Doctor's Delight(63)
“Now?” She looked up at him over her shoulder.
“Sure. Why not? We have the house to ourselves, you’re not on shift work, and I’m not on-call. No one is here.” Leaning down, he nibbled the corner of her mouth. “Yes, now.”
Cherry started to jerk away but he tightened his arms.
“No,” she said. “Let go.”
“No, you don’t want to make love?”
“No. Yes. I mean, yes, I want to make love.” She stumbled a little over the words, which he thought was cute. “But not right now.”
Ah-ha. “When, then?”
“Tonight.”
Rick knew exactly what she was aiming for, and hell no, it wasn’t happening. “With the lights off, eh?”
“No rules,” she reminded him.
“That works both ways. You like it off, I like it on. During the day there’s no quibbling.”
“No.”
“Why?” He turned her around and transferred his hands to her shoulders. “You don’t want to see me when we make love?”
“No, yes…well of course I do, but…” It took a lot for her to admit that without looking away.
Wait for it, he thought. When she stammered to a mortified halt, he waited. And waited. But he was determined that she’d be the one to say it, not him. It was her problem, not his. Well, not in the same way.
Finally, she took refuge in annoyance and glared at him. “I don’t want you to see me naked.”
“Scared of what your body will do to me?” he drawled.
She actually flinched. “Yes.”
He had to give her points for honesty, but he decided the way to do this wasn’t slow and easy. Slow and easy hadn’t won him any ground so far with her weight issues. It was time to strike.
I’ll tell you what your body will do to me, sugar.”
“I know, I know. You want the lights on. You don’t care about my weight. You—” Her speech was cut off by his finger lying against her lips.
“Stop right there, Cherry. This time you’ll listen to me.” Her eyes widened a little, a light of battle flaring to life. If she only knew what that did to his libido. A good tussle leading to love-making, mmm-mmm. Manfully, he switched back to the topic at hand. “And listen good.” Okay, he didn’t really have to add that last bit, but he figured getting her fired up wasn’t such a bad idea. Anger and lust could be a good combination if handled correctly. Of course, if not handled correctly, it could also come back to bite him on the arse, but that wasn’t an option in this situation.
He was playing to win.
“You better have a good argument, Reed,” she warned.
“I don’t argue. I’m stating facts, so listen up, sugar.” Oh yeah, that ‘sugar’ bit had her hackles rising. Cute. “The thought of you naked has me so hot my cock’s hard enough to crack ice.”
Yeah, that took the wind right out of her sails. Her mouth fell open.
“The thought of you naked has my balls absolutely knotted.”
Her cheeks flamed.
“The sight of you is going to make me come into you like a jackhammer, baby, so you better be ready to hang on for dear life, because I intend to see you naked any minute, and I intend to be in you hard and fast. But first I’m going to have a good look at you. I’m going to explore that luscious body good and properly.”
“I don’t bloody think so!”
“Do you remember what I said to you the last time we made love in my hotel room?” She shook her head a little wildly. “I told you that you had won, but next time it was on my terms. This is my time, baby.”
“Rick, no.”
“My terms.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking of me.” Her magnificent breasts were rising and falling agitatedly. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
He didn’t bother trying to hide the hedonism in his slow smile. “I’m not asking you, love, I’m telling you.”
There was a flash of panic in her eyes, and then she started to struggle in earnest.
“Cherry.” Not expecting the panic, Rick tried to hold her. “Cherry, stop.”
“Let go!” She twisted away, and he caught the sheen of tears in her eyes.
Truly alarmed, he caught her to him. Instinctively he knew if he allowed her to flee, he’d lose any ground he’d gained - if he hadn’t already. But part of him wasn’t yet ready to give up, not by a long shot.
He cradled her to him, gentle but firm, and when he didn’t let her go she suddenly sagged into him, burying her face in his shoulder and twisting her hands into his shirt. Breathing ragged, she pressed into him.