Steamy: A Romance Anthology That Sizzles

by Johnson, Cat

  “Oh!” A breathless squeak left me and I slapped a hand over my mouth, just as his arm wrapped around my waist in an automatic gesture to stop me from stumbling. Unfortunately, that put me in even closer proximity to his—did I mention—very naked body.

  The towel slowly dropped from his head, leaving his dark blond hair standing up in damp spikes and I tried to scramble backwards and put distance between us, forgetting the bed was there and fell backward with a shriek, arms and legs flailing.

  The breath left my body as Wood, whose arm was still around me, landed on top of me. I froze, my eyes flying up to find his.

  “Tami?” he asked, head tilting as he gazed down at me.

  “Yes,” I croaked out, and would have cringed at how breathless I sounded if his weight hadn’t been pinning me to the mattress. I met his gaze, watching as his blue eyes darkened, and bit my lip.

  His head dipped lower, nostrils flaring as he breathed in. “You smell incredible,” he whispered. “Like honey …”

  I sucked in a breath—a mistake when I inhaled a lungful of his own scent—spicy, decadent, tempting.

  “Do you think … would you mind ... umm …” My words faltered when his gaze centered on my lips. I started to push him away, realized my palms were flattened against his naked chest and snatched my hands back.

  His tongue swept out across his bottom lip, and then he carefully lifted himself off me, rolled to the side and rose to his feet.

  “Why are you in my bedroom?” His voice was rough,

  “I was changing the sheets.”

  “I … see.”

  “You’re not usually in here at this hour!” I blurted, trying unsuccessfully to keep my eyes above waist level—a feat in itself since I was still on the bed and he was standing directly in front of me and my line of sight was filled with sheer male perfection.

  “Do you come into my bedroom often?”

  “No!” Scrambling off the bed, I spun so my back was to him. Not that it helped. The image of his perfectly sculpted body was permanently burned into my retinas. It might have even been imprinted onto my body because I was certain I could still feel him pressed against me. “I’ll wait outside until you’re done,” I mumbled and started forward in an attempt to exit the room as fast as humanly possible.

  I’m pretty sure I heard him chuckle but didn’t stick around to find out. In fact, I kept going once I left the room and didn’t stop until I was in the kitchen, where I busied myself making coffee.

  I’d just seen my boss naked—naked—and holy shit that wasn’t a sight I was going to forget anytime soon! I tried though, I tried! It helped that he seemed to be avoiding me as for the following three days, I barely saw him. He still swam, but he didn’t arrive in the kitchen for his breakfast and he didn’t respond whenever I tapped on the door with his food.

  It was the third day after seeing him naked that my cell blared to life while I was trying, and failing, to wipe the memory of how his body felt pressed against mine from my mind. Phoebe’s number flashed up on the screen and I connected the call.

  “How’s it going?” she asked.

  “I … ummm … is he always so …” I trailed off, confident that Phoebe would take exception to me commenting about how sinfully hot her brother—my boss—was.

  “Dickish? An asshole?” she supplied with a laugh. “I’m afraid so. To use a well-coined phrase, his bark is usually much worse than his bite though.”

  “Usually?” I wedged the cell against my shoulder, while I filled two mugs with coffee. I had decided it was time to face my boss and try to get things back to normal.

  “He’s got the temperament of a lot of creative types. Not afraid to express his thoughts, regardless of who is there and how much it might sting.”

  “You didn’t think to tell me that before offering me the job?” Or the fact that he was a real-life Adonis? But I didn’t say that out loud.

  The sound of a cleared throat behind me caused my spine to snap straight, and I sloshed hot coffee over my hand.

  “Gossiping about me?” That rich husky voice thick with amusement woke butterflies in my stomach and I realized something I’d been ignoring for the last three days.

  Oh fuck. I was attracted to my boss.

  6

  Wood

  After letting Tami flee for her life, I finished drying and pulled on clean clothes, while I revisited how my housekeeper’s body had felt pressed close against mine and my dick stirred.

  Fuck. Unprofessional, I chided myself, and made the decision to stay out of her way until I got whatever this attraction was under control.

  Three days later I was still trying to get it under control. Every time I caught a hint of her perfume, saw her shadow beneath my door, I battled the urge to grab her and see if that initial spark was still there. I glanced at the clock. It had only just passed eleven and I was no further along in the book I was writing than I had been for the past three days.

  And why was that?

  Because I was thinking about the sassy mouth on the woman my sister had hired. Okay, so maybe I was also thinking about the curves hidden beneath her clothes, and wondering how she would look out of them. Preferably in my bed, with her legs spread.

  I groaned, adjusting the erection threatening to burst out of my pants. I rarely raised my head from my work, or left my home long enough to seek out company while I was in the ‘zone’—which surely accounted for my current preoccupation with a woman I’d barely met and was far outside of the ‘allowed fuck buddies’ category. First rule of life—don’t ever get involved with an employee. And yet, here I was, looking for reasons to watch her as she moved around my house.

  I rolled my shoulders and glanced toward the kitchen where I would put money on her being and rose to my feet. I shouldn’t be thinking about seeking her out. I definitely shouldn’t be imagining her naked. And I really shouldn’t be trying to figure out a way to make it happen as soon as possible.

  And yet, I found myself leaving my office and moving toward the kitchen.

  Her voice reached me before I stepped into the room and I scanned around until I found her, standing with her back to me, making coffee.

  “Is he always so …” her voice had a natural sexy rasp to it which went straight to my dick and I realized I was in trouble. I’d been aware of an attraction to her when she turned up, but now, after feeling her body beneath mine? Now that attraction had ramped up to volcanic levels and I knew myself. I wasn’t going to stop obsessing about her until I’d fucked her out of my system.

  I propped one shoulder against the doorframe and admired her ass as she bent to take out cream from the refrigerator. Three steps would put me right behind her, and my dick hardened further at the thought.

  What the fuck is wrong with you? I admonished myself silently. The girl has barely even looked in your direction the entire time she’s been here.

  That was a lie. I’d seen her covert glances when she thought I wasn’t looking.

  I don’t think I’d ever had such a visceral reaction to a woman before, but then finding a woman who would snipe back at me was unique in itself.

  “You didn’t think to tell me this before offering me the job?”

  Her voice filtered through the lust-filled thoughts I was having about pinning her against the refrigerator and slaking the pent-up frustrations I was feeling. She had to be talking to my sister, who would be filling her head with all sorts of ideas me. I cleared my throat loudly and bit back a laugh when she jerked. Her coffee spilled over her hands and she yelped.

  “Gossiping about me?”

  Tami squeaked in surprise, and raised her hand to her lips to ease the burn from the hot drink. She slowly turned to face me, her cheeks scarlet. “It wasn’t … I wasn’t …” she stammered

  “Let me save you the trouble. That was Phoebe.” I waved to the cell gripped in her hand. “Or,” I added, spotting the call was still connected, “rather, it is Phoebe.” I held out my hand. “Give me the phone
.”

  Without waiting to see if she complied with my demand, I took the steps needed to put me directly in front of her, tugged the cell from her fingers and lifted it to my ear.

  “Hey, sis.”

  “Wood!”

  “Do you think you could stop telling horror stories to my housekeeper?”

  “That wasn’t what I was doing,” she denied. “And from what she’s been telling me, you’re barely around to notice her, anyway.”

  I held Tami’s gaze. “Oh, I noticed her,” I drawled softly. At my words, she blushed and turned away to run her hand under the faucet. “Stop calling,” I told Phoebe and cut the call. “Let me look at that.”

  “It’s fine.” She wouldn’t look in my direction. “Look, I’m sorry about the call. We weren’t gossiping about you.”

  “Phoebe’s my sister. Of course, she was talking about me. I’m her favorite topic.” I stepped up behind her and reached around to take her hand, and examined the small burn. “You need to put something on that.”

  She snatched her hand out of mine and tried to put some distance between us—impossible with the sink in front of her and me behind her. “I said it’s fine,” she muttered.

  Arching a brow, I shifted to the side, propped a hip against the countertop and studied her. “You’ve just scalded yourself on hot coffee.”

  “You sneaked in and made me jump!”

  “It’s my house. I can roam at will.”

  “I’m aware.”

  “A lot more aware than you want to be.” I pointed out silkily, and smirked when the red in her cheeks deepened. I crossed the kitchen and opened a cupboard to take down a small first aid kit. Opening the box, I took out some antiseptic cream. “Licking at the burn like a cat isn’t going to take away the sting.” I responded to her glare with a bland smile, and hoped she wouldn’t look down and see the erection I was sporting from the sight of that little pink tongue lapping at her own skin. “I won’t bite, Tami …” I lowered my voice. “Not unless you ask me nicely. Give me your hand.”

  I honestly thought she was going to tell me to go to hell. Her eyes burned with the desire to swear at me, but eventually, common sense won the battle and she placed her palm in mine.

  “There. That wasn’t difficult, was it?” I twisted off the cap from the tube with my teeth and smeared some cream over the small burn.

  Tami hissed, lips compressing together at the sting, but she held still while I made sure the entire area was coated. This close, I could smell her perfume—a subtle blend that made me think of lazy summers on the beach. I stroked over the soft skin of her inner wrist with my thumb, heard her sharp intake of breath, and slowly lifted my gaze to meet hers. Her lips parted, and I almost groaned.

  “Stop looking at me like that,” I whispered.

  “Like what?”

  “Like you want to eat me up for lunch.”

  “I’m not,” she protested, but it was weak and unconvincing.

  “Liar.” I angled my head down until our noses were almost touching.

  7

  Tami

  He’s going to kiss me. The thought whispered through my mind.

  Wood’s fingers slid over my jaw and my eyes drifted closed in anticipation. His warm breath fanned over my face, and for a long second, his mouth hovered close enough to know it was there, and still not touch. And then his hand cupped the back of my neck. He was going to kiss me. I knew it was coming, yet when his mouth covered mine, the shock of it still made the breath catch in my throat.

  “Let me in, Tami,” he whispered, and stroked his tongue against the seam of my lips. They parted on a sigh and he thrust it inside, against mine.

  And just like that, I lost track of my surroundings, of everything except the taste of him. My arms lifted to wind around his neck, while our tongues rolled and thrust against each other.

  He tasted like rich chocolate and caramel—a wicked combination I wanted more of … and that thought floating through my head was like a bucket of cold water. I pulled my mouth free from his and stepped back, letting my hands drop.

  Wood didn’t speak, running his tongue over his bottom lip as he stared at me out of eyes that had turned a darker shade of blue.

  My lips were tingling and I fought the urge to lick them.

  “That was … inappropriate,” I tried to snap, but my voice was a husky croak.

  His hand canted, eyes gleaming. “Well, you’ve already seen me naked.” His voice was rich and low. “So we’re basically almost married.”

  I dredged up a smile, from I don’t know where. “Is that your only requirement for a girlfriend? Accidentally seeing you naked for less than three seconds?”

  “I like how specific you are about how long you eye-fucked me for. It bodes well for the longevity of our relationship.”

  “That’s not what happened!”

  “Wow, lying to your boss … I’m outraged.” His smile was slow and warm. “You should make me lunch to apologize.”

  “Make you lunch?” I was rapidly going from hot and horny to irritated. This man was driving me crazy.

  “Phoebe did say part of your job was to make sure I was fed and watered, didn’t she?”

  “I could take that to mean you also need to be stabled and put out to pasture,” I retorted.

  “Can’t say I’d object to being saddled and ridden.” His innuendo was so blatant, I laughed out loud.

  “Do you want a sexual harassment case this early in our association?” I tried to keep my voice prim, but found myself thinking about him naked again.

  “I haven’t harassed you … yet.” The words sounded more like a promise instead of a threat, and heat flooded me.

  I was saved from responding by the noise of the doorbell blaring through the house. Our eyes caught and locked.

  “Are you expecting someone?” I asked.

  He shook his head. Neither of us moved until the bell sounded out again.

  “I’ll just …” I waved in the direction of the front door. “I’ll go and see who it is.” Inching past him, I escaped the kitchen.

  I opened the front door to find a willowy blonde woman, dressed in a form-fitting black dress.

  “Wood!” she crowed when I opened the door, and I saw movement as Wood moved up to stand beside me. “Darling!” I watched as he was enveloped in her heavy perfume seconds before she wrapped her arms around him and slapped a wet, open-mouthed kiss to his lips. Wood turned his head a second too late to avoid the contact.

  “Layla.” Reaching back, he peeled her hands from around his neck and stepped away. “What are you doing here?”

  “Darling, don’t you remember? You invited me to lunch today.”

  His brows pulled together. “I don’t think I did.”

  “Oh, silly!” She gave a fake giggle, which set my teeth on edge, and patted his arm, trying to squeeze past him and into the house.

  Wood’s jaw clenched and I didn’t even think. He clearly didn’t want her here and I found I didn’t like the way she was touching him. I slid my hand around his arm, dislodging hers, and leaned against him. His head twisted, one eyebrow arching as he looked down at me.

  “Hi,” I said brightly to the newcomer. “We haven’t met. I’m Tami.”

  She ignored me, focusing on Wood. “Are you going to invite me in?”

  “Wasn’t planning on it,” he grunted, and I felt his palm come to rest on top of my hand, his fingers curling around mine to squeeze. “Tami and I were planning on having a quiet afternoon together.”

  “You and Tami …” she repeated slowly, her eyes turning to me.

  I smiled, following his lead. “I’m sure you understand how it is. We’re trying to spend as much time as we can together. New relationship and everything.”

  “New relationship?” She frowned at Wood. “I didn’t know you had met someone!”

  His shoulders moved in a shrug and he untangled his arm from mine so he could drape it over my shoulders and drew me into the side of his bo
dy.

  “Why would you?” he asked.

  “Because … I thought … you and me,” she spluttered, then glared at me. “I hope you’ll be very happy together,” she spat, turned on her heel and stalked down the path to her car.

  I heard Wood chuckle beneath his breath and then he was turning to face me, hands rising to curve over my cheeks.

  “You realize what you’ve done, don’t you?” he said.

  “Saved you from a crazy person?”

  He shook his head. “Acknowledged this thing between us.”

  “There is no—”

  “Liar,” he said over the top of me, repeating his word from earlier. “You know it’s there. When I kissed you … it was there.”

  His mouth on mine stopped any response I had.

  8

  Wood

  I could still taste Tami on my tongue and the entire time Layla was talking all I was thinking about was putting my mouth on her again. When she gave me the perfect opening by telling Layla we were at the start of a relationship, I grabbed it without any hesitation.

  When she didn’t immediately shove me away, I pressed forward, parting her lips with my tongue while backing her against the wall just outside the front door. Thoughts of Layla and her irritating persistence in chasing me dissolved the moment Tami opened her mouth and let me invade.

  It wasn’t the first time I’d kissed a woman, but this kiss with this woman was something else, something special. I knew that the way I knew my own name. Something inside, a knowledge, an instinct that had never steered me wrong. What was happening here was important, had the potential to be life-changing, and I wasn’t about to let it go without a fight.

  Her tongue dueled with mine, tasting me the way I was tasting her. I felt her move, rising up on her toes to wind her arms around my neck, stepping closer until she was pressed against me and I dropped one hand to curve over her hip and pulled her into my body.