Lust on the Rocks

by Dianne Venetta

Sam’s heart pumped faster. It reminded her of another slick area currently out of his reach. Remaining above him, she began to unbutton his shirt. Vic watched her hands as they deftly made their way down. She pulled the material open, releasing a fresh drift of cologne. A sporty mix of citrus, it was on the fast track to becoming her favorite. As was he.

  Looking up at her now, his soft smile worked in stark opposition to the hard edge of desire lining his eyes. Sam smiled back and it was all she could do to keep her movements slow and steady as she pushed the shirt over his shoulders, drawing her palms back to the front with a fluid caress. Imagining him slathered in oil, his pecs glistening beneath the sultry Miami sun, she skimmed short nails across the sinewy muscle of his chest. Sam smiled as the image hovered in her mind’s eye, reminding her of the vulnerability she saw in him after his ordeal with Selena. He had opened up to her that day, was opening even more to her now.

  Vic remained immobile, but sharply tuned in. She traced a meaty rib to the ridges of his stomach continuing down to the edge of his pants, curiosity trailing her movements. She encircled his belly button, toying with the thin swatch of hair that dipped down and beyond.

  Filled with more excitement than she had felt in years, Sam wondered how the rest of him would compare to the soft smooth skin of his torso, the hard steel of his muscle beneath.

  “You are as fine as I imagined,” she said.

  “Been thinking of me, have you?”

  She tweaked his nipple.

  “Ouch!”

  “I have,” she said, and returned to caressing him at her leisure.

  “You’re going to pay for that,” he said, his tone hungry.

  “Oh, really?” Amused by the gleam in his eyes, Sam rested her hands atop his chest and leaned forward to give a nip to his lips and replied, “Promises, promises.”

  Their playful camaraderie heightened her desire. Easygoing and sweet, Vic had an air of innocence about him. Not that she was deluding herself into believing he was some kind of virgin, but he was pure and fresh and...

  Fun. That was it, she thought, gazing into eyes filled with anticipation. He wasn’t jaded or cynical. He wasn’t here to add another notch to his belt. He was here to be with her. A burst of warm affection spread throughout her chest. As she was with him.

  She respected his mind, admired his talent—among other things—and now that he was working Perry, their time spent together would multiply. Struck by a sudden need for more, Sam set one hand on the bed beside him and leaned closer, close enough to feel his hot breath mingle with hers while she moved her other hand to his crotch. She stroked the swell through his jeans.

  He groaned and his hands scooped the cheeks of her rear into a firm hold. “You’d better have good intentions.”

  The sharp stubble of his beard scratched against her cheek and she murmured into his ear, “Oh, do I!” A devilish laugh rose from her throat and she pushed him down onto the bed and crawled over top of him. Resting bare-chested against him, she placed her elbows on either side of his head and gazed down through tousled bangs. Taken with his looks, his smile...she wanted to know everything about him.

  What did he like? Dislike? Did he have special preferences, needs? Would they shock her? Titillate her? Sam wanted to know what stoked the fire that set this man’s engine ablaze... “What’s your fantasy, Vic?”

  He hesitated. “My fantasy?”

  She nodded, her thoughts turning more salacious by the second. Finally skin-to-skin with the object of her fantasies, she wanted to know his. What did he want? What turned him on?

  “I have several.”

  The corner of her mouth turned up as she specified, “Your favorite.”

  Vic’s eyes opened a notch as though bending a finger to say come in, past the public persona and meet the real me, the sexual me.

  It was exactly what she wanted.

  He looked directly into her eyes and released a slow sigh. “You really want to know?”

  Sam nodded again and eased alongside him, enjoying the sensation as her soft breast against his solid wall of body. Gliding a finger over his stomach, she said, “I do.”

  Laying a hand atop his chest, Vic pulled a foot up to rest near the opposite knee, thoughtful as he settled into her game. “I’d like to happen upon a woman...” he began, inhaling deep and full, his exhale controlled. “Alone. In her bedroom, in the bathroom... Wherever.”

  “Go on,” Sam bid, reacting with a small smile.

  An unexpected shade of timidity entered his eyes as he looked over at her and said, “...discovering herself.”

  Sam’s pleasure skyrocketed.

  “I’d like to watch her for a while, as she explored herself. Tested her...boundaries.”

  “You speak in tongues, young man.” And she loved the way he struggled. It was so pure, so ingenuous. And so goddamned sexy!

  Vic chuckled, a touch embarrassed. “Do I?”

  She nodded. “Would you touch her?” Sam asked, taking the lead, allowing him room to recoup his nerve as she trailed her fingers over his hand and down along his side. “Or leave her to herself?”

  “I’d just watch.”

  Her hand rounded over his erection as she asked, “Does that excite you?”

  “It builds on my desire.”

  The prospect sizzled with promise.

  “But yes,” he said, closing his eyes to mere slits. “I’d touch her. When she was quivering, when she needed more, I’d definitely touch her.”

  Sam closed the space between their faces to bare nothing and whispered in his ear, “Would she have to beg?”

  “She could.”

  “Would she have to cry out your name?”

  “She might.”

  Sam grazed his ear with her nose in a nuzzle of affection. “Could she do the same to you?” But before Vic could answer, she lifted up and kissed him, openmouthed, soft and seeking.

  It felt familiar and sweet, yet hot and dangerous. She was drawn to him with the strangest combination of sizzling desire and pleasant companionship. And though her rebellious streak wanted to test him, to escalate and call forth the mind-blowing explosion that would result from their union, a bigger part of her wanted to savor the sweeter sensations, this delicate connection she wasn’t ready to let go.

  But Vic had other ideas. He pulled her flat on top of him, combed his hands through her hair, then raked them down her back. He rounded the curve of her rear, grabbed hold with a full-palmed squeeze and swayed them hip to hip.

  The rock of his groin was distracting. Torn between the warm succulence of his mouth and the promise of what lay beneath her Sam drew back, pulling away with a tug of his lip. “I want you.” Anxious to pick up the pace, her mind had already begun to imagine the ride. “I want you, now.”

  “You have me.” His motions stopped. “Anything you want,” he assured, his insistence calm and quiet.

  “Eager to please,” she said through a smile. “I like it.”

  In a flash, Vic flipped Sam onto her back and flattened his body over hers.

  “Hot damn!” She laughed, surprised but pleased by the turn of events. “I like it when you get dominant.”

  “You’ll like it period.”

  Vic covered her breast with his mouth, slathered his tongue in wide circles before flicking her nipple with hard quick movements until it perked.

  “Oh, Vic, your mouth is on fire,” she said, aching for him to take her in whole and suck hard. It felt incredible on her skin, her breast.

  “My body is on fire,” he mumbled, yet never once broke contact, his mouth moving up to her neck, his hand assuming position over her breast. In sync with her moans, he kneaded the taut fleshy point while he nibbled behind her ear and down along her neck.

  Vic’s mouth sent shivers straight to her breasts but she wanted him inside her—now. “Vic,” she uttered. “Take me. Take me now.”

  He rose from her body and her legs fell open.

  Unable to take his eyes off her, he slid
off the bed and yanked his buckle open. “Are you protected?”

  “I am.”

  He removed his jeans, shoes—everything—whereby neither of them moved, only stared. Eyes affixed to her panties, Vic climbed back onto the bed and peeled them off. “Damn...” his voice fell away. “You sure you don’t want me to use anything?”

  Sam nodded. “I’m sure.”

  Vic slid his hand up and along her thigh before slipping a finger inside whereby he groaned. “You are so wet.”

  “I am so ready.”

  Both understood they were crossing the point of no return. It was an agreement flowing between them in unspoken dialogue. They weren’t coworkers anymore, they were lovers. And when Vic entered her, the door to their old relationship closed.

  This connection would now take precedent, above all others. “Oh my...” She moaned at the immense pressure, both inside and out as his full weight pressed down on her. Her nails dug into his back as he pushed deeper and she laced her legs through his.

  “You feel so good, Sam...” He dropped his head against her shoulder and moved his hips firmly against her body. His motions were slow at first, but rising to his elbows, he gathered speed and found his rhythm.

  She closed her eyes, anticipation and actuality fusing into one as her insides adjusted to him, relaxing and contracting in intense physical pleasure. It was a moment in time unmatched. Rivaled yes, but there was only one first time. One instant when exhilarating state of anti-cipation met with searing touch of flesh, expectation and fantasy merging in the heady beginning of new sexual relations.

  As Vic rocked her body to and fro, this was a moment she would remember forever.

  Chapter Nine

  Vic’s body gradually began to wake. Tangled in soft cotton sheets, Sam’s warm head nestled in the crook of his neck, he lightly stroked her hair. Beneath the curtains, sunlight stole in and gently illuminated his surroundings; Sam’s bedroom. This was her private domain and his first glimpse into the woman herself.

  Overhead, the sleek blades of a paddle fan cooled their bodies while the light blankets from her bed lay crumpled in a heap on the floor. Above the doors leading out to the balcony were several free-form sculptures, what appeared to be heavenly beings in mid-flight and painted in iridescent shades of blue.

  Despite the bright moonlight last night, he hadn’t noticed them. Or the strange mural covering the wall to his right. Was that some kind of foreign symbolism or something?

  Having no clue and not interested in wasting another thought on it, Vic relinquished Sam’s silken waves and trailed a finger along the curve of her hip. He smiled as she stirred. As he moved down her thigh, she rolled to her back, her arm falling to the side. Vic liked that about her. Without fail, Sam was open and willing and ready to go.

  Head propped up against the pillows, admiring the dips and swells of her body, he drew his finger back up the crest of her rib cage, then detoured around the soft fall of her breast. Her beautiful perfectly formed breast. Sam wasn’t cheerleader perfection, or model-slim, but she was good-looking all the same. Where that prominent nose of hers broadcast defiance, her unruly auburn waves followed suit and then there were those full lips...

  He ran his finger along the lower one. Large by most standards, but more than welcome in his book. Especially when painted red. Better when moving up his body. The thought caused a twinge in his loins. As they had all night.

  Sam inhaled, deep and full and as she released the breath his finger encircled her dark pink nipple. He savored the feel of prickly flesh beneath his fingertip and circled closer around the tight peak.

  Sam’s eyes remained closed as she said, “Good morning.”

  “Great morning.” Vic placed a kiss on the side of her forehead. “Did you have fun last night?”

  “Are you serious?”

  Vic paused. He assumed she was joking, but her tone left a lot to the imagination. “Well...”

  “If half a dozen orgasms punctuated by several primal screams didn’t convince you you’re a white-hot lover, I don’t know what would.”

  Pleased by her reference, he chuckled.

  “But then again, you’re right,” she said, eyes popping open. “I’m not most women.” Sam rolled over and laid a hand on his chest. Resting her chin on top of it, he noted a mischievous spark in her eye. “So you might want to try all that again.”

  Vic liked the way she thought.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  She frowned. “Unfortunately, yes. I have plans today.”

  “Do they include me?”

  “So far...”

  “And later?”

  “Jess.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t sound so disappointed.”

  He tried to put some distance in his voice. “I just wanted some more of you, that’s all.”

  “Didn’t you get enough last night?”

  Vic tapped her nose. “Didn’t you?”

  “Never,” she said, and climbed on top of him. “How about a shower?” Straddling him, she placed her lips over his and kissed him, her mouth warm and moist.

  The press of her flesh was welcome, his reaction immediate. Instinctively, his hands sought her backside and squeezed firmly. “Together?”

  “Saves water.”

  “Let’s go,” he said, and sucked a kiss from her before launching them from the bed.

  An hour later through an open door on his way out, Vic caught sight of a strange circle with dots. It covered an entire wall of the small room. “What is that?” he asked before he could stop himself.

  “What?”

  He walked back and nudged the door open for a better view. One half the circle was solid black and separated from the other by an S-shaped line, which revealed the cool blue of the wall. Each contained a dot that was painted the opposing side’s color.

  Vic pointed. “That.”

  “Ah, yes.” Sam sounded pleased. “The symbol for Yin and Yang. Male, female, positive, negative. It’s an image representing the circle of life.”

  “What?”

  “Ancient Chinese philosophy,” she mimicked in a contrived accent then laughed.

  Vic’s gaze was drawn to the room’s contents. Hanging from another wall was a string of spheres, colored from purple to red like shades of a rainbow and on a low table a line of same height candles were organized in a plate of polished pebbles. In the center of the wood floor lay a rectangular foam mat. He turned to Sam. “This your exercise room?”

  “Meditation room,” she corrected, her demeanor easy and light. “I practice my yoga here, too.”

  He balked. “You’re not one of those New Age weirdos, are you?”

  Sam’s gaze narrowed. “In light of your prurient self-interest, I’d withdraw that last statement counselor.” She paused, a glimmer of delight entering her eyes as she added, “I absolutely ‘are’ one. I’m very in touch with my inner self and yoga is my method of practice.”

  “Oh, c’mon.” Vic did a double take. “I can’t see you stopping long enough to get the breathing down, let alone master the moves.”

  “What—you don’t think I’m flexible enough?”

  He laughed. “Oh, I know you’re flexible enough! I’m just surprised you managed the patience to learn how in the first place.”

  The corner of her mouth tipped up as she dramatically arched her brow. “Let me teach you about patience, sometime.”

  “No thanks,” he said with a chuckle, pulled further into the room by curiosity. “I’ve got all I can handle.”

  From the small bronze statue he recognized as Buddha to the strange Asian markings etched in stone, it seemed she was indeed into the metaphysical side of life. He turned back. “Tell me you don’t pray to Buddha.”

  “Buddha means ‘Awakened One.’ It’s a state sought to be achieved, not a God I pray to.” She leaned against the doorjamb and honed in on him. “Trial work tests my calm. Meditation restores the
peace. Yoga is the practice that brings mind, body and spirit together.”

  “Uh, huh.” Vic walked over to a shelf and picked up a wooden plate. It was heavy and carved with a spiral design. “What is this?”

  “My labyrinth.”

  “Your what?”

  She walked over to him and repeated, “Labyrinth.” Her voice was quiet but sure, her eyes fluid with emotion. “It represents the journey of life. It’s a tool I use to help focus my meditation inward. Tracing the spiral with my fingers guides my mind,” she said, demonstrating what she meant by trailing the ridges of the design with a slender forefinger. “Concentrating on the pattern of the labyrinth and nothing else, I’m able to let go of all other thoughts and distractions and restore my inner peace.”

  Her words swished through his brain as though she spoke a foreign language. This was not the Sam he knew.

  Thought he knew, Vic corrected, and scrutinized the object in his hands, feeling her presence hover by his side. To him the thing looked more like one of those kids’ maze activities, challenging them to reach the center than an adult looking to restore inner peace.

  As though reading his mind, she said, “It’s about living in the present. I live, I experience, I practice letting go of what’s not important and focus on what really matters. People, our connections to one another...”

  He peered at her more closely. “Kinda hard to do when you’re tearing them to shreds in the courtroom, isn’t it?”

  She laughed. “I stand up for people’s rights, Vic. I deliver justice. Then I come home and focus my thoughts on our common ties. We’re all brothers and sisters in this adventure called life,” she said, her tone wistful. “Ultimately, we share one consciousness, one spirit.”

  It was amazing how her features softened, her expression turned open and passive. It was as though Sam had become another person.

  And it touched him, this side of her. No longer the hard, edgy, tough-minded lawyer, she was the kindhearted compassionate defender of peace. “I didn’t realize you were such a philosopher.”

  “I’m not,” she said, and sported a grin. “I just do what makes sense and feels right.” With a wink, the old Sam returned and she pinched his rear. “Hence, your presence in my home.”