The Lawson Boys: Marty (28 page)

Marty’s voice
deepened. “How about we explore this a little further?”

Oh yeah, that
sounded just right. “What did you have in mind?”

“Oh baby, just
leave yourself in my hands and-”

The sound of
the front door opening was accompanied by Alan’s voice. “Hey. Sorry
to interrupt.”

Belle would
have leaped out of Marty’s arms but his hold on her didn’t relax.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw Alan enter with Sugar tucked
under one arm. She couldn’t stop the bush filling her cheeks, but
Alan just flopped down onto the sofa and Sugar spilled into his
lap. She jumped off with an excited yap and hurtled around the
sofa, her one bright eye fixed on Marty.

“Look out.”
Marty released her. “Sugar’s like a little rocket.” The tiny poodle
launched herself up at Marty, who caught her with an ease that
proved it was an old routine between them. Holding the excited dog
in one arm, her little tongue licking his chin, Marty smiled
ruefully at Belle. “Um...sorry.”

Amused, Belle
reached out to let Sugar sniff her hand. “Because of the dog?”

“No. Alan.”

“Yeah,” said
Alan from his slouched position on the sofa. “I heard that.”

“He’s a good
friend,” Marty continued, ignoring him. “But shit with timing.”

Alan managed to
rouse himself enough to flip Marty off before picking up the remote
and again flicking the TV onto the football game. “I gave you
privacy. I took your dinky dog out for a walk. I’m a great
friend.”

“You could have
stayed out longer. A
lot
longer.”

Alan grinned
over his shoulder, his gaze going from Belle to Marty. “Oh
ho
!”

“Yeah, oh ho.”
Marty frowned at him. “If I have to, I’ll pay you to go away for
the afternoon.”

“There’s not
much left of the afternoon.” Feeling shy around his friend’s
obvious knowledge of what was transpiring between them, Belle
scratched an ecstatic Sugar behind the ears and sought to change
the subject. “What happened to her face?”

All amusement
left Marty as he looked down at Sugar. “I was driving home late one
night and she came running out of the bushes near a house. The car
in front of me hit her, dragged her under the car for a couple feet
before he could stop. She was a mess. Eye hanging out, face all
torn up, bleeding.” He smoothed her ears, rewarded by the lick of
her tiny pink tongue. “I rang Tim and he took care of her. The
microchip she had gave us the owner’s number, but it turned out
she’d died and her nephew had inherited everything. He didn’t want
the dog, however, couldn’t care less about her. He was happy for
her to be put to sleep.” Marty’s mouth tightened. “I bought her
from him.”

“Bought her?”
Belle repeated, surprised. “But he didn’t want her, he could have
just given her to you.”

“Not once the
greedy bastard saw how much Marty cared,” Alan said from the sofa.
“I was with him that night. That prick asked an exorbitant price
and old softie here paid it without a quibble. Now he’s got a girly
dog he dresses in pink clips and ribbons, with a pink collar and
lead. The cushion in her basket is even pink. Your man is touched
in the head.”

Your
man
. Just the words made her feel warm.

“You can talk,”
Marty said. “You were threatening to do a cavity search on him when
you found out what had happened. You’re just lucky he never heard
you or he’d have made a formal complaint.”

Alan just waved
this away and subsided into silence, absorbed once more in the
football game.

Looking at the
tall, muscular, devastatingly handsome man holding the tiny poodle
gently in his big hands, Belle felt the warmth inside her expand,
flowing out, filling her.

Marty truly was
a special man.

She just hoped
she could live up to a man like that.

He glanced up,
his blue eyes inquiring. “What?”

Belle smiled.
“Think Sugar and Cleo will get on?”

“Hey, they’ll
both have me. What’s not to be happy about?”

“Modesty,” Alan
drawled, “Thy name is Martin Lawson.”

“Alan,” Marty
retorted, “Thy name is Dog Sitter.”

Alan
groaned.

Crossing to the
sofa, Marty handed Sugar over to Alan, who took the wriggling
poodle with a resigned air.

“Belle and I
are going out,” Marty said, “and Sugar is staying with her Uncle
Alan, aren’t you, diddums?”

Alan held Sugar
up and studied her. “Well, diddums, we’re having Kentucky Fried
Chicken tonight. You might get the shits from the herbs and guess
who’s going to clean it up? Not Uncle Alan, that’s for sure.”

Marty swatted
Alan lightly across the back of his head. “Take the crumbs off the
chicken, give her only the meat. It’s a treat.”

Alan leered at
him. “Going out all night?”

Marty’s eyes
darkened as he looked across the room at Belle.

She blushed.
Oh boy
.

“I’m for sure
going to be late.” His eyes heated. “Really late.”

Chapter 8

Waiting in
Belle’s lounge room while she changed her clothes into something a
little more appropriate for dinner, Marty had time to clear his
head and rein in his libido. He was determined to court her with
the diligence of a suitor from the respectable days of a bygone
era. Well, for him, anyway. He was used to sex on tap, almost. He’d
never had trouble finding a pretty partner, an eager participant in
sharing an enjoyable few hours followed by gratifying sex.

But Belle was
different. He wanted to prove to her that this was more than just
amusing himself, more than a quick date and sex. More than just
about him. More than just about her. It was
them
.

Tonight he’d
wine and dine her, and tomorrow he’d commence the fine art of
wooing, starting with flowers and a box of chocolates, taking her
to the finest restaurant again that the town had to offer, and set
about convincing her that he was the man for her.

He started off
just fine, being his usual charming self, witty if he did say so,
making her laugh, making her eyes sparkle, making himself feel
pretty pleased with how things were going between them. He chatted
about everything under the sun to cure her of her sudden shyness -
his job, his plans for the future, his parents, his siblings, his
dog Sugar, her cat Cleo, her plans, her life. Flowers, gardens,
anything he could think of, and he was rewarded by her relaxing,
her speech becoming more natural, the laughter in her eyes.

Yes, he started
off just fine, but her laughter was a warm balm to his ears, her
sparkling eyes sucked him into the brilliant depths, her lips were
so plump and juicy looking, and her cleavage - dear God save him,
but he wanted to dive right in there and have a wallow in that
generous bosom. He might not be able to make out the outline of her
nipple - clearly the woman had some serious heavy-duty bras - but
the curves of that luscious bosom just about had his tongue falling
out of his head.

Manfully he
fought to keep his eyes from wandering downwards, not wanting her
to get the wrong idea, but holy cow, was it a battle. Especially
when he thought about what lay lower and how she’d felt when he’d
sunk deep inside her, all hot and wet and tight.

Women might be
able to multi-task, but Marty could do it with the best of them. He
managed to think about her ample, luscious body and the secrets
hidden from his sight, as well as keep up a witty conversation,
even if now and again his voice did grow a little husky with
leashed desire. It was admirable considering how much his
stiffening shaft ached.

Finally he was
taking her home in his rental car, and then he was in her house and
kissing her, making her giggle, taking her in his arms.

Yep, dinner was
nice. The restaurant was nice. The evening was nice. But right now
was bloody awesome, in his opinion. The best part of the evening,
in fact, because he had Belle right where he wanted her - in his
arms.

Half naked.

Hot and sweet
and curvy.

Silken skin and
sizzling passion.

To be truthful,
he’d half imagined that he’d be able to stop after just a kiss and
cuddle and leave her wanting more, while he manfully proved himself
capable of controlling his libido for a few more days to prove to
her that…well, it didn’t matter now because that resolve was shot
to hell. However, he
could
be gentle with her, that much she
deserved.

Good
intentions.

However, one
kiss, one caress, and heat was building. Belle’s little hand
foraging curiously under his shirt to splay along his spine and her
other sliding down the back of his jeans had hot sparks sputtering
along his nerve endings, and when the tip of her tongue touched his
lips, well, Jesus, he nigh on exploded.

He tried to be
gentle, tried to be considerate, but Belle seemed to have a natural
instinct at finding and pushing some of his erogenous buttons. The
sensitive nerves along his spine had her fingertips trailing up
them. Her nails scraped lightly across his buttocks beneath his
briefs. A soft thigh was rubbed against his and nudging higher to
press lightly against his scrotum.

For sure her
knee wasn’t pressing against his shaft, because that was hard and
pressed between their bodies.

Nipping at his
lips, she made him seek her mouth, dodging him when he got too
close, laughing softly, teasing, stoking his flames until he
growled and tangled his fingers in her hair, holding her mouth
still so that he could plunder deep, taking mercilessly, wanting to
master her and be gentle all at once.

“Belle.” He was
actually panting when he lifted his mouth, something he’d never
been reduced to so fast in his entire history of sex - and it was a
considerable history. Looking down into her sweetly flushed face,
he almost groaned when she licked her soft, swollen lips. “Jesus,
don’t.”

“What?” Her
breath was a warm puff across his mouth and he could swear he felt
that swirl of air enter him to dance teasingly along his
tongue.

“I’m trying to
be gentle. To take it slow.”

“Really?” She
peeked up at him from beneath thick eyelashes. “Why?”

“Because.” He
gritted his teeth.

“I thought this
is what you wanted.” Her nails scraping down his spine had him
arching slightly.

“I do. Christ,
I really do. But I’m trying to make our first time special.”

“Our first
time? Our first time was across the kitchen bench.” Cheeks
flushing, her gaze went a little shy. “That was …special.”

How he loved
that about her. Equal parts bold and shy, she was such a sweet
woman, yet he knew there was a passionate minx lurking beneath the
surface just waiting for the right man to break her free.

He was the
right man and he sure as hell was going to break her free, but he’d
had it all planned. Dinner, a nice drive, a kiss leading to more,
restraint, courting and then more, until finally he had her flat on
her back beneath him and was driving into her - after, of course,
first having driven her mad with teasing kisses and licking. A lot
of licking. Everywhere. Slowly. But damn it, here he was, a couple
of kisses, a few caresses, and he was so hard he could have pounded
nails into wood with his shaft.

Holy cow, this
had never happened to him before in his life.

Closing his
eyes, he gritted his teeth.
Be calm. Be cool. You can do this.
You’re not a freakin’ virgin, you can hold on. Be cool!

“I liked how
you took me across the bench.”

That husky
announcement had his eyes popping open.

“I like how you
took control.”

His gaze fell
to find her looking shyly up at him, the desire and determination
in her bright green eyes telling him how hard she was trying to be
honest with him, that in itself an aphrodisiac.

“Don’t you want
to take control now?” she whispered.

“God yes.”
Oh God yes
.

“So why are
you…you know?” She moved back just a little, a tiny cloud of doubt
filling her eyes. “Have you changed your mind?” She swallowed, the
desire in her eyes fading a little. “It’s okay, I-”

No bloody
way!
The caveman inside him howled at her retreat, not liking
it one bit.
Not one bloody bit
.
She’s all mine and I’m
going to make sure she know it, make sure she never doubts it
again.

Grabbing her
upper arms, Marty almost let his carnal side have free rein,
holding on only just long enough to lower his face to hers and
capture her wide-eyed gaze as he growled huskily, “Oh no, Belle
Broune. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“Marty, I-”

“You think I
don’t want you?” He shoved hard against her, satisfaction filling
him as she gasped at the feel of his hard shaft against her soft
belly. “You just broke a rule between us.”

“A rule?” Her
eyes were bright even if they were a little alarmed.

“You are never
to think I don’t want you.” Using his body, he crowded her across
the room until she was caught between the lounge room wall and his
body. Leaning into her, he captured her hands and easily pulled
them above her head, holding both wrists in one big hand against
the wall.

Her eyes almost
went round in astonishment, but there was no denying the flicker of
desire within the bright depths. Oh yeah, he just knew it. His
little Belle didn’t mind a bit of force. A bit of mastery.

God, yes. He
couldn’t wait. His dominant side was straining at the hold he had
on it. The hold he’d never allowed to slip with any other woman.
That he’d never, in fact, ever felt even a teensy bit of urge to
let slip. Until now. He sure as hell was going to let it slip with
this gorgeous woman that was all his.

“You like me to
be in control?” His smile was all teeth, the carnal desire he felt
for her seeping into his eyes. Immediately he was rewarded by her
sudden quick intake of breath, which just made that magnificent
bosom press against his chest and produce little molten sparks that
skittered along his skin. “You got it, baby, because you know
what?”