SIXTEEN
COFFEE. Back in the apartment. That was Abel’s suggestion after lunch. Excellent. Not ready for the date to be over, they all piled into Freya’s car for the trip back to the apartment building and got all the way to the Claymore’s front door.
Coffee. She needed coffee. And she continued to believe they were going inside for beloved java. Right up until Baer squeezed her waist from behind, easing her just a little away from the rest of his family.
“I’m going to show Frey something upstairs,” Baer said.
“Oh yeah? I bet you are.” Abel was no fool and although she couldn’t see Baer, the elder’s expression was enough. The men’s shared eye contact was a conversation in itself. “No prizes for guessing what that’ll be.”
“What’ll it be, Dad?” Charlie asked with all the innocence of a child.
Abel opened the front door and, with a hand between the youngster’s shoulder blades, boosted the boy toward it. “Mind your own, get inside.”
Baer’s fingers snagged hers and with haste got them to the end of the corridor and up the stairs to another floor.
“You’re going to hell,” Freya said, laughing when Baer led her into an enclosed stairwell.
Wasn’t this the top floor? Where were they going? The roof?
“Yeah,” he agreed. “And, for this, it’ll be worth it.”
At the top, just offset from the stairway, was another door. Baer unlocked it and guided her into the main body of an apartment that seemed to be… Yeah, this was the whole thing.
The angled roof limited head height around the perimeter. This wasn’t even a full floor, just an extra space plopped on top of the structure. By adding some flooring, someone made it a room… that maybe wasn’t supposed to be there. The bed was low, just a foot off the floor in the middle of the space. Behind the bed, to the left and right were single dormer windows, which at least gave the room lots of light.
Going past the bed and the bathroom door, the bare floorboards beneath her feet creaked. The distressed white paint on the paneled walls probably hadn’t been looked after for years. No surprise, when would the guy have time?
“It’s not much to look at.”
Behind the headboard, between the dormers, was a shoulder-height screen. Going around it, she was amazed to find tools and a work bench with sawdust spread across the floor. And the truly wondrous sight? A low square table, a rocking chair… a partly finished… something. Definitely hand-crafted, the warm woods of varying hues were a breathtaking sight.
“Baer,” she breathed, sensing him near. Transfixed, her fingertips grazed the edge of the rocking chair. “Did you do this?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Whipping around, she was almost offended. “Baer, it’s beautiful.” He seemed more interested in looking at her. Backing up, she got closer to the rocking chair. “Do you know what this tells me?”
He advanced on her. “What?”
“You have a creative eye,” she said, creeping around the back of the chair. “And you’re good with your hands.”
“Something I plan to prove now,” he said, rushing forward to scoop her up. She whooped when he threw her down on the bed and landed on his side next to her. “You’re not paying me today. No one is. Day off.”
“You want to have sex now?” she asked, touching the neck of his tee-shirt. “Was this your evil plan all along?”
“Mm hmm,” he said, lifting enough to pull off his top.
Carved into masculine perfection, his muscles were honed and his form so defined, her fingers couldn’t resist. He did the bit removing her top, his boots, her shoes, her skirt… she just stroked.
There might be no prep sheet, but he wasn’t asking permission, just the way she liked it. He was taking action, and didn’t seem to mind her touch getting familiar.
“Hound,” she said when he hooked an arm around her waist to pull her close. “This means something to you, doesn’t it?” With a slow nod, he began to descend, his mouth on course for hers. She pressed harder. “No, I mean, it’s special to you. Being with me, is special.”
Ever patient, he swept her hair from her cheek. “Baby, what’s wrong? If this is wrong, tell me how to make it right for you.”
“Don’t use lines on me,” she said, tracing a finger down the center of his chest. “You’re so hot.”
“Right back attcha, Lil’.”
“You might have done this twenty minutes ago, but I didn’t… I don’t have any problems or hang-ups about sex, but… the last man I was with was Chapman and… well he turned out to be a lying scumbag who didn’t tell me he was married, so…”
“You’ve seen my life, Frey. No wife. No kids… I’m responsible for the twins, but—”
“I don’t think you’re lying to me.”
Their eyes met and he exhaled. “You just want to know that this is special?” She nodded. “What reason would I have to do this if it wasn’t special?”
Huh. Good point. None. No one was paying him to be there, as far as she knew. He wasn’t a sex maniac, again, as far as she knew. This wasn’t a dare. The Baer she knew wouldn’t do something like that.
Old insecurities flared until he kissed her again, then they just faded away. She wanted this. Wanted this man. They had this moment to be together as them. She wasn’t going to squander it.
His kiss softened and he rested a gentle hand on her stomach.
“We’re going to be terrible at this, aren’t we?” she asked, a broad smile stretched on her face.
He frowned. “Give a guy a chance, babe. Shit, we just got started and—”
“No,” she said, soothing him, caressing his face. “I meant because you like it soft and slow, and I like it hard and fast.”
“Maybe we find a happy medium,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again. “I can give it to you anyway you want it.”
Pressing a finger into his chest, she eased him back to meet his eye. “I want you to make love to me, Baer. You. Not any persona or anything you learned off a prep sheet. If you can’t be you, excuse yourself.”
His smirk was almost a laugh. “Excuse myself? From our bed? From sex with you?” His palm glided over her breast to her throat to catch her jaw. “Yeah, that won’t be happening.” Opening her mouth, she drew in a breath. “Shush now, Skit… Let a man work.”
His tongue slid into her mouth, swallowing her squeak of shock while scooping her body under his. His leisurely kiss, so gentle and tender, wrapped her in the illusion of forever. When he savored her like this, it was difficult to imagine him kissing other women. No other woman existed, she was the last one in the world and couldn’t help but feel special.
Her hips moved, rising and writhing, seeking an anchor. Although she pushed up against the ridge in his jeans, he didn’t respond with the usual relaxing of his hips. With gradual pressure, he relaxed in increments, pressing harder, giving her more of him until…
The thick length of him imprinted itself deep. Him. Long and thick and hard… Her eyes opened. Long and thick… Whoa, boy…
Their kiss got harder by the second… and it wasn’t the only thing. When he parted their mouths to look into her, she erased her frown.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked and she shook her head. Fast. Shit. Was she scared or exhilarated? Whichever it was, her heart thudded, growing so big it squeezed her lungs. Breathing out a laugh, he brushed her hair from her brow with a fingertip. “I won’t hurt you.”
Puffing out some of her anxiety, her smile strained. “Now I know why you’re so gentle.”
Widening his smile, he touched her lips with his. “Once you’re used to it, I’ll be as rough as you want.”
Relaxed by his smile, she ran a hand up his shoulder and into his hair. “No prep sheet.”
“No,” he said. “But I still want to give you what you want.”
“Professional pride?”
“Personal satisfaction,” he said. “I want to please you, Lil’.”
“Kiss me, Hound,” she whispered. “Just keep kissing me.”
Despite her surprise about what he was packing, her kiss was insistent. It seemed sort of unfair to other men that one man could be as good-looking and charming as Baer and be so well-hung too.
With all he endured in his life, with his parents’ medical issues and his responsibility for supporting the boys, his blessing put food on the Claymore table, literally.
Conrad had said more than once that Baer was in demand. His manner and appearance guaranteed that, and this new information revealed another category of client would be sliding into his DMs too.
Wriggling, she tried to explore more, to increase the friction between them, except his weight and insistence didn’t let her be more urgent or forceful. How could the man be so patient? Probably because he got off regularly, there was no rush for him, he wasn’t breaking a drought.
She was.
It had been so long and she wanted to know this man. “Baer,” she breathed when he broke the kiss.
“Wait here,” he said and kissed her fast before retreating.
She grabbed for his shoulders to bring him back. “Where are you going?” she asked, trying to tempt his mouth. “Stay with me.”
His smile grew as he traced it across hers. “I’ll be right back. Just getting a condom.”
“Oh,” she said, her gaze dropping.
“What?” He dipped down to catch her eye, one narrowed. “Why do you sound disappointed? You don’t want to use protection?”
“No, I…” The forced smile didn’t convince him. “No… go get one.”
Giving in, her body went limp, her hands dropped.
He didn’t move. “Do you know how insane you would be to sleep with a hooker without protection?”
A reference to the day they met? She didn’t feel like teasing.
“You’re not a streetwalker.”
“Still, I haven’t had sex without a rubber since…” He thought about it but came up short. “Huh, I can’t even remember.”
Stroking his upper arms, she tried to connect but couldn’t help being a little selfish about enjoying his muscles. “Claire?”
He shook his head. “We used ‘em. She was paranoid about pregnancy, her mom and sister both got pregnant young… She didn’t want kids until after she was married.” He met her eye. “You didn’t with Chapman?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes… I was always more particular about it than he was, which is nuts now, if you think about it. If he’d got me pregnant, his wife would’ve found out about us for sure.”
He kissed her. “I don’t want to put you at risk,” he said. “That’s all. I’m still waiting on the results of my latest physical, should clear us before the vacation.”
Wasn’t that just hilarious? “When we won’t be having sex?”
Growling, he bowed to rest his head on hers. “Please don’t remind me of that, baby,” he said. “Might kill my buzz.”
“Come on,” she goaded, coaxing him. “It will be a vacation for you too. Your cock will get a rest.”
“Right when it won’t want one. You think it’ll be easy to share a bed and not…?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “We’re both adults, I’m sure we’ll contain ourselves.”
Because this was important.
“‘Cept all I’ll be able to think about is you lying here under me telling me bareback is okay.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she squeezed herself closer. “Bareback is okay,” she whispered. Gritting his teeth, he groaned. “As long as you’re using protection with everyone else.”
“Always,” he said, running his tongue along the seam of her lips. “I wouldn’t endanger you… and I’ll get tested more often.” This was an odd conversation; not one she could’ve predicted being a part of her life. “Next time tell me what’s in your head, don’t hide the truth from me.”
She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t… I wasn’t thinking about whether or not we should use protection, I just…” Exhaling, she resigned herself to revealing the truth. “It felt professional. Stopping like that for protection, it felt practiced… Sometimes I… You’re so calm and controlled…”
While, in contrast, around him, she kept losing her head.
“You think it’s still an act?” he asked, sounding sort of offended. “You think I—”
Touching his lips, she silenced him. “Just don’t ever forget you’re with me when we’re together,” she said. “Promise me?”
Nodding, his half frown was still dubious. “You will learn to trust me. You will.”
“I do trust you.” What kind of woman got herself involved with a man whose job required him to sleep with other women and didn’t trust him? If that was the case, they’d be doomed before they started. “Now where’s that condom, Hound Dog? You’ll never catch the pussy if you don’t prepare yourself.”
“On it,” he said, kissing her quick and leaping off the bed.
Glancing back, he seemed to appreciate the view spread out on his sheets as he unbuckled his jeans and kicked them off in a heap. His dimple flashed in unison with a wink before he disappeared into the bathroom, tossing the door into the frame behind him.
In almost the same second, her phone buzzed. Rolling to the edge of the bed, she fished it from her purse on the floor. She sat up, reading the unknown number, and frowned as she answered.
“Hello?”
“Freya? It’s Conrad.”
Uh, and he was calling because…? He couldn’t know what they were doing right then… could he?
“Hello,” she said again. “Is there a problem?” And then she remembered with a groan. “I didn’t sign the paperwork.”
“No, you didn’t, but this is about something else,” he said. “We had to move up Holly’s next date. She and Marlin are available tonight, but she said you had agreed to continue double dating with her. So I was wondering if—”
“Tonight?” she asked, tucking her heels on the frame of the bed. “Sure.” Ah, an opportunity for mischief. “Long as I can have Baer.”
Silence. Five seconds. Ten. “Baer… uh…”
“You know, it’s a shame I didn’t sign that paperwork yet because—”
“Sure! Yes. Yes, you can have Baer, just let me call him and I’ll call you back.”
The line died. Sharing a quiet laugh with herself, she tucked her phone under the edge of the blanket and lay down again. She’d just relaxed when the bathroom door opened.
“Rubbers are expired.” Baer raised a hand to his forehead to toss the box into the trash can under the window. “But, no worries, I have some from last night.” Oh, did he now? “I know work product is less than ideal, but the rubbers don’t care who paid for what.”
Neither did their body parts, but…
“That’s not what I was thinking,” she said, rising to her elbows. “I was wondering why you were carrying protection on a date with my cousin who you promised not to sleep with?”
His mouth opened, but it took a second for anything to come out. “Muscle memory.”
Her head tilted just as his phone rang. Apparently, more than happy to save himself, he ducked to snag his phone from his jeans pocket. To his credit, he didn’t look at it or answer. Instead, he came to join her on the bed, laying over her to reignite their kiss.
Although he tried to push harder, to urge her onto her back, she stayed on her elbows.
“Are you going to get that?” she asked, accepting his kiss, eyeing the phone.
“It will stop in a second.”
“You are an incredible man,” she said, opening her fingers wide on his shoulders and driving them up toward his neck.
“That what I get for ditching a phone call?”
“Baer,” she whispered, ascending to trace her lips over his. “My Baer.”
This time her tongue took the lead and with fingertips slinking down his torso, she twisted her wrist. She’d just touched the waistband of his underwear when he growled and broke the kiss to bring the phone to his ear.
“What?” he barked into the handset, dropping his head. “No, fuck, Con, what did I—” His attention snapped up fast. She let her smile grow slowly. “Tonight… Are you shitting me?” The arousal and surprise faded to give way to suspicion. “No, Con, I don’t think this girl is eager to have me at all… Yeah.” Disconnecting the phone, he threw it toward the pillow. “Drinks tonight?”
Restraining a laugh, she played it coy. “Oh, well, I don’t know. That’s forward of you, Mr. Claymore… I was on a date with someone else today…”
“Why you…” He pinched her waist, provoking a yelp before he tickled her, pinning her body with his.
Again, her phone rang, so she pushed and squeaked, wriggling away from him to retrieve the handset from beneath the blanket. Flipping onto her front, still under him, she slithered a little higher. Baer stopped tickling just as she answered.
“Hello?”
“Freya,” Conrad said in her ear.
“Conrad, what a surprise!”
Tipping her chin toward her shoulder, she expected teasing from Baer. Rather than taunt, the very tip of his tongue touched the base of her spine to ascend at an excruciating pace, tormenting a trickle of need and arousal in its wake.
“We just talked five minutes ago,” Conrad said.
“Mm hmm,” she managed to say, squeezing her lips together.
“You’re on for tonight. Baer was a tough sell, but he’s a good guy… a really decent guy… He’d do anything to keep a client happy.”
And with how his tongue snaked to the back of her neck, she could believe that. “He better be available for the other date this week.”
“He will be,” Conrad said, a thread of concern in his voice. “Would you be able to come in this afternoon or later this evening before your date to sign this paperwork?”
“Yes,” she said, her breath catching when Baer’s mouth skimmed to the side of her neck. “Oh, God, yes.”
Done with the call, whether Conrad was or not, she hung up and tossed the phone aside to roll over and wrap both arms around his head, forcing his mouth to accept the moan slipping from hers. Although her legs coiled around his hips, locking them together, they had a date lined up tonight; one that couldn’t end with her ultimate fantasy. Rules. Rules. Rules. They couldn’t follow through. As much as she wanted to…
He felt so good. His mouth. His hands. The weight of him on top of her.
“Baer, Dad says—”
The child’s voice stole their kiss as both their attentions leaped toward the door. Toward Charlie, there on the threshold, screwdriver in hand.
“Charlie…” Baer said.
He gasped and pointed the screwdriver at them. “I’m telling Presley!”
Spinning around, the youngster bolted. Baer was smiling. How could he be smiling?
She didn’t find it funny at all and pushed at his shoulders. “Baer! Go after him!”
“What?” he asked. “We’re two consenting adults. They know what sex is.”
“Presley will be hurt.” Her breaking heart prompted a harder shove. “Go be a big brother, please.”
He frowned. “He didn’t really think you were into him… did he?”
Blinking, it was a wonder to her sometimes. “Baer, I work with kids every day, all the time. Some of them get it. Some of them are really hurt by rejection. Please… please, go be gentle about it, don’t let Charlie be the one to tell him.”
After searching her eyes another few seconds, he cursed under his breath and climbed off the bed. “Goddamn,” he grumbled, stomping over to swipe his jeans off the floor. “This is madness.” Sticking his feet into his jeans, he pulled them up. “You were mine before you were his.” Despite the urgency, she rose on her elbows to smile at him. It was sweet of him to care about her feelings and his brother’s. “I kissed you first.”
“This will grease the skids for you, I promise.”
“Grease the skids,” he muttered and pointed at the bed with his thumb and forefinger just an inch apart. “We were this fucking close before the kid walked in.” Turning around, he stomped out. “Goddamn.”
Flopping onto her back after the door closed, she relished just being there. Hmm… naughty thoughts. She could peel off her underwear, crawl into his bed, and wait there for him to return. But they would only have to leave the sheets, unsated, to go on their date. A date he’d be paid for. They weren’t supposed to have sex when he was being paid to be with her. Whose dumb idea was that?
Forcing herself to get up and dressed, she accidentally on purpose forgot to don one item and cast a slow eye over the room. She liked it. Would she be there again? If not, at least the silk panties on his pillow would be a memento of her.