Home to Stay (17 page)

Randy wasn’t likely to put up a fight or babble once again about waiting and taking things slow. Will had gone without for three damn years. Screw slow.

And now that they were on the same page, understanding they had today but no illusions about tomorrow, she was content to move things along without worrying about guilt or miscommunications.

Since the meal was at Randy’s house as opposed to a restaurant, she hadn’t expected him to be dressed up, but when he answered the door with wet hair, a half-buttoned shirt hanging over well-worn jeans, and bare feet, Will couldn’t help but feel overdressed.

She’d worn silk, for God’s sake. And ditched her combat boots for heels.

“Wow,” Randy said, staring wide eyed upon opening his front door. “You look incredible.”

Will crossed her arms, feeling like an idiot. “I wasn’t sure what to wear. Guess I chose wrong.”

Randy shook his head. “There is nothing wrong with that.” After several more seconds of staring appreciatively, he remembered his manners. “I’m sorry. Come in. Please.”

She stepped over the threshold, noticing her high heels made them almost even in height. As he closed the door, a light breeze blew his clean scent her way. The cologne mixed with the damp curls falling over his forehead sent a zing down to her toes.

“I hope I’m not too early,” she said, seconds before being spun into his arms with one solid tug. They were suddenly nose-to-nose. “Well, hello.”

“Hello to you,” he mumbled, lashes lowered over brown eyes staring intently at her lips. “I missed you.” Randy followed the breathtakingly honest words with a searing kiss.

Will’s brain turned to mush as she held on with all her strength. If he loosened his arms even a fraction, she would land in a heap of silk on the floor.

“Maybe I should wear heels more often,” she uttered, once her brain began to function again. “That was some welcome.”

“The greeting would have been the same no matter what, but feel free to wear those any time. It’s not often I get to look a woman in the eye without having to look down.”

“Good to know,” Will said as Randy led her through the living room and into the kitchen. The house smelled like an authentic Italian restaurant. “This place smells amazing.”

“Tell me about it.” After pulling out her stool, he stepped around the island and removed the lid from a skillet. “My mouth has been watering for nearly an hour.”

“Then by all means, let’s eat.” Turning to the dining area behind her, Will said, “I see the table is already set. Should I pour the wine?”

Randy nodded his head to the right. “Chardonnay is on the door.”

By the time Randy brought the plates to the table, Will had filled the wine glasses. “The candles are a nice touch,” she said, taking the seat he pulled out for her.

“Overkill?” he said, taking his own seat.

Will slid the linen napkin onto her lap. “I’m in silk and heels. I think that makes us even.”

“That reminds me.” Randy buttoned his shirt the rest of the way. “I ended up at the gym longer than I’d planned. Grabbed a quick shower while the noodles cooked.”

Now the wet hair and bare feet made sense. “I feel bad that you had to rush around.”

“You shouldn’t,” he said, lifting his wine glass. “If I’d had any more time, I probably would have put on cheesy music and lowered the lights. Then you’d realize how inept I am at all this.”

He hadn’t come across as inept so far, but the lack of ego made him more attractive. If that were possible.

They spent the duration of the meal with Randy telling stories about Sid and how she’d tried hard as a little girl to emulate their mother. Will struggled to imagine a tiny version of Sid stumbling around in her mother’s high heels, sporting a string of pearls. The image simply did not compute.

As Will finished the last bite of her fettuccine, Randy asked, “Ready for dessert?”

There was no way she could eat another bite. “The torte will have to wait. That was delicious, but filling.”

The honest answer was that she was too nervous to eat anything else. Though announcing
I’ve decided we’re going to have sex and it’s making me nervous
would drop a giant ball of awkward into the evening.

They cleared the table together, but Will gave up and moved to the other side of the island after bumping into Randy. Twice. This was not a good sign for displaying the slightest level of grace when it came time for the mattress dancing, as Sid called it.

Once the dishwasher was loaded, Randy turned, looking as lost as Will felt. “I feel like a thirteen-year-old about to play his first game of spin the bottle with the hottest girl in school. Tell me I’m not alone here.”

Will laughed, relieved by his confession. “I never wanted to kiss the hottest girl in school, but if you flip that scenario to the cutest jock, then yeah, I’m with you.”

“How about we sit down on the couch?” Randy rounded the island and led Will to the living room. “You can kick off those shoes, and we’ll both stop acting like whatever happens tonight is going to alter the course of the universe.”

“I can get behind that.” Will dropped to the sofa and slipped her strappy heels off, pushing them under the coffee table so they wouldn’t be in the way. “That feels so much better.”

“Good.” Randy dropped down next to her, draping an arm across the back cushions. “I know you don’t like to talk about yourself, but I’m curious what kind of kid you were. I picture a bookworm who kept to herself and loathed any project that forced her to work in a group.”

Will pointed at her nose. “Dead on. Looking back, some might say it was a lonely existence.” At the time she felt incredibly alone, but keeping her distance from others meant less heartbreak when her mom decided they should move on again. “So long as I had my books and music, I was happy.”

“What did you read?”

“Total romance junkie,” she said, with no shame whatsoever. She never had understood others’ need to hide the covers, as if they would be cursed to hell should anyone know what was inside. “I don’t read as much anymore.” She’d had to leave her books behind when she fled in the night, and even a small collection was too much to drag around these days.

Randy crossed his ankles on the coffee table as he slouched down into the couch. “You should check out Sid’s secret stash.”

“You know Sid reads romance novels?” Will asked, remembering that Beth had shared the fact in confidence, since Sid had threatened dire consequences if anyone else found out.

“She’s been reading them for years, though I’m sure she thinks I never figured it out.”

Will narrowed her eyes. “Not much gets by you, does it?”

“I’m observant, is all.” Randy toyed with the hem of her dress, letting his fingers brush the sensitive spot along the side of her knee. “I listen. I pay attention.”

Following her instincts, Will toyed with a curl hanging over his ear. “Are you paying attention right now?” If he was, then he could surely sense the erratic beating of her heart.

“I am,” he whispered, sliding her dress a little higher. “I hope I’m reading the signals right.”

Tension sizzled through her body as the anticipation that had been building for days reached flood-stage levels. “Let me give you a hint. I don’t plan on going home for quite some time.”

“Good to know,” he replied, dragging her onto his lap.

CHAPTER 17

I
f Will hadn’t given him the go-ahead when she did, Randy worried his body might start shutting down. It had been all kinds of hell keeping his hands to himself for days, but then she showed up in that dress, the black accentuating the flawless skin along her shoulders, and the strappy shoes showing off her legs to perfection.

How he hadn’t collapsed right there at the door he’d never know.

Her hair was as silky as the material barely covering those incredible legs, and the sounds slipping between her full lips when he ran his tongue down the narrow column of her neck threatened to send him over the edge before they’d even started. He needed to get a grip before he embarrassed himself.

As if lounging across his legs wasn’t enough, Will shifted over and laid back on the couch, taking him with her. Thank Buddha his couch was wide enough to hold them both without someone landing on the floor. Then again, in the current circumstances, he didn’t mind the need for close personal contact.

“I couldn’t stand another night of waiting,” Will breathed into his ear.

Randy would have responded but was too busy dropping kisses along her shoulder blade.

Sliding a hand beneath his shirt, Will ran her fingernails up his back, muttering, “We can stop if you think it’s too soon.”

That got his attention.

“Will,” he said, dropping a hand to her thigh and taking a short break from pressing his lips everywhere possible. “Look at me.” The nails stopped as eyes the color of a stormy sky met his. “I’m going to make love to you all night long. If that’s okay with you.”

With a grin that sent his temperature soaring, she nodded. “That is more than okay with me.”

And that ended the conversation for several minutes as they tested the stability of the sofa. Will shoved a hand into his hair, pulling him hard against her mouth, then slid the other around to the front of his shirt.

“This needs to come off.”

“As you wish,” Randy replied, letting her undo the buttons. Even as she concentrated on the task at hand, her hips never stopped driving him crazy, as if they moved of their own volition.

He leaned against the back of the couch so she could reach the last button, then let her pull the shirt off one arm at a time.

“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered as her fingertips danced lightly over the dark hair along his chest. “I’ve been dying to touch you since that day I saw you climb off the Jet Ski. Since you laid my hand over your heart.”

She laid her palm flat against his skin the same way she had that day.

“You can touch me anytime you want,” he said. “I’m all yours.”

A look of wonder mixed with desire in her eyes. “You’re almost too good to be true.” With those powerful words, Will dropped a kiss at the base of his neck, then trailed delicate kisses down his pecs as far as she could reach.

Meeting his eyes again, she said the last thing he expected to hear. “I need to be on top for this.”

Happy to accommodate her, Randy twisted as he lifted her from beneath him, planting her firmly along his body once he’d landed on his back. Will looked like a kitten ready to explore her new toy, and he contemplated how much of her playing he could withstand. Not that he wouldn’t employ every ounce of patience to let her have her fill, but there was only so much a man in his position could take.

“You’re like a dream,” he said, pushing her hair out of her face. “I’m afraid I’ll wake up and this will all have been my imagination.” Black silk gathered high on milky-white thighs as she straddled his hips.

“I’m very real,” she said, her hands sliding over his abs and down along his rib cage. Leaning forward until she hovered inches from his mouth, she said, “Let go for me, Randy. Let go.”

Her words, or maybe it was her breath along his skin, ignited a level of desire that took them both by surprise. Randy sat up, pulling Will hard against his chest. With a firm hand, he slid the tiny strap of material from her left shoulder, revealing a red slip of strapless lace that lifted her breasts as if they were an offering to the gods.

Denim became the enemy as Will pressed down on his erection. She moaned from deep in her throat before he took her mouth with his. The kiss was searing and sensual and snapped what little control he had left.

In one quick move, Randy was on his feet with Will wrapped around his torso. He licked the sensitive skin along the top of the bra, dipping his tongue low behind the material. Will writhed, dropping her head back as he carried her down the hall to his bedroom. With her arms tight around his neck, she begged in words he was too aroused to comprehend.

“I don’t want to let you go,” he said, leaning her against the bedpost. “But I want to see the rest of you. I need all of you, gypsy.”

With one slender finger beneath his chin, she brought his eyes to hers. “Put my feet on the floor and step away.” For a split second he feared she’d changed her mind, but the storm still raged in her eyes, and the smile on her face indicated following orders would be to his benefit.

Once he’d done as ordered, she said, “Maybe you could get out of those jeans while I do this.”

Randy didn’t know what
this
was going to be, but he knew he didn’t want to miss it. His Levis hit the floor in a matter of seconds. The black boxer briefs did little to conceal how hard she had him. Dark blue eyes surveyed his condition and looked very satisfied with what he had to offer.

“Your turn,” he said, though his mouth was so dry, the words were barely audible.

With little more than one lift of a brow, Will slid the remaining strap off her right shoulder, then shimmied, sending the whiff of silk into a delicate heap at her ankles. Red lace panties rested several inches below her naval, the sides little more than tiny bits of ribbon. A matched set.

Randy would never look at red lace the same way again.

Will tried not to think about how long it had been since she’d been naked in front of a man. The last time she could recall wasn’t a pleasant memory, but she would wipe that clean this evening. Tonight would be the beginning of reclaiming herself. Tonight was about her and Randy, and nothing else mattered.

Correction. One other thing mattered.

“I hope you’re prepared for this,” she said, trying to sound as sultry as possible while asking about condoms.

“As prepared as possible,” he said, his eyes roaming her body like a dying man seeing an angel before him.

So much for sultry. “I mean…protection?” She didn’t want this minor technicality to ruin the mood, but precautions had to be taken. “Please tell me you have some.” She might dissolve into a puddle of tears if he didn’t have what they needed.

Brown eyes went round. “Oh, right. I’ve got plenty. Now I need you to come over here before I embarrass myself from looking at you.”

Relief tumbled through her as a heat that had dropped to a mild simmer built low in her belly. Joining Randy at the bed, she let him pull her down next to him. The demanding giant that had carried her through the house, which was one of the hottest things a man had ever done for her, had fled, leaving the patient, gentle giant toying with her hair.

“That was a nice little shimmy there,” he said, the gruffness of his voice indicating he wasn’t as calm as he might appear. “Like a curtain dropping on a beautiful work of art.” A warm finger crept along the lacy edge of her bra. “Is this pretty set for my benefit?” he asked, as if inquiring about something that had nothing to do with her being nearly naked on his bed.

“I bought them for me, but thought you might appreciate them, too.”

“Oh, I do.” He rolled closer, pinning her half under his body. “Let me show you how much I appreciate them.”

A shiver trembled through her limbs as his full lips descended to her breast. With one finger, he pressed the left cup down until cool air brushed her nipple. In what seemed like slow motion, he pressed his mouth to the tender bud, suckling until Will’s mind went numb, then biting just enough to increase the moisture between her legs.

As if he sensed her reaction, Randy’s hand trailed over her ribs, dipped behind the band of her panties, and slid between the folds now wet and ready.

“Oh, God,” Will murmured, as her hips rose off the bed.

Ignoring her cry, he shifted to her right breast, pulling the fabric down with his teeth before giving her other nipple the same attention he’d lavished on the first. All the while, his finger was firm and kneading. Then he added another, pressing deeper. Will opened her legs wide as she panted out his name. Every nerve ending in her body was on fire, connected by a live wire to his mouth and fingers.

One finger entered her and suddenly there was no surface beneath her. No walls holding her in. Randy’s teeth pinched her now rock-hard nipple as he pressed another finger inside, his knee pressing her legs farther apart.

Before Will could find her bearings again, his hands were on her hips, pushing her higher up the bed. His tongue dipped into her naval, then large hands were sliding the wet red silk down toward her knees. When they cleared her toes, Randy lifted her hips, pressing a kiss into dark curls as she planted her heels on his broad shoulders.

He dropped a kiss lower, where his fingers had worked mere seconds before. Will clutched the sheet, her body jerking with sensations she couldn’t even name. With a tight grip on her ass, he sunk deep, his tongue reaching her core, and she panted and begged and whimpered what must have been incoherent gibberish.

Her body was no longer under her own control. She was at Randy’s command, responding to every stroke, every nudge, every need he drew from her. Her mind spiraled, her head nodding from side to side. The wave was too strong. Will felt herself going under seconds before a scream filled the air.

Her body clenched, jerked, thrashed, and then settled into a shaking mass atop tussled sheets that felt like a cloud against her skin. Will had never had an orgasm like that. Ever.

There was a ringing in her ears, and her teeth tingled. The world might have spun off its axis, she couldn’t be sure.

As the tension seeped away, replaced by a joyful, wilting feeling, she heard the sound of tearing paper. Looking down, she watched Randy slide the condom over his erection. She wasn’t sure when his underwear came off, but this first glimpse of what was to come, no pun intended, resulted in an odd and unexpected reaction.

She began to giggle.

After giving a woman a mind-blowing orgasm, Randy didn’t expect a fit of the giggles.

“I hope this means you’re happy with the night so far,” he said, sliding his knee between her thighs and dropping wet kisses across her shoulder. His body hovered at the breaking point, but he refused to crawl on top of a woman who was shaking with laughter.

Will coughed, tried to sober, then giggled some more. “I’m sorry,” she said through snorts and spurts. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I…You’re…” She seemed to be pointing at a specific part of his body, which was in danger of abandoning the party if she kept up the giggling.

“I’m what?” he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“Big,” she said, the giggles fading away to be replaced by one of the wickedest smiles he’d ever seen. That brought all parts back to the party.

“Well,” he hedged, ignoring the heat crawling up his neck. “I’m a big guy.”

Will’s smile grew wider. Pushing against his chest, she said, “And I’m a lucky girl.” Seconds later, she had him flat on his back, once again straddling his hips, hovering above him like a sexual witch teasing him with what might happen next.

Licking her lips, sapphire eyes locked with his as she slowly lowered onto him, taking him in, inch by inch, until he was sheathed to the hilt inside of her. Palms pressed against his chest, she lifted, moaning as she went, his hips bucking in response.

Placing a finger over his lips, she shook her head, sending waves of black swirling around her shoulders. “My turn,” she said, sliding down again.

Randy invoked every ounce of control to give her what she wanted. To let her ride him, setting the pace, rolling her hips in a way that threatened to snap the thin hold he had on his body.