Laid Out and Candle Lit (18 page)

Tizzy considered the invitation. “Okay. Sure. That sounds like fun. She’s gonna spend the night out here, so I’ll ask Mama and Daddy if they want to come, too.”

* * * * *

Tizzy spread three quilts on the ground. She and Gracie lay in the middle with Saint and Pattiecake on one side and Bubba and Rayann on the other. Stars in the clear night sky were suspended above them like shiny Christmas ornaments. Tizzy and Gracie softly sang
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
until they were interrupted.

She scowled and leaned in close so Gracie wouldn’t hear. “How can I ask you to sit somewhere else when Gracie wants you here? You’re getting good at putting me in the position of being the
bad guy.
First with the kitten and now this. Don’t think I’m not onto you, because I am.”

Lying back on the quilt, he smiled but didn’t say anything.

The sky exploded with color. Giant balls burst in mid-air sending multi-colored orbs falling toward the ground. Others sent silver streaks cascading out, like a giant glittering octopus. Rapid shots of color rose into the air and shattered the sky. The crowd joined in
ooh
s and
ahhs
with each blast.

When Ridge took her hand, she let him hold it for a brief moment before she pulled away. He rolled up on his elbow. “Tizzy, sooner or later you’re gonna have to talk to me. You can’t stay mad at me forever.”

She tried to keep her emotions in check. She simply didn’t have the strength left to fight with him anymore. Damn the azalea. Damn the kitten. Damn the cutesy rhyming names. Damn the way he looked in a swim suit. She jerked herself up and turned to Pattiecake. “Mama, I’m leaving. I’ll call tomorrow before I come to get Gracie.”

Pattiecake sat up and stuttered. “Oh. Okay. I put the disposable cameras in your car. They’re in a bag with some other things. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ve just lost my festive mood, that’s all.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

S
he’d only been in the house a few minutes when Ridge pulled into the drive. Her heart started to hammer, and a lump formed in the back of her throat at the thought of confrontation.

“Look, if you can honestly tell me you don’t feel anything for me . . . and nothing is happening between us, I’ll go. I’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you want.”

A silence as solid as the door hung between them.

“Okay. I understand. I won’t bother you anymore.”

Tizzy’s head was spinning. She’d only had one sexual partner in her life, but from the moment she met Ridge, a battle between desire and fear had raged inside her. She wanted him, but she was afraid . . . afraid she’d give him her heart and he’d leave with it . . . afraid of falling hopelessly in love with him, and he not love her back . . . or love her enough.

“Wait.” Her voice hitched. She leaned her head against the door and spoke barely above a whisper taking short shallow breaths, forcing the words out in gasps. “I think about you a hundred times a day . . . when you’re close to me . . . I forget how to breathe . . . I lie awake at night . . . and wonder how it’d feel to have the weight of you on me, or how sweet your mouth would taste if I kissed you.”

“Open the door, Tizzy. Open the damn door before I rip it off its hinges.”

She turned the lock. He stepped inside and swept her into his arms, and covered her mouth with his. He kissed her hard at first, then softly, causing her to lose her breath. Blood pulsed through her body and with that one deep, wet, lingering kiss, the battle was over. Fear was gone. Desire kicked its butt.

She should take him to her bed, but she couldn’t stop now if she tried. She was too eager, defenseless against her own need. She didn’t want to think anymore. She didn’t want to be reasonable or logical or a
good girl
. She wanted to be wild and wicked, to feel him, taste him, surrender to him. She ached for him to be inside her, every inch of him.

Fumbling to unbutton and unzip his pants, she tugged them down in one steady motion, then nudged him back.

She gazed into his eyes. They were molten, the pupils fixed on hers. His breath ragged, coming faster, his hands hot, sliding under her skirt. “Please don’t break my heart,” she said, breathing deeper.

He pulled her close and whispered. “I won’t. I swear I won’t.”

Lust rolled over her and she melted into him. She gasped, then gasped again as he ripped off her lace panties, the only remaining barrier between them. He backed her against the wall, trapped her body with his and she pressed against him even closer. She gave him her mouth and everything else she had.

He pushed inside her, and she pushed back, locked her legs around him, and met his thrusts with abandon. “Ridge . . . Ridge . . .” she softly whispered.

Speaking his name for the first time, she heard a moan come from deep in the back of his throat as he covered her lips with his, rougher this time. She felt him release and work to catch his breath. “Tizzy, I’m . . .”

She placed her hand to his mouth. “No . . . don’t . . . so help me, if you say you’re sorry, I’ll . . . I’ll . . . poke you in the eye and make you a pirate.”

They both broke into laughter. She turned her face to his and they kissed again and again. Softly. Sweetly. Passionately.

“Wow,” she gasped, her body limp against him.

He dragged his mouth from hers, moved soft kisses up her jaw, and nuzzled in her ear. “That wasn’t the way I wanted our first time to be.”

“I wanted it as much as you did,” she said, releasing her legs and bringing her feet to the floor. “Now, pull your pants up and come with me.” She grinned over her shoulder. “Because I’m not done with you.”

She pulled him into her bedroom. “Stand right here. Be still. Don’t talk.” She licked her lips and softly took his mouth.

Slowly she gathered each side of his tee-shirt in her hands. He raised his arms and she pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. Tiptoeing, she covered his face with kisses, trailing them to his throat, his chest, her hands followed, sliding across his skin.

“Today, when you were swimming, in my head I had a little fantasy about the two of us,” she said.

His reply came out in a ragged sigh. “What?”

She ran her tongue along the line of his collarbone. “You and me, naked, with only the moonlight.” She stepped around him, slid her hands across his back, and moved her face in so close her warm breath floated across his skin. “The two of us touching each other in forbidden places.”

He moaned. “Forbidden places?”

“Forbidden to everyone except each other. Our bodies pressed together with only water between us, and with you inside me. The only sound we hear is our breathing and pool waves lapping against us.” In front of him now, she slipped her hands around his neck and pressed her body against his.

He took her in his arms, kissed her soft, slow, and deep, and when their mouths parted, he slowly rimmed her lips with his tongue, making a full circle. She’d never been kissed like that and it caused every thought in her head to vaporize. To hell with world hunger. To hell with lost souls. To hell with getting her tires rotated.

She surrendered to him. She knew what she wanted. This was the man she’d waited for. And the waiting was over. She spun around and lifted her hair. He unzipped her dress, gently pushed the straps off her shoulders and feathered kisses at her neck. He unhooked her bra. She removed it and turned to face him, pressed her breasts against his chest, murmured his name against his lips, and shuddered at the thought of what was to come.

He stepped back and held her at arm’s length. His eyes moved from her head to her toes, stopping at important locations along the way.

Tizzy blushed. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Why not? I’ve thought about looking at you since the day we met,” he said, trailing his fingers down her breast. “God, you’re beautiful. Are you blushing?”

She ducked her head. “I can’t help it. No man has seen me naked in a long time. I’m a little out of practice.”

He took her hands and moved them to the top of his jeans, which were zipped, but not buttoned. “You’re in luck. I’m willing to let you practice on me all you want.”

She rested her head on his chest, unzipped his pants, found him hard again, and gently stroked him.

“Oh God, Tizzy,” he moaned.

This time would be different. They wouldn’t be rushed or desperate. It wouldn’t be just sex. This time would be intimate and deliberate. She trembled at her body’s response to his touch, the heat between her thighs, the rhythm of her heart pounding against her ribs, and her skin on fire.

He stepped away from her, lost the pants and pulled her close. When they fell onto the bed, she hit her head against the headboard.

He pulled her hips down the bed, her long brown hair fanned out across the pillow. He leaned over, framed her face in his hands and moved in for another kiss.

He relaxed his leg and rolled to face her. “Hell no. We’re naked. We’re in bed. We’re both hot.” He pulled his brows together. “You are still hot, aren’t you?”

“Not so much,” she said.

He angled his body between her legs, sat up on his knees, and stared down at her. “C’mon, Margie Lou, at least give me a chance to fix that.” He took both her hands in his, brought them to his mouth and kissed them. He pressed his lips to the pulse point on her wrist and kissed his way up the full length of her arm, to her shoulder, across her collar bone, up her neck, ending with her mouth, his lips soft and hot. “Am I making progress?” he whispered.

“Yes,” she gasped, her heart beginning to thunder again, her body going limp.

He nestled in her ear, spoke erotic things, took her other hand and repeated each move. He moved lower, his warm breath on her breast, his lips closed around her nipple, his tongue teased, taunted, driving her out of her mind, causing her to lose control.

Tizzy begged, her body writhing beneath him. “Please, Ridge.”

“No, not yet,” he said.

He moved his mouth to her other breast, circled the nipple with his tongue, and nipped gently with his lips. She cried out his name.

“Nuh-uh, not yet.”

Her heart raced now. She couldn’t think. She arched against him, clutched his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin, demanding he stop torturing her. “Please, Ridge. Please.”

“You’re absolutely sure?”

She gripped harder. “Yes, God yes.” Her mouth met his mouth. Her tongue played against his tongue. She took him inside her, locked her legs around him and lost herself to the passion.

The rise and fall of his body against hers pushed her deep into the down mattress. When she’d bought the bed, she’d never considered how it would feel to make love on it. But at this moment, trapped between mattress and man,
this man,
gave new meaning to Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed.