Race For Love

by Nana Malone

"I want to make love to every inch of you. Especially these. But tonight, when I'm done stroking you with my fingers, I'm going to taste you. I'll put my mouth on you and lick you until you melt." When his lips reached the top swell of her breasts, he moaned. "Jesus, you are so pretty. So full, so soft."

  His lips brushed her nipple ever so slightly. The motion sent a spear of need directly to her core. Next he used just his teeth, raking gently. He was careful to keep his full weight off of her. His teeth felt so good and she wondered if it was possible to die from anticipation. When he laved her distended nipple with his tongue, and then wrapped his lips around her, Kiss held on for her life. With tug after deep tug, he sucked on her. It didn't take much, she was so tightly wound. But it was the secondary pleasure when he teased her other nipple with his thumb that sent her over the edge. She came hard and fast, her whole body shaking. "Derek. Oh my God."

  He pulled back with a satisfied grin. "That's one." His clothes went quickly and he took far less care with them than he'd taken with hers, except when he snagged a condom out of his wallet. The only other time he slowed was when he worked her panties down her legs.

  He hooked his thumbs into the elastic and tugged down. She lifted her hips to help him, and he licked his lips as she placed her sex directly in front of him. Derek kissed down her thighs and her calves to her feet before tossing the flimsy garment over his head.

  He sheathed himself before settling between her thighs. "Look at me, Kisima."

  As if she could look anywhere else. Even though she felt like a limp noodle, she still wanted more.

  One hand teasing the hair at his nape, the other tracing his pecs, she canted her hips up. "Derek, more."

  His voice might have been teasing, but she could see the tension in him as his arms shook. He was having a hard time with control.

  Would talking to him drive him as crazy as it drove her? He lined his erection up with her opening and she whispered, "I want to know what this feels like bare. Just you and me, nothing between us. Do you think you'll like that?"

  He stared down at her, lips slightly parted. "What?"

  "It would be a first. I want to know what it feels like to have you come inside me."

  He rocked into her in one deep stroke, her name on his tongue. He cursed low and deep, a long drawn out "Fuuuuck."

  Derek slid in and retreated, adjusting their position so she sat on his lap. Oh yes, he hit so deep like this. Their motions were a frenzy of skin, lips and hands. There wasn't a part of him he didn't touch her with. Body and soul.

  Her second orgasm was stronger than the first, but with a slow build. Once the fire took hold, there was no stopping it and she exploded in his arms. Derek was right behind her. His hips bucked as he came, gripping her ass tight as his muscles corded and his teeth clenched. Kiss wrapped her arms around him, holding tight. He was hers. For now…

  21

  Adrenaline flowed through Kisima's veins as she rounded the corner. The car's back end swung a little, but she had the car under control. With the wind roaring past her and the thunder of the engine, it was completely exhilarating. She loved this. The sudden loud bang made her frown. In that instant, time slowed to a crawl. And as if she were outside of her body, she could see everything. The stands holding the crowds to the left. The grim set of determination on her face as she bore down. She could also see Antonio. He clipped her, forcing her into the wall if she wanted to avoid a crash. And then she saw it. The flash of red. First on one tire, then the next. Her memory filled in the details like scent, sound, and the feeling of sawdust in her mouth. And the fear pumping through her body was more than real.

  She'd almost died that day. And it had been no accident.

  Kisima woke with a start, gasping for air and choking as the nightmare clung to the edges of her reality. As her heart hammered and panic rose, something else happened. Strong arms wrapped around her and the scent of ocean musk enveloped her. "Shh, Kiss, you're okay. I'm here."

  Derek. She could do what she always did. Say she was fine and pretend to deal with this shit on her own, or she could actually ask for help. Because even if she remembered what happened, it still didn't help her. "No, not really."

  He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp, bathing her bedroom in light. "What's up? Are you in any pain?"

  She shook her head. "No. Had a nightmare."

  He nodded understanding. "The crash again?"

  "Yeah, but this time I saw something."

  He frowned. "What?"

  "It wasn't my fault. It wasn't the car. It was my tires."

  He tucked some of her stray curls behind her ear. "What are you talking about, Kiss?"

  "The dream. The nightmare. I could see it. Everything was slowed down so I could see. Those tires blew on purpose. One right after the other. One blowout I could buy. Tire blew and I lost control. I couldn't handle the car and I crashed. It's tidy. But one right after the other? No."

  Derek scrubbed a hand down his face and scratched at the stubble on his jaw. I don't know enough about racing to know what's probable. Are you sure?"

  She sat up and tried to yank the covers off, but he stopped her. "Kiss, you need your sleep. We can talk about this in the morning, when you've had some rest."

  She ignored him and swung her legs down out of the bed and turned on the light. It took her several seconds before she remembered that she was naked. He could see her scars. Shit. She whirled around, only to find him watching her intently.

  "I've seen every inch of you, Kisima. Licked every inch, too. Twice. Please don’t hide your scars from me."

  "I'm not. I just. It's different when you see them in the light as opposed to the lust-crazed darkness of night."

  Derek nodded. "Clearly you need a lesson that lust-crazed can happen in the morning too. And I've seen you in the pool and in sunlight. Please don’t hide from me."

  It was a little silly that she was more worried about him seeing the skin grafts on her back, than seeing her full frontal nudity. "I'm sorry. I just—"

  Derek crawled up, the sheets slipping even lower, exposing his hipbone. Wow. That body of his was unreal. "You're beautiful to me. Every inch of you." He kissed her softly. "Now, come back to bed and I can show you exactly how beautiful you are...again."

  So tempting. "I wish, but I can't come back to bed. If my tires exploded, that means it was deliberate. Someone tried to if not kill me, then hurt me."

  He sighed. "Kiss, do you think you're going to find the person who did this tonight?"

  "No, but I can tell TJ. He has to know."

  He dropped his head. "Okay. Hold up. If you're going up for a midnight visit, then I'm coming with you."

  One trek across the lawn later and TJ shuffled down the stairs, worry etched over his craggy features. "Kiss, Derek, what's wrong? Kiss, are you hurt?"

  Her body flushed warm with love that his main concern was for her. "No, I'm fine."

  Derek begged to differ. "If you call fine a series of nightmares she's been having."

  She rolled her eyes and strode into the great room while TJ turned on the lights. "Derek thinks it's a dream, but I'm remembering something so specific." The man she'd thought of as her father for so long, poured the three of them some brandy out of the ornate oak liquor cabinet.

  She took hers gratefully as he studied her closely. "What do you think you're remembering, Kiss?"

  "It started off the same as the others. Race day. I was feeling good. Antonio and I were passing each other. Maybe it was triggered by going to the benefit tonight. I remembered it so clearly and vividly, like everything was in slow motion. TJ, I didn't just have a blowout. They exploded. One right after the other."

  He frowned as he studied her. "What do you mean?"

  She slid her glance to Derek, and while he looked skeptical, his expression was open. He was willing to believe her. TJ looked the same way. "I know it sounds crazy, but I saw something before the crash. I wish I could explain it, but something made me look back in my
mirror. I saw a flash of red, just before the first one. Then I saw another one. I thought I was just losing control but I had a simultaneous blowout. When was the last time you ever heard of that happening, TJ?"

  He frowned. "Kiss, are you sure? You could be misremembering."

  She shook her head vehemently. "I'm not. I'm sure of it. It's the first time I've been sure of anything."

  He rubbed his jaw. "This changes everything if you're sure. I want to believe you, but maybe..."

  His voice trailed and she clamped her jaw shut to keep from screaming. "Look, I've worked my ass off to get to this point. You said you wanted me back in a car. You begged me to try and I listened to you. I know my cars. Always have. That wasn't just a blowout. Like somebody blew them out or tampered with the wheels so I'd lose. There was no way I would have had that kind of crash. I know they ruled the crash an accident, but you have to look at the car again."

  TJ eased himself into the enormous recliner. "Sweetheart, you think I haven't been over that car a million times? I'm not sure—"

  She knew how crazy this must look, how desperate, but she was not giving up, she knew what happened. Felt it in her bones. "I'm sure. And it wasn't the car. I need you to look at the tires. I know there was fire, but we have to try to see. I would never have crashed, not like that. I remember now what happened. You asked me to have faith in you then. I'm asking you to have faith in me now." She slid her gaze to Derek. He nodded. He believed her. Believed that she knew what she was talking about.

  There was a long, pregnant pause where she was afraid TJ would tell her she was imagining things, or getting all hysterical on him. But after several moments, TJ sat forward. "I know you. You've never been one to lie. And until today you haven't been able to remember anything that happened that day. If you've had a breakthrough, then I believe you. The only trick will be proving it."

  "I don't understand. We can look at the tires."

  "You said yourself, the fire probably took care of any evidence. And there are other things to consider."

  She had considered the fire, but there had to be another way to prove that she didn't screw up. "Like what?"

  TJ and Derek exchanged a glance. Derek's voice was soft, low, soothing, when he said, "Kisima, I think what TJ means is that, if someone tampered with them, sabotaged your ride, then you might be in danger now."

  "I—" Why would anyone want to hurt her? Sure, someone wanted her to lose, but trying to kill her was a whole new step she hadn't considered yet. "But who would want to hurt me now? The race was an exhibition. We weren't racing for points. It was for charity, for the love of God."

  TJ drained his glass and poured another. "There's more at stake than that. Gifford has been taking a hit when it comes to sponsors. I've diversified Daniels' income stream. I've got deals with some of our sponsors to collaborate on other sporting events. And that way they support our team and drivers. I've got sponsors that Gifford has been after for years. Your loss that day made a lot of investors nervous. And guess who was right there to soothe their concerns."

  "Gifford. But Christian would never be part of anything that could hurt me, and Antonio, while a huge asshole, isn't capable of something like this."

  "Problem is we have lots of suspects and lots of motives. Besides just Christian and Antonio. This might have nothing to do with you and more to do with me. And it might not even be Gifford at all."

  It could be other racing teams, it could be anyone who didn't want to see her succeed on the circuit. It could be any of the male drivers who she'd rebuffed. It could be any of the female drivers who hated her. Worse, it could be someone close to her. Pit crew, engineers. Anyone. Not going there. "Who would want to see me dead? I've never done anything to anyone."

  Derek took her hand and squeezed and she was grateful for the support. In some ways it felt like he was holding her completely together with just the power of his hands. "We'll find out, Kisima. Don't freak out. You keep on with your plan and we'll figure this out."

  She ran a hand through her hair. "Where do we even start?"

  TJ's gaze slid to where Derek held her hand, but he didn't say anything about it. "Okay. First thing I'm going to do is request the footage from the race again, the official footage. Not just the ones from ESPN that we got copies of. Then I'm going to see about a discrete review of the crash."

  "Do you really think we can keep it quiet? I don't want this to become a huge deal before we know anything for sure," she said.

  "I don't know. But I'll do my best. In the meantime, I want you to be careful. I know we talked about you doing the Abu Dhabi race, but maybe, we don't—"

  Derek shook his head. "All due respect, TJ, I don't think this is the right time to stop her from doing something she's prepared for. I want her safe, but Kiss has worked too hard physically and emotionally to get back in shape to race. And this might be what they want. Her sidelined. We have to figure out how to catch them."

  "I agree," she said. “I don't want to be afraid anymore. Driving is what I love to do. I need to get back to that."

  TJ sighed. "Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this?"

  "Probably because you won't be able to. I'm racing. If someone did try to hurt me during the exhibition, they probably aren't going to stop trying if I get back on the track. We have until Abu Dhabi to catch them, right?"

  "I'm not sure I like this," Derek muttered.

  "Aren't you the one who told me that I have to do the scary thing?"

  "That was before I thought someone was trying to kill you."

  "Then we just have to find out who's behind this before the race. I've got four weeks. How hard can that be? Process of elimination."

  TJ shook his head. "You were always too stubborn for your own good."

  Derek nodded. "Now that we can agree on."

  22

  Given their midnight run up to the main house, Derek had let them sleep in, even though he was wide awake at four-thirty as usual. He could have gone for a run to clear his head, but he couldn't bring himself to slide out of the bed. Not with Kisima in it.

  He'd done his best to keep his hands to himself once they'd come back from TJ's.

  But the idea that she was about to make herself a moving target made him want to hold on to her even tighter. She's not yours. This is only temporary.

  Hell, it didn't feel temporary. The gnawing anger and fire in his gut at the thought of someone hurting her was very real. When they found the guy, he had better pray for an arrest before Derek got to him. Granted Kiss would be a very fast moving target, but still. Someone had gotten to her before and she'd almost died.

  She wiggled in her sleep and he groaned as her bare ass slid over his dick.

  Why couldn't he get enough of her? Rare was the moment he didn't want to kick a bed partner out of bed in the morning. Instead, he wanted to hold her. He wanted to fuck her too...again. And again, but he liked just holding her. Watching the play of early morning sunlight on her hair. He listened to her breathing. Sap. How in the world was her breathing sexy? Easy. Everything about her was sexy.

  She rotated her hips again and he slid his hands down the flat of her belly to the juncture of her thighs. Even sleepy, she slid them open for him, welcoming his touch. She was so responsive. When he slid his fingers through her smooth lips, they both gasped. His at how soft she was, her at his penetration. He whispered against her nape, her soft curls tickling his nose. "Touching you is an addiction now."

  "Good."

  He nipped her neck as he slid another finger into her, penetrating deeper, his fingers growing slicker. She hooked her leg over his and slid her hands behind her to wind into his hair. Fuck, he loved it when she tugged a little. She was so hot. So ready.

  He removed his fingers and she whimpered, but then slid his fingers over her lips, and she tentatively licked them and he almost came. Staring at her pink tongue, he slid his cock along her slit, fighting the urge to sink into her deep. He'd never had sex
without a condom. And he wasn't starting now. But her words from yesterday rang in his skull and he just had to feel her.

  When she sucked his fingers into her mouth, he cursed. "Shit, Kisima. I could explode just from watching you."

  She released him and turned slightly, meeting his gaze directly. "I want you to."

  His smile spread slowly and he kissed her lightly. Her taste on her lips was enough to have the base of his spine tingling. He really was going to come if he wasn't careful. He rolled away to grab a condom, and had himself sheathed in seconds.

  His cock twitched against her folds. She scooted her hips back, sliding her slick pussy over the length of him. His already tenuous control snapped then, and he firmly hooked her leg over his, sliding in to the hilt. God, that was good. "Kisima..." Her name tripped reverently off his tongue. She was so tight and so warm around him that he lost another piece of himself. And as he took them both slowly over the edge of ecstasy, he knew leaving her was going to hurt. But he wasn't willing to let her go yet.

  An hour later, his phone rang as he jumped out of the shower. Towel wrapped around his waist and still dripping wet, he snatched his phone off the bed. "Hello?"

  "Hey, man. It's Deyshawn."

  This was about Miami. Were his plans finally coming together? His heart rate kicked into high gear. "What's up, bro?"

  "You know, the usual, tryna stay healthy, and trying to stay away from the sports press."

  "Your shoulder still good?" A part of Derek wanted to move the conversation along already. While Deyshawn was a friend, all Derek wanted to know right now was the verdict. They could do small talk after. He really did care how his former trainee was doing.

  "Yeah, it's good. Some days I get a little tight, but I stretch like you taught me and I feel like new."

  "That's good to hear."

  "Yo, I know that you’re probably antsy to hear about the team, so I won't waste your time. Look, I talked to Jeremiah. He loves you. Thinks you'd be a great addition to the team."