“Yes?”
“I’m not on any type of birth control.”
If she thought that revelation would stop him dead in his tracks, she’d been wrong. He kept moving toward her. “I have condoms. Plenty of them. Around a dozen or so. And if we need more we’ll get them,” he told her.
Get more? Did he honestly think they would use more than a dozen? Her heart began beating way too fast as she wondered just what kind of stamina he had. Would she be able to keep up?
She was about to find out.
He joined her on the bed and began kissing her again while touching her all over. Sexual excitement churned inside her, sending an intense throb through her veins. She slipped her arms around his muscled back, loving the manly feel of him.
“I’m dying to taste you,” he whispered, just moments before shifting his body to place his head between her legs.
She gripped tight to his shoulders as she felt his hot tongue inside her, stroking and licking. He was unwavering in his determination to taste her like he wanted. Sensations she’d never experienced before rushed through her and instinctively, she made sinfully erotic movements with her hips against his mouth.
Over and over he laved her womanly core with greedy intent, making her whisper his name over and over. Suddenly, her body exploded like a volcano erupting and she surrendered to the pleasure he’d given her.
Before the last spasm left her body, he had shifted to position his body over hers, and then she felt him enter her, stretching her to accommodate his size. She inhaled the scent of him—the scent of them—and then used her tongue to lick his shoulder, needing to taste the texture of his skin.
He pushed his shaft as deep inside her as he could go and then he locked their legs together. He began moving, thrusting back and forth, in and out. He established a rhythm that sent sexual undercurrents all through her body.
He looked down at her, held her gaze as he made love to her. She clung to him, holding tight to his shoulders as if they were a lifeline. His languid, deep, hard thrusts were driving her over the edge and making every nerve ending in her body zing brutally to life.
He threw his head back and growled her name as he continued to make love to her, indulging her with his words. Her skin sizzled where their bodies connected and the more he stroked inside her, the more her body awakened to the aching hunger he was feeding.
And then he called her name again. Together they were slammed with another orgasm. He gathered her in his arms, touched the side of her face with his fingers as they rode the tidal waves of ecstasy together.
The next morning it had felt odd waking up with a man in her bed. They had made love practically all evening, only to get up around eight and eat some of the soup she’d made the day before with French bread. Then they had gotten back in bed and made love all over again. All through the night.
No personal information was exchanged. None was needed. She knew the next three days would be considered one and done. Chances were, they would never see each other again. They were taking advantage of the now.
“You’re awake?”
She glanced over at him and saw desire in the depths of his dark eyes. “Yes, I’m awake.”
“Good.”
He got out of bed to put on a condom then returned to her. “And what if I wanted breakfast first?” she asked, grinning.
He grinned back. “And do you want breakfast first?”
She shook her head. “No. I want you, Laramie.”
And she did want him. She had to keep telling herself this was just sex and nothing more. When he left here the day after Christmas he wouldn’t be coming back, nor would they stay in touch. The only thing she would have were her memories. Regardless, she could not and would not ever regret any time spent with him.
After making love that morning they dressed and went out to grab breakfast. He surprised her with his suggestion that they get a Christmas tree. That meant they had to purchase ornaments, as well. He refused to let her pay for anything. Like kids, they rushed back to the house and decorated the tree. Their tree.
Since most restaurants were closed for the holidays, she decided to prepare Christmas dinner for them. That meant grocery shopping, which she told him she wanted to do alone. She knew from their earlier shopping trip how he liked to spend money and she wanted Christmas dinner to be her treat.
When she returned to her apartment he was waiting for her. The minute she opened the door and glanced over at him, heated sexual attraction consumed them. She couldn’t put her grocery bags down fast enough before he was ripping off her clothes, making love to her against the refrigerator.
He surprised her on Christmas Day with a gift, a beautiful scarf and a pair of earrings. The gift touched her deeply. He’d apparently gone shopping when she left to get groceries.
She surprised him with a gift, as well. A pair of gloves, since she’d noticed his were well-worn. He said he enjoyed Christmas dinner, but most of Christmas was spent in bed making love rather than eating.
The next morning, the day after Christmas, she awoke to find him dressed and ready to go. Ready to walk out of her life. She hadn’t expected it to be so hard, but it was. She knew she had fallen in love with him. Not with the sex but with the man.
He kissed her deeply, wished her the best in her artistic dreams and thanked her for making this one of the best holidays for him, ever. And then he turned and walked out the door...without looking back.
She’d quickly gotten up and stood at the window to watch him leave. He’d called a cab and, as if he’d known she would be there at the window, before getting into the cab he looked over his shoulder, saw her, blew her a kiss and then waved goodbye.
She blew him a kiss and waved back. And as the cab drove away she knew at that moment that Laramie Cooper had taken a piece of her heart with him.
New York, present day
“I’m glad you guys are finding this entire thing amusing,” Laramie said as he moved around the hotel room to dress. He had placed the mobile call on speaker while engaging in a five-way conversation with his teammates.
“Hey, Coop, we can’t help but think it’s pretty damn funny,” Bane Westmoreland said. “I can just imagine the look on your face when you discovered what you were delivering to that member of the Security Council wasn’t top secret documents like you thought, but her pet cockatiel.”
Laramie couldn’t help but smile as he slid on a T-shirt. “No, Bane, you can’t imagine.”
“Well, just think positive,” David Holloway said. “You got a free trip to New York.”
“Damn, Flipper, it’s cold as the dickens here. I prefer California weather,” Laramie said.
“Stop whining, Coop,” Gavin Blake said, laughing.
“Kiss it, Viper.”
And then he said, “Hey, Mac? You still with us? You’re kind of quiet.”
“I’m still here,” Thurston McRoy said. “I’m trying to keep up with you guys and watch the game, too. In case none of you realized, it’s Thursday night football.”
That led to a conversation about their predictions for what team would make it to the Super Bowl. By the time Laramie had ended the call, he was completely dressed and ready to leave.
And go where? He figured that since he had a taste for a juicy hamburger, he would grab a meal at Xavier’s. Flipper had recommended he dine there and said he wouldn’t be disappointed.
A