Hot Like Fire (13 page)

And this desire to look at her was nothing new.
Ever since that dance at the wedding reception-if
not before-he'd found himself sneaking looks at
her. Here she was in that dress. Just the sight of it
on her curves made him sweat. When she was in
old jeans and a T-shirt, there was no denying her
beauty, but in that dress, she took his breath away.

Garcelle smiled up at her date and placed her hand
on his chest as he kissed her temple. Kade clenched
his jaw. He wished that he could be that man by her
side, feeling her touch, receiving her smiles.

Kade saw that when her eyes hit him over her
date's shoulder, her smile disappeared. They were
zoned in to each other.

He knew he should look away . . . but he
couldn't. Whenever his eyes locked with hers, it felt
like no one else existed. Just he and Garcelle. Even
across the twenty yards separating them, he felt the
same electricity and fire crackle between them.

He hadn't felt that way for a woman since Reema.

Her date, Mr. Rico Suave, stepped in their direct
line of vision, and Kade released a shaky breath as
if he had been held captive by a spell. "Damn," he
swore quietly.

"You two want to get in each other's pants so bad,"
Kaleb said as he walked up to where his brother
stood alone. "Funny thing is ... Everyone here
seems to know it except you two."

"You don't know what you're talking about."
Kade crushed his empty beer can in his hand.

Kaleb laughed. "Okay. Then maybe Mama,
Kaeden, Kahron, and Bianca know what they're talking about, because I've had this same conversation
with all of them. I drew the short straw to tell your ass to stop staring so hard or make a move, for
God's sake."

Kade directed his eyes toward everythinganything-but Garcelle and Rico Suave. "Why the
hell are you so talkative tonight?"

"Can't say I blame you for wanting her," Kaleb
said, ignoring Kade's sarcasm. "I would be more
than happy to tap that-"

Kade spun and grabbed Kaleb by the front of his
shirt. His eyes were filled with anger ... until he saw
that his younger brother was laughing at him. Kaleb
had goaded him right into a trap.

"You're wearing your heart on your sleeve, big
brother," Kaleb said in a slow Southern drawl as he
calmly reached over his brother's arm to take a
deep sip of his beer.

Kade released him just as roughly as he had
jacked him up. "Mind your business," he growled
before he walked away from his brother.

From her spot in the front yard, Garcelle watched
the scene unfold between Kade and his brother.
Kade walked farther in the back and out of her view.
When she shifted her eyes to Kaleb, he held up his
can of beer in a salute to her before he strolled away,
with a smile.

She turned her head again, and she saw Zorrie,
Lisha, and Kade's sister, Kaitlyn, talking as they looked
in her direction. Lisha's and Kaitlyn's eyes were warm
and amused, but if looks could kill, Zorrie would have
dropped her in the blink of an eye.

"Something wrong?" Joaquin asked, looking
down at her.

"No," she told him, even though her thoughts were
full of Kade.

She was with another man and hadn't been
within five feet of Kade, and he still sent her pulse
racing with one look. "I'll be right back," she told
Joaquin, needing a moment to herself.

Garcelle made her way through the crowd and
climbed the stairs to the house. She almost walked
into Bianca, who was leaving the house.

"Garcelle ... Garcelle ... Garcelle," Bianca said
teasingly.

"What?"

Bianca grabbed her hand. "Well, I need to talk to
you, Mamasita," she said over her shoulder as she
pulled Garcelle behind her and into the kitchen.

"Slow down, Bianca," Garcelle said as she almost
tripped over her own feet.

"Okay, so tell me. What kind of spell have you put
on my brother-in-law?"

Garcelle walked around the kitchen, pretending
she was more interested in the decor than she actually was. "I am so glad your father redecorated in
here. It looks much better than that mess your exstepmother had in here. Did you help him pick the
new colors?"

"Oh no, Garcelle, you're stalling."

Garcelle sat at the island and stared at her friend.
"Is your daddy dating that loca lady Mimi?" she
countered, deliberately changing the subject again.

"Touche," Bianca said, with a laugh. "I'm not
happy about it all. I love my friend, but I don't think
she's right for my father. I just haven't worked up
the nerve to tell them how I feel. Okay, so I've said
my peace. Your turn."

Garcelle shrugged. "Okay, Ms. Nosy. I think Kade Strong is the sexiest man I have ever laid these eyes
on. He makes my heart go really fast, you know."

"I knew it!" Bianca slammed her hand down
against the island top.

"But ... he still loves his wife, and there is no
chance for us," Garcelle said sadly.

Bianca reached for her hand. "Maybe you can be
the woman to pull him out of his mourning. Do
you love him?"

Garcelle shook her head. "No, I would be lying if
I said I was in love, but I do care about him. He's
such a good father to Kadina, and he's really good
and fair to his workers. I like him a lot."

"And you want him bad, don't you?"

"I do have naughty dreams of having sex with
him in odd places ... like riding him on top of a
horse." Garcelle's cheeks warmed at her admission.

Bianca bit on the tip of her index finger as she
looked off into the distance, with a reflective expression. "Kahron and I have done some things,
but ... on horseback, huh?"

"Si, horseback."

Both women did a high five before they fanned
themselves.

Zorrie saw Garcelle's date, sans Garcelle, in the
backyard, with the rest of the men. Her heart raced
as her eyes sought out Kade. She felt relief when
she saw him standing on the sidelines, watching the
men play cards. For a moment, she thought he had
snuck off with Garcelle.

Everyone at the cookout was buzzing about the obvious attraction between Kade and Garcelle. Zorrie
hadn't missed their long stares and clandestine peeks at one another. She knew for sure that Kade was sniffing around Garcelle's hot-blooded skirts.

Zorrie wasn't too concerned. Garcelle was a Latin
servant ... good enough to screw, but not to marry.
No, in the end, Kade would want a proper woman
as his wife. Namely, her. And she planned to see that
it happened sooner rather than later.

Kade was quiet for the rest of the night. He had
a lot on his mind. Or at least someone was on his
mind a lot.

"Damn, Kade. Pay attention, man," Kaleb complained as he counted their tricks. "They got a two."

Kade winced at the score. In whist, there were
thirteen tricks up for grabs. With the two teams
playing against each other, any trick over six was a
win. And then each trick over six was counted as
the score. Their opponents ran a two, meaning
they had eight tricks to their five.

"My bad, man," said Kade.

"Shit. Not your bad. Our good, baby. Don't sweat
that," one of the Jamison twins joked as he reached
across the table to give Kahron a dap.

"We just need a one to send them from here.
Let's get to work," Kahron added as he pushed his
shades up on his head.

Kaleb grumbled as he dealt a new hand. "Pay attention, and get your mind off of you know who,"
he said, with a hard stare at his older brother.

As Kade arranged his hand, he looked up and
saw Carlos Santos walk up and stand behind Kaleb.
"Carlos, what does podria enamorarme de ti muy, muy
facilmente mean?"

"Man, what the hell are you talking about now?" Kaleb said, with attitude, as he dropped his hand to
the table.

Kade ignored him. His body was tense as he
looked at the older man.

"It means `I could fall in love with you so very,
very easily."'

Kade felt a chill race over his body.

Dozens of spotlights filtered through red film shown on
the lone figure sitting in the middle of the dance floor. Kade's
arms were tied behind his back as he sat completely ... and
devastatingly ... nude. His tall and muscular frame
seemed to dominate the wooden chair as he calmly waited.
Fine silver hair highlighted the strong contours of his chest,
dwindling to a fine line through his rigid abdomen and
then spreading out to cover and surround the thick root of
his dark penis, hanging between his open thighs.

A soft and sultry Spanish song began to play, and the
fine hairs on his body stood on end. The muscle between
his thighs stirred to life. His heart pounded.

Garcelle came spiraling toward him in that crimson red
dress, and their eyes locked when she stopped dramatically
before him, with a flirty smile. She bent over to hotly trace
his lips with her skillful tongue. She laughed huskily as he
jostled about in the chair in an effort to free his tied hands.

His solid penis rose to attention as she slid her hands
from his broad shoulders and down the length of his chest
before she moved to stand behind him. She pressed her breasts to the back of his neck as her hand descended and
surrounded his steel inches. She stroked upward in a
rhythmic motion.

"Please, Garcelle," he begged as he tilted his head back
against her bosom.

She jiggled her breasts against him before she stepped
back. She loved how he twisted and turned in the chair to
get her in his line of vision. She moved back around him
as the tempo of the music quickened. She shook her hair
free, letting it spill down over her shoulders, before she slid
down to the floor in a frontward split.

Kade's eyes burned a hole through her soul as she lifted
her voluminous dress skirt to show him how she lightly
worked her hips up and down as if riding the floor like a
lover. His penis bobbed like a diving board as he clenched
the muscles of his abdomen.

Garcelle rose to her feet, releasing the dress skirt, and it
floated down around her hips and thighs as she removed
the straps of her dress. They fell from her softly rounded
shoulders with ease, exposing her small, but firm and
plump, breasts to his eager eyes.

His mouth gaped open as his heart pounded wildly in
his chest. She swiveled her hips as she used her thumbs to
work the dress down her hips. It fell with a whoosh down
her thick, shapely legs to the floor.

Kade's penis ached at the sight of her nakedness. "Come
ride me," he ordered thickly as sweat covered his body.

Garcelle brought her hands up to play lightly in the soft
and neat curls covering her core. She walked to him, with
the strength and grace of a panther. "Are you ready for me
now?" she asked in a thick Spanish accent.

He tilted his head back to look up at her with heat- and
desire filled eyes. "More than ready."

She straddled his hips, shifting forward so that the hard
base of his penis pressed against the thick lips of her moist opening. She used her hands to guide one pert breast to his
open, eager, and ready mouth.

As Kade's tongue circled her chocolate nipple, Garcelle
rose up on her toes and held his heat with her shaking
hand as she eased down upon it, with a harsh intake of
breath.

He clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow as his hips
bucked upward, off the chair, at the feel of her tightly surrounding him. Throbbing against him. Soaking him with
her juices. "Garcelle," he roared.

She arched her back, her head nearly reaching the floor,
as she worked her hips and rode him. At times she worked
his shaft slow and sensual. At other times she was fast and
furious.

The muscles in his arms, shoulders, and back tightened
as he pulled against the bonds holding him. With one
final savage grunt, he tore the material that secured him,
and he was free to touch her.

He didn't use those hands to grab at her buttocks or
breasts but to pull her upper body to him before he lightly
grasped the sides of her face. "Podria enamorarme de ti
muy, muy facilmente," he whispered to her tenderly.

Tears filled Garcelle's eyes as she lowered her head to kiss
him deeply....

Garcelle eyes fluttered open as she shook off her
hot daydream. When she touched her cheeks, she
wasn't surprised to find that like in her heated and
emotional dream, she was crying. Everything had
seemed so real.

The sex. The emotions. His words. She sighed.

In the last two weeks, her relationship with Kade
had gone from awkward to distant to near nonexistent. They only saw each other in passing. He had
even started leaving her paycheck on the counter in the kitchen. She wouldn't be surprised if he let
her go from the job next.

That would probably make Zorrie Kintrell climax
all over herself. Somehow the woman's vacation
had been extended to a whole month. Didn't she
have a job to get back to?

Okay. In truth, what really had her going was the
obvious closeness she saw developing between the
woman and Kade. Correction. Between Zorrie,
Kade, and Kadina.

Thankfully, Zorrie was visiting the house less and
less during the day. Just when Garcelle thought the
woman had found her life, she discovered Zorrie
saved her "visits" for the evening ... when Kade was
home. Like clockwork, little Kadina would innocently fill Garcelle in on all the fun the threesome
had had the night before ... at dinner, the movies,
the local fairs and festivals, the water parks, etc., etc.

To Garcelle, Zorrie was the worst of the worst
man hunters, because she was going after the husband of her dead best friend and she was using a
sweet, innocent child to do it. "Puta," Garcelle muttered under her breath as she walked over to the
window to check on Kadina, who was riding her
bike in the front yard.

Kade was blind if he didn't see MANIPULATOR and
HORNY MAN HUNTER written all over Zorrie's pretty
and vacant face. It frustrated her so much that she
felt like climbing to the top of the house and
scream down at him, "Get your head out of your
ass, Kade Strong."