For Your Love (21 page)

He propped himself on one elbow and looked at her as if he were photographing her with his eyes, causing her insides to melt. Then he took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand.

“I don’t need glasses to see how beautiful you are,” he said, as he kissed her. “I want to kiss every inch of you.”

Good to his word, Richard began to kiss his way down her body slowly. Starting with her breasts, he licked and sucked one nipple as he fanned the other with his fingertips. Gasping as pleasure radiated throughout her body, Carla raked his back with her nails. He continued to leave butterfly kisses down her heaving chest to her belly. He flicked his tongue in and out of her navel for a beat causing her to writhe in ecstasy before he snailed his way to her sex.

He lifted her bottom and placed her legs over his shoulders. Like a flower, he gently opened the folds of her labia and used the flat of his tongue to stroke her clitoris. Carla felt the hysteria of delight rising inside her as he began to alternately lick and suck the area from the bottom of her labia to her clit. With one hand he kneaded one of her nipples, but when he pushed a finger inside her at the same time, the involuntary tremors of a climax took over her body and her breath came in long, surrendering moans.

Richard didn’t stop until her moans subsided. He kissed the inside of Carla’s thigh before lowering her legs. She reached for him. He rose and kissed her mouth. It was a greedy kiss and he thrust his tongue deep inside her mouth. She threaded her fingers through his hair, as he nuzzled her neck. Carla took hold of his penis and guided it to the opening of her sex. Then Richard was inside her and an electric wave of passion and love flowed between them. The moment was better than she’d fantasized.

He thrust into her and pulled out, slowly at first, and she savored every stroke. He bent to suckle her breast. His tongue circled her nipple before nibbling it. Carla moaned softly and Richard repeated what he’d done to her other breast. As he continued to fondle her nipples, he increased his pace, pumping deeper into Carla as she arched her body. She cried out for release. Her sounds of pleasure were complemented by his until they both climaxed and finally collapsed into a tangled heap of limbs.

Richard kissed her head, her face and finally her mouth. “It was worth the wait.”

Carla smiled and kissed him. “Better than I’d imagined.”

Richard leaned on an elbow and looked down at Carla. “I never truly thought I’d find the right woman for me and then I met you.”

“Too bad you’re not a divorce lawyer, after all.”

Richard chuckled. “No fear, some of my best friends are divorce lawyers.”

Carla smiled. “I’d like to meet one of them—like…yesterday. I love you, Richard, and don’t want to waste another minute.” She traced the outline of his face with her hands and he kissed the palm of one.

“And I love you, Blondie.”

Carla began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Blondie is my Labrador Retriever’s name, remember? You’re going to have to come up with another name.”

“How’s about “Beautiful”?” He asked.

“That’ll do,” she said, as she pulled him down over her and they began to make love again. He did make her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

Epilogue

Carla woke up wrapped in Richard's loving arms. A broad smile appeared on her face as she felt his morning erection pressing against her thigh. Suddenly, all the lingering vestiges of sleep dissipated and she ached to have him inside her.

Richard nuzzled Carla’s neck as he slipped his hands over her breasts. Her body responded to his automatically as she felt the familiar pleasurable tugging in her womb. She shifted her body to accommodate him.

As Richard gently kneaded her breasts and fanned her sensitive nipples, Carla purred with pleasure and felt the wetness between her legs. He slipped easily inside her. Soon the room had filled with the sounds of heavy breathing and the slapping of flesh on flesh amidst the constant groaning of the bedsprings.

Their movement quickened to a frenetic pace and Carla felt the beginnings of her orgasm.

Suddenly, there was knocking at the door. "Mommy! Poopy! I made poopy in my pants!"

"Ignore him," Richard groaned, pumping faster.

"Poopy, Mommy! Yucky!" Their two-and-a half-year-old, son, Adam called again, knocking as hard as he could. Then their yellow Lab, Blondie, barked and howled.

Breathlessly, Carla called out, “I’ll be right there, baby.” Carla felt so close…so close..

However, the damage was done for the moment had passed.

As Carla disengaged from a semi-erect Richard, he mumbled, “When will all these damn interruptions end?”

“When he gets married,” Carla deadpanned. “I’ll tend to the kid; you let the dog out.”

Richard pulled her back down for a last kiss. “I love you, Carla.”

“I love you, too,” Carla replied. But between Adam’s whining and the dog’s howling, she doubted he’d heard a word she said.

Richard left for work early to attend a partners’ meeting, skipping breakfast. Having made partner at his law firm only a year before, he was still eager to attend meetings that sometimes dragged on for hours. Carla put Adam into his high chair and placed a bowl of Cheerios on his tray. Blondie positioned herself close to Adam’s chair as she waited for the Cheerios to drop to the floor.

Just as Carla sat down with a cup of coffee the telephone rang. She smiled when she glanced at the caller ID. It was Lynne.

“Hi!—” Carla started to say more, but Lynne cut her off.

“Are you near a computer?”

“I—”

“Boot up your computer. I sent you a link,” Lynne said excitedly.

“What’s this—?”

“You’re not going to believe this.”

“Believe what?” Carla said, finally getting a full sentence in.

“Did you open my email, yet?” Lynne demanded.

“Just a sec. You sound like a crazy woman, Lynne,” Carla said, as she booted up the laptop sitting on the kitchen table.

“Carla?”

“Hold your horses… It’s still booting up. What the devil is so important?”

“A friend of Haywood follows some crazy English guy’s blog. The guy goes around London videotaping the stupid things he sees people do. Then he uploads them to YouTube and puts the link on his blog.”

Carla opened her mail server and scrolled down to Lynne’s email. As she clicked on the link, her curiosity slammed into high gear. The link opened and Carla couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Are you watching the clip yet?” Lynne asked.

“Am I crazy, or is that Heather Hemmings standing across the street from a jewelry store—in London of all places?”

“Yup. We were all wondering where she ended up. But I gotta warn you, the rest isn’t pretty,” Lynne said.

Carla was about to ask Lynne what she meant as she saw Heather looking the wrong way and sprinting into the street. Carla’s mouth dropped open as she watched a huge double-decker bus mow Heather down. “Oh, my God!”

“Unbelievable, no?”

“What a horrible way to go—even if she did have an affair with Martin.”

“Too bad we’ll never know what happened to Orson Hemmings, though,” Lynne said.

“I hope he’s somewhere cold flipping burgers at a McDonald’s.” Orson had cut a deal with the district attorney and had been placed in the witness-protection program.

“Hopefully he did get what he deserved,” Lynne replied.

“By the way, how’s Haywood’s mom doing?” Carla asked.

“We haven’t seen much of Louise since our baby’s christening.”

“So what’s she been up to?”

Lynne began to laugh. “With the Heather video I nearly forgot to tell you. Louise is getting married.”

Carla blurted out, “Married? To whom?”

“To the guy who runs the local soup kitchen in Phoenix where she’s been volunteering since the deaths of Jesse and Jake.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Not one iota. The guy’s blind and very, very rich.”

“That’s gotta be a match made in heaven,” replied Carla.

“Amen,” Lynne said. “Are we still on for lunch today?”

“You bet,” Carla said and turned to look at Adam, who was now wearing the plastic bowl on his head.

Carla rolled her eyes and thought how she might incorporate the antics of her son into her next picture book.

Read on for a sneak peek at

SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME

by
Candy Caine

Coming in September 2014 from Arrow Publications

Chapter ONE

Amber Bennington stepped into the shower. She had a little time before she was to meet up with her study group at the coffee shop. The hot water felt good on the back of her neck soothing away some of the tension from the day.

First, she’d overslept, missing breakfast in order to get to her first class on time. It had rained heavily the night before and was still drizzling when she tore out of her dorm and raced to class. Then some guy on a bike roared through a giant puddle splashing her and soaking her jacket thoroughly. She sloshed into class and a puddle formed around her shoes as she sat through the lecture.

Then, on her way to her next class, her roommate, Shawna, texted her that she wouldn’t be able to pick up the tickets to see
Getting Weird With Adam Devine,
after all, and would Amber
mind picking them up? Tickets would be available after five that day at the University’s Union Information Center and Amber knew the tickets would go fast. That meant she had to be there early.

By the time Amber got over to the Union Information Center at 4:00, the line was already snaking around the side of the building. Amber sighed. Resigned to a long wait, she took out her iPad and started doing some Internet searches for a paper she was researching. By the time the ticket office opened, there was an even longer line behind her. Gradually, she moved up in line, praying the tickets wouldn’t be sold out by the time she got to the ticket window.

Then she noticed—
him.
No way could she miss the shaggy blond hair and the tall six-foot plus frame with impossibly wide shoulders. He was the annoying know-it-all from her undergraduate biochemistry class. She hadn’t seen him in a couple of years, since she got her Bachelor’s degree, but she remembered him well. Back then he thought he was God’s gift to women. He always had some giggly co-ed attached to some part of his anatomy.

And he was about to break into the line in front of her. Amber couldn’t believe it! He was cutting directly in front of her, slapping the back of the chunky guy in a leather jacket who stood in front of her. Unbelievable!

“Thanks for holding a place for me, man,” he said to his friend.

To make matters worse, by the time Amber got to the ticket window, all the tickets were gone. Fuming, she started to walk away, but caught a glimpse of the blond guy waving two tickets in front of a girl. He was bragging loudly, “Look what I’ve got.”

A look of utter hero worship appeared on the girl’s face making Amber want to puke. Red-hot anger rose from within her as she watched the guy practically pat himself on his shoulder. That was what pushed Amber over the line. Those should have been
her
tickets!

She stormed over to confront the jerk. “Nice job, Casanova. Next time, stand in line like the rest of us
common
folk.”

Moss green eyes widened as they took in her angry face.

“Those tickets belonged to me. I waited in line over an hour for them!” After saying her piece, Amber stormed off.

The shower beginning to cool brought Amber back to the present, but she still steamed over the ticket incident. She was stepping out of the shower when she heard knocking on the door. “Shawna! Can you get that?”

But, moments later, the knocking had become dull thuds.
Where the hell is Shawna when I need her?
Amber knew the answer to that rhetorical question, since her roommate was out more often than she was in the dorm.

Whoever was out there was now pounding on the door.
Good Lord! Who the hell is out
there making that racket,
she thought, as she wrapped a towel around her. “Chill! I’m coming!”

Amber pulled open the door. Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Her eyes opened wide in disbelief, because standing there looking handsome and smug, was Casanova. His eyes slowly roamed over her figure before giving her a wink. “Nice.”

“What do you want?” Amber asked, her hazel eyes blazing with anger.

“Umm, Sarah Layton. Is she here?”

“No, smart guy. She’s one room over to the right,” Amber spit out.

“Your right or mine?”

“Yours.” She gritted her teeth.

He was about to say something else, but Amber was in no mind to listen and began to shut the door on him. Just then Shawna strolled up the corridor.

“Hey!” she called out. “Can I join this party?”

“Now you show up?” Amber said to her roommate.

“I wouldn’t miss this hottie for anything,” Shawna said, giving Casanova the full blast of her megawatt smile.

“Gotta lay rubber. Got places to be,” the object of her lustful looks said and headed toward Sarah Layton’s dorm room

Amber shut the door as Shawna entered.

Shawna asked, “Was he coming or going?”

“Neither. He knocked on the wrong door.”

“Too bad,” her roommate replied. “I’d love to make toast out of that slice of white bread.”

Amber rolled her eyes. Shawna didn’t meet a pair of pants she didn’t long to try on.

“If you keep doing that, one day they’ll roll right out of your head,” Shawna warned, dropping her handbag on her bed. “You know the boy was choice.”

Amber pursed her lips. Shawna was right—the guy
was
hot and Amber hadn’t missed checking out his cute tight butt that filled his jeans perfectly as he walked away. Nor had she missed how his thick, shaggy blond hair fell to the back of his collar, practically inviting her to run her hands through it. His fair skin was clear with a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. And when he smiled, he exposed dimples that matched the cleft in his square chin. Dammit! Why was she even thinking about him? She loathed guys like him and their smug attitudes. She wasn’t shallow like all those other girls who seemed to be so attracted to him. She’d never fall for just a pretty face. Let him turn heads as he walked by. Hers wouldn’t be among them.

* * *

The following morning Amber noticed Shawna hadn’t come home after the party the night before. Amber didn’t understand how her roommate could function as well as she did. Shawna, an inner city girl from the Bronx, New York, never turned down the chance to party. No longer on her grandmother’s tight leash, she wanted to cram as much fun in the freedom she now experienced being away at school.

At Ohio State University on a full scholarship like Amber, she had to maintain a B average. But unlike Amber, who constantly had to study, Shawna didn’t seem to even open her books. She was brilliant and able to read and retain the contents of even the most complex textbooks with ease. They’d been roomies since their freshman year in undergraduate school. Now they were taking the last of the required classes required to complete the Doctor of Physical Therapy or DPT program for short. At the end of the semester, they would be practicing physical therapists, but Amber had applied for a clinical residency in Orthopedics to further her clinical skills.

Amber took a quick shower and dressed, heading over to the cafeteria for breakfast. Her mind was wrapped around the exam in human growth and development she’d be taking later that afternoon. Though she studied as much as possible and had maintained a good grade average, she always feared doing poorly.

As Amber headed toward the cafeteria on autopilot, she went over several key points that might be on the exam. But she wasn’t too preoccupied to check out the guy walking directly in front of her in an Ohio State University jacket and a baseball cap. He had a nice butt. She passed him when he stopped to read a notice tacked to the bulletin board and took in his ruggedly, handsome profile.
Oh, Lord. Not
him
again
, she thought. Couldn’t she go anywhere on campus without running into Casanova?

Once inside the cafeteria, Amber’s mind shifted back to her upcoming exam and she got in line at the self-serve counter. She slid her tray along the rail, grabbing a breakfast sandwich, potato wedges and coffee. When she’d reached the end, she realized she’d forgotten orange juice and turned around quickly, slamming her tray into a guy behind her carrying a full tray of food. Her breath caught in her throat. Of all people on the entire campus, it had to be
him
.

Her purse dropped to the floor and food and drink from both trays flew everywhere. It would have been funny had Casanova not been covered in it. Orange juice streamed down his cheek and there were bits of scrambled egg in his hair. His jaw clenched as he tried to wipe the juice from his face. “Dammit! Can’t you look where you’re going or are you just naturally a walking disaster?” Then he realized who it was and exploded, “You!”

Everyone turned to gape at them. There were snickers from a few of the onlookers.

Mortified, Amber’s face heated. The contents of her purse had spilled onto the floor and Amber scrambled to shove everything back into the small bag. Like an idiot, she instinctively bent and reached for a tissue to wipe the juice off his face. However, the tissue was useless and shredded, leaving bits of paper stuck to his chin, making things worse. And the throbbing blue vein on his neck was beating out the message that he wasn’t too happy about their encounter.

Not waiting around for the fireworks, Amber dropped her tray into the used bin, muttered a “Sorry” and hurried out of the cafeteria.

“Wait!” Casanova called after her. “You—”

But the minute she got outside, Amber took off briskly without stopping or turning around. How could she have been so clumsy? Why hadn’t she paid attention to what she was doing? And why did she have to make an ass out of herself in front of that guy?

She snuck a peek over her shoulder and her breath caught in her throat. Casanova was walking in her direction. Was he coming after her? She ducked behind a large smelly dumpster. Crouching down and breathing only through her mouth, she felt foolish, praying he’d go right past without seeing her. He did and she hoped she’d never run into him again. Pun definitely intended.

As Amber got back to the dorm she ran up the stairs to her room. She searched her bag for her keys and couldn’t find them. She must have left them in her other bag on her dresser. Great! She banged on the door. When Shawna, wrapped in a bath towel answered, Amber all but fell into the room and collapsed on her bed.

“Who’s chasing your tail, girl?” Shawn asked as she dried her face with the edge of the towel.

Gasping for breath, Amber held up a finger indicating that she needed a moment to catch her breath before she could speak. “You won’t believe what just happened.”

“Try me. I’m from the Bronx, remember? There’s nothing I ain’t seen.”

Amber described the scene in the cafeteria for Shawna. If she had expected any empathy, she was sorely disappointed. Shawna roared with laughter.

“You wouldn’t think it was all that funny if it happened to you. I felt like a total moron.”

“Chill, girl. It was an accident. You didn’t go to that cafeteria this morning with the intent of dumping the dude’s tray—unless…you wanted to get his attention.”

“Bite your tongue.”

There was a knock at the door and Shawna went into the bathroom to finish dressing.

Amber went to answer the door. She felt as if she’d fallen into a parallel world where nothing made any sense. And everywhere she went, she saw Casanova, who was standing there now. “Why are you doing this to me?

“Doing what?” He asked, cocking his head to study her.

His gazed disturbed her. “Hounding me. Everywhere I go, you’re there.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

Amber narrowed her eyes. “
I’m
crazy?”

“Hey, I’m the one who’s been wronged here.”

“That was an accident!” She said in exasperation. “And if you weren’t there, it wouldn’t have happened.

“Really? How do I know you didn’t do it on purpose because you want me?”

“Want you
? You think I’m certifiable?”

They glared at each other for several beats until he said, “You know, you’re kinda cute when you’re mad.”

Amber felt her face heat at the laughter in his moss green eyes. Thank God her bronze skin tone wouldn’t show her blush. “Why are you here? You already know which dorm Sarah’s in.”

“I’m not here for Sarah. I stopped by to give you this.” Grinning, he dangled a set of keys.

So that’s what happened to them
. She snatched them from his hand. “Thanks and goodbye.”

“Jeez! That’s gratitude for you,” he said as the door closed in his face.

When Shawna came out of the bathroom, she asked, “Who was that?”

“No one,” Amber replied.
How
dare
he laugh at her?

“By the way, there’s a rally on Friday night,” Shawna said. “You’re coming with me. No arguments.”