Afternoon Delight Read online

  He devoured her lips. His kiss was hungry, deliberate and thorough. Rei melted against him, letting him take whatever he wanted. She wanted him to be in control, to make her experience sex like she’d never had before and love every second of it.

  Her hands slid around to the smooth skin of his lower back while his roamed underneath her sweater to fondle her left breast. She’d never been happier that her small size had allowed her to go braless. The difference in their heights hindered them, though, so without breaking contact, Chris guided them toward the end of the bed.

  He fell back so that she landed on top of him and Rei wriggled up his big body to capture his lips again. She thrust her tongue deeper into his mouth while his hands groped her bottom and thighs. The hard bulge of his erection pressed against her hip and she moaned at the thought of having him inside of her.

  He tugged her sweater over her head and cast it aside to expose her breasts. Lifting his head, he took her sensitive flesh into the heat of his mouth and sending a bolt of desire through her body. Rei braced her arms on the bed and gasped, her breathing as quick as her heartbeat.

  His right hand slid under the edge of her panties and between her legs, making her moan aloud. Damp heat flooded his fingers as he wiggled them inside of her. Then his thumb circled her clitoris as he’d done before, setting off a series of clenching ripples that had her straining for release.

  When his hand stilled, it took a second to realize she wasn’t going to get what she needed. Dazed with lust, Rei smothered a groan of frustration. “What’s wrong?”

  In the faint light, his expression looked sheepish. “Uh, we need to stop. In my rush to get here, I didn’t have a chance to take care of things.”

  He wanted to stop? What for…? Oh.

  “It’s okay. I have protection in my purse.”

  Chris grinned at her. “You really did think I was a sure thing, didn’t you?”

  She shrugged while returning his smile. “I was feeling unusually confident when I called you, so…”

  “So, hurry up and get that condom.”

  Rei rolled off the bed and scrambled for her handbag. Within seconds, she’d returned to the bed and tossed several strips of foil packages onto the comforter. Chris looked at her, then at the dozen condoms and back at her.

  “Your confidence is going to kill me for sure.”

  She laughed lightly at the irony. Actually confidence—a lack of fear and a sense of daring—was going to save her. “What a way to go, huh?”

  Rei hooked her panties with her thumbs and yanked them down her hips. She tossed them over her shoulder and flopped onto the bed while Chris shed his trousers and underwear. She heard a tearing sound as he opened a condom wrapper. Then he was beside her again, the heat of his large body raising her already soaring temperature.

  He nuzzled his mouth over her right breast, alternating wet kisses and greedy suckles, as he positioned himself between her legs. The hard length of his rigid penis prodded her most tender flesh. She shivered in response, in anticipation and need. But just when she thought—hell, she hoped—he would pin her to the bed and ravish her, she felt him tense.

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t have been so rough.”

  His mouth had been near the crescent-shaped scar on the underside of her breast. Now she tensed as well, the sexual mood in danger of breaking. Damn it, she didn’t want to have to explain and suffer his pity. “I don’t want you to be sorry. I want…” To be treated like she was normal and healthy.

  “What, Jade?”

  Hearing the name was all it took to give her the courage to say something she’d never dared to before. “I want hard, fast, furious, mind blowing sex.”

  Even in the dim light she saw the bright gleam of his smile. “Whatever the lady wants.”

  All rational thought vanished in the haze of lust along with any insecurity or self-consciousness. Rei opened herself to him, hooking her ankle over his calf and giving him freer access to her center. The tension in the muscles of his arms and back were her only warning before he pushed himself into her tight, wet passage.

  She gasped, arching her hips as her body adjusted to his thickness and length…. And then he moved. Oh how he moved, plunging and withdrawing at a deliberate pace set to slowly drive her crazy.

  When he levered himself onto his elbows, she raised her head to watch. It was incredibly erotic to both see and feel his thick shaft as their bodies joined and separated. He pulled back, inch by inch, then slowly squeezed forward again, making her shudder with the fulfillment of it.

  She let her mind shut down and instead listened to her body telling her what it needed. And right now it, she, needed everything that Chris was doing to her. Again she experienced the first wondrous aching in her belly. Chris must have felt it also because he quickened his pace, increasing the glorious grinding pleasure.

  Wrapping her legs tightly around his thighs, her hands clutched at the sweat slick muscles of his back. She barely recognized her own voice. “More, Chris. I want more.”

  He didn’t need her encouragement. Slipping his hands beneath her hips, Chris drove into her, each stroke stimulating her more than the last. Feeling wild and wanton, she reveled in the hard, fast thrusts. She’d never felt so out of control and she loved the freedom of it. Her body was on fire, her vaginal muscles clenching around his pulsating shaft.

  He filled her again and again as she writhed beneath him, urging him on with breathless moans and restless hands. The pleasure became so intense that her climax was all but ripped out of her. He pistoned his hips, driving heavily into her heat. Her body clenched around him as a guttural moan ripped from his throat, and he exploded inside her.

  Breathing hard, Chris dropped his head to the mattress but carefully supported his weight on his arms. Rei lay beneath him with her eyes closed, her body languid but her mind racing. Wow, the saying was true, she never knew sex could be like that. When she’d decided to seduce a stranger, she hadn’t anticipated how it would make her feel.

  Desirable, powerful and, oh, so sexy. With Chris, she’d been able to ask for and get exactly what she wanted, without a single worry about what he thought of her. In fact it had been incredibly liberating to let him take her while she simply let herself enjoy the experience.

  But she’d felt something else as well, an unexpected connection. Why had this man been able to satisfy her, more than satisfy her, in ways that none of her past lovers ever had? Why did she feel as though she could relax and trust him when logic deemed it entirely too soon?

  And what happened now? It would be a mistake to let down her guard, to allow this encounter to be anything but physical. She had no idea what she would be facing in the coming weeks. But she knew from past experience that she couldn’t expect him to stick around.

  CHRIS DIDN’T usually indulge in casual sex, but he might just have to change his mind on the subject. Something about Jade’s asking for “fast, furious and mindless” had freed his more primal urges. He’d wanted not only to protect and pleasure, but also to dominate and impress.

  Beside him, she whispered softly, “Wow, I never knew it could be like that.”

  He grinned at the ceiling. She sounded pretty impressed. He turned his head to press a kiss to her temple. “A lot depends on the chemistry you have with your partner.”

  “I guess I’ve never had the right partner before.”

  She leaned over to trace the edges of his mouth with her tongue. He parted his lips, inviting her to go deeper, but she seemed content to slide her mouth slowly across his. He gently nibbled on her plump lower lip until finally she thrust her tongue forward and explored his mouth.

  She shifted on top of him, brushing her soft lips over his neck, making him quake as desire burned along his nerve endings. The universe narrowed to the places where their bodies made contact. He felt the heat of her skin against his, the rasp of her pebbled nipples on his chest and the rough silk of her pubic hair brushing his belly.

  There was no way he
was ready, not yet anyway. But, oh man, the way she was wiggling felt good. He’d just have to slow her down so he could recover and then—she’d moved down to take his left nipple into her hot mouth. The wet tugging sensation sent a bolt of lust right to his groin.

  Her tongue blazed a hot, wet trail from his chest, along his abdomen and down to his groin. She eased lower, nipping his belly, licking his thigh and finally darting her tongue over his cock. He dragged in a breath, gasping at the shock of that wickedly intimate kiss.

  “So, Chris, when do we start round two?”

  He was fully erect and more than aroused. He closed his eyes briefly, lost in the sensations her touch elicited. Then he felt her mouth gently sucking the tender flesh in the crease of his hips and discovered a new erogenous zone.

  “Right now.”

  He pulled her roughly into his embrace and claimed her mouth, kissing her long and hard, a kiss she returned with equal enthusiasm. Pressing his body to hers, he rubbed one thigh in between her legs, stroking her. He breathed in the musky scent of her desire as he felt the dewy soft folds of her labia against his skin.

  Already he was rock hard. He hadn’t thought it was possible so soon after the last time. Reaching out blindly, he grabbed another condom off the strip without losing contact with her lush mouth. As soon as he’d protected them, Jade got to her knees and swung one leg over to straddle him.

  A slow ragged sigh escaped her throat as she sank down onto his rigid shaft. Flexing his hips, he slipped easily inside, burying himself to the hilt. He thrust into her, slowly, deliberately. She rocked her pelvis back and forth to increase the friction until he couldn’t distinguish his moans from hers.

  Then, arching her back, Jade braced both hands on his thighs, changing the angle of penetration. He grunted as the new position increased the pressure on his cock and intensified the pleasure. She tossed her head back and laughed, but her laughter quickly turned into squeals when he pressed his thumb to her clitoris.

  The erotic massage to her most sensitive core sent her into a frenzy. Chris lay beneath her, sweat drenched and grinning while she rode him like a thoroughbred at Bay Meadows racetrack. He felt the change inside her, felt her body tighten around his shaft, and he increased the pace.

  She continued to ride him and he rode the storm of mind-blowing sensations as she came hard, and then came again. Pushing deeper, pumping harder, he called out a moment later and shuddered over the edge of his own release.

  His heart thundered in his chest and he lay beneath Jade’s glistening body, gasping for breath. Her skin smelled of flowers and satisfaction. Exhausted and spent, Chris wrapped one arm around her waist and gently rolling her off him. Tucking a pillow under her head, he kissed Jade’s love-swollen mouth then dragged the comforter over them.

  Yep. There was definitely something to be said for finding the right partner.

  HE MUST HAVE drifted off because he awoke to hear the jangle of a key ring. Chris opened his eyes. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed the sun was barely approaching the horizon. Then he turned over to see Rei fully dressed and pulling on her coat.

  So, this was it. Whatever they had started was already ending. It shouldn’t have bothered him.

  “You’re leaving?”

  His sleep-roughened voice seemed to startle her. Poised beneath the entryway light, he saw the resolve in her expression. “Yeah, I am. Why don’t you get some more sleep? Check out isn’t until eleven o’clock.”

  “Why don’t you come back to bed and not sleep at all?” He tried to keep it light but his chest tightened at the thought of her walking out. “Were you even going to say goodbye?”

  She dropped her gaze and at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “I have to…I’ve got to go.”

  Pushing the covers aside, he swung his legs off the bed. “If you’ll hang on a minute, I’ll get my clothes and buy you an early breakfast.”

  “Thanks, but no.” She moved closer to the door.

  As he approached her, he saw her eyes roam over his naked body and seized on the attraction between them. “Listen, I know this was probably supposed to be a one-time deal. But it doesn’t have to be.”

  She shook her head before he’d even finished the offer. “We agreed, Chris. So I don’t think we should plan on dating.”

  “No, not dating. More like…seeing each other.” He kept his hands at his sides with an effort. He wanted to touch her, to connect somehow, but didn’t think she’d welcome it. “We don’t have to make any promises, just be open to the possibilities and in the meantime have some good, safe fun.”

  The corners of her mouth lifted in an odd smile. “What makes you think this is safe?”

  “The lack of illusion and the absence of commitment. We can simply enjoy each others’ company, explore our desires and take our time deciding about the rest.”

  He caught the sudden anguish in her expression before Jade reached for the handle and turned away. “Thank you for a wonderful night. I’ll never forget it.”

  Chris grabbed the edge of the door, careful to keep his naked body out of view. “Wait, I don’t have your number. How—”

  “I’ll call you.” She threw a quick smile over her shoulder and slipped through the opening.

  “Jade—”

  Chris raked both hands through his hair and sighed.

  She was gone.

  6

  Sunday, April 13th

  Accomplishments to Date: Eat dessert for breakfast; Go to Alcatraz Island; Visit Yerba Buena Gardens; Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge

  “THIS HAS BEEN a pretty great weekend.” P.J. bit into one of the Vietnamese lobster and prawn spring rolls and moaned.

  Rei speared a pan-grilled scallop from the bed of endive and watercress. “Yes, it really has.”

  They were having a light Sunday supper by the infinity pool in the Nob Hill Spa. Rei had treated them both to a day of longevity, serenity and tranquility services. The soothing rhythms of Spanish guitars seemed to drift out of the water. She smiled contentedly and gazed out the window at the spectacular colors over the cityscape from Huntington Park to the Bay.

  “So what’s going on with you, Rei?”

  She looked away from the sunset to find P.J. eyeing her shrewdly. “Nothing’s going on. I’m just enjoying the view.”

  “I’m your best friend, honey. Don’t bother lying to me.” P.J. set down her fork. “You act relaxed after all the prodding and pummeling today. But, from your expression, you still seem like you’re on edge.”

  She should have known Peej would notice her mood. And she’d pegged it correctly, too. Rei felt liked she’d been both caged and set free by Dr. Solís’s call.

  A part of her wanted to share the burden she was carrying, but the other part intended to keep her fears to herself. As stupid as it sounded, Rei didn’t want her to worry. Especially since P.J. would mercilessly harangue her into the doctor’s office and she just didn’t want to face that yet.

  “It’s nothing, Peej. I just have a couple of things on my mind that’s all.”

  “You’re thinking about your anniversary, aren’t you?” P.J.’s blue gaze softened. “You’re finally taking that List of yours seriously. Is that why you dragged me out to play tourist yesterday?”

  Rei shrugged casually and chose one of the glazed plantains from her plate. “I’ve lived here all my life but had never visited those places before. Since you hadn’t, either…”

  “Uh huh. As afraid of heights as you are, I still can’t believe you didn’t throw up when we got to the middle of the bridge. Why would you force yourself to go across if something wasn’t going on with you?” A slight frown appeared between her golden brows.

  “Stop borrowing trouble, P.J. I just like your company and your friendship, okay?”

  “Okay.” But P.J. still looked skeptical, with lines of concern bracketing her eyes, as she started eating again.

  CHRIS MADE a conscious effort not to scowl at his client. It wasn’t Mar
vin Carrington’s fault he was in such a bad mood. Oh sure, the weekend had started off great. What could be better than meeting the woman of your fantasies and then having that sexual fantasy come true? But he’d crashed back to reality much faster than he’d expected.

  How the hell could she just walk off into the night after that? He regarded himself a pretty good lover, considerate and giving. He’d tried to make his time with Jade memorable and, for him at least, it had been the best sex of his life. The whole seduction had affected him more than he’d planned.

  Okay. Maybe he was blowing things out of proportion and all it had been was just sex. But, damn it, he’d felt…something.

  Stunned and rejected and oddly hurt. Yeah, he knew he had no right to feel used. He and Jade had agreed up front about what they wanted and the terms had been clear. But that didn’t stop him wanting to see her again. It didn’t stop him from checking every now and then that his cell phone batteries were charged—

  He startled, realizing his client had been trying to get his attention. “Sorry, Mr. Carrington. What was your question?”

  “I was asking about the match profile. Do I have to put up a picture right away?”

  Chris looked at the nice but chubby, balding chiropractor and smiled reassuringly. “No, not if you don’t want to. You can wait until you connect with someone.”

  How long did that take anyway? Was he mentally exaggerating the bond he felt toward Jade?

  “Great.” Mr. Carrington’s shoulders slumped, as if he didn’t believe it would happen either. “That will give me time to find a professional photo studio.”

  “Don’t do that, Marvin. Just choose a picture from your family album. That’s the best way to let people get to know the real you.”

  He scoffed. “The real me? The real me hasn’t been on a date in almost a year.”

  “There is somebody for everybody, Marvin. The key to finding that person is being yourself. Remember, you’re a great guy with a lot to offer a woman.”