Sizzling Seduction Page 11

  Do you think she’s bored enough to say yes?” Patrick’s smooth baritone met her as soon as she picked up the phone.

  She grinned and answered without hesitating. “Yes.”

  “Yes?” Patrick repeated in a questioning and nonbe-lieving tone.

  She laughed. “Yes. Now come get me and take me somewhere already!”

  When he showed up about five minutes later, she was already downstairs and she wasted no time getting in his SUV.

  “I can’t believe you final y said yes,” Patrick said.

  “I said yes because you played dirty and were so nice to my son,” she lied as if the night of passionate, steamy sex and the growing feelings she had for him had nothing to do with her affirmative response.

  “You said yes because you have been wanting to say it since day one, and you’re so grateful I gave you the right excuse to fol ow your heart.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly against hers.

  Her usual y proper mouth had the nerve to part, wantonly so. And her tongue, usual y tame and control ed, came dashing out, wild and searching. She found herself hungrily drinking from his mouth as if he had the fountain of life housed between his wonderful y thick, skil ed and demanding lips.

  Her teeth even got involved. What kind of scarlet woman uses her teeth when kissing? Why was she nipping on a man she barely knew while sitting in his car in front of her apartment at the beginning of the date? She could at least let him take her out first.

  His arms pul ed her closer until she was leaning uncomfortably over the stick shift. But did her body register one lick of discomfort? No. In fact, she cal ed on some lost acrobatic skil s in her gene pool and twisted around even more, so that more of her body could connect with the solid wal of muscle that was Patrick Hightower.

  Why she didn’t just get out of the car, walk over to the driver’s side, open the door and just get in his lap was beyond her. It would have been the more pragmatic and reasonable thing to do. But who could think of pragmatic and reasonable when she was clearly drinking from a mouth that offered ambrosia?

  She twinned her hands on either side of his chiseled cheeks and tried to contain him so that she could graceful y end the kiss. It would be hard, but she had to do it. She suckled none too gently and inhaled a great gulp of air as she pul ed away.

  His strong, masculine hand reached out and stroked her cheek as he gazed at her, his eyes gleaming with passion.

  “Whatever the reason, love, I’m glad you final y said yes.

  And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that yes never turns to no.”

  Now was the time, right? Now was the time to bring her reasonable, nonwanton self back into perspective and clear up any misunderstanding her blatant display of lust might have triggered. But al she could do was let out a gasp of air and nod.

  She nodded. She actual y nodded, and she knew her treacherous eyes were saying yes to the fire captain. And she knew she was in a lot more trouble than she ever could have imagined.

  They went out to dinner at a fancy Italian place in Paramus. It had been so long since she’d gone to a non-kid-friendly restaurant that she almost squealed with glee at the thought of white tablecloths and flickering candles.

  “Thanks for cal ing and asking me out, Patrick. Thanks for being so persistent.” She rubbed her hand over the tablecloth and smiled.

  “How are you holding up? I know it must have been hard for you today.”

  “It was hard. It was also obvious that he could care less about spending time with Dil on. That’s what hurts more than anything. Dil on’s feelings get hurt each time his father rejects him.”

  “Have you thought about going back to court? It would be hard to get his visitation revoked since he wasn’t physical y abusive to Dil on. But maybe you can make the case about his neglect and—”

  “He’s already threatened to take me back to court and sue me for ful custody. And with that team of sharks he works with—my father included—I wouldn’t be surprised if they actual y took my kid away. You should have seen how ugly the divorce was and how they fought me on the child support. No, I think it’s best if I either take my kid and run, or let Bil get tired of spending his weekends with Dil on. I just hope he doesn’t inflict too much damage in the interim.”

  She inhaled and exhaled as she shook her head. “Can we change the subject? I don’t want to spend our first real date talking about Bil .”

  “Sure thing. How about we talk about what we are going to do afterward? Would you like to go check out a non-kid-friendly movie? I’m sure you’re more than ready to see a film without animation. I was talking to Dil on and he’s seen just about every kid flick that’s come out in the past year.”

  “Yes, I’ve seen them al . And I would love to go check out a grown-up movie, but maybe tomorrow. Tonight, I don’t want anything between us but sweat and latex.”

  Patrick’s fork dropped and his mouth fel open. He recovered quickly though, and a slow seductive grin spread across his face as he signaled the waiter for the check.

  They decided to go to his place, since his place was closer to the restaurant. Once inside, they wasted no time with smal talk. They began undressing at the door and barely made it to the living room with their underwear.

  The sound of someone clearing her throat stopped both of them dead in their tracks. Mid-kiss they turned to see who it was.

  The woman sitting on the sofa in a sexy short negligee and thigh-high boots made Aisha do a double take. She didn’t know what kind of kinky stuff Patrick was into, but she certainly didn’t get down like that.

  “Who is she? ” Aisha and the unnamed woman said in unison.

  In addition to the silky negligee, the unnamed woman sported a thousand-dol ar weave or lace-front wig or whatever manner of fake hair…Aisha just knew the woman hadn’t been born with it.

  Patrick cursed. “Courtney, I told you to stay away. I’m not interested in getting back together with you. Ever. I’m seeing someone.” He pul ed Aisha close. “How did you get seeing someone.” He pul ed Aisha close. “How did you get in here? I didn’t put the key back after you snuck in the first time.”

  His ex-wife. Courtney…

  Aisha mental y replayed everything the women in the book club had said about the woman foolish enough to cheat on Patrick.

  “I made copies! What are you doing with her? Sophie said you weren’t real y seeing someone or she would have known. I came to give you another chance.” Courtney yel ed and screamed with so much raw emotion and indignation one would have thought she was the wronged spouse or someone had broken into her home.

  Aisha shook her head in disbelief. Between her vindictive ex-husband and Patrick’s apparently crazy ex-wife, she and Patrick real y knew how to pick them. What did that say about the new relationship they were embarking on together?

  Patrick walked over to the cordless phone and picked it up. After dialing, even Aisha was surprised to hear the words that came out of his mouth.

  “Yes, my name is Patrick Hightower and I live on 750

  East 30th Street. I’d like to report a break-in. The criminal is stil —”

  “No! You can’t do that to me, Patrick. Hang up the phone! They wil take me to jail. I have an outstanding warrant for some speeding tickets. Please!” Courtney ran over and snatched the phone out of Patrick’s hand.

  Patrick grabbed Courtney’s arm and spoke in a calm voice. “Give me back the phone, Court. And give me my key. Every single copy you made. The cops are stil going to come. They have the address. It’s only a matter of time. If you don’t want me to give them your name when they get here, you’d better give me every key and promise not to pul any crap like this ever again.”

  Courtney went over to her purse, took out about five or six copies of the key and threw them at Patrick before grabbing her coat and fleeing from the apartment.

  Before she left, she made a point of looking back at Aisha and glaring. “She’s not better than me. But if
you want to settle for less, fine. I’m tired of running after your ass!” With that, she slammed the door hard enough to break the thing off the hinges.

  Aisha couldn’t help herself. She started laughing. She was standing in the middle of Patrick’s living room in her bra and panties and he was in his boxers with keys at his feet and one key stuck to his chest. And she thought it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her. It was certainly the funniest altercation she’d ever seen.

  “Man, she was a piece of work. What did you ever see in her? She’s probably a class-A sociopath. She has delusions of grandeur…Hel , she’s just delusional.” Aisha plopped down on the love seat. She wasn’t sitting on that sofa after the scantly clad insane chick had been al over it doing Lord knows what.

  Patrick plucked the key off his chest, shook his head and dialed the phone again. “Hi, I’m cal ing from 750 East 30th Street and I’d like to cancel my previous cal . It looked like a break-in, but it wasn’t. Sorry for any inconvenience.”

  He hung up the phone.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He ran his hand over his head as he placed the phone back on the hook and picked up the keys, along with their clothing.

  “Wel , I said I didn’t want to see a movie, but it looks like we got a little live drama anyway…some real live theater.”

  Aisha stood up and walked over to him. “Your crazy ex-wife kind of ruined the mood. But we could—”

  He stopped her words by pul ing her into his arms and kissing her. Every nerve ending in her body bounced into awareness and she suddenly forgot al the nonsense she had been spouting about the mood being ruined.

  When he final y stopped, she had a moment to catch her breath and try to slow down her heartbeat, which was pumping at a breakneck pace.

  He lifted her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom. When he placed her on the bed, he arched his eyebrow playful y. “You were saying?”

  “Nothing.” She opened her arms, reaching for him.

  “Nothing at al .”

  He climbed into the bed and picked up her left foot, massaging it with his hands and staring at her intently. He lifted the foot to his lips and kissed the tip of her big toe before sucking it deep in his mouth.

  An electric shock spread from her foot, up her leg and right to her core. She moaned softly and felt as if her entire body were turning to jel y. The massage, the sucking—she didn’t know which was more potent. She just knew she wanted more. When he repeated the action on her right foot, moaning could no longer suffice. She had to let out a good old-fashioned hol er.

  She took him in with her eyes, every ripple, every muscle. She wanted to touch him, but she could barely move.

  “Is the mood stil ruined for you, Aisha?” He let her foot go and began to tenderly knead her legs and thighs, trailing kisses as he went along.

  She let out a hiss of breath and let her fingers brush his head, tangle with his hair, anything to keep her from placing her hands in her mouth and biting them off in order to deal with the ripples of pleasure he was causing.

  And when he moved his way up to her core, she nearly wept. He opened her already slick folds and found her clitoris, ready, waiting, pulsing. His thumb touched her there. Once. Twice. And she was gone, shaking and coming undone. He barely waited for her to stop; instead, he began to lick and suck her into another frenzy.

  “Mmm…that doesn’t taste like the mood is ruined to me, love.”

  She had to scream then. She let out a howl that was so loud it made her wonder if his neighbors could hear her.

  And he went on about his business. Licking his way up her body until he reached her nipples. He massaged her breasts and suckled her nipples as if he had al the time in the world to pay homage to them.

  She moaned over and over and over again. The sound had become one long, needful thing by the time he grabbed a condom and entered her.

  There was no slow careful penetration this time. He entered her quickly, sharply, his own need final y taking hold of him. His thrusts were deep and strong. The ful ness threatened to send her spiraling again and there was nothing she could do to stop it. He went in and out, over and over. And soon her eyes started to glaze over and she couldn’t do anything but wrap her arms around him and cry out for joy. His lips, slowly, gingerly caressed hers as his hands gripped her bottom and he pul ed her tightly to him.

  The soft kiss went in total contrast to the tight hold and deep, demanding thrusts. But it al felt so right, too right.

  They both screamed out their release and he held her in his arms. She never wanted him to let her go.

  “Mood stil ruined, love?”

  She sighed. “If you have to ask after that, then maybe we need an encore.”

  He chuckled. “We have plenty of encores tonight, love.

  Plenty.”

  The next day, as they walked up to her apartment building after returning from the movies, Aisha noticed Bil and Dil on standing there. Bil was pacing in front of her building, looking as irritated and disgusted as he normal y did and Dil on sat on the steps, looking forlorn and dejected.

  The blood under her skin began to heat and bubble over as she began to think of al the reasons why her child would look like that. If Bil had put his hands on her baby, they might as wel cal the police now, because she was going to find a way to hurt him.

  She dashed forward, leaving Patrick to fol ow as she dropped her leftover popcorn and placed her arms around Dil on. She checked his little brown face for any marks and studied him to see if he had been crying.

  “Now your ass shows up! Where the hel have you been, Aisha? I did not take the boy so that you can whore around with your fireman.” The ugliness in Bil ’s voice had a way of seeping into the air and sul ying everything around him.

  “You definitely want to watch how you speak to Aisha in front of your son. But if you’re as smart as you want people to think you are, you probably want to watch how you speak to her period.” Patrick stood by her and Dil on with his arms folded across his chest. Patrick’s stance was firm, unyielding and al male. But she had to search for the kind of anger and ugliness that normal y went with that kind of show of testosterone. She only found the anger, a hint of it just at the surface, that was control ed and leashed but ready to pounce.

  The differences between the two men were many. But the steady, calm control of Patrick Hightower showed her that he was a man she could trust.

  “You don’t tel me how to speak in front of my child or my wife,” Bil snapped.

  “Ex-wife.” She and Patrick spoke the words in unison and watched as Bil ’s face turned an unsightly shade of red.

  “Are you okay, sweetie?” She turned her attention to her son. “You’re back a day early. Did something happen?”

  She could probably get more answers from Dil on anyway.

  Dil on shrugged his little shoulders. “I’m fine. Can we just go upstairs now? I want to go home.”

  “The boy is fine. I have an emergency business meeting and I couldn’t very wel take him with me. And I’m running late as it is. If you’re going to use the custody arrangement as some kind of chance for you to go out and slut about this godforsaken town, then perhaps I should see about ful custody. I don’t want al kinds of men around my son.”

  She felt the control ed anger in Patrick snap as soon as Bil said the word slut and she reached back to keep him from doing Bil bodily harm.

  “Watch your mouth,” Patrick said through clenched teeth before he turned to her. “Love, take Dil on upstairs. I’l be up in a second. I need to have a talk with your ex-husband.”

  She nodded, took her baby’s hand and tried to swal ow back her more-than-noticeable relief as she entered her apartment. As she looked down at Dil on, she could have sworn that she saw him grin. He certainly didn’t look as forlorn as he had earlier. Maybe Patrick Hightower was exactly what they needed after al .

  Patrick counted to ten, mainly because he would never hear the end of it if one of
his brothers or cousins had to arrest him for assault and battery.

  At least Bil had the sense to look a little frightened.

  Chump. Any man who would ever put his hands on a woman wasn’t fit to breathe as far as Patrick was concerned. But he reminded himself that he wasn’t judge and jury.

  “You should know that I wil press charges and sue you for everything you have if you so much as lay a hand on me.” Bil started walking backward.

  “And you should know that if you ever put your hands on Aisha or Dil on, or if I ever catch you saying those vile things about her again, you probably won’t be able to press charges or sue.” Patrick let his words sink in.

  “Threats, Mr. Fireman?” Bil said snidely, al the while stil moving toward his car.

  “Promises, Bil y-boy. You should know that I come from a family of cops and firemen. We protect and serve and have a code of honor that a lowlife like you could never even comprehend. On an ordinary day the thought of committing a crime would go against every fiber of our being. But if something or someone is threatening the people we love…

  then al bets are off.” He gave Bil a heated glare. “You don’t want to be the thing threatening the people I love. You just don’t want that.”

  “They were my family first and I don’t give up—”

  “You gave up on your family the day you put your hands on her. And I’m tel ing you…You don’t ever want to do something as foolish as that again. I can promise you that it wouldn’t be a good idea health-wise.”

  Bil made it to the curb where his car was parked and nearly tripped over himself trying to get into the little sports car and glare at Patrick at the same time.

  Patrick shook his head. He didn’t trust the fool. But he hoped the man was smarter than he looked, because he hoped the man was smarter than he looked, because he would seriously hurt him if he ever hurt Aisha or Dil on.

  After Aisha and Dil on finished their pizza dinner, she decided to curl up with one of her romance novels while she let Dil on watch one of his action cartoon DVDs. Just when she was getting to one of the good parts there was a knock on the door.