Chapter 4 #2
He tugged at the fabric of her pajama pants and she slipped them down her thighs and stepped free of them.
Immediately, his hands were there on her hips, drawing her down against his cock.
She didn’t remove her hand except to enable the tip of his erection to enter her.
Just the tip as she kept that tight grip on his shaft.
“Put me inside of you.”
“You are,” she said.
“All of me.”
She accommodated him and he muttered a Cajun curse under his breath. She smiled to herself, reveling in both the feel of him and at her power over him. But then he lifted his head and teased her nipple in his mouth again, and she shuddered.
The time for playing the little game she’d been indulging in was over.
She leaned down and whispered dark, intimate words in his ear. Telling him how exquisite he felt and how much she loved what he was doing to her. A second later he filled her completely.
She rocked her pelvis forward trying to take him deeper but he was already as deep as he could go.
His hands found her bare buttocks and he rocked her forward.
God, she loved the feel of those big hands against her ass.
He parted her cheeks and she felt one finger sliding along her furrow and she squirmed closer to him.
Every ounce of her being craved more of his touch.
His mouth slid from hers, nibbling down her neck and tempting her without restraint.
She shivered as she’d done before and felt everything in her reaching once again toward a climax.
But she didn’t want it to happen too soon.
She wanted this to last as long as it could.
The roughness his stubbled jaw against her cheek tipped her closer to the edge. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders as she rocked her hips harder against his and when he called out her name, she melted. Her orgasm rushed over her as she continued thrusting forward.
His hips moved in sync with her, then she felt him stiffen and eventually relax. Over and over he whispered her name. She, in turn, couldn’t stop pressing against him, as she nursed her second orgasm.
Softly panting, his breathing tingled over her sensitized nerves as she fell forward. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and the other around her waist. She shivered now from the cold and he reached down to grab his shirt, which he draped over her.
She didn’t want to move or to face him at this moment. She wanted to pretend that nothing had changed and she’d still be able to view him as just another competitor. And she almost had herself convinced about doing just that until he kissed her gently on the forehead.
That sweet gesture should have meant nothing, instead it made her heart beat faster and there was a hope that maybe this was more than mere lust. She didn’t want it to be. Embracing her passion was one thing but falling in love with a competitor would be a disaster and a mistake.
One she wasn’t willing to make. She shifted out of his arms and off his lap. She pulled her pajama pants on and tossed his shirt at him while she put hers back on.
“Um...I’m on the pill, not that you asked, but we should be covered.”
He nodded as he fastened his jeans and stood up next to her. “I wasn’t thinking about anything but you.”
His words brought out goosebumps on her arms, but she steeled her heart against them. It was almost as if he knew the exact right words. To make her forget. To distract her. He was playing her.
And she’d have no one but herself to blame if she didn’t heed this warning and walk away.
REMY WATCHED HER WALK away knowing that Staci thought this had been a mistake. He rubbed his hand over his face and didn’t follow her into the house.
“Am I supposed to say I’m sorry?”
“No,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him. “I should know better.”
“Better than what?” he asked. Regret came hard to him and he didn’t want to apologize even though he knew he should.
He’d taken her because he wanted to, and she wanted him to.
And yes, he’d tasted something new and inspiring in her passion, but he’d also hurt her. Something he’d never wanted to happen.
“You kissed me,” he pointed out softly.
“I know,” she said. “I don’t regret it. I’m mad at myself. I keep making the same mistakes.”
“Like what?”
She shook her head. “I think you’ve seen me naked enough tonight.”
She headed into the house and this time he could only watch her go.
What had she meant by that? He would figure it out another time.
Tonight he had his hands full figuring himself out.
At the balcony railing, he pulled his shirt on.
He’d always had a clear-cut path in front of him until last year when he’d overheard a restaurant critic saying that this latest generation of Cruzels were slackers.
That one comment had shaken his confidence and made it seem as if he’d taken everything for granted.
Now he was here and tonight he’d felt a little like his old self again but at what cost, he thought.
His new confidence had been earned at the expense of Staci.
She was battling her own demons, he knew that, but he still didn’t like the way that feeling sat on his shoulders.
He was in part to blame for what was going on with her.
And he truly didn’t want that. More than anything he needed some advice. Despite the late hour, he went inside and came across Dan in the main living room.
“I thought I was the only one up at this time of night,” Dan said.
Remy felt lucky that Dan hadn’t come up earlier when he’d had Staci in his arms. He shouldn’t have been surprised that he hadn’t thought of getting caught when he’d had her. All he’d been able to think about was Staci.
“Seems a lot of us are having trouble sleeping tonight,” Remy said.
“Yeah.” Dan rubbed the back of his neck. “I was the last one to make it in today...I’m excited and nervous about tomorrow.”
Remy nodded. That was exactly the way he felt. Each new phase was going to challenge a preconceived notion he had of himself in the kitchen. While he looked forward to finding out what he was made of another part of him worried that he’d made another mistake.
Sleeping with Staci had been a colossal one. He didn’t want her to have the impression that he was the type of man who’d use someone to get what he wanted.
“You? The judges practically wept when they tasted your dish,” Dan remarked.
“Not quite. Besides that was a team challenge. What will they think of a dish I make on my own?”
“Are you really nervous?” Dan asked.
“No. A little. To be honest, tonight at Chef Ramone’s I made a dish that was probably one of the best I’ve ever prepared. Not sure I can keep up that standard. There are a lot of good chefs here.”
Dan smiled. “I can’t work as well as I thought I could under pressure. I mean in my own kitchen I can work a dinner service like a pro but going up against the clock and preparing something new...that kind of threw me off,” he said.
Remy relaxed as he talked cooking with Dan. It was then that he realized that the guilt he felt at Staci’s reaction earlier was easing, too. He hadn’t been manipulating her. Twice now she’d initiated something sexual with him and twice he’d been blown away by his own reaction to her.
Remy studied the other chef. Dan was younger than him, probably in his mid twenties. “Don’t think about it too much. When we get to the kitchens tomorrow just be cool and imagine you’re preparing a meal for someone you love.”
“Good idea. But what if the ingredients are weird.”
“They probably will be. But it’s your knife skills you should be thinking about.”
“You heard about that?” Dan asked. “I never went to cooking school. Just learned from working in the kitchens.”
“That’s no big deal. Just understand your weaknesses. Everyone who goes up against you will be thinking they can butcher better than you can. If it were me, I’d be in the kitchen every second working on them.”
“Can you show me how to cut a fish up?” Dan asked.
“Yes,” Remy said. “Want to do it now? The fridge is stocked with everything.”
“Okay,” Dan agreed. “Uh, Remy, why are you willing to help me?”
“Because you’re a good chef I’d hate to beat you on a technicality.”
Dan laughed and followed Remy to the kitchen.
Remy glanced up the stairs to where the bedrooms were and an image of Staci naked invaded his mind.
He tried to conjure her curled up under her blankets.
He knew she wasn’t sleeping and he felt bad about that.
She’d invigorated him tonight. He wanted to give her back something. But time would tell what that would be.
He spent the next hour showing Dan the proper way to debone a fish and how to cut it into steaks.
The younger man was an attentive student and Remy knew he’d made the right decision to help him out.
Two hours later he headed up to his bedroom, smelling of fish, and went straight to the shower.
Staci’s scent lingered on his skin, too, and he couldn’t get the image of her in his arms out of his head.
It wasn’t until the water ran cold that he groaned, turned off the shower and dried himself.
Eventually, he drifted off to sleep only to be plagued by images of himself in his father’s kitchen trying to prepare a dish that would please his father while a naked Staci kept stealing his attention.
He woke up in a state of frustration. He hoped the day would bring another new revelation in the kitchen but his dreams had showed him what he already knew.
His doubts and fears were still firmly rooted inside of him and no matter what he discovered here about himself, until he figured out how to accept his own capabilities he’d never find peace.
The odd thing was that in his head his peace was now tied somehow with Staci. It was a mess. She was the last one who’d help him out after last night and to be honest he couldn’t blame her. What had felt so right under the moonlight didn’t seem very smart in the bright sunlight of morning.