If You Need Me: The Ashford Legacy, Book 1 (6 page)

Rayna just stared up at his face. How could she love that face so much and yet be truly seeing it for the first time? She finally smiled back. “Nice to meet you, Kyle.”

She placed her hand in his but couldn’t even pump it up and down once skin connected to skin. She didn’t know what magic or chemistry was involved in physical touch, but her pulse spiked and her stomach flipped like she was on a rollercoaster and had just made the big plunge. She froze, holding her breath as her equilibrium was restored.

And then it was as if she couldn’t let go of his hand. Instead, she stepped back, pulling him with her, and closed the door. She knew she looked like a hellish mess. That mortification, combined with the magnitude of the moment, had her peeping up at him and then averting her gaze, unable to meet his eyes.

“Hey.” His hand came to her cheek and it shot electricity straight through her veins—pure, raw voltage, jump-starting her already fluttering heart. He tilted her chin up and bent down so she had to look him in the eyes. “You don’t have to be scared of me, all right? I just came for a short visit. Nothing’s going to happen tonight.”

As she squeezed his hand and held on, a breath eased from her constricted lungs. She was safe. But what was that about a— “Short visit? You just flew across the country. Aren’t you staying the night?”

His easy demeanor told her that this was her friend Kyle, not video-chat-after-the-challenge Kyle. “If you have space on the couch—cool. But I already put in a reservation at a hotel down the street. No worries and no pressure, okay? Honest to God, Rayna, I just wanted to see you.” He raised her fingers to his lips like they were a sacred relic. “I just wanted to touch your hand.”

She wasn’t sure what to do next. Being a hermit didn’t prepare her for times like these. What would her heroines do? A vision flashed into her mind of her pushing Kyle up against the wall and kissing him senseless then reaching down to cup him through his jeans.

Her cheeks burned hotter, and she dropped his hand, casually backing away. “Uh…come in. Do you have any bags?”

He gestured to the gray canvas bag looped over his shoulder. It looked barely half full. “Just my backpack. I didn’t want to waste time packing.”

She raised a brow at that. “Obviously not.”

Silence hung in the air for a minute too long. Kyle had just set his pack down when something caught his attention. He made his way to the other side of the living room. “There’s my girl!”

Rayna smiled. It couldn’t have been a mere seven hours ago that she’d been in tears, certain that Bratty was on the verge of death. And Kyle had come through for her. “You can pick her up. You heard the doctor say it’s best to keep her active.”

Kyle reached into the enclosure and picked up the hen. Rayna was surprised Bratty let him, but then maybe she recognized the familiar sound of his voice. “Wow. She really is skin and bones, Ray.”

Rayna grimaced. “I know.” Could she be any worse of a pet parent?

“Did you try the tube-feeding yet?”

This subject felt right. If she relaxed her mind, she could imagine Kyle’s comforting voice coming from the speakers instead of from just a few feet away. “No…since the vet already fed her, I gave her some mash and thought I’d let her rest up, then start in the morning.”

He held Bratty to his chest and she clucked out a low growl, but then her name was
Bratty
for a reason. Kyle stepped close to Rayna so that Bratty was sandwiched between them. “There’s your mommy. She was crying over you today. I almost pissed my pants in a board meeting, all because you decided it was time to sit on some imaginary eggs.”

He chuckled, but Rayna’s jaw went slack. “I called you out of a board meeting? Are you serious? And then you got on a plane and left? Holy shit, Kyle. What if you get fired?”

His chuckle turned into real laughter, and he reached out to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry, Ray. Everything is fine. I promise.”

Their eyes locked and his smile faded. When his hand stilled in her hair and slid lower, his fingers cradling the sensitive spot just under her ear, Rayna turned her cheek into his touch. “Thank you. The way you were there for me today… I don’t have many people like that in my life. I swear, sometimes I’m not sure if you’re real, Kyle, or if you’re just a place I go to in my mind at night.”

The hard planes of his jaw tightened and his gaze burned through her, lighting a fire deep and low in her belly. “I’m real.” His voice was raw, as though she’d struck a nerve. “What we have, whatever this is—it’s real.”

Bratty flapped wildly, sending a rush of air and free-flying black feathers toward Kyle’s face. His head rocked back like he wasn’t sure if he should drop Bratty or squeeze her tighter to rein in the chaos. Rayna clamped her hands over the bird’s wings and put her back in the nesting box, shutting the hatch to make it dark. Chickens went to bed when the sun went down, after all, and she couldn’t expect Bratty to continue with these city-girl hours. Yeah, it had nothing to do with wanting Kyle to herself. “Sleep tight, you little ruffian—growling at our guest.
Humph.
”

Kyle snorted in agreement. “Is that the thanks I get for finding people to shove tubes down her throat? Kids these days… No appreciation whatsoever.”

Rayna plucked a stray feather from his shoulder and put it in his hand. “Well, she did leave you a parting gift.”

He laughed but didn’t move to close his fist around the feather. He simply let her hand rest in his. “I’m glad to see you, Ray.”

The feeling of standing before Kyle, close enough to touch him, to actually
be
touching him, was releasing a flood of endorphins in Rayna’s body. She wasn’t sure if she should sit down before she got wobbly or simply slide her arms around his waist and hold on. Holy shit, he was hot. “I’m glad to see you, too, Kyle.”

Her gaze caught on their hands—her smaller one with its short, red-painted nails and his larger one, big and strong but not rough. She could already imagine what those fingers would feel like stroking between her legs, their slightly cooler skin sending a rush of sensation over her heated folds.

Her fingers involuntarily curled into his, and she realized her lips were parted, realized she looked like she wanted to strip his clothes off with her teeth and follow with a tongue bath. She blinked, straightening her face and trying to moderate her voice before the next words slipped into dangerously sultry territory. “You’re not staying at a hotel. At least not tonight. My couch is plenty comfortable.” Oh, the ways he could take her on that couch…

“Thanks. I promise not to keep you up as late as I did last night. I know you’re on a deadline, and I don’t want to be any trouble.”

She smiled at that, running her gaze from his head to his shoes. Yeah, he was trouble, all right.

Kyle put the feather in his jeans pocket then linked his fingers through hers. “I’ll treasure it. I thought for a minute there, you might be trying to slip me a coin.”

She was confused for a moment, then she remembered that if the events of the day had unfolded like normal, he would have rewarded her tonight for going outside to find a coin. Her clit gave a throb, thinking of that little piece of currency on the kitchen counter and what it could mean. “You jerk. Do you know how hard that one was?”

“You did it?”

“Yes, I did.”

“That’s amazing, Ray. Would it be patronizing if I told you how proud I was of you?” She saw the admiration in his eyes, and something darker, too, something that made her lick her dry lips and think of all the ways he could reward her.

“Well, don’t be too proud. I almost gave up and fished a quarter from my wallet.”

He made a mock gasp and squeezed her fingers tighter. “You would have lied to me?”

“Hell yes.”

He used his grip on her hand to pull her an inch closer. “Why?”

Her lashes beat against her cheeks as she looked down, but then she swallowed and met his eyes. “Because I like to see you touch yourself.”

“Do you?” His nostrils flared and his chest expanded like a predator scenting blood. “Is that all you like?”

“No…” Her skin felt stretched thin and her nipples tightened. She knew that low, smoky tone. “I like to touch myself and imagine it’s your hand.”

His stance shifted, like he was uncomfortable, but a glance below the belt told Rayna that if anything was making him uncomfortable, it was the rapidly growing erection pressing against the inside of his jeans. “I shouldn’t have come,” he said. “I’m an idiot. Trying to act all noble. I’m not noble, Ray. I want you so fucking bad.”

If seeing the bulge in his pants wasn’t enough, his words sent a rush of moisture to her pussy. What she said next was going to change her life, because once she experienced Kyle in the flesh, she would never be able to go back. “I want you, too. It’s all I can think about.”

“I didn’t come here to pressure you. I won’t be able to—” he blew out a breath from between clenched teeth, “—I won’t ever forgive myself for screwing this up if you run away from me.”

She’d spent her adult life running scared, but she already knew by the fierce desire coursing through her body that she wasn’t going to be running tonight. Instead of answering him with words, she did something infinitely harder. She closed the space between them, rose to her tiptoes and kissed him.

The smell of him, spicy soap and the hint of faded cologne, went straight to her head. His mouth was firm over hers when he returned the kiss, but his hands on her shoulders were gentle. He didn’t press too close, giving her space to put her hands between them and push him away if she chose. But she didn’t want to push him away tonight.

His lips teased the corner of her mouth. “God, Rayna, you taste so good. Nothing I imagined can live up to it.”

She had no control over her hands when they clenched his upper arms through his sweater then trailed down to clasp his bottom. Oh shit. His ass was so firm she swore his cheeks were chiseled from pure muscle. She gasped, just a small breathy sound when an image flitted across her mind—an image of that ass, clenching, thrusting, propelling him into her.

At her small gasp, his hand tangled in her hair, tightening almost painfully. He kissed her roughly, his silky tongue pressing between her teeth to tangle with hers. It had been so long since she’d kissed a man like this. Well…she wasn’t sure if she’d ever kissed a man exactly like this. Kyle did something to her, melding the desires of her mind and body in a way that made her want to give herself to him completely, in any way he would have her.

“I don’t want you to stay anywhere else tonight,” she repeated. “I want you here. With me. In me.”

“Oh fuck.” He kissed her neck, drawing his tongue along the pulse in her throat. “I’m not going anywhere.” He took her hand and pressed it to his jeans over his cock. “I’m like a bull elk in rut. I think your name, I see your chat light on, my dick gets hard as rock.
In you
is the only location on this planet that’s gonna satisfy me.”

She couldn’t help her giggle. “What do you know about bull elks?”

“Hey, I watch
Animal Planet
. I can’t even do that these days without visions of mounting you.”

She chuckled like he was teasing, but his eyes told a different story. “Sounds like a show I’d like to watch.”

Without further coaxing, his hand slipped into the waistband of her sweats. He looked for the string tie, inspecting the ratty pants for the first time. “I’ve never seen these before.”

She smiled and yanked the tie for him. “It’s my cleaning outfit. You came earlier than I expected.”

“Heaven forbid I ever come earlier than you expect. I’ll hand in my man card and be done with it.”

All thoughts of a reply fled when his long finger delved under her panties, straight into the folds of her swollen labia. They were engorged and so sensitive she could feel every detail of the pad of his finger over her slick skin.

He kissed her hard, swallowing her moan as he twisted his hand, exploring her depths. When he pulled back, his eyelids were heavy. “You’re so fucking wet. Shit, Rayna. Is that how wet you get for me?”

She tilted her pelvis, pressing harder against his hand as he leaned in to kiss the curl of her ear. “I’m always wet for you. You think when you see me is the only time I get off imagining you? I broke my favorite vibrator last week.”

She felt his soft laughter as bursts of air against her cheek. “Yeah? Well, do your worst, Erotica Girl. You can’t break me.”

When he added a second finger to the first, Rayna went weak in the knees and slumped against his solid chest.

“You’re so tight,” he whispered against her ear, gently catching her earlobe between his teeth and giving it a nibble.

Her chest made a small purr of delight, but she was slightly embarrassed by the wet sound of his fingers pumping into her. Did her dripping onto his hand reveal how long it’d been since she’d done anything but pleasure herself? Did she seem desperate for him? Because she was.

His hard, jean-clad bulge ground against her hip. “Are you gonna hug my cock like that, with this tight pussy of yours?”

She shivered. He knew how she liked him to talk—rough and a little dirty. It was hardly fair that he was touching her for the first time and yet already knew her well enough to breeze past her defenses. “I’m going to do anything you want me to do.”