Desire After Dark: A Gansett Island Novel (9 page)

“What else?” she asked, her voice a faint whisper.

“Your gorgeous breasts.” He cupped them and teased her nipples, which were already hard and tight under his palms. “I wanted to see them and kiss them and suck on your nipples until you begged me to fuck you.”

“Yes, I want that.
I want you to do that.”

“How much of it?”

The intensity of her gaze slayed him. “All of it.”

E
rin was done thinking
about the many reasons it might not be a good idea to get swept away by him. It was far too late for such worries. She was already caught up, and hearing him speak so bluntly about what he wanted cleared her mind of everything other than the intense desire for the things he’d
described.

He flashed a wicked, sexy grin. “Does this mean you like it when I talk dirty to you?”

“Find out for yourself.”

“Ahhh…”

She fell to the pillow, laughing at his befuddled response. “I’d think that a man of your advanced years would know how to tell whether or not his dirty talk was having the desired effect.”

“Sweetheart, are you laughing at me right
now?”

She pinched her fingers together. “Maybe just a little. Mostly I’m trying to decide if you’re all talk and no action.”

Uttering a low growl, he pounced, kissing her face off with deep, sweeping strokes of his tongue. Gone were the tentative touches and the light caresses. They’d thrown gas on a fire that had been set to simmer for months, and the flame scorched her from within.

The T-shirt disappeared over her head, baring her breasts to his greedy gaze. As he watched, her nipples tightened to the point of pleasurable pain.

She rested her arms on either side of her head, giving him tacit permission to take what she offered.

“So fucking sexy,” he said as he drew her left nipple into the heat of his mouth.

Erin gasped and raised her hips, colliding
with the rigid length of his erection against her sex.

“
Erin
.”

“Hmmm?”

“You’re so hot. I can feel how hot you are.”

“You made me that way with your dirty talk.”

He kissed his way down her body, then looked up at her, his chin propped on her belly. “Just to be completely clear, this isn’t the only thing I want from you or with you.”

“No?”

“Definitely
not.”

The emphatic way he said that made her heart leap, and that was before he resumed his journey toward the waistband of her pink bikini panties.

“These need to come off,” he said, tugging at them.

Tentatively, Erin raised her hips and let him slide them down her legs, which quivered madly.

“Still okay?”

She bit her lip and nodded, even though alarms were
sounding in her head.
This will change everything. Are you ready to change everything? Will you be able to cope when he leaves again?

“Are you overthinking again?” he asked, watching her carefully as he ran his hands over her legs, subtly moving them apart.

“I’m trying not to.”

“You know what the advantage of being our age is?”

Perplexed by the odd question, she said,
“Um, not really.”

“Wisdom,” he said, kissing her inner thigh. “Perspective, patience.” Each word was punctuated by another kiss. “We’re smart enough now to know that when we click with someone, really click the way you and I have, it’s something to hold on to, something to value.”

His words of wisdom were almost as much of a turn-on as the dirty talk had been. Before she could formulate
a response to the profound insight, he opened her to his tongue. Erin buried her fingers in his hair and held on tight. He played her like a maestro with his tongue and fingers, taking her up so fast she had no time to prepare for the climax that rocked her.

“Yes,” he whispered. “So beautiful, so hot.”

She whimpered when he withdrew, but he was back a second later without his jeans
and rolling a condom over his erection. Erin took a long look at his sexy body, noting the muscles, the scars, the tan lines and the big cock that stretched to above his navel. She held out her arms to him, and he came down on top of her, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss that started the tingling between her legs all over again.

He pushed into her slowly and carefully, watching for
signs of distress, but there was no distress, only desire.

No one had ever made her feel the way he did—in bed and out. No other man had ever made her laugh the way he did, turned her on the way he did or made her feel sexy and desirable the way he did. He was one of a kind, and he was right about the way they’d clicked.

She held on to his shoulders as he went deeper, both of them
gasping from the impact.

He dropped his forehead to hers, seeming to collect himself.

Erin caressed his back and wrapped her legs around his hips.

“Wow,” he whispered. “I knew you’d feel good, but this is a whole other level of good.”

“Mmm, for me, too.” She lifted her hips to encourage him, and he took the hint, pressing deeper while kissing her with soft, easy strokes
of his tongue. The tenderness devastated her and brought tears to her eyes. God, what was he
doing
to her?

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, so okay.”

“You sure?”

She looked up at him and nodded. “Don’t go slow. It feels so good.”

He took her words to heart, picking up the pace while pressing his fingers to her core, the combination leading to a screaming orgasm that made
her thankful for the isolation of the lighthouse. There was no one around for miles to hear how he made her scream.

Reaching beneath her, he gripped her bottom in his big hands as he drove into her to find his own pleasure, coming with a deep groan as he heated her from the inside with his release. When his arms gave out, he came down on her, his body heavy and warm from exertion.

“I think you might’ve just ruined me for all other women.”

Wrapping her arms around him, she laughed. Leave it to him to make her laugh after
that
.

“No, really. That was…
Wow
.”

“Yes, it was.”

He raised his head to look at her. “Yeah?”

She nodded and then smiled when he kissed her.

“I knew you were going to be big trouble the night I picked you up by the
side of the road.”

Erin smacked his shoulder. “Don’t say that like I was a hooker on the prowl or something.”

His laughter rocked his big body. “So I shouldn’t have told my mom that’s how I met you?”

“
You did not!
”

Grimacing, he said, “Oh, um, is that going to be a problem?”

“Be serious. You did not tell her that.”

“I had to tell her something when she
asked what I was doing for Christmas. I said hopefully spending it with the woman I picked up on the side of a Gansett road last September.”

She glared at him.

“After she got a flat on her bike and sprained her ankle in the dark. Of course I told her that part, too. What do you take me for?”

She poked her index fingers into his ribs, making him startle. “That was not funny.”

“It was, too. You were about to laugh. Admit it.”

“I’ll admit no such thing.” She pushed at his shoulder. “Get off me, you wildebeest.”

“
Wildebeest?
Not even five minutes ago, you were screaming my name, and this is the thanks I get for that stupendous orgasm?”

“Oh my God! You’re so full of yourself, it’s not even funny.”

“Was that or was that not a stupendous
orgasm?”

“It was okay.”

His eyes widened and his mouth went slack, but for only a second. “So you’ve had better?”

“I refuse to answer that on the grounds that your ego is on the verge of not fitting into my little lighthouse.”

“My ego fits just fine in your little lighthouse, baby, and that was a stupendous orgasm. I don’t care what you say.”

She tried to contain
the laughter but couldn’t stop the gurgle that seemed to explode from her throat.

“See, I
am
funny.”

Rolling her eyes, she pushed on his shoulder. “Let me up.”

“Only if you come right back.”

“I’ll come right back.”

“Because you want another stupendous orgasm.”

She pinched his rear—hard—and got him to move, groaning as he withdrew from her. That was when
she realized he was hard again.

His sheepish grin made her smile. “I can’t help if he thinks you’re ridiculously sexy.”

Trying not to think about his eyes on her ass, Erin went into the bathroom and closed the door, needing a moment alone to contend with the emotional firestorm unfolding inside her. It
had
been a stupendous orgasm, but more than that, the connection she’d shared
with him had been unlike anything she’d experienced before, not to mention the laughter afterward. She laughed more with him than with any guy she’d ever known, except her brother.

Toby would’ve liked him. She had no doubt whatsoever about that. Her brother had disliked most of the guys she’d dated, including Mitch, whom he’d declared not good enough for her. That comment had led to one
of the few really heated fights she and Toby had ever had, the last time she ever saw him, no less. He and Slim… They would’ve been the best of friends.

After using the facilities, she washed her face and brushed her hair before putting on the robe that hung on the back of the bathroom door. She tied it tight around her waist and opened the door. He was lying on his side, watching for her.
At some point, he’d disposed of the condom, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the fact that he was still hard.

She went to her side of the bed to stretch out next to him.

“What’s up with this?” he asked, tugging at the knot at her waist.

“I was cold.”

“I can warm you up a lot faster than a robe can.” He untied the knot and pushed open the front of the robe. “Sit
up.”

Erin did as he asked and let him slide the robe from her shoulders and then draw her into his warm embrace under the comforter.

“There. Isn’t that better?”

It felt so damned good to be held by him, to breathe in his alluring scent, to feel his chest hair under her cheek, his whiskers rubbing against her forehead and his hard cock against her belly. She loved it all.

“You okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t be shy around me, Erin. I love the way you look, and I love looking at you. You’ve got nothing at all to be shy about. You’re gorgeous and sexy, and I want to see you.”

How did he go from outrageous humor to heartfelt sincerity without missing a beat? If she didn’t know him so well, she’d wonder if he was for real. But after months of long
conversations, she knew he was exactly what he appeared to be. “Thank you.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” She dragged a fingertip over his chest. “Did you really tell your mom about me?”

“She wanted to know what I was doing for the holidays.”

“You don’t go home for Christmas?”

“Home is Florida in the winter and here in the summer.”

“You don’t talk about your
family. Ever.” She looked up at him. “That’s why I’m sort of surprised you told your mom about me.”

“I talk about them.”

“Not to me.”

“Never?”

“Nope.”

“Hmmm, well, what do you want to know?”

“Do you have siblings?”

“I have a brother, Jack, who’s two years younger than me. He’s married with a couple of kids and lives in Orange County, California.”

“Are you close?”

“We don’t see each other very often, but we text a lot and catch up whenever we can on the phone. I also FaceTime with his kids, who are the cutest kids ever.”

“Were you close growing up?”

“Yeah, we were. Our folks split up when I was six and he was four. They fought over us for years, which was as fun as you might imagine. By the time they finally settled
on joint custody after years of battling, we were all set with both of them.”

Erin’s heart broke at the thought of two little boys stuck between battling parents. “At least they both wanted you. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“They wanted us until they remarried and started new families. Then we were just a couple of teenagers in the way at both houses.”

“So you have half siblings,
too?”

“Yep. Two half sisters, two half brothers and three stepbrothers. I’m not really close to them, though. Jack and I were so much older that we didn’t spend much time with them growing up. He was driving by the time the last one was born. They’re all good kids, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t feel like siblings to us.”

“What do you normally do for Christmas?”

“Hang
with my friends in Florida, go to the beach, fly people to their families. Nothing special. Christmas stopped being a big deal to me years ago.” He slid his hand from her shoulder down her arm to take hold of her hand. “Until this year. This year it feels pretty damned special.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

D
r. Kevin McCarthy
sat at the bar at the Beachcomber and watched Chelsea work. Watching her was one of his favorite things to do, second only to being naked in a bed with her. She was tall and lean with curves in all the right places, lovely gray-blue eyes and a long blonde braid down her back, the
sexiest woman he’d ever been with, hands down. Yes, he was a bit obsessed with her, but so what? Who was he hurting by indulging in a deeply satisfying relationship?

That he was also having the best sex of his life with a woman sixteen years his junior was no one’s business but his—and hers. Nursing a beer, he thought about his sons, Riley and Finn, and the odd vibe of disapproval he’d
been getting from them in the last couple of weeks. It was funny, in a way, when you thought about the many nights he’d sat up waiting for them to come home over the years. Now it was his turn, and they weren’t happy about his new relationship—not that either of them had actually said so.

He was trying to be sensitive to how hard it was for them to see their father with someone other than
their mother, but ending the marriage hadn’t been his idea. Maybe they needed to spend some time with their mother so he wouldn’t be the only one taking heat from them.

As much as he wished it didn’t, their disapproval irritated him. He’d worked his ass off to support his family. He’d been a faithful, if sometimes inattentive, husband. His wife of nearly thirty years had left
him
, not the
other way around. What right did his sons have to make him feel guilty for moving on with someone new?

They didn’t. They had no right at all to make him feel this way when he was enjoying himself enormously with Chelsea.

“What’s on your mind, Doc?”

He looked up to see her standing before him, eyeing the shredded mess of paper on the bar in front of him. He’d been tearing up
a cocktail napkin without realizing it. Scooping up the scraps, he balled them into a wad. “Nothing. Sorry. Almost done?”

“Just have to clean up. You want one for the road?”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks.”

She gave him another curious look before moving on to finish up.

Kevin rolled the ball of paper between his palms. If he were one of his patients, he’d be telling himself
to talk it over with his sons. Except, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to hear the reasons why his relationship with Chelsea was a bad idea, doomed to fail before it even got off the ground.

They’d been together a couple of months now, and it was working just fine, as far as he was concerned. And she seemed happy, too. They’d begun to talk about where they were going and how their relationship
was about more than just sex, which was a step forward in his mind. What else mattered?

The final stragglers left the bar shortly after midnight, and fifteen minutes later, Chelsea was ready to go.

Kevin held her coat for her and then put an arm around her shoulders as they walked to his car. She rented a tiny, cozy house in town, so they didn’t have far to go to get to her place.
They’d fallen into a comfortable routine over the last few months, spending time together every night at her place, which gave his sons the full run of the house he had rented for the three of them.

He and Chelsea rarely spent a full night together, and sometimes he rolled in after three or four in the morning. Maybe his sons were pissed about that, too, since he’d made them come home at
a reasonable hour until after they graduated from college and got their own homes. The three of them had been living together again since the fall, when they’d come out for Laura’s wedding and ended up staying for the winter—Kevin because he’d needed to regroup after the split with Deb and his sons because their cousin Mac hired them to work for his construction company for the winter.

After a short drive, Kevin followed Chelsea into her house, removed his coat and went into the kitchen, where she poured a glass of wine for herself and opened a beer for him.

“Thanks, hon.” Since he’d had only two beers much earlier and was still fine to drive, he downed a hearty mouthful and leaned back against the counter to look his fill at the gorgeous woman who’d captivated him so
completely. He certainly hadn’t expected that when Chelsea invited him to come home with her one night in September. At that time, he’d figured they might have a fun one-night stand, and that would be that.

But that night had turned into three of the best months of his life, and he was in no rush to see it end. As recently as last night, he’d tried to talk Chelsea into committing to more,
but she wanted to wait until his divorce was final to make any decisions. After Christmas, his first order of business would be to get in touch with Dan Torrington about speeding up the divorce.

“You want to talk about it?” she asked as she worked her fingers through her hair, releasing the braid she’d worn to work.

“Talk about what?”

“Whatever’s bugging you.”

“Nothing’s
bugging me. I’m fine.” He forced a smile for her benefit. “Tired.”

“Just last night, you told me you want more than a hot roll in the sack, but when you’re obviously upset about something, that’s not my concern?”

He stared at her, stunned by the forthright statement. That sort of communication had been missing in the latter years of his marriage, and it was one of many things he
appreciated about Chelsea. Kevin put down the beer and took a few steps toward her. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes. “You are so much more to me than a hot roll in the sack. If you don’t know that by now, I need to do a better job of telling you so.”

“I’m not fishing for compliments, Kevin. You told me last night you want us to be about more than sex. You haven’t
been yourself tonight, and I’m asking why.”

He appreciated the effort she was making and was encouraged that she’d taken what he said last night to heart. “It’s nothing to do with you. It’s the boys… I’ve been sensing a little pushback from them.”

“About us?”

“Among other things.”

Her brows knitted the way they did when she was thinking something over. “Hmm.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s just… Don’t take this the wrong way, but you know they aren’t
boys
anymore, right? They’re fully grown men, as are you, and all of you are free to do whatever you want, within reason, of course.”

“I do know that, but old habits die hard. I’ve always called them ‘the boys,’ and I probably always will. And I do know that we’re not doing anything wrong. Believe
me, I know that. They’re still getting used to their mom and I breaking up, and they’re having a hard time processing it. That’s all it is.”

“The breakup wasn’t your doing. They know that, right?”

“Yes, they do, but we’re still their parents, and our split has had an impact on them. I see it all the time in my practice. I swear divorce is easier on little kids than it is on grown
kids. It tilts their entire world out of alignment. Everything they believed to be true is challenged.”

“And they get over it. In time. It’s not fair for them to make you feel bad about doing something that makes you feel good, especially when it wasn’t your decision to end your marriage.”

“It was in some ways,” he said with a sigh. “I knew she wasn’t happy, and I didn’t do a damned
thing about it.”

“Because you wanted out, too?”

“Yeah, but I was never going to leave her.”

“I don’t get that. If you were unhappy, why would you
stay
?”

“Loyalty, tradition, the boys… Lots of reasons.”

“And not one of them is about being
happy
. Don’t you have a right to be happy? Don’t we all?”

“Yeah, we do. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. And
that’s all thanks to you.” He raised his hands to her face and compelled her to look at him. “That’s what I was trying to tell you last night when I said I want this to be more than just the best sex of my life.”

“I thought about what you said. That’s all I thought about today.”

“Yeah?” His heart fluttered with hope. He was so gone over her and was looking for something, anything
other than screaming orgasms to indicate the feeling was mutual.

She nodded. “I don’t want you to think…”

“What, hon?”

“That I don’t want the same thing you do. I do. More than I expected when we started this. I’m just wary, that’s all. You’re going through a huge life change, and as great as this has been—and it’s been amazing—I don’t want to get ahead of myself when you’re
not divorced yet.”

“I understand that, and I thought a lot about what you said last night, too. I get it. In a few months, the divorce will be final, and we’ll see where we are. Until then, no pressure, just fun. Okay?”

“Okay, but I still want to know if something’s bugging you. Just because we aren’t making declarations of forever together doesn’t mean I want you to feel like you
can’t talk to me.”

“I love talking to you. You’ve become my favorite person to talk to.”

“About stuff that
matters
, Kevin. Not just surface things.”

“I hear you, and I want that, too. I want it all with you, Chelsea Rose, and I’m going to keep telling you that until you believe me. In fact, I want you to join the boys and me for Christmas dinner, and I want you to come with
me to my nephew’s wedding in Anguilla.”

She eyed him skeptically. “Seriously?”

“Dead seriously.”

“Would your sons… They’d be okay with that?”

“Sure.” As he said that, he hoped he was right, but he had a few days to smooth things with them before Christmas and weeks before the trip to Anguilla.

“You have no idea if they’d be okay with it, do you?”

“I don’t
care if they are or they aren’t. Like you said, they’re grown men, and I have to stop treating them like kids. You’ll be there as my guest, and they’ll be polite, or I’ll ask them to leave. Okay?”

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure I want to spend Christmas with you, and I’d love to have you with me in Anguilla.”

She smiled, and his heart fluttered with more hope. Everything was
new with her, like he was falling in love for the very first time. That thought stopped him cold. Was he
in love
with her?

Before he had a chance to process that possibility, she was kissing him, her mouth opening under his, their tongues meeting in a dance that had become so familiar and so
necessary
to him. God, he was in love with her. Had been for a while now, if he was being honest.

With her hands on his chest, she pushed him backward toward the living room, stopping him before he could sit. She unbuttoned his pants, and working together, they got rid of his pants and then hers. She helped him out of his sweater, and he was happy to return the favor. Then she gave him a gentle nudge that sent him into an upholstered chair with no arms. She straddled him, her wet heat
against his cock making him harder than he’d already been. She was so hot and sexy and willing to do anything if it felt good.

He cupped her ass and pulled her in tighter. “You make me feel like the luckiest guy to ever live that I get to be with you this way.”

“We’re both lucky to have found this.”

“Mmm.” He nuzzled her neck as she moved on his lap with the deliberate intent
of making him insane. “That’s why we need to hold on to it.”

She tightened her hand around his cock. “Hold on to it like this?”

Kevin gasped as he laughed. “Just like that.”

Chelsea raised herself up and came down on him, taking him in slowly, torturing him with the tight squeeze. Since she was on birth control, they’d stopped using condoms after both had produced clean bills
of health, and he loved the way she felt against his bare skin.

“Fucking hell, that’s amazing,” he whispered, teasing her nipple with his tongue, which only made the tight squeeze tighter. Being with her reminded him of experiencing sex for the first time, only hotter than ever. And when she began to ride him, tilting her hips back and forth, he nearly lost his mind. “Chelsea, baby…”

“Hmmm?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing?”

He looked up at her and waited for her to meet his gaze. “You’re making yourself essential to me.”

Her smile lit up her eyes and had her picking up the pace until they were both coming with shouts of pleasure and a deep, satisfying sense of connection that was slowly but surely changing
the course of his life.

He was most definitely in love with her.