Love Thy Neighbor (16 page)

As she took her time kissing his thighs and then his inner thighs, his body flexed with anticipation. Looking up into his dark eyes, she leaned forward and tasted the salty slickness along his head. With her tongue she circled all around the tip of his cock before she dragged her wet lips and tongue down the base of him, making his hips rise up to meet her. He groaned, and she grew hotter than ever.

Again, she took him with the tip of her tongue, her lips pressing down on him as her hand moved up and down his shaft. She looked up at him, smiled, and licked her way down the underside of him again while her hand circled the crown of his penis.

“Oh Nikki, you’re good,” he murmured.

Cupping his balls in her hand, she lightly flicked her tongue against them before she gently took one in her mouth and then the other, her tongue still stroking them with a steady rhythm.

“Nikki—you’re driving me crazy.”

The need for her in his voice stirred her own fire. With her mouth still on his balls, she moved her hand up and down his cock, her thumb swiping back and forth across his wet head. His balls pulled up tight to his body and she released him, this time moving to the tip of his cock and slowly taking him a little deeper into her mouth. His pelvis tilted closer still to her, while his fingers caressed the back of her head.

“Nikki Norris… My Nikki Norris.”

Hearing him say her name in such a breathy voice urged her on as she moved in closer, taking him deeper and deeper until she had him at her mercy, his moaning and groaning so raspy and animal-like, it turned her on even more. With one hand working up and down his long throbbing shaft, going faster and faster, her mouth enveloped the very spot that made his body tremble, her tongue teasing and licking until he said, “You’re gonna make me come if you keep that up. And I’m not done with you yet.”

She smiled up at him with her eyes as she released him from her mouth. “I’m not done with
you
yet.”

She slithered out of her dress and led him into her bedroom while she discarded her bra and panties along the way. Pressing her palms flat against his shoulders, she gave him a deep, soft kiss on the lips and whispered, “Lie down for me.”

He did as she asked and kept his eyes on hers as she climbed up the length of his body, straddling him across his groin. As soon as their bodies touched, they both let out a gasp of excitement. She loved the feel of his naked cock pressing up against her clit as she started to rock back and forth on top of him.

“Nikki,” he said in a breathless whisper. “I left my condoms over at my place.”

“Should I be worried?” She reached behind her and ran her fingers lightly over his balls.

“I’m clean, but what about…”

“I’m on the pill.”

He reached up and cupped her face. “Are you sure about this?”

She felt his cock pulse beneath her. “Oh yes. I’m sure. Let me feel you inside me. I want to feel you come inside me.”

She guided his hard cock to her, and sank down, feeling the throb when he hit just the right spot. She rocked her hips, slowly at first, going forward and backward before she found her stride in a circular, rolling motion. She cried out.

“That’s it, Nikki, grind on me.”

He reached up and caressed her breasts, making the sensations rippling through her body all the more intense. They were moving together now, the sound of skin slapping skin as he propelled her further and further to the edge. She reached for his other hand and guided it to her clit. She ground her hips around and around, pressing on his fingers, moving them up and down over the spot where she needed it most.

“I’m gonnna…” She gasped. Her back arched, hips flexing, and her insides clenched down with all the force she had.

He thrust harder and faster as a second wave of pure ecstasy washed over her. His fingers gripped her hips tighter, and he threw his head back against the bed. She came again as she felt his release explode inside her.

Chapter Fifteen

Dallas held her in his arms moments later after Nikki collapsed on top of him. She panted hard. Her silky soft body pressed against his, her shoulders, back, and arms glistening with sweat.

“Nikki Norris, what have you done to me?” he said, stroking her hair. He felt so connected to this amazing creature in his arms. It was like they were one. He’d never experienced anything like that before. When they kissed, it was as if they were sealing a promise. And the way they touched each other, like they were reaching into each other’s souls. He couldn’t get over it. He’d never had this reaction to sex before, not ever.

And suddenly he realized why. They didn’t just have sex. No, they’d been making love—and he’d never done that before. The whole time, they’d kept their eyes locked on each other; their kisses were deeper, more intense. There was a level of trust he felt coming from her. All this time he’d been encouraging her to let go, and here he was the one who had let loose and gone to a whole new level. Something just happened between them, and he didn’t know where to go with it. She had overwhelmed him and captured him whole.

For the guy who said he didn’t want to be tied down, Dallas already dreaded the thought of leaving her bed, not to mention the day her ex would come back and he’d have to say good-bye to her. That was on his mind when he finally fell asleep with her still in his arms.

The next morning he woke to the sound of thunder roaring outside the bedroom window. Her head was on his chest, his arms looped around her waist. He heard a soft, delicate snore coming from her, and he found it adorable. Part of him could have stayed in her bed like that forever, holding her, watching her. It was a sense of contentment that he’d never known before.

And it scared the hell out of him that he could get used to it, come to expect it. And worse yet, ultimately admit he needed it. Needed her.

He looked at the clock on her nightstand. Christ, it was almost ten o’clock. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept in so late. Half his day was gone. He felt warm all of a sudden, and acutely aware that his arm had fallen asleep beneath her. A million pins and needles prickled his skin and fingers. The room heated up like a furnace, and he wanted to kick off the covers. In an instant he’d gone from feeling comfortable and content to anxious and irritable.

He had a long list of things he was supposed to do that day. Get his car washed, take one of his cameras down to the repair shop, cull through the shots from the week before and send his selects to the magazine. He had a ton of Photoshop work to be done on the approved shots from the week before that. He had clothes to pick up from the dry cleaner’s, a suit that needed altered. He should probably get his oil changed, too. He had all this shit to do and he couldn’t afford to lie here in bed with this woman all day. Although irrational, he was angry with Nikki—like this was all her fault.

He started to ease out from under her, but she began to stir. When her lashes fluttered open, she smiled up at him. “Good morning, handsome.”

“Morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?” she asked in her sweet, sexy morning voice. A voice he knew he could so easily get used to hearing each and every day.

He nodded. “You?”

“Hmmmm.” She situated herself on his chest.
Great, she wants to cuddle now
. A crack of lightning lit up the room, followed by a rumble of thunder.

“Listen,” he said, pulling back the covers, “I’m gonna get going if that’s okay.”

“Huh?” She lifted her head and looked at him.

He freed himself from her embrace and sat up. “Yeah, I—I’ve got a ton of things I need to do today, and I’m already getting a late start.”

“Oh.” She sat up, too, and he could tell she was confused, even a little wounded. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“No. No. I’ve just got a lot of things I need to do, that’s all.”

“Oh. Okay.” She didn’t sound convinced.

He hurried out to the other room and gathered up his clothes. Stepping into his pants, he looked at that bouquet of roses from the ex. Another branch of lightning flashed through the room along with a fierce clap of thunder. He wanted to dart out and disappear across the hall, but he knew that would kill Nikki, and he couldn’t be cruel to her. As he buttoned his shirt, he looked over by the kitchen and noticed that she had four blue bins lined up against the wall: one for paper, one for plastics, one for aluminum, and one for glass.
Son of a bitch.
She was doing this for him
.
She was recycling.

He walked back into the bedroom and found her sitting the middle of the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest.

Despite the turmoil churning inside his head, she looked too good, too inviting, and his body wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed with her. Hold her and kiss her and make love to her all day long.
Shit, man.
He caught hold of his emotions.
Do not get sucked in by her. It won’t last. You’ll regret it. You’ll only end up hurting her more. Get out of here now while you still can.

He leaned over and kissed her quickly on the lips. “I’ll see you soon, okay, babe?”

Chapter Sixteen

“Babe. He called me babe—he calls all his women babe. I was his
Nikki Norris
. Now suddenly I’m just another
babe
to him.”

“Okay, slow down,” Jenna said, sitting on the foot of Nikki’s bed where Dallas had been just an hour before. “Slow down, take a breath, and let’s start at the beginning.”

Nikki shook her head. It was storming outside, a complete contrast to the beautiful evening they’d shared the night before.
How appropriate
, she thought, as she listened to the rain pelting her bedroom window.

“Everything was fine last night. No,” she corrected herself. “It was better than fine. Perfect. I mean it. I’m not inventing this. He
was
into me. And just when I thought the sex couldn’t get better, it did. It wasn’t like we were just screwing each other last night. I mean we made love last night. And then this morning, he acted like a different person. A total stranger. Like he couldn’t wait to get away from me.” She swallowed hard. “And he called me babe.”

“What exactly did he say before he left?”

“‘See you soon, okay,
babe
?’” Nikki mimicked his accent.

Jenna wrinkled up her nose. “I think he got scared.”

“Scared? Of what?”

“Of you. Of him. Of what he’s starting to feel for you.”

“So what do I do now?”

“Nothing.”

“Maybe I should go over there, make sure he’s okay.”

“No. Do. Not. Go. Over. There.” She shook her head once for each word. “Give him some space.”

“Oh, tell me this isn’t happening. I start falling for this guy and he’s pulling away from me.”

“Like I said, give him some space. You’ll probably hear from him later today.”

Nikki’s phone rang and they both leaped up from the bed, racing into the living room.

“See,” Jenna said, “that’s probably him calling now.”

Nikki looked at her cell and threw it onto the couch. “It’s Matthew.”

“The best thing you can do right now is keep yourself busy. You’ve got work to do, right?”

“I have to start designing his loft.”

“So do it. And you’ll see, he’ll come around.”

Nikki said good-bye to Jenna, promising her two more times that she would not go after Dallas.

“Let him come to you when he’s ready. Otherwise you’ll chase him further away. Trust me on this one. I know of what I speak.”

Jenna had seemed so sure about Dallas, but all Nikki could think was that she wasn’t up for another heartache. She was just starting to get over Matthew, and now she’d been clobbered again.

She stared out the window. It was still storming outside, the rain coming down in sheets, doing nothing to lift her mood. Eventually she went over to her desk, trying to focus on the beautiful roses Jenna had sent her. They were a congratulations bouquet for landing her first client and having her first mind-blowing orgasm. God, that was just a few days ago, when Nikki had been happier than she thought possible. Now the bottom had fallen out and she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to survive this kind of pain for a second time.

Her cell phone rang again, and her heart skipped a beat until she saw that it was only Matthew calling once more. She couldn’t bring herself to speak with him. Instead she forced herself to look at the floor plans for Dallas’s loft and started to build the schedule, but her cell phone kept going off. Each time it was Matthew.

An hour and a half and six voicemail messages later, Matthew showed up at her door. The sleeves of his coat were wet. He held a ridiculous yellow umbrella that looked like a duck, with an orange beak protruding off the front. Raindrops trickled down the sides. Nikki didn’t even have to ask—that umbrella had Blondie’s name written all over it. He must have been at her place earlier.

“Matthew, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been calling and calling. I was worried. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” His stupid umbrella made a puddle on the floor. “Can I come in? I really need to talk to you.”

She glanced at the rainwater collecting on her floor. Didn’t he know it was bad luck to have an umbrella opened indoors—especially an umbrella as ridiculous as that? “Leave that out in the hall, would you,” Nikki said, stealing a look across the way at Dallas’s door before she let Matthew inside.

…

Dallas tried to busy himself when he got back to his place that morning. The storm was relentless, pounding against the windows along the east wall of his loft. The wind howled, making the rain shift sideways. He sat on the couch upstairs with his iPad in his lap, halfheartedly going through emails. He couldn’t shake that hurt look on Nikki’s precious face when he said good-bye to her.
Dammit, didn’t she know it was for her own good?
He would have rather hurt her a little now than devastate her later.

Finally he gave up all hope of accomplishing anything worthwhile and decided, despite the downpour, that he had to get out of his place. Downstairs in the lobby, the floor was damp from where people had traipsed in from the rain. Dallas turned up his collar and made a break for it, running down the walkway and heading toward the garage where his BMW convertible waited for him. The top was definitely staying up today.