Wet and Wilde (13 page)

How did he do that? How could he know what I bought?

Her whole body heated, juices started flowing, and various body parts started tingling, especially those between her legs.

“Okay,” she breathed the word more than said it.

He handed her the small jewelry store bag with the velvet box for her ring. “Go ahead and take this home. But don’t you dare take off that ring.”

“Okay.” She took the bag from him. As her fingertips brushed his, a zap shot between them, static. She jerked her stinging hand away, dropping the bag. “Oh.” She bent to pick it up, but Josh caught her shoulder.

“Allow me.” He scooped it up and handed it to her again, and she took a firm grip. “I’ll call you later, say seven?”

“Okay.” She stopped moving. Breathing became impossible as she caught his glance. In the depths of his eyes, she saw so many things, beautiful deep blue places with shimmering lights.

Diana grabbed her other arm and gave it a tug. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!”

“I’m awake.” Jane shook her head, waved goodbye to Josh—taking special note of the way his jeans hugged his firm ass—and turned around. Well, maybe she was a little out of it. But wouldn’t any woman be after having her boyfriend show up out of nowhere—just as she was battling her ex-husband, to top it off—buy an engagement ring worth more than her car, and then run off, promising an evening of sex?

“What did you do, call him from a pay phone?” Diana asked, walking toward the main mall. “We’ve been looking for you for ages.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Jane peered down at her left hand again. “I don’t know how he found me. And Greg—”

“Holy shit!” Greg’s voice bellowed from inside the jewelry store. “Thirty fucking thousand?”

Jane smiled. Today was going to be a very good day. And tonight…well, after this, she couldn’t wait to see what Josh had in store for her.

“So, are you really engaged?” Carmen asked.

“I don’t know.” Jane glanced at the ring again, half-expecting it to be gone, faded like a dream.

“Don’t know?” Diana gripped her hand and waved it in front of her nose. “Well, considering you just accepted a ring worth more than a year’s salary, you’d better figure out what it means. Have you lost your mind, Jane? You haven’t known the man for more than a couple of weeks.”

Jane didn’t know how to explain. “I know, but it just seems so right. Outside of the water thing—he has a fascination with huge aquariums that scare the piss outta me—we just seem to click.”

“Well, before you get stuck, you’d better do some checking.” Diana suggested, checking out a set of mannequins in a store window. “Make sure everything is on the up and up. Now, that’s a sharp outfit. Let’s go in here.”

“He’s your friend. You mean you don’t know that?”

Diana scowled. “He isn’t my friend. He was just a hunk who wouldn’t give me the time of day. I thought you might like him. But I never expected…” Diana motioned toward Jane’s hand. “I never expected you to get engaged in a week.”

“Neither did I,” Jane said, looking down into the blue stone. It looked like Josh’s eyes, sparkling and deep. “Neither did I.”

Chapter 11

It is amazing how heavy and intimidating a tiny stone on your finger can feel.

As promised, Josh called at seven on the dot, and no more than fifteen minutes later, he was at her door, a smile on his face and a huge bouquet of flowers in his fist. Jane was thrilled beyond belief to see him. Positively giddy. But she needed to find out exactly what the rock on her hand meant before she started picking china patterns.

Josh handed her the flowers, gathered her into his arms, and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Where do you want to go tonight?”

“Maybe dinner? Nothing too complicated. I have to work in the morning.”

“Perfect.” His hands worked magic. Caresses up and down her sides seemed to draw the stress out of her body. He tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged, and she dropped her head back. Seconds later, her whole body tingled as he kissed and nipped the sensitive skin on her neck. Her legs turned weak and rubbery. Ready to fall to the floor, she leaned into him, but that only made things worse. With his body firmly pressed against hers, her mind had to work extra hard to stay functioning. “Oh…”

“Ready?” He lifted his head, set her back on her feet, and smiled like a playful boy. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

She mentally kick-started her brain and heart—both of which had failed several minutes ago—and followed him to the door, stopping to grab her purse and keys.

The minute her gaze took in the vehicle in the driveway, she froze. “What is that?” Okay, she knew what a limo was, but…but why was it in her driveway? What was the special event?

“It’s a limousine, love. I wanted to go all out for you tonight.”

“My gosh, I don’t know what to say.” Her tongue felt much too thick to fit inside her mouth, and her throat was so dry she started to hack.

“Are you all right?”

He looked concerned—how sweet of him! “I’m fine. I just need a drink.”

“There’s champagne in the limo.” He took her hand and led her to the car, stepping back to let the driver open the door for them.

She thanked the driver and bent over to duck inside. “Wow.” She’d once been in a limo, years ago. Prom night. She didn’t remember that limo looking as gorgeous as this one. It was absolutely stunning—for a car. She sat. Nice. Soft cushions. It smelled good, too, as soft music played from hidden speakers all around her. “I could get used to this. Can he come back tomorrow and take me to work? I might not mind getting caught in morning rush hour if he did.”

Josh chuckled. “You’re cute.” He pushed a button. “Rayford, Miss Wilde would like a ride tomorrow—”

She clapped a hand over his mouth. “I was kidding! Oh my God, what would the girls in the office say if they saw me come out of this thing…?” Actually, that might be fun. “Okay. Carry on. I’d love a ride. But only this once.”

Josh smiled and finished with Rayford. Then he took out the champagne and glasses. “Do you still need that drink?”

“You bet I do.” She accepted a tall flute full of clear bubbly champagne. “What are we toasting to?”

“To a lifetime of happiness.” He lifted his glass and she touched hers against it.

Guess he meant that whole marriage thing.

“Oh.” He smiled wickedly. She’d come to appreciate that expression. “And a huge brood of children.”

“Brood of children?”
What exactly did that mean?
“Is a brood like a gaggle, or a pair?”

“A lot.”

“Like how many?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe ten? Twelve?”

Her head started spinning. Did he actually say ten kids? “Are you trying to kill me? Holy shit! Can women produce that many babies and live?”

He smiled over his glass and sipped. “Of course they can. Wouldn’t you like to have my children?”

“Of course I would. I’d be proud to—” She would? Had she just said that? She’d always vowed she’d never have kids. “But-but ten? No one has ten kids anymore. I mean, except for farmers who need cheap labor.”

He motioned toward her glass. “Aren’t you going to drink to our toast?”

She sipped. Yum! Cold, bubbly, crisp. That champagne was very tasty, and she was not normally a fan of champagne.

“I’m willing to compromise, then, if you’re overwhelmed with ten. How about eight?”

“Two,” she countered.

“Seven?”

“Three.”

“Six?”

“Five. And that’s my final offer.”

“Done!” The most amazing smile spread over his face, and she wondered what she’d just gotten herself into. “I’m going to be a daddy. Can we start tonight?” He waggled his eyebrows.

Five kids? Am I nuts?
She laughed. He was so playful and funny. A big hunk of a boy, in some respects, yet commanding and protective, and sexy. Perfect. “You forgot one thing. We aren’t married yet.”

“That’s no biggie. We can take care of that with a quick trip to the courthouse tomorrow—”

“No way! I’ve been dreaming about my wedding day since I played house with Jimmy next door. My first one wasn’t exactly the one of my dreams.”

“Lucky guy!”

She giggled and gave him a playful smack on the shoulder. “We were five. And I’m not getting hitched again at the ratty old courthouse.” Wait! What was she saying? Was she really going to marry Josh? Just like that? She’d always criticized people who rushed into marriage, and there she was contemplating marrying a man she’d known for only a couple of weeks. She was nuts. Pure and simple.
Time to visit a shrink and get some good drugs.

“You’d be nuts to turn me down.”

“My, aren’t we full of ourselves?”

“I’m everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”

He was right, but she wasn’t about to admit it. “How would you know that?”

He leaned forward until his mouth was a fraction of an inch from hers. “Because I know you. I know your most secret desires and fantasies. I know your dreams.”

Her eyelids drooped until they closed out the world. She waited, breathless, for his kiss. He knew her dreams? He sure seemed to.

“Like now. I know you want me to kiss you, but I’m not going to. Not yet.” His hand rested on her breast, and she arched her back into his touch. A fingertip teased her nipple through her snug knit top. “And I know you want me to fuck you. But I won’t. Not yet.” His first hand still taunting her breast, his other dropped to the hem of her skirt and slid under it, brushing over her mound and tickling the point where it met her thighs.

Her body was a lump of aching, tingling need in two breaths. “Oh, Sweet Jesus!” Had he said he wouldn’t fuck her? Teasing bastard!

Kneeling on the floor before her, he used two hands on her knees to part her legs. “You love it when I take command in bed. You love to lose control. Open to me.”

Her skirt hitched high up on her hips, sliding out from under her ass as her legs spread. She felt the cool air on her soaking lace panties.

“Very nice. You’re wet and ready for me, aren’t you?” He lifted her ankles, setting them on his shoulders. The feeling of exposure, of being so open to him only made her hotter and wetter. If only he’d fuck her!

“Please.”

“Please what, love?” He rimmed her pussy with a teasing fingertip, running up and down each side while avoiding the one place that ached for his touch.

“Fuck me.”

“No, no. I told you. I won’t do that yet.” He kissed the inside of her thigh, and she squirmed. He tickled the back of her knee, and she giggled, struggling to pull her ankle out of his grasp. He ran his tongue up her leg then down the other, and she moaned in breathless agony.

“You’re driving me crazy!” She struggled to suck in a breath, knowing her brain was becoming oxygen-deprived. The world spun and tipped, and she grasped for something to steady it.

“Crazy, eh? That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.” His free hand lifted to slide under her top and pinch her nipple, and when he pulled, she arched her back, pushing her breast into his hand. “Do you like that?”

“Oh, yes! Very much.” As a reward, she received a firm squeeze.

Setting her feet on the floor, he pulled her nipple into his mouth and suckled. “And this? How does this feel?”

“Oh…” She couldn’t think of words to describe it. His voice alone hummed through her body like some kind of strange energy, lighting mini-blazes everywhere. “More.”

“And what about this?” He nipped the inside of her thigh then blew a current of cool air on her hot pussy.

“Oh…” She sighed. But the brief relief wasn’t enough. In fact, it only stirred added heat. “More!” Blind with desperation, she clawed at everything within reach. Every muscle in her body coiled tight like a viper preparing to attack. Shit! She craved relief, needing it more than her next breath. Her body thrummed with need, climbing steadily toward orgasm, despite the fact that he hadn’t touched her pussy yet. “I’m going to do something rash if you don’t fuck me. Now!”

“No, you don’t want to do that.”

“Why not?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he slipped a shoe off her foot and tickled the sole of her foot.

It was the strangest sensation. She felt a buzzing, zapping electricity shoot up her leg and settle over her pussy. Like the buzz of a vibrator. It hummed through her body, loud in her ears, stealing her breath, making her pussy throb and clench as if he held a vibrator on her clit.

Without warning, she jetted over the edge, her body convulsing with a powerful orgasm that left her gasping for air and dizzy. “Oh my God!”

As soon as she was able, she opened her eyes.

He still held her foot in his hands, and he was smiling. “Did you like?”

“What did you do?”

He held up his hands, palms facing her. “Everyone has energy in their bodies. If they learn how to channel it, they can use it.”

“I have never felt anything like that.” It was real. She’d felt it. She’d come. Hell, her pussy was still tingling. From a touch to her foot. Why her foot?