by Desiree Holt
At some point, she had no idea how long, everything subsided like a wave as it ebbed and slid back to the ocean, leaving the sand swept clean but with the outline of it imprinted on its surface. No matter what happened next in her life—or ever—Rafe Ortiz would be forever imprinted on her body.
He eased himself down on her, catching his weight on his forearms, and rested there until they could breathe normally and their heartbeats settled into a normal pattern. She waited to see what he would do next, knowing it would be the footprint of where their relationship went. Or if it went at all. She was prepared for a brief, obligatory kiss, or maybe no kiss at all. Perhaps a repetition of why this could never work between them. Anything, except for the reality.
He slid his hands to cup her face, lowered his head and took her in a kiss so demanding, so voracious, she felt it in every corner of her body. He devoured her mouth, tasting every inch of it with his tongue. Coaxing her tongue to duel with him then licking everywhere again. Like the orgasm, it went on forever. She didn’t care if she ever drew breath again as long as he never stopped.
Finally he lifted his head. Tyler’s mouth was dry as she forced herself to look into Rafe’s eyes and see what was there. He held her gaze for so long she was afraid of what he might say. He eased from her body, still without a word, and made his way to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. Tyler lay rigid, clenching her hands at her sides, just waiting. She tried her best to figure out if that kiss was a good-bye or a step in the right direction.
Rafe padded across the floor, slid into bed beside her and pulled the covers over the both of them. Then he tugged her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, gently stroking her hair.
“You’re right,” he said at last. “It isn’t just sex.”
Happiness coursed through her like warm syrup, seeping into every nook and cranny. But she didn’t give herself over to it completely. She sensed there was a “but” coming here.
“And?” she finally prodded.
He studied her face, looked into her eyes as if trying to find the real her deep inside herself.
“And I guess walking away from it just isn’t going to work.” He rested his chin on her head. “Shit, Tyler. I think you turned my life upside down.”
Her breath came out in a whoosh and she tucked her head into the crook of his neck, her arm coming around his chest. “Then we’re even, because you did the same to me. We can make it work,” she promised him. She wasn’t going to lose him, not when she finally had someone who could complete her. Give meaning to her life.
He looked down at her, his face serious. “You think so?”
She nodded. “I know we can. I-I’m feeling good about myself now, Rafe. More like I have something to offer someone. Someone I can feel good about. Someone—” She knew she was babbling.
“And you should.” He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Tyler, it isn’t about makeup or clothing, you know.” He shifted his head and grinned down at her. “Although I definitely vote for those changes.”
“I-I…want this to mean something to both of us.”
“Listen to me, cara.” He stroked her cheek. “I’m not sure either of us is ready for this, but I guess we have to give it a try.”
“Oh, yes. Please.”
“It won’t be easy,” he told her. “I was definitely not looking for or expecting this. And we come from two different places.”
She was silent as she pressed herself against him. Then she said, “So what are you saying?”
He sighed, his breath ruffling her hair. “I’m saying…Yes, I want this, too. So let’s take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”
She hadn’t expected him to jump feet first into a relationship, especially when she had so much baggage she was dragging with her. But he was willing to try and she could live with that. The new Tyler Gillette could be hopeful about anything.
Chapter 12
Tyler came awake slowly, memories of the previous night washing over her. Eyes still closed, she smiled, remembering every moment, especially when Rafe decided to stop fighting her and give in to what was so intensely there between them.
Rafe!
God! Last night had been so magnificent. They hadn’t quite used all the condoms on the nightstand, but they’d made a good dent in them. She hadn’t thought it possible for a man to have that many orgasms in one night. Maybe Rafe was an exception but she didn’t care, as long as he was her exception.
This morning she didn’t have to stretch out an arm searching for him as she had yesterday. Instead, today he was curled around her spoon fashion, one muscular arm banding her to his big, toned body. And nudging the cleft of her buttocks was his equally big cock, standing at full attention if she was any judge. How much better it was to wake up like this than to an empty bed he’d run from because he didn’t want the involvement. She just hoped in the light of day he wouldn’t have another attack of conscience or whatever it was and push her away again.
“I can smell your brain burning.” He chuckled and his warm breath teased her ear. “Hope those are pleasant thoughts.”
“Mmm.” She snuggled back against him. “Very pleasant.”
“Mine, too,” he said in that warm as molasses drawl of his.
He turned her to face him and stared at her for an intense moment. Then, with a caress as light as a butterfly’s touch, he brushed his lips against hers, back and forth, before using his tongue to urge her mouth to open for him. Little by little he eased that educated tongue of his inside and licked her inner surface, sliding it over her teeth and the inner flesh of her lips. Every single nerve in her body leaped to attention as he deepened the kiss, tilting his head this way and that.
The kiss was hot and hungry, and she swore she could feel the tip of his tongue deep inside her. This was a different kind of kiss than all the others. More intense. More demanding. More—She couldn’t even think what else because the kiss was so all-consuming.
“Well,” she said, licking her lips when at last he broke the kiss. “That’s some good morning.”
He grazed his mouth over hers again. “There’s more where that came from. More of everything.”
He proved it by taking her mouth in another equally ravishing kiss. There might as well have been a string directly tied from his tongue to her pussy because the throbbing in her cunt was suddenly so intense it reverberated throughout her body.
“I’m so hard,” he murmured against her lips, “that I don’t think an hour would be long enough for me to fuck you. And damn it, we have to get up.”
“We do?” She gave him a quizzical look.
“I have to be at the stadium well before game time, and I want to get some breakfast.”
“You didn’t tell me when I asked, but exactly where will I be sitting? I happen to know the games are all sold out.”
“Not a problem,” he assured her. “The agency has a few tickets for special circumstances.”
“And that’s me?” she asked, grinning. She’d decided it wasn’t worth the effort to fight this anymore. Hating something took more energy than she wanted to expend now. “Special circumstances?”
“Uh-huh. For today anyway.” He nuzzled her neck with his nose, then gave her a light smack on her ass. “Much as I want to stay here and explore that incredible body of yours for the rest of the day, duty calls. Let’s move it.”
Tyler swallowed hard and reached out to touch him.
“Rafe? Thank you for last night. It was—special, on so many levels.”
“Special for me, too.” He brushed his mouth over her lips. “You know I never gave anything between us a chance, Tyler, but maybe something good will come out of all of this.”
“Something good,” she agreed.
“Now,” he said, “we need to get moving.”
Sliding out of bed with great reluctance, she pushed to her feet and headed for the bathroom. Shower first. She needed to wake up. Too bad she
’d have to wash away all those delicious smells at the same time. She let the water run, heating up, while she brushed her teeth, then stepped into the enclosure. She stood there with her head back, surrounded by the hot steam. She was just letting the water pour over her when the glass door slid open and suddenly Rafe was behind her, pulling her against his body. God! He was so big and so ripped, and his cock was so huge, pressing against her wet backside. She leaned back against him, reveling in the feel of him.
“I think you might need some help here,” he murmured, taking the bottle of shower gel from the little alcove in the wall. “Besides, I didn’t want to start my day without this.”
He poured a liberal amount into the palm of one hand and worked it into a generous lather. Then, slowly and deliberately, he bathed the front of her body. His hands moved at a leisurely pace along her throat, over the slope of her shoulders, back to her breasts where he tweaked the nipples and circled the very tips of them with his fingers. Her waist came next followed by the flare of her hips, his hands meeting over the slight curve of her tummy. He moved his hands slowly, unhurriedly, in lazy concentric circles, soothing as much as bathing her. She closed her eyes and pressed her head back against him, enjoying the feel of his touch.
When he eased his hands lower still, cupping the top of her mound, she tried to part her legs but Rafe bracketed them with his own, forcing them together.
“Not yet.” He voice was a low rumble in her ear. “Some things should not be rushed.”
He knelt behind her to finish soaping her legs from thigh to ankle and back before arranging her so she faced forward with her hands braced against the tile wall. Then he began again, stroking her shoulders, her back, tracing the length of her spine. He used the tip of one finger to move lazily from neck to waist and then slip easily through the crevice between the cheeks of her ass.
Tyler sucked in her breath and curled her fingers into her palm. She felt the glide of his hands down the inside of her legs and up along the back, shaping them over her buttocks before he rested them at her waist and drew her back so she was again leaning against his body. She did her best to ignore the thick length of his shaft pressing into the cleft between her cheeks. When she pressed back against him harder, though, Rafe just laughed that low, sexy rumble.
“Don’t be in such a rush.”
But she was. She wanted him inside her. Now. Right now.
This time when he slipped his fingers down between her labia, and she parted her legs, he moved his own feet on the inside of hers, nudging her legs apart. A little pressure and he was holding her open for his pleasure. His soapy fingers fondled and caressed and played, swirling around the nub of her clitoris, sliding easily into her very wet channel.
It only took a few thrusts of his fingers inside her before she clamped down on them and her orgasm overtook her. Holding her with one arm banded around her, he stroked in and out as he rode her through the spasms.
Her inner walls were still fluttering when he slid open the shower door and reached out to retrieve the condom he’d stashed on the vanity counter. It amazed her how deftly he opened it and rolled it on with his fingers still so slick with soap. It surprised her even more how quickly he turned her around, lifted her with his powerful hands, and lowered her onto his erection.
Oh God!
It was all him from then on, and she could do nothing except hang on. Rafe braced her against the wall, took in a deep breath and plundered her. That was the only word for it. He drove in and out in an ever-increasing, ever-harder rhythm. It seemed they were both primed and ready because barely seconds passed before he plunged one last time. And they exploded, in a climax so intense it shook both of them from head to toe. She didn’t know how Rafe managed to hold both of them in place while shudders ripped through their bodies.
Aftershocks still rippled through her body as he rested his forehead against hers, water sluicing down on both of them. Finally, with strength Tyler never would have believed he had, he lifted her from his cock and lowered her until her feet touched the floor. Deftly he removed the condom and disposed of it in the wastebasket.
Tyler let out a long slow breath when he wrapped his arms around her again and just held her beneath the steady stream of water until the aura of the climax faded. She looked up at him, his body blocking the water temporarily, searching for something in his eyes. Thrilled to see hunger and need and want and yes, even happiness glittering there.
As if she’d said it out loud, he smiled and nodded. “It’s all good, Tyler. Really good. Let’s finish our showers. You make a man work up an appetite.”
* * * *
Breakfast at Potrero’s was delicious and the atmosphere between them was easy as they ate and joked and laughed. But Rafe also took the opportunity to study the woman across from him very carefully. If someone had told him he’d be feeling this good and all because of this woman, he’d either have called them a liar or decked them. He was seeing an entirely different side of Tyler than she’d shown since the first day he met her. There was a softness and a vulnerability he had never seen before. Now as they headed toward the stadium all kinds of thoughts rambled through his mind.
He’d always been so careful about his relationships, but Tyler had landed like a whirlwind, literally shaking up his life. And shock of shocks, he not only liked it, he wanted it. Maybe even craved it. She was a woman who made every part of him come alive. Someone who he thought had gotten lost in the image she’d created for herself.
He loved her new look, minimal makeup, hair in a ponytail with a navy ball cap, a blousy navy-and-white T-shirt, and plain jeans. She bore no resemblance at all to the woman he’d hauled out of Tequila Sunrise. He would make sure to tell her as often as possible how much he liked this woman. Loved. Loved? Yup, loved. Just the sight of her made him feel good.
After the first night with her he’d sworn never again. He’d known the danger when he was obligated to take this assignment, and he’d expected to regret that one night for a long time. But after last night he knew what a big fat lie that was. Much as he’d hated to admit it, last night actually had been about more than just sex. Emotions had come into play, hers and his, and walking away from her was not going to be an option.
He’d give his left nut—well, figuratively, not literally—to know what went wrong with her father that set her on the life course. He was just glad he was the one enjoying the transformation.
Tyler’s amused voice interrupted his thoughts.
“I can hear your brain from over here,” she teased. “Thinking about the logistics of game day?”
Should he tell her what he felt? Would he say things the right way? This wasn’t just any woman he’d gotten himself tangled up with. This was Tyler Gillette, for fuck’s sake. This was complicated on so many levels.
He mentally shook himself back to reality and cupped her chin.
“Just thinking how glad I am that things happened between us the way they are.”
Her face lit up with happiness. “Me, too, but you know that, right?”
“I don’t know.” He grinned. “Maybe you’d better tell me another ten or twenty times.” Then he sobered. “Not to throw a damper on the day, but I was wondering why we hadn’t heard from your stalker today.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Tyler thumbed through her texts and missed calls as they navigated the streets. She shook her head. “Nothing. Not a word.”
“Maybe he’s regrouping, although I don’t think so.”
“You think he knows I’m going to the game today?”
“I spread the word around pretty good, just as we discussed,” he told her. “That means Chad and Ed will automatically get the news. And if Nate is shadowing you he’ll see where we’re going.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” She looked over at him. “What do you mean, if Nate is shadowing me? Has he been following me? Us?”
He blew out a breath. “I hate to admit I didn’t pay enough atte
ntion but a couple of times I noticed a car following us. I just wasn’t tuned into this situation at the time. I’m sorry, Tyler. My screwup.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” she insisted.
“But I should be paying attention to things like that. I have a feeling he tracked you to that restaurant yesterday morning. I know, I know.” He held up his hand. “You said it’s a favorite place of his, but I had one of my guys drop into the place casually, long after Broder had left. He asked after him and was told the man had been in earlier but otherwise they hadn’t seen him in weeks.”
Tyler was stunned. “You’re kidding. Nate loves that place. Loved.”
“I got the reports I had the agency run on everyone.” He paused while he moved into another lane of traffic. “You probably aren’t aware that his law practice is slowly going down the tubes. Or that the senior partners have him on a very short leash. He’s not hanging out in his usual places anymore.”
She didn’t know what to say. “His place in that law firm was the gold star in his crown.”
“Yeah, well, the gold is tarnished and his crown is crumbling.” He slid a glance at her. “I don’t know how you’ll take this, but apparently when he married you he promised the partners he’d deliver the Hawks.”
“What?” She jerked her head around to look at him. “Are you kidding me? God! That was his brass ring. I knew he never really loved me. I mean, he loves himself too much.”
“But he loved what you could give him access to.”
The more Rafe thought about it, the angrier he became. Maybe Tyler had been complicit in some way, looking to normalize herself in Kurt’s eyes and gain some attention and respect. But from what the agency had learned in their investigation, when she didn’t come through with the keys to the penthouse office for him, Nate had basically treated her like shit. And pitched an unholy fit when she’d tossed him out. Rumor had it that Kurt got her a shark of an attorney to make sure Broder didn’t end up with even one penny of her trust or anything else. Now it seemed the man was sucking up to her, trying to hook up again.