Take This Man (12 page)

“Stop
it,” he told her harshly. But it wasn’t the tone of Jason’s voice that shut Elyse
up. It was the pain she saw in his eyes.

He
must have realized how naked his expression was, because he looked away. “You
don’t hear me bad-mouthing your lover-boy, do you?” His voice was less rough
now as he tried to calm himself.

“No.
I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sorry because her remarks were untrue. Rather, she was
sorry they
were
true, and Jason knew it. The last thing Elyse wanted was
to rub salt in his wound.

She
leaned forward and took his hand, pressing it for comfort. “I guess I don’t
understand. How can you still want him, after the way he hurt you?”

He
let go a sigh. “I love him. That’s why. Couldn’t you forgive Adam?”

The
question was moot. Adam didn’t want forgiveness. He wanted an interlude of hot
sex and no strings, which was fine with Elyse. Sex was all she wanted, too.

Still
the question niggled at her.
Could
she forgive Adam, if it came to that?

She
had no answer.

****

That
evening Adam had a surprise for her.

“Well,
this is different.” Elyse watched as he opened the picnic basket he’d prepared.
“I never thought of having a picnic in the middle of right field.”

They
sat on a blanket Adam spread in the grass of the town baseball field. An
overcast gray sky threatened rain, meaning the field was deserted and they had the
place to themselves. “Can’t say I’m not inventive,” he told her.

“Why
not just go to the park?”

“People
walk their dogs there, we’d be taking too much of a chance. No animals allowed
here. And look how lush and green the lawn is.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
“How soft.”

Heat
raced through her as she caught his meaning, but she rolled her eyes. “Dream
on, dude.” She was just blowing smoke, because the thought of having Adam right
here made her sex pulse with excitement.

It
wouldn’t be the first time they’d had sex out in the open. As a matter of fact,
their most memorable public interlude had taken place at this very ball field,
right in the dugout. Elyse had been terrified they might be caught, and somehow
the danger made the experience more electrifying.

The
sex had been spectacular. But what she remembered most about that night was
telling Adam she loved him.

“You
don’t have to say it back,” she told him as she gently stroked his face. She straddled
his lap, in the darkened dugout, her clothing askew. Elyse hadn’t planned to
tell him how she felt, although she’d loved him for months. But tonight, as she
was panting and gasping in the midst of her climax, the words simply erupted
from her throat. “Oh, God, Adam! I love you!”

He
didn’t answer. But it was all right. Elyse knew how he felt—he just couldn’t
say the words. Were the words really so important when everything he did told
her how much he cared? The way he treated her, the way he touched her—those
were his “I love you.”

“I’m
not going to rush you,” she said. “I want you to know I’m not going anywhere. I’ll
be right here, and someday I know you’ll tell me that you love me, too.”

But
he never did.

“Elyse.”
Adam was holding out a plastic cup of wine.

She
took it and gulped a swallow. “Why are we here?”

He
seemed taken aback by her abrupt question. His hand hesitated as he spread some
soft cheese on a cracker. “You telling me you don’t remember?” He cut his eyes
at the baseball dugout.

Oh,
she remembered all right. And those memories brought nothing but pain and
confusion. She remembered it as the night she’d laid her heart out for him,
offering all the love she had.

And
all he remembered was a hot fuck.

They
said they’d leave the past alone, but here they were, revisiting it.

But
the past never really stays there
,
Elyse supposed.
It’s always with us wherever we go.

The
only way to banish old memories was to create new ones.

She
nodded at the cheese cracker Adam held between his thumb and forefinger. “That
for me?”

He
blinked. “Yeah. Sure.”

Elyse
took it, popped it into her mouth and chewed. “Mmm…” She swallowed, eyeing him
and licking her lips. “Tasty.”

He
watched her, the knob of his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as her tongue
swept over her lips.

“Elyse…”
His voice was thick. “There’s a reason I brought you here tonight…”

“Mmm-hmm,”
She murmured. She crawled across the blanket to him and knelt in front of him. “I’ll
bet there is. I’ll bet it’s the same thing I’m thinking about right now.” She
rubbed her hands over the soft cotton of the T-shirt covering his broad chest.

She
wasn’t about to let him know how the memory of that night hurt her. She’d never
give him that power over her again. He thought bringing her here would get her
hot and horny. Well, fine. She’d give him what he wanted, and get something for
herself as well.

Elyse
thrust her hands under his shirt, palming the warm skin and the crinkly hair on
his chest. He grasped her wrists. “I want to—”

“I
know. So do I.” She shut him up by clamping her mouth to his and pushing her
tongue inside. When she pulled away, they were both gasping for breath. “I want
to fuck. Come on.”

She
tugged his hand, and he got to his feet, following her like a robot as she led
him to the wire backstop behind home plate. It was too easy. Get a man hot, and
you could lead him anywhere by his dick.

“C’mere.”
Elyse leaned against the backstop and grabbed a handful of Adam’s shirt,
pulling him against her.

With
one hand tangled in his shirt and the other on his belt buckle, Elyse was in
charge. She intended to rid herself of those memories completely. Adam never
wanted to hear that she loved him—she’d been kidding herself. She’d been
stupid.

Well,
no more. This time with Adam was just about sex. She’d get him out of her
system, once and for all—even if she had to, as Jason put it, fuck him out.

“Elyse—”
He tried to speak, but she wouldn’t let him finish. She mashed her lips against
his angrily, as if to punish him. Why wasn’t she over him? Why couldn’t she let
him go?

“Shut
up,” she told him, her tone harsh. “Don’t talk.” Both hands were on his buckle
now, undoing it and unzipping his fly. “Do me. Do me right here.”

He
let go a ragged breath. His eyes ignited with lust and something else—anger?
But Elyse had no time to puzzle over it. Adam was grasping her breasts in his
big hands and kneading them, while his mouth ate at hers.

His
breath gusted her face. “This is what you want? Like this?”

“Yeah.”
She had worked his cock free of his briefs, and was stroking his velvety
hardness none too gently. “Just like that. Come on.”

His
hand was under her skirt, pulling aside the crotch of her panties, playing with
her slick pussy. “Mmm, so wet for me.”

“Yeah,”
Elyse panted, rubbing against his fingers. “Ah!” A mini-orgasm crackled through
her, an electric shock presaging more to come.

Pushing
up her shirt and bra, Adam tugged at the tight hard knots of her nipples. He
pinched one between his fingers while he sucked the other into his mouth, hard
at first, then gently, so gently. As Adam sweetly suckled her nipples, Elyse
felt herself growing melty and soft, like taffy in the sun.

“Now,”
she told him, pleading. “Please.”

“This
way.” He surprised her by whirling her around so she was facing the backstop,
her fingers clawing the wire fence. He bent her over, shoved her skirt above
her ass, and pulled down her panties. The panties impeded her from taking a
wide enough stance, so Adam simply tore a seam to let them slide down her leg.

Elyse
didn’t care. She was crazy with need and only cared about him getting inside
her. She wiggled her bare behind. “Come on.”

She
heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper, and then felt his latex-covered shaft
rubbing against her slippery heat. “Ah…”

“You
want this?” His breath was hot in her ear.

“Oh,
yeah.”

“Show
me.”

She
pushed back against his cock, urging him to thrust inside her. “Come on.” The
ache inside her grew and grew, an itch that so needed to be scratched it was
driving her insane.

“Tell
me,” he demanded.

“Put
your hard cock in me,” she panted. “I need it. I need it, Adam!”

“Oh,
yeah.” In one glorious thrust, he was home. They both groaned at the sensation.
Elyse was in heaven, chock full of him. Her inner muscles rippled around him,
holding him tight.

A
cold wet drop fell on her neck. Rain? She was surprised it didn’t sizzle into
steam as it landed on her hot skin.

“Yeah,”
he repeated, sighing. “Your pussy’s so wet for me, baby. I love it.”

Elyse’s
voice was hoarse. “Now you got it in there, make it work, stud.” She lifted her
head, and a few more random raindrops plopped onto her face.

“With
pleasure.” Grasping her hips, he pumped in and out with vigor. He was gripping
her so tightly, Elyse knew she’d find bruises on her skin tomorrow. Her head
drooped on her neck as he pounded her. The rain fell gently now, steadily, but
she hardly noticed as her need burned hotter and hotter.

“You
close?” he asked, his breath gusting her neck.

“Yes…”

“I’m
gonna blow. Rub your clit, come with me.”

One
hand clutched the wire backstop as she moved the other between her legs. She
touched her swollen clit, which was tingling with need. In no time at all she
toppled into orgasm, the ripples shivering through her. Only Adam’s hands kept
her from collapsing onto the ground. He came right after her, his legs
trembling and his cock pulsing inside her.

Elyse
sagged against the backstop, Adam leaning into her from behind, both of them
breathing hard.

“You’re
squashing me,” she finally laughed. They were both wet, their clothing clinging
to them.

“Sorry.”
He slipped out of her and pulled away, removing the used rubber and letting it
fall on the grass. Elyse stepped out of what used to be her panties, looking at
the two items on the dirt—they told quite a story.

“Let’s
leave them there.” Adam wore a wicked grin as he pushed wet hair back from his
face. “Give whoever finds them something to talk about.”

He
sounded like a horny teenager. It was up to Elyse to be the responsible one. “No,
that’s gross. What if it’s kids who come along?”

She
straightened her clothes and used the panties to pick up and wrap the condom.
As she deposited them deep into a trash bin, rain suddenly began sluicing down
from the sky. Elyse screamed and Adam swore, laughing at the same time. He ran
to grab their basket and blanket while she raced for the truck, screaming again
when she found he’d locked the doors.

They
were both laughing and cursing by the time they tumbled, soaked to the skin,
into the truck’s cab.

Adam
kissed Elyse’s cold wet lips, and licked the rain from her throat. “Mmm. You
taste good.” Then he frowned. “You’re shivering.”

“It’s
a good shiver,” she assured him.

All
the same, he turned on the heat and handed her the blanket to use as a
makeshift towel. “Here. Dry off.”

She
patted off most of the wetness, then dried him as well. As she toweled his
face, he wore a lopsided smile. “Well, that was some picnic,” he said. “Pretty
suckworthy planning on my part. Should have checked the Weather Channel, huh?”

“What
are you talking about? I think it was very…memorable.” She gave him a playfully
sultry look. “And there’s no reason we can’t finish it up right here.” She
placed the basket on her lap.

“Elyse…”
His expression was serious again, and her heart fluttered. No. She didn’t want
serious. She wanted light and fun, period. Light and fun and sexy.

“Ssshhh,”
she told him, to forestall whatever it was he wanted to say. She took something
from the basket popped it into his mouth. “Have a cracker.”

Chapter
Nine

They’d
had a quiet evening when they returned from the ballpark, and the next morning
Elyse was still sleeping—or pretending to sleep—when Adam left for work. Adam
wouldn’t put it past her, trying to fake him out. She’d done everything
possible yesterday to avoid a serious conversation with him. He wasn’t
stupid—he knew Elyse was using sex to keep him at arm’s length. Not that he was
making it hard for her. That was the problem.
He
was hard for her,
anytime, anywhere.

But
there was a lot more to it. He loved her. It wasn’t a sudden realization. When
she left him two years ago, he knew exactly what he’d lost. Sure, he tried to
hide from it with anger and cynicism, shooting off his mouth and being an
asshole. But Matthew had seen through it and so had Kim. He’d only been fooling
himself.