Desiring an Angel, page 16
part #1 of Missing Link 3 Series
My mouth fucking watered. I swallowed. “Wine?”
“Bordeaux, of course.”
She gently cupped my cheek, her smile dazzling—drawing me in like a siren and coiling tension in my muscles—
A soft giggle, and she moved off before I could crush my mouth to hers.
Goddamn. I stared in silence as Skylar did her thing, flitting around the kitchen like a beautiful fairy, all swaying hips and unbound breasts beneath her sundress causing my blood to race.
Ash elbowed me, pulling my focus. He smirked and loosened my tie before kissing me, his soft mouth lingering long enough that blood seeped into my dick, making my slacks feel too damn tight. “Welcome home.”
“Mmm.”
He tugged me by my tie toward the dining room.
“Are you attempting to seduce me?” I murmured, not hating the idea in the least.
“Do you want to be seduced?” he shot over his shoulder with a sexy smirk I hadn’t seen in…far too fucking long.
“I’m not averse to the idea.” Neither was my dick. I’d gone rock hard from that look in his eyes.
Three place settings sat atop the table, same as the night before. Two candles flickering, wine already poured and waiting. Ash pulled out my seat like a true gentleman and reached over my shoulder after I sat to shake open the fanned napkin and spread it on my lap.
His hot breath coasted over my ear as his knuckles brushed over my hard length. “Hungry?”
“You have no fucking idea,” I muttered, knowing he spoke about more than food.
“We aim to please.” His lips pressed against my neck, and I bit back a groan as my dick bucked beneath his touch.
Deciding there was nothing wrong with letting loose after the shitty week I didn’t wish to think about, I set my focus on enjoying the evening ahead. Good food and a gorgeous, willing woman between us. Details could wait…I was feeling too damn gluttonous for all things delicious food and sex.
“Yes,” I stated as firmly as I shifted to relieve the ache in my groin.
“Yes?” Ash echoed, stroking over my bulge.
“To whatever scheme you two plotted out.”
His laughter drew a smile to my lips. “Drink your wine. I’ll help Skylar bring in dinner.”
My focus stayed on his fine-as-fuck ass until he disappeared from sight.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I muttered, pressing down on my dick that behaved like I hadn’t unloaded in Ash’s silken heat earlier that morning.
My body was insatiable when it came to him, but thoughts of having the gorgeous redhead between us heightened my lust until my pulse raced and my hand shook as I cut into my beef Wellington a short time later.
“Have you ever considered opening a restaurant?” I asked Skylar after the melt-in-your-mouth first bite landed on my tongue.
Skylar snorted, but the unladylike sound didn’t curl my nose like it would have a mere week earlier. “That’s a joke and a half.”
I imagined running such an establishment would be beyond her ability. “You’re an incredible cook.” I found myself offering a compliment rather than saying anything else that might feed her insecurities.
“Thank you.” That pink flush kissed her cheeks, and she glanced away when I held her gaze a second too long.
Hell, not long enough.
I got why Ash stared at her as often as he did. My own gaze trailed her way too. Everything from dining with her the night before hit me again. The fork between her lips. Peek of tongue. Lips on the wine glass.
The need throbbing through my dick didn’t relent one goddamn bit.
“So how did the job hunt go today?” I asked, needing something other than sex to occupy my mind—and I wanted to know when we might be rid of our houseguest, even though she’d grown on me…just a little.
“Twelve applications total,” Skylar said, “and the grocery store Ash told me the two of you go to every week offered me a job on the spot—the last stop of the afternoon.”
“Did you accept?”
“Yes. I start tomorrow.” Her smile quickly faded. “I suck at counting change, so it’s a good thing I’ll be bagging the groceries rather than ringing them up. I’m so easily distracted. Hopefully, I’ll last longer there than I did at the toy shop.”
“Her shift starts a half hour after we head into work,” Ash said, “so I can give her a ride and just come into the office a bit later.”
I nodded, forking up my last bite of potatoes.
“And I’ll catch an Uber home since it’s not that far,” Skylar tacked on.
Home—she made it sound as though she’d moved in permanently with Ash’s blessing.
Unease brewed inside my guts along with that strange sense of rightness, and I didn’t know what the fuck to think about either feeling.
“I’m going to clean up,” Ash said as though hearing my thoughts and not wanting me to expand on them. “You two can take your wine into the living room.”
Ash was giving me time alone with the woman who’d already captured his attention—and possibly a part of his heart. But how far was I willing to go before she got on my last nerve and I told him she wasn’t going to work out?
I stood at the living room’s edge, eyeing the couch and two chairs, my dick suggesting I sit on the first, my brain pushing for the second.
A gentle touch cradled my hip just like Ash always did, but soft breasts replaced hard pecs as Skylar leaned against my back. “Couch,” she suggested in a near whisper that rippled awareness over my skin and had me biting back a groan.
I did not want to like her…or want her. But that latter part? Too fucking late.
26
Skylar
We sat on the couch, both of us half-facing one another, and he sipped his wine in my periphery while I studied my drink.
Ashton and I had planned for me to spend a little time alone with Rhett, and even though I thought I’d hit the jackpot as far as pleasing him with the dinner Ashton had suggested I make, I still felt highly inadequate to hold a conversation with Rhett.
Like Ashton, Rhett was polished, but he also held an air of reserved sternness that seemed more like superiority to me. My backside squirmed beneath his stare.
“Tell me your plans for the future, Skylar. Aspirations, goals…where do you see yourself in five years?”
The question turned my focus inward as a gazillion ideas leapt to life in answer to his question, but I managed to hold my tongue.
Barely.
I couldn’t get my head on straight though.
“Don’t overthink, Skylar. I want to know your thoughts, no matter how messy or fragmented. Just be honest.”
Rhett’s kind words eased the twisting in my stomach, and I chanced a glance at his face. Like that morning, he peered at me with something other than cool reserve.
A little heat, perhaps? That was probably just my fanciful mind dreaming.
My knee bounced as my feet grew itchy. I clutched my wine glass tighter, unable to hold his gaze. One last swallow, and I forced myself to set my empty glass on the coffee table in front of us.
“I desire to be loved for who I am,” I spewed out my number wish while sitting back again. “Quirks and all—unconditionally. But, um…who doesn’t?” I huffed a little laugh and rubbed my palms on my dress, more nerves than anything.
“What else?”
“A house of my own. Children.” I shrugged, expecting the things I wished to pursue wouldn’t have been his choice in a second partner. “I know I’m not smart enough for the corporate world. I barely squeaked by for my high school diploma, and even then only got it because a few of my teachers nudged me toward passing grades when I didn’t deserve them.”
“Did you have ADHD symptoms as a child? That’s when most people with the disorder are diagnosed.”
“I’ve always been absent-minded. Head in the clouds,” I added the sing-song tone to my voice on that last bit. “Hyperactive—but my parents thought I was just looking for attention. I got it, just not the good kind.”
“Now that, I understand entirely.”
I dared another peek. Rhett’s eyes had shuttered down, his emotions behind a bland façade.
“Were you a wild child?” I asked.
“Until I learned at an early age that pushing for acknowledgment and love got me negativity and punishment instead.”
My hand reached over to grasp his forearm without thought as empathy swelled inside me. “I’m sorry.”
Rhett seemed to stop breathing, so I quickly removed my light touch.
“Nora received most of our parent’s attention,” I started to spill to fill the tense silence between us. “I’m her mirror twin except for our ears—hers are pointed like an elf while mine are rounded. I actually got the good gene there. Yay me!” I giggled, my knee bouncing again. “But I felt like soggy leftovers my entire life since she got all the brains when that cell split inside Mom’s womb. She’s brilliant. An astrophysicist, or at least I think that’s what she’s called. Anyway, she’s got her doctorate and works for NASA while I’m the babysitting queen—or at least, I had been back in South Dakota. I don’t know anyone here well enough to offer to watch their kids.”
“It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round,” Rhett murmured.
“I suppose,” I agreed even though I didn’t have nearly the worth Nora did in society’s eyes.
“If your sister ever decides to have a family of her own and continue working, she’s going to need a nanny. So—” he twirled the stem of his glass before polishing his wine off with one swallow “—you could say that someone like you is imperative to her job—thus her happiness.”
I stared, my restlessness shut down at his words as I processed what he’d said.
He set aside his own glass. “I’ve left you speechless,” he said with a small smirk, one eyebrow raised in a provocative, sexy arch as he settled into the couch’s corner, arms stretched along the arm and across the back. His fingertips brushed over my bare shoulder. “I feel I ought to get a reward.”
I didn’t think—just acted—crawling into his lap so damn fast he didn’t have time to keep me from invading his personal space.
His large hands found my backside as our lips met, and he yanked me right up against him without hesitation, causing a flash of fireworks to explode in my ears.
I captured his scruffy jaw in my hands, whimpering when his tongue slid into my mouth, so many zings fluttering through me my heart thrummed. The tartness of the wine, undertones of spice and man overrode my tastebuds, but it was the feel of his fingertips grasping at my ass, kneading and pulling me against his hard length over and over that dampened my panties.
If he didn’t stop, I would soak through since my dress rucked up to my waist.
“Rhett,” I gasped when he bit my lower lip. “I-I’m so turned on.” I swallowed hard as he slid his lips down my neck, my head tipping to offer him better access.
“Mmm,” he moaned his approval and took my mouth with more passion than I’d expected from how he held himself in check.
Rhett Stirling bottled up more feels than he let on—and he unleashed in the perfect way.
I clutched at his hair, grinding against him, as he ate at my mouth like a man who’d gone too long without sustenance. Like he thirsted for something only I could give him.
Panting, I pulled away, still holding his face in my hands as he ground us together. I moved with him, glancing down between our bodies. “I soaked through my panties,” I whispered, breathless from the arousal rushing through me with the force of a blizzard at the sight of the wet spot on his slacks.
Rhett released a throaty growl that shivered my skin and made the hairs on my nape stand on end. “Want to taste your pussy.”
“Yes—oh, yes, yes, yes,” I rushed on a single breath.
He lifted me like I weighed nothing, twisting on the couch cushion to lay me on my back. Up went my dress with no finesse whatsoever, and he ripped my satiny bikini panties from my hips with one yank.
I gasped at the sting from his actions, but he shoved up my legs and dove in—
“Oh!” I cried out, back arching as he latched onto my clit and suckled to the point of pain. “Love it—more—don’t stop…” I continued to spew words, senseless or not I had no clue.
The warmth of his mouth on my tender flesh, the nips of his teeth erased reality as I soared upward toward the clouds.
Rhett tongued up through my slit. “Christ, you’re so fucking sweet,” he all but growled, a damn book boyfriend come to life just like Ashton had said.
Thick fingers slid into my pussy, pushing me closer upward with every thrust into my soaked core.
“Fuck, Sky…so tight. Wet.” His tongue fluttered over my clit, and my climax tingled low in my belly faster than seemed possible.
“Suck on me—make it hurt…oh yes!” I gasped, thrusting my hips up toward his face as he gave me what I needed. “I’m going to come…oh my God, I’m going to come! Rhett!”
He groaned, his face buried between my thighs, and I erupted.
I may have shrieked his name—and I definitely detonated from deep inside where I ached to be filled with more than fingers, squirming with every spasm through my core.
“Fuck, yes.” Rhett groaned, lapping and fucking me with his fingers until I collapsed backward, every inch of my body tingling.
My ears rang.
Tongue felt dry and thick in my mouth as I panted for breath.
And my mind…blessed Mary, Joseph, and Jesus—or whatever—sat quiet. Utterly wrecked.
Rhett licked through my lower lips, placed a sweet kiss on my sensitive clit, and nosed up my belly until his face came into contact with my dress bunched around my breasts.
“I’ve left you speechless for a second time.” The rasp of his low voice sent a shiver across my skin.
“I…Best. Way. Ever.” A grin attempted to split my face in half as I sprawled, weak and completely relaxed.
He chuckled and moved even higher until he planked over me, his face hovering mere inches above mine. Warmth filled his eyes, a softness I’d never seen, more like milk chocolate than bitter dark.
I captured his face in my hands, studying the gorgeous man who allowed me a moment to glimpse inside his soul. Happiness welled up in my chest, filling me with jitters. Sudden energy made me want to move.
“Ash said you have a delicious dick,” I spewed the words. “Can I taste you too? I really would like to—I’m not very experienced with blow jobs, and I’ll probably suck at it—” I burst into laughter but couldn’t stop the words from pouring from me, especially since he smirked rather than rolled his eyes.
Ashton and I had hoped for a breakthrough with Rhett that night—and evidence of our having succeeded stared down at me with actual happiness lining his face.
27
Ashton
The damn indigestion had attacked again after we finished eating, but I focused on their murmurs from the kitchen where I cleaned up. Even uncomfortable, I grinned nonstop over the fact that Rhett’s walls had thinned out since his arrival home. A burst of laughter at our dancing? Rarer than a unicorn in real life. No frowns or curls of his nose happened over Sky’s silly chatter, and he’d offered her a compliment rather than dismissal when she admitted to her inability to run a business.
Hope seemed to keep my spirit buoyed, and I felt like my feet hovered over the floor while washing the dishes.
Rhett had told me he wasn’t against being seduced, exactly as Sky and I had planned, but what if he’d only meant by me?
Sky mentioned earlier in the day that Rhett had seen her intention that morning to kiss him, and she figured that’s why he had left us alone in the bed as quickly as he had.
Kissing crossed barriers for Rhett.
That lightness in my body slowly dissipated as their voices continued. They were talking—but what if Rhett wasn’t even attracted to her in a sexual way? He’d definitely checked her out with lust in his eyes, but what if the idea of having her between us didn’t appeal to him?
My new non-friend nausea weaseled its way in atop the slight pain in my upper abdomen, churning my stomach.
“Shit.”
Sweat broke out on my brow, and I hurried to rinse the last dish, knowing my dinner wasn’t going to stay down. No amount of denying that fact would change the sure eruption.
A quick sprint to the upstairs bathroom where I wouldn’t be overheard retching and disturb their conversation landed me on my knees, already out of breath and exhausted.
Goodbye dinner, hello weakness and the lightheadedness that made me feel like my soul wanted to drift toward the heavens.
Finished with emptying my stomach, I gasped for breath, my head hanging between my knees where I propped against the bathroom wall. A few steady breaths calmed my racing heart as I counted like I’d been taught to help panic attacks subside.
I needed to see a doctor.
No. Absolutely not. No fucking way.
The thought of sterility and bleach heaved my stomach again, and I moaned a whimper.
Rhett had to fall in love with Sky just in case …
“Fuck.” I pushed to my feet and rinsed out my mouth, fear twisting my insides up tight and keeping me on edge. A splash of water rid my face of the cold sweat I’d broken into, and a pinch to my cheeks gave my pale face some color.
“No,” I whispered, refusing to dwell on my morbid thoughts hammering at my brain.
But what if—
“Goddamnit,” I whispered harshly, eyes closing and breathing heavily. “Go downstairs. Continue on as though you’re fine—it’s nothing but a stomach bug.”
One steadying inhale, and I nodded to myself, determined to be as stoic as Rhett in my denial of illness.
The voices had faded, I noted as I crept back down the stairs on still-weak knees.
