La Vie en Rose {Life in Pink} (16 page)

“You don’t know the exact number?”

“Don’t sound so appalled. I could figure it out, but I’d have to think for a minute and I only want to think about us right now.”

For a twenty-six year old man she supposed a rough dozen women wasn’t a lot. “You wore a condom with all of them?”

“Every single one. And I had my blood work done last month. If you need the reassurance I can have it run again, but I haven’t been with anyone since then. I’m clean as a whistle.”

If it were any other guy she’d require more proof, but she trusted Riley and believed he wouldn’t lie. “I’m due to see my OBGYN soon. I can have her run my blood work.”

His brows drew together. “I thought you saw the lady doctor on Thursday.”

She bit her lip and he turned her until she was facing him again.

“Em?”

Her cheeks heated. “I lied.”

He frowned. “You lied? Where were you?”

“Walking around. I was...” She shrugged. “...avoiding you.”

“Why?” He appeared genuinely hurt by this confession.

“You yelled at Becket and came to my rescue. It was having all sorts of weird effects on me.”

“Like what?”

“You know... inappropriate feelings.” She fidgeted, looking away until his laughter broke the awkward silence.

“It made you horny when I yelled at Becket?”

Her face turned scorching hot and she scowled at him. “I don’t get horny.” Guys got horny. Women become aroused.

Tossing his head back, he laughed. “Oh, yeah you do! Ha! Did it get you all hot and bothered? Mmmm. You like when I go all caveman, don’t you?”

“Shut up.”

The water was cooling. He grinned at her and kissed her nose. “I’ll always defend you, Emma—from assholes like Grayson and the assholes you don’t suspect. That’s what friends do.”

Her chest tightened. She pressed her lips to his and he pulled her close, deepening the kiss. “I want to be with you before my sister gets home.”

Her heart fluttered as his unguarded confession struck a chord buried deep inside of her. “Okay.”

He kissed her, slow and passionately. Reaching back, she shut off the water. They dried each other sharing the same towel and he carried her out of the bathroom to his bed.

Shivering, she pulled the covers over them. “Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m already on the pill if you want to...”

The brown irises of his eyes darkened as his pupils dilated and his lips slowly parted. “Put me inside of you.”

Biting her lip, she reached between their bodies and found him warm and hard. Stroking him a few times, she glided his wide tip along the seam of her sex, opening her body. Their breath mingled as she braced her feet apart and lifted, accepting him.

He moaned and, again, pressed his face to her shoulder and cursed, his voice hoarse. “You feel incredible like this. It’s so real.”

She noticed the difference too.

As he gained his composure, he rocked against her. Long, deep strokes built and added to the sensual pressure churning inside. The longer they made love the more she spotted the tiny details of him she’d somehow overlooked.

Riley was a beautiful man. His full lashes gave his dark eyes dimension against his tanned skin. When his hair was wet, it curled tighter and darker than his usual chestnut waves. His skin had a unique scent she couldn’t place, but now identified as his natural fragrance.

Beyond his unarguable handsomeness, was his kind and honest soul. He was refreshing and exceptional, because he was so genuine. That was his most attractive trait.

Every bit of him appealed to her and the more she opened herself to those charming qualities, the more she realized how much she’d been purposely overlooking them. Maybe she’d always found him attractive, but assumed he was out of her league and therefore convinced herself he wasn’t anything special. But, oh, he was special.

His breath coasted over her throat as he throbbed deep inside of her. “Are you ready?” She loved the way he asked.

“Yes.”

With a final push, he filled her and they shivered as they caught their breath.

“Hello?”

Their twisted bodies tensed. “Shit,” he hissed.

“Oh my God, it’s Rarity.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

She shoved him off of her with more strength than she intended. His legs tangled in the blankets. “Wait. No—don’t push—let me—ah, fuck—” He went down like a stack of books and groaned a garbled curse.

She jumped off the bed and frantically paced. “I need clothes!” she hissed.

“Just grab anything.” He hoisted himself off the floor and tossed her a flannel shirt.

She smiled and held it to her nose, breathing it in—

“Uh, hello? We have time to sniff the clothing later.”

She blushed. “Sorry. Pants?”

He tossed her a pair of nondescript pajama bottoms. Stepping into them, she cinched the drawstring to keep them up. Sliding the shirt over her shoulders, she quickly fastened the buttons and stilled when she found him staring at her. “What?”

His head dipped to the side. “You look hot in my clothes.”

“Riley?” Rarity called. “Hello? Em? Anyone home?”

“Your hair’s wet,” she whispered.

“So?”

“So we both can’t go out there with wet hair. She’ll know we showered together.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ve had wet hair at the same time before and no one jumped to that conclusion.”

“Just cover your head!”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Snatching a knit winter hat off his bedpost he shoved it on his head.

Emma stilled. It was a sock monkey face, complete with ears and button eyes and a tail sticking out the back of his head. He looked like one of Nurse Ratchet’s patients, escaped from the cuckoo’s nest. “
Where
did you get that?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll go out first.”

Cracking open his bedroom door, she spotted Rarity going through mail at the front table. Emma quickly slid into the hall. “Hey!”

“Hey, toots!” Rarity tossed the mail aside to hug her. “What the hell happened in here?”

Emma turned and snatched her robe off the stool, tossing it behind a chair. “What do you mean?”

“What’s all over the counter? Is that jelly?”

“Jam,” Riley corrected, walking out of his room, nonchalant expression on his face. “Welcome home.”

“Thanks,” Rarity said, a look of confusion on her face. “What the hell are you wearing and why is there jam everywhere?”

“This is my lucky sock hat, what?” he stated with absolute seriousness. “And there’s jam everywhere because I made a bagel.”

She frowned and shook her head. “Whatever. You’re cleaning this up.”

“How was the shoot?” Emma asked, drawing her attention away from the disaster they’d left in the kitchen. Her toe casually nudged her purse under the table as her eyes widened, her foot subtly covering the condom wrapper.

“The shoot was good. I got a lot of nice pictures and made some good connections. I’m exhausted. As fancy as that hotel was, I missed my bed. I think I’m going to unpack later. All I want to do is curl up on my own mattress and sleep for a few hours.”

“That sounds like a nice plan. Maybe later we can grab dinner,” Emma offered.

“Sure.” Rarity studied her for a moment. “You look...
really
good, Em. I’m glad you’re off the couch. I’m not real sure about this,” she waved a finger at Emma’s outfit, “but your eyes look happy.”

“I am happy. Becket did me a favor.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Okay, I’m going to lie down. We’ll talk about this more over a bottle of wine later.”

“Okay. We’ll keep it down so you can rest.” They smiled as Rarity disappeared down the hall. “That wasn’t so hard,” Emma whispered.

A blood-curdling scream broke the silence followed by three hearty barks and the sound of Marla charging down the hall. The frightened dog barreled into Riley and cowered at his feet.

Rarity stumbled into view, eyes bulging as she raised an accusing finger at the dog. “What the hell is that?”

“Oh, we got a dog,” Riley explained. “Marla, this is Rarity. Rarity, meet Marla Hooch. She really likes your bed.”

Shaking her head, she waved a finger. “Absolutely not. No dogs.”

“Well, we voted and...”

Rarity looked at Emma. “You want this animal in our home?”

“She’s really not that bad. All she does is sleep. She only gets excited when you talk to her or take her anywhere or bring out food or—”

Rarity threw up her hands. “Unbelievable.” Shaking her head, she snickered. “I get it. You two are all
Harry met Sally
now and my opinion counts for nothing. Well, I don’t want a dog. They’re shaggy, they shed, they’re noisy, and they smell bad.”

Riley gasped. “Marla smells like a dream,” he argued indignantly.

Rolling her eyes, Emma attempted to pacify her friend. “We’ll try to keep her away from your stuff, Rarity.”

She scowled at Riley. “This has your stank all over it. You couldn’t have brought home a houseplant or a fish. No, you get a hundred pound beast.”

“She was homeless,” he hollered as she marched away. “Where’s your sense of compassion?”

“I don’t have one.” The door slammed.

Emma looked up at Riley. “Do you think she’ll make us get rid of Marla?”

“No, but I think you should come back to bed with me while she’s napping.”

“Riley.” She shook her head and yipped when he scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. “What about the mess?”

He swatted her bottom. “Shhh. She’ll hear you. Keep quiet and no one’ll get hurt.”

She silently laughed as he lugged her back to his room, Marla watching with a curious look of confusion and longing as the door closed behind them.

––––––––

“I
t’s like having a show horse,” Riley decided as he brushed Marla’s flank.

His sister rolled her eyes. “Someone should tell the village we found their idiot.”

Emma kept quiet, but he caught her little smirk. She didn’t think he was an idiot. Over the past several weeks of their double o’seven affair she made him feel more like a god than anything else—sex god, that was.

“I hate that dog,” Rarity grumbled.

“For your information, Marla
loves
you, Rarity. It’s cruel and hurtful for you not to reciprocate her affection.”

“I still have pictures of that crotch sniffer online, so I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you.”

“Too late.” Slipping Marla a treat, he petted her heavy head. If no one called about Marla by now, she was staying. “There’s a pretty girl. Now go give Aunt Rarity some love. She likes when pretty girls lick her.”

“Don’t be jealous—Oh, yuck!” His sister groaned as Marla shoved her face in her lap, but Riley caught the tender way she stroked the dog’s ears. She was full of crap. She liked Marla.

Lexi laughed. “Come here, Marla. You can lay with me.”

The dog trotted over to Lexi and Rarity rolled her eyes. “You’re as bad as them.”

His focus shifted when he noticed Emma looking for her shoes. “Where are you going?”

She paused at the door. Today she wore a teal sundress with red ballet slipper type shoes to match her cardigan. She looked hot and he wanted to do stuff to her.

“What are you, her keeper?” Rarity asked.

Emma drew in a deep breath, but kept her expression neutral. “I was going to the market to get some groceries. We’re almost out of bananas and I need shampoo.”

“Can you get me some new razors?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah. Do you need anything, Riley?”

He needed her—needed her in a bad way. It had been almost four days since they’d last slept together due to womanly things and he’d grown quite used to their regular schedule. On top of that, Rarity had been monopolizing all of Emma’s time and he was starting to get jealous. “Yeah. I...maybe I’ll just go with you.”

“Really?” Both Emma and Rarity asked at the same time.

“Yeah. I haven’t been to the market in... six years.” He nodded. “I’m due.”

“Okay. Get your shoes.”

Shoving out of the chair, his feet fit into his shoes as he patted his pockets. Phone. Wallet. Golden. He met Emma at the elevator, giddy to finally have some Emma time to himself.

“She’s totally freaked out you’re going with me.”

“Why?” He pushed the button for down. “Lexi’s there. Maybe I just wanted to give them some privacy.”

“Because you
never
do the food shopping.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I don’t like the raisins you buy.”

She shook her head and stepped inside, pressing the button for the bottom floor. The metal doors glided shut and the elevator moved. His finger stabbed the stop button and the cart jerked to a halt.

“Riley, what are you doing?”

Grabbing her arms, he pinned them above her head on the wall, eyes rolling back with anticipation as he breathed her in. “Elevator sex.” His mouth crashed over hers and she moaned.

He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. Hiking up her dress, he reached down the front of her panties and tested her arousal. She was soaked. He chuckled, and bit her lip. “Dirty girl.”

“I’ve been dying to be alone with you,” she breathed, pulling his hair and shoving his face to her breasts.

Elated to be reacquainted with her body, he kissed her and mumbled, “Between my stupid sister and your stupid job I never get to be alone with you.”

She bit his neck. “I’ll quit and become a hobo. We can have all the sex you want, but you’ll have to pay my phone bill and share of the rent.”

He shoved her panties down her legs and she awkwardly stepped out of them. He pocketed the white cotton. “I’ll pay whatever you want. God, I love your boobs.”

He slipped a finger into her sex and she moaned. He chuckled, “Shhh...sound travels.”

“I don’t care,” she hissed, shoving his shirt out of the way and reaching in his pants. He loved when she was aggressive. He sucked on the soft side of her breast as she stroked him. “Lift me up.”

“So demanding,” he teased. Holding her by the ribs, he lifted and she wrapped her legs around him. He aligned their bodies and thrust deep.

“Yes!”

“It’s gonna be quick, Em.”