Body Work (7 page)

They won.

He picked her up and walked through the silent mansion, releasing her lips only long enough to find and walk up the staircase.

He carried her into the room she pointed out as hers and set her down inside the door. He got an impression of feminine elegance from the furniture and draperies while she locked the door. She turned to face him, holding the knob at her back.

Curious as he was about how she lived, he was more interested in removing her clothes. The skirt puddled at her feet with a tight shimmy. He shoved her T-shirt up over her breasts and feasted for a moment.

She clasped his shoulders to steady herself and cried out when he nipped and marked the underside of one breast.
“Mine,” he said.

Kneeing her thighs open he settled on the floor in front of her. She
’d shaved her hair into a heart-shaped thatch and he smiled. “This is cute.”
Also mine.

“
I think so.”

She was already so wet he didn
’t think she needed much tongue to get her off, but he took his time, causing shudder after shudder as she came in his mouth. She nearly fell once so he hooked one of her knees over his shoulder to help keep her upright.

“
No more,” she whispered. “Your turn. My turn.”

He carried her to the four poster bed that stood dead center in the room and set her on top of the down comforter. Reaching for his zipper she freed him, laving him with her tongue. She dragged her tongue around the head of his shaft, causing an ache in his balls he relished. He was ready to explode, but her lips were so delicate she managed to drive him crazy and help him stay sane at the same time.

“Lick my balls, too.”

“
My pleasure.”

He barked out a laugh and let her play all she wanted. She undid the tab button of his jeans and he shucked them. When her pink tongue went lower and her mouth took in one of his testicles he nearly hit the roof. Her pleasure turned into his.

“Enough.” His cock flexed, once, twice. He had to come soon. Had to come with her. Setting himself at her entrance, he nibbled at her mouth again, just to tease. “I’ve waited a lot of years for this Lisa. “Are you sure?”

“
What about the pool house?”

“
Doesn’t count.” He kissed her slow and deep until her eyes glazed. “We start from here.”

She blinked back tears and took a sharp breath.

“Tell me what you want, Lisa.”

“
Love me, fast and hard.” Her response sent heat from his ears down his spine and he did as she bid.

Only slower.

He grasped his cock and slid the head along her slit, rubbing against her clit. He felt fresh juices slide out of her to smear along his length.

Using two fingers he eased opened the hood that hid her throbbing nub and tapped the head against her most sensitive nerve ending. Her eyes went wide as she grabbed his ass to bring him closer. She shuddered when he slipped his tip along the slippery entrance.

Eight

Fill Her Up

Something had changed, Lisa thought. Tyce was different, in his touch, in his gentleness, in his whole approach.

He kissed her again and again, deep lingering kisses that teased and fulfilled all at once, each brush of his lips a promise of more to come. She felt the rasp of his beard on her chin, her cheek, her neck but still she sought more.

The tip of his cock slicked against her slit, never quite entering. He was a tease! A man so perfectly controlled she was mad with want long before he was.

P
erfect pressure, perfect alignment, perfect tongue, each kiss blessed her, rocked her, made her yearn. She tried to keep up with him, to match him kiss for kiss, touch for touch, caress for caress, but he was fast devouring her. She drowned time and again, drowned and felt lifted, curled in on herself, and splayed wide to take and receive each of his blessings.

She
’d never felt anything like what Tyce was doing to her. His body shook with need, trembled beyond desire, shaped her body into a honeyed formless blob he could do whatever he wanted with.

When he slid down to sip at her cleft Lisa thought she
’d go crazy. She thought he was going to enter her, slide into her to the hilt, but instead he circled her clit with his tongue, delved his fingers in deep, time and time again. Strokes from his tongue kept her on the fine knife edge of orgasm, rocketing her close to implosion only to fade back to gentle swirls and ripples.

She melted into honey, slick with desire, she cried out in frustration.
“Tyce, now.”

“
I’m not done with you yet. Open for me.” He straddled her head and tapped her mouth with his engorged penis. She clamped her mouth shut, turned away her face. Her need was too great, too burning.

“
Now, Tyce.”

He tapped again, smeared the bead of moisture across her lips until she tipped her tongue across for a taste. When she opened for more he slid inside her mouth. She felt his palm cup her mound again. Firmly, he pressed up and into her, shaking her labia gently while dipping one, then two fingers, into her honeyed warmth.

She sucked and lapped at his burgeoning cock, felt him flex at the same time her hips arched off the bed.

With a speed and strength she didn
’t know he possessed, he turned her so they were face-to-face.

“
I have to come inside. Let me in.”

He rolled a condom on. But before she could form permission, he was pressing into her, filling her, spreading her hips so she could take him in one strong slide.

“I have to . . .” his voice trailed away into a groan.

Everything fit, everything swelled
, and the moment she reached to tunnel her fingers through his head to bring him down for a kiss, he obliged. She felt low deep shudders building, the roar in her head deafening as he gathered her storm into himself.

They came that
way; hips locked, mouths melded, and moans covering moans.

He raised his head and she watched warily as his eyes came back into focus.

“You finally kissed me,” she said, on a note of wonder.

He rolled and gathered her close to his chest. She felt his lips brush her hair.

“Aren’t you getting up?”

“
Give me a minute, I’ve got a fast recovery but that’s asking a lot.”

Too weak and languid to laugh, she said,
“No, I mean yesterday . . .”

He tilted her face up with a single finger to her chin.
“Yesterday was before.”

“
Before?”

“
Yesterday was sex, Lisa. Just sex. And I’m sorry for yesterday. You deserve better.”

He looked at her steadily, his brown eyes gentle for the first time and she knew she
’d been right. Things between them were different now. She wasn’t sure how or why, but she accepted the difference and decided not to question him further for fear of ruining the tenuous peace they’d found.

They showered together then wandered downstairs to the darkened kitchen. Tyce wore his jeans and Lisa snuggled into her terry robe.

He pulled out a leftover roast beef from the fridge and sliced it thinly, while Lisa peeled fresh potatoes. Finding a container of gravy, she laughed when she saw his expression of relief.

“
Let me guess. A meat and potatoes guy?”

“
Through and through.”

“
You eat in my kitchen,” she wagged a carrot at him; “you eat your vegetables.”

He cocked his eyebrow at her.
“That’s not all I’ll eat in here.” With that, he advanced on her and ignored her delighted squeals as he nibbled his way across her bared shoulder to her neck and up to her ear. She giggled at the tickling sensations of tongue and nipping teeth.

“
Tyce, I’m–” but she couldn’t finish because he was relentless in his desire to make her laugh.

“
I love the sound of you laughing. We didn’t do much of that when we were kids.”

“
There wasn’t much to laugh about.” She put the potatoes on to boil and poured the congealed gravy into a pan to warm it. She turned to him. “How’s your mom?”

“
She’s good. Still works at the hair salon except she owns it now. She calls herself queen of the blue-rinse set. Some of those ladies have been going to the shop since beehives were in style.”

Lisa grinned at that.
“I always liked your mom. She had a great sense of humor.” Unlike her own, but Tyce never knew Lisa’s mother was a hard drinking, bitter woman.

“
Yeah, she needed it with me in the house. The neighbors hated living next to us.” He swung open the fridge door and bent in for a look. He started digging around. “Mom had to keep promising them I’d stop working on my car. Then I’d sell it and buy another one and start work all over again.”

“
At least you didn’t keep spare cars around for parts.”

He laughed.
“I wanted to, but didn’t want to be disowned.”

“
And Jenny? What’s she doing now?”

“
Working too hard. She’s the bookkeeper for me and for my Mom’s shop. She has a large client list of small businesses.”

“
Jason’s her only child?”

“
Yeah. After he was born, she put her nose to the grindstone. Jenn’s too busy to have a life. I keep telling her to live a little, but, she pushes herself so hard I doubt she ever will.”

“
Maybe someday.”

“
She’s in New York right now for our cousin’s wedding. I told her I’d take Jason to the auction with me to give her a couple weeks off. I doubt she’ll take them, though.”

Enjoying the comfortable memories, they prepared the rest of the meal together. Eventually, they sat across from each other at the island, and served each other. She offered him ice tea and he took it gratefully.
“I was looking for a beer in the fridge earlier.”

“
It’s in the bar fridge in the den. I’ll get you one.”

When she returned, he was putting the finishing touches on a bouquet of roses he
’d obviously filched from the vine beside the kitchen door. “It looks funny,” he said around a rueful grin. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

“
They are perfect, just like your thoughtfulness.”

“
Then what’s wrong with them? They don’t look right.”

She smiled at his desire to give her perfection in the blooms.
“They’re not long stemmed roses. They’re climbers. More leaves around the blossoms and short stems. It may be better to put them in a shorter vase.”              

He pulled one out and smiled.
“Do roses float?” He went through the cupboards until he found a cereal bowl. He filled it with water and roses and set it on the island.

When the roses looked presentable, he wrapped his arms around her, looking pleased with himself. He plucked a stem out of the bowl, removed the thorns and twined the bloom behind her ear. His warm brown eyes studied her, taking in everything from the crown of her head to the tops of her breasts, now plastered against his chest. He snugged her hips close to his and held her there. His hands massaged her behind, sending signals to every part of her body.

If she wasn’t careful, she could get addicted to this kind of attention. It had been too long since she’d shared a simple meal in the kitchen with a man.

“
Beautiful,” he said, sliding his hands under her robe so he could palm her backside without the terry in the way. “You haven’t told me how your Mom’s doing.”

Talk about a mood wrecker. She shifted away from him.

“I think I’m sorry I asked,” he said.

She might as well tell him.
“The drinking caught up to her a couple years ago. She’s gone.”

“
Sorry. I didn’t know. She moved out of the park a few years back.”

“
Harris paid for her care but she was past help.” She shrugged. “She loved the bottle more than anything. She used to say it was her best friend.”

He nodded and went still. He blew out a breath.
“I knew about her screaming at you.”

She turned, looked into his face, saw nothing but the kindness she
’d seen back in the trailer park. “So that’s why you let me hang out at your place?”

“
At first. Then you became useful.”

“
Now you’re teasing me,” she said, suddenly glad and wanting to share the burden of her memories. “It was safe at your place. Like I said, I always liked your mom. As tough as it was for Jenny, I used to watch her with Jason and tell myself if I ever had children, I would be like her.”

“
Not like your mom?”

“
Never. I rarely drink. I see exasperated mothers in the mall and hate it when I hear them scream at their kids.”

“
Jason wasn’t always the polite kid you see today. Jenn had her moments, but she always pulled back, reined in when she got too hot.”

“
Drinking can take that away from some parents.” She rubbed her arms, determined again to be even handed and consistent if she was ever lucky enough to find a man who wanted to give her children.

“
I don’t drink much,” he offered. “I like to keep my hands steady.” He grinned. “You know that saying, ‘one day at a time’?”

“
Sure.”

“
For me, it’s one beer at a time, always will be. My old man was a drinker. Left us flat.”

“
I don’t remember him.”

“
Neither do I, but my mother was steady as a rock. Jenn started too young, but she did a great job with Jason, so things worked out fine. My mom invested well, which is how she bought the shop, I’ve got a good business with an unending supply of work and Jenn’s getting her education now that Jason’s older. It’s all good.”

“
Stay tonight,” she offered and held her breath, hoping.

He resumed his position. Hips squared with hers, chest to chest, his hands on her bare bottom.
“Just tonight?”

Her response was in her kiss. Tonight and every night from now on, she thought, but couldn
’t say. It would be dangerous to think about every night. Dangerous and foolish.

“
Ever thought of making your clients come to you?” she asked as they walked upstairs to bed, arms entwined.

“
You mean open a shop and put up a shingle? Something permanent?”

“
Yes.”

He stopped, looked down into her face and one side of his lips turned up.
“It would be good to have my own hoist and paint shop. There would be a lot less travel.”

When he didn
’t back away from the idea, she couldn’t help but ask, “Would you like less travel?”

He kissed the tip of her nose.
“Mrs. Delaney, is that a proposition?”

Suddenly afraid she
’d gone too far, had put too much hope into her question, she backed off. “No, just curiosity.”

“
Oh, right, Europe’s calling.” He ran a finger down her nose and pressed it between her lips. She rolled her tongue around it and just like that, lost the thread of the conversation. His eyes darkened into burnt umber and he swung her into his arms again.

He kicked open her bedroom door and dropped her onto her bed
, and then followed her down. He rolled her over, hoisted her hips up to receive him. Shoving pillows under her belly for support, he said, “You wanted it this way out by the car, but Jason was due back.”

“
Yes,” she said, raising her pretty ass even higher. She held her knees steady with her small elegant hands while he looked his fill.