While she was considering what he said, he continued in a soft voice, “Is it so strange that I would want my wife by my side? You know how single women target ministers. If they see a ring but no wife they’ll think I’m fair game. They won’t care that you’re working.”
She’d never thought about it like that. But still...
“Derrick, I hear and understand what you’re saying, but I love my job. When we have a family, maybe I can see myself staying home full-time to raise them, if we can afford for me to do so.”
“So what you’re saying is you’ll give up your job for our children, but I don’t mean enough to you for you to give it up for me.”
“No! That’s not what I’m saying at all!”
“Von, that’s exactly what you’re saying. Your position at Mercy Hospital is more important than our relationship,” he concluded, sounding hurt.
Is it? Suddenly she wasn’t as sure of herself as she’d been.
Von sat in deep thought as their changing surroundings showed she was close to home. In no time at all, Derrick had the car parked and was escorting her to her door. Out of habit, while she fumbled around the bottom of her purse for her keys, Von asked, “Are you coming in?”
“Yes, I think I will.”
Derrick stood close behind, almost looming over her. Feeling the need to hurry, Von shook her bag impatiently, heard a jingle, and breathed a sigh of relief when she managed to snag them. She pushed the key into the lock and twisted the doorknob, almost in the same motion. Pausing only long enough to lock the door behind them, Von kicked off her shoes into the nearby closet and walked through the living room into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “I don’t know about you, but I’m thirsty. You want anything?”
She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and stood at the counter drinking it.
Derrick came and stood close, releasing her hair from its bun. “I love your hair,” he murmured, gathering the mass in his hand and burying his face in it. There was a slight tug as he pushed it to the side, then his mouth was on her neck, nibbling the tender skin.
Von automatically leaned her head to the side to give him easier access. He voiced his approval and she felt the light scraping of his teeth in the bend where her shoulder met her nape. He pressed closer and she felt his erection against the small of her back.
“You are so beautiful. No wonder Sean couldn’t keep his eyes off you.”
Suddenly irritated, she set her bottle down on the cabinet with a snap. “Derrick, don’t be ridicu—”
Derrick spun her around and thrust his tongue into her mouth, his kiss deep and forceful. His grip on her arms a painful reminder of earlier in the car. Alarmed by his rough handling, Von tried pulling away but he followed, switching his hold to her face while pinning her body to the counter with his aroused one. She wanted him, but not like this.
She brought her hands up and pushed at his shoulders, finally managing to pry enough space to turn away, breaking the kiss. “Derrick, stop. You’re hurting me.”
His touch immediately gentled. “I’m sorry, baby. I can’t get the image of you in that negligee out of my mind, though I’ve tried. You were so sexy. So beautiful. I was a fool to leave,” he murmured as he nibbled on her right earlobe. He ran the tip of his tongue around the outer shell of her ear, briefly dipping inside before tracing the delicate skin behind it with the tip of his forefinger.
Von shivered and goose bumps broke out over her flesh.
Using his thumbs, he tilted her chin so that he could gaze into her eyes. “I want you. I go to bed at night thinking of you. My dreams are full of you and I tangled together. I wake up in the morning hurting, in need of you,” he said in a deep, mesmerizing voice.
He lowered his mouth to hers, and this time she was ready, having melted inwardly with his words. Again, there was no slow, sensual build up of passion like she was used to from Derrick. While not as forceful as the first one, this kiss still packed a powerful, passionate punch. Von wrapped her arms around Derrick’s neck and gave herself over to his control.
Maybe, she thought hazily, her seduction routine the week before had actually borne fruit. Derrick certainly wasn’t behaving as his normally restrained self, she noted, as his hands roamed over her body. He pulled her shirt free of the waistband of her skirt and slid it higher, seeking her bra, loosening the catch once he found it.
Derrick stepped back and pulled her shirt over her head and Von obligingly raised her hands to assist. Another tug and her bra slid down her dangling arms and fell to the floor. The chill from the air conditioning immediately caused her nipples to tauten and pucker into hard little nubs. He visually examined them. His intent perusal lasted so long, Von fought the urge to cover her breasts and simply stood there and allowed him to take as much time as he needed. Finally, a strangled sound that ended in a groan emerged from his throat and he lowered his mouth to her left breast, engulfing it.
Von arched her back, gripped Derrick by the sides of his head and held him to her, afraid he’d stop. The suctioning tugs felt so good she moaned her approval. Derrick switched sides, and toyed with her abandoned breast with his fingers, twisting and tugging it until she was whimpering and thrusting against him.
“Derrick, please,” she begged.
“What do you need?” he asked in a husky voice.
“You. I need you,” she told him. With this skirt on, she couldn’t get his erection positioned where she needed it to do the most good.
Resting his forehead against hers, Derrick gripped her skirt by the sides and began edging it up, watching as it rose. “Do you have on one of those sexy bits of underwear you like to wear?”
“Look and see for yourself,” she shyly tempted.
“Oh, I plan to,” he promised.
Her skirt reached mid-thigh and kept rising. The narrow bottom tightened a bit but Derrick applied a small amount of force and the high back slit did the rest. Soon the denim was bunched around her hips and waist. Derrick rubbed her mound through her panties and then dipped lower, between her legs. “You’re wet.”
“Yes.”
He toyed with the edge of her bikini, along the sensitive crease of her inner thigh and Von spread her legs to give him access. “Touch me.”
“I’m touching you,” he said.
“No. Touch me.” She guided his hand inside her panties to her folds.
“Like this?” He watched her as he gently parted her labia and pressed a finger to her opening.
“Yes,” she quickly agreed.
“Or like this?” he asked, taking the moisture from her vagina and using it to stroke her clit.
“Ooooh.” Von tilted her hips, arching and moving with him. His touch felt so different from hers. His fingers thicker, longer, harder. “Yes, that.”
“Do you do this, baby? Do you touch yourself at night, pretending that it’s me?” he asked in a deep, low voice.
Eyes closed to better enjoy the sensation, Von didn’t know how to answer. Did she confess to pleasuring herself?
“Do you?” he demanded. Something in his tone had her opening her eyes.
His piercing gaze drilled into her eyes.
“Yes,” she heard herself confessing.
He eased a finger into her sheath while his thumb continued its caressing motion. “And do you have toys, instruments you put in here?” He punctuated the word here by stroking in and out the opening of her vagina.
Von grabbed for the counter as her knees weakened. She trembled from head to toe, her arousal greater than anything she’d been able to manage previously on her own. She rode his hand, wanting him to go deeper.
“Do you, Von?” Derrick asked, adding another finger.