Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  He was still holding her left buttock in his hand and he gave her a squeeze. “I’m thinking I’ll be able to tell with you easier than most.”

  That was an…interesting…comment. “Oh?”

  “You’re very expressive.”

  “With you I am,” she said with a little sigh. “It’s like I can’t keep from saying or doing what I’m feeling.”

  “It’s a good thing,” he assured her. “I like results.”

  His grin was wicked and sexy, and she felt a heavy warmth settle low.

  “I’m all for results myself.”

  The hand that had been holding her butt slid up, and he hooked his fingers in the back of her panties and pulled them down as he moved her leg off his hip so he could get rid of them entirely.

  Then he rolled her to her back, rubbing his hand back and forth over her stomach as he looked at her naked from the waist down.

  “You’ll smudge your notes,” she said breathlessly.

  “The real notes are above this. I kept writing because I didn’t want to stop.”

  She lifted her head. Sure enough, the notes above where her panties would have rested were simply the alphabet. She laughed. “Genius move.”

  He gave her a wink. “It comes in handy.” He ran his hand down along her bare thigh. “We can try any position you want.”

  She of course had a vague idea of what other positions might work, but she hadn’t used any others for this. This was a fairly rare occurrence for her.

  “You’re the expert,” she told him.

  He took a deep breath. “Several things are coming back to me.” He moved and urged her knees apart so he could kneel between them.

  Adrianne supposed she should feel very exposed, but instead she felt ready. He bent her knees, pushed her knees toward her chest and spread her thighs in one smooth move.

  She was wide open to him and she felt���hot. She would have typically expected to feel vulnerable, maybe even shocked by how specific he was about the positioning, but the look on his face made her want to cause it again and again, whatever it took.

  “God, you’re gorgeous,”

  He studied her, his gaze moving over her body, including her breasts, her face, her hair and, of course, the heart of where she needed him.

  “You like nipple stimulation,” he said.

  She licked her dry lips and nodded. She sure did.

  “Take your bra off.”

  She reached behind her, unhooked and peeled it and her shirt up, exposing her breasts.

  “Play with your nipples while I do this.”

  She moved her fingers to her right breast, rubbed over the tip and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger. She added the left breast too when she saw the effect on Mason. “Is that good for you?” she asked.

  “That is so far beyond good I don’t have a word.”

  She saw what he meant about cause and effect.

  Then he really showed her. He put his finger right at her entrance, feeling the beginning of her heat and wetness. He slid it up and down, stopping short of her clit.

  “Most women orgasm easiest and hardest with clitoral stimulation.”

  She was definitely in that camp. “That’s what works best for me,” she said when she found her voice.

  “Good to know,” he muttered and lowered his head.

  The first touch of his tongue made her back arch and she moaned. When he moved his fingers to spread her as open as she could get, she caught her breath. When he licked, dragging his tongue over her slowly and sweetly, with perfect friction and pressure, she felt like crying.

  “How is that?” he murmured after a few minutes. “More pressure? Less?” He slid a finger into her, then out and added another finger.

  “I’ll tell you this,” she gasped. “If you stop doing that, I’ll hunt you down and…”

  He sucked on her, pressing his tongue against her clit while also drawing on her. The fastest orgasm she’d ever had crashed over her and she cried out his name.

  She couldn’t move of her own accord after that. He set her legs down and stretched them out before he slid up next to her and pulled her into his chest.

  “Wow,” he said against her head. There was a long pause before he said, “I’m really good.”

  There was a beat of silence and then Adrianne started giggling. She curled into him, her face against his chest, letting the feel and sound of his chuckle and the little flashes of heat that still sparkled along her nerve endings wash over her. Amazing. He was amazing.

  She said it out loud too.

  “That’s one of the things I like best about you,” he said. “How much you like me.”

  He said it with a light tone, stroking his hand over her hair, but she sensed a kernel of truth, or vulnerability, or something in his voice.

  She wiggled closer.

  They lay like that for several minutes. Finally, noise from downstairs filtered up and Adrianne realized they couldn’t stay—not all night like she wanted to.

  But he did need to transcribe this latest set of notes.

  “Come to my house with me,” she said, propping her chin on his chest. “You can use my computer to do something with these notes. Then we can explore more cause and effect.”

  He grinned down at her. “Had I known how great a visit to Sapphire Falls could be, I would have come back a lot sooner.”

  Right. A visit. Just a visit. That would end. In a couple of days.

  She didn’t let her smile falter, but dammit—he wasn’t staying. She knew that. Wasn’t surprised by it. Was surprised more that she’d sort of forgotten. But it was good. She was willing to risk a few hard heartbeats for a couple of days—well, she didn’t seem to be able to help it anyway—but she wanted a quiet, peaceful, easy life. Mason lived in Chicago. The place she’d escaped. He flew all over the world, slept in hotels, ate strange food, had pressure and odd hours and a hectic schedule. He was important. His work was important.

  She didn’t want any of that.

  She wanted to make candy in a tiny Midwestern town where teenagers smoking in the park was the biggest excitement.

  So this was a fling. Mason would leave and it would all be good.

  She was going to enjoy it while he was here. Once-in-a-lifetime events were like that—meant to be thoroughly enjoyed and remembered forever.

  Oh, and she had to keep him away from Hailey because she truly, honestly liked him and didn’t want him to be used or hurt.

  “Seven twelve Crimson, right?” he asked, shifting away so she could sit.

  She pulled her fingers through her hair and was glad she barely wore makeup—no lipstick to smudge. “How did you know that?” All of the east-west streets in Sapphire Falls were named after colors. The founders had, apparently, thought that was quite clever. She found it odd and funny, another quirk of a small town she truly did love.

  “Phoebe told me at the bar. It’s Mrs. Hanson’s place,” Mason said, watching her pull her panties and shorts back on.

  Wow, he really did have a great memory. She started to say that yes, she’d bought it from Mrs. Hanson’s daughter, but she looked at him watching her, saw the heat in his gaze, remembered how he’d bent his head and taken her hot and fast to heaven, and she couldn’t not take him to her house and…take him.

  Holy crap. No one had ever had this effect on her. But for the first time in two years, she didn’t care that her heart was racing and she couldn’t slow it down. If this was how she was going to go, she was going to be the angel with the biggest grin in Heaven.

  She had two nights until he left town. She wasn’t going to spend even an extra minute worryi
ng.

  She grabbed Mason’s hand. “Let’s go.”

  They made their way down the stairs and out the side door undetected—until they rounded the front of the house.

  “There you are!”

  Hailey.

  “Drew said he saw you two come in here. Lord, you’ve been in there forever.”

  Crap, shit, damn, son of a bitch. Adrianne tugged her shirt down, hoping to cover the ink on her stomach. Hailey would be far more than curious or even suspicious.

  “Hi, Hailey,” Adrianne said sweetly. “What’s up?”

  “I’m taking Mason on a Ferris wheel ride,” Hailey said, looping her arm through his. “We need to talk about the project.”

  “Thanks, Hailey, but I can’t,” Mason said quickly. “Adrianne needs to get home. I want to be sure she gets there safely.”

  “This is Sapphire Falls,” Hailey said. “The only risk is that she might get roped into helping serve ice cream over at the 4-H tent.”

  “I really do feel like I need to go home,” Adrianne said. “I need to lie down.”

  Hailey looked at her like she was crazy. “It’s not even six o’clock.”

  “I know but—”

  “She’s been working really hard on all the festival stuff,” Mason added.

  Adrianne felt even warmer toward him and it had nothing to do with his magical tongue. “Thanks, Mason.”

  “Are you sick?” Hailey demanded.

  “I do feel a bit of a pain coming on,” Adrianne said wryly.

  “Okay, that’s no big deal,” Hailey said, even sweeter than Adrianne. “Go ahead. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I really don’t want her going alone,” Mason said.

  Adrianne had to stifle her giggle. She’d really prefer Mason to be with her in her bed tonight too. And the orgasm she planned to have later would be better with him there.

  Hailey sighed. “Fine.” Then she raised an arm and bellowed, “Drew, come here!”

  Drew headed for them from the group he’d been chatting with. “Yeah?”

  “Walk Adrianne home, will ya? She’s not feeling good and I need to keep Mason.”

  Drew looked at Adrianne. “What’s wrong?”

  “Um…feeling a little sick to my stomach actually,” she said, glancing at Hailey pressing up against Mason.

  “’Kay, you ready?”

  Drew was a nice guy. He’d walk her home, make sure she was okay. If she needed him to. Which she obviously didn’t.

  Though she did feel feverish when she looked at Mason’s mouth and thought about what he’d been doing with it ten minutes before.

  “Hey, you want this?” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pack of gum, showing it to Mason.

  “Um, well, I have a really good taste in my mouth right now…”

  Adrianne was sure her cheeks were bright pink. She threw the pack of gum at him to shut him up. It hit his chest and he caught it with one hand, looking at her with heat in his eyes all over again.

  “Better use it.” She glanced pointedly at Hailey. They were going to be sitting very close together in the Ferris wheel anyway and she was sure Hailey would narrow the space and get into Mason’s face as much as she could. She might even try for a kiss. Adrianne knew about the kissing-on-the-Ferris-wheel-at-festival tradition.

  She looked at Mason again. He probably hadn’t participated in that tradition when in school.

  Dammit.

  She didn’t want him doing it for the first time with Hailey. Or any time with Hailey for that matter. She’d like to think that after what had happened inside Herschfield House he wouldn’t dream of it, but this was Hailey. She had an effect on men, and Mason used to have a huge thing for her. It probably wouldn’t take much for Hailey to get a kiss. Or give one. It was very realistic to think that Hailey would take what she wanted.

  Dammit.

  “Let’s go Mason. They’re saving a seat for us.” Hailey started to tug him in the direction of the Ferris wheel.

  “Can’t do it,” he said, physically extracting her. “I need to take Adrianne home.”

  To everyone else it probably didn’t sound suggestive, but Adrianne felt the heat build in her stomach and spread downward. She knew exactly which needs he was talking about.

  MASON HAD BEEN resisting the urge to tell Hailey to shut up, but his patience was growing thin.

  “I’m pretty sure Adrianne can find her way home with Drew,” Hailey said with a little laugh.

  “I don’t care,” he said bluntly. “I’m taking her home. I can see you tomorrow.”

  He wouldn’t normally let her get to him, frankly, but he only had a couple more days in Sapphire Falls and he wasn’t sure forty-eight hours was enough to do everything with Adrianne that he wanted to do—even if they didn’t pause for food or sleep. If he closed his eyes right this second, he would be able to conjure every detail of Adrianne’s body, her taste, her smell.

  “The project is going to mean so much to the town, Mason. I want to be sure you have all the details.”

  Truthfully, Hailey smelled great too. She was the type of woman to smell great. And she was definitely beautiful.

  But it didn’t matter anymore.

  It was the strangest thing. He’d spent three years of high school believing that she was the essence of the female gender. Now he couldn’t care less. It wasn’t only the fact that she’d been the source of the single worst high school memory he had. It wasn’t about anger or revenge.

  It also wasn’t just about Adrianne Scott, though she definitely figured in.

  Adrianne was…the only woman he ever wanted to make love to again. And the fact that he’d decided that before making love to her—and within the span of forty-eight hours—was alarming. But he never second-guessed himself.

  He didn’t have to. It wasn’t that every single theory he ever had was right or that every factor in everything he did was spot on every time—that was part of science, experimentation, exploration. Trying to get it right was the fun part, the challenge. But eventually his hunches always turned into something. Eventually it all worked out.

  Exploring things with Adrianne was going to be a pleasure. For them both.

  But this lack of attraction to Hailey was also simple growth.

  He’d been out in the world. He’d met other women. He’d had relationships—good and bad. Hailey Conner didn’t do it for him anymore.

  “I’m happy to listen, Hailey, but I already told you, I’m not sure it’s the right direction to go.”

  And he was giving her one hour. Tops.

  “But you don’t—” Hailey started.

  “I’ll meet with you tomorrow,” he said firmly.

  Hailey didn’t look pleased. It was rare that someone didn’t go along with her, especially a male someone. “Fine. Tomorrow. I’m holding you to that. We’ll do lunch at my house.”

  He almost laughed. Hailey Conner was inviting him over to her house. Alone with her. Only the two of them.

  She knew that this would feel familiar to him.

  The sense of déjà vu was even stronger as he realized that Hailey truly thought this would be like last time, her bedroom, her seductive smile, her slowly undressing…

  Good thing he was too damned smart to fall for something like that again. And way too interested in someone else’s bedroom.

  “No. I’ll only have time for coffee.” He intended to be very busy—and naked—for most of the hours he had left in town with Adrianne.

  Hailey narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute.” She turn
ed her attention to Adrianne. “We’re supposed to be having dinner tonight. Aren’t we?”

  “Oh, um—”

  Mason turned to look at Adrianne, feeling the tension in her body.

  “You and Hailey are having dinner?” he asked, knowing that wasn’t what Hailey was talking about.

  “No.” Adrianne said, not looking at him. “You and Hailey.”

  He glanced at Hailey, who looked very pleased with herself.

  “We are?”

  “Yes. Adrianne set it up for us.”

  “You did?” he asked with a frown. What the hell?

  “Yes. Yesterday.” She looked up at him, but her expression was hard to read. She looked irritated but resigned.

  “Well, something’s come up. I won’t be able to make dinner. Right, Adrianne?” he said. She wanted to be with him, she did. He knew it. This had to be more important than the fricking building project.

  “We have reservations,” Hailey said, looping her arm through his. “Adrianne had to sweet talk Mrs. Cooper to get us in. With the festival and everything, they’re very busy.”

  Mason waited. He was going to trust Adrianne. He was going to let her decide how this went. He knew she didn’t like drama, he knew she liked the path of least resistance, but he also trusted that she wanted him more than she wanted things to be easy.

  She’d been protecting him, saving him, whether he needed it or not. She would save him from this, from dinner with Hailey, from Hailey.

  He saw her take a deep breath and knew this was tough for her.

  “Hailey, Mason’s coming with me,” Adrianne finally said.

  Hailey’s eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”

  Adrianne met her boss’s eyes. “Mason’s coming home with me tonight. You’ll have to save your conversation for coffee tomorrow.” She took another deep breath. “And don’t schedule coffee too early.”

  Then she took his hand, pulled him away from Hailey and started in the direction of Crimson Street.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  SEVEN TWELVE CRIMSON was a typical old two-story with a wide porch that ran the length of the front of the house. There were a lot of potted plants hanging and sitting on the railing, a couple of tables and the floor of the porch. There was a swing and a welcome mat. The perfect picture of a home and a far cry from the condo he lived in. He had a doorman, no room for plants or a welcome mat and no yard.