Seducing Cinderella (13 page)

Digging his fingers into the flesh of her cheeks, he hoisted her up, deftly moved her underwear aside, and drove himself in to the hilt. Lucie buried her face in his neck and clamped down on her bottom lip as darts of pleasure shot through her center. Immediately he retreated and thrust forward, setting a feverish pace that felt necessary for their survival.

The mineral scents of wet stone mixed with the floral scent of her drenched hair and the spicy cologne on Reid’s shirt. The sounds of rumbling clouds and rain pelting the world around them wrapped them in an elemental cocoon and almost made her believe they were the only two people on earth.

His mouth ravaged her lips, her jawline, her throat, her shoulder. The tips of his fingers gripped at the edges of where he penetrated her, his large hands spreading her apart to allow him as deep as he could go.

She dug her nails into his nape, mimicking the bite of the bricks at her back. Rain streamed down their faces, yet they didn’t blink as they stared into each other’s eyes, connecting their souls as he connected their bodies. In a million years she could never think of another man when she was with Reid. She wasn’t capable of thinking at all when she was in his arms.

Everything melted away except this moment, this man who had the power to consume her until nothing mattered but the way he filled her, stretched her…completed her.

All too fast she felt her climax bearing down on her. She didn’t want this to end. She wanted it to go on forever. Clenching her teeth she tried to hold it back, but it kept building and building.

“Let it go, baby. I want to feel you squeezing my cock. Come for me,” he growled.

In another half a dozen strokes his teeth clamped down where her neck met her shoulder and she lost her last thread of control. They came together in a cataclysmic explosion. He roared like the feral beast he’d become in the dark alley as he spilled his hot seed into her clenching sex.

Lucie shattered into a million pieces, dancing in the thunderous clouds above for a time before falling with the rain back to earth…back to Reid.

When they’d caught their breath, he gently lowered her to the ground, keeping his arms around her until he was sure her legs would hold. He cupped her cheek, kissed her lips, and said, “Let’s go home and get you out of the rain, hmm?”

She gave him a small smile and nodded. “What about the drawing? It’ll get ruined in the rain.”

“We can leave it here and pick it up another day. Come on. I’ll get you into a hot shower and then into bed.”

She arched a saucy eyebrow in his direction. “You didn’t get enough just now?”

Grinning he said, “I don’t think I could ever get enough of you, Lucie, but no, that’s not what I meant. I want to take you back, take care of you, and tuck you into your warm bed so I can hold you until the sun comes up.”

“Oh.” A sarcastic retort. A perverted line. An unsavory joke. Any of those things would’ve been the response she expected from him. But never something that made her insides turn to complete mush.

He locked the studio, kissed the top of her head, and tucked her into his side as they made their way back to the car.

Was it possible to physically feel the moment you lost your heart to someone? Because Lucie was fairly sure she’d just lost hers, and the spot where it should have been literally hurt.

Chapter Fifteen

“Thanks, Fritz. Run me a tab will ya?”

The man winked in response before attending the next bar patron as Lucie grabbed the large glasses of beer and carried them to the booth in the back corner of the room. Vanessa was on her cell, arguing with someone as usual.

“Absolutely not. I don’t care what they’re offering, we’re not settling. Look, I’m entering a very important meeting right now so I’ll call you tomorrow. Uh-huh, buh-bye.” Tossing her wild curls over a shoulder she dropped her phone unceremoniously into her purse with a dramatic exhale of relief as they performed their habitual clinking of drinks and toast to their health. “So what’s up? You haven’t called an EDM since you were freaked out about finals senior year.”

True. Usually Vanessa was the one calling for an Emergency Drinks Meeting due to her latest drama, whether personal or professional. She had a flair for melodrama, which made her amazing to watch in a courtroom, but it also meant she was either riding the highs life had to offer or drowning in the inevitable lows. Lucie had always been the even-keeled one. Yet another way they balanced each other out.

Lucie took another drink to bolster her courage and then voiced her problem aloud for the first time since it had wormed its way into her head. “I think I’m falling for Reid.”

Her friend let out an obnoxious whoop like she’d just won a few hundred bucks on a scratch-off she expected to be worth nothing. “I thought you said something was wrong, but this is awesome! Congratulations, honey, he is one fine male specimen. Mm-mm-mm. What’s he like in bed? I bet he’s fantastic, right? Damn! I want every last detail, including length, girth, and if it hooks to the side.”

“For the love of God, will you please lower your voice?” Lucie hissed. “I am
not
giving you any details of his anatomy.”

Cue gigantic, pleading kitty-cat eyes. “Don’t make me beg, Lucie. The men in this town aren’t even worth the effort to tear the foil wrapper off a condom, much less talk about the disappointment afterward. You have to tell me what it’s like to ride a stallion like him.”

Lucie clapped a hand over her nose and mouth until she’d successfully swallowed her beer without choking on it. “What makes you even think we had sex?”

“Now you’re insulting my intelligence.”

She snorted. “More like your freaky sixth sense.”

Vanessa shrugged. “Tomato, tomahto. C’mon, give me
some
thing.”

Glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping she said, “Yeah, okay. We’ve…”

“Screwed like rabbits?”

“Been intimate,” Lucie said with a quelling look. “And it was…”

“Phenomenal, out of this world, good enough to make you instantly bend over and grab your ankles every time he looks at you?”

Lucie stared with mouth open and eyes wide. “That was a little over the top, even for you, Nessie.”

“Sorry, I got carried away. Continue.”

“It was wonderful.”

Vanessa screwed up her face like she’d just swallowed stale beer. “Wonderful? You can’t come up with a better adjective than wonderful?”

Lucie gazed at the ceiling in thought for a moment, then back at the crestfallen woman across from her. “Nope. It really was wonderful, in the true sense of the word.”

“Okay, fine, I get it. I need to wait till you’re drunk before I’ll get any of the good stuff out of you.” Lucie laughed and thanked Fritz’s daughter when she brought their next round just as they were finishing the others. “So why is it a bad thing you’re falling for Reid? I must be missing something because I don’t see any evidence to support that theory.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve only hung out with the guy a couple of times, but we both know I’m an excellent judge of character. The guy is full of win.” Holding up her left hand she started ticking off character traits on her fingers. “Insanely attractive, funny, charming, rich, insanely attractive, successful, friends with your brother, and he obviously carries a torch for you. Did I mention insanely attractive?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she said wryly. “And what’s with the torch thing? It sounds like something my grandmother would’ve said.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “First I’m too lewd for you, now I’m too prim. Fine, the guy obviously has a hard-on for you. Is that better?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect. Just what I want is a guy who likes me for a little easy side action.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said, her green eyes softening. “I see how he looks at you. He’s totally into you. Like,
really
into you. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he—”

Lucie held her hand up. “Don’t. Don’t say it because he doesn’t. It’s not like that for him.”

“How do you know?”

Leaning back against the high back of the booth she met her friend’s determined stare. “Come on, Nessie, you’re not my mother. You don’t need to soothe my ego. Men like Reid Andrews don’t fall for girls like me.”

“Why is it so hard for you to believe you’re worthy of a good man’s love? You’re the most beautiful person I know, inside
and
out. He’d be a fool not to fall for you.”

Lucie lifted her glass and took several large swallows. Could Vanessa be right? Could Reid really have feelings for her? She thought back over the last few weeks, her mind cataloging things into columns. Things a friend would do versus things a lover would do. The lover column was filling up fast with the friend column sitting pathetically low. Butterflies took flight deep in her belly as she looked up to see a smug grin on Nessie’s face.

She shook her head. “Even if you’re right, how can it work? We’re total opposites. I’ve done that before, remember?”

“No,” she said leaning forward for emphasis, “what you did was get involved with a jackass who didn’t truly love anyone but himself. The relationship failed because the douchebag couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, Lucie, not because he liked saving cows and you liked eating them.”

“Amen, Red!” Fritz slammed down a fresh round of beers and braced his fists on the table. “I never could stand that pansy-ass, tree-huggin’ nancy.” He shook a thick, arthritic finger at both of them as he spoke. “Never trust a man if he don’t at least drink beer. A man that only drinks things ending in ‘tini’ ain’t really a man. He might as well be announcing the size of his pecker as he is ordering a drink, if you know what I’m gettin’ at.”

The girls laughed and thanked him for the sound advice, assuring him they’d hold every man to that wisdom from now on.

“Well, all right then. This one’s on me, long as you gimme some sugar.” The old man leaned down so they could each plant a loud, smacking kiss on his cheeks covered in white stubble. Standing up he said, “Now that’s a perfect way to end the night. I’mma let Michelle close up tonight and head on upstairs. You gals behave, y’hear?”

After they promised and bid him goodnight, Lucie turned to Vanessa with equal parts excitement, terror, and determination. “Okay, tell me what to do.”

Vanessa’s green eyes seemed to literally spark with mischief and a corner of her mouth hitched up. “He’s been giving you seduction lessons, right?”

“Yeah,” Lucie answered warily.

“So it’s simple.” Vanessa placed her arms on the table in front of her and leaned in. “You go home, put those lessons to good use, and show the teacher just how good of a student you really are.”

…

Reid pulled the door open to his old gym and walked through slowly. The tangle of emotions brought on by the familiar smells and sounds transported him to an earlier time. A time when he was young and under his father’s thumb.

“What the hell’s the matter with you? For the last goddamn time,
get your hands up
!”

The echo of his father’s voice in the large, open space acted like an overdose of lactic acid in his muscles, causing tension and pain. He followed the sound of mumbled gripes to a ring where it looked like a high school kid was sparring with a guy who could’ve been the center of a college football team.

“Watch his take down! He’s gonna go for—” The bigger guy shot at the kid’s lower body, wrapped his arms around his hips, and tackled him to the mat. Stan Andrews called a time out and the fighters broke apart, one sucking in labored breaths, the other looking bored. “For fuck’s sake, Peterson, why do I even bother with you?”

“Sorry, Coach,” the kid said, lowering his eyes to the mat.

“Still busting balls I see,” Reid said through a tight jaw.

His old man’s head didn’t move much, but his eyes cut over and narrowed on his only son like he was sizing up an enemy before he finally straightened, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, well, if it ain’t the prodigal son.”

“It’s been a while since you’ve read the Bible, Pop. The prodigal son returns home after leading a misguided life and begs for his father’s forgiveness. I’m not returning. Just visiting. And all I’ve ever done was lead the life you trained me for so I have no reason to apologize.”

“Oh, you don’t, do you? How about apologizing for taking everything I gave you—all the knowledge, all the training, all the dedication—and leaving me behind while you live your big life in the big leagues.”

“I didn’t leave you behind,” Reid argued. “I offered for you to come live out there with me. I have a large guesthouse you can have all to yourself. You turned it down.”

Stan scoffed. “Live out there as what? A retired has-been fighter living off his son’s charity? No thanks. I shoulda been your manager.”

Reid worked his jaw and repeated a calming mantra in his head several times before allowing himself to speak again. “Look, I didn’t come here to argue. I was in the area and thought I’d say hi—talk—but if you’re too busy that’s fine, too.”

After a minute or two of staring at each other, his dad finally showed signs of life. “Peterson. Grady. Hit the bags for a while. You,” he said pointing at Reid, “come with me.”

Reid followed his dad into the small office consisting of a worn metal desk and a couple of folding chairs in front of it. Stan sat behind the desk in the beat-up vinyl chair sporting several strips of silver duct tape to hold torn edges together. Reid spun one of the chairs around and straddled it, laying his forearms on the back. Everything in him told him to get up and leave. He knew he wasn’t going to get any warm and fuzzies from his father. At least, that’s how things would’ve gone years ago. Maybe his father had softened over the years.

Yeah, and maybe his mom would walk through the door and say how she hadn’t meant to leave them like a pair of shoes she no longer cared about.

One of the things his father had taught Reid was to analyze people’s body language. If you paid attention to that—whether in a fight or out of one—you could almost always anticipate your opponent’s next move or how they’d react to yours.

The older man leaned back in the chair and folded his arms over his barrel chest. He was guarded and unhappy about his son’s surprise visit. “So why’re you here? I’m sure you’re not looking for any pointers with all them fancy trainers you have back in Vegas. You come to gloat about your success?”

“Geez, Pop, can’t you just drop your resentment of life for one fucking minute?” When all he did was scoff, Reid took a deep breath and tried for civil. “I have a fight coming up. It’s a title fight to win my belt back from Diaz.”

“Yeah. I know all about it.” Stan gestured toward Reid’s arm. “Shoulder healed?”

The fact that his father knew about his fight and his injury shouldn’t surprise him. Being an active coach it only made sense that he still followed the sport. But damn if that little kid inside of Reid didn’t swell with pride at knowing his dad was up-to-date on his life. Stupid kid.

“Yeah, almost a hundred percent. I’ve been working with a really great PT. She’s worked fucking miracles with it. Actually, you know who she is. Lucie, Jackson Maris’s little sister. Remember her?”

Reid was taking a chance bringing up the Maris family for any reason with his father. Since Reid had spent any spare time he had at Jackson’s house, the relationship between the adults had been strained to say the least.

His dad stroked the stubble on his jaw with one hand as he thought back. Then he grunted. “Quiet little thing. Kinda gangly and awkward if memory serves.”

“Not anymore,” Reid said with a half smile. “She’s gorgeous, not to mention totally amazing. But, yeah, that’s the one.”

Stan leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “You fucking love her or something?”

“No, it’s not like that. I mean, yeah, I really care for her—” Reid cursed on an exhale. “I was thinking about maybe trying to do the whole relationship thing. See where it leads.”

Stan jabbed a finger in his direction. “Now you listen to me, boy. You might be in the twilight of your career, but I’ll be damned if you haven’t managed to stay on top with as old as you are. You’d be a fucking idiot to throw that away for a woman.”

Reid stared his old man down and kept his jaw clenched tight to avoid yelling and causing a scene. “I’m not throwing anything away. There are plenty of guys that manage to have relationships while having careers in the UFC. Some are even married.”

“And how many of those”—he actually paused to make air quotes around the next word—“
relationships
actually last? I’ll tell you right now, there’s only two kinds of women out there. The kind that love the lifestyle, the publicity, the traveling. It’s what they crave and it offsets all the shit they have to put up with to have it. But as soon as it’s gone, so are they.