Beneath the Surface (30 page)

The thought fired a bolt of hot lust straight to her vagina, sizzling the juices inside.

Eric looked at her as she came back to his front, a silent question on his lips as if he didn’t dare verbalize his concerns.

He tried his wrists, raised his eyebrows when he realized he couldn’t get loose, that Tabitha had tied him to the bar at the bottom of the seat. “You really get a kick out of this power game, don’t you?” he drawled.

169

Gracie C. McKeever

“You tell me. Do I?” She slid a hand in her panties, removed it to wave and wiggle her fingers beneath his nose.

Eric flared his nostrils and hissed, tried his bonds again and muttered, “God, Tabitha.”

“You’re the one who decided to drop by my office uninvited, and I think that calls for some form of punishment.”

“What if I didn’t lock the door?”

“You’re bluffing, and even if you’re not…” She moved closer to him, a leg on each side of the chair as she stood astride him. “I’m willing to take that chance.” She realized she was ready and willing to take all sorts of chances when it came to Eric and this scared her.

“You might want to check my front pants pocket, just in case.”

She reached in, knew what she would find and smiled when she came out holding a foil pack. “Boy Scout motto, huh?”

He chuckled as she reached for his fly and unzipped his pants. She slid her hand into the opening, freed him from his shorts and he turned serious as his cock sprang free, long, thick and hard as it stuck straight up towards the ceiling.

Tabitha grasped him tight with one hand, relished the velvet-covered steel inside her fingers, felt him pulsing in her grip as she opened the foil pack with her teeth and free hand.

She released him only long enough to slide on the condom, toed off her shoes, then pulled down and kicked away her hose and panties before she straddled him.

He licked his lips as Tabitha put her hands on his shoulders to get her balance, and she stared him in the eyes as she positioned her pussy over his penis. Slowly, she lowered her hips, impaling herself on his shaft as he thrust his hips and sheathed himself completely.

They groaned in unison, moving as one, languidly at first before Eric picked up speed beneath her, pumping his hips in earnest as the chair began to roll across the floor.

She leaned in and whispered against an ear, “Eric, hold it still or we’ll tip over.”

“Or roll out the door into the reception area.”

She giggled, felt his strong thighs flex beneath her as his passion built to bothersome levels and he braced his feet against the wood floor.

Tabitha unmercifully pressed down, grinding against him, riding him as hard as she could without disturbing the chair, clenching her inner muscles around his erection and crushing her mouth against his right before he loudly moaned. She absorbed the sound into her mouth, swallowing down the luscious sensation of his release as he shuddered beneath her.

“Christ,” he bit out, trying his wrists again as she leaned in to kiss him, paying special attention to his full lower lip, lightly sinking her teeth into the sweet flesh as her own orgasm slowly dwindled, tissues intermittently spasming and tightening around him.

170

Beneath the Surface

Finally regaining some control, Tabitha sat up straight, opened her eyes and smiled down at him. “So, was it worth the trip?”

“You’re always worth the trip, Tabby,” he whispered. “Always.”

171

Gracie C. McKeever

EJ woke up with a monster headache on his big day, couldn’t remember the last time he’d had one like it. Probably sometime way back in college when he’d woken up with a screaming hangover the day after graduation.

What a treat that had been, one he’d taken special care never to repeat. Until now.

Happy Birthday to me!

He groaned as he flung off the comforter and swung his legs out of bed. Just that tiny bit of activity made his head spin and pound until he thought there was a little man inside banging on a drum. Man he felt like shit!

He contributed most of his indisposition to the non-stop book signings he’d done the last few weeks. No less than two stores a day when he wasn’t working on his workin-progress or performing a reading at a library, or doing a radio or magazine interview that Jodie had set up. He hadn’t had a minute of free time, and now his body was paying for it.

EJ had a flash of one of his last conversations with Angela and her warning him to start taking better care of himself. She would certainly get a kick out of telling him I told you so if she could see him now.

He staggered to the bathroom and cut on the overhead light, momentarily blinded by the brightness as he glanced in the medicine cabinet mirror. Ugh, dark circles under his eyes, crust in the corners, hair standing on end. The mug could frighten the dead.

He opened the cabinet and searched for something, anything to take the edge off of the pain, found what seemed to be a full bottle of Excedrin and checked the expiration date. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had use for them but evidently it had been during the last two to three years since the expiration date was fast approaching in a couple of months.

172

Beneath the Surface

EJ took out three, popped them into his mouth and washed them down with a gulp of cold water. For good measure, he splashed cold water on his face to wake himself up.

Didn’t do much good except wet his hair and chest.

He stepped out of his shorts, turned on the shower full force, waited for the water to get hot and jumped in, aimed the detachable shower head at his aching shoulders and back muscles for several minutes before he soaped up, rinsed off and got out.

She’d said be ready for anything when he woke up in the morning, and he was ready for absolutely nothing except going back to bed and sleeping another six or seven hours before he even attempted to write a word.

Maybe she’d come later in the day, not the morning like she’d threatened.

Maybe…

The buzzer in the kitchen sounded and EJ groaned. Towel wrapped around and riding low on his hips, he stumbled to the kitchen to answer it then rushed to the bedroom to throw on some boxers and jeans.

He wouldn’t let her see him at less than his best, wouldn’t give her any excuse to call off their day together.

EJ made it to the living room just as she knocked on the front door. He double-checked the clock. Yep, seven-thirty.

What could she possibly have in mind for them to do so early in the morning?

He opened the door to her glowing smile and had to stop himself from groaning again.

She was clad in blue jeans, a sweatshirt, cross-trainers and carrying a sports bag in one hand and a racquet in the other.

No, no, no…

“I thought I’d take you up on your previous offer and we’d make a day of it.”

Any other time he would have been ecstatic to see her, but he’d been planning to rest up so that he’d be in top form for a date with her in the evening, maybe dinner and a movie. But this… “I made that offer almost two months ago.”

“It’s not still open?”

How could he say no to her, to the prospect of seeing her all hot and sweaty on the court?

“Sure it’s open. I just have to get dressed.”

“Make sure to pack extra clothes. Something casual, not too dressy.”

He glanced at her over a shoulder and paused. “You want something to eat or drink while you’re waiting?”

“I already had breakfast.”

Damn, he knew she was an early riser, but what time did she actually wake up in the mornings? “And you’ve probably had a morning run and everything, huh?”

173

Gracie C. McKeever

“Not today. I’m saving my energy for you on the court.” She emphasized this little bit of information by spinning her racket handle in the palm of her hand.

Oh, boy, was he in trouble.

* * * *

Tabitha, of course, had a membership to the club, one of which she regularly made use. Everyone at the place knew her, and greeted her with warm smiles and sincere wishes for a good workout.

EJ seemed to have left his game in October when he’d originally invited her out to play.

He beat Tabitha handily enough their first match, breaking her serve several times and winning by a score of fifteen to ten.

Tabitha made the next two games a lot closer, finally breaking through and beating him in the third and fourth games with lighting footwork and a powerful vicious serve that could have put Andy Roddick to shame. The girl was definitely one of those people who took a little while warming up, got stronger with each match.

He couldn’t help thinking that she was somehow getting back at him for that fiasco with Jade outside his building weeks ago, never really forgiving him. She was as competitive as he had thought she’d be, played like she was out to get someone, and EJ

knew that someone was him.

In this, their fifth game and the tiebreaker, EJ had battled back from a fourteen to eight deficit to tie the game, determined not to let a girl beat him. Not even if the girl was the bodacious and hot Ms. Lyons bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet several feet behind him and clad in a pair of stylish aqua biker shorts with blue racing stripes down the sides and a matching Lycra-spandex midriff top.

He glanced over a shoulder, thought maybe that wasn’t such a good idea when he got a glimpse of her bare tanned belly. That cute little inny and her skin glistening with a light sheen of perspiration were almost his undoing. “Ready, Serena?”

“Yes, and I take that as an extreme compliment.”

“I meant it as one. She’s one of my favorite players.”

“Stop stalling and serve the ball, Vega.”

He chuckled, set himself and served what he thought was a winner until, from the corner an eye, he caught the ball flying back at him. He had a second to duck out of the way and make a diving stab at the ball as it smacked the wall low on his backhand side.

“My ball.” Tabitha switched up to the short line, bouncing the ball several times as she grinned at EJ over a shoulder.

“You got it, baby. Just don’t wear it out.”

174

Beneath the Surface

“I don’t intend to.”

Damn, but she looked fierce in that outfit and those sports goggles, like she was at work and prepared to do serious damage.

Tabitha smacked the ball off the wall with unbelievable force, the little black missile bouncing just good, an ace that even at his six-three, with a more than three foot reach, managed to bounce out of EJ’s range.

“Point game, Eric.”

“Don’t start counting your money yet.”

She grinned, bounced the ball several times, and wiggled her butt back and forth as if for good measure, then served.

The ball came directly at the center of his body and EJ froze like a woodland creature in the glare of headlights, reflexes slower than normal. He barely had enough time to sidestep Tabitha’s bullet and throw his racket at it to no avail.

“And that is game.”

He jogged up to where she was standing and swinging her racket by its string. He hugged her around the shoulder with one arm and kissed her cheek. “Great game, Tabby.”

She playfully elbowed him in the ribs at the moniker. “It was if I say so myself.”

“Don’t get a big head. I want a rematch.”

“Any time.”

Yeah, he thought, just not any time too soon. He needed time to regroup from today, had never been so tired in his life, doing his best to fake it and show Tabitha that he was up for any challenge she had in mind for him.

“So, what’s next on the agenda?”

“Back to my house where we’ll spend the rest of the afternoon before dinner and…hmm, I don’t know. What do you have in mind?”

Sleep, Tabitha. Just plain old sleep.
“I’m up for whatever.”

“Good. Just what I wanted to hear.”

God, what had he gotten himself into?

* * * *

He refused to give in to whatever it was that had a hold of him, just like a stubborn man.

If her guess was right, he probably had the flu, at least the beginning stages, and was deep enough in denial to wave it off as a cold or the sniffles. Time would tell. By the end of the night, if not sooner, he would surely give in.

175

Gracie C. McKeever

She watched him struggle out of his jacket, moving much slower than how a healthy in shape thirty-something would after a thorough workout. There was more going on than just muscles that had had a drubbing on the court.

“You okay?” She arched a brow as she walked by him on the way to her bedroom.

Eric sprawled on the sofa, sports bag at his feet and garment bag slung over her leather recliner adjacent. “I will be after I get my second wind.”

“I’m going to shower and change. Care to join me?” She thought maybe that would get him up, but his reaction time was a lot slower than she expected.

Eric remained on the sofa, eyes closed. “Go ahead and get started. I’ll catch up with you.”

“Okay.” She stared at him for a long time, heart squeezing in her chest at the memory of how she’d worked him out.

Sheesh, he could have just said no and called it a day. She would have understood, but no, he had to break the tie, couldn’t let
her
beat him at his game, no way.

Serves him right.

Tabitha thought it but didn’t really feel it as she left him on the sofa and headed for the bathroom.

Five minutes into her shower, he came into the bathroom, moving like an old man, but joining her in the bathtub nonetheless.

“Oh, the poor baby. You look beat. I have just the medicine for you.”

“You do?”

Tabitha soaped up her sponge, turned him around and gently washed his back.