Winter Solstice (3 page)

“Please, Reece.”

“All right, that’s enough of these damn clothes.” His voice was a ragged growl.

He unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, then yanked them off, her lace panties coming with them.

Yes, to be naked in front of him. Open to his touch, thighs spread for him.

His pants were gone just as quickly. His erect cock sprouted from a nest of dark curls, the silky head already glistening with pre-come. Her mouth watered.

Then he was on her again, sliding to his knees on the floor, kissing her stomach. Holding on to her hips in a tight grasp, he pressed her back against the door again. And then he put his mouth on her.

There was nothing gentle or exploratory about his mouth. He dove right into her, licking her swollen pussy lips, lowering his hands to spread them wide, opening her up to his hot, invading tongue as he plunged into her. She trembled all over, her body shivering with pleasure. Waves of it, hot and hard, driving into her along with his wet tongue. She could come at any moment.

Then he swept his tongue upward, licked across her clit, and a shock lanced through her, pure ecstasy. He sucked the swollen nub of her clitoris into his mouth and sensation drove through her body. He worked her with his mouth: lips, teeth and tongue. Licking and sucking, harder and harder. And she came, a stabbing pleasure so sharp she shook with the force of it.

She was moaning, shivering, coming harder than she ever had in her life. And just when the tremors began to subside, he pushed his fingers into her, curving them until he caught her G-spot with his fingertips, and suddenly she was coming again. Coming all over his fingers and his hot, sucking, beautiful mouth.

Before the last ripples of orgasm had left her body, he rose to his feet and pressed against her once more.

She ran her hands over his shoulders, across his wide back, down to fill her hand with the rigid length of his cock. Oh yes, he was big, his cock a solid shaft of velvet in her palm. She could feel the blood pulsing beneath his flesh. The desire.

“Lord, you feel good, Destiny. As good as you taste.” He groaned when she tightened her grip. “Condom, damn it.”

He swept her into his arms, carried her though the house as though she were no larger than a doll. And even that embrace felt familiar to her.

This is where I belong.

But she was overwhelmed by the sexual connection. Yes that was it. Wasn’t it? She couldn’t think, desire still raging through her body.

He kicked open a door, and she wasn’t surprised to find herself being laid on a big bed in a half-darkened room. A room lit by the golden glow of an amber-tinted glass lamp on the nightstand.

Leaning over her, he kissed her lips, her cheek, trailed down her neck and drew one stiff nipple into his mouth. She arched off the bed, wanting more of him, pushing into his mouth. He swirled his tongue over the rigid peak and pleasure was electric, shocking, making her need to come again. When he began to suck she thought she would, from nothing more than his hot, wet mouth on her breast.

Reaching down to grasp his cock in her hand, she stroked the long, hard shaft. Her own sensations intensified.

He moaned, sucked harder before letting her nipple go to rasp out, “If you keep doing that, my darlin’, I’ll come right now in your hot little hand. Not that I wouldn’t love to. But I need to be inside you. And I want you to come again first.”

He slid his hand between her thighs. Two fingers pressed into her while he used his thumb to stroke her clit. He went back to work with his mouth again, licking her nipples, first one, then the other.

It was almost too much—his mouth on her, his clever fingers working her clit, pushing deep inside her. She wrapped her hand once more around his thick, pulsing cock, like satin-sheathed steel in her palm. Writhing beneath him, she knew she was going to come again any moment. She wanted him to come with her. Wanted to feel the power of his cock in her hand, the power of making him come.

Yes…

She grasped his cock, stroked hard and fast, and his hand matched hers in speed and rhythm until there was no difference between his hand and hers, between his throbbing cock and her own body. A strange sensation, something new, but she could hardly think about it. His fingers drove in and out of her, his thumb pressed onto her clitoris, and she exploded.

Hot shards of pleasure knifed into her. Intense. Too intense. She called his name, exactly as she’d imagined earlier, over and over. And then he was coming, too, his fire-hot come spurting through her fingers, onto her stomach. Like liquid silk on her skin.

“Ah, God, Destiny!”

He fell onto her with a groan. She still shook with the aftermath of her climax. Weak, spent, but suffused with a pleasure she’d never known. And a strangely impossible sense of rightness she couldn’t understand.

It didn’t take long for Reece to recover. While Destiny lay bathed in the lambent glow of three earth-shattering orgasms, he propped himself up on one elbow and grinned down at her while he wiped her stomach with a corner of the sheet, then pulled it off and tossed it onto the floor.

“I’ll have to ask your forgiveness. I don’t usually come like a teenage boy in a woman’s hand.” His dark hair was mussed. So damn sexy she could hardly stand it.

“Nothing to apologize for. I wanted you to.”

Oh yes, she had wanted him to come.
Needed
him to.

“This time we’ll do it right.”

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Already? You must be joking.”

“Sex is no laughing matter to an Irishman, darlin’.” His accent seemed more pronounced than ever. “But I intend to make you come again, and by that time I’ll be good and ready.”

“I’m not sure I can…”

“Not to worry, I’ll help.”

She laughed. “I’m sure you will.”

“Let’s start here.”

He drew a few fingers languorously up the inside of her thigh, and she could swear she felt him tremble beside her. Or was that her own body shivering?

“I’d like to taste you again, but I want to watch you come even more. I want to make you come with my hand and watch your lovely face. I’ll bet you’re wet for me already.”

He was right; she was soaked. Wanting. Needing. She could hardly believe she could still want more. But she did. The more he touched her, the more she needed him to touch her. What was it about this man? She couldn’t get enough.

And she knew this time he would fuck her.

God.

She could imagine his thick cock entering her body, ramming her hard. She could almost feel it already. But it was just his fingers sliding into her wet cleft, pushing inside.

So good. So damn good. She bucked against his probing fingers as pleasure shot through her system, numbing her mind.

“Yes, you like that, don’t you, darlin’?” he said quietly, his lips close to her ear. She could feel his breath, warm and sweet, on her cheek. “You’re soaking wet. Ready for me. You’ll come fast. I can feel it already. Especially if I do this.”

He shifted until he knelt over her, so he could use both hands on her. And with one hand still pumping his fingers inside her, he used the other to roll her clit between finger and thumb. It was electrical, roaring white heat that centered in her aching pussy and spread, into her belly, her breasts.

Her hips moved in time with his hands, pumping, taking his fingers deeper. The first wave of climax bore down on her, but she didn’t want it to end too quickly. She bit her lip, tried to hold back.

“Come on, Destiny. Come for me.”

“It’s too fast. I want… I want it to last. I need more.”

“Come for me, Destiny. Come hard. And then I’ll fuck you until you come again.”

Oh God, yes!

She let the waves overtake her as he worked her clit, gave it a hard pinch that sent her plummeting over the edge. She yelled his name, shattered, broke apart in a splintering kaleidoscope of heat and sensation.

And while she still shivered with the receding waves, he sheathed himself with a condom and pressed his cock into her. He was big, her still-clenching pussy could barely accommodate him. But in a moment he pushed into her slick juices, filling her completely.

“Ah, Reece…”

She wrapped her legs around him and her mind and her body exploded. She was filled by him, and filling herself, all at the same time. The sensation was doubled, almost unbearable, pleasure upon pleasure. He pumped into her, and she felt the sensation of a cock being sheathed in velvet tightness.
His
cock, as though she were inside his body, experiencing what he was experiencing.

What was this?

Reece pushed himself up onto his arms, held himself over her, looked down into her face. And she saw herself. Saw
herself
through his eyes!

Impossible!

But there she was, her red hair a wild mass of curls, her green eyes wide with shock, her face and neck flushed. Her lower lip trembling.

Impossible, impossible!

Her mind was screaming. But it was a full minute before she could respond. Everything had been too good until that moment, too perfect. But this was…bizarre. Terrifying.

Get out!

She had to get out of there.
Now.

Chapter Three

She tried to push him off her.

“Reece, please. You have to stop!”

As he pulled out of her body she felt that dual sensation of pussy and cock. And as incredible as it felt, it scared the hell out of her.

She had to go.

“Destiny. Did I hurt you? My God, I’m sorry.”

She could hear the confusion in his voice. Well, she was damn confused, too. How could she feel what he felt? See what he saw? She flashed back to her earlier images of his bedroom, that intense sense of familiarity that had allowed her to abandon her usually cautious self to have sex with a stranger.

Except he’s not a stranger.

Impossible.

She ran through the dark house, into the front hall, and threw her damp clothes on as quickly as she could. Her heart was thundering as she yanked her purse up off the floor. Her lipstick clattered out onto the hardwood, followed by her hairbrush and her wallet. She gathered them and stuffed them back into her bag.

“Destiny, please don’t go.”

Reece appeared behind her. He tried to wrap an arm around her shoulder, but she shook him off.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m leaving. Now.”

Hurt clouded his blue eyes. But he didn’t try to stop her. He was standing in the entryway, naked and beautiful, when she glanced over her shoulder one last time. She ran out the front door, into the night and the storm, a whisper of lilacs following her.

She was panting hard by the time she reached her baby blue VW bug. Her lungs burned and her heart hammered in her chest, as much from panic as from her eight-block sprint through the rain. She fumbled for her keys. They slipped, fell, and she searched frantically until her half-numb fingers curled around the cold metal. She opened the car door and slumped into the seat, slammed the door and locked it.

Her body was a mass of confused sensations. Still shuddering with the buzz of orgasm after orgasm, she shivered with shock and cold. Reaching out, she turned on the engine, then switched on the heat. The rain clattered onto the roof of the car in a static cacophony, so loud she could hardly think.

What the hell had just happened to her? She tried to go over it in her mind, but it was too damn weird. Why had she felt so instantly comfortable with Reece? Even though she’d never been this deeply attracted to anyone in her life, and simply looking at him made her pulse race with lust. That wasn’t enough to explain it. And how had he known how to touch her just right, as though he’d anticipated her every need? Could it really be just a collection of coincidences? And then that last moment, when he’d slid into her body…

She groaned. She’d never felt anything this intense before, this excruciatingly pleasurable. And so frightening.

Maybe she’d been so out of her head with lust she’d imagined the whole thing?

No, the event played like a movie in her mind, crystal clear. And thinking about it made her want to cry, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend.

Shaking her head, she shifted into gear and pulled out onto the street. She would go home, have a nice long bath, maybe a cup of tea to clear her mind. No, a glass of wine was called for after the night she’d had. Hell, a vodka martini. Not that she had any vodka. A good Cabernet would have to do.

She had every intention of going home. She really did. But something made her drive past Reece’s house.

Through the delicate pattern of the wrought-iron gate she could see the glow of lights in the house. What was he thinking? What was he doing? Slowing down, she let the engine idle for a moment. She shook her head once more. What the hell was she doing stalking his house? God, she really had to get a grip.

Gunning the engine, she drove down the wet street. The white glare of streetlights shone on the slick surface, reflecting off the puddles of water. It hardly ever rained in L.A., and the city was poorly prepared for a storm. When it did rain, the streets always flooded. The intersections were the worst, and the one two blocks from Reece’s house was a perfect example.

As Destiny tried to round the corner she realized, too late, that her tiny car was no match for the small pond that had accumulated there. She made it through to the other side before the engine sputtered and died.

Great.

She turned the key. The engine whirred, but wouldn’t turn over. She tried again. And again. Nothing.

She leaned her head on the steering wheel while her whole body slowly grew numb. What was she going to do now? It was almost midnight. Who could she call to help her?

Triple A. She rummaged in her purse, dug through her wallet and found her card. The emergency road service number was on the back. Good. Now for her cell phone. But a five full minutes of digging in her big purse didn’t turn it up. She felt around her car seat with her hand, but didn’t find it there, either.

Leaning back in her seat, she let out a frustrated sigh. She knew exactly where her phone was. On Reece Kellan’s entry hall floor.

She pounded her fist on the steering wheel.

Damn it.

Either she’d have to go back there and get it, or she’d have to sit in her car, soaking wet in the middle of a storm, freezing and shivering, until morning.

She didn’t know which option was worse.

She did not want to go back to his house. At least, that’s what she told herself, even as her stomach, her pulse, fluttered simply thinking about him. But either she was crazy, or something very weird had happened with him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know which.

Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes. God, what a night she was having.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a few moments later a flash of lightning illuminated the darkness behind her closed lids. The face of Madame Anna came into her mind’s eye, as clear as though she stood before her.

…you are going to meet your soul mate… It always starts with attraction, doesn’t it? But this goes far beyond that. You’ll know. It will be unmistakable.

Impossible. Psychic-babble. Destiny was very much grounded in reality, and things like that did not happen in her world. It was silly to even think about it. And she had more important things to think about right now. Like how to get her cell phone so she could get out of this mess.

Damn it.

She ran the two blocks back to Reece’s house, telling herself she would just get her cell phone, then leave. End of story.

“Destiny. Lord, you’re soaked through. Here.” Reece stood in the doorway in a pair of blue and white striped pajama bottoms, his dark hair tousled, looking too damn beautiful. His chest was bare, his skin golden in the soft light of the entryway. Gorgeous. Sexy. He held up a towel and draped it over her shoulders carefully, as though he knew it was a good idea not to try to touch her. “Are you all right?”

“I only came to get my cell phone. It must have dropped out of my purse.”

She knew she sounded sullen, rude. She could almost hear her Nana tsk-tsking in the background at her poor behavior. And he was being too nice. Not a word of recrimination for her running out in the middle of sex, for God’s sake.

“Yeah, I saw it on the floor and picked it up. Let me get it for you. Come in.”

He was gone for several moments and she took the opportunity to ruffle her hair dry with the towel. The house was warm, cozy. It smelled like him. Fresh and earthy and sexy as hell.

Stop it.

He returned quickly with her phone and held it out to her. She made a grab for it, trying not to come into contact with his hand.

“Can I make you a cup of tea?”

“I only came to get my phone. I need to get going. I have to call Triple A.”

“You weren’t in an accident, were you? Come and sit down.”

Why was he being so nice to her? She could see the sincere concern in his eyes.

God, his eyes were blue. Like the sky in summer.

But she wasn’t supposed to be noticing that. She was supposed to get her phone and get the hell out of there. Away from him. Away from the strangeness that had occurred in his bed.

Her body surged with yearning, both physical and…something else. Her head began to spin.

And then he was touching her, making her head spin harder. He slipped a strong arm around her waist and guided her to the kitchen. She followed him mutely, feeling numb and exhausted.

“Come on now, darlin’,” Reece was saying. “Let’s sit you down and have a cup of tea. You need to get dry and warm. Then we’ll talk.”

He settled her into a wooden chair at a granite-topped table, filled a teapot with water and put it on the stove. Destiny stared down at the striations running through the sandstone and amber-colored granite. She couldn’t look at him. It was too confusing.

Reece settled his big body down in a chair across from hers. “Now, tell me what happened.”

“I went through this huge puddle and my engine stalled. I couldn’t get it to start again. And it’s raining so hard, everything is flooding…”

“Where’s your car?”

“A few blocks from here. I managed to pull it pretty close into the curb. It’s not in the middle of the street.”

“Good, it’s safe enough. I think you’d better stay here until morning. The storm should pass by then. We’ll call a tow truck tomorrow.”

“I should take care of it now. I should go.”

“Destiny, you’re shivering with cold. It’s ridiculous for you to go back out into the rain and wait for them. You can stay here.”

She looked up at him and said quietly. “I want to go home.”

Why did that feel like a lie?

He nodded. “Aye, I can see that.” He ran a hand back through his already mussed hair, blew out a breath. “Look, stay here tonight. I won’t touch you, I promise. I didn’t mean to scare you earlier. I don’t know… I don’t quite know what happened, but I understand why you left the way you did. I was fairly freaked out myself. But, you know, I’m a man. I tried to ignore it in light of what else was going on. But it won’t happen again. I won’t touch you. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“It did happen…” Her heart was beating at a thousand miles an hour.

His dark brows creased. “Yeah. Something happened, though I’ll be damned if I know what.”

“I thought… I thought it was you who did it, Reece. Or that I was crazy.”

“Well, if you’re crazy, then I am, too. But I didn’t do it, whatever the hell it was.” His features relaxed, softened. “All I know is that up until that moment, this was the most incredible night of my life. And I didn’t want you to leave.”

His words warmed her through, and she hardly even felt her cold, wet clothes against her skin any longer. Something inside her loosened.

“Reece, what happened to us?”

“I’ve no idea. Not even a theory, which is odd for me.”

“Do you think it’s possible for people to…manifest things? To manifest their thoughts?”

“You’re the psychologist. You know a lot more about the powers of the mind than I do.”

Their conversation was helping to calm her, to quiet the confusion whirling like the wind outside in her head. This sort of problem-solving dialogue was something she was used to. And she found sitting in the warm kitchen comfortably reassuring, with his big, solid body across the table from her. Yes, something about him…his face, his hands, even, so familiar…

The kettle whistled, and Reece got up to make tea. Destiny watched the muscles ripple in his bare back before glancing away to look around the kitchen. It wasn’t large, but well designed, with state of the art brushed-steel appliances and granite counters that matched the tabletop. Wood cabinets in a maple finish gave the kitchen an earthy warmth. She loved the look and feel of the room. A kitchen to really cook in.

She hadn’t had anyone to cook for in a long time. A quick flash of herself standing at the stove over a pot of something fragrant with steam blazed across her mind’s eye like a movie. Reece coming up behind her as she stood there. Her sinking back into his big, warm body while his hands slipped around her waist…

What was she thinking?

Reece set a steaming cup down in front of her. “We really should get you out of those wet clothes.”

“I haven’t agreed to stay here yet,” she answered, wrapping her hands around the heat of the cup.

“Shall I beg you then?” His eyes twinkled, more blue than ever.

The corners of her mouth twitched. She couldn’t help it. “I can’t say I’d mind seeing that.”

“Ah, there’s that lovely smile, however grudgingly.”

“Just as long as you know it’s grudging.”

He nodded, grinned. Reece Kellan was the kindest man she’d met in a very long while. Warm and funny, caring and considerate. Nana would have loved him. And God help her, he was the hottest piece of male flesh she’d ever laid her eyes on. She had to repress the girlish sigh that wanted to well up in her. He was too close to perfect. Except for that truly bizarre, frightening moment.

But maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was her. Or maybe they’d both lost their minds. Either way, she was tempted to try it again, despite her scare.

Yes, his clever hands on her, his lovely, wet mouth, his body poised over hers for one exquisite moment before he slid his big cock inside her…

She groaned.

“Is your tea too hot?”

“What? No, it’s fine, wonderful.” She took another sip to hide the flush of desire she knew was creeping over her face.

“You should get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death, as my Nan used to say.”

“You were close with your grandmother?”

“Aye, she helped raised me. She’s the only reason I didn’t grow up to be a total hellion. Her and the willow switch she kept in the pantry.”

“In Ireland?”

“In County Clare. I grew up in a small fishing village called Quilty.”

“Quilty?” A strange knot began to form in her stomach.

“Yeah, why? You’ve heard of it?”

“My Nana grew up there.”

“Did she now? A small world. What was her family name? Perhaps my family knows her people. Everyone in Quilty knows each other.”

“It’s Gallagher. Rose Gallagher. Well, I guess she was known as Rosheen in Ireland—”