Just the Way I Like It (4 page)

Chapter Three

Sam and Danika

“Isn’t she hot?”

Sam looked up at his wife. She was up on a ladder at Tease
,
their favorite erotic boutique, changing a light bulb after hours. He was on the floor, steadying the ladder. “I have no idea. I can’t stop looking at your butt in those jeans.”

Danika grinned down at him. “You looking at my butt while I was standing on something got us into a lot of trouble once, if you remember.”

How could he forget? She’d been working on a ceiling fan while standing on a dining room table. He’d definitely been looking at her butt then, but he’d made the mistake of touching her too—without warning. She’d fallen, broken her wrist and the rest was the story they were going to be telling their grandchildren about how they’d fallen in love.

“Yeah, I remember,” he said, resisting the urge to run his hand up the inside of her leg.

“Hey.” Dani snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Check
her
out.”

“It’s a rare wife who encourages her husband to check out another woman.” But Sam turned and located the manager of Tease. He knew Tina. He’d just never really looked at her. That had been the case with all women since Dani had come along.

“She’d be great for Dooley,” Dani said, climbing back down the ladder.

Since Dani had become a regular at Tease, she and Tina had become friends, and now Dani helped with miscellaneous fix-it projects around the store. Often, Sam came along and “helped”, like tonight. He loved this store. Especially when Tina compensated Dani by giving her free samples of new merchandise and toys. Sam had been a very happy man before this friendship had developed. Now he was a very tired, happy man.

When their group of friends had decided it was time to set Dooley up, Tina was the first one Dani suggested.

“Great how?” Sam asked, studying Tina objectively. She had short blond hair, a nose piercing and a great body.

“She’s funny, independent and very comfortable with sex and her body.”

Sam looked at Danika. “Those are good traits for Dooley?”

“Haven’t you ever noticed?” She gathered her bag of supplies together and motioned for Sam to fold the ladder. “He really likes women who are comfortable in their own skin. He doesn’t like the uptight ones or the shy ones. He’s not like you.”

“I like uptight and shy women?” Sam asked, propping the ladder next to the front counter.

Dani laughed. “You like
all
women.”

It was true. And a very good thing that she was confident enough in how he felt about her to not be threatened by that. He’d never cheat on her. Ever. But he did like women.

“But,” she went on, “you’re sweet and patient and charming enough to coax a woman out of her shell.” She ran her hand up his chest, pressing her body close. “You got me to open up.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “You were a powder keg just waitin’ for a match, darlin’.” He put his hand on her ass and pulled her in for a kiss.

As a perfect example, she dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

“You two could be good for business. Want to lose a few articles of clothing?” Tina asked.

They separated, but not before exchanging a heated look that promised more later.

“Anyway,” Dani went on. “Dooley doesn’t have the patience for seduction like you do. He needs someone who can jump right in with him.”

“Jump right in to sex?” Tina asked, stepping behind the counter.

Dani gave Sam a wink. “Yeah.”

“Why are we making it all about sex?” Sam asked. He couldn’t believe he’d just said that and knew that if his friends were there they’d have burst into laughter. Sex was one of Sam Bradford’s favorite things. In fact, before Danika came along, it had been his favorite thing period.

Now, though, cooking dinner, cuddling in front of the TV, holding hands in the movie theater, and just sitting and watching her read a book—even if she thought it was weird—were on his list too.

He loved to watch her. It amazed him how she could look beautiful to him all the time. Just out of the shower, dressed up for a fancy dinner party, working on her car, happy because she’d just finished a project or swearing because a project wasn’t coming together. Even reading a book.

Watching her was his new favorite hobby. He was pathetically and completely in love. Sex was part of it, of course. Hot, sweaty, dirty, sweet, amazing sex. But it was only
part
of it.

Danika was looking at him with an amused and confused expression. “Why are we making it all about sex?” she repeated.

“I thought we were trying to find a girl for him that could be serious. That he could have a real relationship with.”

Dani’s eyes widened. “Yeah. Sure. But I guess…” She shook her head. “I was thinking that chemistry had to come first.”

“Yeah, there has to be chemistry. But there has to be more,” Sam said, knowing he sounded like someone else had taken over his body.

“More like what?” Dani slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “Please enlighten me.”

He thought maybe she was fighting a smile.

He stepped forward and put his hand against her cheek. “I want him to know what it’s like to want his woman to smile more than anything and to be willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. I want him to be willing to eat chocolate chips in his pancakes because that’s how she likes them, even though then he can’t use blueberry syrup. I want him to know what it’s like to feel like he’s the funniest, smartest guy ever when he hears her quote something he said. I want him to know that even when he’s been the biggest ass, she’ll roll over and snuggle into his arms in the middle of the night because he makes her feel safe.”

Dani’s smile had completely died and her eyes were bright when she said, “Wow,” in that breathless voice he loved.

He gave her a cocky grin. “Yeah. Exactly. I want him to wow somebody.”

Dani glanced at Tina. “Be right back.”

She grabbed Sam’s hand and started toward the back of the store.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Just need a little privacy,” Dani muttered, not slowing down a bit.

Once they’d passed the wall of erotic DVDs and the display of strap-ons, Dani took a sharp left and pushed him into one of the fitting rooms.

“Dani, what—”

She went up on tiptoe and kissed him as she kicked the door shut behind them.

Her hands slid under his shirt and she pushed it up, over his chest. He dragged his lips from hers just long enough to duck his head through the neck hole as she pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the side.

He leaned in to resume possession of her mouth, but her lips went to his neck, eliciting a deep groan from him. She knew that licking right there made him hard. Dani knew everything that made him hard.

Of course, he was already hard and ready for her, but his cock throbbed as she sucked slightly on that spot before sliding down to his chest. She circled her tongue around his left nipple.

Sam cupped the back of her head, holding her close as he reached for the button and zipper on her jeans. He’d gotten pretty good with one hand—he hated being at a disadvantage at opportune moments—and he quickly had her pants undone. Mere seconds later, his hand was inside her panties and his middle finger deep inside the hot silk that he’d never get enough of.

No, a relationship wasn’t all about sex, but pleasuring the woman he loved was one of the most important things in his life. Sometimes it meant buying her a grande cinnamon latte. And sometimes it meant giving her a world-rocking orgasm.

Right now he was leaning toward the latter.

“Yes,” Danika urged, lifting one leg and pressing her knee against his hip, allowing him to sink deeper.

“Not that I’m complainin’,” he said as he pumped two fingers into her. “But what brought this on?”

“You,” she gasped. “You. The way you love me, everything you do, who you are.”

Her words made heat and possessiveness sweep through him. She’d always believed in him, that he could be more than he’d thought he could be. She made him want to be more and he was determined to be what she deserved.

Including the lover that could touch her exactly how and when she needed to be touched.

“Take ’em off,” he rasped, moving his free hand to his own jeans this time.

He unbuttoned and unzipped as she shoved her jeans and panties to the floor and kicked them out of the way.

The beauty of being married for a year was that he had not only seen the gorgeous body in front of him every day but that he knew precisely how to make her moan, gasp and come. Hard and fast.

He stroked the pad of his fingers over her clit and she gasped.

“I want you so much,” she said, reaching for him. “Will this ever wear off?”

“Not if I can help it.” His breath hissed out as she wrapped her hand around his shaft.

“Well, doing it spontaneously in a dressing room now and then will help keep things fresh.” She laughed lightly. “Jessica said—”

“Yeah, Ben said the same thing,” Sam cut in before she could finish.

He didn’t like to talk about his sisters and their sex lives. Not that his friends who were married to his sisters cared. He heard a lot more than he wanted to.

Then Dani stroked up and down the length of his cock and he lost his train of thought.

He couldn’t decide how he wanted her. His favorite position was missionary, because he loved having her spread out on their bed, looking up at him, every inch of her open to his eyes, his hands and his mouth. But that simply wasn’t an option here.

But he was sure they could figure something out.

“On your knees, honey,” he said.

She gave him a naughty grin and did as she was told. She started to take him in her mouth when Sam realized he hadn’t explained himself. He loved when she did that, of course, but it never lasted long. Dani was a natural with her tongue and lips.

“Like this.” He turned her so she faced the padded chair in the corner. “Lean up on that.”

She put her elbows on the chair seat and looked back over her shoulder at him as he went to his knees behind her.

“It’s like you read my mind,” she breathed.

“Well, then you have a dirty mind, Mrs. Bradford,” he said, putting his lips to the bumps of her spine.

“I’ve learned from the best.”

“You certainly have.” Dani hadn’t been a virgin when they’d gotten together, but she’d had fairly vanilla experiences before him. She’d been an eager and attentive student, however. He’d been the first to bring her to Tease. On their first date, in fact.

He stroked her deep, playing with a nipple with his other hand. In this position she couldn’t reach him very well, and while he loved her touch, he also enjoyed having her at his mercy.

“Sam, please,” she begged.

“Tell me what you want, Dani,” he said huskily.

“You. Please. Now, Sam. Please.”

He shifted forward, the head of his cock nudging her slick entrance. He intended to ease in slowly, but she pushed back suddenly, meeting his stroke, and he slid home. Her walls clamped down, holding on to him, massaging his length and he had to pause, grit his teeth and just breathe for a moment so he didn’t thrust twice and finish.

“Yes,” she hissed, contracting around his length on purpose.

He squeezed her hip. “Take it easy or this will last ten seconds.”

“I love when you lose control,” she panted, contracting again.

Oh, she wanted lost control did she? Well, he knew that game too.

Dani dug her fingers into the padded seat. She knew he was playing with her, showing her that he had all the control he needed. But she didn’t want him to have control. She wanted him mindless.

He pushed forward again, slowly. So slowly. Too slowly. She tried to push back against him but his big hands held her hips, controlling her body inside and out.

“Sam.”

But he just kept with the long, slow strokes that she felt all the way to her toes. She loved those. She could picture his face, his jaw tight, his eyes locked on where they were joined, his cheeks flushed.

Now, though, she wanted hard and fast. She wanted to know that she could make him crazy and wild. Even after a year she loved knowing that she was the only woman Sam Bradford wanted and that she could fulfill every one of his fantasies. She wanted to feel him lose his sense of time and place and just get caught up in the lust.

He loved her, she knew that. She also knew that he knew that she loved him. They were so much more than lovers. But she still wanted, needed, had to have the lust too.

She brought one hand up to her nipple, squeezing gently, then a little harder. Sam felt the reaction around his shaft and he picked up the pace.

Yes. Just like that.

Then she reached between her legs. Sam was the best,,but she could help herself out just fine. And Sam loved it when she touched herself. Even though he couldn’t see what she was doing, he knew and she heard him groan as he stroked her harder and deeper.