“You shouldn’t just give up like that. It’s too good to just sit in a drawer. Why doesn’t your friend publish it?”
“Because Sheila’s running a business, not a charity. Another Love does not fit her publishing criteria or her target audience.”
“And she can’t broaden that target audience? Even for a friend?”
“Oh, I’m sure she’d do it if I pressed the matter,” Elgin responded, “but I believe you shouldn’t take advantage of your friends.”
“She must know other publishers.”
“Sure and they’d be glad to read it. Even publish it…if Gillian Shelby agrees to break her contract with Fantasy Publishing and write three or four novels. Just in case Elgin Collier bombs.”
“It’s not right. Not fair.”
“Maybe not, but that’s how the world is. And speaking of fair, I’m sorry about flying off the handle like that at you. It’s not very fair of me to go off on you without even giving you a chance to explain. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I bopped you with the book.”
Harm gingerly put his fingers to his ear. “Ouch!”
“Here, sit down. Let me look at it.”
“No, it’s okay, really. Just a little sore.” He grinned. “Now I know what they mean about a book being ‘weighty.’”
“Please, let me see.” Laying the book on the coffee table behind her, she touched her fingertips to his ear, running them softly, slowly around the edge, bending forward as she did so.
Her skin, smooth and cool and the feel of her made him tremble, feel weak in the knees. Warm breath tickled the morning stubble on his cheek, her lips close enough to touch. The feel of thin satiny robe as it rubbed against his chest. The rich, sweet smell of her.
Wordlessly, she pressed herself against him, raising her other hand to cup his head between them as their lips met. Passion, unexpected and intense, engulfed them, pulling them deeper, closer. Grabbing her ass, he pushed into her body, feeling her sudden heat through his hard cock.
Fingers feeling like sausages, Harm fumbled with the sash of her robe as Elgin quickly unfastened the top button of his jeans, yanking down his zipper to expose the python-like bulge in his shorts. They had to part for a moment so that she could slide off her robe and he could pull off the rest of his clothes.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered, running her hand lightly up and down his shaft, feeling the rigid heat of him as lust pounded through it with every heartbeat.
“So are you,” he answered, running his fingers across her nipples, watching them get hard like his cock, cupping them and feeling their soft weight in his hands. Tenderly, he bent his head, suckling each one in turn, feeling her trembling, her breath catch.
When he took a breath, she lifted his face to hers, enjoying another ecstatic, longing kiss. Parting, she took his hand and they hurried up the stairs to her bedroom.
Soft morning light filtered through the trees and into the room, bathing it in a kind of peaceful glow. The covers lay where she’d pulled them off when she rose, the sheets still wrinkled, a depression in her pillow where her head had lain.
Slowly, she crawled in, moving to the unrumpled side to make room for him. As he followed her, Elgin put out her arms to him.
“I want you,” she murmured. “No strings, no expectations, no promises. Just now and for however long it lasts. It’s been so long I’d almost forgotten how it feels to want someone as much as I want you. Please…”
“It’s pretty obvious how much I want you,” he answered quietly as he wrapped her in his embrace, feeling her arms around his body. “I’ll do whatever you want, however you want to do it. Just let me be with you, make love with you. You make me feel…well, like I never thought I’d feel again.”
“Come inside me, now.” She underscored the urgency in her voice by taking his cock in her fist and guiding between her legs.
“Don’t you want me to play with you?” he mumbled, surprised by her eagerness.
“Right now,” she breathed in his ear, “all I want is you. Inside me. Fill me up and then some with that thick, hard, beautiful cock of yours.”
Settling between her legs, Harm slid effortlessly into her wet pussy, a short gasp of pleasure and a tensing of her body under him. And then he felt her relax, matching her movements to his, pushing herself against him, taking him up, the friction of his sac on her swollen clit, sparking new fire in her blood with each stroke.
Her lips and arms and pussy enfolded him, wrapping him in heated pleasure, making him forget everything but her body and the sensations roaring through his own. Far from romantic, fantasy lovemaking, they were two people, filled with lust and bottled-up passion, releasing an animal need as primal as life itself. It didn’t mean anything except the pleasure of the moment. They wanted each other and that was reason, explanation, enough.
Elgin moaned softly and he felt the first tremors of her release ripple through her body. Fingernails dug into his skin as she grabbed his ass, kneading and grinding, trying to force himself deeper, harder into her. The muscles inside her, closed more tightly around his cock and his tempo sped up, his own orgasm just strokes away.
Her moans and cries of pleasure mixed with his as they crested and exploded together, rainbow bolts of sensation shooting through them like a perfect electric circuit feeding on itself until the power is spent.
“Oh…God…” she breathed between pants as she struggled to catch her breath. “You’re…you’re…unbelievable.”
“Likewise,” he mumbled, exiting gently and collapsing beside her. Elgin curled herself around him, snuggling in the crook of his arm and laying her head on his chest.
Slowly, she ran her fingertips over his chest, tweaking his nipples playfully and exploring the thin, light brown hair sprinkled over his chest, tapering in a straight line to the surprisingly soft nest of pubic hair and his not-quite-resting cock.
“You have a nice body,” she told him, her voice still a sultry whisper. “Now that I’m not in such an…excited state, I hope you’ll let me examine it in a more leisurely, more thorough fashion.”
“Only if you’ll reciprocate.” He took a nipple between his long, hard fingers and felt her tremble against him. Even having just climaxed, he felt his cock stir once more and he knew the morning’s delight would continue.
“That feels good,” she encouraged him, moving her fingertips down to his inner thighs and fondling his sac.
“Before we get carried away again, don’t you think we ought to talk?” She raised her eyes and saw the seriousness in his.
“About…?”
“Well, for one thing, protection.” He flushed slightly and glanced past her to the wall. “I…uh…didn’t come prepared. I mean… I… You and me…”
The Scout scenario flashed in Elgin’s mind and she clenched her teeth to keep from laughing out loud.
“Oh.”
He gazed down at her. “I don’t make a habit of dropping into bed with every woman I meet. Especially not a client. Most especially not when I’m on a case. I guess maybe I should have figured that a woman like you would just naturally…”
“Excuse me,” she interrupted sharply, raising herself on her elbow. “What exactly do you mean, ‘a woman like me?’”
“I don’t know. Beautiful. Worldly. Sensuous. You probably have hot and cold running guys chasing after you.” Those sad dark eyes looked away again, his voice dropped to a whisper. “I haven’t been with a woman in almost five years. That’s a major reason for my lack of…staying power. That and the fact you’re so sexy. I…uh…generally take my time about this.”
Gently, Elgin put her fingertip under his chin and turned his face back to hers. “Trust me, you did just fine. It’s sort of like gulping your food when you’re hungry. And believe me, famished doesn’t begin to explain how I felt. It’s been more than three years for me. Despite what I write, I don’t drop into bed either. I have to feel a connection, something ‘special’ that I want to share with someone. Like what I feel for you.