“Nonsense. You’re more than welcome to stay here,” Emily Ann chimed in. “Rye’s old room will accommodate both of you. I insist.”
Lacey’s eyes grew round at the assumption that she and Rye would bunk together. Her mother’s head would rotate three hundred sixty degrees if she found out her child slept in bed with a man who wasn’t her husband under someone else’s roof. All the freaky deeds they performed at Lacey’s own house, well, that was one thing, but disregarding her mother’s expectations away from home was quite another.
“Mom, how about the guest room? I’m sure Lacey will be comfortable there,” Rye said, and then he looked at Lacey and winked.
“Sure,” Emily Ann replied. “I’ll change the linens and turn down the covers.” The generator is working but they hadn’t turned the lights on in order to conserve the power. She flipped on the light switch and then went up the stairs, brushing off Lacey’s offer of help.
Jensen gave Lacey and her brother a good-night hug. “Dad, the candlelight thing was a blast, but I’m glad you turned on the generator. I’ve gotta get some heavy-duty reading in before I can sleep tonight.”
“Sure thing, baby.” Jackson gave his daughter an indulgent smile. Then he turned toward his son and Lacey. “See you guys in the morning.”
“Night, Dad.”
“Good night, Mr. McKay,” Lacey said as she hugged Rye’s older, equally handsome almost twin. Judging by Mr. McKay, her man’s fineness was only going to get better with time.
“Jackson to you, young lady,” he informed Lacey. She corrected her error with a smile.
“Come on. I’ll show you to your room,” Rye said before directing Lacey up the stairs and down a long hallway. Emily Ann met them coming out of the room she’d prepared for Lacey.
“You’re all set, dear. There’s a nightgown on the bed, and all the toiletries you need are in the attached bathroom. Have a good night,” Emily Ann said before she kissed each of them on the cheek and then made her way down the stairs.
Rye stepped behind Lacey and wrapped his arms around her waist. “What a way to spend Pill Day, huh?” He chuckled and squeezed her behind.
Lacey looped her arms around his neck. “No matter what the circumstances, it was still a thousand times better than lunch at the Bishops,” she pointed out.
Rye laughed and then lowered his lips to hers. He moaned as he bit at her lips. When she flicked her tongue out, he first sucked it into his mouth and then lapped at her like a thirsty man finding water.
“You taste so damn sweet. What I wouldn’t give to have you under me in a bed anywhere else on the planet.”
“I know,” she whispered, pulling him tighter. “But I also know you’ll make up for it.”
“You’re damn right,” he growled as he cupped her breasts in his hands. Way too soon, Rye stepped back and dropped his arms to his sides. “You know where I am if you need me.”
Lacey nodded, already missing his warmth and the comfort of his presence.
“I’m leaving while I still can.”
“Good night, Rye,” she whispered, her heart and body aching.
“Good night, baby,” he said before closing the door.
Lacey lay wide-awake in the very comfortable bed, praying for sleep to no avail. Just when she was about to click on the lamp to browse one of the magazines she’d spotted in the bathroom, she heard the bedroom door open.
“Rye,” she whispered as she made out his shadowy figure. “What are you doing?”
“Getting my baby,” he returned before scooping her out of the bed and into his arms like she weighed nothing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sleep worth a damn with you in the same house and not in my arms.”
“I couldn’t either,” she whispered as she laid her head on his hard chest, relieved he felt the same as she did. “Are we going to your room?”
Rye chuckled. “No. I’m not giving your mother any other reasons to come after my ass.”
A second later, they were in the comfortable den where Rye had already covered the sofa with a sheet and blanket. “In here?”
“Yep. Lena might not want you sleeping in my bed, but she didn’t say a damn thing about sharing a couch with me.” He lay down and pulled her into his arms. Within minutes, she was asleep.
Lacey joined the others for the breakfast feast Emily Ann prepared. Rye took her around so she could admire the new blooms in his parents’ garden. The tour ended at his father’s workshop. “I wanted you to see something I’ve never shown anyone other than my family.”
“Oh my God, Rye,” Lacey whispered as she glided her fingertips over the beautiful woodworking pieces he’d created. She was almost afraid to touch the intricate patterns carved into the music box, the magazine rack, and plate holder. There were no words to describe the beauty of the footstool he’d crafted from solid redwood.
“These are breathtaking. I had no idea you were so talented.”
Rye grinned. “I get it from my dad. And it’s great therapy. See the pelican rising out of the tree trunk? I made it after I found out about your little date,” he said, his gaze burning through her.
“Oh, it’s gorgeous. I’ll see what I can do about irritating you on a regular basis.”
Rye pulled her close and swatted her butt. “Yeah, and this fine ass will go across my knees if you ever do some shit like that again.”
“Promise?”
“Fuck, Lacey.” He palmed the rounded curve of her behind and ground against her. “If I don’t get inside you soon, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Lacey dotted several soft kisses on his swollen lips and then leaned her forehead against his chest. “Your parents are enjoying having their children at home together. Let’s spend a bit more time with them; then we’ll go home.”
He kept his erection at her center for a long moment before releasing her.
At lunchtime, Lacey booted Emily Ann out of the kitchen and scrounged around until she found ingredients for iced shrimp on a bed of spinach to go with the hot day.
Jackson snagged a second serving of salad. “Damn, son, if I were you, I wouldn’t let this beautiful, talented woman get away.”
“Believe me, Dad, I have no intention of letting her go,” Rye replied, locking Lacey’s startled gaze with his.
Chapter Twenty
At the brownstone, Rye followed Lacey to her bedroom and began stripping off his clothes. There was no point in pretending how he wanted this evening to end: as deep as he could possibly get inside her. He’d all but dragged her from his parents’ home as soon as he saw a break.
“Monica left a message asking if we want to—”
“No.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at her scowl. “You didn’t even let me finish.”
“If it doesn’t involve us being alone in your bed, the answer is no.”
A little while later, in her claw-foot tub, Rye eased her back against his chest as she squeezed a fragranced sponge to drip water over his bent knee.
“I love the candles,” Lacey commented. “Thank you for lighting them. Oh, and the music is nice too.”
“I hope you know this is all a setup to you giving me some later.”
“Trust me. I know,” Lacey replied and pinched his thigh.
“Ow. Those hairs are attached, you know. You had my parents wrapped around your finger today,” Rye drawled as he massaged her shoulders.
“I’ve always gotten on well with them.”
“Yes, but they got to know you as my girl, my sweetheart.”
“I enjoyed them too. And it was nice catching up with Jensen. She’s going to be an awesome surgeon.”
“She’s a brainiac for sure,” he murmured, somewhat distracted because he’d shifted his hands to cup her rigid-tipped breasts. “You are so damn sexy here.” He nibbled a path down her elegant neck. Then he flicked his tongue over the shell of her ear before closing his mouth over her lobe and sucking.
“Mmm,” s
he moaned.
After discovering how sensitive the spot was a while back, he’d taken full advantage ever since. He only had to place one kiss there, and she became as boneless and pliant as putty. She turned to face him and straddled her gazelle-like thighs around his waist.
“You know what you’re doing to me,” she told him, her tone accusatory. “You’re making me want you hard and deep.”
He narrowed his eyes at the sexy, exotic sight she made, his dick so hard he was about to explode. His woman was naked and sitting on his lap with her plump, delectable tits in his face, talking about how she wanted his cock.
He couldn’t disappoint her, could he?
Rye lifted her out of the tub, and then rose to his feet. He picked her up until her breasts were level with his mouth and latched on to one dark nipple. All the hunger riding him for the past few days resurfaced as he sucked her hard while he kneaded her firm behind.
Not giving a damn they were dripping wet, he walked to the bed, laid her on the crisp sheets, and covered her smooth, lithe body with his, still pulling on the tips of her trembling mounds.
“Suck harder.”
Obeying her demands, Rye plumped one lush globe in his hand as he lowered his other hand between her legs. He dipped one finger inside her and groaned when he felt how wet and slick she was.
“You’re soaking. Is all this for me?” he asked as he headed down, stopping when his mouth came even with her trimmed sex. When she nodded, he continued his one-sided conversation since she seemed unable to speak. “Are you as sweet as you smell?”
A breathless sigh.
“Let me taste you and see.” He arrowed his tongue and speared her hot little nubbin to life. Wildly, he laved her, turning her trembles into full-blown shakes. He then devoured her clit, intent on making her come harder than she ever had before. Even when her body bowed up into a sitting position and her thighs held his head captive, he didn’t stop. Instead he forced her legs apart and continued his assault with his greedy tongue until she cried out his name and announced she was coming.
He held her knees as wide as he could and thrust strong and deep into her convulsing pussy. No condom, no other barriers at all. Simply him and her, skin on skin. It was the most fulfilling, electric contact he’d ever experienced. He had no doubt it wasn’t only because he was fucking in the raw; it had all to do with Lacey. His woman.
“Ah,” he groaned with each stroke, trying to make it last, trying to keep from exploding before he’d fully enjoyed this newfound freedom. “It feels so damn good with nothing between us.”
“Yes. Please, Rye.”
Rye grunted as his pace increased. Soon he powered into her hot depths and chased the ultimate pleasure. It was incredible to feel every ripple and curve of her feminine channel, and she yielded to his hardness like she was created just for him. Her internal muscles contracted, and he knew the time was near. When she shook and screamed she was coming again, he lost control. He stilled as ecstasy claimed him, and he flooded her tight canal with his scalding cum.
“Lacey, Lacey, Lacey,” was the prayer tumbling from his trembling lips.
Rye was shaken to the core. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any better with her, he was proved wrong. Leaving his seed unfettered in her womb produced feelings he couldn’t explain. Somehow giving her such a vital part of himself made him whole. Knowing she trusted him enough to share her body humbled him.
Not another word was said as he gathered his entire world into his arms and wrapped his body around her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Rye cradled his phone between his ear and shoulder. He glanced over the stack of mail in his hands as he talked to Lacey.
“Have you made it through the door?” she asked.
“Just got in.”
“Are you naked yet?”
“As soon as I can get around to it,” he said, chuckling. Damn, she had him pegged about his penchant for ditching his clothes as quickly as possible. He liked when she did the same.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Don’t forget I have to work tonight.”
“What time will you be home?”
“Around ten or so.”
“I’ll see you then,” he said, his voice full of promise.
He’d been in grueling meetings all day with Hanover’s owner and directors, hammering out details of the new department. He couldn’t wait until it was finalized so he could have a life. With Lacey. Today, the board put their stamp on the proposal; now company owner, George Hanover, had to give the final approval.
“Wait, did I mention the company banquet is this Saturday?” he asked as he pulled open the fancy invitation.
“Yes, and the engineering conference starts Monday in New York,” Lacey said.
He laughed. “Welcome to my well-traveled life.”
“Are you going to invite my brother to the banquet?”
Rye stopped in his tracks. He hadn’t spoken to Kyle in weeks. The way his best friend had reacted to his and Lacey’s relationship still stung like hell. Sure, Rye had pushed some buttons by becoming involved with Lacey, but he’d talked to Kyle man-to-man. Tried to make him understand how important Lacey was to him. Kyle had basically told him to go fuck himself.
“I’m sure he has better things to do this year,” Rye ground out.
“Oh, Rye,” Lacey sighed. “Can you please give him a call?”
Silence again.
“Rye?”
“I’ll think about it. See you tonight.”
“…we are proud to have one hundred percent employee attendance this year,” Hanover’s vice president of operations said before launching the slide show. It was the perfect time to escape to the restroom. Lacey’s facial muscles were frozen in a permanent smile from greeting so many of Rye’s coworkers. It seemed every Hanover employee made contact with her in some form or fashion, as if they couldn’t believe she was real. It couldn’t just be because Rye had a black woman by his side; the few black people present looked at her strangely too. It was possible the word “girlfriend” had never crossed the lips of the company rock star, especially while having a death grip on her hip.
She was said woman, and them being together blew her mind most days. His possessiveness was sexy as hell, and she found anyone’s interest in them amusing. Of course Kyle’s absence was a dark cloud floating over their heads. Neither he nor Rye was giving an inch in their stalemate. She was still wounded by her cross words with her brother; she could only imagine what the rift was doing to Rye.
Lacey headed to the long line of sinks. When she looked in the mirror, she was startled to find a pair of cold hazel eyes staring at her.
Natalie Hanover.
So this bitch wasn’t going to just fade into the woodwork.
Lacey paused before waving her hands in front of the pewter faucet to let the soap and water flow. Silently she reached for a paper towel. Word about Rye introducing Lacey as his girlfriend must not have sat well with the boss’s daughter. Spite and anger had turned the girl’s face into a caricature of the beauty from the boutique.
Natalie watched Lacey with a menacing smile, her slim arms folded across a stunning rose-colored dress. Lacey dropped her towel in the garbage and moved to exit the bathroom.
“I guess you had a good laugh. You let me go on about my plans for Rye, and it never crossed your lips about you being his chocolate flavor of the week,” Natalie said in the nastiest tone Lacey had ever heard.
“Because then, like now, it was none of your business,” Lacey stated before stepping around the girl.
“Oh, it’s my business, all right. I want him, and after our trip, he’ll damn sure want me,” Natalie said with a smug smile.
“I’m not discussing Rye with you.” Lacey took two more steps before the nastiness began again.
“Actually, I’m not surprised he’s experimenting with you. I guess the brown skin makes him feel like he’s taking a ride on the wild side. But when he makes his way back to the
familiar, I’ll make sure he gets everything he needs,” Natalie said snidely as she ran a hand over her long blonde tresses. “In fact, while we’re away, I’ll make sure I’m with him every second of every day. He’ll know I’m willing to do anything and everything he wants.”
Potent fury overtook Lacey’s entire being. She wanted to wipe the girl’s gloating expression from her face, but she was above such classless behavior. She wasn’t getting into a physical altercation with this spoiled brat. “Rye is obviously where he wants to be.”
“Enjoy him while you can, because I’ll have the last laugh in this game. I guarantee it.”
“See, yet another difference between you and me. I don’t play games with children.”
Natalie gave an inelegant snort. “Oh, this isn’t child’s play. This is very serious. In fact, it’s as serious as Rye’s plan to open the new training department. The one pending approval from the company’s owner, my father? Well, about that. Daddy likes to see me happy, and if I’m not satisfied, neither is he, and I’d hate to tell him Rye is the cause of my discontent. It might make him a little reluctant to take on this new project. And I won’t be satisfied until Rye is fucking me senseless with his fabulous tool I’ve heard so much about.”
Lacey shook with anger. “You’d want a man who’d only be with you because you blackmailed him?”
“I want Rye. Period. And I will have him,” Natalie said, turning toward the exit.
She’d pulled the heavy wooden bathroom door open several inches before Lacey pushed it closed with a resounding boom. The triumphant smile on Natalie’s face transformed into one of stark fear, but she recovered immediately.
“Listen, you desperate, pathetic scab of a person. You may think the entire earth revolves around you, but my world doesn’t. You can’t have your way, and like any child, you want to act out. I suggest you move on before I take matters into my own hands.”
Natalie’s laugh was hollow and eerie. “What are you going to do? Tell Rye so he’ll be forced to choose between me, a woman who can take him places, and the help he’s sleeping with until someone better comes along? Hilarious. When he has to make a choice, he’ll choose me, and he’ll fuck me. He’ll fuck me like his career depends on it, which it does. Think about it for a while,” she said with a twisted, triumphant smile.
Taste of Lacey Page 14