by Lynn Galli
“What?” I looked over at the building with the three blocks of color. True, they’d been up there for months because nothing jumped out at me yet. “Marco can’t stand them either. He’s refused to send over his painting subcontractor to help me if I’m using one of them.”
“Wise, wise man,” she heckled.
“Well, you can just try and get him to help you build that tack room, lady.”
“Hmm, what’s his phone number? Maybe he’s free tonight.”
Her brazen tone made me laugh. “You’ll be occupied. Item number three and all.”
“That was what again?” The heat spread from our joined limbs to every part of me. I couldn’t take the teasing much longer. On the next swing forward, I planted my feet and lifted off. Raven shrieked, wrapping her legs around my waist and tightening her hold on my neck. “Strong little thing, aren’t you?”
“Watch it, now. You’ve got, what, three inches on me, and if you clear a buck twenty, I’d be amazed.” Her legs slid down from my waist and planted on the ground. She nipped my lips twice before kissing me thoroughly. One of her intoxicating moans filled the night air on my porch. “I take it I’ve convinced you to stay tonight?” I asked when her mouth glided over to nibble along my jaw. She groaned and gripped me tightly against her. “Long enough to let me convince you to play hooky with me tomorrow?”
“What?” She pulled back to stare at me.
“I don’t have any meetings until Tuesday, and I’m guessing that you’ve never taken a day off work in your life.”
One look at her face gave me my answer. “You want to spend the day with me tomorrow?”
“Definitely. Well, you and your horses. I’m using you, you know.”
“Oh my,” Raven breathed with a soft smile. “Normally, I’d be able to think of a comeback, but all I can think to say is, use anything you want of mine.” I sucked in a breath at the honesty that came through with her offer. I immediately regretted having kidded with her. “We need to go inside now because I’m not letting the mosquitoes feast on you before I can.”
“Best idea I’ve heard all day,” she agreed, slipping her hand into mine. She was a hand holder, and while I’d never been, I didn’t find myself minding at all.
I tugged on our connected hands and brought us in through the sunroom. My dogs plopped onto their favorite beds with a snap of my fingers. I closed the door so they wouldn’t be tempted to jump the gate anytime during the night. I wanted Raven to myself.
Clothes got stripped away in between kisses and provocative gropes. Her moans encouraged my own as I sat her on the edge of my bed. Kneeling between her legs, she gave me full access to bring her off swiftly with my mouth, temporarily quenching her need and further igniting mine.
“My God,” she panted, her torso rocking forward through the aftershocks of her climax. “That was instantaneous.”
I reached my arms around her still trembling body. “No, that was impressive.”
“Com’ere.” Raven pulled me up from my knees to stand in front of her. She leaned forward and kissed the swell of my breast.
I gripped her face as her mouth performed arousing magic on my sensitive, and until this woman, attention-deprived nipples. Her hands skimmed up the backs of my legs, grasped my butt, dipping then gliding up to my back.
When they crested my shoulders and moved down to where her mouth attached itself to me, I groaned at the throbbing I now felt between my legs. “Feels so good.” Her fingers slipped down to their starting places, and I waited for them to repeat their path. Instead, I felt them press into the backs of my knees. I didn’t immediately relent until she slid back on the bed and the pressing turned into pulling. My right leg knelt onto the bed beside her thigh, and my left followed suit until I was straddling her lap.
“Show me,” she whispered, tilting her face up to look at me.
“What?” I swooped down to kiss her masterful mouth.
When the kiss broke, she said, “I want to watch you this time.”
My legs contracted in response, straightening to lift me up from her lap. Her hands gripped my shoulders from the back to keep me in place. I realized my eyes were closed, so I opened them, searching her out. This wasn’t a request I’d ever complied with in the past.
“You’re still anxious about getting to a release, Jos. I can see it,” she said softly. While we’d spent hours exploring each others bodies, I’d only climaxed the one time. I couldn’t deny that I was concerned it was a fluke and that it would eventually disappoint her. “I told you that I’m happy to give you as much pleasure as you can handle, but I know you want to climax.” She held my face in her hands. “Show me how you make yourself come.”
I waited for embarrassment to touch me, but her husky plea prodded the flames of my desire. Looking down, I watched her eyes dilate with another wave of arousal. I leaned in and kissed her again, forsaking my usually strict inhibitions. My hand left her shoulder and sought the inside of one straining thigh. Discovering a surprising slickness, I jolted in disbelief at how excited I was.
Raven broke our kiss to look into my eyes. “You’re beautiful, Jos, and so damn sexy. Show me, please.”
The familiar motion of my fingers brought out unfamiliar responses under the weight of her rapt attention.
Her eyes moved from my hand up to my breasts, which swayed close to her mouth, then up to my eyes as I watched her watching me. Her desire pulsed over me in waves that threatened to drown. When her eyes dropped back to my pleasuring motions, her hands slid down to my thighs and gripped tightly. Her stabilizing grip set my other hand in motion, seeking out one of my nipples. Her eyes flipped up to observe the spiking tip in front of her face. When she parted her lips, I groaned involuntarily.
“Raven, please!” I pleaded, feeling both close and miles away from the edge. I wanted her to be the one to push me over. “You, please, you. Take me. Make me come.” She gripped my forearm, keeping my hand in place. Her face tilted up, and I dipped my head to kiss her, needing that contact. When she pulled back, her eyes moved back down to the crest of my thighs. Her hand slid along my arm, fingers linking with mine. After several combined circles of our fingers, she pulled my hand away and placed it on her breast. The slickness on my fingers lubricated her nipple as I teased the hardening tip mercilessly. When her hand returned, she went directly for my aching clit. She’d paid close attention and the expert stimulation propelled me toward climax.
“Give this to me, Joslyn.” Desire and something else turned her eyes into potent beacons.
I looked into the beautiful brown, reading every emotion from excitement to rapture. They told me that she considered my orgasm a gift. That was when I felt myself fly apart. “I’m coming for you, Raven!” The convulsions rocked me against her. I felt her arm slide around my waist to keep me from toppling backward off the bed. My legs gave out and I dropped to her lap, trapping her hand in place. My breasts brushed against hers with each pitch and roll of my orgasmic wave. All the while I held her gaze to extend my contractions past any conceivable duration.
“You take my breath away,” she whispered as the last of my tremors subsided.
“That was…” My brain must have locked up in the throes of my ferocious climax because I couldn’t think of anything. I finally settled on, “Indescribable.” Her face broke into a lazy, satisfied grin. “You were stumped there, weren’t you, genius?”
“You fried every brain cell I have with that orgasm, sexy thing. Don’t make fun while I’m trying to piece together words to express your mastery.”
She laughed, shooting another bolt of excitement through me. Just as I was thinking I might never get enough of her, she pulled me tightly against her and fell back to the bed. I laughed with her and kissed the nearest patch of skin under my mouth. Her throaty chuckle stopped with a moan.
“Again?”
“And again, and again, and…” I made sure her eyes registered my intent before setting my mouth and hands in motion. This woman ma
de me crave things I never knew I was missing. And the realization hardly terrified me anymore.
Chapter 19
The vibrating ring brought my cell phone to life on the desk and a smile to my face. Raven was such a creature of habit, which worked out well because so was I. She usually waited until after work hours to call me, but if she did call during the day, it was at lunch so she wouldn’t disturb any meetings.
“I’m only talking to you if you tell me you’re actually breaking for lunch today,” I told the open line.
“Don’t suppose you’re kicking back with a sandwich yourself there, are ya?”
I studied the piles of reports stacked around my workspace, no food items to be found. “I just got back from Amalia’s.”
“Liar,” she accused.
“All right, smart aleck, what’s up?”
“You know that quiet dinner I promised to make you tonight?” Her hesitant tone brought me bolt upright.
“Average-sized wrench or monkey wrench?” She chortled, shooting a stitch of relief through me.
“Definitely of the simian variety.”
“That’s okay. I think I can spare you for a night, but I will hold you to making me dinner some other time.”
“Actually…” she posed without enough intonation to assure me this wasn’t something to worry about. “My brother dropped by today.”
“He’s your new dinner date?”
“You could say that.”
“What else could I say?”
“That I told him about us, and he’s invited himself, his wife, and his kids to join us tonight.” Her news stunned me into silence. “You still breathing?” It took me a moment to formulate a response. “Pulse is thready but still breathing.”
“Think you can handle a little more?”
“No,” I squeaked. If she tells me that we’ll be competing in an Iron Chef-like competition with her brother’s family as judges, I’m out. Completely. Well, at least for tonight.
“He talked to our parents, and they want to host the dinner.”
Gulp. “What exactly was in this conversation with your brother?”
She hesitated so long I wasn’t sure she’d answer. “I might have given him the impression that I was a little taken with you.”
Not that I hadn’t guessed, but hearing her admit it with the slightest trepidation like she was afraid I’d run screaming made my heart swell. “If I’m showing up for this thing, you better be more than a little taken, lovely.”
“You don’t mind? Really?” Sheer excitement replaced her anxiety.
“Can I make one request?”
“Anything, sweetheart.”
I smiled at her eagerness. “I’d be a lot more comfortable if we had the dinner at your place. Do you think your parents would mind?”
“No, they just want to meet you.”
“What time should I be there to help you make dinner?
And what should I pick up now that our number has ballooned to fifty?”
“Stop,” she laughed, a lot of relief coming through in the rhythmic sound. “You don’t have to help.”
“I want to, and it should provide the necessary excuse to convince your brother that I still need my thumbs.”
“God, I lo—you’re so great.”
I pulled the phone back to see if I’d lost some reception with that hitch, but all the bars showed through. “5:30?”
“Perfect. Thanks, Joslyn, this means a lot to me.” She signed off with a heartfelt goodbye.
At the end of the work day, I pulled around to the back of Raven’s barn so that my car wouldn’t block anyone in. I’d changed three thousand times, thought about taking several over-the-counter anxiety medications, and dropped probably five pounds with all the fretting, but I was on time.
That should count for something.
“Have I mentioned that you’re incredibly beautiful when you’re nervous?” Raven called out from her back deck as I approached. She grabbed my grocery bags which freed up my hands to grasp her waist and kiss her thoroughly before her parents and brother arrived.
“You look stunning.”
“Thank you. You didn’t have to bring anything, though.” She peered into the grocery bags.
“I’ve got more.” I dashed back to my car for the pasta salad, minestrone, and tiramisu that I’d spent the afternoon making. It was either keep busy or panic.
“How’s your heart rate, darlin’?” Raven’s eyebrows rose in jest when I came into the kitchen.
“I won’t need to go to the gym for the next few days.”
“At the risk of making it worse,” she started, turning to put the groceries on the counter. Serving dishes stacked up next to the sink and several pots were already going on the stove. It looked like she was making enough to feed an army.
“What? They’re all vegans?”
“No, but there may be a few more people here tonight.”
“By a few, you mean that Ray’s bringing Kelly and your nephews are bringing their girlfriends even though they’re probably too young to have them.”
She tilted her head. “You wouldn’t mind if Ray brought Kelly?”
“No, why would I mind?” I turned back from inspecting one of the simmering sauces to look at her. “Kelly was always nice to me.”
“You seemed like you didn’t…” Raven shook her head, confusion still marring her expression.
“Like I didn’t what?”
“Nothing, that’s … nothing.”
“Raven?”
She expelled a long breath and blurted, “The family wants to come over, too.”
“Hold up!” I stepped backward until I stumbled over the area rug in the dining room. “The family, as in your family? Most of whom I’ve already met and all of who hate me? That family?”
“They don’t hate you.”
“Other than your brother, your niece, and your uncle, your family would have gladly stuffed me into one of their shipping containers and sent me to Siberia.”
“Is Siberia all that bad anymore now that the KGB has stopped using it as banishment for criminals and rebels?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“I think my twisted sense of humor has rubbed off on you, and not in a good way.”
“You can rub anything you want—”
“Raven! This is serious.” I seized her hips just as they connected with mine. She couldn’t distract me that easily.
Okay, maybe she could, but my anxiety pushed through the distraction. “All morning I was looking forward to our dinner after not seeing you for a couple of nights, then I find out your immediate family will be joining us, but now it’s the whole lot of them? I don’t think you realize just how much your cousins can’t stand me. I forced less than desirable changes on their departments. I made both your uncles aware of their deficiencies, enough so that your uncle Nathan isn’t all that fond of me now either. You’re nuts if you think this is a good idea.”
“Honey, I told you how close my family is. We all get together for some reason at least once a month. There’s no way to avoid it. We can get this over with in one night, or we’re looking at a summer filled with invitations to each of their homes.”
The only thing keeping me from going ballistic at this ambush is the mention of the summer, which I read as a future with her. Before Raven, that statement would have given me pause and started my passive aggressive tendencies to force the end of a relationship. I sighed dramatically, no reason to make it easy on her. “You know if I wasn’t so enchanted with you, I’d be back in my car right now, don’t you?”
“Enchanted? Are you saying that I’ve put a spell on you to make you be with me?”
“Enthralled, bewitched, charmed, entranced, bespelled, ensorcelled, it’s got to be something to make me consider staying for this thing tonight.”
“Ensorcelled?” she tossed back in an amazed tone. “I don’t know whether to be impressed by your intelligence or frightened by your all-encompassing knowledge of witchcra
ft. I can’t decide which.”
“Good pun.” At her frown, I supplied, “W-h-i-c-h, w-i-t-c-h, get it?” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Watch it now, lovely. I’m still thinking I should throttle you for not telling me about everyone being here tonight. But I have to admire that you realized it was the best way to get me to stay.”
“Without a whole afternoon of worry,” she inserted with an omniscient look. “You should really be thanking me for the concern I have regarding your heart’s wellbeing.”
“Now, you’re just pushing it.”
She leaned her forehead against mine and stared into my eyes. “Thank you for this. They’re my family, and it’s important that they get to know you. I know it’s nerve-wracking, but I’ll show you how grateful I am once everyone leaves.”
“Promises, promises.”
“Ensorcelled, where do you come up with these words?” she pondered, releasing me to unload the groceries. “They’ll be here in an hour. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I think tunneling from here to your barn where I can get at my car will take longer, don’t you?”
“Be nice or I’ll make you sit next to Robert at dinner.”
“Ooh, put me in between Robert and Nick. Make sure the rest of the boys are nearby as well.” If tonight was going to blow up in my face, I might as well take the whole house down with me. Make me spend too much time with all eight of her cousins and no one will be left standing.
Chapter 20
At the sound of the car outside, I turned to Raven.
“How do I look?” I hated the nervousness in my voice and the insecurity I felt.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart. They’re going to love you.” She took my hand in hers and confidently walked me out front.
The doors of the white Cadillac opened in what seemed like slow motion. A tall, lean man stepped out from behind the driver’s seat. His hair streaked with silver but still had a touch of the blond of his youth. He looked like an older version of his son. Raven’s mom looked to be in her mid-sixties, very distinguished, much shorter than her husband.