Surrounded by Pleasure (9 page)

Josh sighed. “Look, maybe you feel this way because of
the whole virgin thing—”

“What the hell?” Toby barked, turning on his brother. How
the fuck did he know about that?

Josh raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Sorry,
bro. Girls talk. And so do spouses. I mean . . .
I
don’t talk. Could just be a wife thing. I don’t know. I just sit
and listen.” He chuckled.

Toby nodded on an exhale, understanding.

“Anyway, Mikaela said Krista’s boyfriend is in the
military. Some special ops dude. He’s gone all the time, but they grew up
together. They plan on marrying each other, but he doesn’t want her tied to him
with the danger of his job. This is his last service. He’s not upping again,
and once he gets out, they’ll be exclusive.”

“When does he get out?” Toby heard himself asking but was
too numb to feel the words coming out.

“Eighteen months. They’re planning to get married about
six months after he returns.”

He made a noncommittal noise, looking away. He knew she
was involved, but the evidence of it stung. After learning she’d been a virgin,
he’d hoped—
No!
Didn’t matter what
he’d hoped.

“You ever fuck a woman and your fangs pop out?”

Josh chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Those damn things were a pain
in the ass when I was sleeping with Mikaela before we mated. I even bit myself
once to keep from biting her.”

Toby whirled. “What about with other women? Someone not
your mate?”

Josh frowned. “No, I never wanted anybody but—son of a
bitch! Are you telling me that happened to you with Krista?”

Toby nodded.

“Shit, man. That’s major.”

“That’s what I was worried about. I tried to stay away
from her. You know I did. But it’s like I’m drawn to her, and I have no power to
fight that attraction.”

“You have to. She’ll be leaving here when Mikaela is
finished needing her with her lawyer stuff. She has a life away from here. A
love
away from here.”

Toby’s chest ached. He didn’t want to think about all
that. Not now. “What do I do?”

Josh gripped Toby’s shoulder. “You enjoy her while you
can. Don’t worry about the future. These things have a way of working
themselves out, but if it doesn’t work out in your favor, then worry about that
after she’s gone.”

That was exactly what he’d do. What choice did he have?

* * * *

Krista awoke to the smell of scrumptious bacon, and her
stomach growled like she hadn’t eaten in days. She eased out of the bed and
felt the delicious soreness at the apex of her thighs. She smiled as her hand
drifted to the source. She wasn’t a virgin anymore. It was a surreal feeling,
but that thought took a backseat to the one of Toby. Of him smiling at her,
talking to her, and loving her. Loving?
Making
love was what she meant to think.

She looked around the floor for her shirt, but saw his
draped over the dresser. She grabbed it and put it on, only buttoning a few of
the middle buttons. She rolled up the sleeves as she walked into the main room
which housed the living room and kitchen. Toby had his back to her, standing at
the stove. She walked over to him and slid her arms around his chest, hugging
him from behind. “Good morning,” she mumbled against his back.

He clutched her hands and brought them up to his face,
kissing them. “Good morning, baby.” Then he turned and kissed her sweetly.

She pulled away and covered her mouth. “I haven’t brushed
my teeth,” she mumbled through her hand.

He chuckled as he pointed to the door. “I had Jeffery
bring your things over here. You can brush your teeth and take out your contacts.
I know your eyes must be sore leaving them in all night.” He leaned down and
kissed each eyelid before turning back to the bacon.

She gaped at his back. “You-You had my things brought
over here?”

He immediately turned back around, looking contrite. “I’m
sorry. I want to be with you as long as I can.” Something dark flashed across
his eyes, and his jaw clenched. Then he took a deep breath and smiled
apologetically at her. “I should’ve asked you first, but I wanted you to have
everything you need when you woke up.”

She wasn’t concerned about staying here. In fact, she
loved the idea! She was just shocked he’d want her to stay with him while she
was here. Granted, she didn’t have much experience with men, but what she’d
read in all those online magazines was that men didn’t like clingy women. Maybe
Toby was different. “Okay. I’d like that very much.”

“Good. Then it’s settled. And the bacon’s done. All I
have to do now is cook the eggs.”

He winked and smiled, and those sexy-assed dimples popped
out. God, he was the hottest man she’d ever seen. Unable to stop herself, she
rose up on her toes and licked one divot.

His breath caught, and then he chuckled. “What are you
doing?”

“Licking your dimple.”

“Mmm. I like it.” He turned his head, giving her his
other cheek. She licked that one, too.

“Tell me, Mr. Woods, do you have any other dimples I can
lick?”

He sucked in a breath and turned his head to look at her.
She smiled coyly at him, contemplating where she wanted to put her mouth next.
Since he’d taken the pan off the burner, she could play with him a little
without having to worry about burning down his house. He’d spent what felt like
an eternity tasting her last night, and she was curious about what he tasted
like. She’d obviously never given a guy a blowjob, but as she thought about
taking Toby’s cock into her mouth, she felt a restlessness to drop to her knees
and give him the best head he’d ever had. There was no reason not to. She was a
little too sore for sex anyway, so this would be the perfect time to try it
out.

So she eased to her knees, and he gasped when she tugged
his sleep pants down. His dick was partially erect, but getting harder by the
second. “Baby, you don’t—” He stopped on a hiss when she licked the head of his
cock.

“I want to taste you, Toby.” She wrapped her hand around
his cock and looked up at him from her kneeling position at his feet. “Please,”
she breathed as she gave his cock a gentle stroke.

He groaned and nodded as he sifted his hands through her
hair.

A twinge of insecurity prickled her. Toby was an
experienced man, and she didn’t know what she was doing. Maybe she should’ve
practiced this on her vibrator.

“I-I, um . . . Let me know if I do something wrong, okay?
I want this to be good for you.”

He caressed her cheek, and the emotion in his eyes
startled her. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was falling in love
with her.

“If your hot little mouth is anywhere near my dick, it’ll
be good, baby,” he whispered. “But I’ll help guide you if it’ll make you feel
better.”

She nodded, relieved that he understood and didn’t say
anything to further her embarrassment. She shifted, bringing her mouth to his
cock and licking it again. She closed her mouth around the head and sucked
gently. He groaned, clutching her hair.

“That’s it. Fuck, Krista, your mouth feels so good.”

His praise eased her concerns some more, so she opened
her mouth and took more of him in. She moved back and forth, taking as much of
his erection as she could into her mouth, lapping at him with her tongue and
sucking him at the tip.

He hissed and rocked his hips. “Oh, yes. Move your hand,
baby. Stroke my cock while you suck it.” He groaned and tightened his hands in
her hair when she’d complied.

He had an earthy taste that fed her senses. She felt her
sensitive pussy getting wet and her clit swelling with need. She sucked him
harder and faster, hoping that’d alleviate the growing ache between her legs.

His hips were pumping in time with her thrusts as if he
were fucking her mouth, which in essence he was. Thinking of it in that sense
felt so erotic that she groaned around the mouthful of cock she was eagerly
sucking.

“Fuck! That feels good. Squeeze my balls with your other
hand, baby.”

Frantic to please him, she reached up and squeezed his
sac, rolling his balls with one hand while she jerked him off with the other.
His cock grew even harder as he held her head still. Then he fucked her mouth
in earnest, groaning and panting with effort.

She was so damn turned-on that she let go of his balls
and shoved her hand under the shirt she had on. She found her clit and rubbed
it fast as she could.

“Oh, fuck yeah, fuck yeah, baby. Make yourself come for
me.”

Her pussy throbbed as her orgasm claimed her. She moaned
around his cock, and he threw his head back and roared. The first spurt of his
release startled her, but she worked her throat as she swallowed all he had to
give.

He slumped back and grabbed the counter, sated. “Shit!”
He jumped away, startling her as his cock jerked out of her mouth. He shook his
hand. “Damn, that was hot.”

She smiled at him. “You should watch where you put your
hands. There’s a hot stove behind you.” She started to stand, and he reached
down to help her.

“You should watch where you put your hands. There’s a hot
cock in front of you.” He laughed, nuzzling her hair.

She giggled. “That was cheesy.”

“I’m full of cheese, baby. Get used to it. For as long as
you’re here, we’ll be joined at the hip. Cheese and all.”

She smiled against his chest. She could get used to being
around him.

Cheese and all.

Chapter Seven

Krista was in love with Toby. She wasn’t sure when it
happened, but she was sure it had. Over the last month, they’d been as
inseparable as he’d warned after their first night together. Oh, they still
went their separate ways during the workday. After all, she was here to help
Mikaela with her caseload while she orchestrated the purchase of the adjacent
Caldwell Tree Farm. Luckily, the hiccup with the purchase only delayed the sale
a couple of weeks and was now scheduled to close a week from Friday. But Krista
couldn’t help but appreciate the interruption because she would’ve left two
days ago if it hadn’t happened.

Every morning, Toby had insisted on cooking her
breakfast. When she worried what his father would think of her missing
breakfast at the main house, Toby brushed off her concerns with sweet kisses,
telling her that Mikaela hadn’t always come down to breakfast when she first
arrived. Plus, he’d argued that if he cooked, then they wouldn’t have to get up
as early. So, he had cooked her breakfast, burning a few here and there, and
she’d gladly eaten everything because he genuinely wanted to do it for her.

If their mornings had been filled with lazy kisses and
laughable breakfast experiments, their nights had been nothing but the hot
monkey sex she’d hoped to one day experience. Only better.

Way better.

Toby was an attentive, patient lover. He’d introduced her
to just about every position imaginable, taking her with care regardless of how
intense some of their couplings had been, fucking her well into the night. Every
night.

On a few occasions she’d woken up expecting to find him
snuggled up against her, blanketing her body like usual, but she’d been all
alone. She’d searched the cabin only to come up without any trace of where he’d
been. The first time it’d happened, she figured he would’ve said something
about it the following morning, but he hadn’t. She thought about asking where
he went in the middle of the night but decided it was probably none of her
business. It wasn’t as if he were going off on some assignation. The only woman
around here besides her was Mikaela. So, she let it go. She had bigger concerns
than wondering where Toby slipped away to during the middle of the night.

Like this whole boyfriend lie she was living. Maybe she
hadn’t pressed Toby about his secret because she felt guilty about her own.

As she walked into the office she shared with Mikaela on
this Monday morning, she couldn’t stop thinking about how silly the whole thing
seemed. When Mikaela had told her about Josh’s brothers’ fear of commitment and
hinted at the possibility Krista could enjoy some casual sex, she’d been
excited about the idea. Okay, so she’d been scared witless, but deep down she’d
been harboring nervous energy that could’ve easily been construed as excitement.
And she was at least willing to consider the possibility. She never imagined she’d
meet the man of her dreams and fall in love within a month. Now after spending
this time with Toby, she felt like a fraud.

“Good morning, Krista,” Mikaela said as Krista strolled
into the office. “Or should I say good afternoon?” She chuckled.

“Ha-ha. It’s nine not noon. Big difference.” She slumped
into her chair, staring at the few case files left that needed any attention,
and really, the work wasn’t pressing.

“What’s with the long face?” Mikaela asked softly. Krista
looked at her, realizing they were really friends now. Over the past few weeks
Toby hadn’t been the only person Krista had gotten close to. Her long workdays
were filled with female camaraderie she’d sorely been lacking before coming out
here. Although she knew she could turn to Mikaela before, now she embraced that
trust built between them.