Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (43 page)

A tiny smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “Can we come to the range every day?”

“Anything you want, princess. Anything you want.”

“Where are we going?” Nikki asked Tony as he led her down a small path behind the big house. After they’d pulled themselves together in the parking lot of the gun range, they’d picked up Bill and Hillary and driven to Shelbyville to stay the night; that way they’d already be there the next day for the holiday. Tony held her hand as they walked down a little path in the late afternoon sunlight and, to Nikki, it looked for all the world like he was leading her out into the woods.

“You’ll see.” They rounded a curve on the little trail and came out into a clearing. Nikki gasped.

A little gazebo, white and pristine, stood at the edge of a glassy pond, the only occasional break in the pond’s surface made by water bugs. A few birds were calling in the trees nearby. On the gazebo were two settees, and Tony sat down, then drew her onto his lap.

“I hope you didn’t think I’d lost my mind, but watching you at the range today firing that pistol was extremely hot,” he moaned, kissing her.

“Not at all. Watching you do
anything
is extremely hot.” She kissed him back harder. “So what is this place?”

Tony kissed her again. “I designed this little corner of heaven.” When he said it, he had a far-away look on his face.

“Really? Why?”

“Because I had a dream once. I dreamed I was making love with a beautiful woman in a place that looked exactly like this. So I was familiar with the clearing and decided to make the place real, even if I didn’t have the woman. I’ve never brought another soul out here – never. I used to come out here when things were really bad and imagine the woman was here with me. Sometimes when the kids went to Mamma’s, I’d even come out here and sleep just to have some peace. It was my refuge, a place to hide.” A softness came over his features. “And look. Here I am, with the woman of my dreams.”

“And you’re making her dreams come true too,” Nikki whispered to him and kissed him.

“I certainly hope so. Mine have definitely come true. I never thought I’d have this, ever. I just wanted to bring you out here, you know, make the dream a reality.” Tony pulled her closer, and Nikki rested her head on his shoulder, letting his strong arms soothe her. When he turned his face to her and kissed her again, it reminded Nikki of a high school junior kissing his freshman girlfriend, a sweet, soft little thing full of longing.

They sat like that until almost dark. All of a sudden, he slapped at his arm. “Shit! Damn mosquitos! Guess we’d better get inside before they carry us away.”

Nikki stood and reached for his hand. “We need to get some rest before tomorrow’s prep anyway. We’ll be exhausted by Wednesday night.”

“I think everything is as ready as we can get it,” Nikki told Tony as she stood in the kitchen on that evening, looking around.

“Then I guess I’ll lock up and we’ll call it a day,” He shuffled off to lock the front door. Nikki turned to lock the back door, then turned off the kitchen lights. As she passed the island in the middle of the kitchen, a pair of strong hands grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto the island.

“Yeesh! You scared the bejesus out …” she tried to say, but Tony covered her mouth with his and kissed her – hard. When he pulled back, she was breathless. “Wow, that was …” and he gave her a repeat performance, this time running both hands up under her top and peeling it off, then unbuttoning and unzipping her shorts. “You’re . . .”

“Determined to have you. Right now. Want it? Say yes, baby,” he murmured into her neck, then kissed her again, sucking her lower lip in between his.

“Yesssssss,” she moaned, and he dug his fingers into her waist and picked her up. She promptly wrapped her legs around him, her arms clasped around his neck. They made it as far as the dining room table, biting each other’s lips, tongues lashing into each other, before he sat her down on it, yanked her shorts off, then peeled off his tee and jeans. He climbed up onto the table with her and stared down at her in the darkness, his eyes intense, almost glowing.

“I should take you right here,” he hissed into her ear, then bit her neck. Instead of making it easy for him, Nikki managed to wriggle away from him and took off running, giggling the whole time.

She made it as far as the foyer. Tony caught up with her, grabbed her around the waist, and spun her to look at him. “You’re not getting away this time, little girl,” he snarled at her. “I’ve got you and I’m not letting you go.” This time, he reached around her and snapped the hooks of her bra loose, then locked his fingers into his boxer briefs, slid them down, and stepped out of them. Nikki purred when she got a glimpse of his cock, hard and waiting. He snatched her lacy hipsters off, then lifted her up again, and she wrapped her long, sculpted legs around his waist.

She wanted to kiss him again, long and slow, but before she could say or do anything, Tony wrapped his hands under her ass, lifted her a little higher, and impaled her on his rigid cock. Nikki stifled a scream as he bored into her pussy and showed no mercy, and Tony groaned and wedged her between his body and the wall, pistoning into her like a four-stroke engine as he held her there. He bit her neck again and, in turn, she bit his shoulder just like she’d done in the back of the SUV earlier in the day. He moaned into her ear, “I just wanna fuck you until I can’t fuck you any more. You are so goddamn sexy that you make me crazy for you.”

“Then fuck me,” she whispered back. “Fuck me hard. Just pound me until I scream for you to stop.”

“Like I’d listen,” he snickered and tied into her. His mouth found hers, and he kissed her so hard that she was sure he’d bruised her lips, then he latched onto her neck again and kissed, sucked, and bit it until she was nearly mad. He worked fast and hard, enjoying her cries against his collarbone, the pulses of her hot, wet sheath around his cock, and the hardness of her rigid peaks against his chest. He wished he could stop time or at least pause it, make a mental picture of them together, freeze the intensity of the sparks she gave off as her flint and his stone came together, as one’s body burnished the other’s to brilliance in that moment, so he could always recall it. Wanting to capture it all so he could enjoy it again later, sit in his office and think about it, picture her in his mind while he was at a jobsite, dream about her as she lay beside him sleeping in the night, he listened to her, soaked in the feel of her skin. He waited as long as he could before he poured himself into her in a gasping, moaning thrust that tuned her up until he was sure that Helene could hear them, even down at her house. Hell yeah, he hoped she could.

His possession of her body was too much for Nikki, and she tightened and came around him, screaming out, her fingers in his hair. When he stopped, she leaned in and locked her lips onto his, holding his face against hers until she couldn’t breathe. “Sweet mother of god, babe, what’s gotten into you today?” she panted when she finally broke the kiss.

“You. You’re under my skin. Permanently. And I’m not complaining – not at all!” He laughed, then kissed her again. “I think it’s about time I started living a more spontaneous life, stop planning everything out to the letter, start fucking you when I want, where I want, how I want, and making you want it too. And do you want it?” he asked with a seriousness that startled her.

“Want it? God, I crave it. Just cut loose!” She laughed back and kissed him.

He turned and carried her up the steps. “Let’s go finish this in the bedroom. I’ll show you ‘cut loose!’”

Thirty minutes later, she was still overwhelmed with his pressure inside her, his big, dark hands on her pale skin like molten lava, molded to her, pouring over her, twisting and pulling her nipples, flicking and stroking her clit. The sight of him above her drove her to the edge until his eyes closed and she saw that look on his face that said he was lost in ecstasy, lost in her. That look was all she needed; her own need consumed her and, as he buried himself in her over and over, she rasped her clit against his pelvis and came, repeating his name like a prayer. Within seconds, he groaned out his own climax. The liquid fire of his seed filled her and when he dropped down beside her, she fell onto his chest, panting and moaning. His arms encircled her and tightened against her skin, and she’d never felt so desirable or so loved, so satisfied and so hungry for more.

“Are you trying to kill me?” she asked as he burrowed his face into her hair and kissed the top of her head.

“Yes. Death by sex,” he chuckled as she licked his nipple.

“Correction: Death by great sex. Big difference,” she giggled as he kissed the top of her head again. “But what a way to go!”

“H
i! Where should I put this stuff?” Nikki turned to find a man standing in the foyer on Tuesday morning. He didn’t look familiar except for one thing – he was definitely a Walters. Slightly older, what hair he still had white, and even with a beard and mustache, he was still clearly a Walters. He was shorter than Tony and stockier. Picking up on the startled look on her face, he asked, “Nikki? You must be Nikki. Hi, I’m Bart.”

“Oh!” Nikki came back to herself. “It’s nice to meet you! Let’s take it all in the kitchen. Gracious, what is all of this?” She stared at the boxes he carried in.

“Well, let’s see.” Bart started pulling things out of the boxes after he’d set them down. “Kathy made her potato salad.” He dragged out an enormous container of the stuff. “This is . . .” he said, opening a corner of another container, “deviled eggs. And this is her homemade barbecue sauce Tony asked for.” He opened the other box and pulled out several stacked trays. “And these are Molly’s infamous rolls. She sends them every year. I stopped by their house and picked them up so you’d have them in the morning.”

Tony walked into the kitchen and yelled, “Bart!”

“Hey, Tookie!” The two men embraced, then slapped each other on the back.

“Nikki, I assume you’ve met Bart the Fart?” Nikki grinned – guys!

“Yes, in the foyer.” He smiled widely. “Nice to finally meet you.” He stuck his hand out, then said, “Aw, hell,” and hugged Nikki – he even felt like Tony! She hugged him back. “Kathy is really excited about meeting you, can’t wait. We’re all so happy for you guys. Well, except for Bennie. And Molly, of course.”

Nikki looked at Tony, puzzled. “Don’t worry,” Tony told her. “It’s just Molly. She hates everybody.” Bart nodded in agreement.
Great,
Nikki thought.

Bart smiled. “So that’s the only reason I came. Long drive for not much, huh?”

“Come on in here and at least have a beer with me.” Tony slapped his older brother’s back.

“That’s really why I came – I was hoping you’d say that! Makes the trip worthwhile.” Tony handed him a bottle from the fridge and the two men retreated into the great room.

Nikki looked everything over, then managed to fit all of it into the huge refrigerator. She couldn’t help herself – she got a spoon and sampled the potato salad. It was scrumptious, and she decided she couldn’t wait to meet Kathy either.

After feeding Bill and Hillary, she cleaned up some of the odds and ends around the kitchen. She was thinking about going on upstairs when she heard Tony and Bart in the foyer. Bart called out, “Bye, Nikki honey – nice to meet you!”

“Same here, Bart. See you tomorrow!” She heard the door close and Tony strolled into the kitchen, empty beer bottles in hand.

“So you’ve met Bart! What do you think?” he asked her, dropping the bottles into the recycling bin under the sink.

“I think if the rest of the bunch are as nice as he is, it’ll all be fine,” she smiled, wringing out her dish cloth and hanging it inside the cabinet door.

“Yeah, they are. Well, except for Molly. She’s a bitch, but then she’s always been a bitch, at least for as long as I can remember, so it’s no big deal. Sometimes we actually torment her to bring out more of her bitchiness so we have an excuse to double our efforts.” He stopped for a minute, unsure if he should say anything, and then added softly, “And then there’s Bennie.”

“The youngest, right?” He’d been quizzing her for two weeks on the siblings’ and spouses’ names, and she was about to get them all down – at least she thought she was.