The half coy, half flirting smile was all the permission he needed to lean into her body. Her shapely legs opened wider to embrace him while she tossed her shirt on the ground by his feet. To make things even, Caden did the same and let his shirt fall next to hers. As if on autopilot, he moved in to her, his head tilting while his arms wrapped around her back. His fingers splayed between her shoulder blades and stroked down to her narrow waist. Skin so delicate, so soft, enticed him. She smelled sweet, like sugar. Caden nuzzled his nose against the curve of her neck and dropped a kiss on her collarbone.
Eyes closed, he read her body with his fingertips. With one hand he unclasped the hooks of her bra while the other waited for the release of her left breast as the bra strap slid down her silky golden-brown arm. A spray of freckles sprinkled the rounding of her shoulders, and Caden covered them with his lips. Maggie’s fingertips walked down his spine. The simple, delicate touch almost brought him to his knees and ended this interlude early. Jesus, how was this possible? He tried to remain focused by naming each muscle she touched: the posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, teres major, teres minor, trapezius. Jesus.
Caden stood erect, along with a particular part of his anatomy. Cupping her face, he brought his lips up to hers and kissed her mouth. The sweet, supple mouth welcomed his tongue. Their kiss took him back to a place he hadn’t thought of in years. Over a decade. Maggie’s mouth had a hold on him. The first time they’d kissed he’d seen as never before what his world would be with her by his side. Eleven years later, and the same thing happened.
Maggie’s hands slipped around his waist and up toward his chest. Her thumb and forefingers tweaked his nipples. His cock bolted against the fabric of his boxer briefs. Their bodies closed in together. She felt so damn good.
Letting one hand drop, Caden caressed the other bra strap off her shoulder, then with both hands, lifted her breasts and stroked her nipples until they were hard pebbles beneath his fingers.
The first to break the kiss, Maggie slipped off the counter to tuck her hands under the elastic of his shorts and briefs. Gently she bit his bottom lip and cupped his balls with one hand and stroked the shaft with the other. Dazzled, Caden opened his mouth, baiting her in for another kiss. Their tongues danced a few twirls before he pulled hers into his mouth and sucked on it. Her moan vibrated against his mouth. His hands slipped down from her breasts to her rib cage and unbuttoned the notch of her shorts. With the help of her legs around his waist, Caden lifted Maggie up, and together they worked to peel off her shorts. He throbbed with anticipation. After setting her bottom down on the counter again, Caden caressed her thighs while his thumbs drew to her wet flesh at the center.
Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her body against his. Common sense told him to stop and think. He needed to do something besides just take her right here in the kitchen. Dropping one hand, Maggie fumbled with something beside her. He thought he’d heard a drawer open, and then realized she had reached for something. A condom.
Of course that’s what was missing. Caden took the foil and rolled the condom on. Not wanting to wait another second, he entered her full hilt. They both gasped and locked eyes. Tears threatened to spill over the rim of her green eyes but never fell even when she half closed them and leaned forward for a kiss. Caden accepted her tongue once again and caressed her back, moving her forward on to him. Their bodies moved in unison. Maggie dug her nails into his back. He crossed his arms in an X on her back and clamped down on the freckled shoulders to brace her frame while he drilled into her. In all sincerity, Caden tried to control himself, but Maggie hugged her body against him, clinging on to his sweating frame and deepening their embrace. Her inner walls tightened and quivered on to him as she climaxed. The mew she made in his ear brought him to the brink of his own. It wasn’t until Maggie began licking his neck, nipping at him even, that he cried out in pleasure.
“Incredible,” he whispered in her ear through a session of panting. “No, amazing.”
The timer over the microwave began to ding. Somewhere mixed in the air of the sweet sex scent came the brownies. Caden remembered why they were in here. Still inside her, he stretched his arm and hit the off button. Their heavy breathing filled the space between them.
“I can get the brownies,” said Maggie. She pushed herself away, then walked naked to the stove. Unabashed by her perfect hourglass frame, she bent to retrieve the dessert with the help of a pair of apple-shaped oven mitts. Caden was ready for round two.
“Let me help,” he offered.
“No, seriously,” Maggie replied with a chuckle. “Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll clean up in here.”
A shower with her sounded better.
“And,” she added, bumping the oven door closed with her hip, “I hid Richard’s birthday present in the linen closet in a store bag, so you’re welcome to slip those on.”
“What about Richard’s birthday?” Caden asked with a chuckle.
Maggie shook her head. The red tresses spilled down her back and beckoned for him to touch. He refrained from doing so. “Eh,” she said with a shrug. “He doesn’t even know what I got him, but he already had a thousand pairs of them anyway.”
“Let me guess.” Caden touched his index finger to his chin. “You got him a pair of ballers.”
“How?”
“I’m a sports agent, remember. My clients live in them.”
“You’ll have to tell me more about your job after your shower.”
Caden wiggled his brows and had to ask. “Aren’t you going to join me?”
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have a maid to clean up all my messes,” said Maggie. She shooed him out of the kitchen. “Don’t be long. Like sex with me, these brownies are pretty damn amazing.”
* * *
While Caden showered, Maggie hit the play button on her landline’s answering machine while she counted the cash she stored in an old coffee cup above her refrigerator. She expected the restaurant to call her because, as she reflected on their magical evening, she couldn’t recall him paying for their fabulous meal, an oversight she attributed to their focus on each other. Caden was thrilling all right, but she didn’t like the idea of dining and ditching DuVernay’s. She may have disliked the same old everyday routine of small-town life but she certainly did not want to shortchange anyone. After earning her own money, Maggie respected the value of a dollar. A meal like that should have cost them at least $200. That wiped out half the money she planned on taking to New Orleans to pay for her room, if she even got there. An orange light had popped up on her Jeep today, and she needed to get that fixed. Meanwhile, as she worked like a dog, her family was living it up in the Crescent City before Auntie Bren’s big day.
Maggie cleaned up the mess in her kitchen, sprayed down her counters, cleaned the floors and managed to fix the frosting Caden had started to make. He returned in time to catch her licking the chocolate off her finger.
“Is it wrong I’m jealous of your finger?”
Maggie wiggled her brows at him. Caden came out of the shower fresh and clean. Clearly he found the pair of red nylon shorts she’d intended for her brother. Truth be told, she didn’t think she’d ever look at ballers the same way. Caden’s semihard erection protruded in the thin material, drawing her eyes to the center of his thighs. She licked her lips and coughed, trying to moisten the back of her throat.
“You didn’t get enough?” Maggie asked him, placing a hand on her hip. She needed to shower, but she’d s
lipped on her lavender silk robe and managed to straighten up in her room first, just in case they decided to christen the area as well.