Love Lust (7 page)

I hung up. What the hell would I say? Of course, now he’d show a missed call from me and what had his outgoing message said? Screw it. I redialed. I listened. “…my old number, it’s going to change. L.A., baby.”

Shit.

Beep. “Hey handsome. It’s Liv. So, LA, huh? Nice. Still Vegas for me. Well, except for the next few days. Road trip to New Mexico. Anyhow, sorry I had to leave the other night. Paula needed me. Okay. I’m babbling. Catch you later.”

I hung up and smacked my forehead. “Damnit, Liv. Way to sound a fool. What happened to cool and intriguing?”

Too late now. I stared at the sky a minute, got my act together, and returned to find Dr. Santos walking Paula out. He handed her a paper. She thanked him and hooked her arm into mine, leading me to the car.

“What’d I miss?”

“Liv Starr, you and I are going to be a-okay, chica. Now, let’s find Justin. And a good gay bar.

Chapter Seven

Justin called back.

My stomach leapt up my throat, sending little tickles of adrenaline through my limbs. My hands shook. I set down my Corona and answered.

“Hey, sexy,” Justin said. “I got your message. How are you? Better yet, where are you?”

I chuckled, that exquisite feeling that trails possibility lighting through me. “Where are we again, Paula?” I ran my hand over my knee.

“Pinkie’s.” Paula grinned from ear to ear. “And not a single beauty in sight.”

I ignored her, but apparently, Justin couldn’t. “Pinkie’s?” he asked.

I suppose Paula had said the name loud enough. But my stomach wound up. “Yeah. This bar we found. More Paula’s flavor than mine,” I said, all at once jumping to the conclusions that he might be
jumping to as well. Was I gay? Was I with Paula? “What are you up to?” Sounded too casual. Forced. Damn it.

“Just pulling off the freeway, actually.”

“Hope you have your earpiece in. I hear it’s a wicked fine if you get stopped talking on your cell phone in Cali.” I was fishing hard.

“Nah. Besides, I like a little danger.”

No bite on the “Cali” bait. I scrambled through my muddled thoughts for something brilliant, something sexy to say, but my nerves were too tightly bundled. The fact that Paula kept making smoochy make-out faces at her beer, tongue and all, didn’t help matters. “Sorry about leaving like I did.”

“Don’t worry. I actually thought you might sneak off.” He paused. I heard an engine rev, some tires chirp. “It’s why I haven’t called you. I figured you needed space. Maybe you follow that whole three-day rule or whatever it is nowadays.”

“Three-day rule? Only guys do that,”
I said and had to wonder why my heart’s tempo went staccato.

“Some.” The engine went quiet.

“I’m at my stop. Can I talk to you in a minute?”

Paula stuck her tongue down the beer’s throat.

“Uh, yeah. Of course,” I said. “Absolutely.”

The line went dead and I dropped my head into my hand. Fuck! I totally blew it. Where the hell had my sexy gone? My cool?

“Straighten up and sit pretty fast, Liv.”

I looked up at Paula who had her eyes focused past my shoulder. “If you’ve spotted someone you think will interest me, forget it. I don’t want someone else.”

“Good to know,” a deep, masculine voice said, sending familiar shivers through me.

I spun in my chair, warm in all the right places, hot in my cheeks. “Justin!”

“Hey, you.” He sidled up to the high top table, introducing himself to Paula. She gave me that telling look of friends in the know the world over. I could’ve kicked her under the table. “So, what brings you two out to Santa Fe, aside from stalking me?”

I choked on my gulp of beer, spewing it over the table. I tried to explain, but the words came out as coughing nonsense. My throat burned.

“I had a job offer and Liv came out with me to check it out,” Paula said.

“Oh? And? How do you like it?”

My body grew hyperaware of him. The warmth of his shoulder touching mine. His cologne mingled with the scent of his essence. The way, inch by inch, he seemed to stand closer to me.

“It’s not really my speed. I turned down the offer.”

“It’s an acquired taste. So. When are you heading back?” he directed this at me, his gaze burning with intensity.

Paula shrugged. “Whenever.”

I licked my lips, tasting the lime from the beer. He watched. Unspoken questions seemed to pass between us. Was this okay that I was here? That he was? Were we scaring each other off? Or, did he get the strange feeling deep inside, too, that this might be meant to happen? Fated.

I tried to shake off the silly notion. Fate didn’t include digging around for a license in the dark then driving hundreds of miles to accidentally meet. But, he had said on his voicemail that he’d moved. Maybe it could be that he was meant for me.

Paula cleared her throat, making it obvious Justin and I had been doing little more than staring into each other’s eyes, grinning. “Another round?” she asked.

Justin and I nodded and the second she left for the bar, his mouth came down on mine. His kiss was fevered and hungry. I thrilled over it. And my last worries about appearing desperate fled to the recesses of my lust-fogged mind. I didn’t care any longer. He was here and he wanted me again and that was all my body and my naïve heart cared about.

He broke our kiss. “Stay with me,” he said.

I nodded, my hands finding the edge of his shirt and climbing under the material. His skin was hot and smooth. The muscles twitched under my touch. I kissed him, demandingly, entwining my tongue with his, breathing in his breath.

Paula returned and Justin excused himself to the restroom, though I suspected he was allowing Paula and me a moment to talk. “He asked me to stay the night.”

“Of course he did. And you should. He totally adores you, Liv. I’m really glad we came, though Dr. Santos turned out to be less of an answer than I’d hoped.” She put her hand over mine. “You should go. I’ll be fine. Call me in the morning and let me know what’s up, okay?”

Justin returned, giving me a glimpse of his swagger. My body zinged in anticipation. He returned to my side, pressing his shoulder to mine again. “You’re sure?” I asked, remembering the last time she said she’d be fine.

“One hundred percent. I’ll be good. Promise. Don’t worry, I have something to occupy my time.”

It was then that I remembered I hadn’t asked her about the paper Dr. Santos had handed her. I’d meant to. Despite not wanting to hear any more bad news, or long shots, I’d told myself I’d at least find out what had occurred after I’d walked out. Justin moved to leave. I hesitated.

As if she could see my thoughts, Paula shook her head. “Liv, it’ll wait. He won’t.”

Twenty minutes later, Justin walked me through his high-rise condo. “I’m beginning to suspect that driver wasn’t Garette’s at all.”

Justin chuckled, tugging me along by the hand. “Nah. It was his. Don’t be fooled. It’s just stuff. It isn’t what really matters.”

“Yeah. It’s nice stuff. Expensive stuff.” The view alone should require payment. The city lights blossoming to life as the sun set, staining the sky in molten golds and ruddy pinks.

“Impressed? Intimidated?” His tone was joking, but something in his expression told me my answer mattered.

I shrugged. “It could be a shack.”

His broad smile expressed how much he liked my answer. My chest tingled with happiness. My heart clutched. The lust climbed. I wanted him and now it went beyond the physical. I wanted to see that smile over and over again.

He pulled me close, dimmed his bedroom light so that the tall window view of lights became our light. He undressed me slowly, letting his fingers tickle my skin. Then he undressed himself. I soaked in the long, lean muscled picture he presented. Small fears whispered through me. Fear I wouldn’t get to keep him. Fear he couldn’t love me. Fear distance would bar us from becoming more. I quashed them easily, the beast of my lust taking hold and caring for little else.

I went to my knees, my mouth salivating at the sight of his big cock. He stopped me, pulling me to my feet. “This time, I get to drive.”

I tipped my head. “Oh?”

He winked as he put me onto the bed and retrieved a length of satiny material. He tied me up. “Don’t worry. I know exactly where I’m going.”

My hands bound above my head, Justin parted my legs and positioned between them. The wicked look in his eyes sent tremors of delight through me. “Uh-oh,” I said. “You look like you have something planned.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Yes! But no. Though my imagination did somersaults through porn paradise, I loved the mystery. “Am I being punished?”

“Nope,” he said and trailed his fingers down my legs to the tips of my toes. “No hints.”

He picked one foot up and glanced over it, appreciation shining in his eyes. “You have gorgeous feet. Anyone ever tell you that?”

A small pang ran through my chest. “My mom never gave me one of those birds and bees talks. She sat me down and said, ‘Liv, honey, always paint your toenails. Feet say a lot about a woman. Make yours pretty.’”

He chuckled. “Smart mom.” He brought my toes to his lips and kissed each one. The tickle wasn’t enough to make me giggle. Instead it sent a frisson up the back of my leg. I kept my breathing and gaze steady. Desire made his eyelids heavy, made the blue orbs darker.

I nodded. “She was a good mom.”

His tongue flicked out, licking between two toes. A shock of delight ran up my thighs. I gasped. “What are we going to do about this, Liv?”

I wet my lips, mesmerized by his mouth. “About what?”

He took two middle toes into his mouth and rolled his tongue over them, gently sucking. I closed my eyes, my head fell back. God that felt exquisite. How had I never had my toes kissed before? Justin stopped. I opened my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

His wicked grin grew wider. “Keep watching me.”

The low, sexy words poured a new layer of desire over my senses, drenching me in pure lust. My hungry libido languorously ate up each detail. I obeyed his command and watched. He moved to my other foot, laving his tongue over my toes and arch in twisting patterns. Every erotic lick and touch pushed reality farther away.

His attentions moved up to my ankle, then the back of my knee. By the time he got halfway up my thigh, I was a bundle of desire, ready to burst, and he stopped. “You closed your eyes,” he softly scolded. “And you haven’t answered my question.”

I forced my eyes not to roll back as he returned to nuzzle my inner thigh. “What was the question again?”

He nipped me. “Bad girl. Not paying attention.”

I moaned, writhing. Trying to get my aching pussy closer to his mouth. He only grinned that delectable naughty boy grin of his and waited. I fought to recall what he’d asked. Oh, the what shall we do one. The memory must have registered on my face because he nodded. “So, Liv, what’s your answer?”

The talking and the waiting that normally would have ebbed my desire, only made it flood over. I nudged him upward, trying to tangle my legs around him and coax him closer. He laughed. “Justin, you’re killing me. Please.” I wrestled with the restraints to no avail and the fact that he’d done such a good job titillated me further.

He slowly licked up my leg, past the midpoint, closer and closer and I struggled against the urge to shut my eyes and buck my hips. His eyes held to mine and I saw something fierce, something beyond want, burning in them. He wanted my answer. “I want you,” I said and I meant more than the primal lust coursing through my limbs, clouding my thoughts. “I want more. And I don’t know what we’re going to do about this, but I know I want more.” I swallowed back the lump forming in my throat. “More of you.”

He didn’t smile. He didn’t blink. But the change in his expression spoke volumes. “Good.”

My reward was his mouth’s slow descent upon my aching, wet pussy. The heat and softness of his tongue made me jerk. His hands lifted my legs, thumbs edging so close to where his mouth traced circles spiraling inward toward the core of my sex, where desire beat hot and hard and ready to explode.

Justin moved to my clit, suckling it into his mouth, releasing it with loud wet sounds that drove my head back and my hips up. I didn’t care. I couldn’t keep watching. The pleasure was like a current pulling my attention under.

But he stopped again and I had to. “Watch me, baby. I want to see it in your eyes when you cum in my mouth.”

I half gasped, half yelped. His damned voice was so freaking sensual and, combined with the possessive light in his eyes, I was lost to reason. His mouth and eyes had enslaved me.

“Say please,” he whispered, bringing his finger to my trembling portal.

“Please,” I breathed.

“I want you, too,” he said. “I want more, too.” His finger stroked into my hot flesh. “Don’t be scared.”

I wasn’t. Was I? He drew his finger out. Back in, driving sure swift pleasure into me. How could I be scared of this? My hunger near replete, my heart near spinning, my hopes high. He could be the one. What would I ever be scared of?

Somewhere deep down the answer hid. But I was lost to pure, sweet sensation. Justin paused before I climaxed only long enough to slip his big cock into my swollen pussy. His mouth came down hard on mine. I returned his kiss with equal fervor, wobbling on the edge of oblivion. With one hand, he untied mine and pulled my arms over his head. Again and again, he drove into me. I shut my eyes and cried out against his neck. “Oh, God, Justin. Yes. Oh, God, yes.”