Authors: Calista Fox
His throat had practically closed up as his breath came in
heavier pulls. “Red,” he told her in a strained voice as his cock sprang to
life. “Definitely red, sweetheart.”
She smiled sexily and it turned him inside out. He’d thought
about her all damn day, having a hell of a time keeping his mind from wandering
to the memories he had of kissing her and touching her. Feeling her luscious
body pressed to his. Making her come so hard she screamed his name.
He let out a low groan as she scooted toward him on the
plush white sofa and tucked her legs under her.
“You are sensational,” he told her as he draped an arm
around her.
“Told you, it’s a lifestyle.” She gave this a moment’s
thought, then added, “Or maybe it’s a secret fetish, since I’ve never shared
the private side of my lingerie addiction with anyone else.”
“Well, darlin’, this is one addiction I cannot argue with.”
“How about the fact I’m addicted to your kisses?” Her lips
grazed his neck as she spoke.
“Nope, can’t complain about that one, either.”
“Good. Because it’s pretty much all I thought about today.”
“You and me both.”
Her fingertips brushed over his skin at the opening of his
shirt as she asked, “Do you want to watch TV?”
Ryan’s cock twitched. Adrenaline pumped through his veins.
Heat flared in his gut.
“No, sweetheart, I don’t.”
He felt her lips curve into a smile against his neck. “What
do
you want to do?” she whispered.
A low grunt echoed in the quiet room. He really had intended
to behave himself this evening, but she was a temptation he could not resist.
“I want you to show me what’s under that robe.”
“Okay.” She slipped from the sofa, a mischievous look in her
emerald eyes.
Standing before him, Ginger slowly pulled the sash at her
waist, teasing him. She let the robe fall open and slide down her arms to the
floor.
Ryan sucked in a sharp breath.
“Now that’s just plain cruel.”
His gaze roved her scantily clad body, and he was suddenly
tormented by the reminder he didn’t have a condom.
The nightie she wore—if one could call it that—was taut red
lace that hugged her hips, accentuated her waist and plumped up her breasts.
Thin satin straps sat on her shoulders, and the hem ended just shy of revealing
her panties.
“You got my blood flowing,” he told her in a dark tone.
A deceptively innocent smile played on her lips. “So you
like it?”
He groaned. Then he reached for her and pulled her back to
the sofa, where she fell into his lap with a soft laugh.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said.
His concurrence was a kiss. He slipped one arm around her
waist and cupped her face with his free hand as his lips tangled with hers.
In between kisses, she suggested, “Why don’t we take this
into the bedroom?”
Ryan actually hedged, surprising himself. “I’m not looking
to take advantage of our great chemistry.”
“I am,” she said with a half-snort.
She amused him. “You’re turning out to be a wild one,
sweetheart.”
“I may be inexperienced, but I do know what I’m getting myself
into. Or at least, what I’m
trying
to get myself into.” She winked at
him and it was his undoing.
Everything about her made it impossible for him to deny her
desires—or his own. Gathering her close, he hoisted her up and, once again,
carried her into the bedroom. Though this time, he drew up short just past the
threshold.
Her entire room had been transformed into a romantic scene
from a movie. The bed was turned down and red rose petals were scattered all
over the dark brown duvet and cream-colored, satin sheets. More petals were
strewn over the hardwood floor. Soft, sensual music flowed from the iPod
speaker dock on a nightstand. A musky, enticing scent wafted on the air. And
the moonlight that shimmered through the windows was enhanced by the flicker of
candles, which were the waxless kind.
Recalling he’d seen similar ones in her shop, he said,
“You’re terrified of another fire, aren’t you?”
With a nod, she told him, “Liza and I were extremely lucky
to get out of that old, under-fire-code building alive. If Jack hadn’t been so
resourceful—or brave—we’d have been in big trouble. Our last resort was to jump
out the second-story window.”
“You would’ve broken a lot of bones,” he commented. The idea
of Ginger’s life being in jeopardy made him strangely tense, so that he
couldn’t even move from the spot in which he stood, with her still in his arms.
Moreover, knowing his aunt had been the one to put her in such peril caused his
gut to wrench. Ginger had told him the fire had been an accident and he
believed that. His aunt was not a malicious woman by nature. Frigid and bitter,
yes. But not homicidal. Yet it still unnerved him that she’d been the one to
cause the fire.
Obviously noting his tension, Ginger whispered in his ear,
“Planning on putting me down anytime soon, stud? Maybe joining me in bed?”
He forced a grin, though he was still disturbed by an
incident that had numerous implications, such as how serious and suddenly
personally involved he was with Ginger’s safety. How ridiculous it was his aunt
had been so shocked and appalled by sexy lingerie that she’d accidentally
knocked over lit candles in Ginger’s store. The fact that it was Ginger’s
store, in general. And the apparent animosity Lydia felt toward her.
Ryan wasn’t one to stir up a hornet’s nest with his
family—he’d always gone with the grain, with the exception of his chosen
profession. And now his association with Ginger. He’d also always believed in
the “blood is thicker than water” adage. Yet he quite clearly could not side
with the Bains when it came to the woman he held in his arms.
That realization was a tough pill to swallow. He didn’t want
to upset the family apple cart. Nor was he willing to give up Ginger for them.
“You are thinking way too much about all of this,” she
murmured against his temple.
He said, “I just don’t want to make any mistakes with you.”
She sighed. “None of this is going to go smoothly. How can
it? Particularly given all the circumstances surrounding our…whatever this is.”
Finally depositing her on the bed, he said, “
This
is
not something I’m taking lightly, Ginger.”
“Nor am I.”
He settled alongside her, pulling her to him as they lay on
their sides so they could face each other. He told her, “When I was sitting in
the diner, staring out the window, wondering how the hell I was going to tell
my aunt and uncle I didn’t intend to pursue ministry work, you came out of your
store. Standing under the golden glow of those antique streetlamps, your blonde
hair glimmering in the light, I thought you looked like an angel.”
She stared curiously at him, but didn’t say a word.
Continuing, he said, “I glanced up at your sign and realized
who you were. Dozens of memories of you came back to me. Mostly your pretty
smile, your soft laugh and how protective I’ve always been with you. And I suddenly
thought…” He let out a long breath, not sure how she’d take the admission he
was about to make.
But her eyes were dreamy and her voice compelling as she
urged, “What did you think?”
Ryan never had been one for holding back or playing games.
He said, “I thought, ‘There’s a woman I could fall in love with’.”
Her breath caught. Her gaze remained locked with his as they
faced each other, her eyes misting. Several long seconds passed until she
finally said, “That’s the most romantic thing you could have said to me
tonight.”
“Not too cheesy?”
She laughed again, though it sounded a bit strained by
emotion. “Good Lord, no. What girl wouldn’t want to hear that? Especially
coming from you.”
He kissed her, then muttered, “You’re the only one I’ve ever
said it to. And for the record, you are no girl, Ginger. You are sexy and
sensational and
all
woman.”
“You really do say the sweetest things.”
After another tender kiss, his mouth trailed over her
floral-scented skin, his lips and tongue sweeping along her neck, his teeth
gently nipping from time to time. She squirmed in his loose embrace as his hand
moved between them, inching upward to palm a breast.
Ginger’s throaty moan and the tangling of her fingers in his
hair heightened his arousal. His cock swelled and his pulse raced. Her back
arched, pressing her breast more firmly against his hand. Ryan whisked aside
the lace covering her, tucking the material under her full mound as his tongue
lapped slowly at her small nipple. It pebbled instantly, and he drew it into his
mouth, suckling the puckered peak as his hand shifted and he cupped an ass
cheek. He held her against his body as he rolled onto his back.
His fingers slipped under the hem of her nightie and curled
around the thin straps of her G-string. Though he regretted not having sneaked
a peek at the miniscule panties, he had other things on his mind. Dragging the
lingerie down her legs, he let her shimmy out of them when they reached her
calves, with a little help from him. Then he grasped the backs of her thighs,
guiding her legs apart so she straddled him at the waist.
Ginger undid the buttons on his flap and yanked the
shirttail from his jeans. Her slender hands splayed over his chest and her long
curls teased his skin as she bent her head and flicked her tongue across one of
his nipples.
He groaned, enjoying the intimate touch and her lack of
inhibition. Her limited sexual experience didn’t hold her back. She’d already
proved she was willing to experiment, with both the things he instigated as
well as the ideas that popped into her own head. Ryan liked her daring,
adventurous nature as much as he liked everything else about her.
She shifted her attention to his other nipple, making his
cock throb. But Ryan’s immediate interest was in pleasuring her. He eased the
straps of her nightie down her arms and she worked her way out of them. Then he
pushed the top of the lacy bodice to her rib cage. The hem of her nightie had
already climbed to her hips when she’d straddled him. His hands massaged her
breasts, the thumbs toying with the tight nipples.
“That feels incredible,” she told him. Her palms flattened
against his pectoral muscles and she hovered over him, not sitting up all the
way.
She rocked her hips slowly and the dewy flesh between her
legs slid over his skin, taunting him with the slick folds that rubbed against
his stomach.
“You’re making me crazy,” he said in a gruff voice. His
hands moved to her hips and he pressed her down onto him as she maintained her
sensual rhythm. Feeling her wet pussy lips set his insides on fire and had his
cock pulsing almost painfully. But he was still minus a condom.
“You, in turn, make me want to crawl all over you and rub
every part of my body against yours,” she said. “It’s sort of overwhelming how
arousing skin-on-skin contact is.”
He let out a sharp grunt. “It’s more than overwhelming.
You’re inspiring all kinds of wicked ideas.”
“Oh do tell,” she said, a bit breathy. “Because I’m game for
anything you have in mind.”
Chapter Six
Ryan didn’t elaborate verbally. Much to Ginger’s delight, he
dove right in.
With his hands holding her waist captive, he urged her up
his body as he shifted downward until his head was between her legs. She
clutched a plump pillow resting against the headboard as his tongue glided over
her sensitive pussy lips.
Fire instantly roared through her body. Her fingers curled
around the pillow as his mouth pleasured her with his lips on hers, his tongue
teasing her clit. His large hands gripped her ass cheeks, holding her in place
as he gently suckled the swollen nub between her legs. He elicited throaty
moans and erratic pants from her as he licked and sucked, making her mad with
desire.
One of his hands moved from her cheek and his fingers dipped
into the cleft, slowly rubbing up and down, from the small forbidden hole to
her pussy and back up. Ginger’s heart thundered in her chest and her pulse
echoed in her ears. Her hips pressed down and she lightly ground herself
against Ryan’s mouth. He suckled more sharply and pushed a finger into her wet
depths, making her gasp.
He stroked her inner walls as he continued to tongue her
clit. Ginger barreled toward orgasm quickly, the sensations strong and
tantalizing. Ryan worked a second finger into her tight canal, and it jolted
her, but felt oh so good. Her head whipped back on her shoulders as a lusty
moan wrenched from her lips.
One of her hands lifted to the top of her headboard, her
fingers curling around the smooth wood to steady herself as her body trembled
from erotic pleasure.
“Oh God, yes,” she managed to squeak out before the sizzling
sensations erupted within her, stealing her breath as she came.
Her inner walls clutched the fingers inside her and she
rocked against Ryan’s mouth while the climax peaked. She let out a jagged cry
as bliss consumed her.
Endless moments passed as she clung to the headboard and he
continued to suckle as she savored the powerful release.
Finally, he withdrew his fingers and she moved away from
him, plopping down on the mattress with a heavy, though highly contented, sigh.
“Good grief,” she said as her chest heaved and she lifted
plump curls from her damp skin. “Felt as though I came for a week.”
Her legs dangled over the side of the bed where the backs of
her knees met the edge. She dropped backward, lying perpendicular to Ryan as
her head rested on his cut abs. She tried to get her breathing under control.
One of his hands splayed across her midriff as the other swept hair from her
temple.
“Enjoyed it, did ya?”
Ginger let out a hearty laugh. “Um, yeah. That should pretty
much be a staple in your sexual repertoire.”
“You inspired me,” he told her. Then added, “God, I cannot
get enough of you.”
This prompted her to flop over on her side and stare at him.
“Make love to me.”
The sound that slipped from his parted lips was primal in
nature. A near-growl. “Believe me, sweetheart, I want to. But again…no condom.”
“Is that the only thing holding you back?” she inquired.
“Aside from having honorable intentions with you that I
can’t quite seem to stick to.”
With a smile, she sat up and pulled open the top drawer of
her nightstand. She lifted a small bag from inside and turned back to Ryan.
Upending the plastic bag, she dumped twenty or so foil packets on his torso.
Some slid off his body, others dotted his chest and stomach.
“Would you look at that?” she asked in a playful tone. “It’s
raining condoms. Problem solved.”
Gripping her by the upper arms, he hauled her down on top of
him, the square packages sticking to her skin. “You are too much, darlin’.”
“So is that a yes?”
His grunt was damn sexy. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.
Nor can I fight this a second longer.” He shifted on the bed, until she was
beneath him. Most of the condom packets fell away. He used a forearm to prop
himself up as his other hand skimmed her body from breast to thigh. He told
her, “I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you. From the moment I saw
you, I wanted you. Hell, I wanted you in high school, but you were just so
tin—”
She silenced him with a kiss and then said, “Let’s forego
the size references. I can’t have you obsessing over that or this is never
going to happen between us. And I
absolutely
need it to happen, Ryan.”
Ginger was out of her mind over him. It wasn’t just his
ultimate-hero nature, his kind disposition and his drop-dead gorgeous body that
had her hooked. It was everything about him, from the way he smiled at her, to
the way he kept her close to him, to the way he said whatever popped into his
head, without worrying how vulnerable it might make him in their relationship.
He laid his cards on the table every time and he took all of her thoughts and
concerns into consideration before he acted.
Yes, he was big and strong and she felt safe in his
presence. But she also felt cherished in his arms.
She said, “I know you’re trying to be valiant and take things
slow. You don’t want to push me into anything I’m not ready for. And I think
you want me to be comfortable with the situation and sure of what we’re doing.”
“I don’t want you to have any qualms about this. About us.”
Her head rolled back and forth on a pillow. “There are no
guarantees, especially when it comes to you and me. We’ve got issues we can’t
just sweep under the rug. But one thing I’m certain about is how wonderful you
make me feel. How breathless and weightless and…I don’t know…lost in lust and
mutual admiration. And I’m so crazy about you, I can’t even imagine for a
moment making love with you would be a mistake.” A fingertip graze his jaw as
she confessed, “
Not
making love with you would be a mistake. A huge,
lifelong regret if I never got the chance to do it again.”
His jaw set beneath her touch. His blue eyes shimmered with
so many emotions, she couldn’t read them all. But she saw desire and passion
and adoration. He felt things for her, she was sure of it. Significant,
soul-deep, life-altering things. Whether they could reconcile their
differences—or the way his family regarded her—Ginger didn’t know. But she had
no doubt what they felt for each other was real and substantial. It’d started
years ago, in high school. It had transcended time and distance. And it thrived
between them now.
She didn’t question giving her virginity to him. There was
no one else she’d rather be with. Period.
“Take your clothes off,” she said in a steady, confident
voice. “Make love to me.”
That he didn’t ask her one more time if she was sure and he
didn’t hesitate in the slightest way told Ginger there was something much
bigger between them that neither one could escape.
He peeled a packet from her lower belly, just below the spot
where the lace of her nightie bunched, and said, “This one will do nicely.”
Excitement shimmied through her. He dropped the condom on
the mattress and then scooted away to undress. Ginger stripped off the material
gathered around her midriff and crawled under the covers, causing the other packets
and the rose petals to scatter, most of them falling to the floor. When Ryan
was naked, she admired the view while he cozied up beside her. She instantly
reached for him, finding it impossible not to touch him.
Her fingers glided over his chest and she said, “I never
dreamed I’d be in bed with such a hunk of a man.”
He grinned at her. “You are very good for my ego,
sweetheart.”
“And you are a Godsend for my libido, Ryan Bain.” Naturally,
she didn’t miss the irony in that statement. “I’d resigned myself to eternal
celibacy” she quipped, “because it was better than faking it or being
disappointed. And then you came along…”
He dropped kisses on her temple and across her cheek.
“You’re too pretty and much too passionate for eternal celibacy, sweetheart. But
I’m glad I came home and found you hadn’t met Mr. Right yet.”
With a smile, she said, “I was holding out for Prince
Charming. No other man would do.”
“Well, you get the preacher’s nephew instead,” he teased.
“No. I got exactly what I wanted.” She kissed him softly,
then added, “In fact, I think this was what I wanted all along. I just didn’t
fully know it in high school. How could I? It wasn’t good timing for either of
us, but I always liked being in your company more than anyone else’s. And
sometimes I loaded up on the books because I knew you’d be there to carry them.
I wanted you to walk me to class. I wanted people to see us together and to
wonder about us.” She paused as she considered all of this and then said, “You
didn’t go to prom. Why?”
Ryan hadn’t given much thought to that big social event in a
very long time, but he had to admit, “Who was I going to take? Dixon Hunter
asked you way back in the tenth grade, you said yes and then you kept your word
two years later.”
Staring into his eyes, loving how he neither flinched nor
looked away when she gazed so intently at him, she said, “You would have gone
with me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” His polite, southern response made her toes
curl. But his deeper, more intimate tone turned her molten inside when he
added, “I never carried another girl’s books to class and I didn’t carry yours
because I was afraid you’d tip over. I did it for two reasons.”
Her brow lifted. “And they are?”
“One,” he said as he pushed the hair off her bare shoulder
and then trailed his fingers down her spine, “I liked walking with you because
it gave us a chance to talk.”
She shivered at the way his fingertips lightly brushed her
skin as he reached the small of her back, then dragged his hand back up.
“And two,” his head bent and his lips swept over hers. “I
wanted everyone to think there was something between us.”
Her breath caught. “Why would you want that?” she whispered
in a ragged voice as exhilaration over his admission got the best of her.
“I was hoping Dixon would back off. Like every other guy
did.”
He’d surprised her with that tidbit.
Continuing, he said, “My plan backfired, obviously. At
least, when it came to getting Dixon to rescind his prom invitation.”
Ginger suddenly recalled how boys would abruptly end
conversations with her and move down the hallway whenever Ryan approached her.
She said, “You wanted to be with me, but you knew the whole time we were in
high school it was impossible. Because of your family?”
“Yes, but not in the way you’re thinking,” he was quick to
say as a frown crossed her lips. “It had nothing to do with whether or not
they’d approve of you. At that point, I had no doubt they would. My aunt and
uncle had been good friends with your parents when they were alive. It was Jack
Wade and his eccentric father—who’d run the article in the newspaper about his
wife’s affair with one of my uncle Jonathan’s brothers—that they were all
focused on at the time.”
“I’d completely forgotten about that. Quite the scandal. And
not long after that, Lydia joined the church and married Jonathan. I remember
that stirred up some gossip, since she’d been a bit of a rebel in high school.
Something else that had slipped my mind, what with her pious behavior this past
decade.”
“Yes, well, since becoming a reformed sinner, they’ve both
done their best to control what’s said about them. I’ve never known two people
who were more image conscious than them.”
“It’s actually sort of creepy how they obsess over what
people think of them and try to make sure everyone believes they’re holier than
the second coming of Christ.”
Ryan chuckled. “I agree. Anyway, I moved into their house
when they’d only been married for a few years. Lydia was twenty-three. It
wasn’t the most comfortable situation. I wanted out of Wilder because I needed
a break from them—and what the family name represented, truth be told. The only
way I could do it was to get a football scholarship. I had to have the grades
to go with the talent, and that meant studying every waking minute I wasn’t
practicing or walking you to class. Doesn’t mean I didn’t have anything else on
my mind.”
He winked at her and Ginger’s stomach fluttered. Her gaze
locked with his again as she asked, “Why’d you chose to come back to Wilder?
You could have gotten on with a large police department in Arizona. Why come
back to Texas?”
With a slight shake of his head, he said, “I don’t know. I
kept an eye on the sheriff office’s website, hoping to see an opening. A voice
in the back in my mind told me to continue looking, because this was the place
I should be. I didn’t give up and I almost feel like…it was Fate.”
He kissed her, slowly and sensuously, and Ginger was
inclined to agree with him. His arms wound around her and he held her in a
tight embrace, her breasts pressed to his chest. She loved the feeling of his hot
skin against hers and the way his muscles seemed to surround her, all rigid and
masculine. He was sexy and virile and so much more than Ginger had ever dreamed
she’d find in a man.
When he dragged his mouth from hers, she sighed happily.
“Dixon Hunter never kissed me like that.”
“I don’t even want to think of Dixon kissing you.”
“Believe me, there’s no comparison. In fact, it was so
boring, I’d pretty much been okay with not having someone to lie in bed with
and kiss—until you showed me what it could be like. I mean, with Dixon… If
that’s all there was to it, I’d rather read a book than wonder what the hell he
was trying to do with his tongue.”
Ryan snickered. “No one deserves that.”
“You’ve rescued me again,” she said with a dramatic sigh.
“This time from humdrum kisses.”
Disentangling himself from her, he reached for the foil
packet he’d selected and ripped it open. As he rolled the latex down his thick
shaft, anticipation rippled through her.
He said, “There’s nothing humdrum between us. And the way
you light me up, I don’t think you’ll be staring at the ceiling, wondering what
the hell
I’m
doing.”