by Marie Harte
Yes. “Hell no.”
“Afraid I might have her out of those panties before we get to dessert?”
“I swear to God, Dylan,” Barbara said from behind him. “You and I really need to have a talk.”
Dylan froze and crossed his eyes. Then he slumped and banged his forehead on the countertop while Gage and Derrick howled with laughter.
“I swear. It’s like she’s psychic,” Dylan muttered. “You never hear my sage points, Mom. Only when I get crass, and I only do it so Derrick and your baby-maker can understand me.”
Gage frowned. “Quit calling me that.”
“Yes, Dylan. Stop baiting Gage.” Barbara sighed. “Why don’t you find a nice girl or boy to bring home and I’ll pay you the attention you feel you need.”
“Mom,” Dylan protested, but she cut him off.
“Otherwise you wouldn’t be calling your brother names. It’s jealousy, plain and simple.”
While Dylan argued with her about his true feelings, Derrick nudged Gage aside and helped him put a few groceries away. “So where’s Hailey?”
“Where do you think?” Gage said in a low voice. “Getting the lowdown from you-know-who.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you.”
“Yeah, you do.” Gage grinned. “And for all those comments, making fun of me with Hailey? Remember? How lame I was to be falling for that chick with the great rack?”
Derrick groaned at the reminder.
“Well, take a look in the mirror, dude. You’re about ten times worse than I was. At least Hailey was talking to me.”
“Sydney’s talking to me too. And I’m not falling for her. Sure, she’s smart and funny. Nice, sexy. So what?”
He realized the room had fallen silent.
“Smart and sexy? Interesting combination, Derrick.” His mother started the eggs and watched him with that clinical expression he hated. “So unlike your usual type.”
He scoffed, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him. “I don’t have a type.”
“Yeah, you do.” Dylan ticked off his fingers. “Dim, long legs, wealthy, hot, large breasts. Sorry, Mom, but blame yourself for breastfeeding us.”
“Christ, Dylan.” Derrick ran a hand over his face, thoroughly disgusted.
Even Gage looked green. “Really, Dylan.”
Their mother laughed. “We won’t go into that. Derrick, we all know you choose women you know you aren’t compatible with in an effort to avoid commitment. Sydney seems different. Nice different.”
“I’ve dated smart women before.”
“Yeah, and they were obnoxious.” Dylan shook his head. “Kathy Myers? Gina Stern?”
“Don’t forget the March twins,” Gage offered. “Dim as a busted bulb, but built like, ah, very pretty.” He shot their mother a covert glance.
“The point, Derrick,” she continued, “is that you’ve expressed more interest in Sydney than you have a lot of other women.”
“It’s probably just sexual frustration, Mom.” There. Let her chew on that. His brothers looked horrified he’d said it.
Barbara pushed a few plates of eggs at them. “That could be. Or it could be something more. When you engage in the physical aspect of the relationship with Sydney, you’ll see what happens.”
“Barbara Warren.” Gage’s eyes were as round as quarters. “You did not just encourage your son to have sex after one date.”
She flushed but continued to make her point. “No, I did not. I merely suggested that when he does, he’ll see more clearly. He needs proof she’s different. If he thinks he’s stuck on her because of a physical attraction, he should rule it out, but only when they’re both ready. A relationship built solely on sex never lasts.
“I’ve seen the way women look at my sons. You’re all attractive men. Charming when you put your minds to it.” She gave Derrick a pointed stare. “So charm her and see.”
“I could have been with her last night. But I didn’t.”
Dumb, dumb, dumb to admit that.
Her eyes narrowed. “I see.”
“Oh hell. I like her. Is that so bad?” So why did his palms sweat just thinking about her? Why did he worry that she didn’t like him? He was Derrick Warren, a catch by any standard. Right? “I was respecting her boundaries. She already thought I was an ass. I just didn’t want to add to it.”
“Nice.” Dylan nodded. “That was the plan. I didn’t think you’d stick to it. Now she’s off-balance. Now you make your move.”
Their mother disagreed. “The only reason I’d even suggest you engage in sexual relations—at a point when you both consider your relationship has matured enough to make that next step—is because it will increase the intimacy. Because that’s what any meaningful partnership is all about. Feelings and emotions. Sex can complicate things, though, so you need to both be ready for it.”
Gage stared, his mouth open. “Why the hell didn’t I get this advice with Hailey? It was all about talking to her and not groping her.”
“That’s what I’m telling your brother to do, to talk to her first. To get to know her and build a relationship built on mutual understanding and respect.”
“Not what I heard,” Gage muttered.
Derrick grinned. “Different strokes for different folks, little brother.” Glad that he no longer felt in the hot seat, he turned everyone’s attention to Dylan. “But there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask. Why am I the only one under the microscope? What about Dylan? Last I heard, he broke up with his boy-toy. Not the other way around, like he told us. Why’s that?”
Everyone homed in on his brother and Derrick leaned back with a contented sigh. He couldn’t believe he was contemplating following his mother’s advice, but for once the woman had suggested something that made sense. His insane attraction to the redhead was a distraction. It might be nice to date a woman without the physical stuff in the way. They could be friendly before being friendly. Though everything in him shut down at the thought of his mother in conjunction with s-e-x, he reminded himself she offered therapeutic advice and nothing more.
Think of me as someone who’s here to listen, she’d said. Well, he was listening. He’d try to get closer to Sydney, to get to know the woman behind that killer bod before taking that next big naked-bodies step.
Two hours later, he stood in front of Sydney’s door and knocked.
A few moments passed. She opened the door wearing a pair of clingy jeans and a soft pink blouse. The color shouldn’t have looked right with her red hair, but for some reason it did. She appeared ultra-feminine, soft, touchable.
Fuckable. Shit. He tried to focus on his family’s advice.
“Derrick?”
“Can I come in? Or is this a bad time?”
She stared at him in shock. “I, uh, yeah, sure. Come on in. I was just doing my weekly cleaning.” She stepped back and allowed him to enter. After closing the door behind her, she turned around—right into his arms.
Finally. He backed her against the door and leaned down to face her, nose to nose.
“Derrick?” The whisper of her breath against his lips aroused him to no end.
He’d been hard the entire journey to her house, trying to ignore his instincts. Now he had her in his arms, could feel her curves against his body. His resolve to take things slow and simple went out the window. Christ, he wasn’t going to last.
“You left last night before dessert.”
She swallowed. “D-dessert?”
Her full lips parted. Her blue eyes were so dark they looked black. The fiery redhead who’d met him taunt for taunt and laugh for laugh the past three months stared at him with desire in her eyes.
He kissed her before she could protest, and like he’d imagined, she tasted sweet. He tilted the angle of his head to get better depth and plundered her mouth. Her tongue entwined with his, and he groaned into her mouth, caught by the fiery woman he’d wanted for too long.
Chapter Four
“Oh, Derrick,” Sydney said on a
breath as he trailed his mouth over her cheek to her ear.
He nipped at her lobe and thrust his tongue in her ear.
She arched into him, pressing her breasts against his chest.
“God, I’ve been wanting to kiss you forever.” He returned his mouth to hers, pushing past her lips with his tongue. While he kissed her, he ran his hands over her waist to her rib cage, pleased with her softness. Sydney was a real woman—not model-thin, but shapely.
He curled one hand around her side while the other went to work on her buttons. In seconds he had them undone and pushed her blouse apart. The sight of her lacey bra sent the blood from his brain straight to his cock.
“Fuck me.” He stared in awe at the pert nipples pushing through the sheer material of her bra.
“No, fuck me.” Sydney pulled him back down and kissed the breath out of him.
He cupped her breasts, taken with the full globes, and held her while they battled for dominance. He should have expected as much from the Amazon in his arms. Usually he liked his dates to wait for him to take charge, but Sydney’s strength made him ache to tame her.
Quickly moving past the point of no return, Derrick manhandled his way past her defenses and pinned her to the door. He kissed her while he pushed her blouse off and quickly unfastened her bra, tossing it to the floor as well. The minute he bared her breasts, he latched his mouth to one peak and sucked hard.
“Oh, yes. God,” she moaned, and pleaded with him for more.
He intended to give her whatever she asked for. He took turns fondling one breast while he licked and sucked the other, grazing her nipples with gentle bites.
She writhed and moaned his name with a breathy voice that turned him inside-out.
Close to coming in his jeans, he continued to play with her tits as he unbuttoned his pants. He pushed himself free of his jeans and underwear and molded her hand around him. The connection of her palm and his cock made him tremble.
“You’re so big.”
“Oh yeah. Squeeze me. Fuck, Sydney. I have to have you. Right now.”
He palmed her ass through her jeans, needing her naked.
Not thinking about anything but fucking her, he pulled away and stripped her naked. Like his dreams made flesh. She was perfect. Better than he’d imagined. Toned legs, a slender belly, tiny waist and large breasts. And that red hair that framed her face and curled over her shoulders also decorated her pussy in a thin strip. Neatly trimmed, leaving her folds bare. So much easier to eat her that way.
“In me, Derrick. Now.”
He knelt, pushed her legs apart and fastened his mouth over her, seeking her clit. She cried out his name as he sucked and tasted the very essence of this woman he couldn’t get out of his mind. Like a drug, she raced through him, Sydney Fields exploding on his tongue and in every atom of his body.
He licked and stroked, wanting her to come in his mouth. But his erection was starting to hurt. He needed ease. While he devoured her, he took a condom out of his back pocket, ripped open the packet and slipped the rubber on himself with shaky hands.
“Derrick, yes, yes, I’m coming.” She cried out and gripped his shoulders tight as she came over his tongue. He gave her one last kiss and stood.
Dragging her up, he lifted her to straddle his waist and hooked her legs around him. Then he angled his cock at her entrance and shoved into her.
She gasped—with delight or astonishment, he didn’t care. He was too far gone for anything but coming inside her.
“You’re so hot.” Her warmth hugged him, and he slid through her wet channel with ease. Snug, she gripped him as he thrust in and out, harder and deeper.
Her contractions aroused him to no end, especially because he could still taste her on his lips as he fucked her.
She dragged his head to hers and meshed their lips together while he stroked. And just as he reached his end, she sucked hard on his tongue. He pulled his head back and shouted as he came. His orgasm crashed over him, jerking him from reality with an ecstatic slap as he rode wave after wave of pleasure.
The feel of her curves against him as he emptied inside her warmth kept him going. After what felt like an eternity, he came back to himself.
He hoped he hadn’t crushed her too hard. Sandwiched between his body and the door, she couldn’t have been too comfortable. But Christ, had he ever had better sex? Sex that had lasted all of five minutes?
He should have been more embarrassed, but the sleepy satisfaction in her eyes told him she had no complaints.
“Damn, Derrick. You are good, aren’t you?”
He grinned. “Good for more than that quickie.”
“Quickie?” She arched a perfect brow and slowly uncrossed her ankles from behind his back. As she did, she winced.
“You okay? I wasn’t too rough was I?” He hoped he hadn’t pounded into her too hard, but he couldn’t recall much of anything except needing to go as deep into her as he could.
“Not at all.”
He didn’t want to pull away, but he’d started to slide out, so he withdrew completely and lowered her so she could stand again. The awkwardness he might have assumed he’d feel didn’t come. He removed the condom and left to dispose of it. When he returned, dressed once more, she stood in a daze, naked, against the door.
“You are fucking beautiful.” Blunt, but effective.
She blushed. “You already had me, He-Man. No need to butter me up.”
“Hmm, butter. Not a bad idea. I’d like to oil you up and fuck you everywhere.”
Her eyes glowed. “Oh?”
“You know, when you say Oh like that, it comes across as a challenge.”
“Are you up for it?” The doubtful look she gave his crotch definitely counted as a dare.
“Honey, you should know better than to challenge a Warren.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I’m the Warren twin you need to worry about. I never lose.”
She laughed. “Cocky much?”
“Oh yeah. And I intend to get even more cocky before the day is through.” He watched her as he took off his sweatshirt and removed his shoes and socks. He unbuttoned the fly of his jeans with deliberate slowness, wanting to see her expression when she saw all of him. Would she be impressed, or would she blow him off? He wasn’t a small man. Most women loved the look of him, but Sydney wasn’t most women. There was something about her self-confidence that brought out insecurities he hadn’t even realized he possessed.
“You’re a tease,” she complained.
He smiled. “Back at ya, hot stuff.”
He pushed his jeans and underwear off, conscious that his cock had a mind of its own. The damn thing stood at half-mast again, semi-erect for the mouthwatering woman staring at him in shock—or was that awe?
“I can’t believe that thing fit inside me.”
He frowned. “I’m not that small.”
“You’re huge. Good Lord, Derrick. No wonder you have a lot of girlfriends.”
To his horror, his cheeks felt hot. Pleased and embarrassed, he felt like a goddamn girl. Yet he couldn’t be happier she approved.
“Oh my God. Derrick I’m God’s gift to women is blushing!” She laughed. To his surprise, she seemed completely oblivious to her nudity, while he couldn’t stop being aware of it.
“Cut it out. I’m a guy. We all have size issues.”
“You shouldn’t.” She stepped closer and took him in her hand.
He stirred. She stroked him and he grew harder. “Syd, you’re playing with fire.”
“Is that what you call it? Fire?” She winked at him. “I’d have thought you’d go with something more creative. Like My Monster or the One-Eyed Wonder.”
He laughed, more than amused. Who’d have thought sex could be so much fun? Being with Sydney just felt good.
“Well, One-Eyed Wonder has a nice ring. But how about something more intimate? Like Derrick Junior? That way he sounds like a real person.”
“He?” She stroked hi
m, pumping his shaft with a small hand that felt like heaven.
“Yeah, he. He likes it when ladies kiss him. Long, slow licks are nice too.”
Sydney let him go as she stared at him. The laughter left her eyes, but not the desire. “We should probably move to the bedroom for this. Unless you brought more condoms?”
And there, no recrimination for being prepared. The woman amazed him.
“Nope. I only had one, and I was praying you’d let me use it.”
She snorted. “Praying my ass. You knew I wanted a go at you.”
“Just one?” He stepped closer and rubbed his cock along her belly. Then he leaned closer and took one of her nipples between his teeth. He nipped her, then sucked the sting out of it. “Come on, Syd. I’m good for three or four, at least.”
“Well, if you put it that way...”
Sydney couldn’t believe she’d let Derrick Warren fuck her against the door of her own home. Okay, so she’d been hot for him since the first time she’d heard him on the other end of the phone, but still. She normally would have held out until at least the third date. She did have standards to maintain.
But God, had she ever been the focus of so much lust before? Under his stare, she’d felt helpless, caught in a maelstrom of desire and need and sensation. Thoughts of refusal hadn’t existed. As embarrassed as she felt to admit it to herself, if he hadn’t produced a condom, she wouldn’t have had the presence of mind to demand he wear one.
Stupid, Syd. Real stupid. Though she took birth control to regulate her cycle—and yes, because she did like sex—she always mandated her partners use protection. In this day and age, you could never be too sure.
But Derrick... She wanted to feel him inside her, and that made no sense. So she ignored her irrational mind and focused on managing the here and now. Time to set rules. Better late than never.
She stood by her bed, conscious he had yet to take his gaze from her. She couldn’t help preening under his regard. Her weekly workouts were a bitch, but when they produced this kind of attention from a man, she recognized their value.
“Hold on, Derrick.”
“I knew it. It was too good to hope you’d just bend over and take me without a word.”