Pretty Packages (22 page)

“Can you spend the night at my house?”
Kentucky
asked on the way from the airport now that they were back in
Miami
. He wasn’t ready for her to leave his side just yet.

“Sure.” Giada looked just as excited as she’d been the day he gave her that large engagement ring. “But I need to stop by your mother’s first to get a change of clothes.”

“Actually, you don’t.”
Kentucky
grinned slyly. “I anticipated you saying yes, so I called Mama before we left and asked her to drop off a change of clothes for you. I told her to bring over that rust-colored pantsuit I like to see you in and the matching stilettos.”

Giada laughed. “I don’t know why you just won’t let me move in with you. It would be easier since I’m always at your house anyway.”

Kentucky
gave her a look that said,
You know why
.

Giada’s laughter instantly quelled in her throat at that look. “All right, Kenny.” She turned to face forward in her disappointment. She folded her arms across her chest, revealing her rising anger.

Kentucky
remained silent, giving her time to deal with her disappointment. She would never know how much he wanted to not only move her in right now, but also marry her. But they had to wait for all that.

In the meantime, I’m gonna see what I can do to make the wait pleasurable for the both of us.
Kentucky
decided to start the festivities tonight.

* * * *

Giada remained in a sullen mood all during dinner and even after she prepared for bed. Though she only wore a chemise, it might as well been a suit of armor. The stiff way she lounged in bed, blankly watching the TV with her arms and legs crossed, sent a definite message—nothing sensual was happening tonight.

“It’s not gonna work, Giada,”
Kentucky
said, coming into the room after finishing his solitary shower. He had on a long, thick bathrobe.

“What’s not going to work?” She frowned over at him.

Kentucky
chuckled. “That sulking and pouting is not gonna get you anywhere with me.”

“I’m starting to think nothing will. You’re the most stubborn man I ever met,” Giada replied, incensed by his cavalier attitude.

“You got the man part right, baby. And as a man, I’m not gonna indulge in childish behavior.”

“Oh, so I’m a child now, huh?” Giada sat upright. “I wasn’t a child this morning when you were screwing my brains out in that
Georgia
hotel room.”

Kentucky
’s nostrils flared with ire. “First of all, I didn’t hear you complaining in that hotel room. As I recall, you were begging me for more.”

Giada’s cheeks grew hot, but she remained silent at that blunt truth. She had enjoyed that tryst just as much as he had.

“Secondly, I didn’t say you were a child, Giada, even though you are definitely acting like one now,”
Kentucky
continued. “Matter of fact, sometimes our seven-year age difference is very obvious. This is one of those times.”

“Well, let me take my childish behind home then.” Giada sprang from the bed and headed toward the closet for her clothes.

* * * *

Kentucky
took a deep breath and exhaled as his angry woman made her way across the room. This was not the way he planned for this night to go at all. He had to get control of himself. Then he had to take control of this situation before it got too far out of hand.

“Fine, Giada, go home. I’ll even let you take the Jeep to drive yourself since I’m in for the night. But if you do leave, you are gonna miss out on the greatest show of your life.” He casually walked over to the stereo system, not appearing angry at all now.

Giada paused and snapped her head around. “What show?”

Kentucky
smiled, pleased that her curiosity was thoroughly piqued. “
This
show,” he replied, snatching his robe open to reveal a red loincloth that only a male stripper would wear. His body was oiled to perfection and glistening all over.

Giada gasped even as her eyes widened. “I . . .” She couldn’t seem to get two words out. The only thing she could do was moan and shudder with need.

“After the way you helped the school this weekend, I wanted to reward you in a special way. Since we’re on a budget and since I can’t afford to buy you another big-ticket item right now, I thought you might enjoy having something priceless.”

“Price . . . less?”

“Yeah, something that no other woman has had since college.”
Kentucky
ran his hands down the front of his shiny body. “A private show from your very own exotic dancer,” he added, gyrating his hips in a sensual come-hither move.

Giada moaned louder. She didn’t look ready to go anywhere now.

Kentucky
’s smile widened as he noted the desire and the decision in her eyes. He was pleased to find her so conducive to staying after all. He wanted her to stay for her private show. “Go sit on the side of the bed and wait for me,” he instructed.

Giada quickly obeyed him in silence.

Seeing Giada so compliant to him,
Kentucky
determined within himself to give her the best show ever. He just hoped he remembered everything. It had been nearly ten years since he did anything like this.

“Turn the TV off for me, baby,”
Kentucky
directed gently as he turned to make sure the right CD was in the stereo. It was time for his show to begin.

* * * *

Giada fumbled with the television remote, but she finally got her designated task done. Her hands might not have been so shaky had she not just gotten a glimpse of the back of
Kentucky
’s loincloth when he turned toward the stereo. Now she trembled all over with need. In short, there was no back to the loincloth. There was only a string around
Kentucky
’s waist holding the thing up and on.

Fine.

Fine.

And yet more fine was her man.

After pressing play on the stereo,
Kentucky
clapped his hands together to brighten the lights in the room. Soon a slow tune by Marques Houston filled the air.

Giada inhaled sharply at being able to see his shiny body in more detail. She crossed her legs to squeeze out some of the ache. Yet she couldn’t squeeze hard enough to stop the ache
Kentucky
caused by dancing over to her in the most sensual of ways.

“I never danced to fast music because I deemed that more for the feminine guys,” he said, moving slow and erotic. “I never did any rump-shaking for the same reason. The only bouncing I did was this,”
Kentucky
added, causing his chest muscles to bounce one at a time as he flexed them.

Giada licked her lips. She was ready to attack him on the spot.

“Not yet, baby. Let me give you this treat,”
Kentucky
said, as if he could read her mind. “Just keep talking to me. It’ll help keep your temperature down until it’s the right time.”

Giada nodded and forced herself to stay in her place. When he finally stood directly in front of her, she asked, “Can I touch you? I heard somewhere that strippers had a policy of no touching.”

“You can touch me all you want, baby. Not only because I’m
your
man, but also because I am a man, period. That no-touching policy is usually just for female dancers due to the risk of physical abuse or violence by their patrons. The same risks don’t really exist for male dancers. Plus, the touching seems to help them get bigger tips.”
Kentucky
grinned. “I know it did for me.”

Giada felt her nostrils flare with ire. “I’m glad you gave that life up. If not, I would probably have a police record a mile long fighting those heifers off you.”

Kentucky
chuckled. “Calm down, firecat.” He gyrated closer to her. “Besides, I thought you wanted to touch me.”

Giada felt heat gather in her cheeks. In her ire, she forgot all about her desire. Now it was back in full force. “Like this, baby?” she asked, reaching up to touch his chest.

“Yes.”
Kentucky
moaned, still moving in time to the music. “Now go lower, baby.
Much
lower.”

Giada gave him a mischievous smile. Then she moved her hands lower . . . and around, cupping his bottom instead of where he really wanted to be touched.

All words were abandoned for the moment as
Kentucky
nodded and prepared to respond to that unspoken challenge. He moved closer, placing her in direct eye view of his precious jewel.

Giada pretended she didn’t see it as she concentrated on kneading his strong gluteal muscles. Her hands moved in perfect timing to his hips.

Kentucky
simply grinned and began to demonstrate his control over muscles few men could master. His hips continued to move sensually the whole time.

“Wh . . . ?” Giada blinked to make sure she’d seen what she thought she just saw. When his wand waved in a circular motion in front of her face again, she blinked once more in amazement.

Did this man have her under some kind of spell?

“How did you . . . ? Wow! Do that again!” Giada said when it happened for the third time.

Kentucky
chuckled in triumph. “I will, but only if you touch me first. And you know exactly where, too.”

Giada finally did as he requested. She soon found her hand being moved in that same circular motion as
Kentucky
honored her request as well.

Aching for real now, Giada moaned loudly.

Kentucky
moaned, too, as she squeezed him from base to tip. “Okay, one more trick and then I
have
to have you,” he said huskily.

“Yes, baby.” Giada nodded eagerly. She was ready to be had.

* * * *

“Lay on the floor on your back,”
Kentucky
said, aching now himself. He’d been able to maintain his calm until she squeezed him in her own special way. He sighed in relief when she released him to comply with his latest request.

Standing above Giada a few seconds later with his legs on both sides of her body and his back to her,
Kentucky
lifted her legs and slowly pulled them both over her head. He took backwards steps as he did. Moaning at the revealing view of her garden that action produced, he relished the sight of her hidden river already threatening to overflow its banks. He couldn’t wait to take a dip in it.

“You all right down there?”
Kentucky
asked, settling his thighs lightly upon the backs of her ankles. He balanced the majority of his weight upon his legs.