Fire and Midnight

by Sandra Renee Appet

  “Just like a bicycle,” he repeated and reclaimed her lips.

  As if they knew exactly where to go, her hands snaked around his back, locking her body into his embrace. She whimpered into his mouth as his tongue began a leisurely exploration of her mouth.

  Holy crap. Not only had it been a long time since she kissed someone else, it had been a very long time, maybe never, since someone had kissed her like that.

  After a minute, Ryan pulled away but kept his hand on her chin. “Well, was it?” he murmured.

  Jane’s eyes were still closed as she savored the kiss. “Was it what?” she asked, wishing time would stop so that they could remain leaning against his car on this quiet street forever.

  “Was it just like riding a bike?”

  She smiled. “I’m not sure. I think you’d better try it again so I can take off the training wheels.”

  She wasn’t sure how long it was until she heard voices headed toward them, growing louder. She savored the warm buzz of being thoroughly kissed as Ryan helped her ease into the passenger seat.

  They rode in silence until the sleepy lights of the city came into view. Then the realization that her time with Ryan had come to an end crept painfully into the pit of her stomach.

  “What time do your meetings start?” Ryan asked.

  “Nine,” she replied, and glanced at the clock on his dashboard.

  “I kept you out too long, didn’t I?”

  Jane laughed ruefully. “You’re a bad influence.” As Ryan’s car turned in at the parking lot of her hotel, she added, “You don’t have to walk me in. Since you’re technically not a cowboy any longer the rulebook doesn’t apply.” It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Ryan, but she didn’t trust her own actions if he came back to her hotel room.

  Ryan parked and cut the engine. “Sorry, but that rule comes from my book.” He smiled as he opened his door and strode to the passenger side. Jane’s gaze was glued to him. He offered his hand as he helped her out of the car, not letting go until they had crossed the lobby, ridden up in the elevator and walked the length of the hallway to the door of her hotel room. “Any chance I can tear you away for dinner on your last night?”

  Jane sighed, more disappointed than she wanted to admit. “I have dinner with my client tomorrow.”

  Ryan shot her a crooked smile. “I shouldn’t have asked.” His index finger traced a line up her arm, and then touched her cheek. He leaned over, and she inhaled his scent, capturing it, committing it to memory. She licked her lips, raising her mouth to his.

  Instead, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Thank you for the best weekend I’ve had in a long time, Querida.”

  She didn’t want the night to end. She tried to summon the courage to ask him inside. I can do this. I can…

  He squeezed her hand, released her fingers and turned to leave.

  “Ryan?”

  He turned around, but she couldn’t seem to say the words. She watched as he stuck his hands in his pocket and pinned her with his stare.

  Her breath escaped in a rush. “I don’t want to say good-bye.”

  “I don’t want to say good-bye, either. But tomorrow’s a big day for you, and I don’t want you to regret a single moment of the time we’ve spent together. So, for now, goodnight.”

  He was right. He was so very, very right.

  “‘Night,” she said, almost in a whisper, and forced herself not to look back as she stepped into her empty, lonely room and closed the door.

  Chapter Seven

  A muffled beep woke Jane from a restful sleep. She fished her phone from the sea of pillows, and she peered at the display.

  Well, five hours of sleep were better than none. She’d stayed up until almost one, prepping for her first meeting, but it was time well spent. She strode confidently into her client’s office building overlooking the River Walk. The full day of meetings with the company’s executives proved fruitful. They loved her campaign ideas and were ready to take their advertising nationwide.

  As focused as Jane was on her client, Ryan and the last kiss they’d shared were all she could think about. Knowing he was only a few yards from her made the fact she’d never see him again even harder to face.

  In all honesty, she wasn’t sure exactly why he had chosen to cancel the escort arrangement and to spend the weekend with her anyway. Maybe he felt sorry for her. Maybe he was trying to prove some kind of point to the owner of The Cowboys. Or maybe, like her, he was just lonely. Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. It was over. She had to put it behind her, no matter how sweet it had been, and concentrate on her career. After her meetings wrapped up, she checked the time of her early morning flight out the next day. She’d be back in cowboy-free New York before she knew it, and her weekend with Ryan would be a distant, but wonderful, memory.

  “Are you ready for dinner? There’s a great place on the River Walk we thought you’d love.”

  James, her account’s CEO, jolted Jane from her thoughts.

  “Sounds great. I explored the River Walk over the weekend. Which one?”

  “Grande Mexico. Their enchiladas are the best in town.”

  Jane felt a twinge of disappointment run through her body as she nodded. “I’m ready when you are.” She pulled her bag over her shoulder, and felt her phone vibrate through the leather.

  “I’ll gather the troops. Wait here,” James said, and strode away.

  Jane slipped her hand into her bag and pulled her phone from the pocket, then tapped the screen to open two unread text messages. The first was from Tyler.

  School’s going great. Hope your trip is too. Don’t forget to get me a shirt!

  The second was from a number she didn’t recognize.

  I can’t stop thinking about you. If you feel the same, meet me in the hotel lounge after dinner. Ryan

  Her heartbeat drummed in her chest, and she couldn’t control the wide grin that took control of her mouth as she reread his text.

  “Good news?” James asked, followed by a parade of executives.

  Jane slipped her phone back into her purse as she tried her best to tone down her goofy smile. “My son. He’s doing well in college. Wants me to pick him up a souvenir before I leave.”

  Over the course of the next hour, she barely tasted the best-enchiladas-in-town enchiladas. She was fairly confident she nodded and laughed at the right times during the conversation, but internally she was counting down the minutes to seeing Ryan again. At meal’s end, she finalized the project plan with James and agreed to the date of her future visit, in six weeks’ time, to deliver the final draft of their ad campaign.

  “With your fresh ideas, I foresee a great partnership with you, Jane.”

  “Thank you. It’s been a pleasure, and thank you for the wonderful dinner, but I’m going to head back to my hotel now. I have an early flight in the morning. I’ll be in touch once I’m back in the office.”

  Jane said her good-byes and made a stop in the ladies’ room to run a brush through her hair before meeting Ryan. When she consulted her reflection in the mirror, she hardly recognized the person staring back. Even her eyes were smiling. Confidence radiated from the woman in the mirror. After years of feeling not quite good enough, it was a rush to know she was not only good enough, but was also wanted by a sexy-as-sin man who was willing to wait all night for her.

  She swiped a coat of gloss over her lips and spritzed her neck and wrists with perfume when it dawned on her that she might be about to get naked with Ryan. With perfect, looks-like-a-Greek-god, Ryan. How long had it been since she’d had anything resembling a flat belly?

  You’re getting ahead of yourself, Querida, she told herself, then wondered, and when did you start calling yourself Querida?

  She giggled at her own foolishness, and closed her purse. She’d worry about her insecurities later. Right now, she had a hot guy waiting for her, back at her hotel—that fact put an even bigger smile on her face.

  Chapter Eight

 
Jane took a deep breath and stepped into the Omni’s lounge, slowing her steps as she scanned the bar. She spotted Ryan sitting on the exact bar chair she’d occupied on the night they met. His arm was casually draped along the back of the seat. His posture straightened when he spotted her, and his gaze washed over her body, slow and hot. Definitely hot.

  She closed the final distance between them, and he stood to greet her.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi, yourself.”

  He leaned in, so that his mouth was close to her ear. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he murmured, and his gravelly whisper sent her libido’s motor into overdrive. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked, and pulled back to search her eyes.

  Jane shook her head. Her leg pressed against his, and her gaze darted from his eyes to his lips. She wanted him more than she’d wanted anything in a long time. Suddenly, the people standing near them seemed like an intolerable invasion of her space. “I’d rather go upstairs.”

  Ryan nodded and left a couple of bills on the bar. He slipped his hand around her waist, his hand resting low on her hip.

  They walked to Jane’s room in silence, but her body buzzed as his thumb caressed her waist with slow strokes, promises of what was to come. Warmth flooded her with each step closer to the private oasis of her room. Ryan’s fingers brushed hers as he took the access card from her hand, opening the door with a soft beep.

  As soon as they were inside, the door slammed shut, and her purse and computer bag dropped to the floor as his hands ran the length of her ribcage. All available air left her lungs, and she gave herself up to Ryan’s kiss as he steadied her face in his hands, his lips sweeping along the seam of her mouth.

  He shifted her to the foot of the bed his hands traveling up her blouse. As he fingered the first button on her blouse, she glanced at the lamp blazing in the corner. “The light.”

  “What about it?” His breath heated her skin.

  “Can you turn it off?”

  “Not a chance. I’ve waited days to unwrap you. I’m not doing it in the dark.”

  “You don’t understand. I’ve had a kid. I don’t live at the gym. My body is not what you’re used to,” she said, averting her gaze.

  “Look at me, Querida.”

  Recovering her nerve, she met his gaze.

  “I want everything about you,” he said firmly. “I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you. I love your body, and you will, too. Turn around.”

  Her eyebrows shot up as he spun her so that her back nestled into his chest, and the reflection of the large mirror above the dresser stared back at her. “You’re going to see exactly what I see.” He slid his hands around her waist and released the bottom button of her blouse before moving to the next.

  “Ryan.”

  “We’re going to play a little game. There are two rules. First, you’re going to keep your eyes on my hands. You’re going to see and feel everything they touch, everything they do. Second, you’re going to do this without judgment. No negative thoughts or feelings about what you see. Agreed?”

  She studied his face in the mirror. Could she do it? She wouldn’t forgive herself if she didn’t at least try. She mustered a smile. “Agreed.”

  “This is going to be fun and incredibly sexy,” he said with a grin. “Starting now. Eyes on my hands.”

  She complied, and her gaze rested on his hands as they deftly traveled up her blouse, unbuttoning as he went. Her instinct was to wrap her arms around her middle, but he seemed to know what was in her head. “There’s another rule. Your arms must remain at your sides.”

  “No fair. You’re changing the rules.”

  “Nope. Just adding to them,” he said huskily in her ear.

  She played by his rules and kept her gaze on his fingers as they trailed up her arm, pulling the fabric of her blouse aside to expose her white shoulders. She held onto her shirt, not allowing it to fall to the ground, and sucked in a breath as she glanced at her belly.

  Ryan kneaded her shoulders, his hands warm and gentle. “Let the shirt go. Eyes up here, Querida.”

  “This is harder than I thought,” she said, but she did as he asked, trying to focus on nothing but his touch.

  He gathered her hair into a ponytail and pulled it over her shoulder, then kissed the exposed skin of her neck. His breath blew hot on her flesh as she leaned into his body. His mouth found a sensitive spot right under her ear, and she gasped as heat flooded her belly and traveled south along with his hands, which were at the closure and zipper of her dress pants.

  Before she had time for doubts, her pants dropped in a sea of fabric at her feet.

  Jane glanced at her body in the mirror, and couldn’t help but notice the stretch marks below her belly button. Her hands moved instinctually to shield her stomach from view.

  “You know what happens when you don’t follow the rules?”

  Her gaze flicked to his in the mirror.

  “I’ll tell you what happens—another rule gets added. Arms up.”

  “You’re not playing fair,” she pouted, but she couldn’t lie. She was warming up to the game. At least, with her hands up, her breasts wouldn’t look droopy.

  “I think you like when I change the rules.”

  “Maybe I do.” She winked at his reflection.

  He chuckled. “In that case, I think you’re ready for more.” He slid his hands along her stomach and up to her bra-covered breasts. His fingers traced circles over the silky fabric, and soon her nipples were straining, as if begging for their share of attention. She was sure he was deliberately avoiding touching her hardened peaks. Instead, his fingers whispered along her ribs, following the outline of her bra. Then he released the snap.

  Her breasts bounced free from her bra, and he whisked the scrap of fabric up and over her arms.

  Exposed, Jane sucked in another breath and closed her eyes.

  “Not playing by the rules again?” Ryan teased. “Good. I’m going to enjoy this next rule.”

  She swallowed hard. “What is it?”

  “I’ll show you.” His hands were once again on the move. Every touch sent tingles along her flesh. He played her body like an instrument as his fingers traced up her arms and laced them with hers. He lowered her arms but not to her sides. Instead, he turned her palms so they were facing her, and guided her hands to her breasts. “Touch yourself like you’d want me to touch you. But instead of watching my hands, now I want you to watch yours.” She almost lost her footing, and his hands moved to her waist steadying her. “We’re both going to watch you.”

  “I—” Jane was sure she shouldn’t want this as much as she did. Her hands hovered, unmoving, over her breasts.

  “No words. Just feeling. When’s the last time you felt like this?”

  “Never,” she said breathlessly without a second thought, and her gaze moved to her hands. The pads of her fingertips brushed over her sensitive flesh, enticing her nipples into tight knots. She traced lightly over one bud, and the thrill of sensation it awoke elicited a soft moan.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” Ryan murmured in her ear.

  She felt his hips move, and the length of his arousal pressed against her back, making her smile and lean into his warmth.

  “I swear, Querida, I think you like driving me crazy.”

  And, damn it, she did. It had been so long since she’d felt wanted that she’d almost forgotten what it was like.

  Ryan’s hands covered hers and guided them over her head to his shoulders. “My turn.”

  Her head fit perfectly into the space along his neck right under his jawbone. She lifted her hands to run them through his hair, loving the sensation of it between her fingers as he began to caress her skin with purpose.

  She’d already had the feeling he’d be an excellent lover. She doubted whether he could have been a successful male escort if he fell short between the sheets … but holy hot hell! Either she had seriously underestimated his abilities or it had been far too long sin
ce her engine had been this finely revved.

  “Eyes on my right hand,” he said, and his graveled voice rumbled through her body. His left hand crossed her body and rested on her breast, while his other hand began its descent down her stomach and stopped on her lower belly. She sucked in her breath and held it. “This is one of my favorite parts of you.”

  She blew out her breath in a small chuckle. “Are you kidding? Those are my battle scars. It’s the area I try the hardest to hide.” She could never understand how one pregnancy had managed to stretch her skin so far beyond repair.

  “Call it what you want. I call it beautiful. This makes you a woman. A soft, sensual, amazing woman.” His fingers grazed her skin, causing her to squirm against his thigh. His hand inched lower, and the pads of his fingers traced the lacy line of the top of her panties.

  Jane’s breath hitched, and she threw her head back as he began to venture inside.

  “Eyes on my hand, baby. I want to see you watch me while I make you come undone.”

  She thought her knees would give out on her when his finger slid between her delicate folds. At this rate, there was no way she’d last more than a few strokes of his hand.

  “I want you inside me,” she whispered. She didn’t want to embarrass herself by coming too soon.

  But Ryan had other plans. “We have all night, and I plan to spend most of it buried deep inside you, but first you’re going to unravel for me, here and now.”

  “But—” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want this to end, and … well, I’m not one of those multi-orgasmic women. I’m more one and done.”

  His gaze pinned hers in their reflection, and a deep laugh erupted from his lips. “I intend to prove to you that you are one of those women. You just haven’t had the right partner. Trust me, by the time the sun rises, you’ll lose count.”

  Jane gulped, but her insecurities and inhibitions began to flutter away, along with the butterflies in her belly, as his fingers did magical things under her panties. She didn’t recognize the sounds coming from her own throat, but she was pretty sure the entire hotel floor must have heard her as she surrendered to the mother of all climaxes. At least, that was what it was in Jane’s book, not that her book had too many pages. All of her past noteworthy orgasms had come from the touch of her own hand, after a glass of wine or two.