Underneath It All Read online

  Nicole didn’t know what to say. That was the most intense orgasm she’d ever had, and just as she found the strength to say so, Devon interrupted.

  “Wow. Can we do that again?”

  A breathy chuckle broke her silence and she lay on her back staring at the ceiling.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’d like to do that again.”

  “I HAVE TO ADMIT, I’ve never had dinner in bed,” Devon said, taking a bite of the sausage and olive pizza Nicole had ordered.

  She swallowed and added, “I don’t think I’ve ever had pizza naked.”

  They’d climbed under the covers and had flicked on the television in her bedroom. She’d thrown a DVD in the player and they dined while Vito Corleone danced at his daughter’s wedding in the opening scenes of The Godfather. A bottle of red wine rounded out what Devon considered to be an evening just short of perfection. It could only be improved if this was a hotel room and they were on a week-long vacation, not to be disturbed for at least seven more days.

  He’d already concluded a simple taste of this woman wouldn’t be nearly enough. Already, his mind was conjuring up the different ways he’d like to explore her mind and body, to push her back to that screaming, writhing frenzy and implant that sated smile on her lips for good. Just the thought made his cock twitch with expectation.

  Unfortunately, it was Wednesday. Life would come sneaking up before they knew it, and he wondered how quickly he could talk Nicole into getting away for a more extended period of time. He definitely wanted more than this one night. A lifetime would be good. But for the moment, he’d settle for a weekend.

  “That’s the part where you’re supposed to say, me neither.”

  Devon blinked from his thoughts. “Huh?”

  “Eating pizza naked. You look like you’re trying to recall whether you’ve done that before.” She smiled and laughed. “Were your college years a little wilder than mine?”

  “No,” he said, pulling the blankets up around his chest and scooting closer. “My mind drifted to what a wonderful time I’m having tonight. I mean, for a guy, this is about as good as life gets.”

  She crinkled that turned-up nose and smiled. “Really?”

  “Are you kidding?” he scoffed. “Pizza and The Godfather while naked in bed with a beautiful blonde? Men have started wars over less.”

  She pulled another slice of pizza from the box between them then grabbed the bottle of wine and filled her glass. “I suppose when you put it that way,” she said. “I’d say I was too lazy to get dressed and too relaxed to leave the bedroom. And as far as the movie, well, it’s been one of my favorites for years.”

  “I wouldn’t have considered The Godfather a chick flick.”

  She frowned. “Not all chicks are crazy about chick flicks. We do like some of the classics, you know.” Gesturing toward the TV, she added, “I used to be in love with Michael Corleone when I was a kid. I wanted to be his wife.”

  Devon raised a brow. “Which one? The one that got blown up in the car or the one he estranged from her children after the divorce?”

  She laughed. “Okay, so maybe I hadn’t wished that in the literal sense.” She reached for her wineglass and snuggled closer. “I think it’s the glamour, the wealth, the danger, all underscored by their deep sense of family. I don’t know. I think there’s something romantic about it all.” She smirked and added, “All that money certainly doesn’t hurt.”

  “Not exactly spoken like a woman who’s about to become a millionaire.”

  For a moment, the comment hung in the air until Nicole sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know if we’re really going to see the money, and if we do, I don’t expect it to change my life much.”

  “You don’t plan to go out and buy a bunch of fancy toys?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. When it comes to material things, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got.”

  “So what do you plan to do with the money?”

  She tossed her pizza crust in the box and waved it off when he offered more, prompting him to move the box to the floor. Taking a sip of his wine, he decided he’d had enough dinner for the night and was ready to move on to dessert anyway.

  She leaned over and set her wine on the bedside table, then moved back into his arms, settling her head against his chest and easing into his embrace. A smooth sense of comfort came over him, a relaxed feeling of contentment that seemed to come so readily when he was with her, and he wondered if this was the stuff that made a woman a soul mate.

  It sure felt like it.

  “I’ve been trying to figure that out for a while now,” she said. “I really don’t want to just buy a lot of expensive things. I’d like to know that the money ended up doing something good for someone.”

  “Are you thinking about setting up a charity foundation?”

  “Probably, if I can’t get more creative than that, but I don’t know. There are so many charities, so many worthy causes it’s hard deciding who gets what. A person could spend their life just doing the research and doling out the funds. And when it’s all said and done, I keep feeling there’s a group of people being left behind.”

  “Like?”

  “Like maybe those who are stuck between having too much money to qualify for financial aid but not enough to really survive. You know, people who, if they had a little extra help, it would mean all the difference in the world. Maybe a college fund for their kids, or a down payment on a home of their own. I don’t know, but I kind of like the idea of setting up something of my own that’s very up close and personal.”

  She looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes, prompting him to tease, “I can think of a number of charitable causes that could benefit by having you up close and personal.”

  “Really,” she said, flicking a brow. “Are you trying to tell me you’re needy?”

  Reaching for the remote control, he pressed the button to shut off the television, then moved back and cupped her cheek. “I’m most definitely a worthy cause, but it’s not your money I’m after.”

  Slowly and softly he tasted her lips, enjoying the casual warmth as it simmered in his veins. So far they’d only succumbed to frenzied passion, heat that rose too quickly and fire that spread too fast. They’d needed to take the edge off, and now that they had, he was ready to come back around at a more temperate pace, savoring the journey instead of rushing toward the end.

  He shifted and settled her back against the pillows, making her comfortable for the long road ahead. He wanted to sample every inch of her, explore every curve, and when she smiled and exhaled a breath of calm agreement, he knew he’d be granted the luxury of doing just that.

  He slid his fingers through her long silky hair while he kissed her, soaking in the rich essence of the red wine, circling his tongue with hers and then moving his mouth to the tender flesh below her chin. She let her head sink into the pillows while he made his way down the curve of her neck, across her shoulder and down to one breast, and when he took that hard nipple into his mouth, her gasp of pleasure flooded him with a rush of heat.

  He licked her nipple then let his breath warm the bud as he whispered, “I can’t get enough of these.”

  She caressed her slim fingers through his hair and arched her back to greet him, pulling him closer, telling him she liked his touch and wanted him hard and strong. He let his teeth graze her skin and she let out a groan that sprung his cock to attention. This was supposed to go slowly, but damn if his body didn’t have other ideas. He’d barely touched her and already the strain was growing, pulling the blood from his head and rushing it to his loins.

  He turned dizzy with lust as he suckled one breast and teased the other between his fingers, and with this woman in his arms all sense of time and space quickly disappeared. It was just him and these breasts, small but full, and with the right amount of pout to fill his mouth with joy. He moved from one to the other, relishing the taste of her and the flowery scent of her skin. Smoothing a hand down her waist,
he circled a thumb over the tiny stone in her navel and moaned. She was ridiculously sexy, and he wanted her now. Tomorrow. Forever.

  Desire rushed through him like wildfire, stiffening his cock and tensing his muscles, and underneath him, Nicole began to writhe and shiver, telling him her lust poured as richly as his. She rocked up and down as he migrated south, along the taut expanse of her waist to that sexy topaz he wanted to take in his mouth.

  Tapping his shoulder, she’d produced a condom, and he met her eyes and smiled. “Later,” he said, his voice raspy and low.

  The room growing hot, he sat up and tossed the blankets over the foot of the bed then straddled her and studied the stunning beauty he’d captured. Her body splayed open, her cheeks bright pink and those yellow tresses fanned around her face, she looked like a golden angel, but her wicked look of need said she was anything but.

  Quirking a brow, he smiled. “I’ve got a spot I’d like to revisit,” he said, positioning himself in front of her slick, wet heat. The scent of sex turned him harder, snatching his breath and pounding a beat against his chest. He slowly slid his hands along her thighs and she opened herself to him, spreading eagerly for him, and the raw power he held encased him. She bit her lip, once, twice, three times, her eyes pleading with need as he teased his thumbs around her folds.

  Up close and personal, he thought. This was exactly where he wanted her, her sex in his hands, against his mouth, swelling and pulsing, and when he gently touched her curls and took the nub between his lips, her aching cry nearly causing him to lose control.

  She arched into him and cupped his head in her hands, pulling him closer and reacting to the rhythm of his tongue. Her low hum encouraged him, filling his ears with her lovely sound of pleasure, and when he slipped a finger inside, the tone lowered to a breathy, “Yes.”

  He loved that she wasn’t shy about what she wanted and how easily he could read her needs. Taking the guesswork out of sex left him free to peruse and explore, and when he slipped a second finger inside, she responded with a deep sultry, “Ohhhh.”

  He groaned into her clit, pushing his fingers in and out, circling his tongue around the nub until she squirmed under him and called out, “Now. Now.” She held out the condom, but he pushed it aside.

  “Not yet, baby,” he said. “I want you to come in my mouth.”

  “But—” she said, and the objection drowned with a gurgle when he sucked her clit into his mouth and lapped against it.

  “Oh,” she moaned, the sound more a warning than cry of pleasure, and when she began to wiggle underneath him, he pulled his fingers from her and steadied her thighs.

  She groaned again, this time with more urgency, and as her clit swelled against his tongue, he knew the next sound in his ears would be a guttural cry of release.

  Slick heat soaked his chin, her salty scent drugged his senses, and the farther she moved toward the edge, the harder he held her in place. Her hips thrust and gyrated, the nub pulsed against his tongue. She tried to squirm out from under him, but he dug his fingers into her thighs and held her tight. He needed this, needed the sensation of her release against his tongue, and when he heard her suck in a sharp breath, she shattered in his arms.

  Her cry echoed through the room, her clit convulsed between his lips, searing a bolt through his cock that tightened his balls and nearly stopped his heart. He’d never come without direct stimulation, but when she shrieked his name and churned against him, his own orgasm rushed to be answered.

  Out of necessity, he broke his hold on her and rose to his knees in time to watch her collapse against the bed, every muscle in her body giving out to the weight of her release. Wisps of silky hair fell haphazardly across her face. Her skin rosy, her lips puffed, and when she opened her eyes and glanced up at him her look of total pleasure tore something deep inside him.

  The woman was insanely beautiful, and in that moment he knew the vision he was staring at was the vision he wanted to wake up to every day. This was something special, something real, and when her mouth curved into a smile, his heart smiled with her.

  She loosely waved the condom in front of him and asked, “Are you ready for it now?”

  Snatching the foil pack in mid-air, he nodded.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m ready.”

  7

  “YOU GOT SOME, didn’t you?”

  Nicole stared blankly at Eve. “Got what?”

  Pulling from the doorway, Eve stepped into Nicole’s office and leaned a hip against her desk. “Oh, please. Look at you. You have ‘I got laid’ written all over your face.”

  Nicole’s cheeks heated up. She tried to scoff but a smile leaked through, ruining the effect. She always had been a horrible poker player.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she attempted, not exactly sure she wanted her love life advertised around the station. Although this was Eve, and Nicole was dying to tell someone about the great evening she’d had.

  “Uh-huh,” Eve said. “Like we’ve ever heard you whistling before.”

  “Whistling?”

  “Whistling. ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’, if I’m not mistaken.”

  Nicole hadn’t realized she could carry that good a tune, but Eve nailed it.

  “That and I overheard you say good morning to Ray on your way in.”

  “So I said good morning to Ray. Big deal.”

  “It is a big deal considering you stopped acknowledging the man when he started hitting on you last fall.”

  “I wasn’t interested and he was relentless. I couldn’t afford to give him mixed signals.”

  “But you can now?”

  Nicole shrugged.

  “Oh, and let’s not forget about this,” Eve said, holding the expense account Nicole had turned into accounts payable this morning. Eve turned the stapled group of papers to one particular receipt and handed it to Nicole. “Since when does the station buy lingerie for its employees?”

  “Uh, that shouldn’t be there. It must have gotten stuck to the others.”

  Eve smiled. “A satin bustier and thong set, huh?”

  “Look, I happened to be there researching our summer bridal show. Penny and I had been to a dozen bridal boutiques, I was hungry, my feet were killing me and I felt I deserved a present.” She yanked the receipt off the stack, double-checked the others then handed the papers back to Eve. “That’s all there was to it.”

  “And how did Devon like it?”

  The quirky look on Eve’s face finally caused Nicole to break down and laugh. “Okay, okay. I give up. If you must know, the bustier and the thong are lying in shreds on my bedroom floor.” Holding up the receipt, she added, “This was a short-lived eighty-five dollars.”

  “But worth every cent?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  Eve looked her up and down. “I like the new you. I hope it lasts.”

  “I don’t see why it wouldn’t.”

  “So when are you seeing him again?”

  Nicole pushed back and relaxed in her chair, trying to recall Devon’s exact words. “He’s taking me to some family dinner next weekend, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing him before then. He said he’d call.”

  Eve’s eyes widened. “He’s taking you home to meet the parents?”

  Nicole frowned. “No. Well, yes. I guess. He didn’t exactly word it like that. It’s a family dinner and he wants me to come.”

  “He wants you to meet Mom and Dad.”

  “Okay, so what?”

  “So it sounds to me like he’s serious about you.”

  Nicole waved her off. “Don’t be silly. We’ve only been on a couple dates. This thing isn’t serious at all.”

  “Does he know that?”

  “Of course, he knows that.” At least, she hoped he did. She shook her head. No, of course he did. He hadn’t given her the slightest sign that what they had was anything more than a fling.

  Then she noticed the long stem roses that took up her entire credenza and her frown deepened.

/>   “No,” she resolved. “We’re light years from serious. This is only a fling, and a very good one at that.”

  “It looks like it,” Eve said. “You look…healthy.”

  Nicole relaxed and laughed. “I feel healthy. In fact, I think casual sex should be prescribed as part of every woman’s weekly regimen.” She paused and tapped her pencil to her lips. “Now, there’s an idea for a segment. The spiritual benefits of noncommittal sex from a biological standpoint. You know, like a form of wellness. Like Yoga or meditation.”

  “Way to make your love life sound like a multivitamin.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe it is, in a way. I know I haven’t felt better in years. I think women would be better off if we stopped looking at sex as a path to love and started thinking of it as part of a well-rounded lifestyle. We should be having fun exploring what turns us on and enjoying the moment like men do instead of constantly turning every date into something serious.”

  “Well, I can’t argue with that. I’ve sometimes thought men had healthier views about sex than women.”

  Nicole scribbled the idea on her pad, thinking it was well worth considering. Given her situation and all the issues in her life, she wasn’t anywhere near thinking about marriage and family. She needed to figure out who she was first, then figure out what she wanted in a partner.

  And last night with Devon had made strides where that was concerned. It was the first time she’d ever been with a man and just enjoyed the physical act of sex—and boy did she enjoy it. There was definitely something liberating in letting go of tomorrow and enjoying today, exploring the soul and body without overanalyzing the situation or wondering where it all was heading. And she intended to make this new attitude her habit.

  This was exactly what she needed at this point in her life. And she had to believe there were thousands of other women out there feeling the same way, looking to find their own way in life without letting a man take the wheel and do the steering.

  “I’ll check into this idea and maybe bring it up in our next meeting,” Nicole said, then glanced down to her watch. “But in the meantime, I’ve got an appointment with an investigator.”