Luring Lucy (6 page)

The problem was, though she released him, Bram held on. And he ignored the women, managing to nod politely while not quite looking at them. He dragged Lucy along reluctantly in his wake, and despite herself she snickered when the women frowned at her. “Now you've confused them.”

Bram lifted a brow at her. “Hmm? What was that?”

Stunned, Lucy realized he really hadn't paid any attention to the women. She indicated them with a toss of her head. “You missed your newest fan club.”

Bram glanced over his shoulder toward the women, then smiled. “Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”

“Really?” She found it a little incredible that he had missed the women's attention altogether.

Bram gave her a crooked smile. “Tonight. I was thinking about tonight and how long I've waited and how damn good I know it's going to be.”

Lucy only had time to gasp before they stepped into the small grocery shop and icy cold air blasted them from a struggling window air conditioner. Bram tugged her toward the back aisle where
the meat was kept. She moved along like a zombie, caught in a sensual trance.

“Bram.” She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to contain her heat. “You really were thinking about me?”

As he examined a package of steaks, Bram said idly, “Yeah. You. Naked.” He glanced at her. “I'm obsessed.”

Heat flooded over her, counteracting the too-cold artificial air. Lucy quickly looked around, but no one was listening. There were only two other people in the store besides the salesclerk, and they were in the farthest corner contemplating a variety of fishing lures.

“Bram,” she chastised, unwilling to even consider what he might think if he saw her totally unclothed. She was almost forty. She'd had two kids. And she had no spare time to invest in working out, as he did.

Bram drew his attention away from the steaks, took in her flustered expression, and grinned. His large hand curled around the nape of her neck, and he drew her close. Against her lips he murmured, “I can't wait to see all of you, honey. I expect it'll take me a good long time to look my fill, so you might as well start preparing for it.”

Lucy was going to tell him to hush, but he kissed her. Not a killer kiss like earlier, just a nice, soft pressing of his mouth, so warm, so gentle. She leaned into his chest and returned the kiss, wanting so much more.

Bram stroked her cheek and smiled at her. “Damn, I shouldn't start this here.”

“No, you shouldn't,” she managed to say with less than realistic conviction.

“The cold made your nipples hard,” he informed her in a whisper, and bold as you please, he dragged one knuckle over her left breast, teasing the taut tip.

Lucy's breath caught, the touch was so electric. She felt the sweet, aching pull of desire everywhere, but especially between her thighs. She started to turn away, and Bram caught her shoulder. “No, don't abandon me. I've got a boner and it's just a little noticeable.”

She glanced down and then quickly closed her eyes.
Little
was not an apt part of the description.

Bram grinned at her. “I'll stay behind you.”

Lucy started to nod, not seeing any other recourse, but he just had to go and breathe real close to her ear, “It's a favorite position of mine anyway.”

She turned and stalked away, figuring he could either follow her or not. If she'd stood there one second longer, the look on her face would have given her away and everyone in the store and outside would have known what she had on her mind.

When she reached the counter, Bram's warm breath touched her nape, assuring her he had indeed followed. When she got him home . . .

She drew up short on that thought, uncertain exactly how to proceed. And equally uncertain as to what he'd expect.

Bram reached around her, putting not only the steaks on the countertop but two large baking potatoes and two ears of corn as well. Where he'd snagged them she didn't know, and she wasn't about to ask him. It'd be just her luck that her voice wouldn't work and she'd squeak like a ninny.

Then she
did
squeak, when Bram leaned into her and she felt the full hard length of him against her bottom. He pointed to a T-shirt hanging on the wall and said, “An extra large, please.”

The shirt read:
WET AND WILD
and included a logo from a popular brand of skis. It was also long enough to cover his fly. Lucy sighed in relief. Out of sight,
not quite out of mind
, but at least she ought to be able to stop staring.

The two women they'd passed on the way in were sitting on the edge of the dock when they walked back out. Lucy knew they were waiting and almost resented them, but when she glanced at Bram she couldn't blame them. She'd have waited for another peek, too.

“A few years ago,” Bram whispered to her, keeping her close with one arm around her shoulders while he held the bag with his free hand, “I knew a woman who looked just like the one on the right.”

Startled, Lucy asked, “Is that maybe her?”

“No, but the similarity is uncanny.”

Feeling a tad snippy, Lucy said, “She was rather memorable, I gather?”

“Yeah, she was.” Bram led her around another couple coming up the walk, then again steered them toward the boat. “She'd been coming to the gym for about a month before I said anything to her. As soon as I did speak to her, she told me she and her boyfriend had just broken up and she invited me over.”

“And of course you just had to go.”

Bram shrugged. “You and the kids had just taken off for vacation. I didn't have anything more exciting to do, so yes, I went.”

They had reached the dock, and both of the women turned, smiling at Bram. They didn't seem the least put off that he was with another woman, Lucy noted, and she wanted to push them both into the water for discounting her so completely.

Instead she smiled and said, “Hi.”

They ignored her.

Bram ignored them.

It was small consolation to watch their faces fall as Bram gave Lucy all his attention. Exhibiting true gentlemanly tendencies, he helped her into the boat, then handed her the bag. Before he stepped
in himself he untied the rope from the grommet. One of the women asked, “Want me to give you a push?”

Distracted, Bram glanced at her as he sat behind the wheel and said, “No thanks. I've got it.” Using one long arm, he pushed the boat out and away from the dock, then started the engine and put it in reverse.

Lucy waited until they were well away from the gas docks to say, “OK, so what was so memorable about her?”

Bram glanced at Lucy. “I'll tell you when we reach the house.”

“Tell me now.”

“Can't.” He shoved at the throttle and the boat leaped forward, the engine roaring. “It's tough to talk over the engine,” he yelled.

Lucy turned away from him. She hadn't really wanted to know anyway. Thinking of Bram making love to a woman with a perfect body would only disturb her. She wanted to think about him having sex with her instead.

Unable to resist, she turned to watch him as he steered the boat, cutting through the waves with barely a bounce. Tonight, she thought, she'd get to find out what all the talk was about.

She only hoped Bram wouldn't leave disappointed.

 

“Are you getting hungry?” Bram asked her, watching her face as they carried the few groceries in to the L-shaped dining and kitchen area.

He saw Lucy's shoulders stiffen just a bit, and she said, “I can eat whenever you're ready.”

“But you're not overly hungry now?” Bram kept one eye on her while he put the corn and steaks in the refrigerator. She was aroused, bless her heart, not interested in food, but unwilling to be aggressive enough to initiate things. He'd get her over her shyness soon enough.

Lucy kept busy folding and refolding the grocery bag before finally putting it away in a drawer. She had her back to him, but he didn't need to see her face to know what she was feeling. He felt it too, in spades.

“No,” she said, “I'm not very hungry.”

“Good.” Bram closed the refrigerator and approached her before she could turn. He caged her in by flattening his hands on the counter at either side of her hips. He pressed into her bottom and nuzzled her neck. “That woman I told you was somewhat memorable?”

“Yeah, so? What about her?”

Her disgruntled tone tickled him, and he smiled against the nape of her neck, then whispered, “She wanted me to spank her.”

Lucy drew tight, her head lifted to attention.
“What?”

She sounded just like a schoolmarm, scandalized but at the same time entranced. Bram continued to nuzzle against her. “Yeah, she was a little kinky. Sort of took me by surprise, bringing it up so fast and all. I mean, it'd been our first time together.”

“Did you . . . that is . . .” She shifted, and her fingers moved nervously on the countertop in front of her.

“Did I oblige her?”

Lucy nodded.

“I always oblige,” he rumbled softly. “When I'm with a woman, I want her to be happy. And I insist she leave satisfied. If a red bottom will do that for her, hey, I can handle it.” Keeping the laughter out of his tone was difficult. Lucy was downright rigid with indignation.

Very lightly, he bit her neck, right where her pulse was suddenly rioting. “What about you, sweetheart? You have any kinky fantasies?”

“I don't want to be spanked, if that's what you're asking!”

Bram laughed. “I wasn't that into it myself.” He couldn't stop kissing her, touching her. “And I'd never ask you to do anything that made you uncomfortable, so I don't want you worrying about that, all right? But most people have something they like to fantasize about, something a little wicked that turns them on.”

“Do you?”

“Absolutely.” And most of his fantasies centered around her. “I just want you to know you can tell me anything, ask me anything. Okay?”

Again she shifted, those nervous little movements that told him so much. He wanted to squeeze her close, crush her to his heart. Instead he waited.

“Did you date that woman much?”

“A date implies time out somewhere, so no. I had sex with her off and on for about a month.” Bram trailed the fingertips of his right hand up her arm to her bare shoulder. He saw goose bumps rise in his path. “Sex is a hollow thing when it's between strangers. For a while, when you're young and stupid, that can seem exciting. It can seem like enough. But the older I get, the more I want . . . more.”

Idly, Lucy turned her head to rub her cheek against the back of his hand where it rested on her shoulder. The gesture was tender, loving, and his heart twisted.

“Between David and me,” she whispered, “things got really . . . stale. I guess we'd known each other too long, gotten too comfortable. Doing anything risqué or different seemed silly. Whenever I tried spicing things up, I ended up feeling foolish.”

Struggling not to curse, Bram said only, “David was the fool.”

She shook her head. “I don't know. Everything that went wrong wasn't his fault. I'm to blame, too. I guess we'd just known each other too long to change things from mundane to erotic.” She
gave a self-conscious laugh and added, “The last few years, before I filed for divorce, David had totally lost interest. Sex was something that happened more out of boredom for him than out of love or lust. He didn't want to cuddle, or hold me, or kiss me. He'd say,
‘Are we screwing tonight or what?'
And I . . . I just couldn't.”

Talking about her with David was killing Bram on several levels. He hated the thought of her with another man, even her husband, and beyond that, he hated knowing how frustrated she must have been, emotionally and especially physically. She was the very essence of feminine sexuality, but all her innate responses had been stifled rather than encouraged.

By word and movement and look, Lucy was a very sensual woman. She deserved to have all her needs met, in any and every way. He wanted to ignite her basic nature, enflame her body. He wanted everything she had to give a man.

“I think,” he breathed into her ear, “that we should work on stage one of this week.”

On alert, she asked, “Stage one?”

“Yeah.” His heart pounded and his temperature rose. “That's the part where I get to take your shirt off you and kiss your pretty breasts and maybe make you half as nuts as I am.”

“Right . . . right now?”

“Hell yes. I don't think I can wait much longer.” Bram coasted his fingertips back down her arm, over her abdomen, and lower, to fondle her belly. She was soft, giving, and he wanted to tease her, to drag out the fun. Bram angled his fingers upward and just barely touched the underside of her left breast. “I want to move slowly, for both of us. I've wanted you too long to be able to do everything I want to do to you if I get you completely naked. And you're still a little hesitant about things, aren't you?”

“It feels . . . weird, being with you.” She rushed to clarify that, in case he'd misunderstood. “I mean, we've been practically related for a long time.”

Bram cupped her breast in his palm and felt her heartbeat quicken. Her nipple was elongated, puckered tight, showing her arousal. “Does this feel familial?” he asked, groaning just a bit with the voluptuousness of the moment. “Christ, Lucy, I've wanted to do this forever.”

“Bram . . .” Her head tipped back to his shoulder and she shuddered delicately.

Bram caught her nipple and tugged the tiniest bit, rolling the swollen tip, plucking at it.

“Oh, God.”
Her back arched, her legs stiffened.

She panted, thrilling Bram with the measure of her response. Softly, wonderingly, he whispered, “You need this almost as much as I do, don't you, baby?” Using his left hand, he again stroked her belly, then lower. The heat of her through her shorts scorched him. The soft, worn denim did nothing to disguise her sex. Bram could feel the swollen, delicate folds and the soft tender flesh between.