Naughty Temptations

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

DELANIE

Like at the meeting yesterday, I can’t believe I said that aloud. I blame this new, bolder me on Ky.

Since we’ve been together my confidence has skyrocketed to the point where I’m not afraid to say what I feel. And there’s nothing kind of about it. I have fallen ass over high heels in love with Kyler Harrington—former bad boy, current Superman. He is my hero and I have no reservations about showing him.

With both hands, I push on his chest until he’s flat on his back with his head pillowed on the armrest.

“That hungry look in your eyes—”

He hisses as I run a fingernail over his n****e.

“Yesss,” I purr and lean over, placing a lingering kiss in the center of his sculpted chest.

“I like it.”

His voice has deepened, turned raspy. Sexy!

“Mmm.” He tastes good. Clean and masculine. Add in his intoxicating scent and I’m prepared to spend hours sampling every inch of skin, mapping each delineated groove between muscles with my tongue. Worshiping him for the god of man he is.

I kiss, lick and suck, scrape my teeth over sensitive flesh and nibble on the tastiest bits, everywhere but the one place he’s dying for my attention. I keep it up until he’s bucking his hips, moaning and cursing and losing control.

In a move too fast for me to protest, he picks me up, turns me and sits me down on his mouth, facing toward his feet in my new favorite position for sixty-nine.

Being with Ky—it’s so good. Better than anything I’ve ever experienced. His many moods make s*x unpredictable and spontaneous. There’s nothing routine, no patterns to fall into. One minute he’s playful, tickling me and teasing. The next he’s fierce, powerful and commanding. Then, after a bout of intense and forceful f*****g, he turns tender and makes sweet love to me.

Day quickly turns into evening. We’re lying on the couch, limbs entangled after a rowdy shower with lots of slippery skin on skin and soapy hand play. He’s trying to find something to watch on Netflix and asks, “All-time favorite movie?”

There’s no thought or delay. “2012.”

“Really? Huh. Name some other favorites. Ones you can watch over and over and never get tired of.”

“Armageddon, Day After Tomorrow, Red Dawn. London Has Fallen, Whitehouse Down—”

“Wait.” He pulls himself up higher on the cushions and stares down at me oddly. “Disaster and end of world? How about paranormal?”

“Oooh, all of the Underworld movies. Blood and Chocolate. Dracula Untold…”

“Favorite con movie?”

“Italian Job.”

“Spies, intrigue?”

“The Bourne and Mission Impossible series, Salt…”

“Funny movies?”

The questions are coming rapid fire. His tone is challenging now but I’m up to the task. “Rat Race, Vacation, Miss Congeniality, The Heat, Minions.” I say minions in a bad imitation of a minion. “21 Jump Street…”

“Action?” Ky growls.

“Die Hard, Terminator, Top Gun…”

“Movies you geek out over?”

“Most of the Marvel movies, but not the stupid ones like Ant Man. Lord of The Rings, The Hobbits…”

“Girly movies?”

I can tell he thinks he found a category I won’t have an answer for. “Practical Magic, Dream A Little Dream, Shining Through, Somewhere in Time, One Fine Day…”

“Old Classics?”

“Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Casablanca…”

He snaps his fingers. “Sci-Fi?”

“Interstellar, The Martian, Aliens, Pitch Black, Transformers…”

I can do this all night.

“Extreme violence movies?”

I sigh. “Crank, The Mechanic, all the Quentin Tarantino movies. TV series—Game of Thrones, Vikings…”

He’s running out of steam, scrolling through the categories on Netflix for ideas.

“Ha…Cult movies?”

“Princess Bride, Rocky Horror, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off…”

“Horror?”

“Final Destination, The Shining, Kujo, Jaws…”

“Movies that make your brain spin and leave you wondering what you just watched?”

The look on his face says he has me. He didn’t stand a chance.

“Inception.” I make a face of my own. “Lucy…I mean, what the f**k?”

Raking a hand through his hair, he smiles at me. “Damn, I can’t believe you’re into movies and love so many of the ones I do.”

“My dad was a major movie buff. He shared his love of both books and movies with me.”

“That’s really awesome.”

I nod. “We were super close. He used to take me to an old drive-in theater all the time. Even after it closed we snuck in with our own projector and watched our favorite DVDs sitting in the back of his pickup.”

The memory makes my heart ache. It had been more than twelve years since my father passed and I miss him so much. “Mom and I were never close. It was always my dad and me. I think she kind of resented how close we were.”

Ky leans down and kisses my forehead. “You still miss him.”

“Every day.”

He kisses each corner of my lips then rubs his abs, changing the subject. It’s a relief.

“Okay, I’m hungry. Favorite delivery food? Pizza, subs, Chinese, Thai—”

“Ooooh, Thai. Yes, please. Get some spring rolls. And that dessert with the banana fried in wonton wrappers and drizzled with honey and sesame seeds.”

“Okay, a woman who knows what she wants. I like it.” He laughs and heads to the kitchen to place the order.

“And a man who appreciates that quality. Stop the presses.”

“I trust your taste in movies too. Pick something out while I order dinner,” he calls back.

“Wow, trusted with the remote,” I tease. “I think he likes me.”

Laughter trails off in his wake and I’m pretty sure I hear him softly say, “He does.” It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Hugging myself, not even trying to suppress my goofy grin, I stare out at the city lights without really seeing them.

Why the hell had I been so afraid of getting truly intimate with Ky? We have more in common than I could have ever imagined. And so many of his qualities remind me of my dad.

I push back the sadness and think about the two men who mean the world to me. Daddy would have liked Ky. I know it deep in my gut. The two of them would have gotten along famously.

Gazing out at the stars I whisper, “He’s the one. I wish you could have met him.”

A shooting star blasts across the skyline and I smile, taking it as a sign of approval from my Dad.

KYLER

Sitting on the floor at the coffee table, we eat the food straight out of the containers. It’s all high calories, high in salt and bad for us but we’ve burned off more than enough energy having s*x all over the penthouse to indulge.

Delanie is my perfect match in every way and this time together has made me fall even deeper under her spell.

I love her and I’m racking my brain, trying to figure out a way to make things right for her. Something that won’t leave the company that’s her birthright tied up in court for years. If I can manage to keep her relationship with her mother from totally self-destructing in the process, that would be great, but not a deal breaker. Making her happy is the most important thing.

It’s while I’m lying in bed with Delanie in my arms early Sunday morning that a plan takes form in my mind and develops into a viable solution. Closing myself in my home office, I make the necessary calls and get in-house council to draw up the paperwork.

Feeling like a weight has been lifted, I crawl back into bed where I tease my girl awake and slowly make love to her.

Our time together is flying by and before I’m ready it’s Monday and we’re celebrating the holiday at Lake Lure. Some friends staked out a spot on the beach and several brought their boats. Delanie loves the water—swimming, skiing, tubing, boating—my girl is ready for it all.

Standing on the shore watching her hoot and holler as she tries to master the wakeboard has me laughing my ass off. She’s fallen more than she’s been upright but she never gives up. Her indomitable spirit is breathtaking.

Tom Biltmore steps up next to me and hands me a beer. Pointing his bottle in her direction he says, “Delanie is pretty amazing.”

There’s no stopping the goofy grin that stretches across my lips. “Yeah, she is.”

“We all like her,” he continues, “including Missy.”

That was a major feat because Missy didn’t like many people. Hell, she barely tolerates me.

“So don’t f**k this up,” Tom commands.

I laugh hard at that. “I’ll try not to let you down.”

“See that you don’t.”

With that he’s off to put in his two cents about barbequing techniques, leaving me to watch my girl. I wish we could stay in this day forever. All too soon we’ll have to face real life. I can only pray that my solution will work as intended and that her mother won’t throw a wrench in the gears.

I join in a rowdy game of touch football and manage to walk away without injury, unlike most of the guys. My friends take their football seriously and touch quickly turns into knock-down-drag-out-full-tackle warfare. After a quick dip in the lake to cool off, I make a plate of food and drop into a lawn chair with a heavy groan.

Delanie joins me, accompanied by Tammy and Rafe’s son, Harley, who shadows her every move.

“Who’s your friend?”

The six-year old puffs out his chest and says, “I’m Delanie’s boyfriend.”

“Sorry to break it to you, little man, but she’s mine.”

He gazes up at her with the saddest little puppy dog eyes, the little rat. I can see her heart melting under that sneaky trick.

Reaching over, she pats his hand. “I’m your girl for today but I have to go home with Ky.”

He rubs a dirty hand over his face and confides, “That’s okay. I have to go home with Mommy and Daddy.”

The little moocher plops down between our chairs and continues his adoration of my girl. And Delanie is so sweet with him. It has me picturing her with kids of her own. A little girl with her reddish-brown hair and my green eyes. A scrappy boy with black hair and honey brown eyes.

Whoa! I derail that train of thought before it reaches the station. That’s getting way too far ahead of myself. Yet the idea still lingers in the back of my mind.

“You having a good time, D?”

The smile beaming back at me is all the answer I need but I attentively listen to her gush about the wonderful day she’s had and how much she likes my friends. Especially, Missy. Go figure.

“Harley, come on,” Tammy calls out. “The fireworks are about to start. And Daddy brought sparklers.”

One call from his mother and Delanie’s shadow deserts her without a backward glance.

“So much for true love and devotion,” she says with a snicker.

“Aww, come here, gorgeous. You’ve still got me wrapped around your little finger.”

Guiding her over to the beach, I sit on a towel and pull her between my knees, her back to my chest. It feels good to have her back in my arms. While I have enjoyed the day, I’ve missed the intimacy. Leaning back into my embrace with a contented sigh, Delanie shows me without words that she feels the same.

It’s a good thing she’s facing away from me because the goofy grin is back and even bigger than before.

Dropping Delanie off at her apartment after the fireworks and heading home alone puts me in a foul mood. All the other drivers annoy the hell out of me and I’m cussing up a storm. The penthouse is worse. It’s never seemed so empty before but without her the whole place seems big, cavernous and lonely.

I take a shower and drop into bed exhausted. Yet tired as I am, sleep eludes me. I can’t stop missing Delanie and worrying about how things will go in the morning. I know that I shouldn’t, but I grab my phone and send her a quick text.

Ky: This bed is too big without you in it.

D: Miss you too. Had a great day. Can’t wait to see you in the am.

Ky: Night, gorgeous.

D: Sweet dreams, hot stuff.