by Gina Ardito
She giggled against his ear, shooting shivers from the nape of his neck to his tailbone. The finger halted its exquisite torture, pausing a mere breath away from his engorged flesh. “If you want me to stop, I will.”
“You do, and I’ll kill you,” he replied, transforming her sensual giggles into full-blown sexy laughter.
Immediately, she started the teasing ritual again.
“Two can play your game,” he growled and lowered his mouth to capture a perky nipple between his teeth.
A sharp gasp erupted from her lips while her finger stopped its motions and joined the rest of its brethren to clutch him in a desperate hold. Writhing beneath his body, she arched her back until she nearly bent in half, drawing him closer, still closer. He paused to stare into her passion-filled eyes, but she quickly grabbed him by the neck with her free hand to bring him down again.
“Don’t stop,” she murmured. “Please, don’t stop.”
“You’re too delicious to even consider stopping,” he said against her rosy skin. “I could taste you all night.”
~~~~
Adara whirled in a wonderland. Shane’s mouth drove her to a frenzy: licking, biting, and teasing her in inconsistent rhythms. Just when she thought she would die of rapture, he switched sides and tantalized her other nipple to the same wondrous heights. A slow ache built deep inside her, pulsing outward. Greedily, she yanked at his waistband, pulling his pants past his thighs, and releasing his swollen shaft from its confines.
“Oh-ho,” he said with a chuckle. “No fair.”
In one smooth motion, he whipped her shorts and panties from her body, baring her to his hot gaze. Proud and eager, she lay as still as stone, only her breasts heaving with each inhalation of breath. “You’re so incredibly beautiful.”
His husky compliment warmed her entire shuddering frame, and she smiled. “So are you.”
He shook his head and rose from the sofa, kicking off his pants and briefs. Adara’s eyes drank in the hard sinew of his shoulders and arms, the crisp curls of hair over his well-developed chest, and scanned lower. Beneath his erection, with the television’s glow for assistance, she spotted the round, whitish scar at the top of his thigh.
Hands splayed on either side of his leg, she leaned forward to place a kiss against that small, pale blemish. Releasing a shuddering breath, he swayed on his feet, and the action encouraged her avid participation.
With no warning, she drew his shaft into her mouth—just the head at first, teasing the knob with painless grazings of her teeth. Inch by inch, she took more of him between her lips. Her tongue lapped at his stiff flesh, running up and down the bulging vein on its underside. He swelled inside her, and her mouth wrapped around his rod to suckle him deeply. His hands gripped her head while his fingers drew massaging circles through her hair and scalp. She knew the moment he was about to burst, felt the tightening in his groin, and with one last long lick, released him from her mouth’s hot, wet grasp.
“Sorry,” she whispered harshly, “but I can’t have you finishing before we’ve even started.”
He flashed a wolfish grin at her. “I agree. Besides, I’ve yet to taste you.”
Dropping to his knees, his mouth immediately sought her center. For one moment, she wondered about the sanity behind their actions. His family only a few feet away, the television coloring the walls around them in dappled blues and whites, and the two of them grappling on the sofa like lovestruck hormonal teenagers.
But when his tongue flicked against the hardened nub of her center, sanity fled to be replaced with a tumult of emotions. Wisps of ecstasy melded with flames of longing while a slow, dull ache coiled deep inside her belly. Low-throated moans rippled from her throat to her mouth, and her limbs melted, trickling pleasure from her fingertips to the skin of his shoulders and neck as she ran liquid hands along his hot flesh.
When the dull ache changed to wavering shudders that pushed her toward the brink, she pulled his head up to her face and kissed him long and deep, tasting her own essence on his lips and tongue.
With a sigh of delight, she clasped his hips and, in one fluid motion, twisted him until he landed squarely on the sofa beside her. While he stared at her in amazement, she moved to straddle him, then slowly lowered herself onto his erection.
“See how handy my karate moves are,” she murmured against his ear.
“Remind me to thank your sensei,” he growled.
No other words passed between them as they lost themselves in a world where communication needed no other outlet but the give and take of lovers.
Wet and slick with their combined juices, she slipped easily down his shaft then rose again. On her next descent, she gripped him with her vaginal muscles, and he shuddered beneath her. So he liked that, did he? Reveling in her control of his every sensation, she repeated the action. This time, he moaned in rhythm with the tremor that overcame him.
As if sensing her delight in their power play, he leaned forward and captured her nipple in his hot mouth. Darts of pleasure pierced her as he suckled and licked the hard nub. With his glorious mouth distracting her, it took all her focus to continue teasing him, and she rocked back and forth while still maintaining her up and down motion. Soon, focus evaporated as pulsing heat throbbed from her very core, spiraling inside her like a tornado.
Her movements became quicker and faster while Shane thrust up hard from beneath her. A titanic wave crested within her, and she rode it with the skill of a born surfer. Tilting her head back and forth as her hips undulated to some inner rhythm, she clamped every muscle in her abdomen on the instrument of sweet torment plunging in and out of her fevered flesh. His arms tightened around her at the exact moment her own crescendo curled, and with one last ascent, she hurtled downward into a swirling vortex of tremors and scattering stars.
Spent, she collapsed against Shane’s chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat, and allowing the warm afterglow to consume her.
“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly, turning her warm afterglow to a dousing with ice water. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Adara’s spine stiffened to steel as she sat up and glared at Shane. “You’re what?”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
“Why the hell not?”
His eyes scanned from side to side in confusion, as if seeking answers from the talking head interviewing the latest starlet on some late night talk show on the television. “Because you’re vulnerable and fragile right now, and I took advantage of that.”
“Let’s get a few things straight, Shane.” Unfolding her legs, she climbed off his lap and stood over him, hands resting on her hips. Despite the blond hair cascading down her flesh, naked, her breasts heaving, she more closely resembled the warrior princess than Rapunzel. “In the first place, you didn’t take advantage of me. If anything, I took advantage of you.”
“How do you figure that?”
She sighed and sat on the edge of the coffee table. “For the last three days—no, correction—
for the last two years, I’ve lived like a Ping-Pong ball. Ever since that bastard killed Terry, some invisible paddles have been bouncing me around wherever they please. Even after Cherry was put away, I still found myself looking over my shoulder, waiting for something to happen. I always knew he’d find a way to reach me again. Now, with you tonight, I gained back something I’ve missed for so long…”
“An orgasm?”
“No, you fool,” she said with a light laugh. “Control. I gained back control of my life. Even if it was for just a little while. From the moment I sat down out here beside you, I made the decisions. I decided to make love with you. I kissed you first.”
“No, you didn’t. I kissed you.”
She shook her head. “If it soothes your masculine pride to think so, fine. But I let you kiss me. And everything else that just happened between us—from the minute I pressed my thigh against you to th
is minute right here and right now—happened because I allowed it. I wanted to make love with you. I allowed it. And…I…don’t…regret…it.”
“Well, I do. I’m sworn to protect you. The last thing either of us needs right now is the distraction of a love affair.”
“Who said this was a love affair? We’re two people who reached out to one another in a moment of need.”
He shook his head. “This can’t happen again, Adara.”
“Why? Are you afraid I’ll fall in love with you or something?” His solemn expression confirmed that was exactly what he feared, and she leaned back on her hands, laughing. “Don’t sweat it, Shane. I promise not to fall in love with you, okay? I’ll never fall in love with any man.”
“Oh? How can you be so sure? I mean, it’s not like you’re a devout lesbian.” Blazing eyes ran up and down her nude figure, making her blush with memories of the last half-hour’s activities. “At least I don’t think so anyway.”
If he meant to get a rise out of her with that crack, he was in for a rude awakening. She giggled instead and reached for her T-shirt where it lay amid a puddle of clothing on the floor. Best to put up some shields before revealing anything more. “I’m as hetero as you are. I just don’t ever intend to fall in love, that’s all.” She tossed him his pants and briefs. “Here. Put these on before your mama comes out and sees what we’ve been up to.”
His face blanched as white as an almond, and he quickly slid into his underwear. “And you think you can control it? Falling in love, I mean?”
Wriggling into her shorts, she exhaled a puff of air to blow a stray wisp of hair out of her face. “I saw what it did to my mother when my father deserted us. I know what it did to me. I won’t let myself fall for that ‘happily ever after’ crap. No matter what men may say between the sheets, I’ve learned they don’t stick around when times get tough.”
“You can’t blame all the men in the world for whatever happened between your mother and father.”
She held up her hand. “Don’t. Don’t play amateur psychiatrist now, okay? And don’t ever label me as ‘vulnerable’ again. I won’t play victim. It’s not my style.
“Now, I believe I was in the middle of my list of reasons why I’m not sorry we made love when you tried to change the subject by analyzing me. So, as I was saying, I don’t regret it because I was in control of the situation. Secondly, it was a tremendous release of pent-up tension. I don’t know about you, but I feel more relaxed now than I have in ages. And lastly,” she leaned forward to stare into those gorgeous baby blues and whispered, “I’ve wanted to make love with you since I first laid eyes on you.”
His brow furrowed, knitting his dark brows, and she giggled again. Her candor must have surprised him. “I guess you didn’t expect to hear that, huh?”
“Uh, no.”
She shrugged, slapping her hands atop her bare thighs. “I don’t believe in hiding my feelings, Shane. It’s a waste of time and energy. And I’m pretty short on both these days.”
He finally cracked a smile. “Me, too.”
“So? Knowing how I feel, are you still sorry about what happened between us?”
“I’m a cop, Adara,” he said on a sigh. “I’m not supposed to let emotion cloud my judgment like that.”
“You may be a cop, but you’re also human.”
“That shouldn’t matter.”
“Bullshit.”
“No bullshit. Truth. Ever since I’ve met you, I’ve let emotion rule my head. My C.O. knew it, my partner knew it, hell, even you knew it and took advantage of it tonight. But I can’t let my emotions get the better of me again. Too many lives are at stake if I trip up.”
Her gaze strayed to the hall where two innocents lay their heads. Regret hovered over her like a dark storm cloud. “You’re right. This isn’t a game. Our actions affect Pauline and Tyler, too. I’m sorry I forgot about them. Even temporarily.” She winked as she rose from the table. “But I can’t promise that what just happened between us won’t happen again. I enjoyed it too much.” Bending slightly, she kissed his cheek while he continued to stare at her in awe. “I’m going to take a shower and turn in. Goodnight, Shane. And thanks.”
As she walked down the hall, she sensed his eyes burning like lasers into her back.
Pffffttt! She blew a wisp of air from between pursed lips. He was sorry. Imagine that. She’d heard a lot of things from lovers after sex, but thank heaven, “I’m sorry” wasn’t one of them—before tonight anyway. Well, she certainly disavowed him of that idea. Sorry. Hmmmph. Incredible…
She closed the bedroom door and padded softly into the bathroom in the dark. Once she closed that door behind her, she clicked on the light and fan then slowly opened the tap on the faucet. Hoping not to wake the sleeping occupants in the next room, she kept the water pressure to a mere trickle when she stepped behind the vinyl curtain. Her mind still meandered over the conversation in the living room while she soaped and lathered the day’s events from her skin.
She’d meant every word she’d said. She didn’t regret what had transpired between them. While their lovemaking wasn’t a planned thing—she hadn’t spent hours coming up with ways to seduce Shane—she enjoyed their passion too much to play repentant fool after the fact. And she wouldn’t allow him to play that part, either. Not when there was no good reason for it.
The hot water dancing over her shoulders reminded her of the shivers his tongue and lips had evoked when he’d touched her. And the aroma and flavor of him when she’d taken him into her mouth. She could still taste him on her tongue and debated whether she really wanted to brush her teeth to remove that last impression of their special time together.
In the end, dental hygiene won out over reminiscing. Still, she thought as she stood before the mirror, gargling, she couldn’t wait to taste him again. And she promised herself she would. Very soon.
~~~~
Shane watched her walk away, his gaze intent upon her sashaying hips and the expanse of curvy leg flashing beneath the T-shirt’s hem. Her white bra dangled from her fingertips like a flag of surrender.
She’d surprised him. Correction, she’d shocked the hell out of him.
Must be that Xena, Warrior Princess personality coming to the forefront again.
Although, now that he thought about it, she was absolutely right about one thing. He hadn’t felt so relaxed in eons. Then again, good sex always soothed his tension. Mind numbing sex, however, the kind he’d just experienced with Adara, damn near relaxed him into a coma. He sank into the sofa cushions and closed his eyes, inhaling the honeysuckle scent of her that permeated the slipcovers.
He’d given her back some control. Funny, she’d taken all of his away. Not that he blamed her for what happened. He was responsible for his own downfall. And he’d enjoyed every minute of it. Still, he didn’t dare let his guard down again on this trip. Neither of them could afford the aftereffects.
At least, she’d sworn she wouldn’t fall in love with him. All to the better, really. Because once she testified at Cherry’s second trial, they’d never see each other again. The Federal Protection Program would furnish her with a new identity, a new home, a new life. A life that didn’t include some former cop who’d lost his job for running off with the star witness in a murder trial.
A sharp pang of loneliness clawed his belly, but he ignored it and turned his attention back to the television. No matter how hard he concentrated on the screen, though, the talk show host’s genial dialogue faded into background noise as Adara’s words took center stage in his head.
“’…And thirdly, I’ve wanted to make love with you since the moment I laid eyes on you…’”
He took one last look at the closed bedroom door down the hallway, and his mind pictured her lush, nude body beneath the spray of steaming water. Leaning against the sofa back, he sighed.
Ditto, Adara Berros. But now that you’ve found your way under my skin, how the hell am I ever going to let you go?
Chap
ter Twenty-Two
Adara awakened the next morning with a strange sensation of extra warmth, like a heating pad turned to “High” against her belly. Alarmed, she opened her eyes and found Tyler scrunched up against her. He must have switched beds in the middle of the night.
With a sigh of contentment, she wrapped a hand around his skinny waist and reveled in the surge of love that flowed between them. Such a sweet little boy.
“Hi.” His squeaky voice was even higher first thing in the morning. “Is it okay if I sleep with you?” He snuggled closer, rubbing a hand over her forearm. “Grandma snores.”
Swallowing a giggle, she offered Tyler a serious expression. “Of course it’s okay. But let’s keep Grandma’s snoring between you and me. Deal?”
With an elfin grin, he fidgeted his bony rump against her belly. “Deal.”
“Good. Because you know what’ll happen if you tell?”
“What?”
She poked her fingers in his ribs, eliciting a series of high-pitched squeals of laughter. “The Tickle Monster will get you.”
“I won’t tell,” he screeched while squirming away from her wriggling fingers. “I promise.”
Instantly, she stopped, allowing him a chance to catch his breath. “Good man.”
After a quiet moment, the boy reached up to touch the medallion hanging from the chain around her neck. “Is that a picture of your daddy?”
Looking down, she saw Tyler’s finger tracing the outline of Apollo’s head. “No,” she said on a laugh. “That’s Apollo, a god in Greek stories. Every day, he rides a golden chariot across the sky bringing the sun to earth.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “For real?”
“Of course not, silly. But long ago, before there was science, people believed that everything that happened on Earth, happened because of different gods. There was a god of the sun, the sea, thunder, fire, just about everything they couldn’t otherwise explain. There were goddesses, too, for things like the moon, love, wisdom, even the rainbow was caused by a goddess.” She flipped the medallion over to show him the temple engraved on the back. “This is the Parthenon, a place where the Greeks would go to say thank you to their gods and goddesses for all the good things on Earth. The medal is called a fludee.”