Against the Wall (Stoddard Art School Series Book 3) Read online

  He rested his lips against her temple. “Two stops. Cops and condoms. Crucial on both counts.”

  “You’re very responsible.” She released the metal button of his jeans.

  “USC.” His breathing sounded labored.

  “USC?” She couldn’t think. His fingers played across her back.

  In one deft move, he found the back clasp of her bra and unhooked it. “Trojans.” He growled a second before his mouth claimed hers. Kay clung to the fabric of his shirt and melted into the kiss. Bear pulled her tight against the hard ridge of his erection still trapped inside his jeans. He broke the kiss resting his forehead against hers. “You said something about a mattress, Goldilocks.”

  Taking his hand, Kay led him to the narrow stairs leading to her bedroom. On the first step she stopped, turned, and wrapped her arms around his neck. The shift in height was perfect. Their mouths met on an equal plane.

  Bear wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet. He didn’t stop until the top.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Left or right?” he breathed.

  “My right, or your right?” Kay gasped between kisses. She pointed, barely able tell up from down.

  Three steps into the room, Bear lowered her, easing her down his body like water over a rock. “I lied.” He rested his forehead against hers. She could feel his heart hammering against his chest.

  Kay’s breath caught. “Oh?”

  A thread of chilled concern flitted down her spine until he cupped her cheek with his hand and raised her chin up to kiss her. “To hell with Officer Dan. I can’t promise slow. Not the first time, anyway.” He nipped at her lower lip with his teeth. “God, I want you.”

  “Oh…”

  “I can’t see your face. Is that a good oh, or a bad oh?”

  Kay stepped away and lit the two fat candles she kept on the corner of her dresser. The scent of warm vanilla rose to greet her. She lit another on the nightstand next to the bed. Soft light flickered. Standing there in the soft glow, she finished what Bear had started down in the kitchen. A shrug of one shoulder and a slip over her hips, and her little black dress dropped to her shoes. Kicking it aside, she stood in nothing but her heels.

  “Oh.” Bear sounded like he’d been punched. His eyes made a slow scan from top to bottom and back again.

  The only sound was the ocean stroking the shore and the blood rushing in her ears. “For someone who was in such a hurry, you’re not moving.”

  “I’m trying to remember how to breathe.”

  She was having no trouble breathing. With her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest, her lungs were working double time. “You have done this before, right?” She tried to joke.

  He flashed a quick smile. “Not with you.” His gaze held her. “You’re gorgeous.” Bear closed the distance between them. Kay ran her hands up the solid muscles of his chest and slid his shirt off his shoulders before he pulled her into his arms and lowered her onto the bed.

  Kay leaned back on her elbows as Bear lifted her leg. He plucked the satin pump from her foot and tossed it aside. He nipped the top of her knee as he removed her other shoe. The sensation shot straight to her sex and made her gasp.

  Bear gave her a wicked grin and was quick to remove the rest of his clothes and sheath himself with his Trojan pride condom. He lowered himself between her legs pushing her back into the mattress.

  Kay looked up into his hooded eyes. “I see you’ve remembered how to breathe.”

  Balancing on one arm, he trailed a finger down her throat to circle the tip of one breast. “Are you always so damn sassy?”

  “Always.” She ran a hand up his supporting arm relishing the feel and contour of muscle. The man was satin over granite.

  “Good. I like sass,” he rasped before crushing his mouth to her, ending any need for a witty comeback.

  Kay arched into the warmth of his hand holding her breast as his tongue slipped between her parted lips. She raised one knee, running her thigh up the line of his hip while he swept his hand over the dip of her waist to play at the curve of her ass. He lifted her to him. Pressed the heat of her tight to the hard length of his erection.

  Bear tore his lips from hers, moving his kisses to her jaw, sucking the lobe of her ear into his mouth, and ran the tip of his tongue slowly along the rim before nipping his way down the side of her neck.

  Kay was aflame. The blaze that started on the ride home burned white hot. When his hand moved between her thighs, she whimpered and ducked her head so she could kiss him again.

  “You’re so wet.” His fingers swirled over her swollen flesh as he growled against her mouth. “I can’t wait, Kay.”

  She clutched at his back, at his hip, dropping her knee to one side. Opening for him. Urging him on to end her sweet torment. “Please. Now,” she moaned.

  In a single thrust, he buried himself deep within her. Kay cried out as her body stretched to receive him. Lights burst behind her eyelids. He engulfed her. Surrounded her. Filled her. Hard, fast thrusts rocked her. She kept pace with him to start with, but soon his rhythm raced ahead of hers. The pressure of her climax built too quickly. Wrapping her legs around Bear’s waist, she hung on. His body pounded into hers. Sweat made their skin slick.

  “Ah!” Her body tensed with the initial wave of her orgasm. “Bear!” All of a sudden, it was as if he’d run her to the top of a mountain and tossed her off a cliff. The muscles within her clenched and squeezed. She pressed up hard against the continuing power of him. A soaking heat filled her as she struggled to catch her breath.

  Bear drove faster until with a final plunge he ground out her name. His tensed body welded into hers. His hand gripped roughly at her hip, as he pumped into her as deep as he was able. “Kay, my God—”

  His panting mouth found hers. Gasping, he kissed her mouth, her cheeks, her forehead, her closed eyes. He’d dropped down onto one elbow. His body a delicious weight on her. In her. His other hand continued its caress of her from waist to hip.

  “You have done this before,” Kay gasped.

  “I didn’t mean…I should have… You were just so sexy standing there. The way your hair… The shoes… Dammit, did I hurt you?” He cupped her face, brushing her cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop. You didn’t hurt me. You were—”

  “Out of my mind.” He gazed down at her. “I wanted our first time to be amazing, not some mindless f—”

  Kay silenced him with a kiss. “It was amazing.” She murmured against his lips, pushing her fingers into his hair. “You were…amazing.”

  He nipped at her lower lip. “I can do better.”

  ****

  Kay slipped from her bed and extinguished the last flickering of the candles. Bear was asleep. Somehow they ended up in a tangle of sheets, sideways in the bed. She covered him with the quilt that had fallen off the end and wrapped her robe around her.

  Bear’s better had been two hours of the most incredible sex she’d ever had. Was there a Guinness Book of World Records for the number of orgasms experienced in one night? She may just be a record holder and not know it. The way he touched her, stroked her. After the power of the first time, the gentleness of him made her weep. He found places on her body—pulse points—where a kiss, or a touch, the sweep of his tongue made her quiver and gasp with breathless rushes of pure pleasure.

  She tiptoed downstairs on legs which still trembled. All she had to do was remember his mouth at her breast, a nip on her inner thigh, the tip of his tongue on the back of her knee…God, she should bronze that tongue of his. And the rest of him. The smell of his skin. The play of muscle over bone. He was beautiful. Potent. Addictive.

  She stepped out onto the deck; the cool air of the night chilled her. She pulled the thin robe tighter, hugging herself. The moon’s light filtered through the pine trees casting lacy patterns on the decking. The soft hush of the waves whispered up to her from the beach.

  Perfect. Everything was perfect. How
was that even possible? When had anything in her life been so painfully blissful? It didn’t happen. Not to her. Never to her.

  Something Walter was fond of saying kept running through her head. “Every dog has their day.” Was this her day? Could she trust it? Could she trust Bear? God, she wanted to.

  He’d done nothing wrong, and yet she couldn’t help but pile all the sins from boyfriends past onto his shoulders. She hated herself for doing it, but there it was, and one night of amazing love-making couldn’t rid her of those scars.

  Dammit, she was doing what she swore to herself she would not do. Did she always have to dissect everything to death? What happened to keeping it easy?

  She knew the answer…Bear happened.

  And in one perfect day he had swept her off her feet. She wasn’t the strong, sassy, easy woman she made herself out to be. The kind of woman who could fall into bed and not have it mean something.

  It meant something. And it was the enormity of the something that had her standing there shivering in her robe instead of wrapped around the incredibly hot man in her bed. Not just any man. Bear.

  She noticed the empty dishes by the stairs. She’d left food and water out for Hope. Maybe the cat was finally brave enough to come up and eat. Savor it instead of snatching a mouthful. Kay refilled the dishes.

  Realization dawned. That was it. That was the piece of her heart she’d lost along the way. Hope. Maybe she’d destined herself to one heartbreak after another because she hadn’t hoped for anything better? She expected most of the people in her life to fail her, and they did. But Bear…what was happening between them…it filled her with possibility. She’d lowered her guard and let him in. She trusted him. She was in love with him. He’d filled the hole in her heart and given her hope.

  “There you are.”

  Kay startled and spun around. Bear stood leaning against the doorframe. He’d slipped into his jeans. He hadn’t buttoned the top button, pushing his sexy quotient up a thousand points. Moonlight dappled his face and bare chest. He was just the most beautiful man.

  He held up one of her shoes. “Here I was prepared to start searching the kingdom.” His voice was husky from sleep. “You left the dance a little early, Cinderella.” He moved toward her.

  Butterflies kick boxed in her chest. “I’ve never understood that fairy tale.” Her breath caught. “I mean, the man had been dancing with her all night, fallen madly in love, but couldn’t remember what she looked like?”

  A smile curved the corner of his mouth. “Maybe he was proving a point. You know, enduring all those smelly feet to find her.” Bear ran the toe of her shoe slowly down the lapel of her robe. “So what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

  “F-feeding the cat.”

  Bear looked past her, scanning the deck. “You have a cat?”

  “Sort of.” Kay’s hand swept the bushes. “Her name is Hope. She was lost. We kind of found one another.”

  “Don’t let Shadow know. He’s the jealous type. You’ll break his heart.”

  “Maybe he’d like her.”

  Bear shook his head. “Shadow and me—not big cat fans. Shadow thinks they’re crunchy chew toys. And me? My father had a mean old son of a bitch cat when we were growing up. MacArthur. See this scar?” He pointed to a long white line along the side of his neck. She’d never even noticed it before. “I was five. It bled like a bitch.”

  Kay kissed him there. “You don’t have to worry about Hope. She’ll never get close enough to lay a claw on you or let Shadow chew on her.” She traced the small scar again before running her finger along the crest of his shoulder. Over his tattoo. “What about this scar?”

  He followed the path of her touch. “Four surgeries to fix a shoulder beyond fixing.”

  “I’m sorry.” She kissed him there, slipping her hand around the swell of muscle defining his arm. Her other hand traced the intricate artwork. “It looks like lightning struck the tree. What did the words say?”

  “O’nert Go Nert,” Bear murmured into her hair. “It’s Celtic. Means from strength to strength.” A soft thud to the deck sounded a heartbeat before his other arm wrapped around her. He pulled her tight to him and kissed her. A quick tug untied the belt of her robe before his large warm hand slid beneath to caress the tightened tip of her breast.

  “Y-you dropped your shoe, Prince Charming.”

  “Don’t need it,” he growled. “I already found you.”

  She ran her hand over the firm swelling in his jeans. “How will you know if it fits?”

  “Oh, it fits…”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Bear left Kay’s early the next morning. He needed to return Walter’s truck and pick up Shadow. Before leaving her naked in a tangle of sheets, he made her promise she’d rearrange her work schedule—at least on the weekends.

  He wanted her nights all for himself.

  They’d hardly slept. He should have been exhausted, but everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours defied logic. Days of keeping his distance and the whole day leading up to the new land-speed record for getting from Portland to Bell Harbor. One hour, twenty minutes. Including the stops for condoms and cops. It was worth the hundred and ninety dollar speeding ticket. Kay was right, her generous display of cleavage would have gotten them off with a warning had Walter’s taillight not been broken as well. Least that’s what Officer Dan said…not about the lovely cleavage, just about the light.

  Bear was working on the fourth floor. The brass telescope they’d found yesterday looked fantastic as if it had always been here. He couldn’t wait to show Kay.

  This room was the best in the inn. The bridal suite, or penthouse of sorts. It was the only room on this floor. A beautifully carved, four-poster bed—still with no mattress. Tom the mattress guy was now officially on Bear’s shit list. Floor to ceiling windows afforded a panoramic view of the harbor. Sunrises were amazing, and unless you were being stalked by a seagull, keeping the windows without curtains afforded plenty of privacy without compromising any of the view. A wraparound widow’s walk allowed access to a narrow deck with new wrought iron railings. On a clear day, you could see for miles.

  He picked up the new hardware for the bathtub while he was in Portland and was busy installing the faucet. At first, he questioned the positioning of the tub. It wasn’t in the bathroom. The cramped little water closet adjoining the main room was more than adequate. Small, but it had all the necessities: toilet, sink, tiled shower. It was as if the tub had been an afterthought. But the sexy lines of the deep, cast iron slipper tub looked perfect within the main room. He pictured romantic baths by the light of the fireplace. Bubbles and bubbly—a complimentary bottle of champagne for some happy couple.

  Correction, not some happy couple. Them. Him and Kay.

  He could picture them. She’d make that pleasured sigh she makes as she stepped into the steaming bath and sank beneath the fragrant water. Her hair a messy knot on the top of her head. Stray pieces framing her face, curling in the steam. Drinking champagne with a thick froth of soapy bubbles caressing the curve of her breasts, decorating her shoulders, allowing her nipples to play hide and seek.

  With a little inventive navigation, he bet there’d be room enough for two in the tub. If he put his leg there, and she straddled…

  Bear groaned and shifted the position of his erection. How was it possible after hours of sex, he still wanted more of her. His body still ached the delicious ache of a passion-filled night, and yet, if Kay were here right now—

  “Coffee?”

  “Hey.” He jerked his hand off his pants like he was thirteen and Kay had caught him with his father’s Playboy magazine. “What are you doing up here?”

  “Looking for you, of course. Did I scare you? You look…startled. Skippy told me where you were. I brought coffee, and those amazing muffins from Mindy’s. The tar water you have in the kitchen makes my hands shake, so I thought we could both use some caffeine and sustenance.”

&n
bsp; “You surprised me, is all. I could use some sustenance right about now. Thank you.”

  Kay handed him his coffee and did a slow sweep of the room. “Bear, I love this. It’s stunning. Everything. The windows. The view is spectacular. Oh, our telescope. It looks like it has stood there forever.”

  “I thought the same thing.”

  She made a slow turn. “Such a great room. What are you thinking about for colors? Oh, the tub…” She ran her hand down the wide rolled edge. “I could live in this tub.”

  “I was just imagining you in it.”

  “Oh?” Kay smiled. “What were you imagining?

  “Us, actually. You, me, bubbles.” He moved closer, setting aside his coffee, taking hers from her as well.

  Kay slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his. “It might be a tight squeeze.”

  He like the way they were fitting right now. The way she stood on tiptoes to match her curves along his. “We’d manage.” He took her mouth hungrily and snuck his hand under the hem of her shirt to skim the smooth warm skin of her back.

  “If only this room had a bed,” she murmured against his lips.

  “I’m hiring a hit man for my buddy Tom first thing Monday morning.” Bear buried his nose into the sweet curve of her neck. “Been doing a lot of thinking about you. About last night. This morning…”

  Kay tipped her head back, giving him access to the pale length of her neck. “And I thought your first kiss was epic.”

  Bear breathed in the scent of her. For the life of him, he couldn’t describe it. It was like no perfume he’d ever smelled. She held his head, and let out that little whimper that drove him over the edge. “God, I can’t get enough of you. On second thought, I’ll kill Tom myself.”

  “There’s always the tub,” she teased, then gasped as he gave a not too gentle bite to her collarbone.

  “Water’s shut off,” he grumbled.

  Kay breathed into his ear. “We’re running out of options.”

  He tucked the tip of one finger into her waistband. “We’ll figure something out.”