His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) (24 page)

Spencer pulled up his knee, which tugged her leg up to press against the very personal part of him she’d thoroughly explored not long ago. He was already growing hard.

Rubbing against him, she said, “Impressive recovery time.”

“What can I say?” he whispered, turning until they were facing each other with her leg over his hip and his tip pressing against her shorts. “You bring out the best in me. But I’ve noticed a little problem.”

She edged closer, dropping tiny kisses along his solid jawline, enjoying the feel of the sharp whiskers that, if she were lucky, would redden her own delicate skin before long.

A strong hand slid down the small of her back and inside her underwear behind the shorts. “You’re wearing way too much right now.”

Though she hated to pull away from him, the chance to let him watch her undress, even if it were only a simple pair of shorts, was too much to pass up.

“Then I’d better fix that.” Lorelei rolled backward and spun so her feet hit the floor.

“Where are you going?”

“Not too far,” she answered, turning to face him as she dipped her thumbs inside her waistband and pressed down. She watched Spencer’s eyes as he watched her body. The television glowed brighter, letting her see his brown depths turn nearly black with desire. His reaction was like a touch, dragging her back across the bed on her knees until she was astride him once again.

“Better?”

“Perfect,” he said, pulling her down for a deep, hot kiss that lasted long enough to have them both gasping for air. “I need to be inside you. We need to reach the nightstand.”

Lorelei was so lost in arousal, it took her several seconds to understand what he was saying. Since she wasn’t on any kind of birth control,
they definitely needed what was in his nightstand. She nodded and dropped to the left, with Spencer rolling with her until he was on top. He reached into the drawer, continuing to feather kisses along her shoulder until he left her long enough to rip the package open with his teeth.

“Nice move,” she said. “I can take it from here.” Spencer lifted his hips to give her access, and Lorelei slid the condom home. “Now it’s both of our turns.” She pulled one leg high as he settled back against her, loving the feel of his weight and heat surrounding her. She may have thought she’d come home the day Spencer picked her up at the airport, but Lorelei had been wrong.

This was coming home.

Holding himself up on his elbows, he slid a thumb along her bottom lip, lying still as they stared at one another. “Thank you,” he said, his mouth no longer smiling.

“For what?” she asked.

“For this,” he said, running his knuckles down her arm. “For all of this.”

A tear threatened again, but one of joy, not hurt or regret. The fact that this wonderful man was willing to forgive her was the greatest gift Lorelei had ever received. That he was also willing to let her back into his heart was more than she ever deserved. But she was selfish enough to take it all, and only hoped she would someday earn it.

“I told you, Lorelei,” Spencer said, the corner of his mouth hinting at one of his charming grins. “Faults and all.” With those words, he took her mouth in such a sweet kiss that she couldn’t hold back the tear any longer. As it slid down her cheek to drop somewhere on the pillow, she kissed him back with everything she was feeling, hoping he’d understand what she wasn’t ready to say with words.

His mouth still on hers, Spencer danced a hand over her breast, then lower to slip between her legs. He teased her until she was writhing off the bed, then slipped inside, but it wasn’t enough. “Please, Spencer. I’m ready. Please,” she begged.

Seconds later, he gave her what she wanted, driving in slowly at first, then picking up the pace. Lorelei pulled both knees up and pressed her heels into the bed as the pressure built. She met him thrust for thrust, holding tight to his neck and shoulders, their tongues mimicking the action of their bodies. When she was close to the peak, his hand shifted lower, pressing circles to the spot he knew would take her over the edge. She didn’t just fall over, she flew, digging her nails into Spencer’s back, pulling him closer, as if that were humanly possible.

The tremors were still pulsating down to her toes when Spencer drove hard and came apart himself. They held on to each other, their bodies wet and hot and locked together as if they might never let go. Spencer shifted as if to pull out, but Lorelei locked her ankles.

“Not yet,” she whispered. “Not yet.”

Spencer nodded, his breathing ragged as he dropped his forehead onto her shoulder. She could feel the smile dancing on her own lips, and imagined a rainbow glowing somewhere close by.

Chapter 20

Spencer woke to the feeling of hot dog breath on his cheek. The clock read 5:49, eleven minutes before his alarm would normally go off. Lorelei slept soundly beside him, with one lock of blonde hair tumbling over her eyes. He considered moving it, but didn’t want to wake her. It was rare to see her this peaceful, and he wanted to enjoy her for a few minutes more. Especially since he had no idea what would happen when she woke up.

Was last night a one-off? Would she regret coming to his apartment? Would she grin and stretch and crawl on top of him for morning sex?

Not that Spencer didn’t already have morning wood, but that thought made the condition almost painful. The sheet covering nothing from the top of her delicious bottom up didn’t help either. When Champ whined, Spencer caved. The animal had to pee and so did he. Scooting off the bed as gently as he could, he managed to extricate himself from the covers, pull on his sweats, and get the dog outside without waking her.

In fact, he also managed to take care of his own business, let the dog back in, and climb in the shower as she softly snored away. It wasn’t until he had put on a pair of jeans and was buttoning his shirt that she started to come around. Stretching like a cat, she rolled onto her back, revealing the body of a goddess. Spencer stopped buttoning. He lost feeling in his fingers the moment she pushed the hair out of her face and glanced around as if not sure of her location.

“Morning,” he said, his voice rougher than intended.

Lorelei’s head turned his way with a look of confusion, and then her eyes went wide. “What time is it?” she asked, her voice frantic enough to worry him.

Spencer checked the clock beside the bed. “Six twenty-eight. I have to leave in a couple minutes. I have an early meeting this morning.”

He’d planned to wake her on his way out so she could get ready for work. He liked the idea of kissing her good-bye before leaving for his day.

“Holy crap,” she said, scrambling off the bed. “Where are my clothes?”

This didn’t sound like a woman happy to be kissed good-bye.

“Your shirt is probably still around the couch somewhere.” Spencer walked around the bed. “Here are your shorts and panties.” He lifted the clothing off the floor, and Lorelei snatched them from his fingers.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Opting not to contribute to her dramatics, he opened his top dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of socks. “I didn’t think you needed to be up before now,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed to put his socks on. “I thought you might be tired. We didn’t get much sleep.”

The last time he’d seen the clock, the numbers were rolling toward three thirty.

“I can’t believe I’m still here,” she mumbled, dragging the panties up her legs and following with the shorts. Holding an arm across her chest, she stormed into the living room to find the shirt. “I should have been back in my room hours ago.”

Last Spencer checked, they weren’t kids sneaking around to have sex. Granny wasn’t going to ground Lorelei or give them a speech about being too young to go so far. At least he didn’t think so.

“Am I missing something here?” he asked, walking into the kitchen to fill his travel coffee cup. “Are you embarrassed about what we did last night?”

That question got her attention. Lorelei pulled her shirt over her head and looked his way. “No, are you?”

“Not at all, but I’m not the one acting like a crazy person right now. What does it matter if you go home now or if you went a couple hours ago?”

“I don’t want Granny to know, that’s all.”

“Why not?”

Lorelei huffed. “I just don’t.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Running a hand through her hair, she said, “Granny is going to ask a bunch of questions that I’m not ready to answer. Maybe if I’m lucky, she’s not up yet.”

“Does that mean I shouldn’t ask any questions either?” There were several running through his head, but Spencer knew how easily Lorelei spooked. This was definitely a spooking situation.

With a deep breath, Lorelei cut her eyes to the heavens as if praying for patience. Or a way out. “I don’t regret last night, but I don’t know what last night means long-term. What I do know is that I’d really like to repeat last night on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. How’s that?”

He didn’t like the avoidance of dealing with anything beyond the present, but the fact that she didn’t consider the night before a mistake, and was suggesting he get more sex on a regular basis, made Spencer less inclined to argue.

Hiding the smile behind his coffee cup, he said, “You look sexy as hell right now.”

She shook her head. “I’m sure I look like crap right now. I need a toothbrush and a shower.”

“Now I wish I’d dragged you into the shower with me.” He must have been exhausted not to have thought of
that
sooner.

“There would still have been the toothbrush issue.” Lorelei dropped a kiss on his cheek and padded toward the door.

“That’s all I get?”

The grin she shot him from the door brought on a new case of morning wood. “I’ll make it up to you tonight,” she promised, then disappeared down the steps.

Lorelei felt like a spy on a mission. She high-footed her way across the yard, running up the porch steps and pressing her body against the side of the house. She’d auditioned for a cop show once and realized that she would have felt like an idiot doing this on a daily basis. Chancing a peek through the kitchen window, Lorelei didn’t see lights on or movements inside. Letting out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, she opened the screen and tried the inside door. It was locked.

“Shoot,” she murmured. Had she locked the door on her way out? She didn’t think so. Lorelei hadn’t intended to be gone all night, so why lock the door? Did that mean Granny was up? That she’d locked the door? “Crap, crap, crap.”

The spare key. When she was a teen it had always been under the ceramic frog in the flower bed. Glancing over the rail, Lorelei was relieved to see the frog still sitting on his lily pad. “Oh, thank God.”

Bouncing back down the steps, she had to step into the mulch to reach the smiling amphibian. “Would it have been so hard to grab flip-flops, Lorelei?” she admonished herself. Lifting the frog, she found nothing. This was not her morning. And if she didn’t get in soon,
Spencer would catch her out here traipsing around like an incompetent cat burglar.

Climbing back onto the porch, Lorelei racked her brain to figure out where else the spare key might be. But before she came up with an answer, the inside door opened, scaring her so badly she nearly peed herself. She also screamed bloody murder.

“Was that necessary?” Granny asked, as her granddaughter held a hand over her racing heart and struggled to catch her breath.

“I didn’t expect you to open the door,” Lorelei panted.

“I didn’t expect you to be on that side of it.”

Point to Granny.

“Fine,” she said. “You caught me. Now can I come in?”

Without responding, Granny walked away, leaving Lorelei staring through the screen. She’d taken a walk of shame or two in her life, but none had ever felt like this. As if she’d kicked a puppy, run over a kitten, and swiped a Happy Meal from a toddler all in one move. If Spencer hadn’t been so damn distracting last night, she might have remembered to order a wake-up call. Or, if she’d been smart, she would have come home before they’d gotten to round three.

Or had that been four?

“I made a pot of coffee,” Granny said as Lorelei closed the door. “Or were you planning to go back to bed? I’m guessing you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Lorelei had expected twenty questions, not a VIP ticket to guilt city.

“I’ll take a cup,” she said, expecting Granny to pour. She’d expected wrong. “I guess I’ll get it.”

As she pulled a mug from the cupboard, her grandmother turned a page of the paper laid out on the island. She didn’t ask any more questions, instead ignoring Lorelei completely. Though it was obvious by the set of her jaw that she was holding something in.

“Is there a reason you look ready to spit nails?” Lorelei asked.

Turning another page, Granny looked up, blue eyes glaring over the reading glasses. “What are your intentions toward that boy?” she asked.

The question took Lorelei by surprise. She’d expected excitement that they might be getting back together. Even if only tentatively. She’d expected talk of marriage and babies and forever. So why did Granny look angry? And shouldn’t she have been grilling Spencer about
his
intentions toward her granddaughter?