Seven Sexy Sins (23 page)

The truth was, up until now, he’d had it easy. He hadn’t lied when he’d said to Faith he’d never really been in love. He’d been fond of some of the women he’d slept with, and he’d dated Meredith probably a little longer than he should have, because it had been a wrench when they’d finally broke up. But generally he’d found it easy to be fickle in his relationships, to discard women easily before they had a chance to think he was serious.

But then he’d never felt about any woman the way he felt about Faith.

Standing there, staring at the waves crashing onto the sand, Rusty finally realised he’d made a terrible mistake in suggesting he help her out with her articles. He knew she was falling for him and, deep down, he knew he’d fallen heavily for her too. He’d thought they’d be able to keep it simple, that the sex would be fun and frivolous, and it had been, for a while, but he hadn’t considered the fact that his heart might get involved.

He closed his eyes. Letting her go would be unbearable. To see her and know he couldn’t just walk up to her and kiss her, because she wouldn’t be his to kiss. To watch her with other men. To see her get married, and have babies. It made his heart twist, and he bit his lip as emotion welled inside him. But in spite of all that, he knew he couldn’t continue to date her. She deserved to find someone who didn’t have the sword of Damocles hanging over him, who could give her marriage and children without the threat of danger hovering.

He dropped his head, stared at the sand. He couldn’t think what to say.

Suddenly she was in front of him, cupping his face in her hands, kissing him. “I’m sorry,” she said, over and over again. “I’m so sorry, Rusty. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I can’t,” he said hoarsely. “I just can’t.”

“I know.” She put her arms around his neck. He hugged her to him, and she pressed kisses around his ear. “It’s all right, sweetheart. You don’t have to explain.”

“I love you,” he said, tightening his arms. He wasn’t going to cry, he wasn’t that much of a girl. He really wasn’t.

“I know.” She buried her face in his neck. “I love you too.”

They stood there like that for a while. The surf was strangely soothing, cleansing their emotion as it washed away the footprints of the dog in the sand. He felt himself grow calm now that he’d made his decision, although sadness overwhelmed him. He didn’t know what it meant for the rest of the night, for the final sin, or for their friendship. If she wanted him, he’d be there. If she wanted to end it now, he’d understand that too.

Eventually, she pulled back. He’d thought her face might be wet, but her eyes were clear, the colour of the wet sand, and she smiled as she looked up at him.

“What number are we up to?” she asked.

He stared at her. She could have reacted in a hundred different ways, yelled, cried, walked off, accused him. Her actual words shocked him, and to his alarm, a tear rolled down his face.

She brushed it away, tipping her head. “It was eight-five, if I remember correctly,” she said, as if nothing had happened. Her eyes lit mischievously. “I have something in my bag for us to play with, if you’re interested.”

He rubbed his nose. “I’m assuming it’s not Monopoly.”

She laughed, picked up the bag with the rubbish from their dinner and took his hand. “Slightly more vibrate-y than that. Come on.”

She led him up the beach and into the house, closing the doors. Daylight was fading and the sandflies would be snapping, and besides, the day had grown cool. She took him into the bedroom and began unbuttoning his shirt while he stood there, studying her, a gentle smile on his face.

She felt calm after the emotion that had washed over them on the beach. It wasn’t over, not by a long shot. She knew he thought it was. She’d seen his face when he’d looked at the toddler on the beach. And as he’d stood there looking out to sea, she’d realised the full extent of his angst, and why he felt he couldn’t ever get married and have kids. Not only was he still worried the family curse hunkered within him, he also thought of himself like the carrier of a disease, and was terrified at the notion of passing that disease on to his children.

It could happen, Faith knew. But surely it became watered down through the generations? Any children they might have would be half him, but also half her. And the fact was that even if it
was
like a disease that transferred to the next generation, they’d deal. They’d work together to cope with whatever life threw at them.

Faith wasn’t the sort of person not to do something because she was afraid of what might happen. In her mind, you had to weigh the pros and cons, and the thought of having Rusty as a life partner vastly outweighed any potential possible threat of the Thorne demon rearing its ugly head. With her whole heart, she knew Rusty didn’t have it in him to be the sort of man that his father and Cole were. He didn’t have a violent bone in his body.

Part of her knew that one thing he was worried about was sex. A passionate man with a high sex drive, she was sure he worried sometimes that he was going to hurt her in bed, that he’d overstep the mark and find the demon lurking, ready to play. But Faith was certain there was a difference between the dark desire she often felt inside herself during sex, and an actual desire to hurt the person you loved. Rusty feared the latter, and she knew he couldn’t bear the thought of ever hurting her. But she was certain that if he looked deeply, he’d find nothing but love and passion inside himself, and she was going to prove it to him.

Several hours remained before midnight. And she had a few ideas up her sleeve.

She finished the buttons and pushed open his shirt, sliding her hands over his ribs. Putting her arms around him, she reached up and kissed him, a soft, tender kiss, which he returned happily enough, to her relief.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking up into his eyes.

“Yeah.” He brushed her cheek.

“You still wanna play? I don’t mind if you say no. Eight-five’s a pretty good total for one day.”

He laughed and kissed her. “Oh I’m happy to play along, if you want me to.”

“You got anything left for me?” She rubbed her hips against his. “Or has the well run dry?”

He grasped the bottom of her T-shirt and lifted it off in one swift move. “I seem to have a refillable tank where you’re involved.”

She giggled and led him toward the bed, drew back the cover and pushed him onto the mattress. He slid off his shorts and moved back onto the pillows, and she quickly took off her skirt and climbed on, pulling the duvet over them.

She cuddled up to him and kissed him for a while. Eventually he pulled back and raised an eyebrow. “You mentioned you had something to play with.”

“Later,” she said. “I’ve got something else in mind first.” And, winking at him, she began to kiss down his chest. She disappeared under the covers, feeling him sigh as she worked her way down, and his hand slipped into her hair as she finally covered him with her mouth.

She aroused him slowly, tenderly, trying to show him without saying anything that she loved him, understood him, had forgiven him, and wanted to make him feel better.

And when she made it eight-six, she knew it had worked.

Afterward, he made her find her play toy, and she retrieved it from her bag and brought it over to the bed, where he was lying facing her, head propped on a hand.

“Oh yeah.” He eyed the long metal vibrator approvingly.

She slid into the bed beside him, flushing as he picked it up and studied it with interest.

“Where’d you get it?” He tested the button on the top, raising an eyebrow as it started buzzing.

“Auckland.”

He looked up at her, turning it off. “I didn’t know you’d been down this week.”

“Um, I haven’t.”

“The week before?”

“No.”

He tipped his head at her. “When did you get this, Faith Hillman?”

“Er… About two years ago.”

His eyes widened and he started laughing. “You monkey! You never told me you used a vibrator.”

“Well, it’s not the type of thing that comes up in a normal conversation.”

“I meant, since we’ve been seeing each other.”

“You never asked.”

His eyes met hers, and he held her gaze, his smile growing. “You really are naturally naughty, aren’t you?”

“Yep.” She lay back on the pillows and wriggled closer to him. “Now are you going to sort me out, or what?”

He kissed her cheek. “Absolutely. But you need to tell me what you like.” He kissed her lips.

“And how it feels?”

His eyes met hers. “If you want.”

“I’ll give you a running commentary. Tell you exactly what you’re doing to me.”

He blinked slowly. His smile had faded. Without another word, he pushed down the duvet, exposing her to her waist, bent his head and touched his tongue first to one nipple, then the other. He switched on the vibrator and pressed the tip against her sensitive, wet skin.

Faith inhaled sharply. He leaned over and kissed her, and she opened her mouth to accept the sweep of his tongue, tingling all over as the vibrator continued to buzz against her nipples.

He raised his head to watch her, and she began talking to him, telling him exactly what he was doing to her. Gradually, he moved the vibrator lower, letting it hum over her belly and tickle the sensitive skin of her lower stomach, before he slid it down between her legs, into the slippery folds of her skin.

She sighed and told him how to pleasure her, and he followed her directions. He moved the vibrator inside her for a while before he brought it back up to focus on her sensitive sweet spot, and pushed her legs open wide, kissing her in between her whispered instructions.

He aroused her carefully, watching her all the while, and by the time she made it nine-six, she knew they’d moved past the moment that had upset him so much, and that he was ready for the final phase of her carefully targeted plan.

Rusty sensed there was something on her mind, but she talked for a while about insignificant matters and he was happy to lie with her and listen to her voice as the sun set and the moon rose in the darkening sky. A night from full, it hovered above the sea like a flashlight, shining its beam across their bed.

They went into the kitchen and had a final piece of chocolate, and Faith poured herself a glass of wine and drank it sitting naked at the kitchen table, while he leaned on the worktop and listened to her talk about her writing and her plans for future articles. He sensed she was trying to relax him, perhaps to make him forget the tension they’d experienced earlier. Which was fine, but she kept giving him dark glances, and he could almost see her thoughts passing across her eyes, like clouds over the moon. And every time she looked at him, he felt his heart rate increase a little, knowing she was planning something, the thought making him hard in spite of the fact that he’d thought six was probably his limit for the day.

Eventually, she finished her wine, and his heart began to pound as she placed the glass in the sink, took his hand and led him back into the bedroom. She stood with him in front of the window, turned him to face her and backed him up against the glass.

“Are you done?” she asked kindly, stroking his face. “Or do you have enough energy for one more adventure?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

He put his arms around her. Her hair, in the moonlight, was dark, her face a black-and-white photograph of light and shadows. It made her look intense, the colour bleached out of her eyes, her pupils so large they seemed almost black. “Adventure?” he queried.

She rested her hands on his chest and licked her lips. Was she nervous or excited? She stroked his curling chest hairs. “Rusty?” Her voice was husky, teasing.

Uh-oh.
“Hmm?”

She brushed his nipples. “Next week, when we finish the seventh sin, we’re done, right?”

He wasn’t going to think about it. “Yes.”

She stroked his chest. “Next week it’ll be the last time. It’ll be difficult, and there’s a lot of thinking involved. Next week, we make love with our minds.”

“Okay.”

“But tonight…we should concentrate on our bodies.”

He said nothing, caught in the mesmerising darkness of her eyes, afraid to break the spell.

“After we’re done, you want me to meet a nice man, someone kind and gentle, who treats me like a lady, don’t you?”

His throat tightened, but he managed to say, “Yes.”

She moistened her lips again. “So this is my last chance, then, to be a wicked girl?”

He swallowed. What was she trying to say?

She brushed her lips against his. “You’ve done very well, educating me in the seven sins.”

“I don’t think I had a lot to do with it,” he said, thinking about the way she’d handcuffed him to the bed.

She laughed and traced her fingers up his body, across his shoulders. “There’s one more sin I’d like to try, though.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t ask if it were anyone else, but as it’s you, Rusty, and I know you want to make sure I go off into the world fully educated, I’m hoping you’ll agree.” She ran light fingers down his chest, slid a hand lower, across his belly and into his hair, and finally grasped his erection.

He met her gaze, breathless with desire but also wary, wondering what was going through her head.

Her tongue grazed his mouth, and she bit his lower lip, hard enough to make him gasp. “Any ideas what I’m thinking about?”

“No.” He could think of a couple of things he’d like to do to her, but he wasn’t going to put them into words in case he shocked her.
This is Faith
, he reminded himself firmly.
Your friend. Sister of your best mate. You used to put crickets in her pockets. You were there the first time she got drunk and threw up on her mum’s sofa.
But it wasn’t working. He couldn’t see any remnants of the girl in the sexy, passionate woman before him.

She leaned over to her bag, reached in and closed her hand on an item, took it out and threw it on the bed. He looked down. It was a tube of lubrication.

“Oh, crap.” He closed his eyes helplessly.

She pressed her breasts against his chest, drew his head down and kissed him deeply. When she finally pulled back, her lips were swollen, her eyes dark and taunting. “Come on. Don’t you want to?”