Rescue Me (Butler Island) (17 page)

The tempo of her hips slowed as she added more pressure,
rubbing her sex over him good and hard. “Christ, Lana”, he growled against her
neck.

Reaching down between them, he pulled her knit boxers and
panties to the side with his fingers, then ran the pad of his callused thumb
over her slippery, wet clit. The sweet sound of her soft whimpers urged him on
as he rubbed the ache away in gentle, lazy circles.

His shoulder screamed with pain, but that didn’t matter.
Not now. Not when she was panting, whimpering. Not when her sweet honey coated
his fingers. Not when he was so close to watching her come apart in his arms
again. “Tell me what you want, Sweetheart. I want to hear you say it.”

“I… please, I… Don’t stop”, she breathed.

“Tell me more”, he growled, low and rough, increasing his
pace.

A soft carnal whimper fled her parted lips a moment
before she uttered, “Make me come.
Please
…”

With his thumb still gliding over her sensitive nub he
rotated his right hand a bit, allowing his fingers to delve between her
slippery folds. Almost immediately he could feel her hot flesh drawing tighter
around his fingers in preparation.

Then something unexpected happened. There was a steady
pounding on the door, followed by, “
Mommy
?”

In an instant Lana’s eyes flew open in panic, her feet
landing on the tile floor in the blink of an eye. “Connor, you’re supposed to
be sleeping!” she uttered through the door, her voice trembling with both
arousal and fear.

“I need a drink of water.”

Lana quickly straightened her clothes, then carefully
opened the door just enough to squeeze her body through. “C’mon, you can have a
few sips, and then it’s back to bed, okay?”

“ ’kay.”

Lana removed the Brita pitcher from the fridge, pouring
just enough water into his favorite Spiderman cup to quench his thirst, and
then handed it to her son. “Better?”

Connor nodded, then handed his mom the empty cup.

“C’mon, I’ll tuck you back in.” Retracing their steps
back into the hallway, she followed behind her little boy, eyeing the bathroom
as she continued to Connor’s room. Her face flushed red at the memory of what’d
taken place minutes ago behind that wood-paneled door.

Lana couldn’t believe how quickly she’d lost control.
She’d basically dry-humped Randall in her guest bathroom, then begged him to
make her come after he’d pulled her panties to the side. What was it about
Randall Burns that drove her normally-sane mind delirious?

Piercing gray eyes
,
broad chest
,
chiseled abs
.

Pick one
.

His perfectly sculpted body, the low timbre of his voice
while he urged her on, and those sinfully talented hands and mouth of his
didn’t help, either.

Nope, not one darn bit.

She drew the comforter back while Connor slipped back into
bed, then hauled the covers over his little body, planting a kiss on his
forehead before turning to leave.

It was becoming blatantly obvious to Lana that Randall
Burns was soon becoming her Achilles heel. An incurable weakness. His touch,
his kisses were lethal to her normally-subdued sensibility.

“He all right?” Randall questioned when Lana emerged from
Connor’s room.

Nodding feebly, Lana carefully closed the door behind her
and motioned for Randall to follow her into the living room. “That can’t happen
again”, she uttered quietly. “Do you know how close we were to Connor walking
in on us?”

Randall ran his hands through his dark hair before
resting them low on his hips. “I know. It was too close.”

“We can’t do this”—she gestured between them with her hands”—when
he’s here. It’s too risky. I’m sorry.”

Randall stepped forward, palming her face, tilting her
head back a bit so he could look into her blues eyes. “We’ll be more careful
next time—there
is
a next time, right?”

Seductively nibbling her bottom lip, Lana smiled. “Are
you kidding me? After the way you left me hanging a few minutes ago, you
owe
me a next time.”

Chapter 20

Mayor Cliffburg sat on his throne at the front of the
small auditorium as eager residents filed into empty seats for the monthly city
commission meeting. He liked to think he was a charismatic man—these mindless
imbeciles had voted him into office for two terms, after all. Obviously they
liked him.

Typically he could be found chatting up the residents on
a night like this, mingling, laying the foundation for what would likely be
another term in office come this November.

But not tonight.

Because at the moment he couldn’t peel his eyes off the
lovely Lana Phillips.

It wasn’t an unusual phenomenon, really: watching her. But
tonight there was something mysteriously peculiar about her. He couldn’t quite
put his finger on it yet, but he would. He had a keen sense, a God-given
ability to read people—just one of the reasons why he was such a successful
politician. He used these artful skills regularly, analyzing body language,
interpreting the hidden meaning behind idle conversation. Hell, he knew what
most of the feeble-minded people in the room tonight wanted before they did.

But something about Lana’s calm, buoyant demeanor eluded
him.

She seemed…different, somehow. Good different.

The average Joe here tonight probably hadn’t noticed the
change. At first glance she appeared normal, which was to say: simply
beautiful. But his trained eyes saw something new—a brilliant spark, if you
will.

The kind of radiance a woman exhibited when she was open
to change.

Open to…
possibilities
…

Squirming in his leather executive chair, he tried to
find a comfortable position that didn’t expose the bulge growing behind the fly
of his khaki Dockers. Eyeing the clock, he reached for the coveted gavel and
gave the small square block a hard whack, transferring his sexual frustration
to the wooden mallet.

The mayor cleared his throat before addressing the room.
“Good evening, folks. We have a lot to cover tonight, so if you don’t mind I’d
like to get an early start.”

His eyes targeted Lana’s angelic face. He noted the
confusion that’d briefly settled between her dark brows, and then his focus
landed on the sway of her hips as she hurried to her seat, the rapid tempo of
her black heels tapping against the floor conjuring up all sorts of
inappropriate images in his mind. Reaching for the device she used to record
the meeting in its entirety, she sunk into her chair, giving him a firm nod to
proceed.

“Okay… For the record, today’s date is April seventeenth,
two-thousand-thirteen. And let the record also reflect that Commissioner
Anthony and Commissioner Rhodes are both present, as well. The first topic on
our lengthy agenda this evening touches on the scheduled repaving of Main
Street. Commissioner Rhodes”, he uttered into the mic as he turned his head
slightly to the right, “can you give us an update about that project?”

“Certainly, Mayor Cliffburg. The proposed repaving of
Main Street is…”

With the crowd’s attention focused on Commissioner
Rhodes, the mayor’s eyes veered to the brunette sitting in the front row to his
left. The hem of her pale yellow skirt had risen to mid-thigh, exposing her
bare, lean legs. She’d crossed them like the lady she was, her top foot subtly
swinging.

Up. Down. Up. Down.

The back of her shoe slipped off her heel, and she
balanced the black stiletto on the tips of her toes.

The mayor swallowed a groan.

He’d waited long enough. It was time.

She was finally ready to take the next step in her
life—he sensed that, now. And if he had anything to say about it, that next
step was going to be with him. He was the most powerful man on the island—what
woman didn’t want a powerful man hovering above her in bed?

Just then Lana glanced up from her notepad, meeting his
gaze with a breathtaking smile.

Yes, it was definitely time to make his move. And he knew
just what to do…

Eyeing her watch, Lana sat in a booth at the local diner,
drawing the smell of grease and fresh-baked apple pie into her lungs while
eagerly awaiting the arrival of her lunch date.

“Sorry I’m late”, Kendall explained as she slid into the
seat across from Lana. “Chatty Debbie dropped by to pick up her prescription
and somehow managed to steer the topic to waxing.”

“Waxing? You mean, like hair—”

Kendall thrust her palm forward. “Trust me—you don’t even
want to know.”

Lana laughed despite her best effort not to; she could
only imagine how graphic and uncomfortable that conversation was. The woman was
an open book, if you will—not the least bit concerned about airing personal
subject matter to anyone within earshot.

“You order yet?”

“Yeah, told the waitress you were joining me; she went
ahead and put your order in, too. Wasn’t sure how late you’d be and I still
have a ton of transcribing left from the city commission meeting the other
night.”

“I’m sorry”, Kendall uttered genuinely. “If I’d known you
were so busy, I wouldn’t have asked you to lunch today.”

Lana swept her hand in the air, waiving the suggestion
aside. “It’s fine, really. After spending most of the morning staring at my
monitor, I kind of needed the break.” Reaching for the glass of sweet tea to
her left, she asked, “How’ve you been?”

“Well, it’s allergy season. So the pharmacy’s been a busy
place this month.”

“And Tenley?”

Kendall beamed at the mention of her daughter. “Rollin’
all over the place—which is driving Ty bonkers. She rolls off the area rug and
you’d think she was jumpin’ off the roof the way he swoops down to rescue her!”

Laughing, Lana placed her tea on the table in front of
her. “You have to admit, Kendall: that’s pretty sweet.”

“Yeah”, she uttered wistfully, “I guess it sort of is.”
Kendall peered into space for a few long beats before emerging from her sappy
trance. “All right, I have a confession.”

“Okaaay”, she drawled.

“Aside from the fact that we haven’t had an opportunity
to catch up in a few weeks, I had another motive for asking you to lunch
today.”

“Oh?” Reaching for her glass again, she took another sip.

Kendall nodded. “It’s about Randall, actually. Have you
noticed he’s been acting sort of
strange
lately?”

Caught by surprise, Lana coughed, choking on her sweet
tea. Pounding her fist against her chest, she regained her composure. “Strange?
How do you mean?”

“I don’t know—like he’s hiding something, I guess.
Remember last month when he sliced his shoulder open?” Lana nodded feebly.
“Well, when I cleaned the wound I got this… weird vibe”, Kendall shared,
tucking a strand of inky-black hair behind her ear. “I asked him what was goin’
on, but the only thing I managed to drag out of him was ‘just stuff.’ ”

Moving her hands under the table, Lana began picking the
coral polish from her thumb nails. “Maybe he’s still not over you, Ken. I’m
sure the idea of you and Ty still bothers him a little.”

“That’s what I thought at first, too. But my gut says
differently…” Kendall placed her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her
fists. “You see him a lot these days. Does he seem different to you?”

Swallowing hard, she glanced down at her pitiful-looking
manicure, scrambling to find her voice. Because she knew Randall’s secret: it
was the same one she’d been carrying around for the last month, as well. “Um,
what do you mean?”

Kendall shrugged. “I don’t know… Is he seeing anyone?”

“Wh-what makes you say that?”

The waitress chose that particular moment to approach the
table,
thank goodness
, balancing their meals on a large circular tray.
In a frenzy to accommodate the growing lunch crowd, she quickly lobbed their
plates down on the table, then stole the ketchup from the small table behind
them, striking the butt of the glass bottle against the tabletop with a
thunderous whack. “
Sorry
”, she mouthed silently before dashing across
the room to take care of another customer.

“Poor thing” Lana murmured. “Looks like she doesn’t have
any help at all today.”

“We’ll leave her a good tip, then.” Kendall assured her.
After removing the lid from the ketchup bottle she gave it a few good shakes.
“So, back to our conversation…”

Crud. She’d sort of hoped the perfectly-timed interruption
moments ago, coupled with the aroma of Kendall’s favorite meal, had
short-circuited her good friend’s brain, giving Lana an out. But apparently
that wasn’t going to happen. “What were we talkin’ about again?” Because if she
couldn’t dodge the subject completely, she could at least buy herself a moment
or two to prep.

“Randall.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.”

“Has he confided in you about what’s goin’ on in his
life?”

You drive me crazy
,
Lana
.
I want to
do things to you
.
Dirty things
…

“Um, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Kendall gently set the ketchup bottle on the table.
Folding her hands in her lap, she gave a weak smile. “Good. I’m… I’m glad he’s
talking to you. I was really worried he was keeping it all in.”

Lana didn’t miss the hurt in Kendall’s eyes: Randall
hadn’t come to her. The dynamic of their friendship had changed. And whether
the alterations were permanent or temporary, the effect it had on Kendall was
just the same. “Look, Kendall—”

“It’s okay. I knew the choices I made last year were
going to affect our friendship… I miss him—I really do—but if I had to do it
all over again, I’d have done the exact same thing. Even knowing how much I
hurt him, I would.” Kendall winced. “Gosh, that came out completely wrong—I
sound like a cold-hearted bitch!”

“No, you don’t”, Lana countered as she stabbed a lettuce
leaf with her fork. “You sound like a woman confident about the choices you
made. And judging by how deliriously happy both you and Ty are, I’d say it was
the right one.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. It’s just… I want Randall to
find what I have with Ty, you know? I want him to find the woman he’s meant to
be with.” Kendall dipped an onion ring in ketchup, then popped it in her mouth.
“I won’t ask you to repeat what he shared with you, but can I ask you something
else?”

Oh
,
God
. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Do you think he’s close to finding her?”

A jolt of something that felt an awful lot like jealousy
knocked against the inside of Lana’s chest. Because the mere thought of Randall
doing dirty things to another woman didn’t sit right with her. “I don’t know,
Ken. I’d like to think he is. I really would…”

A low rumble unfurled from Lana’s stomach as she situated
herself in front of her computer just after lunch. She’d only managed to eat a
few slivers of iceberg lettuce from her Cobb salad before her stomach
protested. Funny how uncomfortable conversation could do that to a person:
utterly suppress their ravenous appetite. And the subject matter over lunch
with Kendall had managed to do just that.

And now she was paying the price, because her stomach was
practically gnawing on her backbone. Thankfully she’d had enough sense to ask
for a to-go container; she’d transcribe for a bit then take an early break,
maybe even sit outside in the small courtyard for some fresh air. Yeah, that
sounded like a good plan.

But it was incredibly hard to concentrate on her unfinished
tasks when her mind kept drifting to Randall.

It’d been a month since he’d stripped her down to her bra
and cowgirl boots in his hallway, twenty-seven days, to be exact, since he’d
pressed her back against his mattress. And after Connor had nearly walked in on
them several days after that, they’d agreed to err on the side of caution.

And it was killing her.

Oh, they still managed to steal a kiss here and there; “accidently”
brush against the other in passing. Quite frankly, the last twenty-seven days
could be summed up as one very long bout of foreplay.

But their dry spell would end this weekend when her
parents took Connor for the night.

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t having doubts. Last
time had been… well, phenomenal, but it’d also been entirely spontaneous. The
only mission she’d had upon arriving at his place that night was to coerce him
in to telling her why he’d barreled out of The Saloon without so much as a
goodbye.

He’d told her, all right—right before he’d claimed her
mouth and backed her into the hall.

Lana shivered at the memory.

This time she knew what she was getting into, and as
exciting as that notion was, she was sort of nervous about doing it again. Her
anxiety had absolutely nothing to do with Randall—at least, not directly.