Perfecting the Odds (23 page)

As soon as the decadent tower was placed in front of her,
Karis ogled it. Michael grinned widely as she licked her lips in preparation.

“Do you want my cherry, Michael,” she asked
with blatantly erotic resonance. He gulped audibly with a quick shake of his head. “Have it your way,” she said before dropping it on her tongue, rolling it briefly before chewing. With expert precision, she filled her spoon with each ingredient and lifted the first mouthful to her lips, softly moaning once the cream hit her tongue. Almost simultaneously with the rise of the spoon, his cock lengthened and presented to full salute.  It was affirmative, he was now jealous of the damn dessert.  He cringed at the thought. Although he no longer feared the control Karis had over his heart, that new emotion still left him uneasy, terrified really, of what his life would be like without reciprocation, without her heart, without her.

“What’s wrong
, Michael? You wouldn’t dare mock my love of ice cream, would you,” she quipped.

He pushed
away his errant thoughts before narrowing his eyes. “You lust after ice cream, don’t you?”

She
scoffed. “Who are you, the Pope? Ice cream is unequivocally the most perfect dessert, Michael. Not only does it come in any flavor you can imagine, but can be both refreshing and satisfying atop a cone on summer days and a big bowl of comfort on cold nights. It pairs beautifully with
your
preferred inferior dessert
and
can be topped with almost any ingredient. Is anything better?” she asked, finishing her rant. She turned the spoon over to lick the dripping remnants. Michael gripped the table.

“
There may be something better,” he bit out, now fixated on her mouth.

“Hmm,
maybe,” she said with a smirk and a mouthful of sundae. She swallowed slowly and glanced at him beneath hooded eyes. “Perhaps my two favorite indulgences at the same time would work for you?”

He cocked his brow in inquisition.

“Michael á la mode...decadently mind-blowing, I think,” she said with impish promise. Jesus Fuck. He couldn’t help it this time. His entire body lit with need to be on, around, in her--, hands, tongue, dick. He brought his thumb to her lips and swiped a stray drip of ice cream then brought it to his mouth and licked slowly. He saw her hand shake, nearly dropping her spoon.

“Hands and mouth, darling,” he winked, prompting
a blush and quiver.

Twenty minutes, my
left nut
, he thought.

Twenty minutes later, Michael and Karis exited the restaurant, her dish scrapped clean, his ice tea untouched.

“Aren’t you the cocky one?” she asked as she spied the set up on
his truck bed.

“Hopeful,” he replied with a grin. “Hop in the front. I have the perfect spot for twenty minutes of magic.” She laughed and pulled herself into the seat.

His left hand steering the truck, Michael headed toward the one spot that would ensure privacy. He threaded her fingers through his, and she gave him a shy smile. He loved that it remained on her face the entire drive to the destination.

“Where are we,” she asked, looking out the windshield at the trees, now lush with unfallen yellow, red and orange leaves. She turned in her seat, only to
discover the same landscape curved in almost a complete circle.

“We’re on my property,” he said, cutting the engine.

“Oh, okay.” Her voice trembled a bit, and Michael instinctively pulled her closer. Her gasp cut through the silence, and he stole the opportunity of her open mouth. He rubbed his mouth over hers softly. Her lips and body softened seconds later. Almost instantly, she initiated her tongue to meet his, and he groaned low. His appreciation seemed to set her off as she deepened the kiss, running her hands through his hair and down his neck.

“Take off your pants,
sweetheart” he commanded. Her eyes widened but set to task. He loved that she acquiesced so quickly, so naturally. Any man’s heart would swell with masculine pride, and his was pumping widely in his chest. In one swift moment, he shifted her onto his lap. With their heights, the position would allow for little maneuverability, but added abundant body heat and friction.

“I thought we were supposed to do…er…this in the truck bed
,” she stuttered out.

“You don’t like it?” he asked,
grinding his erection against her pussy.

S
he groaned as her head fell forward against his shoulder. He worked her again and again then snaked his hands beneath her shirt and cupped both breasts, pinching her nipples into erect buds. “Oh, Michael,” she whispered. Her breath escaped in little pants against his cheek.

“
Tell me what you need.”

“This,”
she whispered as she moved, and he rubbed his length against her slow and long. She moaned loudly. “That, lots of that…oh, god, so much more of that.” He smiled as she began to move against him faster. He took her mouth, sucking on her tongue and tweaking her nipples in synchrony. Their pace quickened. The windows steamed to opacity; the air filled with her unique scent; his pants dampened with her weeping juices; the atmosphere echoed with their sounds of need. And then she found her release, biting into his shoulder to stifle the cry only nature would witness.

“Why do you keep doing that Michael,” she asked once her breathing slowed.
She rested her head on his shoulder.

“Doing what?”

“Everything. I’ve done nothing for you,” she said, the remorse heavy in her response. He smiled and ebbed and flowed his hand over her spine. His intention was finally clear to her. Despite his burning need, her pleasure, her needs, her wants would always come first. Always.

“
Karis, I love… to make you come.” He had almost said it, almost lost the control he had promised himself. But he couldn’t. She trusted him with her body, would hopefully now expect blinding pleasure from him. He would take what they shared.

She giggled and lifted her head. “And I love it when you make me come.” Her grin blinded him with happiness. She kissed his cheek before moving to redress.

Yes, he would take it…for now.

Three toe-curling Michael-induced orgasms later, and everything else seemed to drag on agonizingly slowly. Wednesday…Thursday…Friday. Yes, Karis was being a bit dramatic with all those adverbs, but even her nightly bowl of Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Caramel Buzz ice cream did zero to chill her ache for Michael. Truth, the caramel just reminded her of his damn eyes and each heaping spoonful had her replaying the best front-seat dry humping session of her life, not that she’d ever done that before.

The
sexy bastard made her first and only edible indulgence ancillary. Indeed. Her appetite would be satiated only by Michael’s mouth and hands, preferably every night. No matter how slowly she wanted her “relationship” with Michael to progress, it seemed to rocket forward, gaining momentum with each thought about his kindness, generosity, and altruism. Selflessness was a heady trait in a man, especially for a woman who spent the majority of her first marriage in second place to Robert’s military obligation. But ultimately, realizing his pride had taken precedence over his trust that she could handle his illness and take care of him had broken her heart.

Saturday had finally arrived and a
dmittedly, Karis felt a twinge of guilt because she still hadn’t discussed Michael with her children. Was he her lover? Boyfriend? She didn’t know how to broach the subject, so avoidance was the only choice. She dropped them off at the Lewis’ with a story about a girls’ weekend with Eve and thought nothing of it again.

Karis
spent half that afternoon getting ready for night with Michael. She and Eve treated themselves to waxing, manicures and pedicures, mini facials, and had lunch at their favorite café. Their afternoon ended with spending significant time at the mall shopping for a new “date” outfit and new lingerie. Sex was inevitable.

“You have amazing tits, Karis,”
Eve said as she stared at her best friend’s chest in their shared dressing room.

“Uh, thanks,
Eve. Yours are nice, too.”

“
Yup, mine are stellar,” she said, palming herself shamelessly. Karis just chuckled and proceeded to step into a baby blue thong. The matching corset fitted tightly around her torso did make her breasts look pretty amazing. She stepped back to take in the full package. Would Michael like this? “But really…you’ve nursed two children, and they’re still perky as hell. Mine will probably look like two baseballs in tube socks after the first one. Bitch,” Eve spat with a snort of resentment.

“The first one?” Karis gave
Eve a look that spoke only one feeling. Pure shock. Eve never,
ever
, spoke about having children. “Is someone’s clock finally ticking,” she asked with one brow cocked.

“Shut it,” she shot back. “
There’s no clock. Hell, there isn’t even a man waiting for the damn alarm. I was just admiring your sickeningly awesome fun bags.”

“Uh-huh,” Karis responded. The sound sliced the air with her opinion of
Eve’s explanation. It was bullshit.

Eve
turned on Karis. “Don’t uh-huh me.”

“
Soooo, have you seen Scott again…you know after Halloween.” Karis watched Eve flush to almost a cherry red and Karis grinned widely.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“He’s a good fuck.”

“So that’s three times, right?”

“
Three, uh, nights….not times.” Then Eve growled at her, and Karis laughed loudly. “I know where you’re going with this, Karis, and you can just shut down that little thought. Scott and I have sex, really good sex. That’s it.”

“So you don’t stay over?”

“No, but—never mind. Are you going to get both of those,” she asked, pointing to the baby blue corset set and red baby doll nightie.

“Yes, so he wants you to stay, but you won’t.”
Eve turned away silently and started redressing. “Uh-huh,” Karis said with a smirk before Eve flipped her the bird and strode out of the dressing room toward the register. This conversation was over. Karis wouldn’t push it, but she knew something was changing for Eve, putting her in an even better mood than she was before.

***

As soon as she walked into her house, the butterflies began. She had an hour to shower and pack an overnight bag, and then she would be on her way to Michael’s. The sex talk with Eve at happy hour had helped immensely, and when Karis considered everything, she knew he would never hurt her. Hell, she could hardly keep her hands off him now. Karis recently read a widow blog stating having sex with another man was just like riding a bike. Well, Michael was a goddamn Harley.

Even so, d
espite Eve’s encouragement, Karis still believed he was way out of her league. He’d slept with tons of women—definitely beautiful, experienced women, and Karis felt she had zero talent in bedroom acrobatics. Well, maybe a few tricks here and there, but enough to keep a man like Michael interested? No frickin’ way.

Karis
headed to the shower. Walking into the kitchen twenty minutes later, she found herself again pacing aimlessly, this time trying to figure out what to do until she could leave. And then she heard the doorbell.

Déjà vu’.

Adorned in her fluffy robe, she opened the door and was greeted with the same teenage delivery boy. He handed her the most ostentatious bouquet of lavender roses she’d ever seen. There had to be at least three dozen roses spraying out of a huge crystal vase. She thanked the boy again, feeling like she should probably tip him this time, and walked into her kitchen, placing the roses on the counter. The first thought she had was that she’d never seen lavender roses before. She opened the attached card.

My
darling Karis,

Being a literary genius in your own right, I
’m sure you know that during the Victorian era, roses carried significance depending upon the giver’s intent. After extensive research, I’ve discovered there is but one rose color for you. Thought to be almost mystical and reserved only for enchantment, the lavender rose symbolizes one important message for us: our bond will endure even if it began with uncertainty and apprehension.

And at risk of sounding too Professor-y,
here’s the juvenile but no less enticing side of Michael Finn: I can’t wait to get my hands and mouth on that stellar ass, those gorgeous tits, and those fuckable lips.

Yours always,
Michael

Her first thought?
Fuckable is definitely not a word
. Her second thought?
I so love being fuckable to Michael Finn.
She grabbed her phone from her purse.

Karis: Thank you for the roses. You’re too much.

Michael: You’re worth it. What are you wearing right now?