Authors: Leslie Parrish
caress.
He noted the invitation and responded to it, moving his mouth down her
throat, sinking his lips into the hol ow and pressing a hot openmouthed kiss
there.
“Close but not quite,” she said, both delighted and a little frustrated by his
slowness.
He chuckled, the sound almost evil. “Patience isn’t one of your strongest
suits, is it?”
“I’m very patient. I waited for you to make up your mind about this, didn’t I?”
This time he didn’t chuckle but laughed deeply. “Yeah, that took al of ten
seconds.”
“See? I’m infinitely patient.”
She proved it by resisting her urge to twine her fingers in his hair and pul
him down to her breasts, where she so wanted his sweet, lovely attention. The
feel of his chest hair against her bare skin had shot her awareness level into
the stratosphere, and she held her breath, waiting for the thril ing scrape of his
cheek or the brush of his lips against her puckered nipples.
“Oh, yes,” she groaned when he final y kissed his way to the top curve of
one breast. She stroked his back, arching toward his mouth, needing even
more. “Please, Gabe.”
He didn’t make her wait any longer, deftly removing her bra and then
bending down to kiss one taut peak. She moaned as he flicked his tongue out
for a taste and cried out when he closed his mouth over it and sucked deeply.
Pleasure roared through her. Olivia’s breasts had always been incredibly
sensitive, and the electric delight rocketed in every direction, landing
especial y hard between her thighs. She jerked against him, needing to be
naked, needing him inside her.
There was a lot she wanted to do with this man. She wanted to taste every
inch of him, to feel his mouth on the most intimate parts of her body. But
mostly, she just wanted him to fil her up, to make her warm and whole, to
remind her that she was every inch a woman.
“Please,” she whispered, reaching for the waistband of his jeans. “I want
you inside me.”
He moved to her other breast and whispered, “We’re just getting started.
We’ve got a lot of rungs on the ladder before we get to the top and jump off.”
She cupped his cheek, forcing him to look up at her. “We have al night. Fil
me up. Then we’l climb back down and hit every single rung, I swear to God.”
Some more than once.
With his wide gleaming smile, he looked a little wolfish. But he didn’t argue.
Sliding off his lap, Olivia stood in front of him, reached for her zipper and
unfastened her black slacks. She let them fal to the floor. Wearing nothing but
a pair of skimpy panties, she stared down at him, seeing his gaze roam over
her. Anticipation and hunger gleamed in his eyes, and he looked almost
unable to help himself as he leaned forward and pressed a warm,
openmouthed kiss to the hol ow below her right hip.
“Liv, please, just two rungs down the ladder,” he begged, moving his mouth
along the elastic edge of her panties. She felt his warm breath flow through
the nylon into the curls covering her sex and shuddered, having to drop her
hands onto his shoulders as her legs went weak. “Or one. Give me just one.”
“Uh . . .”
He didn’t wait for permission. Instead, with wicked intent, he merely tugged
her panties off and continued to taste her into near incoherence. A cry built up
in the back of her throat as warm, wonderful waves of pleasure began to rol
through her. Olivia was shaking so hard, he had to support her, holding her by
the hips. And when an orgasm washed over her, she tossed her head back
and let out a low cry of delight.
That seemed to snap whatever restraints had been holding him back. Gabe
rose to his feet, tore his jeans off and reached for her again. She held back for
the briefest moment, wanting to see him—al of him—and the sight was
enough to make every part of her that wasn’t already soft, warm and ready get
that way on the spot. She was nearly desperate to feel that thick erection
pressing into her, going so deep he’d imprint himself on her.
Knowing they hadn’t discussed the issue, she said, “I’m on the pil . And I’ve,
uh
. . . Wel , I haven’t been with a lot of people.”
He obviously understood what she was getting at. “It’s been a long time for
me, too, Liv. I don’t do casual sex, and I never have . . . in case you were
worried about that.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Good,” he whispered as he maneuvered her around, until her back was to
the bed. Then he pushed her down onto it, fol owing her, kneeling above her.
“I’m glad that’s taken care of, because I am dying to feel you wrapped around
me, without any kind of barrier between us.”
There was none of any kind, prophylactic or otherwise. Her own need to
protect herself from a world that hadn’t always been kind about the things
she’d seen, his to keep up a tough-guy, uncaring façade to prove he’d risen
above his childhood—al of that had fal en away. Now they were just two
people who were fal ing for each other, giving in to the emotions and desires
that had been nipping at them in tiny bites of awareness since the moment
they’d met.
“I’ve wanted you so much,” he told her as he moved between her parted
thighs.
Liv bent one knee, curving up to welcome him. “I’ve wanted you, too.” She
wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss, even as he
moved his hands down to see whether she was real y as ready for him as she
claimed to be.
She cried out against his mouth when he slid his fingers between her slick
womanly folds and jerked when he slid one inside her.
“Top rung,” she reminded him, certain he had to realize she had meant what
she’d said. She was ready, her body wet, soft, waiting to be fil ed. She wanted
him inside her, now.
“Then we go down?” he asked, his eyes gleaming with erotic wickedness.
She nodded. “Oh, yeah. We definitely go down.”
“Deal,” he said, then moved closer, replacing his warm, strong fingers with
that equal y warm erection.
Olivia closed her eyes, held her breath, feeling him begin to slide into her.
He was so restrained, so determined that they’d both feel every sensation,
every inch of connection.
She felt it. Oh, God, did she feel it. Olivia savored every moment as he
moved deeper, possessing her both physical y
and
emotional y, the way no
man ever had before. Until, final y, he drove al the way into her, bringing a tiny
gasp to her lips.
He froze. “Are you okay?”
She couldn’t speak for a second, focused solely on the amazing ful ness,
the heat, the pleasure of it. Then, final y she whispered, “So okay, I might never
be not okay again.”
Her answer seemed to please him; he smiled and kissed her again,
whispering sweet words against her lips. He told her how beautiful she was,
how good she felt, how much he’d wanted her. Al of those words echoed the
thoughts that had been going on in her mind.
They began to move together. There was no awkwardness, no first-timers-
getting-acquainted trepidation. Their two bodies seemed to become as one,
each gentle thrust met, each powerful one welcomed with a groan or gasp of
delight. As he fil ed her with deep, deliberate strokes, Olivia began to feel
everything else—the dark thoughts, the worries—vanish. There was only this
wonderful, passionate man, making her feel better than she’d ever thought she
could.
He kissed her like he had never tasted anything more perfect than her
mouth and made love to her like he never intended to stop. Every moment
was better, more fantastic than the last, each caress so evocative and every
touch wrapped in sensuality. Until final y, after Olivia had ridden yet another
wave of pleasure to its shattering culmination, Gabe cried out his release
against her hair, joining her at last.
Afterward, he rol ed over onto his back, taking her with him so she lay
across him. She felt his heart pounding against her cheek and the movement
of his chest as he drew in deep breaths that final y began to slow.
They were stil for a long while. She had no idea what time it was; she just
knew the room had brightened as the moon moved in the sky. It shone through
the uncurtained glass doors, bathing their bodies in soft, gentle light. Above
them, the ceiling fan swirled lazily, sending streams of air to cool their heated
skin.
“Gabe,” she eventual y whispered, her voice lazy, sated and thick with sex.
“Yeah, darlin’?”
“Thanks for pushing me out of the path of that car.”
“Pushing doesn’t sound heroic enough. I didn’t push you; I swooped in and
carried you.”
She chuckled. “Okay, thanks for carrying me then. You real y are my hero.”
In
so many ways.
He ran his fingers down her back, caressing the sensitive spot at the base
of her spine. “Yeah, wel , thank you for not getting run down by it before I could
reach you.”
“It wasn’t a very auspicious first meeting,” she admitted.
She felt him stroke her cheek, pushing her hair back. Then, putting his index
finger below her chin, he tipped her face up so she would meet his eyes.
“However it happened, Olivia, whatever the circumstances, I have the feeling
that every day for the rest of my
life
I’m gonna thank God for bringing you into
it.”
Watching Olivia’s balcony doors from the shadowy backyard of the house next
door, Johnny blew out an angry breath. He wasn’t gonna be able to grab the
whore tonight.
He muttered a curse, not worried that somebody might hear him. The family
who lived in this house had gone on vacation—who’d know their schedule
better than the good old lawn guy who was supposed to come by and water
every other day?
“Damn, them people are stupid,” he muttered. Stupid and trusting. He could
go into that house and clean it out, top to bottom. They’d never checked no
references, never even wondered if Lenny was his real name. They just knew
he worked cheaper than most other guys and did a good job, so they kept him
around.
The timing of their trip had been perfect, considering he was ready to take
care of the little bitch he’d hated for more than a decade. He’d come here at
around nine, after doing some research for some other business he would be
taking care of later, and had started watching the house. He’d been waiting for
the lights to go off, which would indicate Olivia Wainwright had gone to bed.
He had been so excited at the thought of waking her up again. A hand
clamped on her face in the middle of the night. A familiar voice whispering that
she’d better not scream, or else he’d kil her sister. A knife pressed to her
throat. She’d be downright sick in the head.
Confusion would make her slow. Memories would make her crazy. Fear
would be her undoing.
“But not tonight,” he snapped, so frustrated he wanted to break something.
Because the damn woman had brought that cop up to her room. He’d seen
a pair of shadows passing by an upstairs window.
She’d ruined his plans for tonight, when he’d been ready to grab her, take
her, end this.
He had it al worked out in his mind, what he was gonna do to Olivia. Just
smothering her or shooting her in her bed—like he intended to do to his other
victim tonight—was too good for this one. He wanted her in his power, wanted
her to be afraid, wanted to gobble up her terror, gorge on it.
He wanted her to see Jack and know that no matter what she’d done,
nothin’ could come between him and his boy.
But no. She wasn’t alone. He’d have to wait until tomorrow. The cop might
be there al night, but he couldn’t stay 24/7. He glanced at his watch, realizing
how late it was. But the night wasn’t a total loss. He had another victim on his
list. He’d planned to grab Olivia, knock her out, and leave her tied up in the
back of his truck while he ran his other errand. He’d thought it’d be quick,
secretive, not too messy. An in-and-out job to eliminate the threat that had
arisen. Now, though, he guessed he’d just go take care of that errand without
her.
That’s just fine. Now maybe I can have some fun, take my time. You don’t
have to do this, no need to rush through it. I’ll handle everything.
Johnny rubbed his forehead, feeling the tingling of a headache, then
reached into his pocket and grabbed the smal bottle of aspirin he always
kept on him. He dumped a few in his hand, popped them into his mouth and
chewed, the familiar tart, acidic taste comforting and soothing as a cool cloth
on his brow.
For a second, he couldn’t remember what he was doing. He’d had it
planned: take the girl, run that other errand, eliminate the threat quickly. A