Part 16 (1/2)
”I don't want to talk about this anymore.”
”Maybe you need to.”
”Cut it out, Lisa.”
”But-”
”Will you just shut the h.e.l.l up and leave me alone?”
She recoiled, feeling the jolt of his angry words lodging directly in her heart. Yes, she'd pushed him. Hard. But she wanted to know- needed needed to know-why Carla's death still had a stranglehold on him four years later. But it looked as if she was never going to find out. to know-why Carla's death still had a stranglehold on him four years later. But it looked as if she was never going to find out.
”Sure, Dave,” she said, rising from the sofa. ”Whatever you say. And don't worry. After tomorrow, I won't be around to bother you anymore.”
She brushed past him, heading for the patio door. As she came around the arm of the sofa, to her surprise, he clamped his hand around her wrist and pulled her to a halt.
”Lisa. Don't go.”
It wasn't a command. Instead his voice held a hushed, pleading tone, and like some kind of invisible cord, it kept her from walking away more effectively than his grasp on her wrist ever could have. Then his grip relaxed, becoming more like a caress. He let out a long, tortured breath, then slowly, slowly pulled her back around until she was standing in front of him. The silence on the patio was broken only by the rustle of the night wind through the trees. He took her other wrist and ran both of his hands down to grasp hers, then looked up at her, his gaze solemn.
”Here's the truth. I kissed you because I wanted to. Because you looked so beautiful and we'd been sitting together all night and it seemed . . . G.o.d, Lisa.” He exhaled. ”Just looking at you has always done something to me I don't understand and I probably never will.”
She held her breath, afraid to break whatever spell it was that kept the longing in his voice and the desire in his eyes. ”And then you wanted more than a kiss.”
His gaze played over her body, easing down over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to her waist, then back up to her face again. His hands tightened against hers. ”I still do.”
The coa.r.s.e hunger she heard in his voice gave Lisa the same feeling she got in her stomach every time her plane hit a pocket of turbulence-an intense, breathless, swooping sensation that was almost painfully exhilarating. And now, when Dave pulled her between his thighs, taking her hips in his hands and burying his face against her, the feeling only intensified. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly, his warm breath soaking through her s.h.i.+rt and burning her skin like a brand.
She heard the m.u.f.fled sounds of traffic in the distance, tires rus.h.i.+ng against asphalt, horns honking. The night air swirled through the trees, creating a whisper of leaf against leaf. Lisa sensed everything around her, but she remained strangely disconnected from all of it. All she knew, all she felt, all she wanted right now was Dave.
He tugged on her hips, easing her down until she was straddling his legs, her knees tucked beside his thighs, resting on the padded cus.h.i.+on of the rattan sofa. She steadied herself by placing her hands against his shoulders, and when she dared to meet his eyes again they were smoldering with want, with need. When men looked at her like that, when she could see that craving in their eyes, the subsequent rush was like a drug she needed desperately. It was a feeling like no other, that unparalleled sensation of being beautiful and desirable, of being the number one thing on a man's mind.
She knew the power of s.e.x. She always had.
He curled his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to his mouth, plunging his tongue inside in a deep, blistering kiss that made the one he'd given her downstairs pale in comparison. He shoved his other hand beneath her s.h.i.+rt and circled it around to the small of her back, his rough fingertips rasping against her skin as he pulled her closer still, his mouth burning against hers.
G.o.d, this man could kiss. this man could kiss.
Then a sense of desperation crept in. She had no delusions that he'd suddenly fallen madly in love with her. There was a big difference between love and l.u.s.t, and Dave DeMarco was experiencing a major case of l.u.s.t.
He saved love for women like Carla.
No. Maybe it wouldn't be that way. Not if she made it so good for him that he forgot all about his dead wife. Made it the best s.e.x he'd ever had in his life, so he would want to come back again and again and Carla would slip further and further from his mind. She wanted him to feel every s.e.xual tremor like an earthquake inside him, to a.s.sociate the sight of her, the feel of her, the very Maybe it wouldn't be that way. Not if she made it so good for him that he forgot all about his dead wife. Made it the best s.e.x he'd ever had in his life, so he would want to come back again and again and Carla would slip further and further from his mind. She wanted him to feel every s.e.xual tremor like an earthquake inside him, to a.s.sociate the sight of her, the feel of her, the very smell smell of her with the most incredible sensations of his life. She wanted to make sure that from this moment forward, every time he thought about s.e.x, hers would be the face he would see. of her with the most incredible sensations of his life. She wanted to make sure that from this moment forward, every time he thought about s.e.x, hers would be the face he would see.
Sorry, Carla. You can't have him. Tonight, he's mine.
She tore her lips away from his and sat up, unb.u.t.toned his s.h.i.+rt, and spread it apart, stroking her hands over the rigid muscles of his chest. Then she leaned back in, trailing her lips over his jaw, his neck, feeling the roughness of a day's growth of his beard against her cheek. His hands clenched against her thighs.
”Inside,” he murmured.
”No.”
”Lisa-”
”Right here.”
She knew how daring it felt to be outside in the night air surrounded by city lights, how outrageous, how illicit, and how much it heightened the pleasure, the excitement. Most of all, she knew beyond all doubt that his precious Carla would never have been caught dead having wild, scorching s.e.x on a balcony.
Before he could even think about objecting again, she sat up quickly, undid a few of the b.u.t.tons of her s.h.i.+rt, and slipped it off over her head, flinging it aside. She rested her palms on his shoulders, leaned in, and kissed him again, brus.h.i.+ng the tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his bare chest.
”The balcony's secluded,” she whispered. ”It's dark. Trees all over the place.”
”If someone sees-”
”They'll get a h.e.l.l of a good show. I promise you.”
chapter eleven.
All at once, Dave didn't give a d.a.m.n. Inside, outside, upside down-any way he could have her, that was how he wanted her. He didn't care if the whole world was watching. It was as if his mind had blanked out completely. And no wonder. With Lisa half-naked on top of him, face-to-face with him, her thighs spread, every inch of her body within touching or kissing distance-how the h.e.l.l could he think about anything else?
Lisa touched her lips to his ear and whispered, ”What do you want? Tell me what you want.”
Good G.o.d-what didn't didn't he want? ”That's like giving a hungry man a smorgasbord,” he said breathlessly, ”and asking him to choose.” he want? ”That's like giving a hungry man a smorgasbord,” he said breathlessly, ”and asking him to choose.”
She leaned away a little. ”So you're a hungry man?”
He stared back at her, feeling something more than need. More than desire. A deeper, darker, almost primitive sensation swept through him.
”Starving,” he said.
She threaded her fingers through his hair and fell into him again, kissing him deeply. He closed his palms over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, astonished to finally be touching what he'd only admired from a distance. G.o.d, they were beautiful, heavy and full, with hard, pointed nipples. She moaned against his lips, pressing herself against his hands, begging for more. He obliged, his gentle caresses becoming rougher as he kneaded her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, squeezing and releasing, his thumbs tripping back and forth over her nipples. She ripped her mouth away from his with a gasp of pleasure, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.
Bending forward, Dave held her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and kissed the valley between them, inhaling the scent of her. He turned his head and kissed the inner swell of one, then dragged his mouth across it until he reached her nipple. He flicked it with his tongue, then took the tender flesh into his mouth and sucked hard. She groaned with pleasure, digging her fingertips into his shoulders and grinding herself into his erection straining against his jeans. Her breathing escalated, becoming harsh and needy.
”I want you naked,” she said suddenly, and before he could even think about granting her wish her hands were on his belt buckle. In seconds she had it undone and was opening the b.u.t.tons of his jeans with a proficiency that astonished him. She stood up, pulling off everything south of his waist in a single swoop.
Dave was already way past caring that they might be providing an X-rated show to anyone who went to the effort to peer through a few leafy branches, particularly when Lisa stood in front of him and ripped the fly of her own jeans open with a sudden flick flick flick flick flick flick flick flick of the b.u.t.tons. She slid her hands down inside the jeans alongside her hips and pushed them off, taking her panties with them and kicking them both aside. Suddenly she was naked in front of him, illuminated by the pale moonlight-shapely hips, slender waist, full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. All woman. Every single beautiful inch of her. of the b.u.t.tons. She slid her hands down inside the jeans alongside her hips and pushed them off, taking her panties with them and kicking them both aside. Suddenly she was naked in front of him, illuminated by the pale moonlight-shapely hips, slender waist, full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. All woman. Every single beautiful inch of her.
She glided back on top of him again, wrapping her hand around his c.o.c.k, stroking it, rubbing the length of him against her. She was already hot and wet, and he wanted nothing more than to- All at once he clutched her hands. ”Condom,” he muttered. ”d.a.m.n it. I don't have a condom.”
She leaned over, snagging the leg of her jeans she'd just ripped off. She reached inside a pocket and extracted a plastic packet.
He stared up at her with surprise. ”Where'd you get that?”
”Do you really care?”
”G.o.d, no.” He reached for it, but she was already ripping it open. As she rolled it down over him, moving her hands in long, smooth strokes, he dropped his head back against the sofa, his fingers tightening against her thighs in antic.i.p.ation. She guided him back between her legs, and in one smooth, forceful stroke she drove down on top of him. He grasped her hips with a stifled curse, gritting his teeth against the indescribable pleasure that streaked through him. Momentarily paralyzed, he held her in place for a few seconds until he could breathe again.