Erotic Encounters (8 page)

He knew he needed to change the subject before he said more than he wanted to and ended up revealing too much about his past. Last night had been incredible, and today had been a perfect day, starting when he woke up with Shasta sleeping next to him. He didn’t want to ruin the rest of the weekend by bringing unpleasant realities into it. Especially the reality that said he had gotten in over his head where Shasta Brooks was concerned. He feared he might be falling in love with her, and he couldn’t allow it to happen.

“There’s still a couple of bottles of champagne left from your birthday party. Let’s enjoy a glass on the patio.” He tilted his head to one side and winked at her. “And then, as soon as it’s dark, maybe we can take advantage of the hot tub again. And while we’re at it take advantage of each other, too.”

She smiled. “I’ll get the glasses. You open the champagne.”

They sat on the patio, sipping champagne and enjoying the last ribbons of color streaking across the night sky. Shasta couldn’t stop her mind from wandering to thoughts she didn’t want to deal with. It wasn’t anything real, only a feeling that said he had started to distance himself. Not physically but personally. And she didn’t understand why. Did she dare mention it? Pry into his private life? In some ways, he was so open and forth right, but there still remained the secrets he guarded.

Granted, they had most certainly shared incredible sex that put their relationship on a much deeper level than two people just starting to date. But it had been physical. He had fucked her into mind boggling orgasms more intense than any she had ever experienced, but there was an emotional intimacy that seemed to hover on the sidelines without being truly a part of their time together. It left her uncertain about what to say or how much she could expect.

With the patio cloaked in darkness, Dane removed the cover from the hot tub. He took Shasta’s hand. “Do you still want to enjoy the hot tub for a while?”

His touch warmed her, a combination of sensual heat and tenderness. “Yes. The hot tub sounds marvelous.”

They went to her bedroom and quickly discarded their clothes. Once again, she marveled at the hard planes of his chest, his broad shoulders, athletic build and a truly beautiful cock that made her pussy wet just looking at it. And the knowledge of how it felt inside her—of the way it filled her tunnel with deep sure strokes, the pulsing heat that radiated from it—set her heart pounding and her blood racing hot through her veins.

If they made love ten times a day every day for the rest of her life, she still would want more of him. The fact that she was in lust with him was not in doubt, but heaven help her, she was on the fast track to love.

He pulled her into his embrace, ran his fingers through the silky strands of her hair, then held her close. He couldn’t get enough of the feel of her bare skin, her taste, the way her pussy tugged at his cock, the indescribable beauty and glow on her face as the orgasmic convulsions claimed her.

But he had gone past mere lust the first time he kissed her. He was closing in on love and couldn’t allow it. He released her from his embrace, all except her hand. They paused at the door to the patio, turned out the lights, pulled the drapes open and stepped outside. They settled into the water, Dane seated on the bench with Shasta straddling his legs and facing him as she had before.

He pulled her close, his breath ragged as he sought out her breasts. He teased her nipple with the tip of his tongue, then drew it into his mouth. He suckled gently at first, but it quickly became more fervent as his ardor increased. How could he continue to deny the emotional need that coursed through him, feelings as hot and fast as his physical need to have his cock buried deep inside her pussy?

He felt as if his life was being torn apart—what he wanted on one hand and on the other what he knew he needed to do. And the longer he stayed with her, the more difficult it would be to leave.

At that moment the world he had been able to glimpse, the possibility of what the future could be, crashed around him. Did he have the right to make love to her again, knowing he had no choice but to leave? To take one last memory of the most joyous and happiest time of his life?

It had only been twenty-four hours since the shock of realizing that she was the birthday girl, but it had been a very full twenty-four hours. Perhaps it was selfish of him, but he needed to have that last remnant to cling to.

He lifted her off of him, grabbed a couple of towels, then led her inside the house. Neither of them spoke as they walked to her bedroom. Somehow he had to figure out a way to make everything all right. But how?

He pulled her into bed, wrapped her in his arms and held her. Just held her and nothing more for what seemed like a long time. He didn’t want to let go but knew he couldn’t stay, at least not for much longer. He didn’t have the right to expect anyone to put up with his lifestyle, not at this time. Not until he could call his life his own again.

Dane shifted his weight, which made his arousal more obvious as his erection pressed against Shasta’s stomach. Her pussy tingled. Her heart beat faster. To fall asleep every night in his arms after making love, to wake up each morning in his arms and start the day by making love…the concept settled over her like a warm embrace.

A moment of caution told her not to get too comfortable with that idea. Eventually Monday morning would arrive. Dane would go home, and she would go back to work. The girls would ask, and she would confide to them with a sly grin that she tried out some of her new birthday toys without mentioning the most precious and incredible birthday gift of all.

Without warning, his mouth captured hers, and all concerns evaporated in a surge of hot passion. His tongue meshed with hers in a mating ritual that promised more of the pleasure he had provided in the last twenty-four hours. Yet it conveyed a much more emotion-laden type of passion—hot desire tempered by a much deeper connection of caring and devotion.

Shasta totally melted into his tender care, and at that moment, he became the center of her universe. He gently suckled at her breast, his mouth both inflaming her senses and calming her worries. She ran her fingers through his thick tawny hair and caressed his broad shoulders. His erection throbbed against her thigh, creating a pulsing response deep inside her. She heard the soft moan, but it took a moment for her to realize it had come from her rather than him.

He inserted his finger between her pussy lips, invading the moist heat. She let out a quick gasp and arched her hips against his hand, letting him know she wanted more. Heat spiraled inside her, elevating her arousal to a level just below the ultimate. She cried out when he stimulated her clit, her body convulsing in delicious orgasm.

He grabbed the condom packet and ripped it open.

A moment later, his cock filled her pussy as no one else ever had, ever could. With her legs wrapped around his hips, she met each of his down strokes with an upward thrust. His mouth again captured hers in a kiss that both demanded and promised the pleasure hovering on the horizon. They moved in harmony, the sensations again building to a crescendo peak.

She loved him. She no longer had any doubts. In twenty-four hours, it had gone from fantasizing, to lust and finally to love. She permitted the thought to enter her mind and linger there without any attempt to censor it.

His shaft moved smoothly in and out of her, each stroke reaching to the depths of her wet channel, delving deep. Her ragged breathing matched his labored breaths. His strokes shortened, becoming quicker and harder. They rushed toward the final moment of release, exploding in an intense climax of shared ecstasy.

Yes, she truly loved him.

Dane held her tightly as the spasms claimed his body. He would never be able to make love to another woman, never know the total rapture Shasta provided him. It was a bittersweet moment. He wanted to be with her always, but he knew he couldn’t.

He also knew that the longer he stayed in her bed, the more difficult it would be to do what had to be done. He could not stay another night. Could not wake up one more morning with her in his arms, knowing that he could not ask her to share his very unsettled and complicated life.

Not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

He twined his fingers through the silky strands of her hair and cradled her head to his shoulder. He couldn’t put it off any longer. He kissed her once more, then slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, taking his overnight bag with him.

Shasta sat upright in bed, shocked out of her blissful contentment when Dane stepped from the bathroom fully dressed. A myriad of confused thoughts swirled through her mind, none of them forming into a cohesive thought. A cold shiver of fear told her what her mind refused to accept.

She tried to read the expression that covered his handsome features but couldn’t discern anything definite. But his eyes told another story, one of deep pain and nearly unbearable despair. Her mouth went dry. Her throat tried to close off. She managed to croak out a single word. “Dane?”

He reached out toward her but let his hand drop before making physical contact. “I’m so sorry, Shasta. I can’t…”

Chapter Four

Shasta balanced her cash drawer and prepared to leave work. A week had passed since the night Dane left her, each day more devastating than the one before.

Friday had finally come to a close, and she drove straight home as she had done each evening, hoping against hope that she would hear from Dane. She had tried to understand, tried to put herself in his position as he told her about his life being too unsettled to be able to form any attachments. That he couldn’t expect her to put up with the life of a male stripper. She had even gone so far as to assure him she understood.

But she didn’t. She had cried herself to sleep Saturday night after he left, then spent all day Sunday hoping he would have a change of heart and return to her house. By Sunday night she had to accept the truth. It was a marvelous fantasy, the most incredible twenty-four hours of her life, but it had ended in pain and bittersweet disappointment. It was with a heavy heart that she went to work Monday morning, knowing she would have to face her friends and their comments about the Macho Marauder performing at her birthday party while hiding her agony behind a façade.

After changing from her work clothes into comfortable jeans and a T-shirt, she went to her refrigerator to retrieve the bottle of champagne left over from her birthday. She paused as she reached for the bottle, then grabbed the can of whipped cream instead. When he had gone home Saturday morning to get some clean clothes and returned with the topping to go with the chocolate body paint, he must have surely intended to spend the weekend…a fantasy weekend filled with even more treats than they had already indulged.

Why had he changed his mind? What had happened to turn everything upside down? She had asked herself that question a hundred times but had not discovered an answer that made any sense.

She replaced the can of whipped cream, picked up the champagne bottle, opened it and poured herself a glass. At least work kept her busy during the day, but the nights had been so horribly lonely. They seemed to close in around her. And now the weekend. She sank into the softness of her favorite chair, took a sip of her champagne, then set the glass on the end table and closed her eyes.

Dane’s handsome face immediately appeared on the screen of her mind. Every torrid moment of hot sex assaulted her senses, making her pussy tingle with excitement and throb with need. Each tender moment and gentle caress touched her heart in a way nothing else ever had.

And with each passing day, her heart had broken a little more.

Her eyelids felt heavy. An emotional exhaustion washed over her as she slowly drifted into an uneasy sleep.

It seemed like only seconds later when a knocking on her front door forced her eyes open. The room was dark. She turned on the table lamp and glanced at her watch. Nearly midnight. The insistent knocking turned into a determined pounding. She pushed herself out of the chair and made her way across the room.

She opened the door and stared in disbelief, not fully comprehending what she saw. Was she still asleep and having a dream? Was her imagination playing tricks on her? She tried to swallow the anxiety welling inside her as she reached out toward him. Was he real? A flesh and blood man standing on her porch? Her hand touched the hard planes of his chest. The strong beat of his heart resonated to her fingertips.

“Dane?”

The uncertainty covered his face and filled his voice. “May I come in?”

“Uh…” She shook her head to try and clear the fuzziness. “Of course.” She stepped aside and closed the door behind him. After taking a calming breath to steady her shattered nerves, she turned to face him. “This is a surprise. What are you doing here and so late at night?”

“I just finished my last performance of the night at the club.”

He started to reach for her but withdrew his hand. “I tried to stay away. I kept telling myself you were better off not having to deal with my problems and my currently fucked up life. You deserve better than what I can offer at this time. You deserve a man who can be with you, not one who spends most nights at some piece of shit club having strange women try to pull his clothes off and grab his cock. There is no way I can expect any woman to stand idly by and simply accept the life of a male stripper.” He stared at the floor as if not quite knowing what else to say.

Shasta blinked several times in an attempt to hold back her tears. She didn’t know what to say or how to respond either. With cautious optimism, she allowed a glimmer of hope to seep in. Her voice was anything but confident as she tried to inject as much control as she could. “Then why are you here?”

“I…I don’t know. I’m not sure.” He ran his hand across the back of his neck and shook his head as if trying to clear the confusion.

Then he looked up and made eye contact with her. She had absolutely no control over her mind or body. She couldn’t focus her thoughts or slow her racing pulse. Her breath caught in her lungs. The mesmerizing pull of his presence had her trapped in the spell that had been cast over her the second she saw him standing on her porch. She couldn’t hold back her tears as they spilled over and slowly trickled down her cheeks.