Divine Phoenix (22 page)

“I don’t like inconveniencing him like that.”

“The distraction would probably be good for him. So will the hog hunt this weekend. I think he’s in need of a break anyway. Every time I call him he’s sounded like I’ve interrupted him in physical labor. He’s probably pushing himself too hard. Sound familiar?”

Lily pulled back and looked at him. “That’s changing now. I had a big ‘Aha!’ moment earlier. You can take the machine out of my room, but I hope you don’t get rid of it. I’ll only use it every so often.”

“I think you should go see Emma and give your knee a rest for a while. You can ride to work with me in the morning and I’ll call Del and have him pick you up after work tomorrow.” Clay sat down in his big chair, invitation in his eyes. “You were about to tell me something else when the doorbell rang.”

Lily knew herself well enough to know she wouldn’t be able to resist him tonight if he wanted to make love to her. Suddenly the idea of him knowing about the tattoo was more than she could handle.

Enough already, for one evening!

“Oh, it was no big deal. I just…have to get this test over with and…check in with Jack and Adam about the house. It’s nothing really.”

That was totally lame! A two-year-old would know you’re lying!

“You sure?” he asked, skepticism showing in his eyes as she inched backward toward the hallway.

“Yes. I suppose I should pack.” She hated disappointing him, especially since she wouldn’t see as much of him if she stayed at the ranch.

“Lily?” She was slammed with a wave of lust as she looked in his green-gold eyes. “You’re sleeping with me tonight.”

“Why?”
Duh!

“Because then I’ll know you’re safe.”

“Oh.”
Damn!

“And also because this could be the last night you spend here for a little while and I intend to make love to you. No lights, on your terms, but I’m making love to you tonight. Go do what you need to do.”

His expression was serious, not playful or uncertain. This more demanding side of his heretofore easygoing nature made her want to throw herself at him. Lily couldn’t even feel her feet as she nodded and walked to her room.

Pulling open her closet door, she removed several tops, folded and stacked them on the bed, then went to the chest of drawers. The shower came on down the hall, and she sighed when the bathroom door closed without him ordering her into it with him. Refusing him would’ve felt awful.
Oh, but saying yes would feel wonderful!

She pulled out one of her suitcases and filled it with the clothing and other items she would need. She heard him moving around the bathroom, and she pictured him lathering his wide chest with the soap and washcloth, his strong hands efficient and quick in their work.

Her pussy warmed as she thought of how she’d take her time washing him. She’d lather her bare hands and smooth the soap over the wide expanse of his shoulders, following every dip and curve of his muscular frame. Hot moisture seeped from her cunt as she imagined sliding her hands down his chest and his abdomen to the cock insistently jutting out at her.

She would wrap her hand around his rock-hard shaft and stroke its length to the bulbous head. She shuddered, and another wave of longing heated her core.

With JT, she’d never reached this level of heightened arousal. In the beginning, lovemaking with him had been incredible, but it had gradually turned into something ugly. He’d grown demanding and she’d believed if she just tried a harder, she’d be able to make him happy. The night before she’d left him she remembered feeling guilty for turning down sex because she’d been nauseated and achy. He’d looked her dead in the eye.

“You know that if I really wanted to fuck your lazy ass, it wouldn’t matter if you wanted it or not, right?” His lip had curled in disgust. “I don’t know why I stay with you. You don’t take care of me or the house worth a shit. You’ve let yourself go.” He’d known exactly where her most vulnerable areas were, namely her body image and full figure.

“Except for the fact that you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose and Dirk would get all pissy if I got rid of our bookkeeper without providing a replacement first, I’d divorce your ass. You got your reprieve. I’ll jack off in the shower, but the next time I tell you to spread ’em and make those tits bounce, you’d better fucking do it.”

She’d known he’d meant it, too. His words had been designed to cut her to the bone, and they had, with laser-like precision. Any other woman might feel proud to know that she excelled at oral sex, but JT said things like that because he knew it would hurt her feelings. She’d tried hard for years to please him, and all she’d ever received were backhanded compliments. And like a fool, she’d promised herself that she’d fuck him so good, so hard the following night that he would appreciate her for once.

The knock on the doorframe startled her from further ruminations, and Lily slammed the door once more on those memories. Clay stood there, hips wrapped in his towel, droplets of water glistening on his shoulders. His tremendously thick sex was upright and lying against his hip at an angle, clearly outlined behind the damp towel.

When she drew near, he lifted her hand to his lips, then murmured, “Don’t forget your robe. I’ll be waiting in the bedroom.”

Lily wondered if it was a figment of her imagination that she could feel heat radiating from his bare skin or if her entire body was blushing. His smile was tender as he laid one more quick kiss on her knuckles, and she saw a hint of playfulness in his eyes before he padded down the hall to his bedroom. The difference between this man and the one she’d left was positively jarring. She’d never been able to please JT. Clay gave her the impression that her mere presence in his home pleased her. The craving to please Clay increased inside her one hundredfold.

Since she’d already bathed, she hurriedly undressed and donned the robe, refusing to glance in the mirror and be visually reminded of the mark on her lower abdomen. Without any sexy lingerie to change into, the process didn’t take that long. Her whole body quivered, and she felt her sex swell and ache as she turned to the bedroom door and opened it.

All the lights were off in the house, with the exception of a dim light coming from his bedroom, guiding her footsteps. Her legs ached a little and she knew she’d probably stiffen up overnight but she reasoned that she’d never do that to herself again. It had been worth it for the realization that had followed.

His spacious bedroom was well appointed with dark wood furniture, and she smiled when she saw the candles flickering on the dresser and nightstands. Clay reclined like a Greek god in the king-size bed, his thick erection well defined beneath the sheet barely covering his hips.

Her sex ached with the memory of the last time she’d been in his bed, and she wanted him to make love to her again. The candlelight illuminated and cast in shadows the planes and valleys of his physique.

Her earlier fatigue after the confrontation on the elliptical was forgotten as she moved to the side of the bed. He pulled the sheet back for her and then crawled to the side of the bed where she stood mesmerized by him. He was nude, and his heavy cock bobbed as he moved, standing up straight against his lower abdomen.

He knelt in front of her on the bed. With confident hands he parted the neckline of her robe, revealing her breasts while allowing the lightweight robe to remain tied at the waist. For some reason, she didn’t worry he’d strip her of the robe before she was ready. Raising his hand, he drifted the backs of his fingers against the undersides of each breast, drawing a quavering moan from her.

Seeming satisfied with her reaction, he tilted his head and parted his lips to lick her nipple and then closed them around it, sucking strongly. He glanced up at her, and the candlelight illuminated his green-gold eyes, and his lips curved in the hint of a smile as he slid his hands in a slow caress around her hips to her ass cheeks and squeezed.

Her legs were wobbling by the time he released her nipple with a faint, wet pop and he climbed from the bed. Padding around the room, he blew out the candles one at a time, fulfilling his promise that this night would be on her terms, cast in pitch-black darkness. She wished it wasn’t necessary because watching his rapturous expression as he kissed and lapped at her breasts had been a heady experience.

As the last light faded away, she glimpsed him turning to her and felt his body heat a moment before his hands settled on her shoulders. He pulled the tie at her waist loose, and then he slid the garment from her. The warmth of his skin seared her as the robe fell to a puddle at her feet. Her hair tickled her ass cheeks when he grasped great handfuls of the soft strands, cupped the back of her head, and laid a gentle but firm kiss on her lips.

He returned to his kneeling position on the edge of the bed and drew her to him by her upper arms, sending shivers along her spine as he trailed his fingertips downward. She felt a little dizzy and had to brace her hands on his chest to stay upright. When his fingertips reached her waist and then the small of her back, it pulled at some internal reflex and her back arched on its own accord, pushing her breasts close to his face.

Her pussy clenched as he gently took control of the moment, and her desire skyrocketed as he slid his palms up her arms, held her steady, and kissed her left collarbone and then the right one. Sizzling desire raced over her flesh, and her nipples tightened so much that they stung and throbbed. So much for thinking her nipples weren’t very sensitive. He worshipped the upper swell of her aching breasts and made his way back up to her collarbones.

“Oh!” Her pussy responded to his erotic touch with small flurries of convulsions. She eased up when she noticed she was digging her fingernails into his shoulders and then realized she should probably reciprocate on all the attention she was getting.

His skin was silky over firm muscle beneath her fingertips as she trailed them from his outer shoulders to the nape of his neck. He growled softly, and she assumed he enjoyed her touch. He switched to the other nipple, and the cool air made the damp one he released from his teasing mouth feel even tighter.

The pulling sensation seemed to have a hotline to her clit as it throbbed with the need to be touched. She sank her fingertips into his short hair and stroked his scalp with her nails and smiled when she felt a tremor race through him. He tilted his head in the other direction and took his time lapping and sucking at her nipple.

Lily was overwhelmed by the urge to do something for him and felt guilty that she wasn’t serving him with the same ardor that he was lavishing her with. She
needed
to do something almost more than she needed to feel his divine lips on her body.

She reached out tentatively and found his throbbing shaft in the darkness and stroked the very tip of it. He groaned deeply, and the sound communicated the pleasure her touch gave him. She got off on that as much as him touching her. With gentle fingertips, she stroked his slit, finding the damp trace of his arousal, and smoothed it to the sensitive underside of his cockhead. He panted, and his sex bobbed and twitched in her hand as she teased and caressed his steely length.

Her nipple popped from his mouth, and he muttered, “Baby,” before ravenously sucking her nipple back into his mouth, latching on to it powerfully. Those gripping convulsions rippled through her pussy again, and she wondered if she’d come before he even had her horizontal.

He released his powerful suction and pressed a kiss to her sternum and then laid another kiss on one of her collarbones and whispered, “I love this delicate little spot.”

Love? Did he love her? Could she trust someone that much again? Very telling was the fact that the thought didn’t generate fear or uncertainty in her. He squeezed her ass cheek, rousing her from her distracting thoughts. He’d seemed almost worshipful as he’d taken his time with her, heating her core until she felt like an inferno burned within her.

She felt him step from the bed, and then he whispered, “Into bed with you, Lily.”

She climbed in, but turned to him and stopped him when he followed her. “Wait.”

He stood at the edge, and she traced her hands from his chest up and outward to his shoulders. Taking her time, she learned him, feeling inexperienced in some ways because she’d never had the opportunity for leisurely intimacies like that before.

She squeezed gently as she slid her hands over his large biceps and then down to his lightly furred forearms. He groaned when she knelt up and pressed her upper body to his chest, pillowing her breasts against his intoxicatingly hot skin. He encased her in his strong arms briefly before she pulled away and slid her hands down his shuddering abdomen in a steady trail to his cock and smiled when he groaned in pleasure again.

Briefly she recalled the hurt JT had dealt out, telling her that one of the only reasons he kept her around had been because of her exceptional oral skills. It had shamed her at the time, but she felt vindicated now, somehow, as she planned to lavish those skills on someone who could really appreciate them, and her. She licked her lips as she slid her hand up his length and licked her way around the ridged head of his cock.

“Fuck,” he growled and laid his palm against the back of her head, but not insistently as though he planned to hold her head in place while he thrust into her, which she’d experienced before.

In appreciation, she lavished his cock with long, slow licks and teasing strokes at the sensitive tip. His hips flexed, but he still didn’t thrust, letting her set the pace instead. She enveloped his head in her mouth and licked again, getting him nice and wet so he’d slide easily.

“Lily, sweet angel…”

With her mouth full of his cock, she uttered a nonverbal inquiring sound, as if she didn’t already know what he wanted. Her heart pounded at the rapturous sounds he made, and she wanted to give him as much pleasure as she could.

She firmed her lips and slid down his cock, taking him to the back of her throat before sucking on the upstroke. Her gag reflex was sensitive, and she was grateful when he didn’t try to take more than she could give. She’d deep-throated JT because he’d demanded it and it was easier to give in than to fight it and have him force her anyway.

She wrapped her hand around the base of Clay’s cock to control his depth, and Clay groaned in pleasure. That distracted her with memories again because JT would
never
have allowed her control like that. In comparison, Clay was the perfect combination of forceful assertiveness and gentle consideration.

His warm hand slid down her back, and he murmured reassuringly, “You’re with me now, Lily. It’s okay. I love what you’re doing.”

Love?

She slammed the door on the bad memories and let a quiet, murmuring assent drift from her throat as she slid down his length and sucked lightly on the way up.

Clay shuddered and he caressed her back. “Baby, that feels so good. So hot.” She slid down again and increased the suction, stroking his length in tandem with her mouth. Her mouth watered when she tasted his pre-cum on her tongue, and she groaned happily.

Sliding his fingers through her thick hair, Clay gently stroked her scalp as she bobbed up and down on his cock, which seemed to grow harder and thicker. Her cunt quivered as she balanced on one hand and her knees. He leaned down and cupped her breasts in his hands and flicked and tugged at her nipples, distracting her.