Lies in Love (23 page)

The balmy spring winds
rushed against Landon’s face as he raced back across town to
Perfect
Petals.
The
only warmth in his body came from the memories of being inside Talia
the night before, the way she moved over him as she rode him, the way
she cried out his name as she climaxed, the sounds she made as he
went down on her to taste her sweetness. When he was only a couple of
blocks away, he was so enraptured by the memories that he nearly ran
into the back of an Escalade at a stoplight. He shook all thoughts
away for a bit longer until he could have her back in his arms.

When he pulled up to the
front of the shop, all of the parking spots were full. He decided to
circle the block and park in the alley to avoid the chaos. Grabbing a
pair of fast food sacks from the saddlebag, he waited for someone to
answer as he knocked at the back door.

The door flew open and Camey
stared out speculatively at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought Talia
lunch.” He held up the bags for Camey’s inspection.

“We’re busy.”
Camey pulled the door shut in his face, but it opened again before
the latch caught.

“Camey?” Talia
playfully swatted Camey. Talia’s hair had fallen to a loose
ponytail, small tendrils escaping from the bunch and laying on either
side of her face. “What’d you bring me?”

“Burgers.” He
handed a bag to Talia and followed her inside.

“Thanks. I’m not
sure if I’ll be able to eat any time soon, but they smell
delicious.” She set the bag on the counter and rushed through
the back room to arrange flowers in a translucent purple vase.

“What’s going
on?” Landon sat on a bare space of counter and watched Talia
work.

“Reina called in sick
and apparently every man within a one-mile radius pissed off their
wives last night, because they are all here buying flowers.”
She pulled a pair of pruners from a drawer and began clipping leaves
from a few stems, shutting the drawer with her hip as she worked.

“Can I help?”
Landon hopped from the counter.

“You know anything
about arranging flowers?” She smiled sardonically.

He shook his head, “No.
But I’m a quick learner.”

Talia paused briefly to
place a chaste kiss on his cheek. “I appreciate the offer, but
there’s not really anything you can do.”

“Okay.” He
hopped back up on the counter to watch her work. She had a way about
her that made even the most menial tasks sexy.

“Tal, some guy just
called wanting to order six dozen red and pink roses, pronto.”
Izzy flitted into the room all bubbly and oblivious. “He needs
them in an hour.”

“Izzy,” Talia
scolded. “Do you not see the line of guys out there? I can’t
deliver flowers right now.” She let out an exasperated cry as
she kept working.

The sound of the phone
ringing had Izzy scampering back to the front.

“Talia?” Landon
watched her continue to work flawlessly on the bouquet.

“What?” She
didn’t even glance in his direction; she just continued
working.

“I really would like
to help. Could I maybe deliver those flowers for you?”

Talia stopped briefly to
look in his direction. “Really?”

“Sure.” He saw a
sparkle in her eyes that sent his heart racing.

“I’ll pay you.”
She dug around in her pocket before she added, “Here are the
delivery van keys. I’ll have Sara pull the order together and
give you the address. You can use the GPS in the van.”

Before he could turn down
the money, Izzy ran back into the room. “I’ve got a guy
needing an arrangement for a funeral this evening. Can we pull it
off?”

Talia rolled her eyes as she
yelled, “Yes. Get Camey and Sara on it.”

“Got it.” Izzy
immediately disappeared from the room again.

Landon took the keys from
Talia and when their hands held briefly, she whispered, “Thank
you.”

“Tal, I’ve got
two deliveries to make. I don’t have time to work on a
last-minute funeral arrangement.” Camey entered the backroom
with flowers in one hand and waving paperwork in the other.

“Give the deliveries
to Landon. He’s going to fill in for the afternoon.”

Camey gave Landon a
quizzical look. When he approached her to take the paperwork she
whispered, “Don’t screw this up.”

“I don’t plan on
it.”

Camey escorted Landon to the
van, pointing out the different arrangements for each order. “I’m
serious. Don’t screw this up.” She bit off the end of
each word.

“I got it, Camey.”
He closed the back doors to the van and set out for his first job as
a delivery driver.

Things had finally begun to
slow down. All of the arrangements were completed and Landon was out
on the final delivery of the day. Talia had sent Camey and Izzy home
shortly after she flipped the
Closed
sign, leaving her alone with Sara to discuss something that had been
on her mind since Landon left on the first delivery. She found her
sister inside the cooler, tidying up the remainder of flowers.

“Landon was great
today, wasn’t he?”

Sara stopped what she was
doing and eyed her sister. “I guess, yeah.”

“We’ve been
shorthanded since Brandy left and I was thinking maybe Landon might
be a good fit, at least for a little while.”

“Do you really think
that’s the best idea? I mean, you barely know the guy. What
happens when things don’t work out?” Sara’s
response was strangely aggressive.

Talia looked down her nose
at her sister. “When things don’t work out? Thanks for
the vote of confidence, sis.” She turned around to leave, but
stopped at the door. “You know, I don’t need your
permission to hire him. I was just trying to include you in the
decision, but if you’re going to be indignant, I’ll do
this on my own.” Talia walked out of the cooler as Landon
entered the back door.

Sara was right on her heels.
“That’s the way you seem to like it these days.”
She stopped in her tracks when she saw Landon staring, slamming the
cooler door behind her.

“Should I step
outside?” He hadn’t completely entered the building yet
and slowly backpedalled away from the squabble.

“Forget it. I was just
leaving.” Sara grabbed her purse from under one of the counters
and left the shop.

After the door slammed shut
and the shop was quiet, Landon asked, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to
worry about.” Talia carried around a trash receptacle, cleaning
debris off the counters. She wanted her sister’s approval for
hiring Landon and all she got was flack. She yearned to go upstairs
and relax, maybe even eat something. Wiping the last of the leaves
and stems off of the counter, she was startled when Landon’s
arms wrapped around her waist, dropping the trash can when he began
nuzzling her ear.

“Why don’t we go
upstairs? I’ll get your mind off of whatever that was.”

Talia placed her hands over
his and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Mmm.”

He led them to the stairs
and followed her up to the apartment, his hands on her hips the
entire way.

When they were inside her
apartment, Talia turned to face him. “Thank you for your help
today. I don’t know how I’ll ever truly repay you.”

“I’ve got
something in mind.” He lifted her up, wrapping her legs around
his waist before carrying her to the bedroom. Flipping the switch,
the room illuminated and Landon carried Talia to her dresser, setting
her on the surface. His hands grabbed their fill of her backside
before he let go. “Have I told you how sexy your ass looks in
these pants?”

Talia giggled at his absurd
compliment. “Shut up.” They were one of her worst pairs
of dress slacks. On most occasions she avoided them, but they never
wrinkled and she was in a hurry.

“But you look even
sexier out of them.”

She gasped, immediately
stifling her laughter. She never knew just exactly how to react to
the hunger that hid in his eyes.

“I believe I said
something about bending you over here and watching you come.”

Talia was panting, nearly
forgetting to breathe.

Landon lifted her off the
dresser and made quick work of undoing her pants, slowly sliding them
over her legs. Every inch of her was sensitive to his touch, to every
movement he made. He removed her pants, but left her panties in
place.

She reached down to remove
them, but Landon gripped her wrists, putting her hands behind her
back and holding them against the dresser, making her chest to bow
out toward Landon’s keen eyes. With his free hand, he reached
under her shirt and began kneading at her breast. When she moaned, he
pulled the cup away and rolled her nipple between his fingers. She
felt a pool of heat forming between her legs and squirmed in his
grasp.

“Be still,” he
commanded in his sexy way. He pulled her shirt up to expose her
breast and began an oral assault, swirling his tongue around her
nipple.

With each flick of the
tongue, her body became more responsive, and at each movement, Landon
nipped at her flesh. His tongue licked and sucked, but each time her
body leaned into his caress, his teeth sank in a little deeper. It
took everything inside her to finally still beneath him. When his
seduction was no longer met with writhing, he let Talia’s hands
go and in one fluid movement pulled her shirt over her head. He
quickly spun her around to face the mirror, before he recaptured her
wrists in his hand.

With his newfound control he
pulled her hard against him and sucked on the lobe of her ear. She
watched it all unfold in the dresser mirror, one breast fully exposed
as her chest rose and fell with her frantic breathing, his mouth
sucking and licking at the hyperaware flesh of her neck. She was
dripping with want for him and she couldn’t even look him in
the eye. With one hand, he was able to open the clasp to her bra then
push it from her shoulders. Leaning her over the dresser, he pressed
her breasts firmly against the surface, the cold wood sending tingles
through her breasts.

“I’m going to
have you just like this.” He gripped the ponytail at the back
of her neck and pulled her head up so their eyes met in the mirror.
“I’m going to make you scream my name and when you’re
no longer screaming, I’ll fuck you until your legs are too weak
to stand.”

Talia’s head fell
forward when Landon let go of her hair. She was relishing in how
erotic this all was, how sexy his roughness felt. She tried to watch
Landon in the mirror, but he disappeared from view. He’d knelt
down behind her and, before she could wonder what was going on, he’d
pulled her panties down around her thighs and his teeth bit into the
soft flesh of her buttocks. She tried to lift off of the dresser, but
Landon’s deft hands pressed her down onto that cold surface
again.

“Did I say you could
get up?” With his words came a swift
thwap
.
He had spanked her.

Talia felt the sting shoot
through her, between her legs and up to her chest. She was caught
somewhere between angry and aroused. All anger melted away when she
felt Landon’s nose press between her cheeks and his tongue
began its rigorous torture on the soft folds of her center. He
finally removed her panties, then spread her legs for better access.

“You taste so good.”
His tongue returned to that delicate flesh, moving in and out and
circling around, hitting all her sensitive spots. He lapped at her
nub before his tongue was diving in again, circling to touch all
sides of her entrance.

Of their own volition, her
feet pressed her higher until she was teetering on her tiptoes with
her chest pressed firmly against the dresser. She tried to hold
herself together as his tongue continued to move furiously against
her. When she was gasping for air, on the verge of climax, she felt
his teeth graze against her clit and she shattered. As her body
convulsed with her orgasm, his mouth began again, licking and biting
and lapping up every bit of her arousal. She was barely coming down
from her first orgasm when the second began to build and she cried
out, “Fuck me, Landon.” His tongue continued its
agonizing circles as her legs quivered beneath her. He sucked at her
clit when she exploded again, trembling in his grasp, and she moaned,
“Oh god, fuck me now.”

In that moment, Landon’s
cock, fully erect, slammed into her. Each thrust sent another wave of
tremors straight through her. She struggled to think straight as he
pulled her ponytail, forcing her to watch him pound out a tormenting
rhythm. He moved faster, deeper, rocking slightly from side to side,
hitting every single sensitive bit of flesh. The torment of in and
out became too much and her head fell against the mirror. His sack
slapped heavily against her mound over and over, sending her higher.
She gasped for air, screaming in ecstasy as he moved inside her. His
girth filled her, slathered in her own arousal. He was exploiting
things in her that she’d never known existed.