What was the minx up to? “Yes, but what does that have to do with—” He never got to finish what he was saying. Candice slipped away from him and locked the door to his trailer, then turned around, a slow, come-and-get-it smile on her face.
Oh, he definitely wanted to go and get it, but he wasn’t going anywhere near her until she explained why she’d come to him, looking so sweet and flirty.
“I’m working, sweetheart, what do you want?” He didn’t mean to sound gruff, as if he didn’t want her there, but this new side of her was taking him off guard. He was already hard and throbbing and nothing had even happened yet.
Candice walked away from the door and went straight to his desk. She set her mammoth purse down on top of it with a clunk and rooted around inside. When her hand came out, she was holding a portable compact disc player. She wanted to serenade him?
God, he was majorly confused. And if she moved her ass like that one more time, he’d be on her quicker than a dog on a bone. She went around his desk and grabbed the chair he’d been sitting in, then moved it to the middle of the floor.
“Sit down, Blade.”
Okay, he’d play along. It was clear that Candice was on some sort of mission and the quicker she got on with it, the quicker Blade would get some answers.
He crossed the room and sat, arms folded over his chest, feet braced apart as if ready for war.
But Candice only smiled and pushed a button on her player, allowing music to fill the darkly lit room. It wasn’t until she came to stand directly in front of him that he started to get the picture.
Locking the door, playing the music—it wasn’t a serenade she was interested in.
Candice was about to seduce him. A predatory smile slipped over his face and he sat
www.samhainpublishing.com 91
Anne Rainey
back, prepared to let her. If she wanted to play the lead in an afterdark movie, he’d be glad to be her audience of one.
At first, Candice was stiff and unsure, but it didn’t take her long to get into the role of vamp as she began to gently sway to the earthy beat coming from the player. Candice was a natural. With her lithe, toned body, she had an inner fire he knew no other man had ever witnessed. He liked that last part a lot.
Soon he could see her fiddling with her side, and Blade realized she was unzipping the yellow scrap of cotton that pretended to be a dress. In a seductive little shimmy, the dress fell clear to the floor, leaving Candice in a sheer, stretchy…thong? Where the hell did she get a thong? Then again, who the fuck cared where the thong came from. It was where it was now that mattered most.
Three skinny straps wrapped around Candice’s smooth hips, connected in the center by a V. A see-thru white V. Blade could see her curls beneath and he could make out the bump of her clit. To make matters even worse, the V was too small, because her curls were peeking out around the edges, making him yearn to lean toward her and give her a good, long lick, right where she needed it most. He could smell her scent already, a potent combination of honeyed arousal and excitement.
The matching bra she wore… Yum. There was no real need for it, except, of course, to entice a man into a horny, begging stupor. And, like a heat-seeking missile, his dick pushed anxiously against the zipper of his fly in a sad attempt to get up close and personal with Candice’s scantily clad body.
It wasn’t until the song reached a quick, vibrating climax that Candice unhooked the front of the bra and let it slip down her shoulders, elbows and finally to the floor. Now nothing kept him from her creamy perfection, save for that sweet see-thru V.
Blade couldn’t sit still and not touch. It was like asking a naughty little boy to keep his hands in his pockets upon entering a candy store. Not gonna happen. And Blade had never been accused of being a good boy.
Reaching out, he grabbed Candice by the hip and scooted her closer. She let him have his way, a sassy smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
92
www.samhainpublishing.com
Tasting Candy
“You like teasing me don’t you, baby?”
“I’ll confess, I’ve enjoyed watching your eyes heat up and your body go all hard.
You’re so sexy, Blade.”
“I’ve enjoyed watching you, too. That was the sweetest gift anyone’s ever given me.” Then he plopped her onto his lap and kissed her.
Blade sank everything he had into that kiss. He wanted her with a wild sort of eagerness that made him almost angry. It wasn’t normal to want a woman as badly as he wanted Candice. She sighed, wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth for his demanding tongue. Not taking a chance she might disappear like the ethereal being she was, Blade slipped between her lips and tasted every inch of her dark passion.
Candice moaned, and he pushed upward, letting her feel the hard length of his arousal against her bare ass. God, he wanted her. Needed her.
He lifted his head away, enjoying the sound of protest she gave him. ’Bout time she suffered some. He’d been suffering plenty since she’d sent him away.
Blade lifted her to stand in front of him. “Off with the panties, baby.” He gave them a yank and Candice twitched her hips, then stepped out of them. Ah, now that was what he’d been missing all day. The sight of Candice Warner, bare-assed and aroused.
He leaned into her and took one protruding nipple into his mouth and sucked, hard.
Candice grabbed the back of his head and held him against the fleshy orb. She was every bit as anxious as he was for this. Beyond playing it safe, Blade let one hand slip down her body to cup her mound, swiftly sinking two thick fingers all the way into her tight, wet heat.
“Blade!” Candice shouted. He lifted away from her long enough to see the wide-eyed need on her face. He took her other breast, biting and sucking, while his thumb played over her hard clitoris. Candice moved against his hand, fucking his fingers until suddenly she was crying out his name, her body squeezing and contracting as she came long and hard.
He let her ride out the feelings before he slipped his fingers free of her and stood. His hands went to his belt, watching and gauging Candice’s reaction as he freed his cock.
www.samhainpublishing.com 93
Anne Rainey
When she licked her lips as if imagining his taste, a drop of fluid appeared at the tip. The sight of her standing there so free and uninhibited sent Blade over the edge.
He clutched her hips and swung her around so she faced the desk. “Grab hold of the edge, sweetheart.” She never once hesitated, only did as Blade asked, which turned him on further. Blade took hold of Candice’s ass and spread her wide, her glistening folds opening, inviting him in. Blade entered her in one smooth stroke, wringing a husky groan from her.
“You fit me perfectly. You’re mine, baby,” Blade growled, then he leaned over her, bracing his arms on the desk beside her, caging her in, and bit her shoulder.
Candice pushed her hips backward, seeking more of him. “Harder, Blade, please! I need you so bad.”
“How bad?” He wanted to hear her beg. It would go a long way in soothing his bruised heart.
“Please, just…just fuck me, Blade!”
He smiled, a rumble of primal male satisfaction rising. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Then he gave it to her, fucking her hard and fast and with a furious need to leave his mark on her. He wanted every man to know she belonged to him. His cock swelled as he thrust into her over and over. He reached around to her front and flicked a thumb around her clit, igniting her passion all over again.
Candice went up in flames, pushing against him. Her hand came to rest over his on her mound as she splintered and shattered. Blade moved faster, thrusting once, twice, until finally he burst wide and filled her.
He took his other hand off the desk and stroked her hair away from her face. Both of them were sweating and shaky. Candice tilted her head sideways, giving him her mouth for a kiss. He took it, softly, lingeringly, before releasing her and pulling out of her.
Already the thread between them seemed to snap, and he was at a loss what to do about it.
94
www.samhainpublishing.com
Tasting Candy
Blade fixed his clothes then turned Candice around. Redressing her wasn’t nearly as much fun as watching her undress for him, but he did get an odd sort of delight in the everyday activity, as if she were letting him into her life just the tiniest bit.
A soft smile lit her face, making him wonder what she was thinking. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to know, though. Candice tended to piss him off when she went all contemplative.
As soon as he finished and she was once again covered from his fiery inspection, she turned away and started collecting her things.
So…that was it? She gave him an afternoon show and left?
Anger and hurt welled, making his words harsher than he intended. “What gives, Candy? Why did you come here?”
She turned around so fast, Blade thought she was going to fall over. “Huh?”
Blade shoved a hand through his hair, striving for a calm he didn’t feel. “Yesterday, I told you I love you. You sent me away, needing time. Today, you come in here, give me a little strip show and fuck me senseless, then you just collect your things and leave?
What are you playing at? Because I’ll tell you, I’m confused as hell.”
Candice’s face went deathly white, as if someone had sucked all the blood from her, and Blade had the sick feeling she was about to have a panic attack. But before he could say anything, soothe her, tell her he was total dick, she started stammering out her answer.
“I wanted to see if I could…turn you on.”
Now that made no sense at all. She
breathed
and he was turned on, damn it. “Come again?” Blade asked. The female sex was a jumble of contradictions.
At the best of times.
She shrugged one shoulder and fidgeted in her dainty white sandals. “You’ve been doing all the work, and I wanted to show you that I could be seductive.”
Blade closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t understand her all the time, but he knew that her coming here, stripping for him, had to be
www.samhainpublishing.com 95
Anne Rainey
one of the hardest things she’d ever done. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he whispered against her ear. “It means a lot that you would come to me like this.”
When Candice’s eyes met his, he swore he saw love. But he couldn’t be certain, because a woman had never loved him before. Well, except his mom and sister, and that didn’t really count.
“You liked it? Really?”
He smiled. The woman had no clue how fucking hot she was. He would just have to spend the rest of his life showing her.
“‘Like’ is too tame. I fucking loved it.”
She beamed up at him. Blade wanted to keep her that way, looking at him as if he were the best thing since cotton candy.
“Where do we go from here, Candy girl? What happens now?”
She bit her lip, anxious all at once. “I’m not sure. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything this aggressive. I need to get my bearings.”
He knew that was coming. A day was just not enough time, and yet he’d hoped. He took solace in knowing that she was indeed trying to put her past to rest. Coming to him today proved that much. Dressing in something that fit for a change proved that, too.
“I know, I get it, I really do. Just remember, I love you. That’s not subject to change any time in the next fifty years.”
She laughed, which was his plan, making him breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
“I know, and thank you for being so wonderful, Blade.”
He smiled at her ruefully. “Yeah, I’m real wonderful, taking you against a dirty desk like a crazed animal.”
Her eyes heated and turned drowsy. “I liked it. I like you when you go all caveman, Blade. It’s very sexy.”
He pushed her out of his arms and swatted her on the ass, causing her to jump and squeal. “Knock it off, you little tease.” And before she could protest, he picked up her ridiculously oversized purse, and stated, “I’ll walk you to your car.”
96
www.samhainpublishing.com
Tasting Candy
Once she was safely seat-belted in, he kissed her and made her promise to call him.
Letting her drive off proved to be the hardest thing Blade had ever done.
He only hoped it was the right thing.
www.samhainpublishing.com 97
Anne Rainey
There was no way he could’ve predicted that coming to Lacey’s gym would have run him smack into Candice. Christ, he’d left her not an hour ago, and there she stood, all sexy and hot and flirting like a pro. Blade wanted to shout to the world he was so proud of her transformation.
She wore a pair of those tight black shorts that pretty much showed her ass to any and all, and another of her workout tops. This one was hot pink. He wanted to strip her naked, fuck her hard, then kiss her for hours. It didn’t seem to matter that he’d just come inside her. How could she work out after such a vigorous afternoon? Against his desk, no less!
Even from across the room, Candice radiated confidence. But she was so busy chatting, she didn’t realize the shmuck wasn’t listening to a word she said. He was more concerned about her pretty tits. While Blade really wanted to gouge out the guy’s eyes, he couldn’t help but marvel at how much she’d changed.
“Hey, Blade! Hello? Are you even listening to me?”
Belatedly, he realized Lacey had been talking to him the entire time he’d been watching Candice. “Uh, what?”
“I asked why the big grin. You haven’t stopped smiling since you spied Candice.”
“She’s not panicking.”
“I know and it’s wonderful. She’s like a different person.”
Lacey’s voice was full of wonder, compelling him to correct her statement. “Not different, just more secure. More comfortable in her own skin.”
“You’ve been very good for her.”
He looked at his sister and winked. “Damn straight.”
Lacey rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”