Sweet as Sin (17 page)

Although primitive, it still had an elegance.

“
Book Four: The Enchanted Oak,
comes out this December.” The names of his books were never released before they hit the shelf but he shared it with her with a wink. “A reader sent it to me, believe it or not. Christopher, he was eleven.

He just wanted to thank me for the first book and Inez Kelley

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give me something he’d made by himself. He said he wanted to be an artist, a metal sculptor, and Jondi made him feel like he could succeed one day.” John paused and shook his head. “He called me his hero. It was my first real fan letter.”

She sat on his lap, staring at his treasures and realized how much he’d shared with her. Inch by inch, his tough shell was cracking and letting her in. Emotion welled in her eyes and she turned from him to hide their dampness. The monitor stood black and silent on the desk and she tapped her finger against it.

“So, what about this one? Does it have an inspirational object? A title?”

His chest expanded with a slow inhale. The shutters slammed closed in his eyes and her heart sank. “Kind of. It’s still forming.”

He pushed at her back slightly, telling her to move. When she got too close, he pushed her away.
Two steps forward, one step back.
Just when she thought she’d made progress with him, he shut her out. But new love gave her

determination and she dug her heels in.

Not this time, mister.

“Come on, break time. Your monsters aren’t talking and I need more food.” She pulled him out of his chair and down the hall. Livvy hopped up on the bar, swinging her legs like a teenager. She didn’t miss the way his eyes flew to her bare 184

Sweet as Sin

thighs. Was he thinking of having them wrapped around his hips? Was he remembering kissing them last night? Whatever thought went through his mind, it made him draw a deep breath and turn to the cabinet. A wickedness took hold of her and she plotted how to get him naked.

The phone shrilled beside her and Livvy

jumped. John crossed to answer, leaning over her body. The fact his hand skimmed her thigh and then stayed there as he picked up the receiver thrilled her. Livvy reached up to kiss his neck but her name drew her attention.

“I have no idea. Here, ask her yourself.”

Handing her the phone, John turned away abruptly, his mood surly. Livvy frowned at the change before cradling the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Livvy! Talk to my thick-headed brother, will you? I need him to come to the company picnic Sunday after next. Seriously, Liv, I
need
him to be there. And you too, of course.”

Livvy listened with half an ear as Gina spoke about the picnic. Most of her attention was on John as he made sandwiches. He held up the mayonnaise and mustard, looking at her with a cocked eyebrow. Livvy pointed to the mustard.

“Uh, I don’t know, Gina. If he doesn’t want to come, I don’t know that I can change his mind.”

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John soundlessly clapped his hands. Using her toe, she nudged him in a silent tease.

“I can’t take no for an answer. Tell him

Preacher will be there,” Gina bribed with a whine.

Livvy relayed the information to John who shrugged but never looked up.

Livvy brought the phone back to her ear.

“Sorry, Gina, I think he’s digging his heels in here.”

His sister snorted. “All right, fine, time for the big guns then. Tell him if he doesn’t show up, I’m giving Emily his new phone number. And I’ll tell her Johnny has been asking about her.”

Jealousy reared, but Livvy bit her tongue and gave John the message.

His head snapped up and he yanked the phone away from her. “Don’t you dare give that bitch this number, do you understand me?” He listened with narrowed eyes.

Gina’s voice was a garbled stream from the receiver, so Livvy climbed off the counter.
Who is
Emily?
Her mind spinning, she finished their sandwiches and cut them in two.

“Fine, Gina, whatever. We’ll be there. But don’t pull this shit again.” John hung up with too much force but didn’t turn to face her.

Livvy bit into half her sandwich. Four bites later, he turned around.

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“What company?” Her innocent question

brought his grin.

“Salvatori Construction. Gina married my old boss’s son, Pete. They own it now.”

Livvy nibbled her sandwich. “You do realize you didn’t ask me about going, right?”

His raised brows told her hadn’t thought of asking. He’d automatically linked them and it made her smile, all gooey and warm inside, like a half-baked cookie. He was thinking of them as a couple.

“You’re right, I didn’t. Sorry, I just assumed.”

She picked up the plate holding his sandwich and held it out in front of him. “So who’s Emily?”

“Liv, don’t, okay?” The lines around his mouth tightened. John set the plate aside and reached for her. Rough through her thin shirt, his hands settled at her waist. “I never claimed to be a monk. Far from it, but the only woman in my life now is you.”

Damn, now why did he have to go and get all sweet when she was trying to dig up old-girlfriend dirt? Livvy looped her arms around his neck and leaned into his embrace. A soft feeling warmed her chest. She rubbed her nose to his before sliding her mouth to his kiss. He coaxed her tongue to dance in long, lazy strokes. His hands smoothed up then down, tracing the line of her Inez Kelley

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back. Her appetite surged, the sandwich long forgotten.

The cadence of the falling rain echoed and thunder rolled in the distance, warning of another squall fast approaching. Livvy’s bones tremored as a sexual storm brewed in the kitchen.

Electricity buzzed that had nothing to do with the weather but emanated from the steadily increasing heat of body friction, of lips on lips, tongue on tongue, cotton to cotton. An ache formed deep inside her—a wet warmth that pulsed and

intensified.

He released her mouth to glide his lips along her cheek. “I’m hungry, Livvy, but not for lunch.”

Need engulfed her, erasing everything from consciousness except the feel of him. The rough pads of his hands sent crackles of lust along her skin. He dipped his fingers beneath the back of her panties, cupping her ass. She angled her head and moved her hair aside for his kisses raining down on her like the storm. Ebony hair bunched in her grip as she tried frantically to get nearer, desperate for a taste, for a flavor to fill the hunger he’d created. The muscles of his back tightened as her tongue found and skimmed his jaw.

“I’m having one of those adult cravings

myself,” she whispered.

“Then I should, ah, feed that craving.”

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John palmed the side of one swelling breast, thumb skimming her taut peak. A whimper

formed but was lost to her fast-sucking breath as his fingers swept under her ass, feathering over the moisture that gathered between her legs. One fingertip delved between her folds, thrusting along the wet slit.

“Let me satisfy that craving, Livvy. I want to tempt you, with nibbles and licks, kisses and tastes, touches and strokes, teases and thrusts.”

Livvy gasped as he punctuated each phrase with a stinging nip to her throat. A master of words, he painted a too erotic picture in her mind and he swallowed her moaning sigh. His kiss scorched her. For one long hot minute he did nothing but dive repetitively into her mouth. She mimicked his every move and sank her teeth into his lower lip when he started to pull away.

John bent, cradled her in his arms and walked down the hall. Something went soft in Livvy’s belly. Although a cliché, being carried to bed by the man she loved touched some secret place in her heart. In one move, John made her feel cherished, desired and so very feminine. He released her legs but their connection wasn’t lost.

He cupped her face and dotted kisses along her cheeks. The wind howled, the rain poured and the thunder rumbled but Livvy only heard the beat of John’s heart mirroring her own.

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For all the intimacy they’d shared, this moment washed over her with sudden nerves. She stood at the pinnacle of a mountain. There was no turning back if she jumped. Making love with him sealed her future. No other man had ever created not only the desire but the rush of sweeping emotion that simmered in her veins. For her, this wasn’t just love, it was fairytale magic, forever and happily ever after. A risky move since no promises had been spoken. But her heart leaped blindly, and she was freefalling straight into his arms. The rush was breathtaking.

On the roof, the downpour beat hard, thousands of tiny feet in a running march. The rhythm echoed her pulse. Their clothing melted away until they stood naked, skin to skin with nothing but time between them.

“How hungry are you, Livvy?” His voice was pure temptation hidden in a brazen chuckle.

“Very…hungry.”

The bed lay exactly as she’d left it, mussed and wrinkled, blankets shoved to the bottom. She drew him near with a gentle tug. The lightning flashed and captured him in strobed light. Livvy’s heart thudded beneath her ribs.

John was all the seven deadly sins personified.

Lust
blazed most forcefully, carving his features with demonic beauty.
Pride
bowed his mouth as he watched her tongue skate across her bottom lip.

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Only
gluttony
could describe the hunger in the gaze raking over her body.
Sloth
slowed his movements, tormenting her with his absolute control, but
wrath
battled in his expression, urging him to possess her. Rapturous
greed
heated his skin and he took her mouth in primitive passion.

His tongue darted into her mouth and
envy
coveted her very breath.

John turned her around, his lips falling to her shoulder, his hands sliding up to cup her breasts.

His rigid shaft nestled in the cleft of her ass and she arched back, pressing tighter. She melted as his mouth traced along her neck. He pushed her belly flat onto the pale sheets, covering her body with his. Hot and thick against her thigh, his cock teased her. Her folds swelled, slick with beckoning entreaty. Soon. So very soon.

The line of her spine became a trail and he traversed each inch slowly. His tongue slithered over the curve of her behind. His teeth dashed the soft flesh with a stinging bite. Livvy quivered as his fingers grazed her hidden dampness. She thrust her hips up, pushing her ass closer. John parted her slick skin and stroked her clit in fast, light strokes.

His broad tongue glided up the back of her thigh. Thunder boomed, shaking the earth with a vicious power, and she jumped beneath his mouth.

Those enthralling fingers left her.

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“How hungry are you, Livvy?”

“Starving.”

Tantalizingly slow, he kissed along the dip of her spine. Last night was an appetizer, a sampling.

She craved more and would have it, have him.

She rolled beneath him. His shoulder caught her first kiss. Lips and tongues met before dipping to taste skin of different textures. John lowered his mouth to her collarbone, her stomach, her breasts.

He licked her painfully tight nipples, and her thighs opened to his hand.

Against her breast, his soft whisper tickled.

“Nibbles and licks, kisses and tastes.”

His mouth skimmed along her stomach.

“Touches and strokes.”

His tongue licked at her throbbing clit. “Teases and thrusts.”

With the devil’s own patience, he mouthed her until oblivion was within her grasp. Her hips arched and she called his name in a broken murmur. Each maddening touch drew tighter and tighter in her belly. Livvy reached for him, to pull him closer, deeper, to ease the desperate yearning.

He drew back with a carnal grin. “How hungry are you now, Livvy?”

“Famished.”

Her throaty answer drew his mouth to hers.

Heady with blind passion, Livvy rolled her tongue across his. Feminine power surged through her.

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He was firm and heavy. Needing the touch of him, longing to hear her name from his mouth, she curled her fingers around his shaft. His growl enthralled her. He was as hungry for her as she was for him.

Loving the feel of him, so thick and solid, her fingers glided over his length until he began to rock to her motion. John licked her mouth and reached above her head. A slide of wood, a quick sound of wrapper tearing and a split second gone from her skin, then he covered her, spreading her thighs with his. His ragged breath mingled with hers.

Light nips at her lips plagued her with

temptation. She twisted, obsessed with the need to take him, be possessed by him. Her legs locked around his hips, her nails raked at his arms and back, but John held himself a fraction too distant.

“What are you craving, Livvy?”

Every pore shrieked with wantonness, and her brain no longer functioned. Her single word was a plea. “You.”

Then he was there. Lusciously unhurried, he filled her with a delicious stretch. A hiss blended with a sob of satisfaction. John’s low groan captivated and empowered her.

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wasn’t as in control as he wanted her to believe.

His entry lasted forever and her eyes flew open, unfocused, until he was deep inside her. A hard squeeze pulled a gasp from him. Feminine pride rushed her and she tightened and released around him.

“Fuck!” His control snapped. He pushed up, lifting his chest from her, and thrust. He rocked into her and she bowed to him. He nudged her clit with each movement, from leisurely to passionate to frenzied, each stroke propelling her higher, closer.

Livvy bucked, clutching at his hips, driving herself nearer to him. John moved, rolling beneath her and thrusting up. His gaze fixed on where they joined.

“God, Liv, yes. Do it, honey, take me with you.”