Uninhibited (Unlikely Lovers) (16 page)

“Sweet. But now we can do something
much more interesting.”

“Yeah, like wrapping
the rest of those Christmas presents that’ve been staring me in the face for weeks.”

“We could do that.” He licked his lips. “Later.”

“Now, Alan. Don’t make me start thinking about handcuffs and escape routes.”

“I won’t,” he promised. “I’ll…pace myself.”

She nearly choked on her oatmeal. “Yeah,
right
.”

Hearing
her talk made him wonder how Carol had managed to live with him for three days, let alone three months. Emily was running hot and cold—one minute she seemed tickled to death to have him there, and the next she appeared to be contemplating how to get him out of her house long enough to lock the door.

He couldn’t blame her for wanting to get rid of him. His sexual needs were outlandish by anyone’s standards—except his.

One straight fuck after breakfast. Nothing fancy. No marathons.
“No, really. I will. You’ll see.”

Having done
his best not to wolf down his breakfast, Alan actually washed the dishes. By hand.

Pace yourself…

Emily sipped her tea while he finished cleaning up. “I guess we could put up my Christmas tree. I’ve been too depressed to even think about it until now.” Her expression brightened. “We could even make cookies.”

Although he suspected her of trying to come up with activities to distract him, her use of
the word “we” and the inference that he’d cured her depression gave him a serious case of the warm fuzzies—and then there was the intimacy of decorating the tree together.

Like being sweethearts—or even married.

Of course, if she had to go out and
buy
a tree, she might ditch him along the way. “Real or artificial?”

“I prefer real, but this late in the season, the
best ones are probably all gone. I’ve got an artificial tree up in the attic that belonged to my grandmother. It’s pretty good-sized. I like to never got it up there.”

“I’ll bring it down for you.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”

Her smile hit him like an arrow to the heart. “No problem.”

He turned back to the sink, blinking against the sting in his eyes. Already, too many things were happening with her—things he’d never been a part of with a woman before. Sure, he’d shared an apartment with Carol, but there were times when he wondered why she’d moved in with him at all.

Then he remembered.
Carol’s building had been sold, and she couldn’t afford the rent increase. She’d only moved in with him out of necessity. Tall, blonde, and athletic, she’d met him at the store. They’d been discussing vitamin supplements or some such thing, and he’d seen the spark of interest in her eyes. He’d figured that, being a cyclist, she’d have more stamina than most women.

Wrong.
Carol was a once-a-week lover at best. Alan’s sexual appetite drove her to the point of giving up her home and most of her possessions in order to end their relationship. 

No, not
end
. Escape.

Sex. It was
always about sex. But if that were the case, why did Emily’s smile affect his heart, rather than his dick?

If Alan had ever been in love, he wasn’t
aware of it. In fact, he’d never been with a woman long enough to even consider the possibility. He’d known Emily for less than twenty-four hours, and already she’d turned his world upside down. He was even trying to pace himself to keep from scaring her away.

What did it mean?

I have absolutely no idea.

He wrung out the dishcloth and dried his hands. “Ready?”

Emily drank the last of her tea and stood up. “Sure.”

She led the way to the bedroom and stripped off her clothes, thankful she hadn’t bothered to put on any more than she had. Lying down on the bed, she held out her arms.

Alan needed no encouragement or time to undress.

God, what a cock
. Thick and long with a perfect shiny head, his dick slid into her like it was made for her.

“Mmm...”

“You do like it, don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah. Never said I didn’t.”

“Not sore?”

She shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Your pussy is so wet, I bet I couldn’t make you sore if I tried.”

“
Watching a hot, naked man wash dishes will do that to a girl. Definitely not something I see every day.”

His lips curled into a smile. “I make you cream your panties, don’t I?”

“Oh,
yeah
.”

Alan’s
hair tumbled down over his forehead, the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexing as he rocked into her with long, deep strokes. He was attractive from any angle—she hadn’t been kidding about his cute ass—but never more so that when he was like this. Suspended above her, his lower lip trapped between his teeth, gazing down at her with an expression she’d ached to see in a man’s eyes for so long.

Would he ever love her as much as he obviously loved sex? Would he even know the difference?

If all he wanted was her body, she was okay with that—at least for the time being. He could fuck her better than anyone ever had, probably better than anyone ever
could
, and with him around, she’d never be lonely.

Someday, she might need more from him.

For now, it was enough.

Chapter 12

Emily had never watched a naked man haul boxes around—let alone one with an erection bobbing up and down as he walked. She might get used to it eventually, but at the moment, it was…distracting.

“Never sleeps, does it?”

His response to that was simply a grin—which was fine because her question had been rhetorical. “Since I’m helping you decorate your tree, does that mean we can spend Christmas together?”

“
I guess so,” she replied. “Part of it, anyway. I’m supposed to go to my sister’s on Christmas Day—our parents will be in Jamaica, otherwise, we’d be going to their house—but to be perfectly honest, I doubt it’ll be much fun. Janice and her husband are having some marital problems. Todd already tried to weasel out on me.” She paused as another thought occurred to her. “Don’t you have any plans? No family here in town?”

“Yeah, but we always get together on Christmas Eve. I usually
go over to my cousins’ house for lunch on Christmas Day, but everyone is so excited that Travis and Miranda got married, they probably won’t miss me.” His sweet smile made her heart do flip flops. “Unless you want to come along.”

Her mouth fell open. “I, uh… Are we really
ready to meet each other’s families?”

Chad hadn’t been part of the Christmas festivities until she’d been dating him for almost a year. Unfortunately, after a few glasses of Ned’s famous eggnog, he’d acted like a complete idiot.

Alan sobered so quickly, Emily thought sure she’d hurt his feelings. “Think it’ll jinx us?”

“I do
ubt it. Besides, you already know Todd, and the three of us together will have a much better time. I guess we can risk it. We’re not having dinner until around six or so. We’d have plenty of time to visit your cousins.”

He practically dropped
a box of ornaments on the couch. “That reminds me. I need to call Travis.” Scurrying over to his pile of clothes, he delved into his jacket. “He’ll never believe I actually found you.”

“You
told him about me?”

“Hell, yes
! I’d have told the fuckin’ police if I knew a cop.” He pulled out his phone and tapped in the number. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a woman when you don’t even know her name?”

Emily had known Alan’s name and
still couldn’t find him. “Believe me, I know. It’s a wonder Todd didn’t figure it out.”

“Yeah.
I guess he doesn’t see you as the hot, sexy woman I described.”

Emily didn’t have the chance to reply to that because Travis apparently answered his phone.

“Hey, Travis. You can call off the search,” Alan said. “I found her—well, maybe she found me. I’m not really sure… No, I’m not drunk! When have you ever seen me drunk?” He paused for a moment. “That doesn’t count. I was tricked into drinking that shit. Listen, the reason I called is I wanted to know if it would be okay if I brought her with me on Christmas… Hell, yes, it was her idea—well, sort of. No… Okay.” He held out the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”

Emily
took the phone with some trepidation. “Hello, Travis? This is Emily.”

“Are you okay?” Travis actually sounded worried.

“Um, yes…why wouldn’t I be?”

“That depends on how much time you’ve spent with Alan.”

Heat flooded her face and her heart dropped a good six inches. “He’s been here since yesterday afternoon.”

“And you think you’ll still be together by Christmas?”

“I hope so.”

Travis blew out a breath. “There’s something you should know about Alan.”

“Go on.”

“He’s, well…
different
.”

Emily stifled a snort. “So I’ve noticed.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“So far.”

“Good.” This time, he sounded relieved. “Alan’s a great guy, but he drives women crazy, and some of them have done some pretty awful things to him. He’s been alone for about a year now. I was afraid he might be a little too…”

“Energetic?”
she suggested.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry. We’re doing fine.”

“Good.” He hesitated for a
couple of seconds. “One more thing. Alan is kind of…fragile. Like I said, he’s been treated badly, and he’s a little bruised. Be careful with him.”

“I
will.”

“
Then we’ll see you on Christmas?”

“Looking forward to it—and
to meeting you and your family.”

“Same here.”

“Nice talking to you, Travis. Bye.”

Sh
e handed the phone back to Alan, who put it up to his ear.

“Putting up her Christmas tree,” he replied to Travis’s apparent query. “Well,
yeah… I think she likes me that way… Okay. See you then!” Switching off the phone, he tucked it back in his jacket.

“Let me guess. He asked if you were naked, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. He knows me pretty well. What did he tell you?”

“Nothing I didn’t already know,” she replied. “Let’s get this tree decorated, shall we?”

“Sure thing. Where do you want it?”

“In front of the window?” Emily usually kept the drapes on the picture window open during the holidays. With a naked man in the house, she might have to
revise that tradition.

Never missing a beat,
Alan opened the box and started putting the tree together. Emily figured she could open the drapes when they were finished.

“Have you got a tree in your apartment?” she asked.

“Yeah, but it’s pretty tiny. Nothing like this one.”

It wasn’t until he climbed up on a chair to put the star on the top that Emily realized she should’ve been taking pictures. The oppo
rtunity to watch a naked man decorate a Christmas tree didn’t come along very often, and she felt it should be documented in some way.

“Would you have put clothes on if I’d had a real tree?”

“Maybe. They’re kinda prickly. I might at least wear gloves.”

Emily burst out laughing and didn’t stop until she’d collapsed on the couch with tears running down her cheeks.
“Sorry,” she said between giggles. “Can’t help it.”

Alan’s grin was so cute,
she almost kissed him.

Better not
. 

He’d been doing fairly well—despite his persistent erection—and she didn’t want to get him started again. She’d made a pact with herself not to indulge in any
nooky until the tree was finished and the empty boxes were back in the attic. Otherwise, they might sit there until New Year’s. He seemed to have made the same resolution himself, not even attempting to get touchy-feely with her.

Basically, it was
occupational therapy—something to keep his mind off sex. Not that
she
could think about anything else with that boner waving around.

Alan
put away the boxes while Emily hung the last of the tinsel. Glancing up as he returned, she nodded toward the pile of gifts in the chair. “We can wrap those next. Or would you rather have lunch?”

“I’m not doing
anything until we take care of
this
.” He ran a finger along the length of his penis. “I’ve been good. Now it’s time to unwrap
my
present.”