Body Rocks [The Andersons 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (4 page)

Samantha was quiet while they walked to the park, and every so often, Daniel stole glances at her. She looked less frightened and more relaxed now, but he still wanted to hold her and tell her everything was all right.

He wanted more, too. He wanted to kiss her. Touch her. Fuck her.

He closed his eyes. Images of Samantha in his bed, beneath him, legs locked around his waist, her breath coming hard and fast as he fucked her, made him open them again. And just in time, too, otherwise he would have smacked straight into the picket fence that surrounded the park.

“I have a confession to make,” Daniel said as they took a seat on a bench that for some reason faced the church and not the swings, slide, and climbing frame in the children’s play area. Nearby was a large tree stump, its gnarled roots lifting the separating fence and cracking some of the gravestones beyond. No doubt the reason for the tree’s felling. “Are they going to be repaired?” he asked. “The stones, I mean.”

“I think so. They might be a century old, but they still matter. So, what’s this confession?”

He grinned. “I hated climbing trees. I only did it so I didn’t look like an ass in front of Matt and Ross.”

“Really?”

“Mmm-hmm.” The muted floral tones—roses?—of Samantha’s perfume wafted around him. The night was already humid, but the heat flooding his veins and his hardening cock sent the temperature rocketing. Daniel sidled closer, bravado and lust taking over. “I’ve got another confession. My body rocks. For you.”

She remained quiet for a moment, and then she said, “Dad’s first wife is buried over there.” He followed the direction of her hand, but couldn’t tell which stone she was pointing at. He turned back to face her, trying to keep the disinterest from showing.

He couldn’t have succeeded, because she then said, “Sorry. I don’t know where that came from. Not exactly romantic, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t,” he agreed, waggling his brows in humor.

Samantha smiled. A curious expression then flashed across her face. “Why are you sitting on your hands?”

“So I won’t be tempted to put them on you,” he answered truthfully.

“Maybe I want you to put them on me, Daniel,” she said in what sounded like a breathy rush.

A low moan rumbled from Daniel’s throat. Samantha inched closer, if that was possible, and placed her hand on his thigh. The warmth of her hand turned his own heat up a notch.

“Can I kiss you?”

Sammy, you can fuck me.
“Sure.” Still sitting on his hands, he inclined his head toward hers. Her breath was warm and sweet, but not as warm or as sweet as the lips that she pressed against his. She moved them in a gentle caress, tantalizing, teasing, and he couldn’t stop the groan from leaking out.

He was going to have to touch her or go cuckoo crazy. But where? Although she was kissing him, her eyes were wide open and had all the appearance of a startled doe. Whatever Raven had done to her had obviously made her fearful of any man. He didn’t want to increase that fear by touching her somewhere that would bring back bad memories.

Daniel freed his hands and tenderly framed Samantha’s face. His own eyes open, he coaxed her mouth wider and slipped his tongue inside for a more thorough taste. Another groan leaked out. She was as sweet as cotton candy. Suddenly, the need to hold her, kiss her, touch her, fuck her that had been gently simmering flared up. His hands moved down to her shoulders. And that was when he felt her tensing up. Immediately, Daniel drew back, hiding his disappointment and need remarkably well. Samantha, on the other hand, looked more than a little surprised.

“Why did you stop?” she asked.

“Because you tensed up.”

“Did not.”

“Did so. Sam, I’m—” He stopped. He didn’t know why, but his half brother’s name and the shortened version of hers didn’t feel right to him. He began again by calling her by the name that he, his family, and hers knew her as, but even that didn’t feel right. “Sammy, I’m not gonna do anything else until you’re comfortable. Comfortable with me.”

“You’re so sweet,” she murmured. She smiled and, taking hold of his right hand, she placed it boldly over her left breast. “I’m comfortable. Touch me. Kiss me.”

Daniel wanted to perform cartwheels and shout at the starry sky in jubilation at her invitation. For a moment, he considered doing just that, but then he checked himself, whipped his hand away, and clamped a lid on his less-than-idealistic thoughts. It wouldn’t be smart to tell Samantha he wanted to fuck her senseless.

No, this called for telling her she was going to set the pace in any relationship they might have, not him. It was going to be hard, though, particularly when he knew with every second he spent with her he’d want to make love to her and claim her as his.

“Oh, baby…” Now, that did feel right. “Can I call you baby?” She nodded, so Daniel continued. “Baby, I am going to touch you. And I am going to kiss you. But the moment you feel I’m going too far or too fast, you tell me to stop. Okay?”

“Okay. Kiss me. Please.”

He grinned. “You’ve got it, baby.”

Daniel was sure he was drowning as Samantha circled her arms around his neck. Drowning in the vivid green sea that was her wide-open eyes. Before when kissing women, he had always closed his eyes, but not anymore, not when keeping them open was such a fucking turn-on. The desire he saw made him both soft and hard. Soft in the head sitting on his shoulders, hard in the other head residing in his jeans.

Swallowing a moan, a moan he wasn’t quite sure came from him or her, he slipped his left arm around her waist and crushed her to him. His right hand again went to her left breast, only this time under her top. Warm flesh and smooth satin filled his hand. He moved his palm in slow circles, gently squeezing and massaging, then rubbed his thumb over her nipple, already beaded beneath the satin of her bra.

The craving to touch more of her bare skin and taste that beaded nipple grew until his whole body growled with hunger. He was just about to lift her top when he felt her arms, which had been around his neck, move to his chest and gently push him. She was pushing him away.

“Please stop.”

Although her words came out breathy with need, Daniel stopped. Stopped and moved away to give her space. He needed space, too. He needed to gather his thoughts and calm himself down. Yeah, right, as if that’s gonna happen, he thought, wincing as he got to his feet. His permanent hard-on wasn’t in any hurry to soften. “C’mon, I’ll walk you home.”

She took the hand he offered, and together they walked hand in hand back to the Anderson home. Once there, Daniel stopped by Matt’s cruiser and idly kicked the gravel by the front passenger’s side tire, for some reason getting the feeling they were being watched.

He’d experience the feeling on several previous occasions when he’d been in Manila, and more recently Yellowstone, but this time, it didn’t give him goose bumps. He glanced toward the house. Looking out from one of the upstairs windows was Matt. He turned back to Samantha and smiled. “Um, I enjoyed tonight.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

“Would you like to do it again? You know, like a date?”

She nodded. “Love to. But can I organize it?”

“Yeah, sure. But—” He gave her a look of mock trepidation. “It’s not gonna include tree climbing, is it?” Her soft giggle was enchanting. He leaned closer until his breath mingled with hers. He so wanted to kiss her mouth, but with Matt’s eyes boring into his back, he softly kissed her cheek instead. “I’ll watch you until you’re safely inside.”

“Oh, okay. G’night.”

“Night.” Keeping to his word, Daniel watched Samantha until she closed the door behind her. He then looked up at Matt. Giving him a salute, he walked back to the B and B, only just stopping himself from skipping.

* * * *

“Well?”

“Well, what?” Samantha said in response to Ramona’s one-worded question. Cross-legged on her bed, resting comfortably against the headboard and wearing a pair of her pajamas, something that made her smile—bows and rosebuds did not suit Ramona—Samantha wondered why her sister even bothered asking. As identical twins, they shared a bond that practically meant they felt each other’s feelings, thoughts, and actions, which at times could be really embarrassing.

“Is Danny a helluva kisser, or what?”

“Helluva kisser” didn’t even begin to describe it, of that, Samantha was certain. The passion with which Daniel had kissed had taken her breath away. She’d never noticed the jewel-like amber flecks in his blue eyes, but then again, she’d never been that close to him before, either. Those amber flecks had positively glowed, and his demanding yet passionate lips had turned the hot, wet pool between her thighs into a flood.

And his tongue…Well, the thought of his tongue with its broad strokes and light licks lapping up that wetness had made her dizzy. “Not saying,” she sniffed. “You didn’t tell me about you and Rex.”

“Only because I wanted to spare your feelings.” Ramona patted the bed. “It wouldn’t have been fair, Sammy. A man’s giving me hot, jungle-jump sex, while you get the complete opposite.”

Locating another pair of pajamas from the chest of drawers, Samantha quickly undressed and joined Ramona. “Spare my feelings, ha! I felt every bit of that hot, jungle-jump sex, right down to your orgasm. Or should I say orgasms, plural?” Though her cheeks turned pink, her sister’s grin was wide and happy.

“I love him, Sammy. And this afternoon I asked him to marry me. Am I turning slushy, or what?”

“You, slushy? Not in a million.” Samantha gave her sister a quick joyous hug before pulling back. “I felt what happened after your proposal, too, you know. Is oral always that intense?” she asked, curious to know. It would be good to know if fainting at the point of climax was acceptable.

“Yes. And I felt that kiss between you and Danny,” Ramona answered in reply. “But then you pushed him away. Why?”

“Because I…” Samantha faltered. Yeah, why had she pushed Daniel away? It wasn’t exactly as if he’d been doing something she didn’t want him to. She’d wanted his kiss. His touch. She still wanted it. Even more so now that she’d had a taste. In fact, she burned for him.

“Was he going too fast?” Ramona asked, interjecting on Samantha’s thoughts.

“No. I think I was.” She shook her head wryly. “I know Daniel is kind and considerate, and I know he won’t hurt me, but I don’t want to rush this. Who knows how long he’s going to be staying. I don’t want to be a quick, um, a quick…” She paused for a suitable censored word, but Ramona, in her usually uncensored way, got there first.

“A quick fuck?”

Samantha tutted. “I was going to say tumble. Would it be too freaky to want a relationship with Daniel while Ross and Jessica are involved with each other?”

Ramona shrugged. “You can’t help who you fall in love with, Sammy.”

“L–love?” she spluttered. “I’m not in love with Daniel.”

“No?”

“No.” Samantha ignored Ramona’s raised brow and knowing look but couldn’t quite disregard the feeling that her sister was right. Neither James nor Max, her two serious ex-boyfriends, had hinted at the “Happy Ever After,” and Raven certainly hadn’t. But what about Daniel? As a romantic, she always believed in “The One.” And yes, okay, she’d known Daniel since the day he was born, but just like her brother, Ross, and Daniel’s sister, Jessica, was she to find true love with a close family friend, too? Was Daniel her “Happy Ever After?”

Samantha looked down and lightly fingered the silver charm bracelet she wore on her left wrist. It had been a birthday present from Rex. He’d said that he hoped it would make her lucky in love.

“See, it’s working already.”

With a dramatic eye roll, Samantha nudged Ramona in the ribs. Still, as she placed the bracelet in its box, she couldn’t help but smile softly as she made an important decision. Tonight, she had taken a fairly big step with becoming comfortable in a man’s company again. Tomorrow, she would take an even bigger step.

With a happy sigh, Daniel studied the plate before him. With any luck, the mile-high-sized cooked breakfast should keep the hunger pangs at bay for at least a couple of hours. It was a pity the same couldn’t be said about his hunger pangs for Samantha. It seemed they cropped up every few minutes and at some really inopportune moments, as well.

Like, for instance, earlier that morning. He had gone to the general store to buy a newspaper. So far, so good, but the second he’d caught sight of the display of chocolate, his thoughts had wandered to Samantha and smearing her body in chocolate body paint and slowly licking it off. Indeed, any kind of edible sweet food substance. Honey, cream, yogurt, exotic fruits, ice cream…To say he had problems removing some change from his pants pocket was an understatement. But worse still, he had to stand there and hold a conversation with Father Charles Hislop, priest of the Silver Creek Church.

Shaking his head in wonder on how he had managed to keep a straight face, Daniel reached for his glass of OJ and took a long pull. A waft of something rosy mingled with the citrus of the juice as it slid down his throat. He then felt a warm presence just behind his right shoulder. He turned, and his cock growled with hunger.

“Where do you put it all?” Samantha asked as she slid into the seat opposite.