In the Red Zone

by Crista McHugh

  He crushed his lips to hers and didn’t bother pleading with her to open her mouth. Not that he needed to. She readily gave him access to it and met him head on. He likened it to running into a wall of offensive linemen and maneuvering past their defenses to sack the quarterback. Only Kiana wasn’t fighting to hold him back. She was fighting him for dominance.

  She bunched the collar of his shirt in her fists while her tongue did all kinds of naughty things to his mouth. He made the mistake of imagining what it would be like if she was doing those things to his dick, and that piece of anatomy grew so hard, it strained against his zipper. A groan rose up from the center of his chest, and he squeezed her ass even harder to keep from losing his mind. “Damn it, Kiana, you have no idea how sexy you are.”

  “Right back at ya, Romeo.”

  He would’ve been upset that she chose to bring up his nickname if she hadn’t softened the blow by grinding against him in a lap dance that set every nerve below the belt on edge. When she started unbuttoning his shirt, he got the message loud and clear. He’d been given permission to go past first base.

  He followed her lead and massaged his way up her back until his hands closed around the zipper holding her dress together. In one fluid motion, he slid it down, and her dress fell down to her waist.

  He finally felt brave enough to open his eyes, and when he did, his breath hitched. The sheer black lace bra gave him more than an eyeful of her perfectly round breasts. He cupped one overflowing mound in his hand and ran his thumb over the dark peak in the center.

  Now it was her turn to moan.

  He liked the sound of it. He wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her. He wanted to know what she liked and disliked. He wanted to push all the right buttons, just as she had done so far tonight with him. And when neither of them could hold back any longer, he knew the sex would be beyond anything he’d ever experienced before.

  Because this time, it would be different. Instead of banging some girl he barely knew, he was holding on to a woman who captivated his mind and his senses outside the bedroom. She was someone he could sleep with and still have a great conversation with the next day. And that heightened the anticipation even more for him.

  She shoved his shirt down past his shoulders, jerking his hand away from her breast, but he used her impatience to his advantage. The action brought his lips closer to that tantalizing peak, and he caught it between his teeth.

  She dug her nails into his triceps and said his name in a low, husky voice that oozed pure sex.

  Yep, something she definitely liked.

  He drew her nipple into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it, the rough edges of the lace contrasting with the silky skin underneath. She tasted just as delicious as he knew she would. With a few well-practiced maneuvers, he unhooked her bra and tossed it across the room, leaving nothing between his mouth and her.

  Her breaths grew ragged, but she made no move to push him away. Instead, she threaded her fingers through his hair and held him there, arching her back to give him full access to her breasts. When he caught a hint of a whimper in her voice, he switched sides and repeated it all over again.

  After a few minutes, something shifted in her behavior. Her cries became more desperate, just like the frantic way her hips moved over his lap. “Please tell me you have a condom.”

  He released her breast long enough to reply, “In my jacket.”

  She caught his cheeks in her hands and kissed him so hard, it seemed to ask what he was waiting for.

  He blindly reached for the jacket he’d draped over the side of the sofa earlier, only to find it had been knocked to the floor during their foreplay. A curse flew from his lips as he ended the kiss long enough to retrieve it.

  In the meantime, Kiana went to work on his belt, whipping it off in a matter of seconds. Her eagerness matched his own, but when she wrapped her hands around his dick, he lost all coherent thoughts.

  Holy Mary, mother of God, that felt good.

  He could sit there all day and let her stroke her warm hands up and down the length of his cock.

  “Frank?” she asked, ripping him from his fantasies and reminding him of what he had right in front of him “The condom?”

  He fumbled for his jacket, his movements as clumsy and frantic as a guy about to get laid for the first time. Another whispered curse escaped. Not the way he wanted her to picture him. He wanted to be smooth, suave, experienced. He wanted to live up to her expectations and carry out his promise of making her come.

  His hand closed around the foil packet, and he held it up for her. “Found it.”

  “Good.” She snatched it from his hand and ripped open the package. A second later, she had rolled it down his entire length and was tugging his pants past his knees, all while capturing his mouth in the most erotic kiss he’d ever experienced.

  Perhaps he should return the favor. He reached up her skirt, expecting to find little lacy panties that matched her bra, only to come in contact with an industrial-strength material that refused to budge. “Shit! How do you get these off?”

  “With a crowbar,” she teased.

  “Kind of prevents us from going any further, don’t you think?”

  That sexy laugh answered him, and she raised her hips. “It’s time you learned the secret of the Spanx.”

  She lowered herself onto his lap, and the next thing he knew, he was buried deep inside her.

  Damn! It was even better than he imagined. So hot. So wet. So tight that he was in danger of coming right there. The only thing that held him back was the sheer impossibility of it all. “How?”

  “There’s a slit opening.” She rocked back on her hips, sending little waves of pleasure rippling along his dick. “Now shut up and fuck me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” It was one command he was more than happy to comply with. Especially when being inside her felt this good. And just as her hands and her tongue promised, she knew exactly how to bring him to the edge. Up and down, back and forth, she rode him like a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it.

  And he let her. His hands only offered minimum guidance as they rested on her hips, and his lips were far too occupied tasting the skin along her neck and shoulders to say anything else. He wasn’t used to not being in control. With other women, he controlled the tempo. With his last few lays, he’d gone fast and furious, focused on coming as quickly as he could once he’d charmed them into his bed. Then, once he was done, he’d move on to the next woman since none of them held his interest after the hookup.

  But he wasn’t in a hurry now. If he could, he’d become an expert in tantric sex just so he could spend as much time buried inside Kiana. As it was, she knew how to draw it out and heighten each sensation until it bordered on pain. But damn, what a sweet way to be tortured.

  She pressed her fingers into the muscles of his shoulders, and her hips returned to that same frantic pace from earlier. When she said his name, it came out like a plea for help.

  And he was more than willing to give it to her if it meant sending her over the edge. He’d promised to make her come, and damn it, he refused to disappoint her.

  He tightened his hold on her hips, taking over the rhythm. The long, fluid strokes turned into sharp jabs that produced equally sharp cries from her. The expression on her face, though, hardly spoke of pain. The tense line of her mouth, the flare of her nostrils, the heat in her eyes—they all belonged to a woman so close to orgasm that she was waiting for the moment when he hit the spot that sent her over the edge.

  If only he wasn’t so close to the edge himself. She was so fucking beautiful, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Combined with the way her inner walls tightened around his dick with every stroke, he was breaking out in a sweat just from holding back. His balls ached from the intensity of it all, and just when he thought he was done for, she cried out his name once more and tensed in his arms. She squeezed around him as he gave her one final thrust and followed her into the reckless abandon of ecst
asy.

  His senses blurred, and the only thing he was aware of was the pulsating pleasure that rolled through him. Damn, that felt so good. Too good. If he didn’t know any better, Kiana and her Spanx had ruined him. He’d never imagined sex through a slit in granny panties would be so fucking amazing.

  But as the world came back into focus, he discovered one of them was trembling. At first, he thought it was her, but much to his shock, it was him. His body shook from the intensity of the aftershock still radiating through him. He pressed his forehead against hers and struggled to catch his breath. “Never take those panties off. Ever.”

  Her low laughter answered him, and she ran her fingers through his hair and along his face. “So you’re saying you weren’t turned off by the Spanx.”

  “Fuck no.” He grabbed her ass and pressed her hard against him. “And as soon as I’m recovered, I’ll be ready for round two.”

  “What makes you think there’s going to be a round two?” she teased.

  A brief flash of fear shot through him, only to be dissipated by the scorching hot kiss that spoke of rounds three and four. He relaxed and soaked it all in, massaging tiny circles into the small of her back with his thumbs. Kiana had enjoyed it as much as he had, and just like he suspected, they were more than compatible in the bedroom.

  But as the kiss took on a tender note, a new fear rose inside him. Everything was so perfect right now that he was in serious danger of falling for her. But if she didn’t feel the same about him…

  I’m so in over my head.

  But as long as she was in his arms, he didn’t care.

  Then the ringing of a cell phone came and ruined everything.

  Kiana stiffened in his arms, her lips frozen against him with the first ring. By the second ring, she was bolting from his lap and reaching for it. She didn’t even bother to look at the caller ID before answering. “What’s wrong?”

  She impatiently pulled her dress back up over her boobs as she listened to the person on the other end. “Slow down.”

  Frank sat paralyzed on the sofa, unable to process the sudden change in her behavior. All he could do was sit and watch as she searched the office for her bra with her phone pressed against her ear.

  “No, you did the right thing. Where are you now?”

  She found her bra and put it on in record time while using her shoulder to hold the phone in place.

  “Yes, that’s fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up and turned back to him, her expression stark with panic as she zipped up her dress.

  The first thing that popped into his mind was that her ex was threatening her. “What’s wrong?”

  She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Then she closed it and grabbed the sensible shoes she’d probably worn earlier that day. “I’ll tell you later.”

  “Can I do anything to help?”

  Her head snapped up, and uncertainty wavered across her face. Then she lowered her eyes. “No, not right now. I just need to go.”

  She finished putting on her shoes, but he managed to get his pants up in time to catch her before she dashed out of the office. “Kiana, please, you look like you need help.”

  “I don’t need any help,” she replied, jerking away from him.

  “You’re the one who said you have a hard time asking for help, and well…” Her defiant glare told him he was getting nowhere with her. “I’m here for you if you need me.”

  Her expression softened. “Thank you, Frank.” She stumbled back a step and added, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  It wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, but it was better than having her shut him out completely. “Sooner, if you need to.”

  She nodded and ran out of the office, leaving him alone with his doubts. Who had called her? And why was she being so secretive about it all?

  He sank down on the sofa where he’d been on cloud nine moments ago and rubbed his chin. What a shitty way to end the evening. Just when he thought he’d finally broken down her walls, she’d pushed him away. And her actions only confirmed what he feared.

  She was hiding something.

  If he hadn’t been suffering from sex hangover, he would’ve followed her down to the garage and to where she was going. He would’ve proven to her that he wouldn’t be dismissed so easily. And he would’ve shown her that he was there for her when she needed him.

  Instead, all he was left with was an ache in the center of his chest and a nagging suspicion that the truth would come crashing down around him sooner rather than later.

  And after it did, would he be willing to keep fighting for her?

  Chapter Eleven

  The frantic pace of Kiana’s heart was matched only by her footsteps as she raced through Egleston Children’s Hospital to the ER. She’d known the moment she heard Madison’s ringtone that something was wrong with her daughter. The nanny never bothered her unless there was. But her fear quadrupled when she heard the news.

  Savannah had suffered an asthma attack that hadn’t responded to her normal inhalers, and it had gotten so bad that Madison called 911. When the medics arrived, they’d recommended immediate transport, and they were in the process of loading her into the ambulance when the nanny had called her.

  Kiana offered up the same prayer she’d been silently reciting since she’d left her office. Dear Lord, please let her be okay.

  She didn’t stop until she reached the reception desk of the ER and said in a breathless rush, “I’m Kiana Dyer. My daughter, Savannah, was brought by ambulance here.”

  “Let me check,” the woman replied in a slow, easy drawl.

  Kiana resisted the urge to reach across the desk and shake the woman. Her daughter’s life was in danger, and the damned receptionist failed to grasp how urgent the matter was. She cursed and pulled out her driver’s license. “Here’s my ID. It should match the address where she came from.”

  The receptionist looked at it and clicked her mouse several times before nodding. “Thank you, Ms. Dyer. Let me call the nurse to take you back to her.”

  Kiana squeezed her hands into fists to resist falling into a full-blown hissy fit right there in the waiting room. Luckily, a nurse appeared after a minute and waved her back.

  “How’s my daughter?” Kiana asked.

  “A little better,” the nurse replied. “We’ve gotten some steroids on board, and she’s on a continuous neb. I’m sorry about the wait, but when a patient is on the Do Not Announce list, it requires a few extra steps to ensure her privacy.”

  Kiana drew in a long breath and nodded. How could she have forgotten that she’d registered Savannah on the Do Not Announce list? She’d done it so people like Malcolm wouldn’t know where her daughter was. But the privacy came at the cost of those few precious moments.

  The nurse led her to a room where Madison was holding Savannah in her lap while reading a story to her. A mask with an elephant on it covered her daughter’s mouth and nose, and a fine mist escaped from the edges.

  As soon as Savannah spotted her, she raised up her arms and said, “Mama.”

  Kiana pulled her daughter into her arms and hugged her tightly. “Hey, baby girl.”

  Savannah’s breaths were rapid and shallow, each one accentuating her ribs underneath the thin hospital gown. The buzz of the nebulizer machine filled the room, drowning out the faint wheezes that vibrated through her chest. Kiana’s heart ached from watching her little girl struggle to breathe, but she also considered herself blessed that her daughter was still breathing.

  “Thank you, Madison, for your quick thinking.”

  “More like panic.” The nanny hopped out of the chair so Kiana could sit. “I noticed she’d started to wheeze a little as the temperature dropped, so I gave her a few puffs of her inhaler, and she seemed fine until I tried to put her to bed. It just got so bad so quickly…”

  Kiana closed her eyes and sat on the edge of the chair, still clinging to Savannah. Her daughter’s first asthma attack had been like that, too, only at t
he time, she didn’t have any inhalers. In less than half an hour, Savannah had gone from a happy infant to a baby gasping for air. After an intense ambulance ride, her daughter had spent five days in the hospital. How long would she be in this time?

  “What have they done so far?” she asked, trying to drive out the fears gathering in the center of her chest.

  “Gave her some medicine by mouth, swabbed her nose, and started this.”

  Sounded like last time. The first attack had been due to a virus called RSV, according to the doctors. Could this be the same thing?

  “I’ve got her from here.” She opened her eyes and gave Madison a weak smile. “Why don’t you go on home and get some rest. I’ll send you some updates when I have them.”

  “Please do.” Madison gathered her coat and purse before ruffling Savannah’s curls. “You gave me quite a scare there, sweetie, but you’d better be nicer to your mommy.”

  Savannah grinned at her through the nebulizer mask and waved bye-bye.

  The wheezing improved enough over the next ten minutes to where Kiana felt comfortable enough to place her daughter in the crib and call Denise. When her stepmother answered, she said, “Sorry to wake you, Mama, but Savannah’s in the ER with another one of her asthma attacks.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Egleston?”

  “Yes.” She gave Denise the room number and reminded her to bring a picture ID.

  Denise hung up before she could get another word in.

  Kiana dragged her chair over to the crib and rested her forehead against the railing. She hated asking for help, but she was already drained from the day. First the changes to the gala. Then her evening with Frank. And the sex. God, the sex. It was spontaneous and reckless and…

  And really fucking good.

  Before she had a chance to question her actions, the doctor came into the room. She looked to be Kiana’s age—way too young to be a doctor, yet the badge hanging from her lanyard had an “MD” on it. She introduced herself and came over to the crib with a smile. “Much better.”