Feverish (Bullet #3) (28 page)

That’s when her tongue decided to work and
she shook her head. “No. I wanna do this.”

“Mmm.” His lids lowered and one corner of his
mouth turned up. “That’s my girl.” He kissed her neck. “Now, let’s
get you up on that bed.” She turned a little and started to kick
off her heels. “Oh, God, no. Leave those on.”

She grinned. “You sure?”

“Fuck me, yes. Sexy. If I could do to you
what I wanted to do with that bra and panties still on you too, I
would.” He pulled in a long breath of air through his nose and
leaned over her. “Trust me. This’ll be easiest.” He knelt down and
put one arm under the crook of her knees and lifted her so that her
back fell onto his other arm and he stood, lifting her. She wanted
to wrap her arms around his neck, but it would have been a feat and
not worth the effort since he only had to take a step to lean over
to position her on the bed.

He straddled her on the bed then, leaning
over to tie the loose rope to one of the posts behind her head. She
felt it get snug so she couldn’t bend her arms much. “Not too
uncomfortable, is it?” She shook her head. He examined her eyes.
“Aw…honey, let’s not do this.”

“No. I want to. I do. Please.” He furrowed
his brows until she said, “Please.”

She was convinced that was all he needed to
hear from her, because then he kissed her hard, without mercy,
relentless, and she felt one of his hands on the clasp at the front
of her bra. His lips moved down as he undid the bra and pulled the
cups off her breasts. He lowered his mouth to one of her nipples
and drew it in with his tongue. In spite of the rope, she arched
her back, feeling as though she were giving everything she was to
him. His tongue trailed down the side and then he kissed up the
side of her other breast. This time he flicked her nipple with his
tongue until it hardened and she let out a heavy sigh. “Doing
okay?”

“Mmm…” was all she could manage.

He kissed halfway down her belly, stopping at
her navel, and then he sat up. He grabbed the sides of her panties
and, while moving backwards, pulled them down her legs and over the
heels. He smirked at her again and spread her legs at the feet. He
lifted one of her feet and kissed her ankle. Then he moved farther
up the bed and placed his hands on her knees, pressing against them
gently to spread her legs. He kissed the side of one of her knees,
drawing the flesh into his mouth until she gasped again. He licked
down the inside of her thigh until he got close to her pussy, right
where her leg met her crotch, and he kissed her there. With one
hand, he spread her labia apart and ran his index finger down her
slit. “Nice,” he said and she wanted to squirm. She wished she
could grab him but instead she felt completely helpless, and when
that realization washed over her, she felt adrenaline rush through
her body and her desire amped up further than she ever thought it
could. She’d been wet before but she could feel herself get wetter.
He slid a finger inside her and touched her clit with his tongue
and she could tell she was just seconds away from one of the most
insane orgasms she knew she would ever have. She gasped again as
his tongue took its sweet time, one small stroke followed by
another, as though he had all day to make her feel good. She
couldn’t help the moan forcing its way through her throat and her
muscles tightened beyond belief, ready to let go, and she forced
herself to not give in—not just yet. But it was there, teetering,
and his tongue was sweet, maddening.

And there it was. “Oh, God, Clay…” she said
and then her words were reduced to nothing but noises spewing forth
from her mouth that no longer felt like her own because she surely
wasn’t inhabiting her body anymore. All she could feel was sweet
pleasure, unlike one she’d ever known. And that climax continued to
build to a slow, wicked crescendo, not unlike one of his burning,
bad ass guitar solos, and it made her realize that—no matter what
happened in her life—she would never be loved by another man like
Clay.

Chapter Twenty-nine

CLAY COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time he’d
felt this good. It had been years, and he didn’t want to actually
think about the time, because he didn’t know if he’d ever felt
quite like this. He didn’t want to compare it, because what he felt
right now was too perfect, too pure, and therefore—in his
mind—unsustainable. But he was pretty sure the smile on his face
was now permanently affixed.

After they’d finished, he untied her, making
sure she was okay, not just her wrists but mentally, and she’d said
she “couldn’t be better.” Before he crashed, he made his way to the
kitchen for a corkscrew and resisted the urge to try to fuck her
again when she made a comment about his “cute ass.” They’d shared
half a glass, but he’d since just set the glass on the nightstand
to hold her close.

Now, Emily’s sweet head was resting on his
chest, her finger playing with the ring on his nipple. He thought
she was almost asleep. He couldn’t help how his hand continued to
smooth over the length of her hair. But then she muttered, “That
was just like in one of those romance novels.”

He started chuckling. “What? What are you
talking about?”

She turned her head and looked up at him.
“Some of the books I read. The hero and heroine have sex and it’s
perfect—nothing like real life, you know? Nothing awkward or weird.
It’s like they were made for each other, built to fit each other.
But tonight, you and me? I’m pretty sure I had a romance novel
climax.”

He laughed again and kissed her forehead.
“That’s why I don’t get the big fuckin’ deal about books. From what
you just told me, they make you expect perfection, and that can
only lead to disappointment. What’s wrong with real life?”

She shifted. “
Clayton Smith.
Seriously? This from the guy with enough porn to open a chain of
adult bookstores?”

Oh, that didn’t still bother her, did it? Her
tone had been playful, so he was going to keep going with the
theme. “You just made my case for me. When’s the last time I
watched one of those DVDs?”

“Maybe because you have them memorized. But
you have plenty on your computer.”

He shrugged. “Okay, fine. So I’m visually
stimulated. It’s not the same as books.”

“Before we move on, can we at least agree on
one thing?” He just looked at her. “Porn can make you expect
perfection and that can only lead to disappointment.”

He grinned. “Using my words against me.” He
grabbed the glass of wine. He was gonna need it. “I think I
have
found perfection. I am definitely not disappointed.” He
held her gaze to make sure that sunk in with her and then he
swallowed what was left in the glass. It would lay the ground for a
good buzz if he needed to go there. When he put the glass down,
though, he saw it in her eyes. She knew he wasn’t just saying shit
to make her happy.

She nodded. “Hold on a sec.” She climbed over
him and off the bed.
Christ
…he hadn’t been kidding. She
really was the closest thing he’d found to perfection, and it was
gonna kill him if he’d have to let her go. Not just her body
either. The conversation they were in the middle of? It could have
easily turned into a huge scratch-and-claw fight. Instead, it was
smoothed over. Even though there were a lot of things unknown
between them, they seemed to understand a lot about each other. He
didn’t know that any woman had ever quite understood him like
Emily.

She unplugged her phone from the charger on
the dresser and climbed back in bed. He couldn’t help it and
grabbed her about the waist, pulling her in close for a kiss. “So
what’s up with this? Are we gonna call one-hundred people and
conduct a survey?”

She giggled. “No. I have a Kindle app on my
phone.”

“A
what
app?”

“Kindle. It’s a reading device.”

“Oh, yeah. I know what you’re talking about.
Like an iPad, right? Only, for books?”

“Yeah, the app.” She was moving her finger
across the screen of her phone. “I have tons of books on here.” She
lay next to him and held the phone up so they could both see it,
and she scrolled. “See all these books?”

Some of the covers were pretty suggestive.
“Uh, yeah, and right now, I’m calling you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Looks like
your
porn is in writing,
sweetheart.”

She started giggling again. “Fair enough.” He
raised his eyebrows and kissed her on the forehead again. “But in
writing it leaves a lot up to my imagination. I don’t have to worry
if I’m attracted to the hero, because in my mind, he looks like
someone I already am. If it’s a movie and I think the actor playing
the lead is ugly, I can’t get all excited about him, you know?”

Clay nodded. “Good point. Still…you’re not
going to convert me anytime soon.”

“Well, I don’t expect you to start reading
romance novels, erotic or otherwise. But what about…?” She started
typing in the search feature and then showed him the screen. It was
The Heroin Diaries
, Nikki Sixx’s story.

“Maybe…”

“Or how about this?” In a few seconds, she
flipped up the screen to show him a book by Corey Taylor called
Seven Deadly Sins
. He started to grab her phone but she
pulled it back to herself and started typing again. “What about
this one?”
Red
by Sammy Hagar.

“Okay, okay. So I might like those.”

She kissed him on the nose. “You’ll only find
out if you read it. So…fill up that glass, let me have a sip, and
I’ll start reading to you.”

“Do I get to pick?”

“Nope…it’s a surprise.”

Goddamn, yes. He could spend forever in this
bed with her. Forever.

* * *

Emily felt a little nervous. She’d told Bryce
she could meet for lunch wherever he wanted, but he insisted. He
said he was already on the way.

Shit.

So she had to give Clay a heads up. God, she
already felt like a complete jerk. She had no idea how Clay was
going to take it, but she had to tell him. He was in the music
room, perfecting a guitar solo, one she knew she’d heard several
times. The first time she’d heard it was when he’d licked his
guitar shaft in his bedroom.

As always, she hated to interrupt him when he
was working on music. It was his job and she didn’t want to disrupt
him. But when he noticed her walking in, he stopped playing and
said, “What’s up?” He had a warm smile for her, and that made the
guilt all the heavier.

She let out a breath of air and walked over
to sit next to him on the loveseat. “Uh…”

“What’s wrong?”

He could tell. “Um, Bryce.”

“What the fuck did that douchebag do
now?”

She sighed. “Nothing. Well, nothing yet.
He’s, uh, he’s coming over here to talk.”

Clay stood. “To
my
house?”

Emily wasn’t going to let him tower over her
like that. It took away any power she had. So she stood. “Well, you
invited me to live here, Clay, so in a way, it’s mine too. He’s
already on his way over. I tried to talk him out of it.” It was
worse than she’d imagined. “I’ll get him out of here as soon as I
can.”

His face looked pained as he drew in a deep
breath. “No. That’s okay. I don’t own you. That’s fine. I
just…don’t want him in here or the office. Or my bedroom.”

“No problem.” Mary was already gone, and she
was relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about her too. She
knew Mary had figured out about her and Clay long ago, and she
didn’t want the looks she would have been bound to receive from
Mary with Bryce there. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “No need.”

The doorbell rang then, relieving Emily of
any further awkward conversation. “Uh…that’s probably him.” Clay
nodded but didn’t say a word.

She let out a breath she hadn’t even known
she’d been holding in when she started walking down the hall. When
she got to the door, she stood in front of it for several seconds.
Part of her didn’t want to answer it, but she knew she needed to
deal with Bryce once and for all. She noticed her hand was shaking
as she grabbed the knob and twisted it. She had no clue what she
was going to say to him.

It was Bryce, all right, looking tanned and
relaxed. “Em! How have you been?”

Like it was any of his business. He walked
inside and picked her up in his arms, twirling her around. She’d
seen couples doing that in commercials, and she supposed it
signified happiness and joy at being alive, but more than that, it
represented love. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Bryce
nowadays, but she sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to be flung
around like a ragdoll. “Not bad.” She took a shallow breath when he
placed her back on the floor. Good. Her icy stance was working.
Dumb ass didn’t try to kiss her. “You look good.”

“European continent was so good for me, Em. I
need to take you there next summer.”

She started to say something and then pursed
her lips together. When she got hold of her thoughts, she asked,
“Can I interest you in a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea?”

“You know, coffee actually sounds pretty
good.” She knew he’d say that. She’d made a pot before she’d gone
to break the news to Clay. She led him into the kitchen.

“Have a seat,” she said. She poured coffee
into two cups and then grabbed creamer out of the refrigerator for
him. He’d drunk her creamer long enough that he didn’t mind it.

He squinted as she sat down. “Where’s your
ring?”

It was the hard little piece of metal in her
jeans pocket. She wasn’t going to tell him yet, though. “Don’t
worry about the ring.”

“Too damn bad, Em. I
am
worried about
it. What did you do with it?”

She felt as though an icy waterfall crashed
over her body. She was beyond cool. “What did you do with my trust?
Maybe that’s a better question.”