He picked up his fork and started back on his pan-seared cod. “My aunt made it sound pretty appealing.” The fork stopped halfway to his mouth. His lips curved upward as he said, “So far, she was right on the money.”
She took a sip of her diet cola. “You talk a lot about her. Are you close to her?” When she realized he’d stopped eating, she knew she’d said something wrong. “What did I say?”
“You don’t know what happened to my parents?”
Her heart clenched at the obvious pain in his voice. “No, I’m sorry.”
“They were killed at a carryout. Some guy high on acid came in and demanded money from the clerk. The clerk gave him what he wanted, but the asshole was so far gone he started shooting. Later he told the police he’d been trying to kill the
snakes
. Hallucinations. Mom was shot in the chest. She died instantly. Dad was shot three times. He died on the way to the hospital. The clerk took a bullet in the arm. He survived.”
“Gage…I’m so sorry.”
He nodded. “It was years ago. I’d just graduated from college when it happened. Aunt Bev sort of stepped in and took over where mom left off. She’s been pretty great.”
“I’m glad you had her.”
“Me too. Anyway, that’s the reason I became a private investigator. I wanted to help people.”
Summer understood loss all too well. She also knew words were useless. She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. When he turned his palm up and twined his fingers with hers, the air around them changed, heated. Her comforting gesture had quickly morphed into something much more, much deeper.
Trying to act nonchalant, Summer slipped her hand from his and inquired, “So, how long have you been a PI?”
“I hung out my shingle five years ago. It was tough going at first, but now I can be choosy.”
“Do you enjoy the work?”
“I can set my own hours. I don’t have a boss breathing down my neck. The money is good. All in all, not too bad. Every job has its drawbacks, though.”
Just then the waiter came over and asked if they wanted dessert. She was about to refuse, but Gage spoke up before she could get the words out.
“What do you have in the way of chocolate?”
“Our chocolate pie is pretty popular.”
“Send us a big slice.”
“Us?”
He pushed his plate away. “I’m not eating it all by myself. You’re helping.”
Her stomach loved the idea, but her hips not so much. “Uh-uh, I can’t afford the calories.”
His gaze traveled to her chest and back up again. “A few bites of pie won’t hurt. Trust me.”
She laughed and caved. “Who am I to refuse chocolate?”
He winked. “That’s the spirit.”
As they drove home, Gage had to grip the steering wheel to keep his hands from reaching toward Summer. Damn, it’d been hell watching her eat the chocolate pie. The little sounds of satisfaction she made after each bite had his mind going straight to the gutter.
He took his eyes off the road long enough to see her stroking the smooth leather seat with a fingertip. Hell, Gage wanted that finger on the head of his dick. She wiggled as if attempting to get more comfortable. The movement caused her pretty breasts to jiggle beneath her beige tank top. To keep from drooling, Gage focused on the road again. When he spotted her house, he pulled into the driveway and killed the engine, then turned toward her. “We’re home.”
“Yes, we are,” she whispered.
His gaze roamed over her possessively before he leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “Like satin. I bet you’re like that all over, aren’t you, sweetheart?”
“M-maybe you should find out for yourself.”
Could he be hearing her right? “Summer?”
“I should be playing hard to get, I know, but I want you, Gage.”
“I want you too.”
She eyed his crotch and smiled. “I sort of gathered.”
He stroked her hair, enjoying the soft strands beneath his fingers. “You go to a man’s head, sweetheart.”
“I’m glad.”
He cupped her cheek and murmured, “You’re sure?”
“Very.”
Hell, yeah.
Chapter Four
Gage leaned toward her, and Summer’s heart sped up. When his lips were mere inches from hers, he murmured, “I want you. I’ve been telling myself all evening to give you a sweet kiss at your door, to leave you alone. All I can think about right now is getting inside you.”
It was now or never, Summer decided. “Kiss me, Gage, then we’ll see what happens.”
“Mmm, your wish is my command.” His lips covered hers, and Summer melted.
He was so tender and warm as he coasted his tongue over her lips. She sighed and parted for him. Taking his time, Gage slipped inside and tasted her as if he had forever. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in deeper, suddenly edgy for everything. A groan rumbled from deep inside his chest. She became aware of his warm palm against her bare flesh beneath her tank, inching upward until the caress of his thumb over her silk-covered breast had her body vibrating with need. Summer whimpered, and Gage lifted his head, his gaze zeroing in on the center console.
As they both caught their breath, Gage recovered first. “I think we’ve gone as far as we can in this car.”
Embarrassed over her hedonistic reaction to a simple kiss, Summer straightened away and smoothed down her tank with shaky fingers. “I think you’re right.”
His strong hand cupped her chin and coaxed her gaze back to his. “Second thoughts?”
Summer wanted to feel alive, to feel like a woman again. Experiencing something besides fear over her future and sadness over lost dreams wasn’t something she would pass up. “No second thoughts.”
Gage leaned over and branded her lips with his possessive heat. Just as quickly, he was out of the car and coming around to her side. Summer’s nerves vibrated. Energy pulsed through her veins. Within minutes, they were cocooned in the privacy of his suite. Her anxiety over not having had sex for the past two years welled up and threatened to consume her.
But Gage had no reservations, not if the need in his eyes and the upward tilt of his lips were any indication. He locked the door and moved toward her. As he came to stand only inches away, he murmured, “Don’t be afraid, baby.”
Hearing his deep, masculine voice, so calm and relaxed, caused her own daring confidence to surface. “I’m not afraid. Well, maybe I’m a little afraid,” Summer confirmed as she stared up at him.
He closed the space between them and took her into the warm, solid comfort of his arms. “I thought as much, but you don’t have to be. Not with me. I’m going to make you feel so damn hot.” He brushed his lips over the top of her head. The gentleness of his bare touch stirred her clear to her toes.
Summer pushed out of his arms, gripped the hem of her tank and yanked it over her head. She dropped it to the floor. Her bra went next. She left her shorts on and stood perfectly still, resisting the urge to cringe and cover herself while his dark gaze roamed greedily over her torso.
“Damn.” Gage couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. She was perfect. She was his dream woman and then some. Her breasts were large, firm, round pillows of creamy flesh. Christ Almighty, he could get lost for a decade playing with Summer’s bountiful swells. He ached to taste her rosy-tipped nipples. Lick and bite and suck until his heart’s content.
His hand reached out of its own volition and stroked over one turgid peak. She shivered, and he was lost. He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her lower back and drew her up against his chest, pressing and flattening her pretty tits against his T-shirt, driving himself crazy with the feel of her. As he took possession of her mouth, Gage lost all sense of calm at the sweet flavor of her lips.
He drank in her moan of excitement and licked at her full lower lip. He’d thought about tasting her everywhere. Imagined it from the moment he’d laid eyes on the tempting beauty. Now she was here, in his arms, clutching at him with eager abandonment.
Slow the fuck down.
She was trusting him with something special. Something she hadn’t given another man in two long years. The thought gave him a possessive kind of pleasure. He wouldn’t disappoint her. He would stroke and play, satisfy her every which way he could think to satisfy a woman. Knowing just how snug she’d be when he entered her the first time made his cock swell painfully.
“Open for me, baby,” Gage groaned against her mouth. She did as he commanded. He took advantage, slipping into the wet warmth, tasting and swirling his tongue over and around hers, sipping at her with a kind of crazy fever that went beyond anything he’d ever felt. When she whimpered and drew her arms around his neck Gage felt the last thread on his control snap.
Keeping his lips firmly against hers, Gage bent and hooked his arm behind her knees. Lifting her into his arms, he cradled her nude upper body close. He wanted her completely bare. He wanted to see all of her, from head to toe, so he could work his tongue over her, inch by slow delectable inch.
As Gage laid her out on the quilt and broke the kiss, he snagged her gaze. The warm whiskey shade had changed once again. Now they were dark, almost the shade of milk chocolate, and he could easily drown in their unruly depths. His jaw locked against the need to rip her shorts and panties down her legs and take her. Hard. Fast. To hell with being gentle.
He smoothed his palm over his shaven head and made one last attempt to take it slow, to make it good for Summer. As he watched, she licked her lips and shifted restlessly on the bed. The taut peaks of her nipples begged to be nibbled on. Her long, dark hair, the stuff of fantasies, spread out all around her, tucked beneath and partially covering at the same time. Gage loved looking at her, but he was going to enjoy touching her even more.
He grasped at the edges of his shirt and pulled it off. Then he moved to the waistband of his jeans, thrilled at the eager way Summer stared in wide-eyed readiness at his fly.
Before he gave in to her silent pleas, he softly demanded, “Take off your shorts. Real slow. Make me beg for it.”
Summer slipped a single finger beneath either side of her beige drawstring shorts and tugged. She wiggled, and the shorts slithered downward, baring a pair of yellow cotton bikini panties with black polka dots all over them. Yum. When she had the shorts down around her ankles, she kicked her foot outward and they fell to the floor.
Gage’s muscles tightened as he stood frozen, staring. “Christ, Summer, you’re so fucking sexy. I’m dying just looking at you.”
“Now you, Gage.” Her words feathered over him, bringing him out of his hypnotic stupor. “Let me see you.”
He shook his head, denying her request. “Those panties are cute as hell, but I want them gone. Let me see that pretty pussy, baby.”
Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breaths. The telltale sign proved to him that Summer liked his game. She was nervous, but turned on. Watching her capitulate to his orders drove his desire up another notch.
She pushed her slender fingers beneath the elastic of her panties and inched them down and off her long, shapely legs. His first glimpse of Summer’s thatch of dark brown curls, glistening with her arousal, would be etched in his soul forever. “Tasty,” he whispered. “A pretty treat.”
Within a heartbeat, Gage was on the bed beside her. As he lay propped on his elbow, mere inches from paradise, he stayed silent as Summer’s gaze wandered over him, her hungry eyes feasting. He could grab her, slam her down on his heavy erection and pump her full. But she needed time to get used to him first.
“Your warm brown eyes are eating me up right now. Do you like what you see?” Gage asked, his voice a hoarse whisper of sound in the quiet room.
“I’d like it better if you got rid of the jeans.”
“Uh-uh,” Gage murmured. “Not quite yet. First, I want you to talk to me. You waited a long time to be with a man. What do you want from me tonight, baby?”
He watched her throat work, as if she was mustering the courage. In a barely there whisper she said, “I waited because I haven’t felt this excited about a man, not for a very long time. I want to feel you inside of me. I want you filling me, warming me.”
Gage’s body vibrated with need. “I want that too, real bad.” He lowered his head toward her breasts, took one nipple into his mouth and suckled. His tongue swirled the areola with greedy delight. She gasped and arched against him. He wrapped his arm around her back and lifted her, pressing her heavy breasts against his face while he toyed with the hard raspberry tip. She cried out his name, and Gage pulled away long enough to tease her other breast with the same avid attention. Her fingers slid over his head and her lower body squirmed, as if close to coming. She moaned his name.
Gage released her nipple. He gently kissed the delicate bud before lifting his head. “Sweet as honey.”
“Gage, please,” she begged.
He smiled down at her. “You want more, huh?”
“Yes,” she shouted.
“More licking?”
She covered her eyes with the palm of her hand. “I-I can’t think straight.”
Gage pulled her hand away and waited until her pretty eyes were looking at him before saying, “You’re so sexy like this. Squirming and restless. Your pussy is drenched for me, isn’t it?”