Good Karma (54 page)

Not even close to finished, he grabbed her
arms and pulled her up and onto his lap as he sank to a kneeling
position. Her arms flopped onto his shoulders and she threw herself
against him, gasping over and over as he wrapped his arms around
her and pounded into her.

It was the hardest he had taken her, but he
couldn’t hold back. It was as if the harder he made love to her,
the closer they grew.

The bed squawked in protest, banging against
the wall.

Sweat poured down his body, his muscles
screaming.

“Yes, yes, more…I’m coming again.” She threw
her head back, her hair swaying and rocking as he approached climax
and fucked her harder.

“Karma!” He slammed into, falling into orgasm
as a long, guttural groan streamed from his throat. Their bodies
crashed together again as he thrust once more, and then again,
draining himself.

Loose and breathless, Karma sagged against
him, her arms slung lazily around his shoulders.

He took her face in his hands, brushed back
her hair, found her lips with his, and devoured her as the end of
his orgasm echoed through his body.

“You’re amazing,” he said, gazing into her
eyes.

“So are you.”

They had given each other all they had, and
Mark was in awe.

With the flames of their passion still
burning the air around them, they collapsed against the mattress.
She curled into his arms and he buried his nose in her hair.

“Thank you,” he whispered, pulling the
blankets over them.

She made a quiet, happy noise, as if she were
smiling, and snuggled more securely against him.

With his arms around her and the warmth of
her body giving him comfort, he closed his eyes and finally drifted
into a peaceful sleep.

Chapter 45

There is
no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of
life.

-Federico Fellini

With their connection re-established, Mark spent
Saturday showing Karma around Chicago. Nothing more was said about
Carol or the argument they’d had the night before, which was fine
by Karma. It was done and over, in the past where it belonged. All
that remained were the two of them, and she was ready to get back
to enjoying what little time they had left.

It was the Fourth of July, and the city
bustled with activities. They enjoyed a couple of hours of the
annual music festival in Grant Park, grabbed barbecue sandwiches
and bottles of water for lunch from a street vendor, and milled
through the crowds in Millennium Park before waiting for over an
hour to be seated at a very packed, very popular Giordano’s for
dinner. After devouring a small deep dish, it was almost eight
o’clock, and they headed back to Mark’s place, where they watched
from his balcony as the fireworks were shot off Navy Pier.

“I had fun today.” He stood behind her, arms
around her waist. He smelled of soap and shampoo from the shower
they had just shared.

A red firework turned the night sky pink.

“Me, too.”

They watched the rest of the fireworks in
silence, then after the finale returned inside and sat on the
couch. Mark exhaled heavily. “What a day. I’m beat.”

Karma played with the ends of her red scarf,
which was wrapped loosely around her neck. “Not too beat, I
hope.”

His eyes narrowed on her. “Why? What did you
have in mind?”

“Hold on.” She hopped up and went to the
bedroom, where she fished the Truth or Dare game from her bag. They
hadn’t played since that first time. She returned to the living
room and handed it over as she plopped back onto the couch. “I
brought it with me just in case.”

He grinned and opened the box, apparently
interested in her idea. “Just in case of what?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Just in case
we wanted to have a little fun.” She had come a long way since
playing Sexual Truth or Dare that first time. It would be fun to
see just how far by playing another round.

He shuffled the cards then placed them face
down on the table. “You first.” He gestured toward the deck.

Karma picked up the top card. “Truth or
dare?” She scanned both options.

“Oh, why not?” Mark said with a flippant wave
of his hands. “Since our first venture into this game was all about
the truth, I say dare.”

She read off the card, “Drop down and give me
ten push-ups…shirtless.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Lame.” He peeled off
his shirt and walked around the coffee table.

Karma’s gaze ranged his muscled, lightly
hairy chest and abdomen. “Not from my perspective.”

He hesitated on his way down to the floor and
grinned. “Well then, in that case, I’m happy to oblige.” He got
into position. “Count off.”

“With pleasure.” She sat forward.
“One…two…three…” Interesting. She had never thought that watching a
man do push-ups could be so sexy, and yet, mmm, yes, she could get
used to this. The muscles of his arms popped into defined peaks and
lickable crevices that reminded her of pictures of hot men she had
seen on Facebook. “five…sex—I mean, six—seven…”

Mark bobbled on “sex,” paused briefly,
chuckled, then got back to pushing up…and down…and up…and down…

“Nine…nine…nine…”

“Hey!” Mark stopped and rose to his knees,
laughing. “I’m on to you.” He pointed an accusing finger, making
her laugh.

“I’m sorry, but I just didn’t want that to
end.” Watching him get physical had been a surprising turn-on.

He stayed on the floor and reached across the
table for a card. “Uh-huh. We’ll see if I can make you change your
tune, little lady. Truth or dare?”

She jutted out her chin. “Truth.”

“Awe, you’re no fun.” He grinned and read the
card. “What were you thinking when you first saw me naked?”

“Damn!” she said without hesitation.

He frowned, confused. “Are you saying that’s
what you thought, or is that your way of saying that you don’t like
the question?”

She laughed. “That’s what I thought. ‘Damn!’”

It had been that first night at his condo.
She had been too keyed up to notice much the first time he made
love to her, but then he stood, went to the bathroom, discarded the
condom, and she had gotten her first glance at just how incredibly
built he was. It was obvious he was serious about weight training.
His butt was tight and the perfect shape. Some men have bubble
butts if they work out a lot, but Mark’s wasn’t. It was just the
right size and roundness to grip during sex, which she had done
later that night, at his insistence, of course. And his legs were
strong and lean, with a perfect teardrop above each knee.

But it was the upper half of his body that
made Karma’s knees week. The six-pack abs, the thick biceps and
chiseled triceps, the strong forearms, and of course, that pumped
chest. The treasure trail—she had never known that was what the
line of hair below a man’s belly button was called until she
started reading her books—below his belly button created a thin,
faint line to his penis. Even now, she couldn’t quite bring herself
to call it a cock or even a dick without blushing. But even penis
didn’t sound right…not impressive enough for its length and girth.
Mark’s penis needed a better name. One that had impact. She would
have to work on coming up with one.

“That’s all?” he said, grinning from ear to
ear, obviously pleased with her assessment of his naked body. “Just
‘Damn!’?”

She considered for a moment. “Well, there was
one other thing I thought.” Her face warmed and scrunched with
embarrassment.

“I can tell this is going to be good.”

She giggled and slapped her hands over her
face. “I thought, ‘How did
that
fit in
there
?’”

He laughed so hard he fell over. She buried
her face against the arm of the couch, giggling uncontrollably.

Propped on his arm, he wiped a tear from
under his eye. “Well, thank you. I take that as a compliment that
my
junk
is notably sized.”

She made an “okay” sign with her fingers. “I
definitely approve of your…er…junk.” She wasn’t sure that was the
word she was looking for, but it worked for the moment. She caught
her breath and grabbed a card. “Okay, your turn again. Truth or
dare?”

“Dare.”

“Bring your lips as close as you can to mine
without touching them. Stay that way for two minutes and imagine
all the hot ways I kiss you. If you kiss me, we have to start
over.” She set the card back on the table and glanced at him
expectantly.

He sat up and lifted onto his knees between
her thighs, bringing his mouth less than an inch from hers.

“Like this?” he said

“You’re good at this.” She gazed into his
intense, grey-green eyes and lifted her hands to his chest.

“I try.”

“I can tell.”

“Are you timing me?”

Her gaze flicked sideways but she couldn’t
see the clock. “Sure.”

“So, are you having a good weekend so
far?”

Their noses bumped, and she smiled as his
cheeks rose and tiny laugh lines broke at the corners of his
eyes.

“Yes, and you?” She was beginning to think
this dare was harder for her than him. All she wanted to do was
pull him to her and kiss him.

He blinked. “I’m having a fabulous time. Did
you enjoy the fireworks?”

“Yes. They were nice.”

“You have lovely eyes,” he said out of the
blue.

“Thank you. So do you.”

“You’re blushing.”

“Are you surprised?”

“No.” He circled the tip of her nose with
his. “Eskimo kisses don’t count, do they?”

“Eskimo kisses?”

He nudged her nose with his again. “Yes.
Didn’t you know this is how Eskimos kiss? With their noses?”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Do I have to start over? Because technically
I just kissed you.”

“But not with your mouth.”

“Ah, so Eskimo kisses are okay.” He tapped
her nose with his again.

“Stop that.”

He grinned. “Why?”

“Because you’re cheating.”

“I’m not cheating. You said they don’t
count.”

“You’re so difficult.”

“Only because I really want to kiss you.” He
blinked. “How long has it been?”

Her gaze slid to the side. She still couldn’t
see the clock. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” His brow
crinkled. “You’re not timing me?”

“I can’t see the clock.”

His eyebrows lifted.

She huffed. “Hey, it’s not my fault. Your big
head is in the way.”

He laughed. “My ‘big head’ is in the
way?”

“Yes. You have a very big head.”

One of his eyebrows arched. “Do I now?”

“Yes.” Then she quickly added, “But it’s a
very handsome big head.”

“Nice save.”

“Thank you.”

“So, do you think my two minutes are up?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How about now?”

“Mark.”

His left eyebrow arched. “Hey, it’s your
fault. You were supposed to be timing me.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“And now I have to suffer because of it.”

“Poor baby.”

His eyes narrowed. “This is hard.”

“That’s the point.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I really want
to kiss you.”

“You can’t.”

“I’m going to.”

“Mark…”

He rocked forward.

“Mark!”

“I wasn’t going to kiss you.” He rocked back,
but his face was still within a couple inches of hers.

“Can’t you just sit there quietly? You’re
supposed to be imagining my hot kisses instead of talking.”

“I can multitask.”

“Whatever.”

“Has it been two minutes, yet?”

“I don’t know!”

“Well guess!”

“Fine. It’s been two minutes.”

He pushed forward and locked lips with her,
stealing her breath. His tongue danced over hers, and his teeth
nipped her lip, then he pulled away and sat back down on the floor,
grabbing the next card.

“Truth or dare?” he said as if he hadn’t just
blown off her toes.

“Give me a minute.” She held up her hand then
fanned herself. Fire still coursed from her lips to parts south of
her waistline.

He huffed sarcastically as if she were
wasting his time.

“Hey!” She leaned forward and smacked his
arm.

He laughed and sat back down beside her on
the couch, giving her knee a playful shove. “Did I fluster
you?”

“A little, yes. You don’t play fair.” She sat
back, took a deep breath, then said, “Okay, truth.”

“What outfit of mine gets you really worked
up? Explain exactly what you like about it.”

“This is an easy one. You have this navy blue
suit with pinstripes that you usually wear with a white shirt and
dark red tie.”

“I know the one.” His grin cut through her
soul.

“I like that suit. It fits you very well and
always turns me on when you wear it. But you look good in suits, in
general. I love seeing you in a suit.”

“Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I hope you do.” She picked up the next
card.

“Dare,” he said.

She giggled when she read what he had to do.
“Rub your chest, paying special attention to your nipples, for
thirty seconds.”

“What?” He shot forward, snatched the card
from her hand, and read it. “Oh, hell.” He disgustedly flipped the
card to the table.

Karma snapped her fingers. “Come on, Mark,
show those nipples some love.”

“Have I mentioned that I’m going to get you
for this?”

“No.”

“Well, I am.” He sat back and, as if it was
the last thing he wanted to do, lifted his hands to his chest and
began rubbing. “Are you timing this?” He gave her a look as if to
warn her that she had better be watching the second hand on the
clock this time.

She coughed out a laugh and nodded. “Yep.”
She checked the clock.