Blushing Pink (36 page)

Her cell phone rang, and when she heard it she jerked awake, mistaking it for her alarm, but almost immediately her mind cleared and she realized it was coming from the little device on the nightstand. Then she realized that it was barely five in the morning.

"Hello?" she whispered, angling her upper body toward the far side of the bed so she wouldn't wake Brian. By the even hum of his breathing, he was still sleeping soundly.

"Hi, Reese. I'm glad I caught you."

You have got to be kidding me.

"Professor?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you had my notes for chapter ten on hand." Brian stirred beside her; his arm slid casually across her waist, and his breath breezed lightly across her cheek.

"Reese, did you hear me?" Kimble said, sounding impatient. "I really can't afford to waste precious time."

Okay, that
did
it. Call it a delayed reaction, call it a mood shift brought on by unbelievable sex. Whatever it was, Reese was not going to take any more guff from Leopold Kimble.

"Professor, do you realize what time it is?" she asked, not expecting any kind of direct answer. As soon as he began circumventing, she cut him off. "Look, I'm going to be very honest: You have a lot of nerve calling me at this hour."

Silence.

"I have always helped you, I have never slacked on a deadline, and you know that. But you seem to be forgetting that my fellowship stipulates that I allot twenty-two hours a week working for you. Twenty-two. As in, no less and
no more.
Yet you've been running me
ragged
since day one, exploiting me like crazy, and I just can't take it anymore!"

She was aware that she was no longer whispering, and she was also aware that she'd be more than thrilled to make it up to Brian later. But first things first. "Now, I'll be more than happy to discuss chapter ten, or anything else that you want, during
reasonable
working hours," she stated firmly. "But if you need someone on call twenty-four-seven then maybe you'd better talk to the administration about getting a replacement for me."

"No!" Kimble spoke suddenly. "No, no," he insisted, sounding panicked. "Please, I don't want a replacement!"

Now Reese was silent.

"Please," Kimble went on. "I am sorry if I've been giving you too much work, but please, I'm sure we can decide on a schedule more suitable to your needs."

"What?"

"Reese, I need you," he said, in a
Twilight Zone
esque moment of vulnerability. "I don't know if I'll be able to finish my book without your special touch."

Special touch?
She blinked and settled back against the pillows. She'd thought Kimble would either threaten her or talk over her with more deadlines and BS. She'd never expected anything that resembled sanity or appreciation.

Brian tightened his arm around her, indicating that he was awake and on her side. Looking over, she smiled apologetically for waking him. He responded by kissing her cheek and letting his lips linger.

"Reese? Please say something," Kimble implored.

"Oh, yes, I'm here," she said. "Well, Professor, if you think we can work something out—"

"We can, we can! I am absolutely sure of it."

She couldn't help grinning at Kimble's complete turnaround. Here all this time she'd been way too afraid to voice her position, and now, out of nowhere, it seemed crazy to be afraid of Kimble. "Well... all right," she said, enjoying her little stint as a hard-ass.

He let out an audible sigh of relief. "Oh, good," he said. "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing."

"Sleeping," she said pointedly.

"Ah, yes, of course, the time. Well, then—"

"Oh, Professor?"

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering... I know it's none of my business but... well, how come you never seem to work Kenneth as hard as you work me?"

"I thought that would've been rather obvious," Kimble said. "You're much smarter."

Two hours later, Brian heard the shower running, and couldn't resist. The bathroom door was ajar, and when he nudged it open his body immediately jolted at the vision of Reese's silhouette through the light ' blue shower curtain. She was washing her curvy little body everywhere, and arching her back to rinse her hair. The steam in the tiny bathroom was already making him sweat. It took him two seconds to drop his boxers and snap on a condom. Fully aroused, he stepped into the shower.

* * *

From behind, slow, hot hands slithered up Reese's stomach, and upon contact she let out a startled yelp. Realizing it was Brian didn't help. She suddenly felt shy, afraid of what he might think of her soft, round body now that it was under fluorescents. She was about to turn in his arms, so she'd at least be facing him, when he murmured "Mmm..." and cupped her breasts in his hand. He played with them a little, and then moved a hand up to brush a clump of her wet hair aside, and placed open, hot kisses along the back of her neck.

Now Reese relaxed, sighing while Brian kissed down her back and stroked her belly. After he soaped up his hands, he slid them over her slowly, rubbing lather sensually across her stomach and breasts and down her sides. Reese shivered because it felt so good, so hypnotic, and then she sagged against him, resting her back against the solid warmth of his chest. He moved his open mouth up her neck and along the back of her ear.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered.

"What?"

"Last night, I was..."
What?
she wondered.
Spectacular? Endowed? Stallion-esque?
He kissed the skin below her ear and murmured, "I was too rough."

"No, you weren't," she said brokenly. "What do you mean? You didn't hurt me." Not exactly the truth. She'd woken up sore but she couldn't absolutely swear that was Brian's fault, since she'd been bucking and fucking like a wild animal. Anyway, the point was, she was feeling less and less sore by the second....

"But still," he was saying now, dragging his lips over her shoulder blades and running the flat of his palm over her nipple. She arched hard at the sensation. "I just mean that I should've been... slower... softer."

His warm, soapy hands continued demonstrating those exact principles until Reese was squirming against him, feeling frustrated by the thick, hot erection pressing against her back.

His right arm coasted around her stomach one more time, holding her like a fragile doll, and Reese thought she might explode, when suddenly, with a light jerk, she was pulled up against him, and she moaned at the feel of him, hard and engorged against her bottom.

Whispering his name, she felt one of his slippery hands smooth down her back, and lower, until Brian was sliding two fingers into her vagina from behind. She gasped as he pushed his fingers deeper, making her tremble unsteadily.

"Here, bend over a little," he said.

"Brian..." She sounded throaty and hot and unsure of what to do.

"It's okay; put your hands on the wall," he said, his voice almost raspy. He spread his hand over her abdomen and drew her bottom toward him. "Don't worry; it's okay," he said again. From anyone else, that would not have made her feel better.

Soon she was bent over, bracing her hands on the shower wall as hot water beat down on her neck and back and glided down her body. Brian's fingers were still inside her, and he jerked them a little—each time stirring her, before withdrawing, then going in deeper.

"I... I can't... I can't take this..." Reese choked out after several long moments.

She was rocking her body in time with his fingers and making guttural, aroused sounds that were apparently part of her repertoire now. Brian stilled his hand and bent his body to whisper into Reese's hair, "Do you want to make love again?" She moaned in response, and splayed her hands wider on the wall, dipping her head down in excruciating anticipation.

Soon Brian's hand was gone, and Reese was rocking her body backward, urging him to do something with her. To finish what he'd started. And that was when she felt it—his hot, bulging cock probing her exactly where his fingers had been.

A surge of excitement shot through her, as she felt him position himself, bringing both his hands up to hold her breasts, and then in one swift motion thrust into her. She cried out as he drove into her from behind, grunting with each thrust. He was hitting all the same spots as before, but at this angle the sensations were different. And just as the heat built up to the point of unbearable, and the friction was branding and scoring her flesh, Brian pulled out.

She groaned,
"Noo,"
and Brian whipped her around, hoisting her up into a straddle around his hips. Then he entered her again, and with her back stuck to the shower wall, Reese's head thunked on the tile, but she barely felt it. Clinging to him, and strangling his waist with her legs, she tried to hammer her lower body enough to make herself come.

Finally it happened. Gripping Brian's wet hair, she called his name as spasms rolled through her body, leaving her spent, starry-eyed, and exhausted.

Brian followed, holding her with possessive hands while his shoulders convulsed.

Then, after several long moments, he shifted to let Reese's body slide down his, and her feet come back to the shower floor. With his arms wrapped around her, he rocked her gently from side to side, and she pressed her cheek against his chest.

"I never did that before," Reese whispered, hugging him as water sluiced down over their bodies. She cuddled against him and added, "I liked it."

Brian grinned down at her. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Hmm... she had a few ideas that involved falling in love and making a lasting commitment, but she was too foggy to articulate them at the moment.

It was probably just as well.

After they had dried off, Brian wrapped his towel around his waist, while Reese hooked her bra and tugged on some blue jeans.

"Let's order a pizza," Brian said, leaning back on the bed. "I'm starving."

She let out a laugh. "It's eight in the morning. Anyway, the wedding's in a few hours; I gotta get moving."

"Oh, yeah," he said, lifting off the bed. "I gotta get back to the city to get ready, and to get the rings." He stopped to lean down and press a soft kiss to her mouth, and Reese reached up on tiptoe and furrowed her fingers in his wet hair. Kissing him slowly, passionately, she savored every second, until a sudden knock at the door broke her concentration.

"Who could that be?" she whispered. "Oh, no! I hope my sisters didn't decide to give me a wake-up call. We're all supposed to meet at the house, but..."

She chewed on her lower lip, and the corners of Brian's mouth hitched up. "What, are you ashamed of me?"

"Oh, yes, that's it," she said, grinning. "Maybe it's the maid."

Whoever it was knocked again, so Brian and Reese pulled apart. "I'll wait in the bathroom if you want," he said quietly. She agreed and helped him gather up all his clothes, and then threw on a sweater of her own.

Looking through the peephole, she was shocked to find Kenneth standing on the other side.
What's he doing here? We agreed to meet at St. Catherine's at 1:30... didn't we?

She opened the door. "Uh, hi, Kenneth. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Six hours before the wedding.

"Yes, well, I was ahead of schedule so I thought I'd come by," he replied.

"Oh... I see," she managed. "But, well, to tell you the truth, I'm—"

"May I come in?" he asked, sounding a little edgy.

"Um, sure, but I can't really talk long...." He stepped past her and into the room. Reese noticed that there was something different about him this morning—he seemed, well, fidgety. "So... I was actually getting ready to leave," she said, anxious to get him out of there and rescue Brian from the bathroom. "So I hope you didn't make the trip on my account...."

"I will be happy to give you a ride. Where are you going now, to your parents' house?"

"Well, yeah, but I have my car."

"I see."

A few beats of silence passed before she said, "Kenneth, is everything okay?"

"Certainly," he said. "But you probably don't want to be late. Can I walk you out?"

"No... I mean, thank you, but I'm not quite ready yet." Damn, this was ridiculous. Why had he driven in from the city so early? And what the hell was she supposed to do with him?

"All right, then. I'll just give you your gift early, and be on my way until we meet later at the church."

Reese's eyebrows shot up. "Gift?"

"I got you an item that I hope you will enjoy. When I saw it, I thought of you." He reached into his coat and pulled out a small gift-wrapped box.

"Oh, Kenneth, you shouldn't have...."

"Please. Open it."

She swallowed, feeling uncomfortable as hell, and pulled on the red ribbon. When she opened the silver lid, her eyes bugged out of her head. It was a
cameo!

Okay, what the hell was going on here? Maybe this was all a dream, and she just hadn't woken up yet. It would certainly explain the fabulous sex.

"It is an antique cameo brooch," he explained. "It is very special to me. It was my mother's."

"Wha—Oh, Kenneth, I can't accept—"

"I must run now," he said hastily. "I just want you to know how, uh, pleased I am that we are heading in a direction of trust and confidence."
Huh?
"I will see you in a few hours."

And then he was gone.

Reese stared at the closing door, trying to figure out what had just happened, when the bathroom door abruptly swung open. Brian came out, buckling his belt, not looking at her. "Well, that was weird," she said.

"Uh-huh." He still didn't look at her, but busied himself with the second and third buttons of his shirt. His tie hung loosely around his neck.

"Brian?"

Still not saying anything, he shrugged on his coat, tugging it a little harder than necessary, and Reese inched closer. "What's wrong?"

"Forget it," he said curtly.

"Wait a minute," she said, frustrated. "Why are you mad?"

He shook his head and gave one of his
psfft
responses, which didn't do much for her, so she waited for something more. "I see it's really over with that guy," he said finally.