Seduced by Sin: Sean (Rugged Riders #3) (7 page)

W
hen we finally got there
, we were lucky to only be thirteen minutes late. Marcus introduced me to his fiancée, Tanya.

“Sorry, we’re a little late. We both took too much time getting ready,” Sean said, pulling my chair out for me.

“No problem,” Tanya exclaimed. “We understand.”

The waiter brought out two more menus, and Marcus ordered a bottle of their best champagne and some appetizers.

“Everything’s on me tonight, guys,” Marcus said.

“Thanks, bro,” Sean said. “And I’ve got the tab on our next double date.”

“Next date?” Marcus leaned forward on the table. “Really? Things must be getting serious with you and Karlina.”

I smiled.

“I am serious about Karlina,” Sean confirmed, lacing his fingers with mine under the table.

After we had finished our dinner, none of us had much room for dessert and decided to call it a night and go our separate ways.

As Sean pulled up in the parking garage of my condo, he turned to me and said, “You know, I was serious tonight about what I said.”

“You mean about us being serious?”

He nodded. “I’ve never felt this way with anyone. And I trust you. I’m not just saying that.”

“I believe you,” I said.

We rode the elevator up to my tenth-floor apartment.

I knew just as well as he did that I was emotionally attached to him. Every time we saw each other or spoke to each other, I was content and I felt safe. But I also felt that we were moving along too quickly. I needed time to make sure that this was what I wanted—to feel so strongly connected to a man that nothing else and no one else mattered. But I didn’t want to lose Sean during the process. We finally arrived on the tenth floor and started walking up the hall to my condo.

“Emotions lie, but the heart doesn’t. Have you ever heard the saying, follow your heart?”

I nodded and turned, my back to the door of my condo.

“Well, I am following my heart, like for the first time in forever. And I have no control over it. Not this time. There’s a difference between being in love and loving someone. Karlina, I—”

I placed my index finger lightly against his lips and gently moved his face down to mine with my other hand on the back of his neck. “Don’t talk…just kiss me.”

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the satin-smooth touch of his lips and the warmth of his tongue tangling with mine. He placed both of his hands on my waist and pulled me closer to him. His body felt so good against mine; it felt like we fit together perfectly. I moved one of my hands to meet his on my waist and moved it lower to my ass. He didn’t pass up my blunt invitation and moved his hands under my skirt so that we were skin to skin. He caressed my panty-less hips, thighs, and ass.

“I could make love to you right here,” he whispered against my lips.

“Let’s go inside.” I pulled away from him and unlocked my condo door.

As soon as he got the door closed, he pulled my dress straps down my shoulders, unfastened my bra, freed my breasts, and was already kissing me there. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He carried me over to the living room and lay me down on the sofa, without pulling our bodies apart. We kissed until our lips were swollen.

“Karlina, I can’t get enough of you. I’m addicted to you, like a drug. I feel fulfilled, pleased every time I’m with you. I would give up my Twizzlers if I could eat you every day.”

We both managed to giggle amid the passion.

He directed the head of his dick to my center.

“Sean,” I gasped.

“Karlina, I love you.”

He plunged himself into me and sent my mind and body to some other level, rendering me speechless.

After we had both reached climax, we lay enveloped in each other's arms as our breaths regulated and our body temperatures returned to normal. He finally pulled out of me but lay on his side so that we were facing one another on the sofa.

“Did you really mean that?” I asked.

“I always mean what I say, Karlina. I promise you, that was no lie or exaggeration. I just wanted you to know, and I’ll prove it to you.”

“Sean, I…I’ve never said those words to any man.”

“That’s okay. I don’t want to push you. But I hope that you feel the same way that I feel about you. I’ll give you time, Karlina. If that’s what you need, I’ll give you time. But I want us to work.

Sean broke the uncomfortable silence by kissing me on the cheek. “Can I start a bath for you?”

“Only if you join me.” We got up, and I led him into my bedroom.

My oversized bathtub was just big enough for the two of us to soak in with my back rested against his chest while we enjoyed the jets.

We sat in silence, and I thought about what had just happened. A man had confessed that he loved me. Those three little words had only been said to me once before. I didn’t want to get caught up in the emotions because I knew all too well that when the feelings were gone, love would soon diminish.

Oh, yes, we had hot, steamy sex and couldn’t get enough of each other. But what would happen when sex wasn’t enough or no longer desirable, would he love me then? What, then, would happen when the love was gone? Would we drift apart and never hear from each other again? There was no way I would bring another man home to my parents, only to have them disappointed a short time later when we broke up because he wanted something different. It had happened before and I wasn’t going through it again.

What about the things that I didn’t know about Sean? A man with everything going for him was in love with me. Me? Why was he single? He was handsome, he was wealthy, he was smart, he had a dick to die for, and he was a very generous lover. Was he too good to be true, or was he just everything that I needed?

I turned around and looked at Sean. He had his eyes closed, but he opened them the instant the water moved around us.

“Were you sleeping?” I asked.

“Oh, gosh, yes…I’m so tired,” he said. Of course, he was. Sean may be a lot of things, both good and maybe even bad, but he was also a very hard worker. And hard workers deserved a break.

I lifted myself out of the bathtub. “Come on, let’s get dry before we both catch a cold.”

After I had toweled myself dry, I told him that he could dress in my bedroom and I would be right out to let him out of the building so that he could head home. I quickly smoothed some lotion over my skin before covering myself in a bathrobe and following him out. I smiled when I saw him laid back on my bed, his head tilted to the side in what looked like deep sleep. He had wrapped the towel around his lower half and didn’t even bother to get dressed. He looked so damn good. Even while sleeping.

I walked over to him and opened the bath towel, revealing his manhood—the one thing that pleased me so much. When I reached down and caressed him, I heard him groan. His eyes opened.

“Hmmm. You don’t want to do that if you can’t handle what’ll come next,” he teased.

I could feel him slowly come to attention as I stroked him with my fingers. “I think that I can handle this.”

He sat up on my bed, apparently aroused from my fingers kneading him. I slowly lowered myself in front of him and bent down to lick the head with a wet tongue.

“You are a sexaholic, woman.”

“Are you complaining?” I asked, moving my tongue up and down his shaft.

“Oh, no…I love it.” He laid back down and placed his arms behind his head.

When I took him in my mouth, he gasped in pleasure, almost bucking off the bed. I began sucking him slowing, trying to take all of him in. I took him out of my mouth and began to lick the sensitive area below the head. The moan he gave in response assured me that he was enjoying every minute of it.

“Now who’s handling whom?” I teased, kissing the head of his cock.

“You’re in control now, but, oh, you just wait until I—”

I took him in my mouth again, moving back and forth over his erection.

“I don’t want to come yet…I want to be inside of you.” He slowly pulled himself from my lips.

I stood up in front of him and placed a knee on either side of his legs. He wasted no time lifting himself up to lick my nipples. He lay all the way back on my silk sheets again and pulled me by the thighs so that my sex was positioned over his mouth and began kissing and licking the inside folds. He teased my clit with the tip of his tongue until I was on the verge of orgasm.

“I don’t want to come yet either. Let’s do this together.”

I slid downward until the head of his dick was propped against my sex.

“You’re in control.” He grinned.

Without protest, I took the full length of him inside. He grabbed my waist, lifted me up, and guided me down again—hard—on his shaft.

We reached orgasm together and then lay on the bed, spent and exhausted.

“I’m going to take a quick nap. Just a quick nap…and then I’m going to leave,” I heard Sean mumble as we both curled up in each others arms.

As I fell asleep, I hoped that I still had my alarm set from this morning. I didn’t want to be late for work the next day. I didn’t want to leave Sean’s embrace to check, though; it felt too good…and so right.

“
K
arlina
…” Someone called my name. I opened my eyes. It was Sean. He was leaning over me, fully clothed. He must have been up for a while. I hadn’t heard him.

“I gotta go, beautiful. Okay?”

“What time is it?” I squinted at my clock to see the time.

“It’s about three thirty in the morning.”

“Oh…”

“We both fell asleep. I need to leave. I’ve got some appointments early.”

“Okay…” I yawned, rolling over on the bed. “Want me to walk you out?”

“No, you stay in bed. I’ll turn the lock when I leave.” He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “You’re beautiful, even in your sleep.”

I
woke
up at my designated time to the blaring buzz of my alarm clock.

“Arggh!” I yelled at the thing before turning it off. I got up to stretch. “Ouch!” My leg muscles ached. I suddenly remembered what had happened the night before and smiled.

After I had gotten dressed and prepared for work, I decided that I would leave early so that I could grab breakfast from the coffee shop on the way in to the office.

“
D
id you have breakfast
?” Sean asked. It was Saturday morning, and we were on the way to his investment property.

“Yes, I made an omelet. That should keep me going until lunch.”

“Good. You might need it. Are you sure that you’re up for this?”

I had agreed to help with the demolition. I had really enjoyed being with him last Saturday, learning the ropes of his money-making hobby, so when he’d invited me again, there was no way I was going to say no.

“I’m sure, I’ll be fine. I’ll try to stay out of the way most of the time.”

“Okay. I don’t expect anything from you, you know that. I just like your company,” he said, looking at me with a smile. “I have my laptop in the back so we might be able to brainstorm some ideas for that website I was telling you about if we have downtime. I have the electrician coming by sometime this morning, too, so we’ll be doing a lot of waiting. I’ll also be monitoring and helping out with the demolition and making sure the contractor knows what I want done as far as changes to the floor plan.”

“Sounds good.”

“Pretty soon you’ll know all my secrets. Maybe I’ll offer you a job as my partner.” His voice was sarcastic but serious at the same time.

“I may take you up on that offer.”

“So, you and Tasha went shopping yesterday? What did you buy?”

Tasha and I had found some time after work Friday to hang out at Lenox Mall. We’d talked over snacks and coffee, but mostly, we’d shopped until our arms were tired from holding the bags.

“I got some skirts for work, some new gym sneakers, and a few lingerie pieces,” I replied.

“You’ll have to give me a show later on,” he teased. “Especially of the lingerie.”

I smiled. “Count on it.”

When Sean and I arrived at the house, there were already a couple of cars in the driveway. A few men were standing outside, huddled together over a clipboard, deep in conversation. I looked around and was pleased to see that there was no BMW around. Maybe Jessica wouldn’t pop up unexpectedly today as she had before. Sean grabbed his laptop bag and some other items before getting out of the car to let me out. The men greeted him as he walked up to the house.

“Sean, how are you?” a big, burly, dark-skinned man greeted him.

“Doing well, Joe. How ‘bout you?”

“Good, I don’t think I’ve met this pretty lady right here.” The man turned to look at me, holding out his hands, which were covered in what looked like paint and cement dust.

“Joe, this is Karlina.”

“Nice to meet you, Joe,” I said, shaking his hand.

The other men had scattered after Sean had gotten out of the car and were now working. One man was climbing a ladder on the side of the building, and another was bending over something that looked like a big pressure washer. I followed Sean into the house.

“Joe is the plumber. He’ll be running pipes into the master bedroom so that we can add a master bath. This home will go from two to three baths.”

When we got inside, Sean walked over to the kitchen area and set his laptop out on the counter. “I want to show you something,” he said. “This program I have is really cool. It allows you to enter the dimensions of each room and do space planning.”

We were leaning over the counter waiting for his laptop to boot up. I leaned in and gave him a kiss. “You look so cute when you’re serious.”

“Oh, really? I’m just excited about my new side business. Racing is in my blood, but I don’t want it to be all me, you know.”

“I feel you,” I said.

He navigated through several files and found the one he was looking for. As he showed me the floor plan for each room, I couldn’t help but think about the other night and the confession of his love for me. I could seriously live like this.

“The model for the kitchen seems to be missing something,” he said, observing the floor plan. “We have the cherry cabinets, granite countertops, tile floor, and tile backsplash. We’ll be bringing in stainless steel appliances. We’re doing extra cabinet space beside the refrigerator.” Sean checked things off verbally as he looked around the kitchen. “We want to get this room right. We need the kitchen and master bedroom to sell this house.”

I took in the room as he was deep in thought, looking around the kitchen with his arms folded across his chest, a slight furrow to his brow. “It’s pretty straightforward…I know exactly what’s missing,” I began. “Think for a second about what many women love to do.”

He turned to look at me quizzically and then looked back at the kitchen. “Cook? But I thought about it a whole lot already. I honestly don’t know what’s missing.”

I walked to the middle of the kitchen and then threw up my hands. “A center island!”

His face lit up. “You’re a genius! Why didn’t I think of that? That will probably take fifteen percent of my cushion, but I could see that paying for itself when the house is sold.”

“I guess it’s good to get a second opinion sometimes.”

“You’re right. We make a good team, you and I. I need to order some materials online for the house. Wanna help me shop?”

He didn’t have to ask me twice.

I
t was almost evening
before we left the house. A couple of men were still working inside doing demolition and preparation of the new kitchen when we left. Sean had asked me Friday evening to bring my overnight bag so that we could enjoy a movie night together. I didn’t have any objections to spending the night with him.

“I bought you something yesterday.” He was chopping up some tomatoes for a salad. He had also agreed that he would cook me dinner.

I walked over to the kitchen area to watch him. He had a cookbook open to the recipe for the meal he was supposed to be cooking. “Hey, you said you were a good cook. What’s with the instruction manual?”

“I am, just wait and see. I like this recipe, but sometimes I forget to add some of the ingredients.”

“I’m only joking. I like cookbooks myself. Are you sure you don’t want me to help with anything? I can chop the tomatoes for the salad or something.”

“No, I’m making you dinner. You just sit down and I’ll do the cooking. Next time, we’ll switch.”

“That’s a deal.”

“There’s a gift for you in the closet by the door.”

“Okay.” I walked over to the closet, opened the door, and picked up a gold garment box. “What’s this for?” I walked back over to the kitchen and placed the box on the counter beside him.

“Well, it’s for you. Open it.”

I opened the box and revealed several matching, silk bra and panty sets. “These are nice. Thank you.”

“Since you went shopping already, it looks like you’ll have more than enough lingerie. But I thought that I should at least replace the ones that I ripped.”

I held a pair of panties and checked the size. Then I checked the bra for the size, as well. “Wait a minute. How did you know I was a C-cup?”

“Oh…well…I kind of looked when I spent the night at your house.” He smiled innocently.

“Sneaky…sneaky…” I said, shaking my head and waving my index from side to side.

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“I know.” I tiptoed over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

Sean placed some pasta into the boiling water and then he stirred the clam sauce that was simmering on the stove beside it. “Would you like some wine or something to drink while you wait?”

“Sure.”

As he poured a glass of wine for me, I stared at the taut muscles of his arms and shoulders. He was fine as hell, even just standing there. I just adored him. Everything about him was irresistible. The way he looked and dressed, the way he gave undivided attention to everything he did. It turned me on the way he took extra care in preparing the food. And it turned me on the way he took extra care in pleasing me every time we made love. He handed me the chilled wine before rinsing several stems of green onions and parsley.

“Sean, can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead…” He began chopping the parsley and green onions on the cutting board.

“Jessica seems like a sweet girl. But when I met her the other day, I couldn’t help but notice that she was really drawn to you.”

The consistent chopping sounds Sean was making against the cutting board stopped. He didn’t look up at all.
Chop. Chop… Chop.
He began cutting the parsley and onions again.

“I told you already. She’s a friend through one of my old sponsors.” Sean gathered up the chopped parsley and onions into a small circle on the cutting board.

“Yeah, that’s what you said. That’s all you said.”

He didn’t say anything.

“Anyway…” I looked him in the eyes. “I think she has a crush on you. And I’m not just saying that. I’m a woman and I can sense things from other women.”

He laughed, uncomfortably. “Okay…”

“I mean, you’re obviously good-looking, so I imagine that you have a handful of women who have a crush on you. And that’s okay. Men are going to be men. Women are going to be women. I just wanted to bring it to your attention and get some clarification. If I didn’t know you or her at all, I would have thought that the two of you had been…extra friendly with each other before.”

“You’re right, there are a couple women who have expressed their feelings and thoughts about getting me in their beds.”

“And like I said, that’s understandable…”

“Don’t worry, Karlina. I’m not dating anyone but you. I don’t want to be with anyone but you, and if you are having doubts, I’ll do whatever you want to prove that to you.” He had finally met my gaze with promise in his eyes.

“Whatever?” I asked.

“Whatever…” he confirmed and then pulled me by the waist and kissed me gently. “My past is history. You’re my future now. I love
you
, Karlina. I really do.” He was looking into my eyes.

My lips were open, and the first word was on the tip of my tongue but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. I pulled away and changed the subject. “Everything smells so good…”

“Thank you. Things should be ready in a few more minutes.”

Sean and I finally sat down to the candlelight dinner that he had prepared so miraculously for me. The uncomfortable atmosphere that had developed between us disappeared when we began to talk about other things.