After Hours Bundle (48 page)

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Authors: Karen Kendall

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Series, #Harlequin Blaze

BOOK: After Hours Bundle
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To her embarrassment, Alejandro pried her fingers off it, chuckled and stuck it back onto the stove. “I'm glad it was not a frying pan,
mi corazon.
I'd have dents in my head or broken vertebrae.”

Shame washed over her. “S-sorry. I don't know what happened there….”

“Don't ever apologize to a man who's brought you joy, hmm? To watch his woman climax is the highest compliment he can receive.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded. Then he reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and dug out a condom. He unfastened his pants and pushed them, with his boxers, to the floor. He managed to get his shoes off at the same time he kicked out of the chinos. “Now, where were we?”

Kate just stared. And stared some more. He was magnificent, his smooth café au lait skin all one color from face to feet. No silly-looking tan lines on Alejandro. Nope. His thighs and calves were even more powerful than his chest, and it wasn't hard at all to picture him playing soccer. He was a man in peak condition with no fat on him at all that she could see.

“Kate?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you like to do the honors?” He held out the condom to her.

“I'll probably put it on backward.” But she took it gingerly and caressed him with her other hand. Alejandro's eyes seemed to roll back into his head and he groaned. He took over operations and rolled the condom down the length of him. Then he kissed her, tugged her to the edge of the kitchen counter and slid inside.

She welcomed the slick fullness of him, wiggled to take even more of him in, and he picked her up and walked into the living room with her, dropping to the floor and rolling her under him.

Then he got down to work, creating a sensual shimmer as he stroked into her, melting things all over again. He took his time, his rhythm slow and languorous and deeply erotic. Perspiration beaded on his brow as he pulled out all the way, leaving only the tip of his cock nudging her. Then he slid in a ways, slid out again, his gaze never leaving her face. He used his fingers to bring her more pleasure, too, finally settling them on her belly while his thumb delicately stroked her clitoris.

Desire coiled deep within her and tension began to build again, demanding release. Alejandro groaned and seemed to lose some of his control, finally driving into her hard and fast, his back and buttock muscles bunched. He brought her legs up so that her ankles rested on his shoulders and pounded into her, slapping against her bottom.

Again, it was partly the picture he made that brought her to climax: all that unleashed male power and beauty between her legs, desperate for release into
her.

Heat and friction splintered into a thousand tiny points of light and Kate exploded. Then he did, too.

Alejandro collapsed on top of her, breathing like a freight train, and she lay there in wonder that she had done that to him, had any sexual power over such an exotic, beautiful man.

9

A
LEJANDRO KNEW HE HADN
'
T
died and gone to heaven, but he'd come pretty damn close. Though he didn't want to move, wanted to remain inside Kate forever, it occurred to him that he might be crushing her. He was big enough that he might even be causing a Kate-shaped indentation in the hardwood floor.

He rolled so that she lay on top of him, and pushed her wild, tangled curls out of her face, tucking them behind her ears. Kate smiled and shifted, scraping his knee. He winced. “You need a rug,
mi amor,
if we are going to keep this up.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, reaching back to rub her tailbone. “I do. Of course, we could always use the bed like normal people.”

“I'm not partial to what we use,” Alejandro said, settling his hands on her small white bottom. “As long as I get to have you.” He squeezed.

A thought came to him as they lay there on the floor, and he frowned. “Did you lock the door after the
primo horrible
departed?”

Her eyes widened. “I don't remember. I'll get up and check.”

“In a moment,” Alejandro said, tightening his hands on her delectable ass. He raised his head just enough to kiss her. Things had just started to heat up and get interesting again when the door did, in fact, open.

“Holy Mother of God!” Wendell said, and then shielded his eyes with his hand.

Alejandro thanked the saints above that their feet were to the door, so all the jerk could see was Kate's rear end, which was bad enough.

“Ever hear of knocking, Wendell?” Kate said through gritted teeth, without turning her head. “Give us a moment, would you?”

The
primo horrible
backed through the door again and shut it without comment.

“Permission to kill him?” Alejandro begged.

She shook her head, scrambling up.

“At least lock him out and come with me to the bedroom. Let me show you the horizontal samba and the Twist 'n' Shout.”

Kate ignored him and raced around the condo instead, fishing her panties out of the Mini Pig Chow and grabbing the rest of her clothes and his. Her face burned bright red, the color of a nice marinara sauce.

“What's the big deal?” Alejandro said.

“Put your clothes on!” she hissed. “Big deal? The big deal is that I'm utterly humiliated, and Wendell has a big mouth! He'll probably announce this at the next family gathering, like Thanksgiving or a board meeting.”

“Even he cannot be such an asshole!”

“Oh, yes, he can.”

“I heard that!” shouted Wendell through the door.

“Bugger off, Wendie!” Kate yelled back, now fully clothed.

Alejandro shook his head and climbed into his boxers and chinos.

“If you want my discretion, Katy,” Wendell called, “we may be able to come to an arrangement if you vote a few shares my way.”

Alejandro turned a powerful glare on the door and cracked his knuckles. “Let me have him,
please,
” he said to Kate. “Just for five minutes.”

“Touch one hair on my head and I will sue you a hundred times over for assault and battery,” Wendell declared bravely, through two inches of wood.

Alejo spat a long string of unsavory and uncomplimentary Spanish words. He took a menacing step toward the door.

“Don't even think about it,” Kate told him.

Growing ever more confident, Wendell yodeled, “Yoo hoo! Everybody got their drawers on, now? Nice buns, Katy. Did you have a good time? Did you bring the barnyard animal in on the action? Does your cheap hunk come with Energizer batteries?”

Cheap hunk?
Batteries?
Alejandro leaped for the door, wrenched it open and made a grab for Wendell, who tore down the hallway as fast as his stubby legs would take him.

Kate followed, shouting. “No! Alejo, no!”

Ignoring her—after all, there was only so much a man could take—Alejandro caught the little turd within seconds and threw him against the wall, drawing back his fist.

Wendell squeaked, but his eyes were malevolent and more than a little excited.

“Don't do it! Kate shrieked. “You can't afford the lawsuit. He's baiting you on purpose, don't you see?”

Breathing hard, dying to rearrange the little
chivo's
face, Alejo made himself count to five. Then ten.

Finally he said, “Okay. But he's leaving, and he's leaving
now.
” He spun the
primo horrible
and grabbed him by the belt and the collar. He lifted him clean off the ground and marched with him to the elevator, where he let go of his collar long enough to punch the button. Kate just stood there with her hand over her mouth.

Wendell started to protest vocally as he was manhandled into the car, until Alejandro roared,
“Silencio!”
Neither of them enjoyed the ride down, but Alejo did enjoy stalking with his prisoner past the concierge desk and towards the main entrance.

“S-sir?” ventured a man in uniform behind the desk.

“You forgot to put this out with the garbage.” And so saying, Alejo pushed out of the glass doors and deposited Wendell the fourth on a convenient bellman's cart. Then he brushed his hands together and walked back inside.

Kate appeared at the main elevators with wild hair and bare feet, just in time to see Wendell, spread-eagle and belly-down on the cart, roll down an incline.

“Maybe this will teach you to not to abuse your cousin's hospitality and to keep your mouth shut,” Alejandro growled. “
Vete al Diablo,
eh?”

 

K
ATE ORDINARILY DIDN
'
T
hold with excessive displays of macho, alpha-male behavior: chest-pounding and all that. But she had to admit to a tiny thrill—okay, it wasn't so tiny—that Alejandro had taken charge of the situation, namely exterminating her condo of Wendell.

Like some kind of knight, he had defended her honor—and Gracious's honor, too. He had also exercised his own aggression, but she figured that knights were pretty much entitled to that, as long as they claimed the higher motives.

Beating the crap out of the other guy had to feel good, and if you could spin it so that you did it in the name of honor, justice or religion then so much the better.

As a Harvard-educated Spinney, she strongly believed in women standing on their own two feet, but gazing at Alejandro's still bare chest, now glistening with perspiration and pumped up from exertion, she found that she also strongly believed in…disgusting displays of excess testosterone. Really, what could be yummier?

She discovered as well that she believed in hot, sweaty, screaming sex. So she took Alejo by the hand and tugged him back into the elevator, up the several floors to her condo and into her bedroom. Then she hurtled at him, knocked him onto her mattress, pulled off his pants again and did her very best to sprain his thing.

Gracious had taken one sniff at the air, figured out what was going on, and trotted out of the room. Obviously she was a pig with delicate sensibilities.

Luckily, Alejandro's thing was made of sturdier stuff than Kippy's thing. In fact, Alejo managed to wipe her mind clean of Drippy Kippy's image, flat on his back howling and gripping his man-root. The unfortunate scenario had haunted her for years.

They ignored the constantly ringing phone, figuring that it was Wendell trying to express his outrage, and finally ate dessert at about 3:00 a.m.

Gracious danced around drooling in hopes of table scraps, but was sorely disappointed. Kate was bending down to put a couple of dried apricots and some grapes into her bowl when Alejandro came up behind her and goosed her with Mr. Happy. “Wait,” she said, grabbing it absently. “We never took Gracious out this evening. But she doesn't seem to need to go. Weird.”

She didn't seem to have gone anywhere in the apartment, either, but Alejandro distracted Kate from thinking about it too much. His cock twitched in her hand, obviously ready to rock 'n' roll again.

“I guess I'm not as bad at this sex thing as I thought, huh?” she asked a little shyly. “Or maybe he's just not picky.”

“He's very picky,” he promised. “I'm fighting off women all day, in my line of work.” Alejo's expression changed suddenly from teasing to serious, and he shut his mouth with a snap.

“Really. As an accountant?” Kate eyed him suspiciously.

“Well, er. You know. When I'm at the spa, doing the, uh, books. Some of the customers are a little forward.”

Jealousy did a nasty little jig in her stomach. And he was hiding something again. The awkward pause, the hasty, lame explanation—they told the story. But what was he covering up?

She told herself she didn't need to know everything about him. After all, this was just a fling. So she said casually, “Fighting off women, huh? Well, you
are
pretty hot. They probably can't help themselves, right?” She poked him in the chest with an index finger.

He ignored the question and poked her with something else. “Got a garage for my hot-running engine,
mi amor?
” He grinned.

Mi amor.
It sounded so sexy coming out of his mouth. “I don't know. Did you make an appointment to have it inspected?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I did.”

“Do you think it might just need a little oil?”

“I think that's exactly what it needs.” He grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder, making for the sliding glass doors that led out onto the balcony. “Put me down!” she shrieked. “We can't do this
outside.
Are you crazy?”

“What do you think balconies are for in south Florida, eh? Not just smoking cigars.” He opened the door and tried to step out, but she hung on to the frame. “Don't be difficult, Kate.”

“I excel at being difficult. And I am not having sex with you on this balcony!”

“Why not? It's dark. It's cool. There's a very nice view.”

“It's not that dark anymore! It's five-thirty and the sun will be coming up soon.”

“What could be more beautiful than making love at sunrise on a balcony overlooking Biscayne Bay? Now, shh.” He peeled her hands off the doorframe, slid the door closed and lay down with her on top of him.

The night breeze caressed her naked skin and she could hear the waves below. Night creatures made their odd, mysterious music, ensconced in trees and bushes, and she forgot some of her discomfort just listening to them. Alejandro stroked the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine, and then moved his strong fingers into her hair, massaging her scalp.

She relaxed, letting tension slip away with his touch. “
Ohhhhh.
God, Alejo, where did you learn how to do that?”

He didn't answer, just kept stroking and kneading all over her head until he was back at her neck again. From there he moved down to her shoulders and slowly rubbed and circled there, too, eventually going all the way down her spine to her bottom. Then he urged her forward and took her breast into his mouth, sucking and gently biting and laving her nipple until she whimpered and he took the other one, moving his hands down possessively to her ass.

Alejandro was a man who took his time. He believed in thoroughness, in the power of sensual, not just erotic, touching. As he kissed and licked and teased, he explored every inch of her thighs, every inch of her derriere, brushing gently down the private channel with his fingertips and setting her once again on fire.

He parted her, slipping two fingers inside, discovering that she was more than ready for him. And then he tilted her hips, positioned her so that she could sink down onto him. It felt so good, so right, so complete for him to fill her that way.

He caught her hands as he began to pump his hips upward. “Show me where to touch you,” he whispered. “Teach me how to drive you wild.”

Embarrassed, she didn't know what to do. She'd only gotten naked in front of him for the first time tonight. Yes, they'd achieved a certain level of intimacy, but there were certain things that were just private.

“Touch yourself,” he urged her. “It's very sexy.”

“You're kidding, right? I mean, if I touch myself, doesn't that imply that you're not doing your job?”

His teeth flashed white in the moonlight. “Not at all,
mi amor.
You're turning me on when you touch yourself. And you're helping, which is always good. And finally, there's a certain deliciousness about a woman who knows how to please herself.”

Kate felt a little dubious about her, uh, deliciousness. She almost snorted, trying to imagine a man of Anglo-Saxon descent instructing her to explore her
deliciousness.
But when Alejandro said the words, they didn't sound silly at all.

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