Beauty Shot (Hope Parish Novels Book 5) (15 page)

So very fierce.

It fascinated me,
his fierceness, the way the high arch of his cheekbones fascinated
me, and the lean angle of his jaw. He had a strong nose, adding a
Norse quality to his chiseled features. His eyebrows were thick, dark
lines, his skin actually flawless, something I seldom saw in fashion.
His mouth was wide and firm, his lips provocative. I couldn’t
help remembering how he tasted.

He burned through
the camera and left an indelible mark on my heart, my soul, my
psyche. I wanted to be with him—on a permanent basis. But
something held me back, something that had more to do with
self-preservation than my hang-ups about his age and Angela. There
was something more here, but I didn’t want to look at it too
closely.

And that was damned
disconcerting.

Idle fantasy was not
the norm for me. I usually acted on whatever I felt strongly about.
Like creating my designs, and leaving my da to come to America to
make my own way. I was already being physical with Deke as often as
we could manage, but I was still trying to keep the emotional out of
it.
You’re
failing,
I said to myself.
Miserably.

As the weeks passed,
he seemed to get more agitated. We were so good together, but it was
always behind closed doors. What we’d shared was so precious, I
didn’t want to sully it by thinking of it as anything other
than beautiful.

“Wow, Minnie,
you’re going to sell so many bathing suits,” Susan
breathed. “He’s quite a man.”

And Susan was right.
Deke was no boy.

He turned his head
slightly, fixing me with a hawklike gaze, and, fearless as I normally
was, I wanted to shy away from the electric current of attraction
that sizzled all the way down from my head to my toes. My cheeks
burned, my heart damn near stopped, and I had to look away.

I stepped back from
the monitor and swore under my breath. Then swore again. I forced my
concentration back to Deke, who now had a smug smile curving his
luscious mouth.

As the shoot came to
an end, Deke, still soaking wet, caught the towel one of the
assistants threw to him.

He made his way to
the back room. I took the thumb drive that the photographer handed to
me and sent Susan back to the office.

I headed towards the
back…and Deke.

He was drying off
when I came through the door. It took me only a moment to lock it. He
dropped the towel as I headed toward him. I guess he knew why I’d
come. He caught me as I threw my arms around him and pressed my mouth
to his damp, hot, inviting lips.

“Damn,
Minnie,” he growled. “What took you so damn long?”

“I don’t
know,” I said.

I was so freaking
crazy I told myself, even as I tightened my hold on him, sent my
fingers into his wet hair and devoured his mouth. It was crazy to
kiss him after vowing I wouldn’t. Not here. Crazy to kiss him
after confessing how much I needed him to be professional. I didn’t
have the high ground here, no advantage at all. Throwing caution to
the wind wasn’t like me, but I couldn’t help it.

I wanted him
close—really close.

I wanted him inside
me, even if it was just a little bit, even if it was just his tongue
in my mouth.

I couldn’t
wait.

My hands slipped
down to all that gorgeous muscle and I grasped his hips, pulling
until they were against mine. Then he backed me against the wall, and
all thoughts of advantages slipped out of my head.

I held his bright
gaze, and heat coiled low in my belly. I let my gaze drift over his
face, memorizing every angle and curve. When his attention settled on
my mouth, I felt it. No matter how much we had danced around each
other, it was abundantly clear that Deke wanted me as much as I
wanted him.

Well, he could have
me any way he wanted me, and if he ran out of ideas, I had enough for
both of us.

Pulling me even
closer, tighter to him, he lowered his head and took my mouth,
slanting his lips across mine and seeking entrance with his tongue.
My response was immediate, a soft gasp of pleasure, and he took the
kiss deeper, slipping inside. God, he was so mind-blowing sexy.

I skimmed my hand up
around his neck, my fingers tangling through his hair—and I
knew we had already moved far beyond a mere kiss.

His mouth was made
for love, for kissing and making love, so soft and lush and
enticingly erotic. I moved against him, my breasts pressing against
his chest, my mouth angling over his, creating a brief moment of
suction, and as quickly as that, heat shot to my core. I felt his
control slip, a quick jerk of his body, and a soft, deep moan.

Suction opened up a
whole new field of possibilities. Taking him intimately appealed to
me in so many ways, but that would have to be at a different time. I
couldn’t believe I was thinking there would be more with Deke,
but it was time to stop kidding myself.

I palmed him through
the flimsy bathing suit and he moaned again. “Minnie,” he
said softly, “I don’t have any condoms.”

“That’s
not a problem. I’m covered.”

His eyes gleamed at
my response. Sliding his hands up my thighs, he bunched the skirt up
over my hips and buttocks

“I’m not
sure I can be gentle…” he rasped.

I didn’t want
gentle
.
A tiny thrill shot through me. “Bring it on.”

He reached for the
waistband of the lycra suit, but I pushed his hands out of the way,
delving between his smooth, hot skin and the stretchy fabric, palming
him. He thrust his hips again, as I brushed against his groin. He
braced his hands on the wall and bowed his head. His chest tightened
along with his arms, his biceps bulging in hard relief. That powerful
male stance, his hips slightly cocked, his rippling washboards,
melted me. He trembled and groaned when I reversed my hand and cupped
him, heavy, hard, and hot.

His eyes went dark
and fevered with desire, his mouth so gorgeous, I ached to kiss him.
“Deke,” I said softly. “
Deke
.”

“Take them
off
,
Minnie.
Now
.”

His demanding tone
only made my blood pump harder, and my heart beat a fluttering
tattoo. My mind slid into a long, slow spin, and I tucked my fingers
into either side of the suit and inched it down just enough to reveal
the head of his erection. I pushed the material down a little farther
and ran my finger around the tip. He thrust powerfully into my hand,
his head twisting, his throat vibrating from a powerful growl.

I pushed them all
the way off, and he stepped out and kicked them away before pressing
his naked body against me.

He pushed off the
wall, one of his hands grasped my gyrating hip while the other
slipped over my bottom, past my thigh, and hooked his long fingers
behind my knee. He lifted my leg up to his waist, wedged his thigh
tight between mine, and pressed his hard-on into me intimately. Every
hard inch of him.

And it was all the
pressure I could handle against my moist, swollen flesh, and I
exploded with a white-hot burst of passion that rippled over me in
fierce waves.

Then he grasped my
other leg, and his arm and chest muscles bunched as he lifted me,
using the wall to brace me against his hips, effectively trapping me
with the weight of his body.

Staring into my
eyes, he said, “Wrap your legs around my waist.” Before
my orgasm finished pulsing, he drove into me, strong and deep,
penetrating me to the hilt with that first unrestrained thrust, and
the sensation of our bare flesh meeting was so intense, I came again
with a stabbing, fiery sensation, my hips bucking against his.

My reaction elicited
a low, throaty, on-the-edge moan from him, and he crushed his mouth
to mine, kissing me with a desperate, fierce passion that caught me
off guard. His tongue swept into my mouth, matching the rapid strokes
of his hips and the slick, hard slide of his flesh pumping into mine.

Tremors radiated
through me right where we were joined. I felt possessed by him, body
and soul, in a way that defied our short time together or the
simplicity of an affair. In a way that aroused feelings that had no
business being a part of this temporary relationship.

Then I lost my mind,
gripping him with all my might, the pleasure so delicious, so
intense, I gasped against his neck, biting him. I locked my legs
around his waist more firmly to pull him closer, deeper, and
abandoned myself to yet another orgasm.

It was clear Deke
could no longer hold back. As I reached the peak of my climax, he
groaned, broke our kiss and tossed his head back, his hips driving
hard, his body tightening, straining against mine.

“
Minnie
.”
My name gritted out between his clenched teeth as his body convulsed
with the force of his release.

Still semi-hard, he
pulled out of me, even as I was gasping again, and he pulled me
tightly to his body and sat us down on the couch.

#

Deke

“Deke,”
she said softly, her voice so tender, my heart ached with hard
thumps. When I hit the cushions, I dragged her down on top of me, my
dick already tightening, hardening, eager for more.

I looked up at her,
absorbing, caressing her with my eyes as I soaked in her beauty, from
her mussed hair to her fire engine red toenails.

I trembled at the
thought of what I’d learned, but I pushed that away. I knew
what I had to do, but I didn’t want to. It hurt so bad to even
think about it.

I closed my eyes and
panic twisted and gouged at me until I felt her hands on me, sliding
up my thighs to my hips.

Slipping my arm
around her lower back I thrust my throbbing erection deep. I caressed
her cheek with my palm, felt her tremble with a renewed urgency, and
dragged her mouth to mine. I smoothed my hand over her breasts,
pinching her nipple until she cried out into my mouth.

Despite her attempts
to quicken the pace, to devour me, I controlled her response until
she softened against me.

When I finally felt
her relax, I loosened my hold.

I glided my lips
along her jaw while her hands pressed against my chest, her nails
lightly grazing my skin, scoring my nipples. I swirled my tongue down
the side of her neck and filled my palms with her generous breasts,
and she released a soft groan. Dropping my head, I laved her nipples,
pulled them into my mouth, sucking first one, then the other
stiffened crest.

She cried out
hoarsely and moved restlessly against me in a silent plea for more.
She dragged her palm over my hair, holding me in place, encouraging a
deeper pressure of my mouth on her breast. I gave her everything she
wanted, but at my own leisurely pace, which increased her excitement,
her need for me, just as I had intended.

But, when she thrust
her hips against mine and whispered my name like a prayer, I lifted
my head, thrusting my dick between her spread thighs, first pressing
her breasts against my face, and then cradling her head in my hands
so we were face to face. Refusing to let her look away, I gazed into
her eyes, watched her expression as I slowly pushed into her. Without
the barrier of a condom, she enveloped me again in her tight, slick
heat, so I sucked in a quick breath at the exquisite sensation of
being one with her without anything to separate flesh from
flesh—which I’d been too desperate to appreciate the
first time.

She gasped when I
gripped her wrists and pulled them behind her back, pinning her as
she writhed over me. “You feel so good with nothing between us.
So hot, so silky, soft, and so damned tight.”

She closed her eyes
and moaned while I thrust into her—long, slow strokes that
increased the building pressure, the incredible, delicious friction.
I brushed my mouth over hers. I kissed her lips, chased her tongue
with mine and arched my hips high and hard, forcing her to rock
against me again and again.

Nothing.

Ever.

Felt.

This.

Good.

I felt her heart
beating against mine.

“Can you feel
that?” I whispered against her mouth.

“What?”

I lifted my head to
capture her eyes as I slowly slid in then out again.

“Our hearts
are beating together.”

I watched her absorb
my words, watched the tears gather in her eyes. “Yes,”
she said in an aching, wistful voice, as vulnerable as I was, so open
and raw in her arms.

Then I pushed into
her hard, over and over, slipping my hand between us and stimulating
her. Her breath hitched with each thrust, her hips meeting mine.
“Come for me, Minnie.”

And she did, dropped
over the edge, her eyes glazing over, her eyelids fluttering closed,
her powerful contractions pulling me over with her into that sweet,
violent firefight.

With me every inch
of the way.

#

Emmie

“Emmie?”

“Travis,
please, this is hard enough.”

“I’m
just going to say my piece then I’ll leave you alone. I
promise.”

Tears pressed on the
backs of my eyes, and I was in the habit of never letting anyone see
emotion on my face. But Travis had seen the real me…he just
didn’t
know
the real me. It had been a week since I’d seen Deke. I was so
miserable.

“I get the
impression there’s something in your past that you don’t
want to talk about. Something you feel uncomfortable about sharing
with me. I just want to say that whatever it is, I would never judge
you. I…shoot, Emmie, I’m falling for you.

Those tears spilled
over. I couldn’t stop them. “Travis, please.”

“I don’t
want to lose what we’ve started to build. Trust me like you did
when we were riding. I won’t let you down. I would never let
you down. I promise. That’s all I have to say.”