Good question, he realized. His reaction to her announcement had been a knee-jerk one—don’t leave. What was that all about, besides the obvious?
“Well, there’s the sex,” he said lightly. “That’s a good reason right there.”
“All the great sex in the world isn’t worth jeopardizing the town,” she said dryly.
Great sex…he was happy to hear she saw it that way.
“Okay, here’s a reason. I just got used to a new landlady. I don’t want to break in another one.”
“Oh ho.” She twisted on his lap and pushed at his chest. He allowed himself to fall back onto the mattress, laughing. “You broke me in? Is that how you see it?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? Not evicted.”
“Yeah, well…that’s for services rendered.” She crawled on top of his body. “That hand railing went a long way. All that moose turd shoveling.”
“A guy does what he can.” He decided to let her take charge and folded his arms behind his head.
She straddled his hips with her warm thighs and squeezed. “You like me, despite all the trouble I cause,” she teased. “Admit it. That’s why you don’t want me to leave.”
She was right. But if he told her how much he liked her, she might flee from anything resembling a relationship. Damn, sometimes being with Kate was like getting close to a porcupine. He had to be cautious. Keep it light.
“A tap dancer might move in upstairs,” he told her. “Can’t take that chance. I’m used to you.”
She squeezed her thighs again.
“S.G. would be sad if you left,” he continued, gasping. “She’s been through enough, poor kid.”
Another squeeze, so hard he actually coughed.
“On the other hand, if you leave maybe my full-time hard-on will go down. Might be nice to get a break.” He grinned at her as she clocked him in the chest. “Okay okay. I don’t want you to leave because you make me laugh.”
“Like this?” She tickled under his arm and made him lurch with laughter.
“Sure,” he gasped. “Like that. God, I hate being tickled. When are you leaving again?”
“Ooh, you’re in trouble now.” She pounced on him like a tiger out for revenge. But he was prepared for that and managed to Jedi-move her so that she lay on top of him, on her back, her legs on either side of his.
“What…how did you…” she gasped. He didn’t give her any time to complain, just slid one hand between her legs and clamped the other one over her breasts.
“Never mind how.” He tugged her earlobe with his teeth, like some kind of wild beast paralyzing its prey. “It’s just a demonstration.”
“Of what?” she asked breathlessly.
He stroked the sweet juicy folds that were already getting slippery as silk. “The fact that I haven’t done nearly all the things I want to do to you yet. And that’s why you can’t leave.”
Her breath caught and she arched against him. Her backside pressed against the rigid length of his cock. “See, that’s why I’m not leaving until tomorrow.”
He found the kernel of her clit and pinched it between two fingers. The plump flesh pulsed in response.
She let out a low moan. “Think you can fit all those things into one night?”
“I can be naughty all night long, babe. All night long.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Darius wasn’t kidding about the all-night-long part. After he brought her to a wild orgasm with just his fingers, while she lay spread open, her back to his front, they took a break for a snack. Except that it wasn’t really a break because somehow fudge sauce wound up on her nipples and he spent an insanely long time licking it off.
Then he hoisted her onto her kitchen countertop and spread her legs apart with those strong hands.
She was seriously getting addicted to the way he manhandled her.
He pulled her to the edge of the counter and made her pose like that, splayed open, while he took himself into his fist.
“You sure you don’t…want me…” she panted.
“Not now. I just want to fucking look at you. You’re so sexy like that. You’re always sexy, but damn, woman.”
She touched herself between her legs, both to tease him and because she was itching for more. And because the sight of his big hand wrapped around his penis and his powerful arms flexing with each stroke—it just sent her wild.
His eyes went dark as night as he watched her play with herself. When they were both right on the edge, he pulled on another condom, gripped her hips, and plunged inside her. He used his strength to move her hips to the angle that would pleasure her the most. Something brushed against her clit—maybe his thumb, maybe his groin, she didn’t know what, but it sparked an electric arc of response.
Her body clenched around the iron rod of flesh working inside her. Shudders gripped her—so intense she knocked a stray apple off the counter. Something else fell too, maybe some silverware. She didn’t know and she didn’t care. The blinding waves of her orgasm blocked out everything except the pure pleasure he was igniting in her body.
Everything except the thrill of watching him come a few moments later. His deep groan brought her eyes open just in time to see every one of his defined muscles flex and tighten with his climax.
“Okay, okay, I need a real break now,” she told him once she’d gotten her breath back.
He took a step away from her, his chest heaving. “No kidding. Damn. I need a nap now. You wore me out, lady.”
“A nap sounds good, now that you mention it. I guess we’re not kids anymore, huh?”
He helped her slide off the counter. “Nope. At least not if you ask my knees.”
“How old are you, anyway?” she asked as she landed on the floor. He held her up as she got her feet under her; they’d almost gone to sleep during that epic orgasm. “Seems like something I should know already.”
“I’m thirty-five.”
She took him by the hand, grabbed a bag of corn chips, and headed for the bedroom. “Not too old to crawl under the covers and snack in bed, right?”
“Two of my favorite things in one place—snacks and a naked woman. Can’t say no to that.” He grinned at her, his eyes a silver haze of contentment.
She ushered him ahead of her so she could ogle the thick flex of his muscular ass. As much as she loved the idea of one last night of naughty fun, she knew it wasn’t going to come close to satisfying her. The more time she spent with Darius, the more she wanted to spend.
If she really wanted to make this easy, she’d kick him out right now. Evict him from the upper floor, and from her life.
But she didn’t want to. She’d given up her job, her condo, possibly her career, and definitely her LA life. The hell if she was ready to give up this amazing, delicious, sensuous, intimately wonderful connection. At least not yet.
It was a good thing that Kate had slept in that morning. The hunger that had built up between her and Darius refused to be satisfied. She wanted to know every inch of him—in between the times when he was exploring every inch of her.