Chapter Thirteen
“You sure you’re up to this?” Lexi stopped outside the restaurant.
He smiled. “I think I can handle it.”
She bit her lip, uncertain. “They’re gonna ask questions, you understand?” If she could’ve canceled the dinner plans, she would have.
“We’ll answer them.”
She wasn’t convinced. “They’re persistent.” Damn persistent. Leona had insisted she come tonight.
He laughed out loud. “We’ll do fine.”
“You don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Well…okay then. I suppose.”
“Lexi, it’s dinner, not the Spanish Inquisition.”
It might as well have been. Lexi was a bundle of nerves. She hadn’t told Daniel about Adam. What would she have said? Oh, by the way, I accidentally slept with your friend a few weeks ago? She hadn’t told Leona, either, for the same reason. Lee—remember how I said I didn’t meet Mr. Riley at the conference? Well…actually…
There’d be a deluge of questions at dinner. How would she deal with them? Should she come out with it and tell them all she’d fallen crazy, head over heels in love with him? Tell them that their spontaneous weekend away had been so incredible she had no choice? Tell them that Adam had bared his soul, and she’d given him hers in return? Probably not. She’d probably need to tell Adam all of that first.
Maybe she’d keep quiet and see where the conversation led.
“Come on then,” she said, resigned to her fate. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Daniel stood as they reached the table and shook Adam’s hand. “Lex, AJ. Good to see you.” He looked at Lexi with a raised eyebrow before introducing Adam to Amy, Leona, and Leona’s girlfriend, Annie.
Amy smiled at him. “I remember you from our wedding. Is that where you and Lexi met?”
“No. We met in Melbourne.”
“You did?” Leona shot Lexi a surprised look.
“Well, uh, we kind of bumped into each other there. I tripped and AJ caught me before I fell on my face. I didn’t know he was the man I’d been looking for.”
Amy’s eyes danced. “All your life?”
“No.” She shot her sister-in-law the evil eye. “For the previous six weeks.”
Amy bit her lips and tried unsuccessfully not to smile.
“Why were you looking for him?” Daniel asked.
“She wanted money,” Leona supplied helpfully.
“For what?” Annie asked.
“The sibling program.”
The four of them nodded in understanding.
“So,” Amy thought aloud, “you’d been looking for a man you’d never met before to ask him for money.”
“That sounds like my sister,” Daniel said. “She’s not shy, is she?”
Adam’s smile was unmistakable. “No,” he agreed, “she’s not shy at all.”
Heat crept into her cheeks.
“I hope she asked nicely,” Leona said to Adam. “She’s been known to shoot her mouth off.”
“I noticed that about her.” Adam pulled a chair out for Lexi.
“Should I leave so you can talk about me in private?” Lexi asked.
“No need,” Daniel assured her. “We can talk as easily with you here.”
Lexi humphed and sat beside Amy.
“So, AJ, how did she convince you to give her the money?” Leona wanted to know.
Adam took the seat on Lexi’s other side. “Let’s say she knew which strings to pull.” Under cover of the tablecloth, away from inquisitive eyes, he placed his hand on her thigh.
“Yeah, she’s good at that,” Daniel commiserated. “Talked me into doing the exhibition in about two minutes flat.”
“Hey, don’t complain,” Lexi warned. “The exhibition was a great opportunity for your career.”
Daniel looked at Amy. “I’m not complaining. The exhibition was a great opportunity, period.” The two of them shared an intimate, sexy smile.
The same kind of smile that Lexi and Adam had shared at sunset in the mountains. He was thinking of it, too. She knew because he squeezed her thigh gently and smiled at her.
“Were you at the exhibition, AJ?” Annie asked.
“I was. But not for long.”
“Long enough to buy a few photos,” Daniel said.
Amy leaned in close and, without disrupting the conversation, said softly to Lexi, “He’s hot.”
“I know.” Hot with a capital H.
“I watched the two of you at the wedding.”
“Oh. Why?”
“You were arguing.”
“You noticed that?”
“Sparks were flying all over the place, Lex. It was hard not to notice.”
So much for trying to be discreet.
“From where I stood, I figured the argument would end one of two ways. You were either gonna kill him or sleep with him.” Amy grinned. “Dan and I took a bet on our honeymoon. My money was on the latter.”
“You took a bet?” she repeated, a little stunned.
Daniel leaned over his wife and whispered, “I had ten bucks riding on your killing him.”
Lexi shook her head in wonder. “You had nothing better to do on your honeymoon than make wagers on my sex life?”
Daniel grinned. “Oh, we found a minute or two to do other things.”
“Hey, what are you being so secretive about over there?” Leona asked.
“Amy and Daniel were telling me how they…struggled to find anything constructive to do on their honeymoon,” Lexi answered.
“Oh yeah,” Annie said with a laugh, “there’s a real dilemma for you.”
“Where did you go?” Adam brushed his hand along Lexi’s thigh.
“Hayman Island,” Daniel answered.
Lexi couldn’t suppress the delicious shiver that danced across her leg.
“I believe it’s beautiful there,” Adam said.
“Paradise,” Amy agreed.
“Do you have pictures?” Adam dragged his thumb dangerously close to the juncture of her legs.
“Not one,” Daniel said. “Amy wouldn’t let me bring my camera.”
“Hey,” Amy said, “if you’d brought it along, I wouldn’t have seen you the entire time. I had to protect my…interests.”
Lexi breathed a sigh of relief—or regret, she wasn’t entirely sure—as Adam’s hand slid back to her knee.
“Trust me,” Daniel told Amy, “I only ever had your best interests at heart.”
Leona whistled. “I bet you did.”
As everyone laughed, Amy leaned in close again and whispered to Lexi, “So did I win?”
“Wouldn’t you love to know?” Lexi whispered back. If Amy pushed the tablecloth aside right now, she’d have her answer.
“I know already. You’ve got the look of a woman who’s been good and truly—”
“Oy. That’s enough,” Lexi cut her off with a snort. “What are you being so nosy for anyway?”
“Call it payback.” Amy smiled sweetly.
“For what?”
“Attacking Daniel with a cricket bat.”
“What?” Lexi yelped.
Conversation around the table ceased. Even Adam’s hand stilled. “You attacked Daniel with a cricket bat?”
“No.” Shit. He was going to think she was an axe murderer or something. “Well, I may have hit him once, accidentally, but I kind of told Amy he’d been attacked.”
“What for?”
“It was all a cleverly master-minded plan,” Amy explained. “Daniel thought I took his friendship for granted. He wanted to shake me up a bit, get me to see I couldn’t live without him.”
“Which you can’t,” Daniel added.
Amy rolled her eyes but grinned at her husband. “He got Lexi to phone and tell me he’d been attacked. Needless to say, I nearly passed out from shock and had to race right over to see if he was okay. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“So you couldn’t have gotten together without Lexi’s help?” Adam asked.
“Or Leona’s,” Amy added.
“Leona?”
“Yeah,” Leona said. “Danno thought a little jealousy was a good thing, so he and Lexi cooked up some story about me wanting to jump his bones. Thought it would make Amy jealous of me.”
“It did,” Daniel interjected with a triumphant smile.
“Yeah. Until I found out the truth.”
“That the only bones Leona wants to jump…” Adam’s eyes rested on Annie.
“Are mine,” Annie said with a grin. “Which is why we invited you all out tonight. We have some news.”
“We’re going to be parents,” Leona said with a twinkle in her eye. “Annie’s pregnant.”
The table erupted in excited chaos.
They were well into their main course before the oohing and aahing died down and Lexi noticed that Adam was more subdued than he’d been at the beginning of the evening. It was her turn to place her hand on his leg.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
“Fine.”
“You’re very quiet.”
“Don’t have much to say.”
Of course he didn’t. His thoughts were on Timmy. “The baby talk getting to you?”
He was saved from having to answer by a waiter clearing their plates away.
“We don’t have to stay, you know?” Lexi said.
“Dessert’s on its way.”
“We can get it to go.”
“It’s a special evening. We can’t leave yet.”
“You sure you’re up to this?”
“Positive.”
“You’re a nice man, AJ Riley.”
“Adam,” he corrected.
“You’re a nice man, Adam.”
Thankfully, with the arrival of dessert, the conversation changed to Annie’s craving for all things sweet and naturally progressed to sampling all the plates at the table. With each mouthful, Adam seemed to relax a little more, until the tension eased from his shoulders altogether.
A few minutes later, Lexi paused with her spoon midair. Adam’s gaze burned her. The heat in his eyes made her breath catch.
“Is it good?” he asked, motioning to the spoon. The crème brûlée hung suspended between them.
“Very.” All she could think was how much better it would taste eaten off his naked stomach. With a shaky hand, she put the spoon into her mouth.
He watched her, his pupils dilating. “Looks delicious.” His voice was low and a little hoarse.
The creamy custard slid down her throat, sweet and smooth and satisfying. “It is.”
“You have”—he touched her lower lip—“a drop, just here.” He wiped it off and then brought his finger to his mouth.
Her own lips parted as he licked off the cream. God, he was right. The dessert looked delicious.
Their gazes caught and locked, and the rest of the room disappeared.
…
He clamped his hand over hers, stopping her from opening the door. “If you don’t want me to stay the night, tell me now,” Adam growled in her ear. “Because once I step foot in your unit, you’re mine.” This wasn’t like him. Usually he didn’t need anyone. Since the weekend, since he’d spilled his guts to her, he seemed to need her more than ever.
“You’re going to Hong Kong tomorrow, Adam. Of course I want you to stay the night.”
Dammit, he didn’t want to go overseas. Not now. But perhaps putting some distance between them would be wise—before he did something really dumb, like fall for her.
“Besides.” She smiled at him, flashing her sexy dimples. “I got some dessert to go, after all.” She let them into the apartment.
“A single helping wasn’t enough?” He could probably force a spoon or two down—after he’d had his way with her.
“Let’s say”—her eyes flickered to his groin—“I wasn’t overly fond of the way it was served.”
His pulse jolted to a jerky gallop. “You didn’t like the plates?”
“The plates were fine.” Her lips looked luscious, inviting. “I thought the crème brûlée would taste better if I licked it off you.”
Blood emptied into his groin.
Adam was hooked. The more he saw of her, the more he wanted her. Was it the fact that she was whole, healthy? That she’d been through shit, dealt with it, and come out a better person? Unlike him?
Or was it the fact that she was beautiful and as turned on by him as he was by her? What had compelled him to confide in her about Timmy? How come he didn’t regret it? He’d wanted her to know. Wanted her to share his pain.
He’d kept his pain to himself for a long time.
She was too far away; he pulled her to him, taking her mouth in a steamy kiss. He tasted the sugary sweetness of dessert on her tongue and the erotic promise of sex on her lips.
He tugged her shirt over her shoulders and made short work of her bra. She could eat whatever the hell she liked off him. After that, he was going to make love to her. He was going to bury himself deep in her tight, wet pussy and fuck her. Like he had yesterday, and the day before that. Like he intended to do as soon as he got back from this trip.
“Christ, you’re beautiful.” He stripped off her low-cut pants and left her standing in nothing but a white lacy thong. He shed his shirt without conscious thought.
His hands were on his zipper when she stilled them. “Let me do it.”
Another dart of desire speared through him. She didn’t need to touch him. Being with her was the biggest aphrodisiac of all.
The rasping movement of the zipper drove him damn near insane, and he was ready for dessert long before she’d knelt down and drawn his chinos over his hips. He kicked off his shoes, and the pants followed.
“Adam,” she murmured before touching her lips to his abdomen.
His stomach muscles clenched involuntarily under her lips, and she moaned. Her warm breath caressed his belly button and then floated lower until faint puffs of air whispered over his cock. It twitched and grew, straining against his boxers.
This was more than just sex. Whatever was transpiring between them was real, and it scared the crap out of him. If it were anyone else, he’d hit the road.
Nothing could keep him away from Lexi.
Over the weekend, she hadn’t just given him physical release. He’d expressed and experienced emotions he hadn’t acknowledged in years. He’d shared Timmy with her.
He’d given her his son.
Lexi inched the confining material over his bulging member, freeing him. He could almost feel her mouth closing around him, taking his entire length in. He wanted those hot lips wrapped around him, sucking him dry.
“Follow me.” She stood.
“Where?” He could hardly walk in this state.
“Not far.” She pointed to one of the armchairs in the lounge room. “Food tastes way better when you’re sitting, don’t you think?”
So she was in the mood to play? His own mood lightened as his desire intensified.
She snagged a bag from near the front door and flicked on a lamp in the lounge. Light flooded the room. “I like to see what I’m eating.”
“I like to watch you eat.” He sat, barely aware of the pillowed seat beneath his ass—such was his anticipation. If watching her devour dessert in the restaurant was any indication, watching her blow him would be staggering.
She pulled a small plastic tub from the bag and opened it, dipping her finger inside.
When she lifted it up again, it was covered in creamy custard. Lexi proceeded to treat her finger to exactly the same indulgence he’d fantasized about. She wrapped her lips around it and sucked. His breathing shallowed, and he struggled to stay seated. The need to haul her closer and push her head into his lap was overpowering.
She dipped back into the tub and then traced his mouth. Instinctively, he licked his lips, tasting the rich, sticky substance she’d left behind.
“Uh uh. No sharing.” She straddled him so her groin rubbed enticingly on his upper thighs. “I have to make this little portion last a long time.”
She lowered her head to his and, starting with his upper lip, licked off every drop of custard. Then she moved onto his lower lip to do the same, pausing to nibble here and suck there. When the outside of his mouth was clean, she dipped her tongue between his lips and kissed him, allowing him the tiniest sample of dessert.
It wasn’t the crème brûlée that had him desperate to taste more, but the salacious heat of her mouth.
His nipple tightened reflexively as something cold touched it. Lexi massaged it, rubbing custard into his skin. She lowered her head to taste the rigid nub. The gentle scrape of her teeth against the sensitive flesh, the hot licks of her tongue, were almost too much, the pleasure almost painful.
“Dessert taste any better?” He struggled to form the words. His hands tangled in her hair, tugging on the silky strands as she worked her magic.
“A little,” she conceded before subjecting his other nipple to the same treatment.
If it weren’t for the promise of her mouth on his cock, he’d lift her up and slide her back down until he was sheathed in her body. But Adam was too selfish to hurry this indulgence. He intended to enjoy every second of being with Lexi.
Besides, if she sat on his dick now, it would be game over.
She drew gooey lines down his stomach and climbed off him to kneel between his legs. The muscles in his gut clenched in time with her tongue as she lapped up the sticky mess.
“It’s yummy.” She dabbed at the last drop of cream on his belly. “But there’s something missing.” She dipped into the dessert again. “Something hard.” With her free hand, she cupped his balls and he nearly hit the roof. “And salty. Something a lot more satisfying than dessert.” She slathered the crème over his shaft, covering every visible spot of skin.
If the contrast of the chilled cream under her warm skin had him squirming, how would he feel in the hot, wet cavern of her mouth?
Electrified.
Her greedy mouth was everywhere, voraciously lapping up the cream, licking him clean, sucking at the more difficult spots. Dinner had clearly not satisfied her appetite; she devoured him with a fierce hunger.
He forced oxygen into his air-depleted lungs. Her carnal tongue wrenched a groan from deep in his gut. The pressure built. His balls grew heavy.
She massaged them lightly, erotically, as her mouth consumed him.
“Christ, sweetheart…stop!”
She sucked a little harder, took him in a little deeper.
“Lexi, Jesus…” It was too much. He couldn’t stop.
Adam exploded, pumping his release into her mouth.
She stilled as he came, waiting until he’d spent every last drop. When he finished, she looked him dead in the eye, and with her mouth still wrapped around him, swallowed the whole damn lot.
He collapsed against the back of his chair, winded.
Adam spent long moments recovering and finding his breath.
What the hell?
He should be soft and utterly spent. He wasn’t. Not by a long shot. Lexi ran her tongue up the length of his cock, and he shuddered, over-sensitized to every miniscule touch. She grazed her teeth over his tip.
He panted, dazed by her renewed assault. Adrenaline coursed through him. His cock, semi-erect after he came, roared fully back to life. A strangled groan escaped him, and he stilled her head with his hands. “I can’t,” he growled.
“Oh, believe me,” she said as she rose. “You can—and you will.”
He was putty in her hands. She was right. He could and he would. Especially after watching her remove her panties. He caught a glimpse of her naked hips, saw her glisten with a temptation more scrumptious than any dessert.
Adam was falling for her. It was the only explanation. He couldn’t be this aroused this quickly if it was just sex.
She leaned forward and kissed him again.
Her mouth was sticky, a tantalizing mixture of sugar and salt. He placed his hands between her legs, stroking her folds, touching the slick heat coating them, and drank in the soft moan she emitted.
It had never been just sex with Lexi. Even their first time had been too intense, too powerful to be just sex. It was more. Way, way more.
His fingers were wet when he withdrew them, and he pulled his lips from hers. He traced her mouth, and when he kissed her again, the taste of her desire combined with his and the dessert left him rock hard and raring to go.
“See?” Lexi straddled him again. “You can.” This time when she settled down, she impaled herself on him.
Adam swore as her hot core enveloped him.
He wasn’t falling for her. He’d already fallen. Hard.
Her hair was wild, the curls tousled in every direction, and her eyes were glazed. He surged upwards, thrusting into her, and watched in satisfaction as she arched her spine and dropped her neck backward.
She wound her arms around his neck and clenched her inner muscles around him, gyrating her hips, taking him deeper, then releasing him and easing up slightly.
Christ. She was heaven wrapped around him.
He lost himself to her rhythm. Nothing could feel better than this, nothing could feel sweeter. This was the wonder of making love.
Even the bad stuff didn’t seem so bad when Lexi kissed him.
Her breasts jutted out, and he dipped his head and kissed them. Adam laved her nipples, licking and sucking on them until she moaned mindlessly in his lap. Her movements became frenzied, less controlled; her inner muscles pulled at him and she began to tremble.
The quivering reverberated all the way through to his bones. This was the shiver of a woman who’d clamped down on her own pleasure too long and now demanded release.
He’d give it to her. He’d give her anything. Everything.
She twisted slightly and leaned forward, changing the angle of penetration. Adam nearly lost it. He grabbed her hips and held her still. Too late—the climb had begun. Powerless to stop, he surged upward and she moaned his name as he drove deeper into her.
Her pussy lips mashed against his balls, enhancing the sensation tenfold. Again and again he thrust, again and again she moaned, until her trembling turned to violent shaking, her muscles clamped down around him and she came.
Not ten minutes before, he’d exploded in her mouth. Now, still not quite believing himself capable, he exploded again. Stream after stream of come pulsed into her as torrents of pleasure and emotion assailed him.
This was what making love was all about.