Turn It Up (13 page)

“Do you have a dress picked out? Can I help with that?”

A dress? Pictures, a spa trip? She’d planned to wear a nice suit she had and figured that would be enough. Suddenly, it wasn’t, and all of Maxine’s enthusiasm helped to ease the pain of Lila’s rejection. It didn’t wipe it away completely, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.

“I don’t want anything too fancy, but yeah, if you’d like to go shopping with me, we can do that. Monday?”

Maxine gushed a bit more before setting up a time and place to meet, and passing the phone back to her brother. Tasha’s thoughts spun as she considered what to say to him. Somehow in one move he’d accomplished the impossible, without even trying.

“Tasha?”

“You have the sweetest sister in the world, you know that?”

He chuckled. “I seem to have told her that a few times. She argues with me, but the proof is all there.” His voice dropped a notch. “You all right? I’ll be done my to-do list in about an hour, then I can join you.”

“You’re nearly done already? How the hell did you do that?” They’d split the list of things they had to accomplish, and she’d done…none of hers, since number one had been to get her witness lined up.

“Efficient task planning, and a whole lot of bullying my relatives into favors. Tell you what. Go home. I’ll meet you there. If I help you with your stuff, we’ll be done in no time. Also, if you’re okay with it, my parents wanted to have us over for a celebratory dinner.”

“That sounds…like just what I needed to hear.” She paused for a second. “Hey, Max?”

“Yeah?”

She could picture him, that flirty smile on his face, his eyes attentive and bright as he waited for her. “Thanks. I’m going to be okay.”

“We’re going to be more than okay, but it will take time. I’ll catch you in a bit.”

She hung up and stared out the window. There were a few clouds floating against the brilliant blue sky, but for the most part, it was clear and bright. She wasn’t crazy, she had to trust that the situation with Lila was merely a cloud passing in front of the sun for a brief moment.

She turned and headed home, surprised, but pleased to be looking forward to Maxwell’s company for the rest of the day. It made the bitter a little easier to deal with.

Chapter Eleven

Max had a difficult time remembering to keep it light. From the moment he’d picked up Tasha from his sister’s where she’d been getting ready for the ceremony, he’d been fighting to hold back the sweet words that wanted to escape.

It was much more than she made him dizzy with lust. The fact she trusted him enough to tie her life to his without loving him—that appealed to him more than she could possibly know. He knew what he felt, and how it motivated him to want to give everything to her. She on the other hand, was going into this based strictly on logic, and somehow that impressed him more than if she had confessed her undying love.

Although he really wanted that as well.

Now she stood across from him, repeating the simple words they’d written together. Promises to be there for each other, and for their family when one came along. He grinned harder, remembering how smug Tasha had seemed that she’d managed to successfully avoid using the word
love
in their vows.

What was love, but a commitment? He hoped he’d be able to rub that in sometime during their first anniversary.

Having his sister there was sweet, and bitter, considering Lila had refused to reconsider and continued to give Tasha the cold shoulder. He couldn’t see how his cousin could be so self-centered and stubborn, especially after he’d called her to try and talk sense into her.

They finished the simple ceremony, kissed Maxine and his parents farewell, and ducked into his car.

“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?” Tasha undid her sandals, leaned back in the car seat and propped her feet up on the dash. He swallowed hard at the sight of her legs extending from under the pale purple of her dress. “I assume it’s not back to the apartment, since you insisted I pack an overnight bag. You know, we didn’t need a weekend away.”

Max pulled onto the highway, hoping he hadn’t pushed it too far, but there was no way he was going to let their honeymoon weekend be back at her apartment, doing ordinary everyday things. He was intent on making memories, secret though it be for now. He gave her the explanation he’d prepped.

“My parents wanted to give us something.”

“That’s sweet, but they didn’t need to.”

He nodded. “I know, and I told them that. But since we already have all the house stuff we need, and we said we didn’t want them to host a luncheon or anything, they insisted. The only other thing I could come up with that worked was a booking at an oceanfront cabin. It made them happy, and I thought it would suit our plans. We can talk about some of those habits we want to get into, and the beach is a great place for long walks and workouts. And, there’s no junk food there.”

Natasha didn’t say anything for a bit, and he thought he heard the gears spinning in her brain. “That sounds…great.”

“I’m also planning on having lots of uninterrupted sex.”

She laughed. “No ulterior motive on your part to hide us away, was there?”

“Just because we’re now officially a couple doesn’t mean the Turner clan will cease to exercise their uncanny ability to interrupt us. In fact, over the next while we’ll probably have to run the gamut, with every one of the individual families inviting us over for celebratory coffee and cake, and what have you. Rejoice in your final moments of relative freedom from the excesses of relatives.”

Tasha’s smile faded. “Not everyone is celebrating.”

She turned to look out the window, and he sighed.
Damn Lila.
He reached over and grabbed Tasha’s fingers, ignoring her surprised response. He nudged up the music volume, discouraging talk and letting the miles pass as they sat in silence. He wasn’t going to try to fight the hurt her friend’s disapproval had caused, and unless Tasha decided to get mad and tell Lila to grow up, he was trapped. At least until he had a little more time on his hands.

His best offense at the moment was to ignore Lila and hope she came around soon.

It was only an hour’s drive to the cabin, and he smiled in anticipation. He’d come here a few times before, once with the guys for a Turner Boys Weekend out, and once by himself when he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do before his final year of college concluded. He’d never imagined that he’d be returning with a wife.

Tasha stretched, her arms pressing against the roof, sending her breasts tighter against the scooped neckline of her dress. His cock stirred and he adjusted himself.

She laughed. “You’re certainly not shy.”

For a second he couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. A quick glance and her pointed stare at his groin cleared up that mystery. “Anytime you want to help me, I’m game. You have no idea what it’s doing to me, seeing you in that frilly dress and longing to see if you actually wore the garter I sent you.”

“Your sister is extraordinarily bossy for a sweet and quiet girl. Of course I’m wearing it.”

Hot damn.
“Show me.”

She jerked in her seat. “Now?”

He forced his eyes back on the road. “I’m curious, that’s all.”

Tasha sat motionless for a minute, before pushing her seat back as far as possible. She shimmied her hips lower, then slowly inched the hemline toward her hips. In his peripheral vision, the details blurred together, the only thing clear the decreasing amount of purple and the increasing expanse of bare skin. The warning for their off-ramp passed, and he gratefully took the curve, turning onto the side road toward the cottage a touch too fast. His tires squealed and Tasha tsked.

“If you can’t pay attention to the road, I’m going to have to stop.”

Oh my God, no.
“Totally in control here, honestly. That’s a very tight corner.”

“Hmm, I see.” Her cool fingers reached over and grasped his right hand, pulling it off the wheel and lowering it carefully to her thigh. Under his palm, her flesh was warm and soft, and he swore lightly. When she tugged his hand closer to her crotch, letting him find the garter, he knew he was in for a world of pain before he got any relief.

“If I can mention, you’ve made my cock hard.”

“I noticed. That’s not a bad thing.”

He slipped a finger under the elastic, trailing back and forth along the lacey edge. The smooth swell of her inner thigh teased him, and he snuck farther toward her center.

When he met nothing but smooth, bare skin, the steering wheel jerked before he got the car under control. He whipped his hand back and carefully resumed hanging on to the ten and two position with a death grip. That was as far as his control could go. He couldn’t change his harsh breathing that sounded as if he’d just finished running a marathon. And he certainly couldn’t stop his arousal from pressing against the front of his slacks.

“Umm, that was supposed to be a surprise for… later.”

The images flashing through his mind were far too vivid. “Please tell me you mean five-minutes-from-now later, not five hours from now.”

“Where’s the cottage?” Lust painted her tones and his anticipation rose.

The pavement ended as he turned into the entrance, the car bouncing a little too hard over the rough driveway before he slammed to a stop in the rustic single parking space. They were at the far end of a row of tiny cabins, tight up against the rocky precipice of the cliffs. He had the car turned off and was at her door in record time, but she still beat him. Tasha stretched again, arms reaching overhead as she dragged a deep breath of salty sea air into her lungs. Her bare feet dug into the sand, the filmy layers of the skirt of her dress fluttering around her knees in the light breeze off the ocean.

He caught her by the back of the neck and hauled her lips against his, bodies instantly in full contact. She joined in willingly, wrapping her arms around him and opening her mouth to his assault. He couldn’t slow down, not this time. All the tension that she’d built unwittingly since he’d first spotted her in that pixie-like dress—damn it, he wanted relief, and he wanted it now.

Luckily, it seemed she had the same idea. As they kissed, lips hard against each other, she tugged him with her as she backed up until she’d trapped herself between the hood of the car and his aching groin. A quick hop put her on the surface, her thighs spread wide to allow him to stay in intimate contact with her. His hands came down on the hood to check the temperature, but the surface was warm, not boiling hot. The hottest thing was her, the way she rubbed against him, the way she participated in the steamy kiss.

When he finally dragged his lips away he was shaking. “Tasha, I can wait two more minutes—”

“I can’t.”

She undid the buttons of her dress top faster than he thought possible, revealing another purplish article of lingerie. The fabric was so sheer her nipples showed through, the darker circles poking the fabric like tiny mountain peaks in the middle of rosy plains. She dropped a hand between her breasts, twisted her fingers, and the cups popped apart leaving the heavy globes bare to the sunshine and his adoring gaze.

He doubted his cock could get any harder. Except—it did. When she grabbed his head and pulled him to her, lining up a nipple with his lips, all bets were off. There could be an audience watching and he really didn’t give a shit. He lapped once in a circle then enveloped the tip, sucking hard. Tasha cried out and adjusted her position, arching her back to press her breast farther into his mouth. He switched sides, letting the moisture from his mouth leave one tip glistening in the sunshine before changing back to the other.

Tasha propped her left foot up on the hood beside her hip, leaned forward and reached for his belt. Even as their mouths reconnected she managed to open his pants and slip her hand in, grab his erection and pull it free. She stroked him, and it felt so damn good. Not that she needed to prime him anymore, but with every pass she trailed her thumb over the head, smearing the precome over the tip. He let it go on until he felt his balls drawing up. Too fast. Too out of control. He was seventeen again and jerking off to the thought of her touch, and now she was touching him and he had no more control than back then. He pulled away and dragged his gaze up off her magnificent tits to stare into her eyes.

Sheer mischief reflected back as she leered at him. “Do I make you hot?”

“Wench.”

He rearranged her slightly, shifting her to the side, allowing enough room for him to place her right foot up on the hood as well. The scoop of her dress fell to hide her sex. She leaned back on her arms, forcing the open buttons on top to spread wide around her breasts like some kind of erotic postcard. He placed both palms against the sides of her full rounds, pressing and lifting them together, admiring her as she shook her head and let her dark hair fall around her shoulders.

He placed his hands on her knees, slipping upward, over her thighs, dragging the fabric away to reveal her bare mound. His cock jerked where it stuck out from his pants. Liquid glistened on her labia and he traced a finger slowly through her folds and she shuddered.

He pressed in, never looking away as she enclosed him in her moist heat. Tasha purred, wiggling her hips closer to the edge of the car hood, pressing against him. He pulled out slowly, the moisture painting his finger drawing him like a magnet. He brought his hand to his mouth and licked away the cream, groaning as the taste of her hit his tongue.

“That’s so wicked.” Tasha whispered the words and he smiled at her.

“We’re about to have sex outdoors and you think that’s wicked? Watch. Watch every fucking second.”

He stepped forward, opening her with one hand, running his thumb over her labia gently. One movement lined up the ready head of his shaft and he slowly let her surround him, the sight making the sensations that much more powerful. Tasha moaned softly, bringing down a hand to touch where they connected.

Her finger running along the seam between his cock and her opening nearly undid him.

“I can’t last longer than thirty seconds around you.” Max ground the words out through gritted teeth.