Blueprint for Love (13 page)

“
Fine,” Ronnie relented.
“I’ll go, but only to prove that I’m not afraid of you.”

“
You don’t have to fear
me,” he said. “I promise, I’m harmless.”

Ronnie gazed at the rock
collection beneath the glass countertop. It seemed this place had
everything. She picked up one of the owner’s business cards.
A Stone’s Throw
. Cute
name for a rock shop.

“
How did you know about
this place?” she asked Vic.

He came up behind her and put his arms
around her waist, brushing up against her backside. “I went here on
a field trip a long time ago,” he told her. “I was in the fifth
grade. You were probably just graduating high school.”

She playfully elbowed him. “You don’t have
to make me feel so old.”

He pecked her on the back of the neck. “Not
old, baby. Vintage.”

“
Smartass.”

“
Don’t be mad ‘cause I
like mature women.”

She shook her head. Back then, she would
have been seriously robbing the cradle. Today, Vic was the one
teaching her a few things.

Before Ronnie could respond, a man with a
receding hairline and a shock of white hair emerged from tattered
curtains behind the counter. Draped in rubber gloves, a rubber
apron, and goggles, he looked like a character out of the movie
‘Weird Science.’

“
I found what you wanted!”
he exclaimed.

Ronnie jumped at the sound of his booming
voice.

He set a vial on the counter. “Barium in its
raw form. A must have for the serious collector.”

Ronnie gaped at the soft, silvery-white
chunk nestled at the bottom of the clear vial. “Oh, my goodness.
It’s beautiful!”

“
Remember, exposure to air
is dangerous. It might cause a combustible reaction. So, make sure
you keep it in this vial.”

Ronnie nodded, excited at
the prospect of checking another chemical off her list. “I’m
collecting the elements on the periodic table,” she told the mad
scientist.

“
Yeah, your boyfriend here
told me.”

Ronnie’s heartbeat
stuttered. “Um, he’s not my boyfriend.”

The old man fixed his
faded blue eyes on Vic. “You went through all this trouble for a
lady who’s not your girl?”

Vic smiled. “I know she
seems a little cantankerous, but she’s worth it.”

Ronnie smirked at Vic’s
use of the same word she’d used on him. After Vic paid for the
Barium, and Ronnie had the precious vial in her possession, they
both walked outside to his SUV.

“
This was so sweet of you,
Vic. But seriously, how did you know about this place?”

“
I did some research. It
was no big deal.”

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. Vic
knew her hobbies, but she had no idea what his were. “You never
told me what you do for fun.”

“
I’m a sports fan,” he
said. “Hockey is my favorite. You should go with me to a
game.”

“
No thanks. Me and sports
don’t mix.”

“
I promise, you’ll like
it.”

She shook her head. “I
seriously doubt I’d like to see a bunch of guys knocking each
other’s teeth out and clubbing each other on ice
skates.”

His loud laughter
reverberated through the air. “It’s not like that at all. Come to a
game with me sometime, and you’ll see.”

“
Maybe.”

“
Perfect. We’ve graduated
from no to maybe. That’s what I call progress.”

She smiled at him, still
elated over her newest acquisition. She couldn’t believe she’d
ignored him for almost a week. She was stupid to think she could
wish him away. Vic Romano had infiltrated her defenses, and whether
she wanted to admit it or not, she was powerless to stay away from
him.

Her eyes dropped to his
full lips, wondering if initiating a kiss would be too aggressive.
She leaned slightly forward, a slow burn smoldering in the pit of
her abdomen. She wanted him so bad.

“
Well,” Vic said, “I guess
I’d better drop you back to your car.”

“
Wait!” Ronnie entreated.
She wasn’t ready for their time to come to an end. “I keep my
collection in a nice display case at home. You should at least
check it out.” She smiled. “Don’t you want to see all of my
stuff?”

A playful grin escaped
Vic’s lips. “Oh, yeah, baby. I can’t wait to see all of your
stuff
.”

# # #

Vic had no idea how they made it to Ronnie’s
house. He didn’t recall her closing the door. Or him pushing her
against a nearby wall and grinding his pelvis against hers. Or him
fusing his lips to hers and plunging his tongue down her throat.
Today, he was letting his other head do all the thinking. The beast
was unleashed now. There was no holding back. Ronnie must have felt
it too. Her hands were all over him. Stroking. Rubbing. Kneading.
He savored the feel of her fingers on his skin. She pushed his
denim shirt from his shoulders, and it fell carelessly to the
floor. Then he took control, feasting on the tender skin at the
hollow of her neck. Remnants of her fragrant perfume clung to her
skin, filling his nostrils with her provocative, floral scent.

He blazed a path of kisses past her
collarbone, and dipped low to sample the cleavage in her blouse.
This time, he took the time to undo the buttons. He lathered kisses
along the tops of her breasts, which peeped from the confines of
her sexy, black lace bra. He wanted to taste every inch of her.

He pulled the delicate fabric aside with his
teeth, and then plunged in, licking and sucking one of her nipples.
The bud pebbled in his mouth, instantly hardening. That wasn’t the
only thing that was hard. The muscle between his legs was so
painfully rigid he knew he would have blue balls for days if he
didn’t get inside her damn quick.

He swept her into his arms, carried her to
the cream-colored, leather sofa in her living room. He pulled her
pants off and then he laid her spread-eagle against the butter-soft
leather.

She smiled as she peeled her panties off. “I
do have a beautiful bedroom, y’know?”

Vic grinned, reveling in the sight of her
naked body. “I ain’t never been one to waste time looking for
beds—not when there’s a perfect horizontal surface around.”

For answer, she held her arms out, beckoning
him to join her.

In one swift movement, he pushed his jeans
and underwear to his knees. His erection sprang forth like a
panther chasing its prey. He glanced at Ronnie. Her eyes were wide
with appreciation as she boldly stroked his shaft from hilt to tip.
He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her hands on his dick. She
expertly pumped the hard-as-marble flesh. Volts of excitement
coursed through his veins. Ronnie touched a tiny drop of clear
moisture that had beaded on the tip of his penis. Vic sucked in his
breath as he watched her bring her finger to her mouth and lick the
moisture from it.

She did it so erotically, she may as well
have sucked his cock. The effect was maddening, making his dick
jerk wildly in her hand. This time he was ready. He dug into his
pants pocket to retrieve a foil-wrapped package, tore it open with
his teeth, and quickly sheathed himself in latex.

Poised at Ronnie’s entrance, Vic gazed down
at her. Her halo of reddish-brown hair had slipped from the careful
bun she’d constructed to surround her smooth face. Three months
ago, he didn’t know her. He’d sauntered into her office and
promptly got kicked to the curb. And now, he was here—in between
her silky thighs. What was it about Ronnie Jones that drew him like
a bull to a matador?

She looked up at him with sensuous
half-closed eyes. “I want you inside me, now,” she ordered.

He needed no further prodding.

He plunged in, surprised to hear his own
groan of pleasure mingling harmoniously with Ronnie’s screams of
delight. He surged forward, stroking her deeply. Her tight walls
opened up to allow him unlimited access, and she folded her long
legs around his back like a pretzel, pulling him deep inside her.
He hovered over her, his forearms flexing, his hips pumping. Ronnie
met his strokes with unchecked abandonment, arching her hips and
grinding her pelvis against his.

Her cries of ecstasy entwined with feverish
prayers. “Oh, God. Please, don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

“
I won’t,” he promised,
his hoarse voice barely recognizable to him. At this moment, he
would rather serve another year in prison than pull out of this
hot, wet haven. He pounded harder, slipping in and out of her milky
wetness with ease. His frenzied motions rocked her curvy body back
and forth. Ronnie bucked wildly against him, squeezing his erection
by rhythmically contracting the muscles of her pussy.

Her slick walls gripped him.

Squeezed him.

Teased him.

Damn! How did she do that?

All too soon, Vic felt the first stirrings
of an orgasm. He was quickly spiraling out of control. In an
attempt to smother the hot embers igniting and popping inside him,
he raised Ronnie’s arms above her head and pressed whisper-soft
kisses along the column of her throat. He wasn’t ready for the ride
to end. He wanted to feel her velvety flesh around his hard
thickness. He wanted to keep pace with the rhythmic tempo he’d
started. He wanted to caress every tantalizing curve of her body.
But Ronnie had other plans. She lunged hard against him, repeatedly
thrusting her hips against his.

“
Yes! Yes! Yes!” she
called out.

Her vagina throbbed and pulsated against his
penis. Within seconds, he heard the thunder of his own guttural
groan. “Damn, Ronnie,” he moaned.

The inferno building inside him was too hot
to withstand. With Ronnie bucking against him and her spasms
clenching his dick, he didn’t stand a chance. An intense blaze
gripped him; liquid heat coursed through his veins and lit fires
that demanded to be quenched. When he felt Ronnie shudder against
him and scream his name, he let the flames consume him. He followed
her orgasm only moments later, a rapid-fire explosion erupting
throughout his body. His sated roar penetrated the air as wave
after wave of red-hot flames engulfed him.

Afterward, his ragged breathing filled the
air. Ronnie clung to his sweat-soaked chest. As Vic held her in the
crook of his arm, his racing heartbeat finally ebbed to a slow
trot. He closed his eyes, languishing in the afterglow of hot,
musky sex. He’d been truthful when he told Ronnie he admired strong
women. What he didn’t tell her was that he found them more
adventurous in bed. But he’d never experienced anything like this
before. He couldn’t remember ever having mind-blowing sex like
this.

Something was different.

Or maybe he was different.

He didn’t know what this meant. Couldn’t
even begin to assign any significance to it. Maybe it was from a
dry spell of being in prison. One thing was certain. Now, that he’d
had a taste of Ronnie Jones, he damn sure wanted more.

Allen stared at Toye’s shocked face.

“
Are you sure about this?”
Toye asked.

“
Yes. Don’t you think I
would have checked, and triple checked my facts?”

“
Does Ronnie
know?”

“
That she hired a felon?
Probably not.”

Toye shook her head, her dark curls bouncing
to and fro. She’d inherited her cousin’s good looks, but that was
where the resemblance ended. Ronnie had a flawless complexion, the
color of a sweet potato. Toye was darker, with polished mocha skin.
She’d been one of the few champions for Allen’s cause, helping him
win the heart of Ronnie.

He sat across from her at a quiet diner in
downtown Miami. Hours earlier, he’d learned that Vic Romano was an
ex-con, released from prison three months ago. The first person
he’d told was Toye.

“
To think, he’s been in
our midst all this time,” Toye murmured.

“
I know. It’s damn
scary.”

“
How did you find this
out?”

Allen drank from his glass of ice water. How
much should he tell her? Toye was on his side now, but would she
condone his actions if she knew he’d hired a private investigator
to dig up dirt on Vic? Something about the man got under Allen’s
skin. He didn’t mind spending a few hundred dollars to check the
dude’s background. In fact, he considered it a worthwhile
investment. It hadn’t taken long. Vic’s life was an open book—for
anyone taking the time to read.

“
When I was at Gabe’s
party last week, I took pictures of everyone with my cell phone,”
Allen said. “Later, I was showing the photos to some friends of
mine. One of them used to be a guard at Cook County Prison. He
recognized Vic. Can you believe it?”

Toye’s eyes grew wide. “Wow. That’s
unbelievable.”

Yeah, probably because I made the whole
thing up.

Toye was so easily misled. It was easy to
fool her because she wanted to believe the worst. Most people did.
The world loved a scandal, especially when it involved someone they
knew.

Allen let out a long breath. “I can hardly
believe it myself.”

“
What was he in prison
for?”

“
He killed a man…” Allen
paused for dramatic effect. “With his bare hands.”

Toye gasped. “Oh, my God!”

“
Naturally, I’m concerned
for Veronica, having a criminal right under her nose. I have to
protect her. She doesn’t know it, but I love her.”