Just Like That (19 page)
“Of course, I know why. You remember what it felt like to have a promise not be kept. Dad said he’d be right back, and he wasn’t. And you realize that it wasn’t his fault, but it still turned your world upside down. All of our worlds. So you never make promises, because you don’t want to not be able to keep them.”
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It certainly didn’t sound like she was realizing all of this right now. This was a topic she’d given some thought to before this moment. Of course, she had a master’s degree in social work. She’d taken counseling and psychology classes and had made helping people her career. It probably shouldn’t surprise him that the huge, sudden change in their family dynamics had been a topic of consideration.
“Sounds like you know what you’re talking about,” he said gruffly.
She smiled. “I got an A-minus on the paper.”
“The paper?”
“The paper I wrote about you in grad school.”
“You wrote a paper about me?”
“I changed your name.”
“Thanks,” he muttered. As if that had been his first thought about the paper. Then he downed the rest of his beer. “You probably should have gotten an A-plus.” Her eyes widened and she grinned. “I’m that close?”
“Pretty much right on,” Sam admitted in a rare moment of raw honesty.
His dad had literally taken a bullet for Jessica. That was David Bradford. He would have taken a bullet for anyone, but especially one of his children. Marisa Bradford, their mom, had been the exact opposite. Free-spirited, even selfish to hear their aunts and uncles tell it. She’d never been there for her kids, but she’d never agreed to be. From the beginning, having a family had been David’s idea and when it turned into more than she wanted to handle, she’d walked away. And no one had been surprised, or blamed her. Because she’d never claimed to be good at being a mother, nor had she promised to try.
Sam sighed. He didn’t defend his mother’s choice, even in his own mind, but he understood her to an extent. What she’d chosen had been a lot easier than what David had chosen. Being everyone’s hero meant that everyone expected you to be heroic all the time. There was no margin for error or room for mistakes.
Being selfish and irresponsible, on the other hand, meant never disappointing anyone.
When choosing whose example to follow, it hadn’t been a hard decision as far as Sam was concerned.
“I might need you to write a letter to that professor,” Sara said with a small laugh. “He thought I was being too harsh in my analysis of your motivations, making you too egotistical in your thinking you could be that important to someone.”
Sam smiled. “I know first-hand that people
can
be that important to other people.”
“Because of Dad,” Sara said.
“And because of you and Jess.”
Sara’s eyes glistened and Sam realized she was choked up. He leaned over and pulled her up against his side in a hug.
“I always figured you’d turn into the smartest one of us.”
“Of course.” She sniffed and hugged him back. “Good thing for you.”
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Erin Nicholas
He stood. He wanted to find Danika and take her home. And to bed, if possible. But at least away from here where it seemed that every one of his emotions and character traits was obvious to everyone.
“Sam, I need to talk to you. Right now.”
He turned to face Danika. Looking beautiful and determined…about something.
“You ready to go home?”
She shook her head, wet her lips and looked straight at his mouth. “Not yet.”
“Do you feel okay?”
“Not really.”
“Are you sick?” he asked with concern. “In pain?”
“No.”
“Drunk?”
She frowned at that. “No. Definitely not.”
“Then…”
“Can we go somewhere private?”
“Use my office,” Sara offered. “I already grabbed my purse. It’s not locked.” Danika took his hand and started toward the doors. He shrugged helplessly at Sara and waved to Jessica as they passed her and Ben. He had no idea what Danika needed to talk about, but going somewhere alone with her was not an idea he was inclined to fight.
“First one on the right,” he said as they crossed the entryway where a few people stood around chatting as others came and went through the front doors.
Danika said nothing until she had pushed him into Sara’s office ahead of her and shut the door behind her.
His sister had made her office into a classy, comfortable space. The walls were painted a deep red with white baseboards and trim around the windows and door, the floor was a light pseudo-wood flooring and the desk, the round table and two chairs and the coffee table in front of the long couch by the window were all black. She had a tall floor lamp in the corner and a small desk lamp connected to the switch by the door instead of overhead lighting. The modern prints on the walls and the area rug under the desk had bold squares of black, red, brown, and orange, with hints of green.
“Danika, what’s going on?”
“I need you to give me an orgasm.”
Well,
that
was unexpected.
His body understood what she’d said a few seconds before his brain did and he had an erection, elevated blood pressure and heat tingling through his body as he realized that she was coming toward him, lifting the bottom of her shirt.
“Let’s go home,” he said roughly. “I’ll take care of you, honey.” 112
Just Like That
“No. Here. Now.”
She somehow managed to pull the shirt off with one hand and tossed it away, standing before him in her bra and jeans. The bra they’d bought together the night before at Tease
.
“Well, if you insist.” He reached for her and caught the waistband of her jeans with his index finger.
He pulled her forward, then turned her and walked her back until she was up against the wall next to the lamp. Here he’d be able to see everything.
He leaned in and put his lips against hers, simply because he couldn’t
not
do it another second. But it wasn’t really a kiss. It was more a shared awareness, a glimpse of what was to come. “What brought this on?” he murmured against her mouth.
“It’s been coming on since we met,” she breathed. She didn’t press closer, or pull back, but seemed suspended, waiting for his next action.
He pressed his lips against hers in a light kiss, then lessened the pressure, but maintained the barest contact. He lifted his hand to her rib cage and reveled in her quick intake of air. He slid up and down the curve of her waist to her hip then slid higher, cupping her breast. She sighed. He smiled. “You wouldn’t wear this bra without the matching panties, right?” he asked, rubbing lazily over her nipple, which stiffened instantly.
“Right,” she whispered.
He’d suspected as much but he still paused at her admission. She had on the almost-see-through black bra and panties. Lord, have mercy.
“Do they make you feel sexy?” he asked.
She nodded, which moved her lips against his.
“They should. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.” Sam willed his eyes to stay on her face, not wanting to look until he could see it all. He slipped a hand down, popped the button on her jeans open and pulled the zipper down, sliding the denim off her hips and pushing it to the floor in one movement.
“Kick them off,” he ordered.
Her left hand stayed palm flat against the wall next to her hips and her right hand with the cast hung at her side, but she kicked her feet free of the jeans.
Sam held her gaze as he stepped back. Then he took a deep breath and let his eyes drop. Danika stood before him in a mostly see-through bra that cupped her breasts from underneath, the top just barely covering her nipples, and the scrap of material that was supposed to be panties. The triangle that was outlined in black satin acted like an arrow pointing him right to where he wanted to be. Her stomach was flat, her waist narrow, her hips flared gently and her legs were long and smooth.
“Holy…” He trailed off, not wanting profanity to mar the moment, but feeling that invoking the Lord’s name at that moment would be more in prayer. Of thanksgiving.
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Erin Nicholas
She smiled at him, but seemed nervous.
Sam stepped forward quickly, realizing that she needed more than words.
His hand went to the back of her head, pulling her into a deep, hot kiss, while his other hand again lifted to her breast. The bra cup was easily pulled down, letting her nipple press into the center of his palm, hot and insistent. He tugged and rolled the tip, making her moan, then pulled his lips from hers to dip his knees and take the firm point into his mouth.
Her hand tangled in his hair, the pads of her fingers pressing into his scalp and he heard a whispered,
“
Yes.
”
He licked, sucked hard once then gave the other side the same attention, before kneeling on one knee to allow his lips to move down to the top of the thong.
“Oh,” she moaned. Her eyes closed and her head bumped back against the wall.
He kissed his way down the front of the see-through silk, then licked, pressing his tongue against the spot where he knew she needed him most.
She cried out and her back arched, bringing her more fully against his mouth. He pulled the thong down, baring her to him and tasted her, tongue on flesh, holding her hips firmly so that she wouldn’t fall as she bucked. She gasped and her hand clutched his head. “More,” she whispered.
Sam stood, whipped the thong down completely, then kissed her as he circled her clitoris, dipped his finger inside, then repeated the pattern. Over and over. Until she was panting and he felt her inner muscles begin tightening. He slid another finger into her and increased the rhythm. That was when he felt her touch him.
Her hand cupped him, stroking up and down his erection and Sam knew he was seconds away from embarrassing himself like he hadn’t done since he was a preteen.
“Dani,” he moaned against her neck, trying to move his hips away from her hand, while not moving his hand away from her.
“
Sam.
”
“Come for me, sweetheart. Come on.”
And she did. Calling his name in a way that made him want to hear it over and over again.
Thankfully, it happened before he got too close himself. He pulled his hips away from her as her inner muscles milked his fingers and her orgasm distracted her enough to drop her hand from his fly.
As her climax quieted, Sam rested his forehead against hers.
“Amazing,” he said sincerely. He’d never enjoyed giving a woman pleasure as much as he’d enjoyed giving it to Danika.
“You are so good at that,” she said with a happy sigh.
He lifted his head and smiled down at her. “I’m not sure it had to do with my talents so much as it did with you.” The realization had just occurred to him.
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Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Have you ever pulled another guy into an empty office spontaneously and asked him to give you an orgasm?”
“No.”
“Dani, it wasn’t so much that I gave you an orgasm as it was you
let
me give you an orgasm.” She was shocked. It was clear. He’d hit on the truth, or very, very close to it anyway. She’d wanted this with Sam more than she’d wanted it with any other man.
Yeah, he felt pretty good about that.
“Sam?” she asked a moment later.
“Uh, huh?”
“Are you still coming home with me tonight?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t worry about putting sheets on the couch tonight.” He swallowed hard. Danika was asking him to spend the night in her bed.
“Because you feel guilty about my lumbar spine?” he asked, trying to keep his head.
“Sam,” she said, looking him directly in the eye. “Your lumbar spine is the last thing I’m thinking about in regard to your body. In fact, I don’t care about anything other than you making me moan.” He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t. His lungs and diaphragm had no input from his brain because all his brain could do was repeat over and over
make me moan, make me moan, make me moan.
Finally, his body’s demand for oxygen overpowered the intense lust that roared through his body and his brain kicked in again.
“I will,” he finally said. “But,” he added at the look of desire and relief on her face. “I want to be upfront with you about something.”
“That’s…great.” She looked uneasy, though.
This was important. He had to say it, had to put it between them, because it was the only thing that might save him from making an exception for Danika and then having to push her away later, when it would be more difficult.
“I only sleep with a woman once. If it’s tonight, it’s only tonight.” Sam didn’t have a lot of rules and standards, but the ones he did have served him well and had been tested over time. “You need to know that ahead of time.”
The very fact that he was considering making an exception made him sure he couldn’t mess with Danika. He didn’t want to break her heart. He didn’t want to have his own heart broken. He wasn’t single, and determined to stay that way, because he didn’t think he could fall for someone. It was the opposite. He knew he could fall in love. But he also knew he couldn’t be responsible for someone else, for their happiness—or worse, for their unhappiness.
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Erin Nicholas
So he’d made a decision—falling in love wasn’t an option. He’d learned to accept it, to not think about it much, and to not get close enough to anyone to let it turn into anything stronger than desire.
He was living a life that many men envied. He was happy with that. Most of the time.
What he was going to give Danika tonight was all he had to offer a woman. That was the reason that he was determined to be the best a woman ever had. He supposed he could open stuck jar lids, mow the lawn and explain the West Coast football offense. But he knew that none of that made him special, or unforgettable. What he could do in the bedroom did.
