Breaking All the Rules (5 page)

Sheepish, Bobby
glanced down at his shirt. Miracle of miracles, he’d managed to do it up right
at last.

“You don’t have
to tell me twice,” he said. He grabbed his keys, more than ready to get the
hell out of here and make his way to Nina’s door.

He just had one
stop to make first.

NINA STUMBLED
THROUGH her front door a little after six, three bags of groceries clutched in
her arms. Once she’d stumbled into the sweets aisle, inspiration had struck
anew and she’d ended up adding far more items to her mental list of foods that
could come in handy in sex play. That jar of marshmallow crème had been
particularly tempting. They hadn’t tried that before. A good old standby like
chocolate sauce never failed, but maybe they’d be in the mood for something
new. She wanted to be prepared for any eventuality, not wanting anything to
hold them back.

But she’d
lingered much longer in the grocery store than she’d intended, earning more
than one curious glance from other shoppers in the meantime. No doubt they were
wondering why she was filling her cart with so much junk food with a salacious
smile and a flush in her cheeks. Wouldn’t they love to know?

She’d planned to
be home much earlier, and she almost expected Bobby to be waiting on her
doorstep when she got there. She wasn’t sure whether she was disappointed or
not when he wasn’t. Abandoning the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, she
raced into the bedroom. The bed had been freshly made that morning. She usually
didn’t bother for her own behalf, but falling into a crisp bed and rumpling it
together was much better than collapsing into used, tangled sheets.

A smile toying
on her lips, Nina quickly changed into the outfit she’d purchased new weeks ago
in preparation for this very night. It was nothing fancy, but she had a feeling
Bobby would approve. She couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

The silk robe
was cut thigh-high, letting the cool air wash over her exposed legs. The fabric
was light as gossamer. It felt like she was wearing nothing at all. For a
moment she closed her eyes and basked in the sensation, holding out her arms
and swaying slightly. She imagined she was outside, completely nude. The gentle
slide of the silk against her body was no more than the soft caress of a gentle
breeze over her bare breasts and hips, the air kissing her nipples. She didn’t
know if anyone could see her. Maybe there was someone watching her right now,
as she stood naked in a rolling green field. There was no way of telling. That
was what made it so exciting.

When she felt
her body begin to respond to the fantasy, she opened her eyes and blinked away
the vision. If she wasn’t careful she was going to get herself so worked up
she’d never make it until Bobby’s arrival. A few more seconds and she’d be
ready to get down to business and take care of herself.

Rushing out into
the living room, she dimmed the lights and lit a few candles. It was more to
give herself something to do than to create atmosphere. She’d learned long ago
that she and Bobby didn’t need to waste time setting a mood. Romantic lighting
and sexy music were forgotten as soon as they saw each other, obliterated in
the wake of the raw animal attraction between them.

As she lifted
the burning end of the match to the final taper, a firm knock sounded on the
front door.

Nina froze for a
second, her pulse skyrocketing. She’d know that knock anywhere.

He was here.

Her heart
pounding in her chest, she blew out the match and dropped it in a cup of water
nearby, then flew across the room. Her hand poised on the knob, she took a deep
breath to calm herself before coolly opening the door.

As always, she
waited for some sense of letdown, for that instantaneous, electric attraction
not to appear, proving the passion was finally dying down.

It didn’t
happen.

Bobby loomed
over her in the doorway. As soon as his eyes fell on her, his lips shifted into
that easy smile she loved. Her heart responded by skipping a beat, then thumped
even faster, the pressure heavy in her chest. Raw heat shot through her body,
racing into her fingers and toes, leaving her tingling all over. The feeling of
excitement inside her was so potent she barely managed to stand still. She
clung to the door for support, her fingers practically wearing grooves into the
wood.

“Hey, stranger,”
she said, sounding as breathless as she felt.

“Hey, yourself.”

He was standing
mere inches away, and suddenly she couldn’t bear to not be touching him. She
took a step forward, ready to put her hands on him. It didn’t matter where.

He drew her up
short by lifting his right arm and holding out a bouquet of long-stemmed red
roses. She blinked and missed a step, more puzzled than anything. It actually
took her a moment to understand what she was seeing.

Roses. He was
offering her roses.

As if to answer
the unspoken question, he said, “These are for you.”

Her hands moved
to take them of their own volition. They were beautiful, she noted almost
absently. They were also unnecessary. He’d never brought her flowers before. He
didn’t need to. They didn’t have that kind of relationship.

How...weird.

She looked up to
see him gauging her reaction, expectation in his eyes. “Thank you,” she said,
the words coming automatically on their own. “You shouldn’t have.”
Really,
really shouldn’t have.

“Not a big deal.
I wanted to.”

This was a very
strange conversation. She was standing there, aching to touch him, aching to
have him touch her, and they were talking about roses.

He was right in
front of her. And she wasn’t touching him.

A spike of
desire pierced the cloud of confusion in her mind, filling her with a
single-minded sense of purpose.

“And this is
what I want,” she said.

Flinging the
forgotten roses aside, she launched herself into his arms.

Chapter Two

Bobby caught her
in midair. The force of her body rocked him back on his heels, but he held his
ground. It had been too damn long since he’d had a woman in his arms—had
this
woman in his arms—and suddenly they were full of the warm, soft feel of her.
The onslaught of touches and feels and smells came crashing over him like a
wave, filling his head with her. All he could do was hold on tight and never
let go.

Then there was
the taste of her. She grabbed his head in both hands and pulled it down to her,
as demanding as ever. He couldn’t hold back the smile even as their mouths met.
The woman loved to kiss. He used to think he liked it to, but until he’d met
her he’d never known just how good it could be. Their lips meshed, frantically
nipping and suckling, both wanting as much from the kiss as they could get.
Months of frustration burst forward, desperate to be satisfied. They’d both
waited so long for this.

He flicked his
tongue forward, ready to plunge it into the moist heat of her mouth. Hers was
already waiting at the entrance, all set to do the same into his. The tips of
their tongues met, then leapt back. A spark of pure electricity passed between
them. He felt it all the way down to his cock, and followed the tremor that
quaked through her body as he held her in his arms. She teased him, darting her
tongue out, sliding it along the length of his, urging him forward. He chased,
she retreated.

Her whole body
seemed to surround him. Her arms found their way around his shoulders, her
fingers rubbing into his hair. Her legs wound around his and she dug her heels
into the back of his thighs. He already had a raging hard-on, and she ground
her pelvis against him. His length fit snug against the soft, yielding flesh at
the core of her body, and the feel of it there sent a jolt straight to his
brain, obliterating all thought for a moment. All that was left was instinct.
The growl that emerged from low in his throat came of its own will, deep from
some primal place inside him. All he wanted was to slam her up against the
nearest vertical surface and drive himself into her all the way to the hilt. Just
like that first night. It didn’t matter if she was wearing panties. Through
them or around them, he’d get there.

Somehow he had
the presence of mind to lurch forward into the apartment and kick the door shut
with the heel of his foot. They’d given her neighbors enough of a show. What
happened next was strictly between them.

The sound of the
door slamming shut seemed to draw her attention. She dragged her mouth away. He
tried to follow her, his head dipping forward to catch her lips again. She
leaned back with a playful grin, denying him. The sight of her already looking
rumpled, her mouth damp and swollen from his kiss, her eyes cloudy with desire,
sent another charge through him. She looked that way because of him, because
she wanted him, because of what he’d already done to her, because of what he
was going to.

“I missed you,”
she whispered, damn near purring.

“I missed you
more.”

Her laugh was
throaty and musical. “Impossible.”

“I just spent
seven months staring at a bunch of guys I was tired of looking at after the
first day. Trust me, you didn’t have it anywhere near that bad.”

“Ah, so you were
just starving for a woman, not necessarily me.”

“No, not any
woman.” He managed to capture her mouth for one quick kiss before she dodged
away again. “Just you.”

“Good.” She
favored him with one long, deep kiss that had the groan rising deep in his
throat again. “If I had to suffer, it’s only fair you should too.”

“I guess you
didn’t find anyone to take my place while I was gone then,” he said lightly,
even as his heart lurched at her answer.

“I’m afraid I
didn’t have the time,” she said. “Maybe I’ll have to make more of an effort to
get out there when you’re gone again.”

Though he knew
he had no claim on her, he still felt a fierce tug of satisfaction at her
words. She hadn’t been with anyone else. The other guys in this city must be
blind not to be banging down her door, but damned if he wasn’t thankful that
was the case. “Don’t bother. You won’t find anybody as good.”

Her eyebrows
quirked saucily. “Glad to see you’re not lacking in confidence. I’ve got some
big expectations after waiting all this time.”

“You’re not the
only one.” He lowered his eyes. The top of the robe she was wearing gaped open,
offering up a delectable view of her breasts. What he wouldn’t give to have a
hand free that he could reach down, push the fabric aside and take one in his
hand. “What do you have on under that robe?”

Her eyes
sparkled. “Guess.”

“Nothing, I
hope.”

“Oh.” She bit
her lip. “You’re going to be disappointed then.”

He could tell
she was teasing him, which only stoked his anticipation for what she had under
there. Whatever it was, there couldn’t be much to it. He could feel her body
beneath the slippery fabric. A thousand possibilities crammed into his head,
each better than the last. “Not as long as I get to take it off, whatever it
is.”

“Do you want to
see?”

“More than
anything,” he said. The raw roughness of his voice gave away the desperation of
his answer.

She placed her
hands on his chest and pushed, forcing him to release her. Her fingers moved to
untie the belt cinched at her waist as she danced away, her hips shimmying with
each step. The folds of the robe slipped ever lower, revealing more and more
glimpses of round, naked flesh. She stopped in the middle of the room, too far
out of reach for his liking, but he couldn’t seem to move. After a moment, he
realized he’d stopped breathing, the air stuck in his throat. He had to force
himself to pull another breath into his strangled lungs. Finally the belt was
loose enough that she could tug it apart and let the ends hang loosely at her
sides. She pushed the robe from her shoulders. It fell in a heap at her feet.

His cock jerked,
and he almost came right then and there, without touching himself or having her
touch him, just from the sight of this magnificent woman standing in front of
him.

She hadn’t lied.
She wasn’t wearing nothing, but she might as well be. Her breasts were bare,
the firm, round globes bouncing gently as she swayed. The pink tips were erect,
jutting out at him, calling to him. She had great breasts, not too big, not too
small, just the right size to fit in the palm of his hand. He would have
reached out to touch if she hadn’t been so far away and he’d thought for a
second he could move. He might as well have turned to stone. Her stomach was
smooth, her hips gently flared. Beneath them, she wore the only garment
covering her body.

A tiny pair of
sheer, see-through panties.

Scratch that.

Crotchless
panties.

The hole cut in
the front of the garment framed her sex in a way that was somehow even hotter
than if she’d been wearing nothing at all. It drew attention to that core part
of her, highlighting it for him. It allowed him to see clearly that the dark
curls he knew so well were gone, replaced by a thin strip of hair.

“Brazilian wax,”
she provided before he even thought to ask.

Mesmerized, he
had to drag his eyes to her face. “Did it hurt?”

“I figured you’d
reward me for my trouble.”

Her coy smile
punctuated the statement, leaving no doubt what she meant. His mouth went
completely dry, and he almost fell to his knees right then and there.

Her whole body
seemed to blush under his gaze. Her face in particular burned a distinct shade
of pink. But she didn’t flinch and made no attempt to cover herself. She stood
before him confident and unafraid, her head held high, her eyes watching him
watch her. A grin of admiration tugged at his mouth. That was Nina. Even buck
naked she was more poised and self-assured than most men he knew, and the guys
he hung around weren’t exactly lacking for confidence. This was a woman completely
secure in who she was. He loved that about her.