Authors: Eileen Ann Brennan
Paradise (32 page)
It was an invitation and she took it, sliding her fingers down to his buttons. She started at the top, he at the bottom until their fingers met and his shirt hung open.
“Go ahead. Touch me, baby.”
She splayed her hands across his chest, the crisp hair tickling her fingertips. He moved against her, awakening a passion she’d tried to hide since his proposal. Even as she fought her need for him, she knew surrender was only moments away.
“What do you think? Would we kiss?”
Robbie reached up to take his lips in a flaming kiss, her hands pulling his head to hers. Eddie accepted her passion, twirling his tongue with hers before sucking deeply on it. She writhed in his arms when he broke the kiss, clinging to him, wanting more, but his lips moved again to her throat.
“We’d lean back and look at each other,” he whispered darkly. “Both of us would be amazed at the intensity of our feelings. What would we see when we looked at each other? Need? Oh, yes. Passion? Definitely.”
He lifted her butt and fitted her to him. His erection thrust stiffly against the zipper of her jeans. She wiggled and gasped when he positioned himself just right. Oh, she was so close. He’d know that. Eddie had brought her to enough orgasms to recognize when she was close.
“You would look at me with such tenderness in your eyes I would melt. Give me your breast, I’d say. I need to have your breast in my mouth. You’d kiss my forehead and slowly offer it to me. I’d press my cheek against you before gently kissing your nipple. Your nipple would be so hard, so tight. I’d lick it and lathe it with my tongue before taking it into my mouth. You would feel the heat of my mouth, wouldn’t you? Tell me, baby, what do you want me to do now?”
Robbie twisted in his arms. The oak door at her back was no more solid than the hard muscle of the man at her front. His hypnotic words and husky tone catapulted her toward fulfillment.
“Tell me, babe, I won’t know how to please you unless you tell me.”
Eddie knew exactly how to please her. Everything he did pleased her. But she was as lost in his erotic game as he was. All he’d done was kiss and hold her, but his words made her believe that he was buried deep inside her, his thumbs massaging her and she could feel, most vividly, his mouth on her breast.
“Suck me deeper, please,” she gasped. “Make me go up in flames.”
“Ah, I thought you might want that. Lift your breast higher, I’d say. You would tease me, caressing my cheek with your nipple before you cradled my head and placed your breast in my hot, eager mouth. You are delicious. I know your taste. I know every contour of you. I’d suck you hard as your climax overtook you.”
His timing was perfect, and she convulsed in his arms, clutching him, wanting to share each wave of pleasure. Her moans echoed around the room with his name spilling from her lips over and over.
When her orgasm faded off into tiny shudders, he spoke soothingly, stroking her hair. “That’s it, baby, ride it out. That’s it.” He held her for a long time after her last spasm.
“Now,” he asked darkly, “do you really want to go home and just think about all that? Or shall we go upstairs so I can make you climax again when I actually do those things to you?”
His mouth came down on hers, reaffirming his hold. Robbie gave up. When he talked like that and kissed her like that, she had no choice.
“You don’t play fair,” she gasped. Her hands splayed across his chest, crinkling his hair until she found his hard pectoral muscles.
“Not when the stakes are this high, I don’t.”
“What you do with words is incredible.”
“Can I assume that you’ve decided to stay?”
“Yeah, I think you can assume that,” she whispered into his ear before gently sucking on his lobe.
Her mouth worked its way back up to his and imprisoned it in a long, wet kiss. How could she think of spending the night alone in her apartment when she could have him one last time?
* * * * *
The bed shifted as Robbie eased off it. He lay on his stomach and until a moment ago, his hand had rested on a firm breast. Through his eyelashes, he noted from the bedside clock it was after ten. How could she be up already?
They had made love exactly as he had described, only this time, he hadn’t held back when she’d climaxed. He’d joined her, vacillating between satisfaction and triumph as he filled her. Then, they’d made love all night, re-exploring every inch of each other. He’d memorized every response, every soft cry when he’d pleased her.
And, God, what she’d done to him. For a woman who said she didn’t love him, Robbie had made certain he was in a constant state of arousal. Everything she did seemed designed to pleasure him. He’d never felt as cherished and loved as he did when she held him.
He lay awake long after she dozed off in exhaustion, wishing she’d change her mind. His head was pillowed between her breasts, their legs entwined. His hand rested comfortably low on her abdomen, his fingers gently entwined in her soft curls. It was definitely
Paradise
. He had no trouble seeing them exactly like that for a long time to come.
She moved silently about the room, gathering her clothes. He was glad he’d never let on what a light sleeper he was. She still thought a tornado could blow through
Main Street
, and he’d snooze right through it.
Somehow, he had known she would sneak out on him. He’d hoped she wouldn’t, but deep down he knew she would. He wondered if she’d leave a note.
Thanks for the good time. Have a nice life.
He hoped she didn’t.
The backpack scraped the floor when she picked it up. Her soft footsteps stopped for a moment. From his position on the bed, he couldn’t see her, but she had to be looking at him. Desperately, he prayed to God to make her come back to his bed, make her stay in his life, make her love him. The footsteps resumed. The bedroom door shut with a soft click behind her.
That was it. If she didn’t want to stay, he couldn’t make her. If she still believed he couldn’t be in love, especially after last night, there was nothing else he could do or say to convince her. You needed two people to be in love and she wasn’t.
The downstairs toilet flushed and water clanked through the old pipes. The laundry room door squeaked. He’d have to fix that one of these days. In his mind’s eye, he saw her dressing in dry jeans and a t-shirt. The clothes he bought her were probably still damp. God, please make her take them. He didn’t need any more reminders of her.
Minutes later, his front door opened and closed. Her footsteps receded down the stairs. With any luck, the office would be empty. He didn’t want her to be embarrassed. He was surprised when the backdoor to the porch opened. Oh yeah, her Nikes and wet sweatshirt from the other night. They’d forgotten to retrieve them.
Lost in the image of their lovemaking from that night, he almost missed the purr of the Camaro’s engine as she drove slowly from the lot.
* * * * *
Big girls don’t cry, Robbie told herself again as she wound her way through town toward the interstate. She hadn’t cried since she was little and now that infuriating man had her blubbering two days in a row.
Cruising down
Main Street
, she saw her Camaro being examined by that friendly crowd of people. She felt Eddie’s arm slung over her shoulder, heard JT tell them to get a room. Those people they’d lunched with were nice. They hadn’t treated her like white trash. It was almost as if they liked her.
The stores went by in a blur, but every comment, every word Eddie had said as they window-shopped rushed back. The feel of her hand in his, the sight of him driving her car. So vivid were the recollections, she could smell the clean aroma of his soap and his distinct masculine scent when he was aroused.
He said he wanted to marry her. She brushed tears away with the back of her hand. Ridiculous. He just wanted to get married and she was handy. He was her Rebound Man. No strings. No commitments.
Thoughts of last night and the other nights they’d spent together drifted to mind. He was a generous lover, but his tenderness last night when he’d caressed her breast as she’d cradled his head made her ache even now. Acting out his erotic fantasy had been more than a sexual experience. It had involved all of her: her mind, her body and -- she hesitated to think it -- her soul.
As she passed Maisie’s, she had a masochistic urge to stop in and see the next Mrs. McGraw. No doubt, Lou Ann would have her red hooks in him soon. The thought of Eddie making love to Lou Ann made her physically gag. Averting her eyes, she sped away.
This is the way it has to be. He wants to be a good ol’ boy, live in a swamp and raise a horde of kids.
She was on the verge of realizing her dream of success. She loved cities.
New York
would be the ultimate. She’d never survive in
Tiny
Town
.
She pulled onto the interstate, relieved to head South. She crossed the Florida/
What the hell am I doing? Turn the car around. Go back. Maybe he hasn’t realized I left. Crawl back into his bed, into his arms and never leave.
She practiced her yoga deep breathing exercises, willing the moment to pass. Control. She needed control.
Anyway, it was too late. He was awake. She was gone, sneaking out of his place like some criminal. No note, no goodbye, no nothing. That was pretty cheesy. And after he had taken her to
Paradise
again.
Taking another, cleansing breath, she grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and fumbled for her cell phone. Her heart grew heavy remembering how Eddie had ceremoniously turned it off Saturday morning, telling her he couldn’t perform, knowing she was listening for it. She doubted anything could keep George of the Jungle from performing.
She flicked it on and checked her messages. Oh, crud. Six from Excelsior. Now what?
Chapter Sixteen
"Keep your panties on! I’m coming!” Robbie raced from her apartment and jumped into Leah’s waiting Corvette. “Knock off that honking before my neighbors start throwing things.”
“If you were on time, I wouldn’t have to honk. At this rate, we’re not going to make the interview.” Leah threw the car into gear and squealed out of the parking lot.
“Just don’t get a ticket.”
Leah cast her a sideways glance, a little grin played around her lips. “They have to catch me first.”
Robbie rolled her eyes. She
was
late. They should have left twenty minutes ago, but it was impossible to decide what to wear. Her couture had nothing to do with being seen on TV by thousands of people. Her only concern was what one certain Crocodile Hunter would think.
Had it only been five days since she’d seen him? Made love to him? Left him? What a fool she was. But tonight she had a chance to set everything right.
Away from Eddie’s spell, his magic, she pondered long and hard about him, her career, the future. The flights to and from
New York
gave her plenty of time. Not so much the flight “to.” She’d been working on her plan, her strategy, for her interview.
The interview itself had been an eye-opener. Time and again throughout the day, Eddie’s comments about the corporate jungle interfered with her responses. Lunch with the VP of Information Technology had been particularly painful. For goodness sake’s, Excelsior was a spin off of an insurance company, but the VP acted like he, personally, had discovered the cure for cancer, heart disease and bad breath all in one day.
Even so, the luncheon had gone well. Maybe, she didn’t need the practice at the Channel Ten interview to prove she could sell iceboxes to Eskimos. The VP listened to her alternate proposal and said he’d “take it under consideration.” He hadn’t laughed in her face or given her an out and out “no.” She counted that as a plus. The flight back had been difficult. With the delay at Kennedy, she had a lot of time -- too much time -- to think about her Rebound Man.
