Ian's Way (2 page)

Her smile, the sparkle of her eyes, the gentleness of her laugh, the way her chestnut hair blew in the summer breeze. Without those visions, he would never have made it. The trauma alone might have killed him and then there had been the agonizing months of rehabilitation afterward.

If only she knew. Dominique Neill had saved his life and now he would repay her. And by the look of things, she needed that saving pretty quickly.
Nikky
, the cheerleader with an angel’s face, trusting to the end, doomed by a tragic lack of self-esteem to be exploited by an endless series of men looking for quick fixes and bragging rights.

It had darn near killed Ian watching her date all those muscle-bound jerks in high school, seeing her put up with their rudeness, their self-centeredness and cheating ways.

But that was the order of things. Beauty was attracted to brawn, the pretty girls inevitably matched up with the cavemen. As for the guys with the brains, they didn’t count for squat when it came to the dating game.

Ian hadn’t the guts to tell
Nikky
how he felt in those days. That was a lifetime ago. He had died and been reborn since then and now he would make it right.

Nikky
had to know how special she was and what she truly deserved from a lover. And he was the man to show her.

Even now, just holding her hand, he could imagine it all—how her skin would feel under his lips and how her body would move, yielding its deepest secrets to his hands, his mouth, his cock.

Yes, everything would be made over tonight.
A fresh beginning for
Nikky
, a chance for her to finally start believing in herself.

They had made it to the dance floor. Ian didn’t even hear the music. Suddenly shy,
Nikky
stood there waiting for him to take her in his arms. She gasped softly as their fingers
intertwined,
her body stiffening for just a moment in his embrace.

“Relax,” he whispered, his lips just grazing her earlobe. “It’s just me, your old buddy.”

Nikky
shivered ever so slightly in response, her voice a touch on the raspy side. “You don’t feel like my old buddy. No offense.”

He chuckled.
“None taken.”

So far so good
, Ian thought as he moved his hand to the small of
Nikky’s
back, left bare by her cute little dress. It was a perfect fit, his palm against her smooth skin, her breasts against his chest.

Her dress worked nicely to show off her breasts, nothing too blatant but still sexy as hell—royal blue with a halter neck and flirty hem. He imagined taking it off her in private. What kind of underwear would she be wearing, tiny panties or a thong, maybe?

She had kept herself in shape. What a pleasure it would be to undo the dress and bare those magnificent breasts, nipples straining and begging to be played with.

Once upon a time it had been a mere dream, having her all to
himself
.
Nikky
in her cheerleading costume.
Nikky
in a bathing suit.
Better still…
Nikky
naked.

It was her personality though, that truly entranced him. The way she took such spontaneous joy in life, the way she pursed her lips when stumped by a problem, the way her eyes went wide when she screwed something up, like the Bunsen burner incident.

“You’ve changed perfumes,” he noted. “No more honeysuckle.”

“You actually remember? Wow. I’m impressed.”

Actually he recalled everything about her.
Every detail.
Remembering had proved the perfect exercise all those months in the hospital, his bones and muscles knitting together after the accident, his body struggling against all hope to reconstitute itself.

“Who could forget? The honeysuckle suited you. So does what you have on. Vanilla and a hint of jasmine, right?”

“Ever the scientist,” she teased.

“It’s not science that I have on my mind right now.”

“Um, I can tell.” She was referring to his erection, which was currently pushing against her with gusto.

Ian cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I haven’t gotten any better at disguising my feelings for you.”

“You used to want me…like this?” She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Only every goddamn minute.”

“You never said a word.”

“Would it have changed anything?”

She frowned, her lovely brow knitted. “I don’t know, Ian…really, I don’t.”

Ian couldn’t resist a nibble at her earlobe. How he loved her honesty, her disingenuousness. “Believe me, you were my fantasy girl. I made it with you in every conceivable position, in every single corner of the school.”

“You seemed so wrapped up in your studies.”

“I was wrapped up in you. Studying was a cover.”

She looked up at him now, confusion and wonder on her face.
Nikky
had never looked so stunningly beautiful to him, her hair swept up, sophisticated as a princess, her cheeks glowing.

He kissed her.

She did not resist as he touched his lips to hers, registering the texture, communicating the deep potential between them.

Nikky
was soft as a rose petal, seemed completely innocent, as though he were her first. Ian tasted and tasted and tasted for the better part of a minute.

More than enough time to change everything.

“Come to bed with me.”

“I can’t,” she breathed.

She was aroused, the rising and falling of her chest proved it, and the way her nipples pushed out, so needful.

“Your body wants it,
Nikky
.
Needs it.”

“Too much history.”
The words seemed to catch in her throat. Her lips were so full, begging further kisses, one after another. There was no way he would let this opportunity pass, not after all he had suffered.

“We don’t have that kind of history,
Nikky
. We’ve never been here and I promise where we’re going, no man’s ever taken you. You have nothing to lose. It will be no strings attached. In the morning, you can go your way and I’ll go mine.”

It had to be this way, one time only. That’s what would make it perfect, magical. It was the only way to change her life.

She moved to break free. “No, Ian. I’m sorry, I can’t.”

He held her for one more question. “Tell me this,
Nikky
, have you gotten the pleasure you deserve? Has a man ever taken his time with you? Has he made you the center of his world, nothing on his mind but making you come in every way he can think of with his fingers, his lips,
his
tongue?”

Nikky’s
mouth dropped open. “If you were anyone else, I would slap you.”

“What about with his cock,
Nikky
, has a man ever made you come that way…or any way at all?” Ian already knew the answer. He could tell by the way she moved—hungry, sad—still a virgin in the most important way.

Damn it, why did she have to be so stubborn. It was all he could do to keep from grabbing her hand and dragging her upstairs to his room. Hell, why wait that long. He could make love to her in the elevator, pressing her tight, breathing in her scent as he pulled up her dress and yanked down her panties.

She would be wet, he was sure of it, open and ready for him to thrust deep and hard, filling and enveloping her at the same time. He would let her cling to him, wrap her legs around his waist and ride him as she let go.

So long as she screamed his name and no one else’s.

“You know,” he pressed, trying to control his breathing. “There are over a hundred basic sexual positions. And did you know the act itself can be prolonged for hours?”

“What did you do, read a bunch of books? Never mind, I already know the answer. Look, Ian, we need to leave well enough alone before we ruin the nice memories.”

Ian released her. It had to be her choice. “I am staying in the Presidential Suite upstairs. You can come up any time tonight. We can make love, take a bath together or just talk. It’s your call.”

Something flashed in her eyes. Her lips trembled. He could tell she wanted to give in but she was afraid. She didn’t trust him. She couldn’t because he was a man.

“Goodbye Ian, I hope you have a nice life.”

“You too,” Ian replied.
“You too.”

He watched her walk off, hips swaying, the most naturally enticing creature he had ever laid eyes on.

Would she take him up on his offer? Either way, he did not plan on getting much sleep tonight.

* * * * *

Nikky
was standing with
Kaity
and Gretchen Silverstein, barely listening as the two of them did a blow-by-blow account of who had gotten what cosmetic surgery.

“There is no way Monica Huey’s breasts are real. She was flatter than a pancake, last I saw her,” declared Gretchen, who was on her second set of implants.

“And look at Bobby Jones’ wife,”
Kaity
added eagerly. “There’s enough collagen pumped inside those lips to fill a bucket.”

Gretchen giggled and sighed, sipping her scotch. “I do wish I knew how you and
Nikky
manage it. You both look as skinny as you did senior homecoming. Have you made deals with the devil or something?”

If anyone had made such a deal, it was Ian. How had he changed himself so completely?

It wasn’t just his muscles, it was the way he moved, the way he danced, holding her close, leading without making her feel like a rag doll, totally respecting her space and her person while still making it abundantly clear how much he wanted her.

How was she supposed to resist that kind of energy?

He had made it sound so simple.

Come to bed with me. No strings attached.

Just like that, an invitation to spend the night with Ian Hamilton, doing all the things her body had been missing for so long. Hell, he was offering things she had never had before.

It was pathetic but true. No man had ever brought her to orgasm—not on top, not on bottom, not in any way at all. As for getting off on oral sex from any of the men she had dated over the years, she would have had an easier time finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Nikky
had no one but herself to blame for that one. The kinds of guys she had been with had possessed way too much ego and way too little patience to take their time with a woman.

The first time for
Nikky
had been with Bobby, the high school quarterback, in the backseat of his dad’s car. It was their senior year. The sex had come and gone in the wink of an eye, Bobby pumping and shaking and releasing himself inside her before she had felt a thing.

Afterward he had looked her in the eye, sated and hopeful all at once, asking if it was good for her too. Instinctively she had said yes.

They did the deed a few more times that month before she found out he was cheating on her with a college freshman.
Nikky
had blamed herself for failing to keep him interested and from then on she’d tried to do a better job of faking her climaxes.

Men were so easy to fool. They believed what they wanted no matter how outlandish and self-serving. She actually had one lover tell her that if she didn’t come it was her own fault on account of how sexy he was.

Ian was promising to make her come for real. And not just with his cock. Her pussy tingled just thinking about receiving that kind of attention, his mouth on her inner thighs, kissing, teasing, working his way up to her sex, preparing her for the inevitable insertion of his tongue, pushing and vibrating like a tiny cock inside her pussy and back and forth over her clitoris.

Oh god, the idea was enough to make her want to grab the man and drag him into the nearest broom closet. Thank goodness Ian was nowhere in sight. Had he gone upstairs already?

Perhaps he was already waiting for her. Her pulse raced.
Would he be naked or still in his clothes?
What would he do to her first? Would he give her more wine or skip to the good stuff? How would he undress her? Would he lick her breasts first, suckle her
nipples,
run his hands between her thighs?

“Oh please,”
Kaity
trilled, waving her hand in the air as if she weren’t soaking up every bit of Gretchen’s flattery. “I am a complete wreck. I would be a goner without pushup bras.”

“But you two must exercise or diet or something,” Gretchen insisted.

“A little here and there,” said
Kaity
, who in reality used up enough energy on the treadmills at their gym to light a small city.

“What about you,
Nikky
?” Gretchen asked. “Do you work out?”

Kaity
elbowed
Nikky
who hadn’t heard the question.

“You will have to forgive her,
Gretchen,
Nikky
has geek on the brain.”

“
Kaity
, zip it,”
Nikky
warned.

It was too late. Gretchen-the-busybody had been reeled in hook, line and sinker. “What geek do you mean? Come on, girls. Don’t hold out on good old
Gretchy
.”

Nikky
cringed. She hated when people referred to themselves in the third person, though it didn’t hold a candle to having
Kaity
air out her private life like so much dirty laundry.

“Well, if you insist,
Gretch
. It seems Ian Hamilton managed to beat everyone in the cosmetic surgery department,”
Kaity
said, putting her usual comic spin on things. “He’s had a full body transplant—nerd to hunk—and now he wants to drag
Nikky
off to his cave and do freaky, calculus stuff to her.”

“Ian Hamilton is a
hottie
now?” Gretchen was no doubt doing a little math of her own, trying to figure if he might work as future husband material. “That seems hard to believe.”

“Ask
Nikky
. He was ramming his tongue down her throat so deep on the dance floor I thought we were going to have to call a plumber to pull it out.”