If You Need Me: The Ashford Legacy, Book 1 Page 6

  When he stopped to catch his breath, she grasped his waistband and yanked his hips toward hers. Clasping one hand on his ass, she ground her pussy against him through his jeans—and he was finished. He’d come inside her, or he’d come in his pants. Surely, nothing could be worse than that.

  Surprising her, he took the bottom of both his T-shirt and sweater in his hands and yanked them over his head in one smooth motion. The look in her eyes when she inspected his torso made his chest swell with pride—and more than a little relief. She liked what she saw.

  “My God. You’re perfect,” she told him. Then she almost killed him dead when she leaned forward and sucked at the skin over his collarbone, raking her fingernails over his flat nipples.

  He was shaking again. He couldn’t help it. And his throat felt thick, like he could hardly squeeze words out. “I want to be inside you, Rayna.”

  “Mmmm…” she purred when her hand rubbed his cock through the denim. She slowly undid his belt and unbuttoned his fly. His shaft sprang free of the jeans, pulling his boxers taut across the front.

  He couldn’t move now. Couldn’t do anything. He thought she might push his boxers lower, but she surprised him by working the head of his penis through the opening in his undershorts.

  She licked her lips, staring down at him with hungry eyes. “You’re too good to be true. My turn to taste now.” With a smile, she slid her hand down his abs and over his boxers, then took his shaft firmly in hand.

  He grunted when she sucked him into her mouth—no soft licks, no kisses to start him slowly—just pure wet friction and so much pressure his mouth fell open on a swear. “Fuck…” he panted, curling his fingers and fisting her silky brown hair with both hands.

  The sound of her suction, the movement of her head over his cock, the sight of her bare ass as she bent to him… He wanted to come in that sweet mouth… He would… But not this first time. “Please, sweetheart.”

  She tightened her grip and worked him faster. “Rayna, please…” He gently tugged her head back until she met his gaze. Her eyes were slumberous and her lips were stretched and pink, pools of saliva at their corners. “I need you. I can’t wait.”

  He pushed her back on the bed and kissed her hard, then rolled to his side and shucked his pants and boxers as quickly as humanly possible. He reached into the pocket of his pants and grabbed a condom from his wallet, then threw the wadded jeans to the floor.

  He lay on top of her, rubbing his naked body against hers as he’d dreamed of doing, relishing the feel of their bare skin pressing together, and then he kissed her. “Do you want this? Do you want to make love to me?”

  If he was lucky, there would come a day when he and Rayna had grown so comfortable with each other they could explore other sexual adventures together, but he didn’t want that tonight. Tonight was for giving his body and his soul to the one woman on this earth who he wanted to be joined with.

  Her hands ran over his ass and squeezed, and at the same time she tilted her pelvis to rub her swollen lips along his shaft. She was so fucking slick. And he’d done that to her. She had to want him almost as much as he wanted her. Still, he needed to hear it. “Rayna?”

  She grasped his face and kissed him, her tongue darting into his mouth. After a minute, she pulled back and looked into his eyes. “How could I not want you?”

  He rose again to his knees and ripped the foil on the condom wrapper, then rolled it down his length. He pulled her farther down the bed until her spread thighs draped across his folded knees. He had to see this. He had to watch it happen when he slid into her.

  With shaky fingers, he spread her folds and found her entrance. It wasn’t hard—she was so wet his fingers slipped easily inside. He couldn’t wait any longer. He followed his hand with his cock and hissed out a breath when he sank into her depths. He was right—she felt so fucking good squeezing him like this. When he pulled back and then plunged inside again, he felt the friction over every inch of his hard cock.

  He leaned over her, flattening his chest onto hers, and breathed a kiss into her hair. I love you, Rayna. He wasn’t sure she’d believe him while he was fucking her, but he had to say it, even if only to himself. It was true—this woman had become his everything. His best friend, his intellectual sparring partner, his virtual vixen, and now the only lover he wanted for all time. Was three months long enough to fall in love? Hell, it’d taken him closer to three weeks.

  He rocked his hips back and thrust into her, over and over. He’d been scared he wouldn’t last, but something deeper than lust had taken hold of him. Something that wanted the moment to go on forever.

  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips, clinging tighter. Her breath was coming in short pants now, but he wasn’t sure if it was from her being close to another release or from how hard he pounded into her. He hoped she’d tell him if he was hurting her, because nothing short of an edict from his queen could make him stop now.

  Her eyes drifted open and shut, and her head fell from side to side, restless. Her lips were parted, rounded in a soft O, and her fingers dug into his back so hard he figured she was leaving marks. And he wanted that, just like he wanted to take this fucking condom off and come so deep inside her, her body would forever be joined to his. But there would be time for that. Because he was never letting Rayna Sommers go.

  “Kyle…h-harder.” Her voice was breathy, more wind than words.

  Already, the headboard was creaking and her breasts were bobbing in time with his thrusts…but he could do harder. He could take her any way she needed to be taken.

  Chills ran through him and he felt lightheaded as he gave her everything he had. He was so close, his cock and balls tightened painfully, screaming for release. “You ready to come, sweetheart?”

  Rayna gripped him hard, wanting this more than she wanted to breathe. She’d had fantasies about Kyle, but this man above her—inside her—he was her dream lover. He had the ability to make her feel so safe and cherished even as his body drove her insane.

  She spread her legs wider, opening herself up to the onslaught, and panted out a response. “Yeah, make me come.”

  He slipped his hand between them, managing a gentle pressure somehow on her overly sensitized clit. He leaned back on his haunches above her—one hand grasping her hip to keep her from sliding away, and the other making small, perfect circles—and he rode her, watching where their bodies slapped together.

  Rayna moaned, mumbling incoherently, her lips moving of their own accord. Her body felt like it was dying—or maybe being reborn. And on the tail end of her jumbled chatter, with her mouth still open in ecstasy, Kyle crushed her, pressing into her as he pumped his hips once, twice, three times and held as he jetted inside her.

  When it was over, he collapsed on his side and rolled her with him. They were both gasping for air, eye to eye on her queen-sized bed. He brushed her hair back, his expression intent. “What did you say?”

  Her body felt so buoyant that she giggled. How the hell was she supposed to remember what she’d said at a time like this?

  “Oh jeez, I don’t know. Was it embarrassing? ‘You’re the man’ or something?” That was probably too mild for how out of her mind she’d been. “Sorry. I guess you already know I can talk fairly dirty when my filter is off.”

  He smiled and a small laugh huffed from his nose. “No. It was nothing. I thought you said you loved me for a minute.”

  She cuddled into the circle of his arms. “Oh nice. Yeah, crazy Texafornian tells guy she loves him during their first time. That would be classic.”

  Holy shit. She couldn’t do much more than play it off now. It was totally possible that in the heat of the moment she’d lost her head and let her heart say exactly what it was feeling.

  He laughed, but it was a tired sound. She must have worn him out. “Yeah, crazy,” he answered.

  Kyle tightened his arms around her and held her close, wedging her naked body snug against his and sliding a nea
rby pillow under their heads. When she stirred at some point in the night, he’d wrapped a blanket around them and still held her body in his grip. And when it came to being in his grip…her heart knew the feeling.

  Chapter Seven

  Rayna woke to the sound of something crashing in the kitchen and scanned the bed for Kyle. Either he was planning to surprise her, or he was being mugged in her front room. She’d lost the ability to be overly jumpy after the amazing night she’d had, so she stretched out on the bed, making a wide X across the mattress with her happy—if slightly achy—limbs.

  The door opened and Kyle poked his head in. He was already dressed for the day. “Sorry. Everything’s okay. Did I wake you?”

  It felt so naughty to be spread out naked under the covers while Kyle was dressed and bustling about. She smiled and patted the bed beside her. “I can close my eyes and pretend you didn’t if you’d like a chance to do it properly.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” His laugh was a rumbly growl. He walked over and planted a morning kiss on Rayna’s lips that left her breathless.

  “Mmmm…” She toyed with her bottom lip, tasting something minty from his kiss. “Are you sure?”

  “Somebody get me a thesaurus,” he called to the four walls. “I’m sure I’ll find Rayna Sommers under the Insatiable Temptress heading.”

  Her lips puffed into a pout. “It’s not me; it’s the company I’m keeping that makes me this way.”

  “Yeah, sure, Erotica Girl,” he teased. “But seriously, I have breakfast started in the kitchen, and I don’t want to burn it. And then I figured I’d help you tube-feed Bratty, if you’re up for it.”

  “Aww, that’s…suspiciously sweet.” He kissed her again, and she watched him walk out—so tall and lean, but those narrow hips and muscled thighs packed a punch. She had the swollen nether regions to prove it. “You know,” she called after him, “if you’re trying to earn your way into my bed, you’re going the wrong way.”

  When she heard his laughter down the hall, she sighed a happy breath and rolled to the side of the bed to sit. Perfect. He was absolutely perfect. And if he wouldn’t get back in bed with her, then she was going to him. She had Kyle here—in the flesh—and she wasn’t going to waste a minute.

  She slipped on a flimsy cotton sundress and walked into the kitchen to join him—then stopped dead in her tracks. She wasn’t OCD clean, by any means, but every counter of her small kitchen was covered in packages, food, pans or cooking utensils. “Wow… You’ve been busy. You already got to the market this morning?”

  He looked over his shoulder, beaming. “Yeah. I left you a note just in case you woke up. So just grab yourself a drink and sit, because I’m going to make you the best eggs Benedict you’ve ever had.”

  She grinned from how happy he seemed, from how relaxed she was, from everything. The kitchen was in a state of chaos, but he looked confident in whatever he was doing. “I’m impressed. Cooking isn’t my thing.”

  He finished separating egg yolks into a small dish. “Yeah, I know. You need to eat actual meals, Ray, not just whatever you can get out of a bag when you’re on deadline. I’m pretty sure people can’t live forever on packaged peanut butter crackers and diet soda.”

  She poured herself an extra-tall diet soda and leaned against the counter. “That’s odd… I seem to remember being alive enough last night. Are you questioning my general health and stamina?”

  He snickered and started whisking the yolks. “Sweetheart, if you had any better reserves when it came to sex, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed this morning. Waking me up twice in the middle of the night? I wasn’t sure if I’d died and gone to heaven or if I should call my mommy to come pick me up.”

  “I’m pretty sure that last time was all you.” She took a deliberate drink, enjoying the way the soda bubbles tickled her nose. “It’s not often I wake with an erection pressed between the cheeks of my ass.”

  He put his hands in the air in defense, and the whisk flung little yellow drips as he raised it high. “That was a totally innocent early-morning…situation. I can’t be blamed if my stiffy got you hot. I swear I was still asleep when you backed into me.”

  She was having too much fun messing with him, but her little huffs of laughter gave her away. “Don’t whine. It was consensual.”

  He dropped small chunks of butter into the yolks then set the dish aside and turned fully to her. “On your end, maybe. Yeah…thinking back, I’d say you and your tail end were fully consenting.”

  She stepped up to him and placed her hands on his waist. “Poor baby. Have to fight the women off with a stick.”

  He searched her eyes with a heated gaze, and she could see this conversation was getting to him—she could also feel it by the lump in his pants that pressed against her belly. Clearly, Kyle Ford had his own reserves to spare.

  “Nah. I’m not complaining that you took advantage of me,” he said. “I’m just saying I want to be fully awake next time so I can add the unfuzzy sex tape to my mental movies of us.”

  “You have mental movies of us?”

  “Heck yeah. An entire collection. Some we’ve actually done, some we’re going to do.”

  She kissed his jaw, feeling so ridiculously happy that it scared her. “So you have plans for the future, huh? This was no wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am?”

  “I have plans.” He kissed her hard, grasping the back of her neck in one large hand and pulling her close to him with the other. “What do you think about that? We’d make a hell of an Upwords team.”

  She had so many thoughts on the subject, mostly panicked ones, but at that moment something on the stove boiled over with a loud, crackling hiss.

  “Shit!” He moved the pot of water. “I think I screwed up the poached eggs.”

  She peeked in his pan and noticed it looked more like the egg-drop soup she got delivered from her favorite Chinese restaurant. “Hmmm… Have you made this before?”

  “Eh.” He shrugged and tossed his head in a noncommittal way. “Well…not really. But I’ve seen it made a dozen times. Tia Lina used to let me watch her cook.”

  She smiled encouragingly. He never talked about his family. “Tia Lina? Your aunt?”

  “No—my cook.”

  “Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. Her family had been poor, just like most every other family in her hometown. “You guys had help around the house?”

  Kyle poured the ruined eggs down the drain and started the disposal. When it was finished, he set the pan aside. “You know…a little help…here and there. But Lina was the best. She’s this serious chef, but she used to make me cookies with chocolate sprinkles on them, then sneak me a napkinful before I went to bed. Sara would get so pissed if one of those napkins didn’t head her way.”

  “Sara?”

  “Yeah… Lina’s daughter. But I guess you could say we’re almost like cousins. We, uh…work together now. But I don’t think she eats cookies anymore…more like tofu and that crap.”

  Something about his posture was a little off, and Rayna couldn’t figure out why he looked so guilty. Was it that he was embarrassed his family had a cook, or that he and this Sara chick were cousins of the kissing variety?

  Rayna shrugged it off. Maybe if she opened up to him, Kyle would tell her more about his family. “My parents had ranch hands during the better years. A couple of them knew how to cook. Our place wasn’t big—not like Tuck Halston’s, the man I told you about who died—but we had enough cattle to make ends meet…back then. That was before the lawyers and the battles over water. Before everything dried up.”

  “Is that why you send your parents money—because they went under?”

  “They found jobs in town at the time, but two years ago—when I was able to send enough money from my writing to get regular deliveries from the water trucks—they reopened a smaller cattle operation. My dad calls me his partner and swears we’re going to turn a profit this year.” She smiled, thinking of her dad with his dusty boots
and the sun on his faded Stetson. “My father is a prideful man and won’t let me just gift him the water. No, he’s gonna make me a cattle rancher whether I like it or not.”

  “You don’t miss the ranch?”

  “Heck no. I miss seeing my parents. I miss Carter, though his father was a piece of work. But I needed to live somewhere I could look out my window and see water everywhere. Of course, I can’t see it from this particular apartment, but I am walking distance from the beach.”

  He frowned. “But you’ve never walked there?”

  “No…but the ocean isn’t going anywhere. One day, I’ll make it there.” She said it with more optimism than she felt, because the truth was, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to make that trip. She saw the pity in Kyle’s eyes—like he could see right through her—and shame settled heavily on her shoulders like an oxen’s yoke.

  “I don’t get it, Ray. Why move to the city if you never leave your apartment?”

  “Where else am I going to get groceries delivered or find a dozen restaurants within a one-mile radius who’ll bring food to my door?” Rayna turned to clean a little yellow splatter from the counter with the corner of a paper towel, avoiding Kyle’s direct gaze. “Besides, living in a vibrant city makes me feel less alone—like the city itself is alive and I’m a cell floating in its body. Small, but not insignificant. I’m a part of it. And having Bratty gives me that little piece of the farm right here in the city. See? The best of both worlds.”

  “But your ranch didn’t have chickens…because your mom was allergic.”

  If she snapped him with a wet towel, would he feel it through those jeans? “Man, I better watch what I say around you. I have a feeling you’re taking mental audiotapes too.”

  He slid his hands over her dress, just above her rump. “You’re important to me. I want to know everything. Especially about this Carter Halston character.”

  “There’s not much to tell you about Carter. I never had a crush on him or anything…but we have some history, I guess you could say.” And that wasn’t a story she was going into this morning. Maybe a part of her had distanced herself from her old friend just so she wouldn’t have to think about what happened all those years ago.