Dangerous Lover: Take Me, Lover, Book 4 Read online

  The fulfillment of her fantasy with the twist Joe added had her body on fire. Cherry squeezed her thighs together then clenched her inner muscles in an attempt to get relief from the aching emptiness. She sucked harder, flicked at him with her tongue, and reveled in the sensation of being tied under him while he fed her his cock like an x-rated treat.

  “Ahh. Stop there.” Joe drew himself out of her mouth, inch by inch. She caressed the head with her tongue as he pulled all the way out, then watched, breathless, as he effortlessly collected a condom and put it on.

  A heartbeat later he was over her, on her, and sliding into her while Cherry wrapped her legs around his waist and arched up to meet his thrust. She was hot and slick, making it easy for him to bury his shaft to the hilt. He paused for a moment, all the way inside her, then started to move in a series of long, slow thrusts.

  “Tease,” Cherry muttered, and nipped at his chest.

  He stopped and levered himself up so he could look into her face. His eyes glinted with wicked humor. “Was there something you wanted?”

  She rocked her hips up into his. Being naked under him with her arms over her head while he drew it out was making her wild. “You. Faster.”

  He moved inside her, tantalizing her. “You want a good, hard fucking?”

  Just the words were almost enough to make her come. “Yes.”

  Joe gave up the game, rested his full weight on her and reached under her to wrap his arms around her, his hands going low to hold her ass. Then he fucked her hard and fast, nothing held back, driving them both straight to release.

  Cherry felt the inner muscles of her sex grip his shaft tight as her orgasm took her, the first ripple leading directly to the second in a series of spasms that rocked her. She could feel Joe deep inside her, his cock jerking as he came as hard and fast as he’d fucked her. The sensation set her off on another series of contractions. He felt her reaction and began to move again, thrusting into her until they’d both spent themselves into slack-muscled lassitude.

  After a long pause of recovery, Joe untied her. Cherry curled on her side with a blissful sigh while he moved around, getting rid of the condom and dumping the carton of melted ice cream in the kitchen sink. He came back and ran a hand down her spine, ending the caress with his palm curving around her bare ass. He stroked, gripped, and fondled her butt while he looked down at her.

  Cherry could have closed her eyes and enjoyed that for another half hour, but she roused herself enough to look up at him. “Was there something you wanted?”

  He gave her a long look. “You. Again.”

  She stretched and considered it. “Now?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll call you. I’ll bring my bike over. You wear a dress with a loose skirt and be ready to ride.”

  Her brows hiked up. Did he expect her naked under the skirt? “Underwear?”

  “Yes. A pair you’re not fond of, because I’m going to rip them off you.”

  Yowza. “Okay,” Cherry said, feeling faint.

  He kissed her long and hard. Then he dressed while she snagged the sheet and wrapped it around herself, since she didn’t feel capable of anything that took more effort. Cherry walked him to her door. Before he left, he pulled her body against his and ran his hands down her sides, then around to cup her ass. He held her close for a long minute. Then she felt him drop a kiss on top of her head before he let her go.

  She held the door for him and watched him go. When he moved out of sight, she realized she was leaning in her doorway wearing only a sheet. If anybody caught a glimpse of her like this, her undressed state would broadcast what they’d been doing.

  She closed the door, leaned back against it, and exhaled. Then she locked the door and headed for a tub full of hot water and sudsy bubbles.

  He stood out of sight and watched her silhouetted in her doorway, clearly naked under a sheet. Her flushed cheeks and rumpled curls looked like an invitation to go back to bed for another round. He could see the heat in her from where he stood. She wanted to play with fire? He’d give her what she was looking for. Fire was always hungry. First it would warm her. Then it would devour her.

  He smiled in anticipation.

  “You look like your new dating rule agrees with you,” Marla said the next day.

  “I’m definitely doing something new,” Cherry said, flashing on the things she’d done with Joe.

  “Somebody new, you mean.” Marla gave her a knowing look.

  “Mmm-hmmm.” A wealth of satisfaction infused the sound.

  “Glad the change is working for you, sweetie.”

  It was, although the temporary nature of it was a little unsettling. She hadn’t ever been the fling type. More of a serial monogamist. She’d never met a man who turned her into a puddle of lust, either. While bad boys left her wanting, Joe left her wanting more. More of him?

  Probably. Cherry bit her lip, hoping she wasn’t starting to fall for a man she really didn’t know. Falling for a fling kind of violated the point of hot, fun, uncommitted sex. If she fell for Joe, it would screw everything up. Besides, she still didn’t know if he was as bad as his leather jacket, tattoo and motorcycle implied, or as good as his sense of humor, excellent bedside manner, and job led her to believe.

  Whatever he was, Joe was a new experience, so at least her plan was working on that level. She might be making a big mistake, but at least it was a new one. And she was definitely owning her own bad-girl desires instead of letting somebody else act them out.

  The shift went fast. Business was steady and the pace kept her on the move, delivering orders, taking new ones, clearing empty dishes and wiping down empty tables to reset them for the next round.

  It was during the height of the rush that she smelled smoke. At first, Cherry thought somebody was violating the rule and smoking indoors, so she searched around for the offender. But nobody had an unauthorized cigarette burning.

  The kitchen. Cherry moved towards it at a jog, glad for the firm grip her sneakers had on the floor. She went through the swinging doors and scanned for the source of the smell. She saw the smoke first, billowing up in a black cloud to cover the ceiling. The cook had already grabbed the fire extinguisher off its hook and seemed to be searching for something to aim it at. The teenage dishwasher just looked scared.

  Marla came up behind Cherry. “Fire?”

  “I think so, I can’t see anything.” Cherry stared around in frustration. “We’d better call the fire department and get everybody out.”

  “I’ll call. You get everybody out.” Marla grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back as she shouted to the cook and dishwasher to leave through the kitchen exit. “I don’t see flames. It might be in the wall.”

  “How do you have a fire in a wall?”

  “Electrical. Maybe a wire shorted. I don’t know, but you get back and clear this place.” Marla let go of her and pulled a cell phone from her pocket, punching numbers before she finished talking.

  Feeling like she was moving in slow motion, Cherry put her orders into action and got the customers on their feet and out the door, not in the orderly manner of a practiced fire drill, but at least everybody moved in the right direction and nobody panicked.

  Marla joined her and helped herd the last of the group outside as a siren wailed in the distance.

  Cherry stood with her, arms wrapped around her middle, shivering with cold despite the sunshine. She’d gone her whole life without experiencing an uncontrolled fire. What were the odds she’d hook up with a firefighter just before she found herself needing his professional services?

  His job had seemed sexy before she was faced with the reality of it. Now she saw what it could mean to run into a burning building with the level of danger unknown.

  She coughed to clear her throat then stood blinking against the stinging in her eyes that wasn’t entirely due to the black cloud that followed them out of the building, her heart thudding in her throat.

  Marla gave her a one-armed hug while they both wa
tched the fire crew sprint into action, suited men hooking a hose to a fire hydrant and charging inside, armed with hatchets. “That’s going to leave a mess.”

  Cherry made a choking sound that didn’t quite pass for a laugh. “I hope it takes us all night to clean up. It’ll mean we still have a restaurant and a job tomorrow.” More than that, she hoped none of the men who’d answered the emergency call would come out hurt.

  “You said it, sugar.”

  When they finally got the all-clear to go back inside, the destruction wasn’t as bad as Cherry feared, but evidence of the short-lived disaster was everywhere. Black smudges marred the ceilings and walls, along with water stains. Every surface looked scorched and then drowned. The fire might not have gotten far, but repairing the damage from smoke and water was going to take more than a day. It might take a week just to air out the acrid smell.

  “We’re closed,” Marla sighed as they took in the scope of the mess. “Head on home. I’ll call the owner back with an update on the situation, and we’ll get the ball rolling on an estimate for the insurance company. We’ll need a specialty cleanup team for this.”

  Cherry nodded. At least she’d collected good tips before her shift ended in disaster. She’d had time to grab her bag as she cleared the customers out, so she hadn’t lost anything. Except her job, for at least a week, judging by the extent of the damage.

  Chapter Four

  Her cell phone rang on her way home. Cherry fished it out of her bag and answered it. “Hello?”

  “Cherry.” Joe’s voice filled her ear. “Just heard about the fire at the ice cream shop. Are you all right?”

  “Fine.” Except the hand holding the phone was shaking, she realized. “Mostly.”

  “Were you there when it happened?”

  “Yes.” She blinked hard, eyes still stinging from the black cloud she’d left behind. “It happened so fast. One minute everything was fine, and then I smelled smoke.”

  “Nobody hurt, according to the report.” But his voice sounded taut, not his usual relaxed tone.

  “No,” Cherry agreed. “We got everybody out and the fire truck arrived almost immediately.”

  She heard him exhale as if he’d been waiting for her to confirm it before he believed it. “Good. I wasn’t sure if you were working today, but I had to call.”

  “Worried about me?” A spot of warmth flickered to life inside her.

  “Yes. I have plans for you.”

  Oh, yes. Plans that included him, his bike, a loose dress, and a pair of panties she could live without. What did he have in mind? Whatever it was, it was sure to take hers off the unexpected emergency she’d just been through.

  “If you’re offering to distract me, I could use a distraction,” Cherry said.

  “Me too.” His voice took on a raw sound.

  She blinked again, not entirely due to the irritants she’d subjected her eyes to. The dangers Joe risked every time he reported for a shift had to make the relatively small and uneventful fire at the restaurant pretty minor on his scale. But he had been worried about her. Maybe because he knew firsthand how bad a fire could be.

  “I’m all for distractions.” She tried for a light tone, but a note of real longing came through. She needed the diversion Joe offered. “You’re not working today?”

  “Not at the station. When I’m on there, it’s for twenty-four hours straight. I do two of those shifts a week.”

  That had to make for really long days. Especially if an emergency happened after twenty-three of those hours. The relatively open schedule must make up for it.

  “What do you do the rest of the time?” Cherry reached her building and headed for her apartment, curious about what Joe did off-duty.

  “I’ll show you. Are you home now?”

  “Just.” She stopped outside her door and fished out her keys.

  “Be ready in fifteen minutes.”

  Figuring that was long enough for a shower, Cherry let herself in and locked the door behind her, stripping as she headed for soap and water. She wadded her discarded clothing and dumped it in the laundry basket, hoping the smoky smell would come out in the wash.

  After she hopped out of the shower rinsed and clean, she felt better. A few minutes with some hair gel and a blow dryer got her mostly ready. Cherry skipped a bra and pulled on a soft pink T-shirt. A flared mid-calf-length denim skirt went on next. The draping fabric was loose enough to let her straddle a bike and long enough to keep her decent. She decided to live dangerously and wear pink lace briefs underneath. If she had to sacrifice them to great sex, she was pretty sure the orgasms would be adequate consolation.

  A knock sounded at her door just as she finished. Joe appeared in the peephole. Cherry grinned at the fish-eyed view of him then opened the door.

  His eyes took her in from her sneaker-clad feet up, warm with approval. “You’re right on time.”

  “So are you.” Cherry retrieved her bag and slid it up her shoulder as she joined him outside, locking the door behind her and dropping the keys into her bag.

  His hand settled on her waist as he pulled her against his side. “You feel unscathed.”

  “Yep. Just a little shaken up.” She leaned into him, enjoying the warmth of his body touching hers, the sexy way his fingers gripped her waist and the buzz of anticipation his closeness filled her with.

  “I should check you out thoroughly,” Joe said. “In case anything got overlooked.”

  Cherry nodded, trying for a solemn tone. “You’re right. Better safe than sorry.” Although, right now, she didn’t want to play it safe, and she wasn’t sorry.

  They reached Joe’s motorcycle and climbed on. Cherry leaned forward, loving the feel of her breasts pressed against Joe’s back and her arms around his middle. Her feet found their pegs as he revved the engine and then they moved forward.

  He drove her through neighborhoods with spacious yards and shady trees, winding around side streets, before coming to a white two-story house with a long driveway and a detached garage that sat sideways at the end of it, surrounded by a copse of ash and birch trees.

  The Harley came to a rumbling stop while Joe retrieved an electronic opener from a pocket. The garage door slid up and they rolled in. Joe aimed the Harley at a metal stand and parked on it. The stand raised the bike up a little and held it stable. Cherry could see shiny rows of tools hanging neatly on one wall and various other bikes on similar stands, some with wheels off and in differing stages of assembly. Parts covered a workbench that ran the width of the back wall.

  Joe reached back and ran a hand up her thigh under her skirt. “Climb off and get back on in front of me.”

  What did he have in mind? Cherry swung a leg over, stood, and came around to the front. The motor continued to idle, a deep rumbling sound. The open garage door meant whatever they did, they weren’t going to die from carbon monoxide in the process. And the sideways angle of the garage to the street, with the additional privacy afforded by the screen of trees, meant nobody passing by could look in.

  With a mental shrug, Cherry did what he wanted and climbed on, facing the gas tank while Joe slid back on the leather seat to make room for her.

  His body framed hers as his arms wrapped around her. His mouth found her ear, nipping at the sensitive skin of her lobe before speaking. “Hands on the handlebars.”

  Okay. Cherry leaned forward and gripped them. It helped her balance, especially when Joe’s hands moved to cup and squeeze her breasts, thumbs seeking out and rubbing her nipples through the thin fabric of her T-shirt. Then down her waist and hips, catching the hem of her skirt and hiking it up to her waist. She drew in a sharp breath when he toyed with the lace edge of her panties.

  “You going to miss these?”

  “Terribly,” Cherry said, the catch in her voice giving away the lie. “You can console me by making their loss memorable.”

  “You won’t forget this.”

  Joe kissed the nape of her neck, his warm breath sending shivers danc
ing down her spine. The rumbling vibration of the bike between her spread legs made her feel like she was primed to take off and rocket into ecstasy. He teased her, running his fingers around the upper edge of her panties, then the legs, starting at her hips and slowly moving towards her center.

  “Joe.” She wanted him to touch her there, between her legs, to feel the pad of his finger pressing against her swollen clit.

  He answered her with more instructions instead of the touch she was on the edge of demanding. “Scoot up a little.”

  Cherry hitched forward and gasped as that put her clit in contact with the warm, vibrating gas tank.

  Joe reached around her and gunned the throttle, increasing the vibration.

  “Oh.” Cherry’s eyes went wide and her lips bowed as she rocked into the machine.

  “Now you. Work it the way you like it.”

  She followed his demonstration and tentatively increased the throttle herself, groaning in pleasure as the engine obeyed her. She dimly heard the sound of his zipper going down, a foil packet rip, and felt him shifting behind her as he got ready to take this game further.

  Joe tangled his fingers in the lacy briefs. They tore easily under the pressure he exerted. He tugged the flimsy fabric away as Cherry lifted her hips to help him. Cool air touched her bare skin. Heated metal purred between her legs. Joe’s hands molded her ass, squeezed, lifted, and then she felt the head of his cock nudge the valley of velvety skin between her butt cheeks.

  “Want it like this?”

  Cherry bit her lip, suddenly possessed by an insane urge to say yes. But she shook her head. The one time she’d given anal entry a try, she’d found it too uncomfortable to repeat. She hadn’t been spread-eagled on a vibrating machine at the time, though, and she was willing to bet that would change the experience. Still, she wanted his cock in her pussy, driving deep, hitting that magic spot.

  “Raise up a little more for me, then.” Joe’s hands positioned her and guided his shaft down until the head pressed against her slick, swollen entry. He pushed forward, testing the angle, working the head in. Cherry worked the throttle and rocked her hips, moaning in pleasure as he thrust deeper, deeper, until he was all the way in.