ScandalandSin (16 page)

Laura held up her hands again, drew the
imaginary box in the air and pointed to the seat. Then she disappeared.

Apparently, Laura wanted Alaina to look in
the window seat for some kind of box. Setting her bottle of water on the floor,
Alaina opened the three sections of the seat and peered inside. Nothing. She’d
already vacuumed out the dirt and droppings, leaving the area empty.

I don’t know what you want me to find,
Laura.

Alaina dropped to her knees and looked
inside the sections again. As she studied them for a third time, she noticed
the floor of the middle section seemed to be about three inches higher than the
ones on the ends. The section was about twenty inches wide and thirty inches
long, so would easily hold something twelve-by-eighteen if that item was thin.

She needed some kind of tool to pry up the
floor, like a screwdriver. She knew Jerry and Reuben were working on the west
side of the attic. She could get a screwdriver from one of them.

Tool in hand, Alaina knelt before the seat
and slipped the blade beneath the floor. It took several tries, but finally the
false bottom came loose to expose a flat, thin item wrapped in burlap.

Heart pounding and palms sweating, Alaina
lifted the item out of the seat and carefully unwrapped it. An oil painting lay
inside the burlap. She recognized the landscape as an area close to the river
that ran through Lanville, an area that was now a park where locals and
tourists enjoyed the cool breezes on a hot summer day.

Delighted with her discovery, Alaina held
the painting at arms’ length to see it better. She’d have it framed to hang
somewhere in the house so her guests could enjoy it.

She was so involved with looking at the
painting that she didn’t hear Rye behind her until he spoke. “What’s that?”

She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Oh,
Rye, isn’t this painting wonderful? I found it in the window seat beneath a
hidden compartment.”

Rye squatted next to her. “There’s a hidden
compartment in the window seat? How did you find it?”

Unsure how to tell him about Laura, she
shrugged. “Just lucky.”

“Do you want to hang it in the house? I can
have it framed for you the next time I go for supplies.”

“Really? That would be perfect.” She gave
him a soft kiss. “Thank you.”

A hint of mischief filled his eyes. “I’ll
want more than a kiss for such a huge favor.”

She loved it when he teased her this way.
“That can be arranged.”

He slid his finger down her arm, which
raised goose bumps on her skin. Her reaction must have pleased him for he
smiled. “I’m going downstairs to help Vince get the rest of the window
measurements.”

“Okay.”

Alaina returned to examining the painting
after Rye left. She was happy to have found it, but also sad. Now that she had
what Laura wanted her to find, there would be no reason for the ghost to appear
again.

* * * * *

When Alaina told Rye she wanted to leave an
hour early, he had no problem with that. He figured she had shopping to do, or
some other “girl” thing, so volunteered to pick up their supper on his way
home. Her thank-you kiss had all the blood in his body rushing south to fill
his cock.

Sex had never been sweeter or more intense
than with Alaina. Since Rye usually found his lovers outside Lanville, he never
had a woman spend the night with him. He liked waking up with Alaina in his
bed. He liked that warmth, that feeling of contentment he experienced when he
reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. She’d always come willingly
when he tugged her closer.

As each day passed, he cared more about
her. He liked to see her happy, like today when she’d found that painting in
the turret. She’d been so excited and eager to hang it in her house. Her eyes
had sparkled with excitement at his offer to have it framed for her. The offer
had been spontaneous, but he’d meant it. He wanted to do whatever he could to
make her happy.

Rye walked in the back door of his house
and set down the takeout containers long enough to slip off his work boots. He
padded into the kitchen to find Alaina setting the table. She must not have
heard him come in, which gave him the chance to study her. She’d made good use
of her extra time by showering. Her hair flowed over her shoulders in a riot of
curls. She wore a tiny cropped T-shirt and a pair of low-riding denim shorts
that exposed several inches of her stomach. He didn’t know if she wore panties,
but she obviously didn’t wear a bra. Her breasts shifted with her movements,
her nipples pushed against the soft cotton.

She walked to the refrigerator. His cock
went from semi-hard to full-blown erection at the sight of her ass swaying in
those tight shorts. He could have her naked and be buried inside her sweet
pussy in four seconds.

What a tempting idea.

She saw him when she turned around with the
butter dish in her hand. She smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He set the containers on the table,
then took her in his arms for a hug. The scent of flowers drifted up from her
hair. “You smell good.”

“I tried a new shampoo. Do you like it?”

“Yeah.” He buried his face in her hair
while his hands glided up and down her back. “I also like your outfit. Or what
there is of it.”

An impish grin touched her lips when she
looked at him. “I was hot.”

“You still are.” One firm nipple begged for
the caress of his thumb. “Nice.”

He liked the little hitch in her breath
when he touched her nipple. “Keep that up and our supper will be cold before we
eat it.”

“I have a microwave.”

She laughed and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m
starving. Food first, then sex.”

“God, you’re mean.”

“I know.” Stepping out of his arms, she
went back to the refrigerator. “Iced tea?” she asked over her shoulder. “Beer?
Wine?”

“Beer sounds good.”

She carried two bottles of beer to the
table. Rye opened one of the food containers to expose a large pile of
barbecued ribs.

“Oh wow,” Alaina said, her eyes wide.
“Those look scrumptious.”

Rye’s gaze dipped to her breasts. “They
certainly do.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “I was talking
about the ribs.”

“Me too.”

She chose the top rib from the stack. “You
were looking at my breasts.”

“Which is exactly what you want and that’s
why you’re wearing that skimpy little top and no bra.”

She didn’t comment as she took a bite of
barbecue, but her eyes shone with devilment. She slowly sucked the sauce off
each finger of her left hand as she stared into his eyes.

His cock jerked. A quickie would work. They
could get all this tension out of the way and make love later, slowly and
thoroughly. “You keep looking at me like that, you’re gonna get royally
fucked.”

“Not just fucked, but
royally
fucked? Oh my.” Laying her rib back on her plate, she licked the sauce off the
fingers of her other hand. “I’m not wearing panties.”

A man could take only so much teasing. Rye
rounded the table, jerked Alaina to her feet and pulled her over his shoulder
in a fireman’s hold.

Seconds later, he dropped her on his bed. A
flick of his fingers and he unfastened her shorts. They landed on the floor.

She most definitely wasn’t wearing panties.

Rye grabbed her thighs and tugged her ass
right to the edge of the bed. “You play with me, you suffer the consequences.”

Fire lit her eyes, turning them to the
color of melted milk chocolate. “What kind of punishment do you have in mind?”

“This.” He dropped to his knees and darted
his tongue into her pussy.

She was already wet and swollen, her cream
oozing from her channel. He inhaled deeply, taking her musky scent into his
nostrils, his lungs. Her hair smelled good, but she smelled delicious here.
Using his thumbs, he eased her labia open so he could see every bit of her
sleek flesh. Her folds were dark pink, her clit nice and hard. He rubbed his
thumb over it in little circles.

“Mmm, yes.” She grasped her legs behind her
knees and drew them farther apart. Rye liked that sign that she wanted more. He
replaced his thumb with his tongue, flicking it over and around her clit, up
and down her labia.

“My
God
, you’re good at that!”

He would’ve smiled except she tasted too
good for him to take his mouth off her. Pushing her thighs higher, he swiped
his tongue across her anus. Rye held up her legs with one arm to leave his
other hand free to touch her. He continued to flash his tongue all over her
pussy while he rubbed her clit with his thumb.

“I’m going to come. Oh
yes
, I’m
coming! Right…
now
!”

She grabbed his head, pulling at his hair
as her hips bucked. Rye watched the entrance to her vagina pulse with her
orgasm’s contractions. He continued to caress her clit, but more gently now
since he knew it would be tender.

Rye unfastened his jeans and tugged his
hard shaft from his briefs. His cock screamed at him to take her, to give her
the royal fucking he’d promised her. He couldn’t do that, not yet. He wanted
her so much, a few thrusts and it would be over.

He waited until Alaina lay still before he
licked her again. Moaning loudly, she soon moved her hips in time to the
strokes of his tongue. She clasped his head again, holding it firmly while he
worshipped her with his mouth. He ran his tongue up one side, down the other,
across her clit, over her anus. He fucked her pussy with his tongue, her ass
with his thumb.

“Rye,” she whispered. “Rye,” she said,
louder now. “God,
Rye
!”

Her anus squeezed his thumb when her second
orgasm flowed through her body. Unable to wait any longer, Rye stood and
whipped off his T-shirt. His jeans, briefs and socks landed on the floor next
to Alaina’s shorts. Leaning over, he rested his hands next to her hips and let
his gaze travel over her. Alaina lay with her arms next to her head, her eyes
closed. Her T-shirt had ridden up her body, exposing the bottom half of her
breasts. Rye dropped a kiss on each one.

She opened her eyes. “Is this…when I
get…royally fucked?”

“Yeah.” His voice came out rough, guttural.
“This is it.”

He flipped her to her stomach, jerked her
to her knees and rammed his cock inside her.

The sound that came from her throat was a
combination of a gasp and a moan. Rye would stop if he thought that sound meant
pain, but he knew it meant overwhelming pleasure. He bent over her body and
pushed her T-shirt out of the way so he could cradle her breasts. Holding them
tightly, he began to pump…hard, fast strokes that buried his cock all the way
in her pussy every time.

“You feel so good.” He pinched and tugged
her nipples as he moved faster. “I can’t get enough of you.”

The building sensations tightened his
balls, hardened his cock even more. Rye let it build, let the feeling take over
his body. Pleasure swept down his legs, up to his head and back to his rod.
Squeezing Alaina’s breasts, he clenched his eyes shut as his climax gripped
him.

Rye didn’t know how much time passed before
he opened his eyes again. He still gripped Alaina’s breasts, his softening cock
remained inside her slick warmth. “You okay?” he asked.

“Other than the top of my head getting
blown off, I’m fine.”

“You’re lucky you have only one head to get
blown off. I have two.”

He slowly withdrew from her body. A drop of
his essence mixed with her cream and trickled down her folds. He swiped it up
with his thumb, then licked it from his skin.

Alaina straightened her legs and flopped
down on the bed. “You’ll have to bring supper to me. I’m too weak to move.”

He nipped each cheek, kissed the small of
her back. “If I got barbecue sauce on this bedspread, my mother would strangle
me.”

“I’ll wash it.”

Chuckling, Rye kissed his way up her spine
to the soft spot behind her ear. “I’m gonna take a fast shower. I’ll meet you
in the kitchen.”

“’kay.”

Five minutes later, wearing only a pair of
loose khaki shorts, Rye found Alaina warming the ribs in the microwave. She
looked at home in his kitchen. He’d thought that ever since Saturday morning,
when he’d awakened to find her preparing breakfast. He could easily imagine her
here every morning and evening, sharing a meal while they planned their day or
talked about what happened at work.

His stomach tightened and he felt as if his
chest wasn’t big enough to hold his heart. In that moment, he realized he was
falling in love with her. He knew it was much too soon to think of
happily-ever-after, but the idea of spending the rest of his life with a woman
no longer scared him.

Alaina would never hurt him the way Alesia
had. He had no doubt about that.

Chapter Thirteen