Caught in the Act (The Davenports) (12 page)

Larger than he’d been at fifteen, and most definitely larger than her husband. Joe had been a good man and a good father, but he hadn’t exactly been Hercules in the bedroom.

Brody, though, he might be deserving of such a nickname.

Once he was fully in, he raked his gaze over her, and she knew one thing for certain. The games were over.

He meant business now.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

C
AT FELL TO
the bed covered in sweat, with a smile on her face so big she worried it might crack the corners of her mouth. It was the next morning, sometime right before sunrise, and she and Brody had just had another really excellent round of sex.

“
Ohmygod.
” Her breaths came out short and hard. She’d gotten more exercise in the past eight hours than she had in the last ten years of her life. “You have certainly learned a few things in the last two decades.”

A muffled chuckle came from the pillow on the other side of the bed before a heavy arm slid across the space and captured her. It hooked around her waist and pulled her to his side. Brody lay on his stomach, his face buried in the down pillow that now smelled of sex.

Everything smelled of sex. They’d been up the majority of the night. And dang, but she was going to be sore today.

“Surely you can’t go again,” she questioned halfheartedly. “I didn’t know anyone had that kind of stamina.”

Brody rolled to his side and lazily propped his head on his hand. Early gray light from outside had crept into the room, and she could see that he seemed as satisfied—and exhausted—as she.

“I know you make a living stroking people’s egos to get money out of them,” he began as he tugged her even closer, this time burying his nose against the side of her neck. “But did anyone ever tell you how really great you are at it?”

She snickered. “Are you suggesting I’m merely saying what you want to hear, Dr. Hollister?”

“I’m suggesting that it’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve been able to go four times in one night.
Something
you’re doing is making it happen.”

It felt like she was surrounded by a glowing bubble of happiness. She hadn’t had so much fun in years. She paused, realizing the truth of it. “Don’t take this as me trying to taunt you into seeing if you’re man enough to go for five, but I haven’t had a night like that in . . .” She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Forever.”

He growled at her before returning his face to her neck. “I like snuggling with you,” he murmured against her body. “You’re soft and comfy.”

She snorted. “I’m soft because I don’t do crazy-ass things like jog every single day of my life.”

“I don’t jog for my body,” he said. He rolled to his back and threw an arm over his forehead with a grunt. “Which reminds me, I need to get up and get out there.” He looked at her. “I jog for my brain.”

She laughed. “You think your brain has a six-pack going?”

“No, smart-ass. Exercise and watching what you eat keeps your brain healthy.”

“Well, I do like your brain.”

He pinched her ass and winked. “The six-pack is merely a bonus.”

She would have to agree. It was a bonus. She ran her hand up his middle as he lay there, and licked her lips when the sheet over his groin stirred. “My, my, Dr. Hollister. I think you might be more man than I thought.”

“It’s reflex,” he groaned out. “Trust me, I couldn’t make it happen even if you did that thing you did again.”

She grinned. She had done a thing. She’d surprised herself at how quickly the skill had come back to her. “Are you sure? I could give it a shot.” She inched her fingers closer to the rising sheet.

His stomach chose that moment to protest in hunger, and they both burst out laughing.

“I guess that answers my next question,” she said. “I was going to ask if you were hungry.”

“Starving.”

“I can make you a smoothie. Flaxseed and fruit. Would that be good for your brain?”

He shot her a horrified glare. “Is that the pink thing you drink out on the deck in the mornings? Not that you’ve been out on the deck in a while,” he grumbled the last sentence.

A blush stole over her. “I couldn’t go back out there. You caught me watching you. You called me out on it the other night on the beach. I had to stop.”

“Too bad. I discovered that I liked being watched.”

“Then you should have been gentleman enough not to point out that you were on to me. Let me be a dirty voyeur, and you be Mister Studly Running Man, preening at the woman who can’t get enough. That way we could have both been happy.”

He caught her hand in his. “I’m pretty happy as it is.” He ran a finger down her arm. “How about you? Any regrets?”

She shook her head. “None.” How could she have regrets after a night like last night?

“We should have talked about it first. That was my intent when I came over. Make sure we’re both thinking the same thing.”

“That we both wanted sex?” she teased. She threw back the covers and climbed from the bed. “I’m starving. If I had eggs I’d offer to scramble you some, but all I have are the ingredients for smoothies and a few frozen dinners. I’m not much of a cook.”

Brody followed her up. She shrugged into a short robe as he pulled on his jeans. “I’ll run to my house and bring back eggs,” he offered. “I’m not drinking my breakfast.”

“Suit yourself. But you don’t know what you’ll be missing.”

He grabbed her by the wrist when she headed for the door and swung her back around. “Just sex, right?” he asked.

His words shouldn’t bother her. Of course it was just sex. That’s what she’d called it herself. But still . . . did he have to sound so casual about it? She gave him the nod he was expecting. “I was thinking we’d call it friends with benefits.”

He studied her for a moment. She could see a pulse beating steadily in his neck. “For how long?” he asked.

She hadn’t really thought about how long. Well, she had. She couldn’t be running around naked with the man after her kids got there. But it wasn’t like she’d put a date to it or anything.

“My kids will be up here the Sunday after next.”

“Then we have today, plus eleven more days.”

She nodded. “Twelve days.”

His eyes were solemn and steady as he watched her, and she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his head. Finally he said, “We have a lot to do in the next twelve days.”

His tone sounded like more than “just sex,” and she was just about to ask him what he meant when he pulled her close and slid his hand down to palm her rear. He fitted her against his newly formed semi-erection. “
A lot.
”

Ah. He
was
just talking about sex. Good. Because that’s all it could be.

“I do have one request,” she added. At his look she continued, “Can we keep this just between us?”

“Meaning what?” He released her. “You don’t want me to take out an ad announcing that I’m sleeping with a Davenport? Could make me popular.”

She whacked him on the arm. “That’s not what I’m saying. But no, don’t take out an ad either.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, let’s confine this to our houses. No PDAs. No one else’s business what we’re doing.”

“Don’t grab your ass in public. No Frenching in front of little old ladies. Got it. Can I ask why?”

“Do you
have
to ask why?” She knew he wasn’t blind. He had to realize how things were for her.

“I’d like to understand.”

She blew out a breath of frustration. “I’m a public figure, Brody. Not in the way my mother is, but I’m a part of things. I’m right there in the middle of my family. Always. People watch me. People
judge
me simply because of who I am.”

“And you don’t want them to know . . . what? That you’re sleeping with
me
? Or that you’re sleeping with anybody?”

“That I’m sleeping with anybody.” She licked her lips, as nerves had made her mouth go dry. Brody didn’t look especially pleased with the direction the conversation had taken. “I’m a mother of two small kids. I don’t run around having flings. I don’t want to be portrayed in the news that way, potentially confusing my own children. Plus, I’m here on vacation. To relax. And though you wouldn’t know it by me now being in the play—
and donating a freaking park
—I actually came up here hoping to remain under the radar. I don’t want to give anyone anything to talk about. There’s enough talk about my family already.”

His eyes had taken on a darker hue, nearing the color of seaweed washed ashore. “You don’t want anyone using
you
to benefit
them
?”

“Exactly.” Thank goodness he understood.

He gave a nod. “I can respect that. Yeah, we’ll keep it between us.”

“Just sex,” she reiterated. Though she wasn’t sure why she felt it needed to be said again.

“Just sex,” he agreed. A tiny muscle twitched in his jaw.

She gave a forced smile. She hadn’t meant to bring the mood down. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“My pleasure.”

His gaze made her nervous, as if he could see too much, so she turned and headed to the kitchen to fix her smoothie. As she went about pulling strawberries and mangoes from the freezer, Brody remained silent behind her. Scooping out the correct portions, she did her best to act normal, trying not to guess at what he might be thinking. Or if her request had bothered him as much as it appeared to.

He was so silent, her nerves ratcheted up once again, and she was just about to ask if they should just forget the whole thing when she turned to dump the ingredients into the blender.

That’s when she found him standing at her kitchen window. Holding her binoculars.

One side of his mouth slowly turned up. “I thought you quit.”

Embarrassment laughed out of her, but she refused to care. Yeah, she’d still been watching him jog every morning. And she’d enjoyed every second of it.

She was also tired of always having to worry about what others thought. Maybe some—most—parts of her life had to be that way, but this part didn’t. Might as well own it. “Actually, I merely decided to be a bit more discreet,” she pointed out in an upper-class tone. “So sue me. You have a cute ass.”

She plucked the binoculars from his hand and put them back on her windowsill. Then she returned the fruit to her freezer. Screw a healthy breakfast.

“And now,” she began, “your punishment for calling me out on my bad habits,
yet again
, will be twofold. First, you must feed me breakfast.” She held up a finger as if to stop him from speaking. “At
your
house. You aren’t messing up dishes that I’ll have to clean up. I want eggs,” she added, “oh . . . with
cheese
. I love eggs with cheese. And a biscuit.” She looked at him with imploring eyes. “Please tell me you have biscuits at your house?”

The slash of his mouth turned dangerous. “I also have jelly. It’ll taste good licked off you.”

She swayed on her feet at the thought of Brody licking her clean of jelly. Then she groaned, thinking about her genetic predisposition to wider-than-she’d-like hips, no matter how many three-legged dogs she did every morning. “My behind is not going to approve of any of this.”

His fingers trailed the outline of her hips. “Then let me worry about your behind. I happen to like it.”

She blushed. No one had complimented her backside in years.

“What else?” he asked. His hands remained at her hips.

“For breakfast?”

“For punishment,” he clarified. He tugged, closing the distance between them, and the nakedness of his chest rubbed against the silk covering hers. Her nipples went on red alert. And then his hands gripped both sides of the material and tugged.

Next thing she knew, a breast was being supported by his palm, and his mouth was heading her way.

Cat’s pulse leaped as Brody’s tongue laved over her turgid flesh. The stubble on his jaw scratched at her skin, and she dug her hands into his hair, pulling him close. She arched her chest upward. She wanted more. She wanted it all.

“Brody,” she groaned, already forgetting the need for breakfast.

“What else?” he repeated. He slid his hands behind her and cupped her bottom, shifting his mouth to her other breast.

“Uh . . .” She tried to think. What else had she been intending to say?

Then he fitted his denim-clad erection to her midsection and hiked her legs around his waist. He pressed into her.

Pinning her against the countertop, his body was hard against her soft places, and she focused her eyes to watch him toy with her breasts. Finally, she remembered part two of his punishment. She wet her lips.

“I want you to do
this
until I’ve had enough,” she breathed out.

His eyes lifted to hers. They went dark, and he popped her nipple from between his lips and sought out her mouth. It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was greedy and hungry, and she met him stroke for stroke.

When he pulled back, they were both breathless. Her lips felt raw from the assault, but she was ready to go again.

“Lady.” The word came out as a low growl. “I’ll do
this
until you beg me to stop.”

Before she could guess his intent, he scooped her up and headed out her back door.

“Brody!” she screeched as he bounced down her deck steps. “My boobs are showing!”

She caught a glimpse of her discarded shirt from the night before, lying haphazardly in the sand, as she reached for the edges of her robe. Somehow, her actions only made things worse. One entire side of the silk slipped between her and Brody, and he clamped their bodies tight, exposing her to the rising sun and the dew-filled morning.