted to tease him, did he unhook the front clasp of her bra to reveal the rest of her full breasts.
They more than filled his hands, and he urged her back on the bed so he could take his time with each one, licking and nipping until the tips were tight, sensitive peaks. Erin’s fingers ran through his hair until he pulled one nipple deep into his mouth.
While she murmured softly, moving against him in a restless dance, he peeled her leggings and panties off in a long sweep, baring the rest of her. His mouth never left her breast as he cupped her sex in his palm, barely grazing the silken folds, already damp for him. Then her nails curved gently into his shoulder and held, a pleasant, grounding pain to balance out the unbelievable pleasure of having her underneath him.
“Remy.” She smoothed her fingers over the place where she’d held him tight a moment ago. “I want you inside me.”
Not until that moment did he make the connection—one of the many reasons he liked Erin was for her bluntness. He cleaned up well, but his roots were as bayou earthy as they came.
“Yes, ma’am.” He reached for the box and attacked the shrink-wrap.
She had to help him, a smile creeping over her lips.
“Open boxes much?” She brushed her fingers along the rough edge of his jaw.
“Not with a hot woman urging me to go faster.” He freed a packet and ripped it open with his teeth.
Her light laughter felt like a stroke along his spine, a touch that tingled all the way down.
“You like that, chère?” he whispered in her ear, enjoying the feel of her silky hair against his lips. “I’ll give you more to like in a minute.”
Her breath caught in her throat as he eased a finger inside her. A small gasp echoed in the quiet room as he added a second. He had to close his eyes to dull some of the sensation threatening to catapult him over the edge. Everything about her made him want her more. Seeing her, tasting her, the amber scent along her neck...
“Remy.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and he opened his eyes again. “Stay with me, okay? Right here, in this moment with me.”
He nodded, his throat closing up tight.
Withdrawing his fingers, he positioned himself between her thighs. Sweat popped along the base of his neck from the effort to go slow, and he wasn’t even inside her yet.
And then, slowly, he was.
Heat blasted up his spine, the sensations rocking him. He needed to stay still, holding himself right there, deep inside her until he could rein himself in. Erin’s legs circled his hips, her ankles locking to keep him there.
“You feel incredible.” He traced the curve of her hip. The indent of her waist.
“You’re telling me?” She arched closer, her breasts pressing into his chest. “I’ve never felt this good in my life.”
Taking a deep breath, he began to move inside her. Slowly at first, letting the pleasure build again. He thought about her lips. Her shoulders. Her sleek fall of bronze hair. Any small detail of the moment to keep his full focus away from the slick hold of her body on his.
So when her breathing shifted, he heard it. He was so dialed into her every movement he knew just where to touch her to take her higher. He could feel how close she was to finding her release and it pushed him nearer to his.
“I’m not going alone,” she warned, her hips rising up to meet his, shifting the rhythm in a way he couldn’t ignore.
Then it was just a matter of time. Control slipped. Desire flamed red hot. Release pounded through him in wave after wave. Vaguely, in the middle of it all, he knew that Erin found hers, too, her body arched and taut for long moments until she writhed with him in a tangle of limbs.
When he finished, he collapsed beside her. He might as well have passed out, unconscious, his brain a blank to the world while the rest of his body tried to recalibrate. Pleasure fed every nerve ending for long moments.
Eyes still closed, he stroked her hair. He became aware of a ceiling fan clicking overhead, stirring the faintest breeze. The longer he could soak in this peaceful ease, the better. He didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to remember the last time he’d lain naked beside a woman and breathed the same air.
“Maybe if we don’t talk anymore tonight, we can end on this good note.” Erin shifted beside him.
He forced open an eye to gauge her expression. She propped her elbow beneath her head as she watched him.
“A vow of silence to combat first-time awkwardness.” He stroked his jaw, pretending to think it over. “Unorthodox, but it just might work. It would be nice to take home all these happy endorphins without ever tackling a big, meaningful conversation.”
She bit her lip and twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “It would have to be a vow of sex and silence, though.”
“Does that mean we have sex quietly?” He brushed a silky strand of dark hair away from her face. Tucked it behind her ear.
“Well, no. I meant we could have more sex despite the sworn oath of silence.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” He reached for her just as his cell phone buzzed.
“I’ll try and find us something to eat while you take that.” Erin slid off the bed and shrugged into a pale green silk robe decorated with big pink flowers.
Sifting through the pile of clothes on her floor, he found his phone. The number belonged to Sarah’s counselor and it wasn’t her office phone. It was her cell, something she’d only given out for emergency contact in the past.
“Thanks for returning my call, Theresa.” He sat on the edge of Erin’s bed, his shoulders tense.
“Actually, I’m calling on Sarah’s behalf.”
The counselor had been with them since she’d been introduced to Sarah at a grief support group at the hospital after Liv’s death. Theresa had been with his daughter through a lot, and while there had been ups and downs in Sarah’s behavior, Remy trusted the woman’s opinion.
“Didn’t you get my message?” He’d called to ask her what she thought about Sarah not applying to colleges. “I’m worried that Sarah’s keeping secrets. She isn’t following through on important things and—”
“Re
my, Sarah has confided some things to me that are troubling, but she has invoked her doctor-patient privilege at a time when I would have really preferred to bring you in on the discussion.”
Her words delivered a solid punch to his gut.
“What kind of things?” He pulled on his boxers and pants, feeling he’d better be dressed for this.
He wished he hadn’t let Sarah go to that party tonight.
Had he been in too much of a hurry to be with Erin?
“I can’t discuss it with you, but I can promise I’m encouraging her to talk to you about it.”
Fear and frustration rattled him from his toes. He paced Erin’s bedroom, barely seeing where he was going. He wanted to be on that plane now so he could sort this out in Theresa’s office face-to-face with Sarah.
“You can’t be serious. If she’s in trouble or making bad choices, you can’t just let her get hurt.”
“Of course not. Please. Remy, I’ve been with Sarah a long time. She’s scared and trying to do the right thing.”
“What’s she scared of?” he half shouted, on edge at the thought of his daughter afraid when he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. “Is it me? Was she scared to tell me about the colleges?”
“No. Listen. I need for you to calm down.”
“I defy you to be calm if someone told you your kid was scared and wouldn’t come to you about it.” He stopped just in front of Erin’s door and leaned his forehead against it. His temples had started to ache and the pressure felt good.
“I understand. Believe me, I do.” Theresa paused. “Remy, is there any way you can delay your trip back to Miami?”
His head shot up.
“Excuse me?” On alert, he wondered for a second if Sarah had concocted something to stay in Heartache longer, then felt guilty for thinking it.
“I wondered if you could extend your work trip so that Sarah could take a little breather from home.”
“She has school. She’s already missed a week.”