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  I’m a little surprised at his eagerness to have me dance with Valerie. He usually gets a little jealous when it comes to her. It’s one of the reasons Val and I stopped partnering after they got together. The other reason is because he can dance just as well and would prefer to be her partner.

  “I guess we’re up,” Valerie says as she stands. She leans in to kiss Javier’s lips before walking to the dance floor. I follow behind her until we get to our normal starting place on the far side. It’s the end of a California swing so we warm up with that a little until the music changes.

  The first notes of the music spill out of the speakers and muscle memory kicks in. Our feet, hips and torsos are in sync. Her honey-colored hair is flying with every spin and her laughter can probably be heard around the room as we do this old routine. I can’t lie, I love dancing. It’s always been a relaxing, fun release for me. The routine ends on a dip, where she’s so far back her hair almost touches the ground. The room ignites in applause and when I bring her up she’s laughing. She reaches up to hug me. “God, you’re such a great dancer. I always loved having you for a partner.” I smile and spin her one more time and we take a bow. When we return to the table, both Javier and Colby are standing and applauding.

  “If my woman didn’t look so damn hot out there, I’d probably be a little jealous,” Javier kids. I’m glad he can joke about it now since he wasn’t able to when they first got together. We actually came to blows one night over her.

  “Victor, that was amazing! I’ve never seen anything so fluid, so beautiful.”

  “Thank you. I do love to dance. Would you like to try it?”

  “I’m not following that. You guys were amazing. I have two left feet!” Her horrified expression makes me laugh.

  “Come on, I’m patient. Let’s at least try.”

  Valerie joins in, “He really is a great teacher. You should at least try it once.”

  Javier pulls Valerie to the floor while I’m waiting to see if Colby’s going to try this or not.

  She wrings her hands together in front of her as she decides. “Yes, I’ll try it, but you have to be really patient with me. I’ve always had two left feet and I’d hate to be responsible for killing your feet with my clumsiness.”

  “It will be fine. Come on, let’s try. If you hate it, I won’t say another word about it.”

  Once I have her in my arms and explain how she should hold her body, I give her verbal directions first. Then I lead her slowly through each step, not in time to the music yet. Her body is tense and her eyes are squinted in concentration.

  “Relax. Try to feel the music and let me guide you.” Her breath feathers out along my neck as she exhales, trying to relax. She’s stiff and a little awkward, but we make it through and I even manage to spin her a couple of times. I enjoy the sound of her giggles as we attempt and successfully execute a few twirls. When the song is over I lead her back to our seats. Javier and Valerie continue to dance their way through a few more songs.

  “So what did you think?” I ask as I wave our server down to bring us fresh drinks.

  “I think it’s fun, but I’m terrible at it. I hate doing things I’m not instantly great at.”

  “I’ve been dancing since middle school. My mother, along with Javier’s mother and a couple of the other guys’ moms forced us all to take classes, hoping we’d dance with the girls at their quinceañera parties. We all learned to dance but none of us used our moves until later in high school when we realized that it impressed the ladies.”

  Her hearty laughter fills the space between us. “Figures.”

  Twice more I’m able to get her out on the dance floor and she’s still stiff and awkward but I think she has a good time and that’s all that matters to me. At the end of our evening I trail behind her to her door, taking in the curve of her ass in that amazing dress one last time. When she stops at the door and turns toward me it’s all I can do not to pin her to the wall and slide my hand up under her dress to grip the rounded curve of her ass.

  As she stares up at me there is a different emotion swirling in the depths of her sapphire eyes and I’m praying it’s the same one I’m feeling. God, it’s been so long since I was with a woman and the one in front of me does things to my libido I haven’t felt since I was a teenager.

  This is usually the awkward part of any date, especially if you’ve only been out a couple of times, but I’m going to go for it instead of standing here fidgeting. I take her chin in between my fingers and hold it steady, moving in slowly. When I get close enough to feel her breath I pause for half a second, giving her a chance to send me on my way, and when her eyes close and she eliminates the distance between us, I relax and slip my other arm around her waist. Her mouth opens for me and our tongues mingle and stroke each other in a dance much smoother than the one we had at the club. I remove my hand from her chin and let it slip down between our bodies, grazing the outside of her breast slightly until I reach her waist. A little mew escapes her throat and she presses her body closer to mine. Almost as if they have a mind of their own, both of my hands slide down and over to cover her delectable ass and squeeze slightly. We both moan, her weight shifts and she lifts her leg up to my hip and wraps it around me. God damn, she’s ready. Hell, I’m ready and but there is one problem.

  “We’re on your front porch.”

  Her leg drops and she shifts her weight. “Damn, I got carried away.”

  I glance down at my raging hard-on and back at her. “I’m not complaining, but I doubt your neighbors want a show.”

  “Come in,” she says as she fumbles in her purse for her keys. The red dress is still hiked up higher on the thigh she lifted, exposing more creamy skin, and I have the almost uncontrollable urge to push it higher.

  Once she gets the door open, we step inside and she drops her purse on the floor while I lock the door. When we face each other she practically dives for me. Her kiss is aggressive and her leg returns to my hip. This time I hook it with my hand and hold it steady. “Hop up here, baby,” I tell her.

  She wiggles for a second, trying to get her footing, and then bounces enough for me to catch her other thigh and pull it up on the other side. Her ankles lock at my back and she grinds against me, causing me to throb more. Her fingers slip around my neck and dig into my scalp as I kiss my way down her neck, the scent of her perfume driving me crazier. I tug on her dress a little to pull it above her ass and grip the firm naked globes. Fuck! She’s been commando this whole time under the dress. My dick throbs harder between us as she pants and rolls her hips against mine. I take two big steps and press her back to the wall. Her hand slips down into the tight space between us to stroke me through my slacks, and my eyes practically roll back in my head.

  “I’m going to embarrass myself if you don’t stop,” I half pant and half growl.

  “We can’t have that now, can we?” she says as she wiggles out of my grip and slides to her knees on the floor. Her eyes lock on mine from her place below me as she works my belt, button and zipper open and I stare at her dumbfounded. I can’t remember the last time someone put their mouth on me. I know I should stop her. A gentleman would never allow himself to get off before his date, but I’ll be damned if I can say a word right now. It was hard enough walking away after the last date. That’s not even a possibility tonight.

  I reach down and stroke the top of her silky blond hair. It’s beautiful and so are the swollen well-kissed lips that are lingering dangerously close to my cock as she releases me from the confines of my slacks.

  “You don’t need to do this, Colby,” I say, but I doubt I sound very convincing.

  “I want to. I’ve wanted to do this since I saw the outline of your cock in your wet gym shorts when we went swimming after the hike.” Her dirty words cause a bead of moisture to appear on the head of my cock and my knees almost buckle when her tiny pink tongue darts out to lick it off with a gentle swipe. I groan and she grips my balls with her left hand just tight enough to show me sh
e means business, but not so tight that it’s not pleasurable.

  Her other hand strokes the length of my cock several times before she takes it into the warmth of her mouth, brushing against her soft lips while she sucks. She continues to move on me, her eyes closed as if she’s enjoying each bob of her head while moving lower down the shaft with each pass. When my cock hits the back of her throat and her nose touches the lower portion of my stomach I groan and grip the back of her head. Holy hell, she feels good. My instinct is to hold her there, but I fight the urge, letting her control the situation. Her fingernails scrape lightly over my balls as she goes back to working up and down my length. Oh my God, this is the best fucking blow job of my life.

  When I’m close, which sadly doesn’t take long, my cock begins to pulse. “Colby, I’m gonna come!” She sucks harder and just as I go, my hands hold tight to the back of her head while she swallows every last drop of my seed. She cleans me up with her mouth and pulls away.

  My knees are weak at this point and it’s all I can do to keep from lying down right where we’re at in the entryway. “Holy shit,” is all I can think to say and she smiles as she wipes the corner of her mouth with her fingers. I help her up and surprise her by lifting her all the way up into my arms.

  “Bedroom?” I ask, my voice husky and spent.

  “Down the hall, second door on the left.”

  I carry her in and set her down next to the bed. Then I drop my pants and boxers the rest of the way to the floor and tell her, “Sit on the edge of the bed, spread your legs and put your heels by your ass.” She moves into the position I instructed while I remove my shirt, and this time I drop to my knees in front of her.

  Before I start, I run my palms over the smooth skin of her legs, from her knees to down over the inside of her thighs, pressing them farther apart. The light is dim but bright enough to see her beautiful, bare, glistening pussy practically begging for my attention. I swipe one finger gently through the folds and she whimpers. When I reach the center, I push inside so that my middle finger is completely enveloped in her sweet, wet heat. I pull it out and suck her arousal from the digit. Then, knowing I can’t wait anymore, I lean in and sniff her sex. Damn, the scent is perfection. I spread her folds gently and lick her, teasing and taunting until her thighs grip my head and shake with amazing force. She’s close.

  When her clit swells, leaving me certain she’s going to blow, I latch on lightly with my teeth and listen as she practically screams the walls down. Her right leg slips off the bed while the other rests against the side of my face. I continue to slowly stroke her with my tongue until her muscles fall limp and a contented sigh escapes her lips. Then I wipe my face on the back of my hand and stand in front of her. My cock is back to full-size and ready to go again. Shit.

  Chapter Eight

  Colby

  Oh my God. That was amazing. He gave me one of the strongest orgasms I’ve had in years. I’d love to curl up and go to sleep with him wrapped around me, but the look in his eyes and the rekindled state of his arousal say that’s not an option right now.

  “Condom. Top drawer of my dresser behind you,” I tell him. I’ve had them for a couple of years. I hope they’re still good. Curtis was the last guy I was with and that ended two years ago. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve wanted to sleep with one or two of my dates since him, but couldn’t do it when it came time, so I have a lot of contraceptives—just no use for them until now. Victor moves quickly, obtaining and rolling the condom on. I pegged him for the slow and leisurely type, especially after he put the brakes on last time, not the cut-the-shit and get-down-to-business kind. I love it. There are times when I like my sex slow and sweet, but right now I want it hot, fast and fierce. Do I want it to end quickly? No, but after bringing each other to completion already, we don’t need to spend hours getting down to the nitty-gritty. I want to get to the best part and enjoy every minute of it. I want to feel him fill me completely and I want to know how he moves. Are his thrusts short and jerky or long and fluid? Does he prefer missionary or some other position? Does he close his eyes and squish up his face or do his eyes grow round and his lips part when his orgasm hits? These are the things I want to know. I get that my curiosities are strange and that it’s probably weird that I don’t want to take my time to work up to all of that. But it’s what I need right now and I could do backflips that he’s not messing around.

  He crawls over top of me, hooking my legs behind the knees with his arms and holding me open. He bends his head to watch as he enters me, inch by inch. I’d love to watch that too, but I can’t look away from his face. His expression is intense and full of passion. Simple, sexy and breathtaking.

  When he’s fully seated inside me and our pelvises meet, his eyes close and his mouth opens slightly while he pauses. The expression is like he’s savoring the feeling, fighting the urge to power through and finish. When his eyes open again their hazel depths warm me all the way through. I don’t think anyone has looked at me like that before. I can’t describe the expression but it’s powerful and fulfilling in a way I didn’t know was possible.

  His hips flex slowly as he presses and pulls away twice. He growls like he can no longer hold on to his control, adjusts his knees to a wider stance and begins a powerful thrusting rhythm that has me crying out in pleasure. The feeling is spectacular.

  He rides me hard and much longer than I expect. By the time he finally empties himself into the condom, my body tremors are beginning to subside and my adrenaline is fading. Keeping my eyes open is such a chore that I don’t fight it; I let them drift closed and my body settle in the blissful aftermath. I feel him slip out of me and leave the bed, but it’s too hard to keep my eyes open. Shortly after, I feel him return and slide in next to me—one arm under my head, one around my waist, tugging me closer until his thigh can hike up over mine. It feels safe and comfortable, and the sensation of his breath on my neck settles me further, until I’m pulled all the way under to dreamland.

  When I wake up, all of his smooth olive skin is spread out on me and against my white sheets. During the night he shifted so he was face down, more than half covering me and practically pinning me to the bed. His breathing is still rhythmic but his face is turned in the other direction. I’ve got a pretty good view of the Green Beret insignia on his arm and the stylized C on his shoulder blade. It’s beautiful with a thorny rose bush encompassing the letter. The roses are yellow, the thorns drawing blood from the C. I’ve never seen anything like it. I have a hundred questions about his wife but I’m not sure what I can ask. I shift my gaze back to the Green Beret insignia to watch as my finger traces it lightly, hoping to stop the question train chugging through my mind.

  This multifaceted man has so much hidden under his fancy clothes. I think he’s the kind of guy that I could dig and dig and dig into for years and never find the true depth of him. Strong and silent, rhythmic and smooth, beautiful and manly, tender and tough. I don’t know what to think. He’s strong and hard in bed, but tender and sweet when he sleeps. He hides his hurts and frustration behind a stoic expression, but shares his feelings with ease.

  “Your fingers are doing things to me and I can’t promise not to act on those,” his sleepy voice rumbles against my shoulder as he turns his head.

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

  “It’s okay. I probably need to get up and get out of your hair.”

  “I’m not in any hurry for that.”

  “You aren’t?”

  “No, it’s nice being wrapped up in you while you sleep.”

  He turns his head further and readjusts us so he can place a chaste kiss on the swell of my breast, then shifts to my collarbone, my neck, and then my mouth. I’ve never been one to kiss first thing in the morning, but anytime he’s offering his mouth to me, I’m in.

  His hand rides up over my hip, my waist, the side of my breast and up to my neck where he laces it into the underside of my hair. His kiss continues and his morning enjoyment is a
pparent against my hip so I keep waiting for him to take it further, but he doesn’t. In fact, he seems to be enjoying this kiss. I settle in to the moment and enjoy the feel of his lips, his tongue and the passion he’s building.

  I’m really getting into it when my phone rings. Damn! My whole body goes still. My phone rarely rings. Everyone texts me unless it’s really important, so as it rings again I push against Victor. He doesn’t hesitate, but rolls to his back and I scramble out from my spot to locate my phone. Victor’s eyes follow my movement and study me as I answer the call. It’s Jeff.

  “Hey,” I answer.

  “Hey. Sorry to bug you but I’m taking Shaunda to the ER. Her fever has been high most of the night and she won’t stop crying. Something isn’t right. Can you come stay with the kids? The neighbor is here for now but she has somewhere to be this morning.”

  My stomach flips and my heart begins to pound. “Okay, okay,” I say as the panic rises and I leap out of bed. “Let me throw on some clothes and I’ll be over there. Call me as soon as you hear something.”

  “Okay, I’ve got to go help her to the car.”

  I hang up with him and toss my phone to the bed as I scramble around to get my clothes on.

  “I have to take a quick shower and go to my sister’s. Something’s wrong and Jeff’s taking her to the hospital. I’m in charge of the kids. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Want company?”

  I pause with my shirt in my hand, thinking maybe he didn’t hear what I said. “I’m watching kids.”

  “Yeah, I’m aware, but I like kids. We could do something fun with them.”

  “Um…” Is this guy for real? He doesn’t mind spending time with me and my nephews? Most guys run when they hear about any kind of responsibility, especially when it comes to kids. I’m still standing there surprised when he continues to talk.