His voice was threaded with amusement. “Just did.”
“I don’t even know where you live!”
“The old blue stone Victorian on the corner of Second and Peach. Later.”
Flick blew her breath into her cheeks and pushed out her bottom lip as her dog and her—the!— man disappeared from view.
What the hell just happened? She had been moments away from allowing him to ravage her in the park—ravage was the only word that could possibly describe what he’d just done to her— and then she’d allowed her dog to be kidnapped.
Kai Sawyer has the ability to scramble your brains, Flick. Be careful.
Be very careful indeed.
Once Kai was certain that Flick could longer see him, he stopped dead, yanking Rufus to a stop. The dog/monster/horse uttered a strangled bark and sent Kai a reproachful look. Kai had no difficulty in interpreting his look:We were speeding along quite happily and then someone had to screw it up. Seriously!
Kai immediately placed his hand on Rufus’s head to apologize before adjusting his pants. Holy shit, the woman could kiss. Those hands on his body felt like they belonged there. He would’ve been happy to stand in the sunlight being touched by her forever. Kissing her, having her touch him, stroking her, could almost be enough.
God, now he’d started lying to himself, something he never did. It would never be enough until he slid into her and found out whether she was as hot and tight and wet as he suspected. Maybe then he’d be satisfied.
Then again, maybe not.
He’d kissed her on a rocky path in the middle of a forest while holding onto a shaggy, drooling dog. He couldn’t havenotkissed her—the compulsion had been that strong. He hadn’t looked for the serious eye contact to tell him that she would be open to the kiss, hadn’t worried whether she’d looked at his mouth in anticipation. He hadn’t cared; he’d just needed to kiss her.
He’d needed to taste her, to see if her lips were as soft as they looked, to feel those amazing lips under his. He’d just needed…he still needed...needed, needed, needed.Strange for a guy who’d lived his life not needing anyone or anything.
Discombobulated, Kai broke into a fast jog, hoping to run off the burning itch. Flick’s dog easily kept pace with him. As his body settled down, so did his mind, and rationality replaced the headiness of that kiss. He was overreacting, he decided, momentarily distracted by lust. Flick wasn’t anyone special. It had just been a helluva long time and her kiss fried his brain.
But difficult to ignore was the fact that, for the first time in nearly a year, he’d found someone he was so attracted to that he was considering breaking his ships-in-the-night rule. The strength of his attraction to Flick scared him when nothing much in the world did.
Part of his attraction was the fact that she seemed wholly unimpressed by him and not intimidated or turned off by his taciturn attitude. She wasn’t like most of the women who gave him that look saying they were open for a quick romp. She was smart, steady, and, even if he wanted to suggest a hookup, she would be the last woman in the world who would have a one-night stand with an ex-sailor who was leaving town the next day.Not going to happen, dude. Not even in your dreams.
Having Flick was a fantasy and Kai didn’t believe in fantasies or dreams. He never had.
Chapter Four
MissGreenwood:Does anyone know why that new Caswallawn boy brought Flick’s dog home? And why did it take Flick four hours to collect her dog from him this afternoon? I’ve tried to call her on her cell telephone and at home but she’s not answering. Is she alright? Does anyone know? Should I call the police?
BoredWife:Yawn. Will someone please draw Miss G a picture?
Flick raced through her shower before driving her sedan across town to the smarter side of Mercy to pick up Rufus. She’d always liked this house, she thought, as she left her vehicle and walked up the stone path to the steps that led to a wraparound porch. As a little girl, she’d had a friend who’d lived in this house and, if she recalled correctly, it had wooden floors and high ceilings and a claw-foot bathtub in the main bedroom. The bay windows were still the same but the front door was now painted a glossy black. Flick jammed her finger against the doorbell, relieved when she heard Ru’s bark in response.
They were back and her dog was still alive. This was good news.
“I’ll be with you in a minute, Flick,” Kai’s voice came from somewhere above her, so she walked back to the railing and looked up, but she couldn’t see past the porch roof. The master bathroom was directly above her—maybe he was taking a shower, water running off those long, lean muscles. Flick walked over to one of the two Adirondack chairs and sat on its arm, lifting the newspaper Kai had left on its seat, idly fanning herself with it. The memory of that strong mouth on hers had saliva leaving her mouth and heat pooling between her legs. She’d never been kissed with such skill, such intensity...with all the men she’d kissed before, kissing was always a step to tick off on their list, just something that had to be done in order to get into her pants.
Kai just kissed her.
Expertly.
And because he didn’t try anything else, didn’t do or say anything to suggest moving things along, she wanted to take it further. She wanted to give him more, wanted to take more from him. She wanted to know if the control he had when he was kissing her was a part of his lovemaking, whether he was as generous a lover— as brilliant—as his kisses suggested.
Didn’t she deserve one brilliant lover once in her life?
A sweaty, slick, hard man who kissed like a dream? Surely she was entitled to one night where giving and receiving physical pleasure was the only objective, to a sexual encounter that was hotter than hell and briefer than a thong. Wasn’t she allowed a night with a man who she had no designs on as a boyfriend or a lover or a future husband? And if she wanted to prove to herself that she could, absolutely, separate sex from love and attention, then nobody had to know that but her.
And sleeping with Kai would be a wonderful way to climb out of her head, to not think about the tangle her life was at the moment. For days she’d been trying to figure out whether should tell Pippa about her mother’s situation, weighing the loyalty she felt to her aunt against her loyalty to her cousin and best friend. Finding no answers, she’d either felt angry at Gina for putting her into this situation or desperately guilty for being so intensely angry. And she was also damn curious as to why Gina had started collecting on such a stupid, massive scale. Flick was a hot mess of guilt and anger and worry, and she’d do anything to step out of her head for a while.
The door opened in front of her and Flick slowly lifted her head. If she’d had any doubts about what she was about to do, they were demolished when she noticed Kai only wore a pair of athletic shorts. Drops of water from his still-wet hair landed on his bare shoulders and rolled down his collarbone.