Blocked (27 page)

“Mmm, that feels so good.”

“So, beautiful, I know tonight didn’t go the way we planned.” He moved his hand to her front, sliding one finger slightly under the hem of her tank top, just enough to graze the soft skin of her taut belly. “But am I really not invited to stay for bed?” An accomplished smile graced his face as her breath halted in her chest. The smile turned hungry when she turned to face him with pure desire burning in her eyes.

“Decker…” She swallowed. “I want you, I want you so badly. I’ve been fantasizing about it for months, touching myself to the sound of your voice and to the image of your face.” She pressed her cool hand to her stained cheeks, no doubt trying to rid some of the color. “No pressure, big guy, but I can’t imagine how incredible sex with you is gonna be. But I believe the invitation was for a baseball game. No?” Her wink had them both laughing quietly, so as to not awaken the sleeping child in the room at the top of the stairs.

His dick jumped in his pants at the mere thought of sliding into her tight body. As he glided the tip of his tongue up the column of her neck, shivers wracked her body and goose bumps covered her flesh the moment his teeth grazed her ear.

“There will be no sex tonight, beautiful.” Placing his index finger over her mouth to stop the protest, he continued. “No, baby, sex is for clumsy teenagers and those looking for a quick release.” He walked her backward until she was pressed against the wall, trapping her with his body, his hardness pressing against the soft curves of her abdomen. “That’s not us, not now, not ever. First, I’m going to lay you down, strip away your clothes, and taste, touch, and cherish every inch of your sexy body while I slowly make love to you.” The feel of her breasts pressed firmly against his chest as her heart pounded had him aching with pent-up need. “Then only after we’ve both found a small slice of ecstasy”—he dropped his hand to the frayed edge of her shorts and slowly lifted the fabric as his fingers inched up her inner thigh and moved aside her damp lace panties—“I intend to ravish you like the starved man I’ve become. Goddamn, April, the pleasure of having your sweetness convulse around me while my name tears from your throat, that’s been
my
fantasy.”

“Yes.”

“Yes what, April?” His fingertips traced the skin at the scoop-neckline of her tank.

She licked her lips and pressed them together. “Yes, I want to be your fantasy.”

Desire and heat flushed through him as April stood there, glassy-eyed and wanton. They’d waited so long for this moment, had so many almost and close calls, he practically felt like a teenage boy just before his first time. The difference was he was an experienced man who knew exactly what he was doing, and there was no way she’d have the what-the-fuck-was-that look on her face when they were done.

“Does E really sleep deep?” He’d really grown to adore the little guy over the past month or so. He didn’t want the poor kid to walk in on anything… life-scarring, nor did he desire
another
interruption. They seemed to be perpetually blocked when it came to carnal matters.

“That little boy sleeps like the dead,” April said, running her hands from his broad shoulders down to his rippled abs. “So will you be coming upstairs? Or will it be another entertaining round of phone play for us tonight?”

Decker covered her hand in his and slid it from his torso to his arousal. “I’ll be
coming
upstairs… a couple of times, I hope.” He winked. “Now lead the way, beautiful.”

A bright smile flashed in his direction before April turned and led him up the steps. The firm globes of her ass peeked out of her sweat shorts, teasing him, taunting him, arousing him further.

“Nice view, babe,” he whispered in the hallway, careful not to speak too loudly.

She looked over her shoulder with a grin as she crossed the threshold to her bedroom. “So glad you like what you see.”

The door was barely closed before his hands molded against her supple ass. “
They
say seeing is believing. I say, ya gotta touch it to trust it.”

The way she laughed at his ridiculous joke just before her eyes widened and filled with heat made his body burn with need, but her verbal response had his heart thrumming with tenderness. “Then touch away, Decker. Touch
away
.”

* * *

“DON’T EVEN THINK about moving,” Decker uttered, his voice gravelly from exhaustion, as he gripped April’s naked body to keep her in place astride him.

The feel of his calloused hands gliding on her bare skin made every part of her tingle with arousal. They always had. Although nothing could compare to the explosion the man caused when he finally slid into her body. Christ, there weren’t words to describe that kind of pandemonium. As she lay on top of all his masculine beauty, both of them sweaty and breathing each other’s air, she couldn’t stop herself from leaning down and swirling her tongue over his flat brown nipple.

“Mmm, babe,” he groaned as she felt him harden between her thighs once again.

“Impressive,” she muttered. She reached between them and swiped the bead of moisture, breaching the head of his shaft. The way his nostrils flared and his eyes bore into her when she lifted her thumb to her lips to lick off his juices made her feel like a goddess. “You taste so good, Deck. I can’t wait to get you back in my mouth, but”—she grinded herself on his erection—“right now, I just need you inside me again.”

“Fuck,” Decker growled as he looped his arms around her waist and flattened her to the mattress. “You have no fucking clue what you do to me, April.” He stared into her eyes. “No clue.”

Stroking his hardness, April quipped, “I may have some idea.”

Decker shook his head, grabbed both of her wrists in one of his large hands, and held them still above her head. “Now, my stunning sassy woman, I’m going to rock your world.”

Believing he’d already accomplished that mission, April couldn’t wait to see what he still had to offer. So quickly he’d mastered her body, the places that made her squirm and those that made her melt. She’d nearly cried when he found that place inside of her, the special spot she’d read about in romance novels and magazines but never experienced for herself. With his teeth grazing her hardened nipple and his fingers and thumb bringing her indescribable pleasure, April found herself awash in a searing climax that claimed every part of her soul.

“Goddamn.” She may have heard wonder in his voice, but her head still spun in orgasmic bliss. “I need you, April.”

“Take me, Deck.”

As his hardness pushed into her heat, a muffled trill sounded in the room.

“What the…?”

She felt Decker tense, his body still embedded in her own. The trill sounded again.

“That’s my phone.” Coldness blanketed her hot skin as Decker disengaged and sprang from the bed, reaching into the pocket of his discarded pants.

The red digital numbers on April’s clock by the bed told her it was after eleven. Her stomach twisted. No calls at that time were good news.

“Griff, slow down,” Decker huffed into the phone, the color slowly draining from his face as he listened to the person on the other end of the line.

“Is it Charlie?” April whispered across the bed, the sheets the only barrier between her nails and the palms of her hands. Nearly tangible relief flooded her system when he shook his head, indicating his little girl was fine.

Decker yanked on his clothing with the phone pressed to his ear. “Motherfucker,” he spat into the line. “So where are they?” He listened for a moment before speaking again. “Okay, okay… I’m heading over there now.” He listened for a beat while he tucked his feet in his shoes. “No, I’ll call him. Thanks, Griff. I’ll talk to you in a few.” He disconnected the call and headed for the bedroom door.

“Decker?” April called out. Obviously something horrible had happened—she wasn’t an idiot—but was he just going to leave without telling her anything? Was it is Robyn? Ford?

“April,” he snapped, “I’ve gotta go. Now. Sorry.” His face was stone, his posture rigid. Nowhere was the man who’d taken her body and claimed her soul.

She followed him down the stairs to the door, wrapped in nothing but a sheet. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No.” Though he was still in her home, he was already miles away. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

April saw him bring his cell up to his ear as he pulled her front door closed behind him.

* * *

DECKER PEELED OUT of April’s driveway and headed to his job site. “Goddamn it, Ford. I told you those bastards were trouble.”

“I know you did, Deck. I’m sorry, I should have called Randall on his cell phone personally instead of leaving the message with that twit of a secretary. Goddamn it!” The strain in his brother’s voice echoed through the speakers in Decker’s Range Rover.

“Well, Marvin Randall is a clueless asshole, and we could be looking at a very large lawsuit. Fuck!” Decker slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

“I’ll call our lawyers, and I’ll meet you and the police at the site. You said Griff is already there, right?”

“Yes, Ford. Listen when I talk, man. Dave Griffin is the police chief who’s on duty tonight. He’s the one who called to tell me those punks cut through our gates, broke the windows, and tried to do some construction of their own.” Decker used one hand to rub the cramp that was forming in the back of his neck. “Fucking morons trespassed on our property, screwed with our materials, and when the scaffolding fell on them… we’re screwed. Un-fucking-believable.” Anger ebbed through his body as he recalled the endless weeks of frustration the two men had caused.

“Deck,” Ford’s voice went from apologetic to authoritative, finally gaining his brother’s attention. “Decker, calm down and drive carefully… please.”

The call disconnected, leaving Decker alone in his car to process the shit storm that was about to hit BC.

Chapter Nineteen

I’m Supposed to be the Village, Asshole

ONE HUNDRED TIMES…one thousand… April had no idea how often she checked her phone on Sunday, but it was to the point of insanity. She’d gone as far as to have her sister call and text her to make sure her cell phone was working. It worked just fine.

After waiting up most of the night, hoping to hear from Decker, she’d fallen into a fitful sleep around the time both the birds and her son were waking for the day. Thankfully, Elijah was easily entertained and quite mellow in the early morning hours, so when he entered her room with his blanket and stuffed penguin, all April had to do was pop on a movie, check her phone, snuggle her boy, and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, her mind refused to quiet, and the sleep refused to return.

While Decker denied the problem had anything to do with Charlie, worry about his mother and brother sat in her gut all day, festering like an infected wound. Several times during the day she tapped out a text to inquire if he was okay, but then the harsh sound of his voice and the distant look in his eyes before he’d left the night before haunted her. He’d been buried deep in her body, claiming love, desire, and need, then… he was gone. The physical emptiness jarred her, but the way he shut down was unnerving. Sure, there was obviously something wrong, something very wrong, but he didn’t bother to fill her in. He just left her… standing in her house… alone. The familiarity of the situation was uncanny, the anger just as hot, the pain… worse.

She did her best to keep busy that afternoon, taking Eli for new sneakers then to the market for their weekly food-shopping trip, but her concentration was split, her stomach in knots and her head aching.

“Mommy, can I have ice cream?” Elijah asked while sitting in the shopping cart.

“Sure, sweetie.”

“Really?” Eli’s surprise gave April her first real smile of the day. “You never say ‘yes’
before
dinner,” her son whispered, as if saying it louder would cause her to change her mind.

April kissed the top of his head, sniffing in the sweet scent of shampoo. “Sometimes, my sweet boy, you just have to say, ‘what the fu…fudge.’” She pinched the bridge of her nose, grateful that she stopped the cuss before months of hard work was undone.

“Hmm, no,” Eli said thoughtfully. “I want vanilla ice cream, not fudge.”

That time, April laughed as she strolled the cart to the dairy counter.

A couple of hours later, April’s already frazzled patience was tested further while she and Eli were at her parents’ house for dinner, a bi-weekly event that was enjoyable as long as her mother kept her opinions to herself.

“April,” Ellen sighed. “I see you checking your phone under the table every five minutes and, like drying paint, watching it won’t make whatever you’re waiting for happen sooner. Put the phone away, dear, and enjoy the family time.”

Had April been in a better frame of mind, a calmer place, she’d have noticed that there was no bite in her mother’s voice, no pinched expression on her face. However, the whole day had passed, and still Decker never reached out to her. He’d left her without explanation and clearly without concern. As far as her mother’s advice, she could shove it up her judgmental ass.

“I’m going outside for a minute… or ten,” April huffed quietly, trying her best not to worry her son, who stared amazed at his grandfather’s hands, trying to figure out just where the coin had disappeared to.

Thank God for Dad and his ageless magic tricks.
She looked down at the cell phone gripped tightly in her fist, where it had been since the previous night. It suddenly felt too cumbersome, too pathetic. She placed the device on the table and headed out of the house before she said or did anything that couldn’t be retracted or explained to Eli.

The squeaking of the porch swing brought instant comfort to her battered heart, allowing slices of reason to filter into her conscious thoughts. Maybe her mother wasn’t completely wrong
this time.
Decker had made his choice when, after he voiced his deep devotion and soul-searing love, he left her practically naked with his cum still warm inside her body and a glacial look on his face. She’d have understood if he’d explained what was going on, but obviously she warranted nothing. His love meant nothing. Once again…her heart meant nothing.