by Cathryn Fox
He pulled the board away, made his way to the side of the house for another piece of lumber, and spotted Candace and Anna walking down the driveway. A quick glance at his watch told him it was lunchtime and he wondered why Lindsay wasn’t joining them for a bite to eat. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Lindsay in a few days. In passing, he had come across the carpenter she’d hired to help her tear down a wall, and with the way he looked at Lindsay, Marc wondered if he too was having a hell of a time focusing on the job. Then again there was always the masonry guy, who’d been keeping an awfully close eye on Anna.
He didn’t miss the sexy look Candace cast his way as she sauntered down the sidewalk. His cock thickened when she gave a sexy shake of her ass. What the hell was the little spitfire trying to do to him anyway? Didn’t she know he was working with power tools?
And one tool in particular was swelling at an alarming rate.
Fuck…
He dropped the boards and peeled off his shirt as he made his way to his van, knowing he had to follow close behind. Close enough to keep her in sight but far enough to remain inconspicuous. Perhaps a run would help him let off some steam. Before he reached the door, Pamina suddenly appeared before him, coming out of nowhere. Maybe he’d been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t heard her approach.
“She’s a lovely girl, don’t you think?” Insightful eyes met his, and for a brief moment he wondered if she knew how lusty his thoughts had been for the last few days.
“Yeah, lovely,” he responded.
Pamina smoothed her golden hair from her face and gestured toward his pile of lumber. “She was lucky to have found someone who could build furniture on such short notice.”
He gave an easy shrug. “I guess I was at the right place at the right time.”
She pursed her lips and studied him for a long moment before saying, “Funny about that, isn’t it?”
Suddenly uncomfortable, Marc shifted. Christ, did she know who he was?
“She’s not one to just hire someone on the spot.”
“No?” Marc looked past her shoulders and glimpsed Candace before she disappeared around the corner with her friend.
“No, she’s careful who she associates with.” Pamina leaned in close and lowered her voice in secrecy. “You see her daddy is a big New York director. In the past men have tried to get close to her, wining and dining and deceiving her in order to get in with her father. Which is why she’s sworn off men, I suppose.”
“She’s sworn off men?” That must have been the guarded vulnerable look he’d spotted in her eyes. Men had been using her—betraying her. Catching him off guard, anger raced through him, and he wanted to find and pummel every guy who had hurt her. His jaw clenched and his nostrils flared, and he wondered when protecting her had become so personal to him.
“Yes, so she must really trust you if she hired you without doing a background check. You must have made a very big impression on her.”
He swallowed, guilt closing in on him from all angles. He wasn’t using her, but he was deceiving her because he’d been pretending to be a handyman. He had strict orders to keep his identity a secret.
“I see,” he said, for lack of anything better.
Pamina put her hand on his shoulder. “But you and I both know you’d never deceive her, isn’t that right?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” he agreed and sidestepped her, knowing he had to get going before Candace was too far out of his sight. “If you’ll excuse me. I’m late for my run.”
Marc slipped into a T-shirt and his running shorts, and jogged down the sidewalk. He took the corner he’d seen Candace negotiate earlier. As he made his way along the main street, he spotted the two women having lunch inside a quaint curbside café. He continued to run, keeping the door to the café within sight at all times. A short while later Candace and Anna exited the building and walked back to the inn. Maintaining a reasonable pace behind them, Marc kept her under surveillance. Once she stepped inside the inn, safe and sound, surrounded by her friends, he decided to take a quick jaunt around Blueberry Lake to give his muscles a good, strenuous workout.
As he approached the spot where Candace had pulled him into the water, his pace slowed and his mind raced, recalling the way her nipples had tightened beneath her tracksuit. He spent a long moment staring at the water and considered taking a dip to cool himself down.
“Going in?”
He tightened at the sound of her voice behind him. When he spun around and took in the warm flush on her cheeks, the sexy way her nipples pressed against her tank top and the way her long, tanned legs looked in her provocative short shorts, he almost gave in to temptation.
The hungry look in her eyes made him ache. Fuck he wanted her so badly, he could barely think straight. Pleasure raced through him, and his cock swelled inside his running shorts. Candace cast a glance down, and when her eyes traveled back to his face, they were gleaming with mischief. Okay, he needed to put a stop to this and he needed to do it now.
As he ran over every reason to back away, he said, “Candace, I—”
Jesus, what was he going to tell her? That he was hired by her father to watch over her? That he wasn’t who she thought he was? The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her or deceive her. After all, she trusted him enough to try to seduce him.
Okay, he needed to put some distance between them. But when she went up on her tippy toes and put her mouth close to his, every reason he had for keeping his distance suddenly dissolved.
“I think going for a swim is a great idea.” The soft seduction in her voice pulled him in and shattered any semblance of control he thought he had.
Without warning, she climbed into the water. At the sight of her gorgeous, wet body, need exploded inside him.
Ah, Jesus…
Unable to contain the heat rising in him, he jumped into the water with her, knowing there was only one way to feed the hunger gnawing at his insides. When she stepped close, and skin touched skin, she poised her mouth open in invitation. His cock took over where his brain left off and his lips crashed down on hers. Aware of her desire, he gripped her by the hips and pulled her to him, meshing their bodies together and lining up their nether regions. When he pushed his cock against her pussy, she gyrated and moaned into his mouth.
As the warm afternoon sun beat down on them, it occurred to him that they were outdoors, in plain sight. Hell, he needed to get behind closed doors with her before someone stumbled upon them. “The path…people.” He felt a tremor move through her and realized how much that excited her. He gave a low, heated laugh, intrigued by her boldness. “I had no idea you were so naughty,” he whispered into her mouth.
Her laughter churned with passion and expressive eyes brimmed with desire. “Neither did I. Until just now. You must bring that out in me.” She cupped his cock and gave a gentle squeeze. “Now let’s see what I can bring out in you.”
Christ, he knew better than to get intimate with her—especially in public—but the look in her eyes and the thrill it gave her to play this little exhibitionist game prompted him into action. Every damn reason he had for staying away from her suddenly seemed so insignificant, and giving her everything she ever wanted had become more important than his own well-being.
He gripped her tank top and peeled it over her head, exposing her luscious breasts. With pleasure racing through him, Marc moaned and wet his mouth. “So beautiful,” he murmured and brushed the pad of his thumb over one perfect nipple.
She arched into him, and he could hear the note of desperation lacing her voice when she asked, “Would you like a taste?”
Cravings like he’d never before experienced swamped him. “Hell, you know I would.” Trembling and entirely lost in the moment, he inclined his head and drew her hard bud into his mouth. Fuck… Her fingers raked through his hair and held him tight. As she swelled in his mouth, she gave a low erotic whimper and he damn near erupted on the spot.
Her hands raced over him with aroused eagerness
, tugging at his shirt and shorts almost frantically. Wanting to slow her down so they could enjoy and savor every sinful moment, he inched back, gripped her hands and placed them at her sides. His gaze moved to hers, and when his glance was met with heat, passion and vulnerability swirling around in a sea of green, his heart softened and everything inside him reached out to her. Tenderness stole over him as emotions gathered in a knot deep in his gut, and he instinctively knew he had to make this good for her. So damn good it would help her fight every last demon that plagued her darkest corner.
He pitched his voice low. “Come here, sweetheart.”
She stepped into him and he backed her up against the embankment. Once he had her caged between his body and the grass, he leaned in for a slow soul-searching kiss.
She tugged at him, heat reflecting in her eyes. “Easy, baby,” he responded, and once again secured her hands to her sides.
Their gazes collided. “Marc, please…”
Reining in his lust, he took in the erotic sight of her and the way she had so readily opened up to him, trusting him with her pleasure. “You can beg all you want,” he assured her with a grin, as the cool water lapped at his waist. “But I’m not in any hurry. Now that I have you where I want you, I’m going to leisurely explore your body.” With that he gently shaped her contours, kneading her flesh and enjoying the feel of her soft curves in his palms. His mouth moved to her neck. With slow, easy movements, he properly introduced himself to her. Trailing lower, he paid homage to her breasts using his hands, mouth and tongue, sucking, nibbling and licking and taking his sweet-ass time before moving to her belly button, which was just inches out of the water.
Needing to go lower, he lifted her by the hips and set her on the bank, lining her pussy up with his mouth. He gripped her shorts and toyed with the waistband.
“Marc…?”
“Yeah, babe.” The strange look on her face spoke volumes. She didn’t understand his slow seduction, his need to please her. Didn’t understand that it gave him pleasure just to pleasure her.
Her eyes clouded and he felt a curious shift inside him. “I…I—”
“I know, babe. Really, I do.” And he did know. That every asshole she’d been with had cared more about his needs than hers. Deciding to show her another side of lovemaking, Marc proceeded to inch her shorts down her silky legs, leaving her lacy panties behind.
She sat before him, quivering, her eyes watching his every move carefully. She reached for him, to touch him in return, her soft hands greedily sliding over his skin, and even though he liked it, he anchored her hands to her sides, intent on making this all about her.
Candace inched her legs open and when the enticing scent of her arousal hit him, he damn near lost all his hard-fought control. As desire slammed into him, he drew a deep, labored breath and tried to tame his raging erection as it begged him to answer the pull in his groin.
Turning his focus back to Candace, he touched the lace of her panties, running the fabric through his fingers as he leaned forward and licked her sweet pussy through the thin material.
She gave a low moan of longing that nearly drove him to his knees. Steadying himself between her legs, he darted a quick glance upward and watched the way her eyes glazed with desire. The heat on her cheeks and the way she looked at him with such lust, such want, filled him with an unfamiliar need. Jesus, he loved that he’d put that look on her face and he couldn’t deny that bringing pleasure to her, taking painstaking care of her every craving, made him feel all weird inside.
“Widen your legs for me.” As emotions and sensations ripped through him, he hardly recognized his own voice. He drew a breath to center himself and questioned what it was about her that softened his resolve and made him feel fiercely protective.
He gripped her thighs as she widened them, granting him access to her most private places. Using the tip of his index finger, he pushed the lace to the side to expose her pubis. With slow, deliberate movements, he stroked her groomed strip of silky wet dark hair, his thumb purposely brushing over her engorged clit. Undeniably, she had the nicest pussy he’d ever set eyes on.
“Mmm, nice.” As he continued to stroke her, he leaned in for a taste. Her hips came off the bank as he lightly brushed his tongue over her cunt.
“Oh God, Marc,” she cried out, and he wondered if anyone in the vicinity had heard her. But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was getting his fill of her pussy and making her come for him.
As he indulged in her heat, she grew wetter and her sweet cream tasted like candy as it dripped languidly down his chin. He could tell she was close by the way her body was quivering, but he wasn’t quite ready to bring her over the precipice. He slipped a finger inside her and stilled.
Fuck… She was so goddamn tight that his cock ached to replace his digit. He was ready to erupt just from the feel of her firm walls closing around him.
Panting, she gyrated, letting him know in no uncertain terms what she wanted. As his finger slipped in deeper, he circled her clit with his tongue. He gave a light caress over the bundle of nerves inside her pussy and when she cried out, he nearly went out of his mind. Need exploded inside him and his balls ached so badly it was all he could do to breathe.
He gave another brush over her G-spot and watched her eyes flare hot. “You like that do you?” he managed to get out.
Instead of answering, she slipped her hands around his head and guided his mouth back to her pussy, which was wet and glistening under the afternoon sun. Chuckling at her boldness, he slipped another finger inside, and she arched into him. As he moved his finger in and out, finding a nice steady rhythm, he licked her engorged clit and rolled it between his teeth. The dual assault quickly pushed her over the edge and in no time at all breath rushed from her lungs and her feminine scent filled the air.
“Marc,” she cried out, as she reached the edge of oblivion.
“That’s it, Candace. Let me taste you.”
Her sweet nectar poured into his mouth and he let loose a groan of pleasure, his body needy for her in ways that left him speechless.
He worked his tongue over her cunt, drinking in every last drop and soothing her swollen sex with the soft pad of his thumb. After her muscles stopped spasming, he inched back to look at her naked body, and she slipped into the water with him.
With a new air of contentment about her, she laced her hands around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. She kissed him. Deeply. Her tongue sliding inside his mouth in the most seductive manner. Jesus, she was a damn good kisser. She moved to his neck and her long lashes fluttered against his skin, eliciting a shudder from deep within. Her hand slipped between their bodies and she palmed his massive erection. Marc moaned and pressed against her.
The sound of running shoes slapping against the ground and pulled his attention away. “Candace—”
“Mmm,” she murmured as her hand inched inside his shorts.
He was so damn hard, he could barely keep a coherent thought. He pressed his body over hers, shielding her from the joggers, and spoke in whispered words.
“Someone’s coming.”
She gave him an odd look, then he got a clue. “Not me,” he assured her, then gestured with a nod. “Joggers.”
Her eyes widened in understanding. “Oh.”
“We need to go.”
Confusion clouded her eyes. “But what about you? I haven’t—”
He pressed his finger to her lips. “I wanted this to be about you, Candace.” Her mouth slowly inched open and she blinked, not at all understanding what he was getting at.
“What about your pleasure?”
“What you don’t understand, babe, is I’m happy just to satisfy you.”
She stood there staring at him for a long moment, then as comprehension dawned, she touched his face. When their eyes met and locked, warmth blanketed them and a strange new intimacy pulled him under.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice teasing. “And when did you land on Ear
th?”
They shared a laugh and with their bodies melded together, she ran her finger over his cheek, then traced the outline of his mouth, her eyes moving over his face, her gaze caressing, probing. His muscles rippled and his breathing grew shallow as her gentle touch went right through him. Heat bombarded him and all he could think about was ripping off his clothes and ramming his cock all the way up inside her.
He gathered himself and transferred his thoughts back to the present, realizing exactly who he was. The man who was hired to watch over her, not fuck her.
Bloody hell.
Chapter Four
With her legs rubbery and a permanent smile etched on her flushed face, Candace made her way back to the inn, Marc at her side. A comfortable silence fell over them as birds chirped and nestled in the huge apple trees beside the house. Juicy red apples weighed down the branches and glistened beneath the sun. Candace did a double take. She had a designer’s eye that took in everything, but she certainly couldn’t remember ever seeing those ripe trees before.
When she reached the front lawn she turned to Marc, and the heated look in his eyes had her aching to go back to the lake, to touch and kiss him all over, the way he’d touched and kissed her. Her mouth watered and liquid heat poured through her veins in anticipation.
He nodded toward the power tools. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Me too,” she said, not really interested in moving anywhere without him but knowing she needed to get the painting completed before Marc finished the bed and brought it inside. They also had to work together to install the hanging sex swing, position the love glider and Tantra chair. All devices that combined sex and exercise. Not to mention the already installed floor-to-ceiling pole, which was perfect for dancing, an excellent cardiovascular workout.
Marc leaned close and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her, then once again she saw something in his eyes before he stepped back, abruptly. Hesitation. One minute he was making crazy love to her with his hands and mouth, and the next he was pulling back, physically and emotionally. The same way he had earlier, during their first trip into the water.