Scarlet Fever - Hill Country 2 (9 page)

“It feels heavenly, being here with you like this.”
 
She pushed her body into his, seeking to get as close to him as possible.
 
“Safe and secure.”

Scarlet could feel the laughter deep in his chest.
 
“Not exactly the emotions that I want to elicit from a beautiful woman, but, with you? I’ll take what I can get.”
 
He allowed his hand to rub up and down her back.
 
She wouldn’t know it, not tonight, but this was going to be the sweetest torture imaginable.
 
His shaft was swollen to unbelievable proportions and it literally ached to be buried deep inside of her.
 
But, as far as he could tell, she was blissfully unmoved.
 
She was exhausted.
 
So, tonight he would give her comfort, warmth and security.

Even if it killed him.

************************

 
Nine days before the wedding . . . . .

 
When Alex awoke, he was alone.
 
Scarlet was gone.
 
He threw off the covers and stripped off his under shorts.
 
Heading for the shower, he was anxious to do what had to be done, then go and find her – when in she walked.
 
No knock.
 
No inquiry.
 
She walked in like she owned the place.

And she did.
  

“Oh, my sweet Lord.” she breathed.
 
“Forgive me for barging in. . .” her voice trailed off into nothingness.
 
She just stared.
 

It was morning.
 
He had spent the night, closely intertwined with a woman that he found unbelievably attractive and – nature had taken its course.

Alex looked around for something to cover up with.
 
Shocking her would only set their relationship back.
 
He made a grab for his shorts, but she stopped him.
 
“Please don’t.
 
You’re so beautiful.
 
Please, don’t hide from me.”
 
Slowly, she walked toward him, “I don’t mean to stare.
 
But, I’ve never seen a man before.
 
Only in pictures, and I had no idea.”
 
Her words only served to increase his size.

He stepped toward her, unashamed.
 
She held out her hand, almost touching him.
 
Then, as if awakening from a dream, she seemed to realize where she was and the unbelievable thing she was doing.
 
Red heat flashed up into her face, and she whirled around as if to leave.
 
“Stop, Scarlet.
 
It’s okay, honey.”

“Let me go, Alex.
 
I wasn’t thinking.
 
I had no right to walk in on you like this.”

She wouldn’t look at him.
 
“I just came to ask you if I could use your laptop to access my recipe files.”

Alex pulled her back against him.
 
“No need to be embarrassed.
 
There’s nothing here that doesn’t belong to you, babe.
 
Where do you think this hard-on came from?”
 
He whispered to her gently.
 
“Snuggling up to your sweet body all night took its toll.”
 
He stepped closer to her, letting her feel his massive erection as it nudged her backside.
 
She didn’t move away, in fact she leaned back into him.

“I am acting so totally out of character.
 
You must think I’m terrible.”

“Does this feel like I think you’re terrible?”
 
He let his hips press rhythmically into her tight little ass.

“No, it doesn’t.”
 
Before she could stop herself, she turned into his embrace, wrapped her arms around his neck and held up her lips to be kissed.
 

Sending a prayer heavenward, he took the gift that she offered.
 
With a moan of satisfaction, he covered her mouth with his own.
 
She whimpered with joy as he feasted on her lips.
 
“Oh, Alex, this is like tasting chocolate for the first time.”

He laughed, truly happier than he had been in a long time.
 
Having her in his arms felt momentous to him, like this was his last first kiss.
 
Accepting his tongue, she learned quickly, giving him back equal portions of passion and pleasure.
 
His cock was nestled between them, it was all he could do not to rub up and down on her, seeking any sort of relief that he could find.
   

“Scarlet!
 
Scarlet!
 
Where are you Scarlet?”
 
Annalise’s voice broke their reverie.

“Damn!”
 
Alex pulled his mouth from hers, letting his forehead rest against the top of her head.
 
“Tonight, I think we’ll sleep in my RV.
 
I don’t think I’ll survive anymore interruptions.”

“I need to tell you things.”
 
She couldn’t tear her mouth away from his face, she kissed his jaw line, his chin; her breathing as erratic as his.

“Nothing you could possibly say would change my mind about how I feel about you.”
 
He spoke into her neck, dragging his mouth across her skin, feverishly scraping his teeth along the collarbone.

“Telling you is going to be so hard,” she clung to him like a drowning person to a life preserver.

“Scarlet!
 
Are you in there?”
 
Annalise tapped on Alex’s door.
 
With a grin, he put a finger over her lips, telling her with his eyes not to respond.
 

When they heard her footsteps fading into the distance, he pulled her close once again, but this time in a fierce hug.
 
“I’ve got to get covered up before your sister decides to join us.
 
And yes, you can use my laptop – among other things.”
 
Rubbing back and forth sensuously across her belly, he let her know how much he wanted her.
 
“Run out and pacify your sister, then come back and make yourself at home,” he pointed at his desk and the computer that sat in the middle of it.
 
Holding her by the shoulders, he stole one more tender kiss, and then with a growl of frustration, he went for the shower.

************************

What am I doing?
 
What was I thinking?
 
Scarlet chastised herself as she made her way down the hall toward the kitchen.
 
She couldn’t believe that she, Scarlet Rose Evans, Administrator of the First Lutheran Church had just left the company of a naked man with the most magnificent penis that she could have ever imagined.
 
She didn’t know they came that big!
 
All she could think of was how it would feel for Alex to make love to her.

But she had to tell him about her kidney disease.
 
It wouldn’t be fair if she didn’t.
 
She had no any idea how he would react.
 
How would a man feel about making love to a woman who might not live very long?
 
Talk about a mood killer!
 
Shaking her head, she tried to banish the doubts.
 
Although, she wouldn’t blame him if he did decide that he couldn’t bring himself to be with her.
 

“There you are!
 
Where have you been?”
 
Annalise nailed her with a stare.
 
A blush rushed up her cheeks before she could get herself under control.
 
“I knew it!
 
You were with Alex!”

Ethan was coming in the back door and Scarlet was doing everything she could to shush her sister up.
 
“It wasn’t like that.
 
We haven’t . . . “

“Ethan!”

“Please don’t tell him, Annalise.
 
We haven’t slept together yet. I mean, we’ve slept together, but we haven’t had sex.”
 
Scarlet was desperate to shut Annalise up.
 
She didn’t want it to get back to Alex that she had been discussing what went on behind closed doors.
 
Finally, it seemed that she got through to her sister.
 
“I’ve got to go into town and buy supplies for the wedding cake.
 
Any suggestions of a good store?”

“Go into Austin.
 
Alex will take you.
 
There’s a great
 
organic grocery and some really good specialty stores that will have exactly what you need.”
 
All of this was said with a sneaky grin on her face.
 
Annalise was enjoying Scarlet’s discomfort.
 

“I have no intention of asking Alex to give up a day to take me shopping!
 
Look, I’m about to make a list of things I need, then I’ll go on my own.”
 
Scarlet escaped the knowing looks of her sister and went to her room to retrieve her papers.
 
As she fled to the safety of Alex’s room, her Bucket List fell to the floor.
 
Hastily picking it up, she stuffed it back within the confines of the spiral notebook and did not give it another thought.
   

This time she knocked.
 
She had learned a lesson, and what a lesson it was.
 
To tell the truth, it was a lesson that she would have liked to repeat – over and over again.

The door flew open and a hand came out and grabbed her, pulling her into the room and straight into his arms.
 
He picked her up and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
 
She giggled with delight, “You didn’t look to see who you were grabbing.
 
What if it had been someone else?”

“Good thing it was you, I would have hated to kiss one of my brother’s like that.”
 
He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the desk.
 
Sitting down in the swivel chair, he held her on his lap.
 
“Now, what do you need to look up?”

“Cake and icing recipes and to check and see what size tips I need to make the roses and hydrangeas.”
 
She quickly accessed a folder that she kept in her e-mail account.
 
“Can I print this page?”

“Sure.”
 
He was busy planting soft, little kisses on the exposed skin at her neck.
 
Reaching around her, he deftly hit send.
 
“When you get ready to go pick up this stuff, I’ll take you.”

Turning to look him in the face, she checked his expression carefully.
 
“Seriously, you don’t have to go.
 
Just map-quest me the street the stores are on and I’ll be fine.”

“I want to spend the day with you.
 
Come on.”
 
Gladly following, she grabbed the print-out, but left the notebook where it lay.

************************

She juggled the numbers in her head.
 
It was going to be close.
 
The items that she would need to buy today would come close to costing two hundred dollars.
 
Before checking out, Scarlet asked Alex to hold her buggy while she made a quick trip to the restroom.
 
While in the privacy of the stall, she cancelled the hotel reservations that she had made for the week following the wedding.
 
Without hesitations, she forgot about the Alamo, Enchanted rock and all of the other places that she had hoped to mark off of her bucket list.
 
These changes would free up enough funds to purchase the ingredients, the pans and the decorating items.
 

Annalise hadn’t thought twice about Scarlet paying for the cakes, after all she knew that Scarlet had two full-time jobs.
 
What Annalise didn’t know was that the medicine that Scarlet took ate up almost all of her salary.
 
Scarlet had also paid for the material for both dresses.
 
And, honest to God, she didn’t mind.
 
This was possibly the last thing that she would be able to do for her sister and she was glad to do it.
 
Tradition dictated that the bride’s family pays for the wedding and she was the only family that Annalise had.
 
Except for their mother, and frankly, she didn’t count.