“You throw this at me and expect me to understand why you’ve suddenly decided to change your whole life. It’s only normal that I’ve got questions.”
“I get that. I don’t get your attitude. All you need to know is that I’m not asking for your blessing. I don’t need your approval.”
“Well, you just might, if you want your part of the inheritance. I can contest the will, you know.”
Claire stared at her sister, speechless. She stood over Fran, shaking and struggling for composure. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m not going to let you throw your life away on some silly whim. I’m not going to do anything about the will if you promise me to think this through. What do you imagine you’ll do? Stop working and just write? You’re too young to fall off the grid.”
“This sounds like your issue. I’m not the one with the downtown lifestyle. Don’t make me out to be some bum. If you want to work sixty-hour power weeks, fine. Go ahead. I want to write. I’m not discussing this anymore. Not tonight. Thanks for reading my work and letting me know what you think.” She bent down and snatched her writing. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Where are you going? It’s late.”
“Where do you think?”
Her sister’s eyes widened and for a second she thought she was going to say something. Something very mean. To her credit, Fran didn’t say a word, but Claire could imagine the wheels were spinning inside her sister’s head. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
* * *
Claire didn’t stop until she stood in front of Dustin’s door, ringing the bell. Jasper barked inside, footsteps grew louder, and the door opened.
“I was just thinking about you.” He pulled her inside.
Her heart skipped a beat, several beats. He was freshly showered and clean-shaven. She inhaled his scent—it was pure bliss. She inhaled again, decompressing and letting go of her frustration and anger.
“You smell incredible.” Claire imagined having his scent on her skin. All she wanted was to fall into his arms and close her eyes.
His lips against her mouth infused her with red-hot desire. The feel of him was delicious. She didn’t want to think about her sister. She reached out and lifted his shirt, running her hands over his warm, muscular cuts and grooves. His hands were at her zipper. They didn’t need to speak. Off came her sandals. She shimmied out of her pants and pulled off her shirt. She came back at him, unzipping his pants. She grazed his short curling hair with her fingertips.
“Commando?” She dipped her fingers lower.
“I was hoping for a visitor tonight?” He inhaled sharply. She tightened her fingers over his erection.
He kicked off his shoes and stepped free of his jeans. His hands pushed the satin straps down from her shoulders. He unhooked her bra, and she let it drop to the floor. They stood with a heap of clothes at their feet. She shivered yet was warmed as he cupped the under swell of her breasts. His erection bumped against her abdomen. The sensual feel of him grazing her skin made her grow moist. She wanted him buried inside her and at the same time wanted to feel his mouth sucking her hard.
“Do you know what I want?” She stroked his cock up and down.
“Tell me.”
“I want you to kiss my face. I’ll close my eyes so you can sweep your tongue over my lids, your breath a caress. I want you to leave a trail of bites and kisses down my neck. You’ll stop and suck the same spot you did the last time as your hands squeeze my breasts.” She touched her neck showing him. He nodded mutely, his lips parted.
“You’ll keep kissing my skin, making love to my body with your mouth. Suckle each breast and nipple until you’re dripping. I want to taste you before you bind yourself in a condom. I want to suck you as your tongue is between my legs. You’ll suck me hard and push your tongue inside me. I want us almost to come together and then we’ll stop. Can we do that tonight?” She wanted to repeat last night, lose herself in him, not think about tomorrow.
“My God, yes.” He pulled her toward the stairs. “Wait.” He bent down in front of her and removed her panties and tossed them into the pile of their clothes. “Just so we know where to find them.”
His words were heated on her skin. She ran her fingers through his hair as he knelt before her. He pressed his mouth on her navel and tongued her. His mouth moved over her abdomen, his tongue swirling filigree designs across her flesh, teasing and tormenting her. She grew wet between her legs. He blew a mouthful of air at her sex and she closed her eyes, a chill shaking her body. She wanted to fuck him right here and now. Never had she felt like this, where nothing else in the world mattered except fulfilling her desire.
“Dustin, I—” He buried his mouth against her and darted his tongue into her cleft. She whimpered.
He stood and picked her up, taking several steps at a time. Inside his bedroom, he spread her on the bed. He lit several candles around the room. He came back to her, his erection stood straight up, ruddy with a drop of moisture glistening at the tip.
“This is where I want you.” She licked her lips and touched herself, showing him the swollen bud that waited for his mouth. His gaze followed the movement of her fingers and he came down on the bed next to her.
He brushed her hair off her face. “Close your eyes.”
Just as she asked, he swept his lips and tongue over and around her face. He sucked her lips, at a time. She reached out to him, her hands memorizing his body, the texture of his skin. His mouth found the pulse point on her neck and when he sucked, bright lights flashed behind her eyes, starbursts of color, and she cried out. His hands were on her breasts, plucking her nipples. His mouth followed and she moved her hands down her own body.
“No. I’m going to bring you to edge. You’ve got your own work to do.”
She opened her eyes. Her body was on fire. She was going to explode, absolutely, finally a complete obliteration if he didn’t take her. She stroked him again. The skin along his shaft was soft yet firm, like a rose petal-encased steel rod.
He changed position, moving toward her thighs, reclining on the side of her, his hands spreading her legs. She faced his rock-hard cock, too beautiful simply to stare at, and she took hold of him, stroking and guiding the plump crown across her lips. She teased him with the tip of her tongue.
He used his mouth and tongue again like a paintbrush covering her body. Each time he stopped to suck or bite her skin, she inhaled sharply. He traced the outline of her pussy, teasing her, and she shifted her body trying to get him to touch her intimately.
Desire spurred her to push him toward the brink of where she teetered. She held him at the base of his shaft and swiped her tongue along the ridge of his crown, mindful of stroking the sensitive underside. She swirled zigzag designs traveling up and down the length of him. She imagined he was a sumptuous Italian ice and she didn’t want to miss one drop.
His low groan turned menacing. “Take me in your mouth. Stop teasing me.”
“Ah.” She smiled. “You first. Do me.” She wet her finger and rubbed along the tight skin under the tip of his cock. She inhaled his aroma of musk and cologne. Her mouth salivated and between her legs she was engorged with need for him. She didn’t know if she wanted to suck him or fuck him more. Her mouth won out. She latched onto his crown and tasted him. Salty and tangy on her tongue.
He separated her folds with his fingers and his tongue eased between her slit. She arched and moved herself against his mouth. He clamped his hand onto her hips. He pushed her back against the bed and sucked her, his mouth doing things she’d not even imagined writing.
Claire wasn’t going to let him go unrewarded. She tongued him and alternated between rapidly swallowing his cock to slow dancing licks followed by suckling his crown with her lips. She was near to climaxing with him in her mouth. But she wanted more.
“You win. Please, Dustin.”
He laughed against her, into her, toying with her. He played with her clit with his tongue, sucked her rhythmi
cally, fucking the hell out of her mind. He finally thrust his tongue in and out until she rained down into his mouth. She quivered, her hips flexed. She was unleashing into his mouth.
“Baby, give it to me.” He kept his mouth on her sex, lapping her as if she was the most delicious treat until she relaxed from her orgasm.
He moved and tore open a small plastic pouch. “I’ve got to get inside you.”
There was no holding him back. He was between her legs, belly to belly, and then his cock was inside her. Her legs were over his shoulders and he pumped himself, slamming against her bottom with the force of a wrecking ball. He thrust so deep he made her gasp, and then he did it again. He kept going in and out of her body, his mouth on hers, and his hands on her legs. His raw power overwhelmed her into a second orgasm, and she cried out his name.
“Claire.” He yelled out her name as if in response.
She loved the look of rapture on his face. Again and again with each thrust, his body shuddered and he groaned. He kissed the inside of her knees and unfurled her legs from his shoulders. He gave one last groan of pleasure. He settled over her body, tunneling his arms under shoulders. Both of them spent and laying still in each other’s arms.
“Stay with me tonight.”
“Yes.” She nuzzled and kissed him, melting once more under his smoldering mouth.
He moaned. He was so beautiful. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders tighter, her breasts pushed up against him, and a rugged rasp released deep inside his chest.
Chapter Fourteen
Dustin woke after Claire. A light shone in the bathroom, its glow slipping out under the closed door. He was surprised they’d slept right through the night. He stretched and felt around. Her spot was still warm on the bed. He punched the pillows against the headboard, eagerly waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. The door opened and her eyes widened seeing him sitting up in bed. He could see them doing this for the next fifty or sixty years. If she agreed. How many days was he supposed to wait when his mind was already made up?
He watched her, delighting in the sway of her hips and breasts. She wasn’t leaving Mill Spring. She said she was staying. So far they’d spent two nights together. A muscle ticked along his face and he softened the clenched lock of his jaws. He scrubbed a hand over his cheek.
“What are you thinking, Mr. Murray?” She lifted the sheet.
“Come over here and I’ll show you, baby.”
Dustin nuzzled her neck. “I can’t believe you’re in my house and bed, twice in a row.” Her mouth was hot on his skin. Each kiss and nip sent a flame of fire from the point of contact straight to his groin.
He dragged his tongue slowly down to the tip of her breast. This was heaven. Every room in this house had been remodeled with her in the back of his mind, always weighing the possibility of her being the one to be pleased. “Did you like the bathroom?”
“Your house is amazing. Just like you.”
“Can I show you something?” He rose off the bed and held out his hand. He took her back into the bathroom and opened the inner door. An array of lights turned on. He dimmed them—the skylight allowed the morning sunlight into the room and it reflected brightly off the mirrors.
Inside, she moved from the double shower to the large Jacuzzi tub, and opened the sauna door. There were plants, shelves with lotions, soaps, gels, sponges, whatever he could find that reminded him of her. “I went out yesterday and stocked up.”
She picked up a bottle of peppermint hemp soap. “You remembered.”
“Yep. Those summers we’d go to the creek to wash off the mud. Every time I smell that stuff I think of you. If you don’t like it anymore, tell me what you want. After last night, I’m all ears to hear about what you desire.”
“How about a shower?”
He couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face. He flipped on both showerheads and steam billowed out. The shower was deep enough to be open without doors or curtains. He followed her inside what felt like a rain shower. Their damp skin slid together, the sensual touch bringing his cock up to a salute. He opened the soap and poured a stream into his hand.
“Turn around.” He glided his hand down her belly and up, forming trails of bubbles in lazy patterns over her skin. He covered her breasts with foam and rubbed her shoulders on down to her hands, entwining his fingers with hers. He pushed his cock between her ass cheeks. His cock thrust between her legs as he pivoted his hips, intending to tease her.
“Oh, this feels so damn good.” She pressed back against his torso, letting him slide between her thighs. He gazed down at the two dimples showing above the plump firm globes of her bottom and exhaled at the thought of the things he could do to make her scream. She unleashed their hands and positioned his cock to rub higher against her. She rode him, holding on to the wall. He didn’t enter her but used his stiff rod to pleasure her.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Is this a one-person party?”
“Not if you’re inviting.”
He positioned himself at her opening. Their bodies were wet and slippery. “Hold on to the ledge.”
He drove into her a little at a time until he couldn’t stand it and thrust himself home. Inside she was warm, wet, and her muscles clenched around him in a tight grip. He pulled back and plunged back into her. He had no intension of coming inside her. Not without a condom. A few strokes and that was it. He slammed and swept back. She moaned and he slammed again. Electrical pulses crept up his spine and he had to stop and pull out.
“Sorry, baby. If I keep going I’m going to come.” He bent over her and stroked her clit. She straightened and took hold of his cock. She pumped him as he stroked between her legs. A groan escaped his lips and then the feeling of sweet euphoric haze overtook him and he came in two bursts. He thrust his fingers inside her and held her against him, pumping into her as if it were his cock deep inside her. She shuddered and moaned and closed her eyes. He watched the expressions that swept over her face. He held her next to him and moved her into the stream of hot water.
He washed her hair. A fantasy he’d held for so long, wanting to touch and wrap his hands with her silky tresses. She turned around in his arms and ran her soapy hands up and over his body. She made sexy sounds in the back of her throat. He explored every part of her body, not an inch remained undiscovered. They remained inside the shower well past wrinkled-finger stage.
“I think we’re both clean.” She wreathed her arms around his neck.
He picked her up by wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her slowly, lingering and making their kiss last. He set her down outside the shower and held a towel open for her. He wrapped her inside the terrycloth material and spanked her bottom.
“Coffee?”
“Just like before?”
“Better.”
* * *
Claire tried not to sound as if she were complaining about Fran. But with each of her answers to Dustin’s questions, his face grew darker and more closed. A muscle pulsed at the side of his face making her weary of what he might ask next.
“I think my writing just unnerved her.”
He picked up the pages she’d printed for him to read. “What you write is very passionate. I’d be willing to read every word you’ve ever written.”
“So you’re not put off by this type of fiction?”
“Turned on is more like it.” He drew her hand to his crotch and the very hard erection that was waiting. “Very turned on.” He lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles.
“I don’t know. She might force me to use a pen name.”
He chuckled. “A pen name? Is that her idea?”
“No, but she said she’d contest the will.”
The plates he carried came down onto the counter in a crash. His voice took on a dangerous tone, low and eerie. “She what?” He formed his lips into a thin grimace as he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel. “She threatened you?”
“Not exactly. Just made it seem as th
ough I shouldn’t be thinking of limiting my career.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled. “I know you don’t want me butting into your affairs with your sister. But if you need me, please let me help. I know more people than you can imagine.” He walked over to her, lifting her chin. “I’m serious. Don’t let anyone bully you.”
“I can stand up for myself.” She sat back and crossed her arms. “Why does everyone think that I’m such a lightweight?”
He studied her, silently brooding, and kept his mouth shut. She didn’t know if he thought she was a “pleaser” as Mike and Fran believed. This was the last straw. “I can take care of myself.”
“Hey, I’m not going to let what goes on between you and your sister interfere with us. It didn’t work before, got me nailed a few days ago, and right now you’re upset. All I’m asking is if you need to talk, I’m here. Do you understand? I love…your writing.”
“Thank you, it really means a lot to hear someone express an opinion that doesn’t have to do with their own bottom line.”
His lips quirked sensually. “Well, I’m not that innocent. Let’s just say it’s not my bottom line that responded.” Dustin rubbed his hand down the large bulge behind the zipper of his jeans. “Baby, your writing, your body, just being next to you drives me crazy. You intrigue and entice me.”
* * *
A walk between the houses early in the morning was nothing new. Claire had done it for years. She was thrilled being with Dustin, but her joy was edged in sorrow, confusion, and an underlying bitterness that seemed to define her relationship with Fran.
She opened the front door and smelled coffee. She slipped off her shoes and went into the kitchen. Fran was seated at the dining room table. “Wi-Fi still hasn’t ventured this far.”
Secret Desire Page 14