Gage, Ronna - Send Her To Me (Siren Publishing Classic) (11 page)

In her mind’s eye, Kelli could see his naked body coming to her, feel his lips on hers, and then on her skin. Her mind recognized the scent of their arousal, blending in with the images of her mental dream. His tongue licking and bathing her clit. An immediate heat collected between her legs, triggering a sharp pang deep in her womb. The crotch of her panties became saturated, and a faint musk of her feminine arousal wafted in the air filling her nostrils. Kelli hoped that Carter was close enough to know what her body wanted but dreaded it at the same time. By the sudden awareness that appeared in his eyes, she found her answer.
He knows!
Neither spoke—silence filled the room as each one looked at the other, yet both of them could feel the spark of electricity sizzling in the air between them. She felt a slight burning in her cheeks.
Why is it that he makes me feel like a little schoolgirl?

He squeezed her hand, gaining her attention.

“Go ahead and make yourself at home while I get our drinks.” He let her hand slip out of his. She walked around the counter into the kitchen, feeling Carter’s presence close behind her. He stopped at the bar, pulled out one of the barstools, and sat down.

Kelli felt the change in atmosphere on her skin. His body’s close proximity no longer warmed her and the giddy feelings when he was close no longer bubbled inside her, all because a breakfast bar separated them. She turned to him and found him watching her. It felt oddly familiar to have him near. “I missed you,” she said in response to the realization. She’d missed him all day.

“I missed you, too. I thought about you all day.”

She smiled but still felt shaky inside. She gazed at him a moment longer.
What’s happening to me?
More importantly
,
how long will it last?
Kelli pushed the latter thought out of her mind. She wouldn’t dwell on the negative energy that tried to seep into her happiness. She grabbed a beer for him and a wine cooler for herself. “How was your day?” Making idle chitchat would help to calm her nerves.

“It was all right. Win some, lose some.”

When she returned to him, she stood on the opposite side of the breakfast bar and placed the beer in front of him. She reached up to open the bottle with trembling hands and prayed it wouldn’t become a big mess to clean. Carter took a drink of the beer. New tingles of want ran through her body so fast it overwhelmed her with the need to kiss his lips. Instead of reacting to the urges inside, she turned away from them. “Let’s have a quick snack,” she stated and walked back to the fridge. She opened the door and searched on each shelf for something—anything to keep her mind off him and the impure thoughts running through her head. The chill of the fridge minimized her lust, but it still lingered, smoldering beneath the surface, ready to ignite with a spark.

* * * *

Carter saw the slight tint of blush that colored her cheeks. Too engrossed with the sparkle from her eyes, he didn’t say anything about the cause for her coloring. Kelli bent over in front of the opened refrigerator, and he lost all train of thought. The hem of her dress didn’t hit much past the cheeks of her ass. Her smooth, shiny thighs tempted him to reach out and touch them. Carter took advantage of the bird’s-eye view on his perch, filling his head with all sorts of fantasies.

He imagined her bent over the island, her dress hiked above her waist, her panties down around her ankles, and he inside her, rocking into the deep recesses of her heated core. His balls tingled.

She pulled a small tray of meats and cheeses from the bottom shelf and set it on the island.

“Do you…” Suddenly, the ability to speak left him. He cleared his throat before he tried to speak again. “Do you need help?”

Kelli looked up at him and smiled. Her green eyes showed an innocent and seductive woman as they gazed at him. He knew how seductive she could be and how sweet she tasted. And he craved her more than food.

“No, I got it.” She put the tray together, unaware of his watchful eyes upon her. She bent again to retrieve a bottle of white cream dip. The material of her black dress clung to her ass. He didn’t see a panty line through the fabric. Taking a closer look, to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. His mind went wild thinking of the possibilities under the dress.

A G-string?

No, a thong!

Oh shit, no panties at all.
He could feel his cock straining against the fabric of his jeans. Damned thing didn’t believe what his eyes saw and his brain registered it wanted to look for itself. The room suddenly got hot. Carter started sweating profusely under his collar. The idea to strip out of his shirt and feel the cool breeze of the air-conditioning on his heated body sounded better and better with each passing thought. “Did you leave the stove or oven on?” He had to find another source for the sudden heat wave. Carter flapped his shirt collar in a repeated motion.
Man, that air-conditioner better kick on soon.

“No, I didn’t cook today. It’s too hot,” Kelli answered. She opened the last package of meat.

“You got that right,” Carter murmured to himself. He took a sip of beer and watched her hands open the package with care. Suddenly, he pictured her small hands on him, roaming softly against his body, heating it to the bone. He could almost feel her hands on his bared flesh. He inhaled deeply and released it slowly to calm the urge. He distracted himself with sports statistics and the titles to this week’s top twenty songs. He even thought of huge, indestructible icebergs in Alaska. Large masses of floating ice that could sink a ship if it were to get too close, but also large enough to cool his heated loins. His eyes traveled up her body, and then connected with hers. She looked at him smiling.

“I hope you’re hungry.” She walked around the bar carrying the tray of snacks, basket of crackers, and her drink.

When did she finish? When did she fill the basket?
He couldn’t remember. He was too enthralled with her ass…and icebergs.

“You have no idea.” He took her drink from her hand and looked at the blush colored liquid. He considered downing the contents but thought better of it. Mixing alcohol wasn’t such a good idea.

He followed her into the living room, silently moaning inside as he gazed at her heart-shaped ass clad in the black, shiny material. He sat their drinks onto the coasters he found placed around the glass-top coffee table, sat on the couch, turned his head to offer help, and literally came eye-level with the right cheek of her ass. He moaned inwardly with the battle of urges building inside him. One part wanted to be a gentleman, the other insisted he take a touch and caress her ass. He cupped the air around it—what could he do to restrain himself from biting her cheek? Closing his fingers into fists, he considered putting them under his legs. Instead, he grabbed the beer in front of him and took a long drink. He almost drank the contents of the beer at one time, but he kept his hands busy and to himself.

Stimulated nerve endings tingled under the surface of his skin. Kelli placed a hand on his shoulder, and his insides unraveled like a tight spring. She gracefully kicked her shoes off and set them beside the sofa. He looked down at her feet. Her tiny toes and small feet were dainty.
As a woman’s feet should be.
She rested her hand on his knee and eased down to sit on the floor in front of him. She reached over his leg and picked around the tray of snacks.

“Since you’re in a dress, wouldn’t you rather be on the sofa? I’ll sit on the floor.”

“What, and have you look up my dress? Perish the thought.”

Carter laughed at her upturned nose. S
he has such a cute little nose
. He covered his heart with his hand, pretending to be chivalrous and hurt. “You know me so well.” He took a piece of sausage from the tray and popped it in the creamy dip. He looked at the nice arrangement of pepperoni, smoked sausage, and yellow and white cheeses.
This isn’t enough for me. Even with the crackers, I won’t be satisfied. What a statement of words and facts
. He wondered if she made alternate plans. “Are we still going out?”

“If you want to.”

“Good. This chick food isn’t going to fill me up.”

Kelli reached for a small piece of cheese and stopped. “Chick food?”

There was something about her response that alerted him. She acted as if he insulted her. He had to do some quick talking to get him out of trouble. But words failed him. No matter what he said, he would find himself deeper in a hole he would dig himself into. “You know what I mean.”

She laughed, and then licked some dip off the small disc of sausage. “I thought we could get to know one another better. If that’s all right.”

“Sure.” He took a sip of beer. His eyes rested on hers for a quick minute, and then turned away.

“So, how is the world of business?”

Carter smiled, happy that she remembered he was involved in the business world. “Still no recession to report.”

“Good.”

A few minutes later, the idle chitchat turned empty—so had the snack tray before them. The issues at hand were still unsettled. Carter silently watched her as she stacked their used napkins and empty bottles on the disposable tray. She straightened from the task, and he stood up with her. She took a step toward the kitchen, but he caught her arm and brought her around to him.

“Kelli, I think we need to talk.” She looked deeply into his eyes. He noted how her they shifted side to side. She only did that when she looked at him with purpose. He smiled as he felt his heart swell against his ribcage with her irresistible charms. There was nothing about her that he didn’t like.

“Okay.” She set the trash back on the table and stood before him. The lustful spark in her eyes earlier was gone, replaced by a guarded look. Her arms crossed over her chest proved it.

It bothered him to see this side of her. Maybe Dex was right. She thought the worst of his intentions. She took a step away from him, but he wasn’t going to let her think that of him. He pulled her into his arms. “Kelli?” He kissed her softly, and then his passion ruled his actions. He kissed her with a hunger so strong he tasted the passion on her tongue. It tasted like a mixture of hot desire mixed with a decadent sweetness.

Kelli’s hands grasped his shoulders, taking fistfuls of his shirt. She pulled away and looked into his eyes. “What was that for?” She took a step back and tenderly touched her lips.

“I wanted you to know that I was thinking of you even after the intense romp last night.”

Kelli blushed at his comment. “I hope you mean that.”

He softly touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I do. I don’t want you to regret or freak out about anything that went on or goes on between us,” he said gently.

Kelli gnawed on her bottom lip, her eyes narrowed, and looked at him, mulling something over in her head.
Maybe something I said.
He held his breath
.

“Who have you been talking to?”

I knew I fucked up before I finished the sentence
. He couldn’t stop the comment once he voiced it. He’d hoped she wouldn’t catch on to what he’d said, but she was quick. He rubbed the back of his neck. What was he to do? Reveal that Dex was his source? “Does it matter?”

“Who, Carter?”

Kelli’s hard stare leveled him. He said nothing, afraid of her reaction. “Some teacher. Don’t you mean whom?” His calm demeanor seemed to agitate her further. He saw her face getting red, and her eyes narrowed sharply.

“Don’t correct me,” she shouted.

Carter took a deep breath. When he let it out, the silence in the room was almost deafening. Suddenly, his best friend’s name tumbled out of his mouth. “Dex.”

“Dex?” Kelli stood back and searched his eyes. “This isn’t happening. How would he know? Only Ton…” Then her expression changed, turning into one of dawning realization. “Tonya!” Her actions and ranting mixed to create a hostile creature which fascinated Carter. “I’m going to beat her until she’s a bloody pulp. I’ll kill her in her sleep, drag her body out under the cover of night, and bury her in her mother’s backyard. Under the peach tree,” she continued, unaware Carter stood dazed behind her. Kelli seemed sure she could get away with killing Tonya. Carter worried she may actually do something drastic to her cousin. He had to say something.

“Kelli, don’t be mad at Tonya.” Carter came up behind her and pulled her against his chest. She stiffened under his hold. “She wasn’t thinking when she told Dex. I’m figuring she thought I would have told him about last night.” Kelli struggled to pull away, which annoyed him. “Stop struggling. You aren’t going to walk away from me, not when you are this upset.”

“Let me go, Carter!”

“No, I won’t let you go, so calm down.”

Saying that to her was the worst thing he could have said to her. She spun around on him so fast, his grip loosened on her body, and his hand grabbed the tender part of her right breast. Her eyes blazed with so much animosity he had no choice but to let her go.

Carter couldn’t blame her for her ill feelings. Her trusted friend and family member betrayed her. Gossiping to God knows whom about their relationship. Now, anger added itself to the list of emotions that ran through her body and collected with the heat of his words. Unfortunately, anger won out.

“You won’t let me?” Her voice hissed. “Who do you think you are?” She jabbed a finger into his chest. Before he had a chance to answer, she raved on. She turned red. The ranting grew faster, to the point that Carter couldn’t get a word in edge-wise, much less understand a damn thing she said. He did try to calm her down verbally, but her anger increased.