Touch of Fire (5 page)

“Do what?”

“I want to sleep in my bed,”

Nicole leaned back into his chest and tilted her head to the side. “I can take the couch.”

“You don’t have to.” Garrett resisted the urge to run his finger down the length of her neck.

“No?”

“I feel like I’m suddenly back in junior high. My heart is beating so hard I swear it’s going to break my chest. I can walk through fire, but I can’t bring myself to…”

Nicole turned around. She was trapped between his body and the bathroom counter. “To what?”

“To touch you. I so want to touch you.”

“You’ve already touched me, many times.”

“Not in the way I want to now.” Garrett stepped backwards, retreating toward the door. “I promised Mrs. Thompson that I’d pick her up from the hospital. It’s getting late. I should—”

Before he could finish his sentence Nicole crushed her lips to his in a smoldering kiss. Caught off guard, Garrett stumbled back into the bathroom door. He gasped as he heard it slam, concerned momentarily that it might have woken Sam. Then he felt Nicole’s tongue brushing across his lower lip, begging entrance. She pulled his head in closer, weaving her fingers through his hair. It had been so long and she tasted so sweet. For a moment he was overwhelmed with grief and sadness as he realized that he had almost forgotten how good it felt. How essential it was to be touched. How deeply satisfying it was to feel wanted.

Nicole deepened the kiss and Garrett’s cock hardened instantly, straining against his jeans. Her tongue began to rhythmically stroke his. He felt like he was on the verge of losing control, and it felt wonderful. Garrett wrapped one arm around her waist, slipped his other hand around the back of her neck and then pulled her flush to his body. He reveled in the feel of her, her little gasps and moans, the panting sounds she made as he turned, pressing her against the door, pushing her knees apart slightly so that he could get even closer to her. He felt as if he were about to explode as she broke off the kiss and began to claw at his t-shirt, pulling it out of his jeans.

“Nicole, wait, I’m—”

“So help me, if you say you’re sorry I’m going to punch you in the nose.”

“Hardly!” He leaned down and kissed her neck all the way down to the spot that was his favorite on a woman.

Just as she reached again for his shirt, he stepped back, his breathing ragged, his voice low and raspy, filled with desire. “It’s just that I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now.”

“The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back.”

Garrett turned on the light.

“I don’t want to go,” he admitted, daring to look her in the eye. “Promise you won’t move while I’m gone? I want to pick this up right here.”

Nicole caressed the side of his face. “I’ll be waiting.”

“I—”

She waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “I’m not her, Garrett,” she whispered.

“I know.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “And, amazingly enough, I don’t want you to be.”

Chapter Five

Garrett sat in the driveway, nervously wiping his sweaty palms on the tops of his thighs. He shook his head, his shoulders slumped in defeat, remembering how on the way to the hospital he had pulled into a 7-Eleven, spent five minutes staring at the various condom packages, then left with only a bottle of red wine. He felt horrible about the ride back. As Mrs. Thompson filled him in on the details of her husband’s medical condition, images of Nicole kept invading his thoughts. It had been a full ten minutes since he had seen Mrs. Thompson to her door with a promise to drive her to the hospital on Sunday morning. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the house. If he listened carefully, he could hear the phone ringing inside.

“Flint residence, Garrett’s hostage speaking,” Nicole answered saucily.

Garrett almost dropped the phone as his mind’s eye was filled with the erotic image of her tied to his bed.

“You aren’t my hostage. And what if this had been my mother calling?”

“Then you’d have some explaining to do. Fortunately for you, you happen to have caller ID and the display said ‘Garrett’s Cell’.”

“You aren’t my hostage.”

“No? Let’s see, you essentially kidnapped me from my bed and drove me to a strange town. I have no money. I have no way of escaping. Screams hostage to me.”

“I rescued you from a burning building. That was clearly not a kidnapping.”

He could see the silhouette of her body through the window as she walked into the bedroom, her hand searching for the light switch. “Don’t turn the light on,” he said, his voice low.

Nicole froze. “Where are you?”

Garrett pushed his seat back and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I’m in the driveway, in my car.”

“Why?” She had moved away from the doorway into the darkened room. He could no longer see her.

“I was wondering if maybe we should slow this down a bit.”

“You want to slow this down?”

“No.” He let his head fall against the window. “I don’t want to slow this down. I think maybe we should.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

His head snapped up. “What? No!”

“What do you want?”

“Ask me that again, only make your voice a bit more breathy.”

“Are we having phone sex now? What happened to Dr. Flint and the Naughty Nurse?”

Garrett shrugged. “Old hat. I like to keep things fresh. So, how long have you been working at 1-900-IMABabe? Do they offer a decent benefit package? Pension plan? 401(k)?”

“The benefits suck,” she said. “Come inside, Garrett.”

“I stopped on the way to the hospital to buy condoms. That’s what people do, right? Everyone’s supposed to use condoms. Only I didn’t buy them. I left with a bottle of red wine instead.”

“Although useful if you want to break down inhibitions, not an effective barrier against STDs.”

“I know. I’m a complete idiot. I wasn’t even thinking about that. I was thinking about birth control. And I can’t even believe that we are having this conversation!”

“So, start a new conversation.”

“Should I have gotten the condoms?”

“Hmm. I don’t know about you, but to me this is already sounding suspiciously like the old conversation. Are you always this obsessive?”

“Only about sex. And only when I’ve been without for a really long time.” Then after a long pause he admitted, “Well, that’s not exactly true. Even when I was getting it regularly, I thought about it a lot. Truth be told, the
Playboy
is mine, not Sam’s. And I tend to skip over the articles. Did I mention how much I wish I was holding you right now?”

“Which brings up a good point. Why aren’t you?”

“I’ve never been good with casual sex. I’m thirty years old. It’s been twelve years since I’ve been with anyone other than my wife.”

“You’re still very much in love with her.”

“I’ll always be in love with her,” he whispered.

“I see.”

“Do you?”

Nicole sighed. “No, not really. That’s one of those phrases we therapists use. It demonstrates that we’re listening and gives us time to think. I’m still trying to figure out why you didn’t buy the condoms.”

“I was standing there in the aisle, looking at the boxes, wondering if you’d prefer the ridges and trying to decide on what size box to buy. And it hit me. You might not even be here tomorrow.”

“But I’m here now.”

He lowered his voice a notch. “Where are you, exactly?”

“In your bedroom.”

“Are you still dressed?”

“For now.”

“I can still feel your kiss.”

“Where do you feel it?”

“I can still feel your lips on mine, your tongue in my mouth, hot and moist. You have a beautiful mouth.”

“Oh!” she moaned.

“What?”

“You’re kissing my neck. I can feel the warmth of your breath as your lips glide across my throat. You’re tugging at the hem of my shirt, pulling it up.”

“Help me, Nicole. I can’t get it off fast enough. I want to see you, taste you,” he confessed, the pace of his breathing increasing with his arousal.

“Wait! Oh, yes! Just like that. Your hands on my breasts, they feel so good.”

“Christ! You’ve got me so fucking hard. Tell me what you want, baby.” He felt her hesitation and smirked. “Getting shy, princess? Maybe I should have asked for one of the other girls tonight.”

Another moment went by and still there was no response. “Are you still there, Nicole? Is this freaking you out?”

“No!” she protested, a little too loudly. Then her voice softened. “Maybe, it’s freaking me out a little.”

“Why?”

“I barely know you. Your four-year-old daughter is asleep across the hall. I’m standing stark naked in your bedroom and you’re asking me to talk all dirty to you while you sit out there in your car. Don’t you see anything wrong with this picture? Aren’t you the least bit uncomfortable?”

“Yes, now that you mention it. I think you should ask me to unbutton my pants.”

“Unbutton your pants?” she repeated.

“Oh, thank God!” Garrett unbuckled his belt opened his jeans, and freed his erection. Then he saw the closet light turn on—his closet. He could see her, nude, standing in the doorway, her back to him, still holding the phone to her ear.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he stroked his fully engorged cock, pausing for a moment to lick the palm of his hand before rubbing it across the head.

“Looking for the shirt I was wearing earlier. What are you doing?”

“It’s on the floor.” He watched expectantly as she bent over to retrieve it. “Christ, you have a luscious ass.”

Nicole gasped as she grabbed the shirt and spun around holding the shirt up protectively to shield her body. “You can see me.”

“Well, not now. You’ve got the damn shirt in the way. Please, darlin’. I’m so close. Help me out here. I need…I need…” The light went out in the bedroom. Dropping his head back onto the top of his car seat Garrett murmured to himself, “You’ve gone and done it now.”

Next the porch light went out, shrouding him in complete darkness. He lifted his head, just in time to see her run out the front door toward the car, wearing nothing but his shirt.

“Foot’s better, I see,” he said when she opened the passenger door and slid inside.

“Enough talk.” She tossed the cordless phone into the back seat and covered his mouth in a passionate kiss.

When she pulled back, she was breathless and so was he. Nicole reached down, wrapped her slender hand around his shaft and, in a hushed voice, asked him, “What do you want?”

Garrett hissed and looked away, placing his hand over hers, intending to remove it. “You should go back inside. This…isn’t good.”

She gave his cock a little squeeze. “Show me how you like to be touched.”

He removed her hand, tears welling up in his eyes. “I can’t do this!” He turned away. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” he groaned miserably as he tucked himself back into his jeans and buttoned them. “I can’t afford to hope. I promised myself. I’ve cried too many tears, a lifetime’s worth. I’ve been to the circus, darlin’. I had it all. And I watched it wither and die, slip through my fingers. I can’t let that happen, not ever again.”

*****

Suddenly she saw him in perfect clarity. Hero, all cock and swagger. Father, nurturing and tender. Man, isolated and grieving. All of them struggling, desperately fighting against the demons within. Fighting to hold on. He was so brave yet so afraid. He was afraid to risk, afraid to lose, afraid to live, but most of all afraid to love.

When she had reminded him that Sam was alone inside the house, he quickly wiped the tears from his face, pulled the key from the ignition and stepped out of the car. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he paused to hold the door open for her, she would have thought he’d forgotten about her altogether.

Once inside he headed straight for a set of built-in shelves and cabinets that housed an entertainment center and begin to look for something. “Ah ha!” He pulled out a bottle of scotch.

“What are you doing?”

“Gonna get drunk and have myself a nice long soak in the hot tub. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a stroke.” He took the bottle into the kitchen. “Now, which plastic cup to choose? Powerpuff Girls or Barbie? Decisions, decisions!”

“Okay, why are you doing this?”

He turned to look at her, the expression on his face one of total incredulity. “Are you kidding? You were right there.” He waved the bottle in the general direction of the driveway, then poured himself a healthy drink. “Do you know CPR?”

“No.” She pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat down. Her foot was hurting again.

“Good!” Garrett unlocked the door and walked out onto the back deck.

Despite the pain she was now feeling, she followed. “You’re really going to sit out here?”

“Yup.”

He removed the lid to the hot tub, knocked back the remainder of his drink, then shamelessly stripped off all of his clothes. God, he looked glorious.