The Satin Sash

  His forearm was a hairsbreadth under her breasts, where he held her secure, and his hold strengthened when he said, with unmistakable annoyance, “Why in the hell do you want to set me up?”

  She was startled by the genuine outrage in his voice. Her mouth opened, but no reply came forth.

  “I’m fucking you. That you’re going around matching me with someone else ticks the hell out of me.”

  She went completely stiff. She’d never expected this attack, but perhaps she deserved it.“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she admitted tightly. “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping.”

  “I’m not going on a date with anybody, all right?”

  “May I know why?”

  “I suck at them. I suck at small talk.”

  “You do not; we’re talking fine just now. I think my friends would love you. If you’d only tell me what you look for when you meet someone . . .”

  Heath kept walking the horse, making soft clucking noises that caused the little hairs on her arms to rise to attention like the horse’s ears. His sullen silence lasted until he said,“All right. I’ll tell you what I like. Pretty eyes. Pretty smile. Pretty lips. Pretty—”

  “Yes, I think I get it, Heath.”

  “Well, good for you,” he said good-naturedly.

  Her eyes fell on the vast, endless expanse of white sand before them. “And how am I supposed to know what pretty is to you?”

  “Pink is pretty.” In a move too slow not to be sensually deliberate, he traced the shell of her earlobe between his lips. “Did you know you’re pink all over, Toni?” She caught her breath when a moist flick of his tongue teased the area behind her ear. “Your lips are rosy as your nipples, and down there, you’re bright and moist. So damned pretty my eyes hurt.”

  She wanted to close her eyes and swim in his words; then she wanted to wail in frustration when he stopped weaving his magic on her foolish, susceptible self. He straightened behind her, and getting down to matters, said, “I want a good woman.With a good heart and feelings. Someone who enjoys life and who enjoys the things I’d like to do to her . . .”

  “You’re deliberately making this complicated, aren’t you?”

  “Ahh. Perceptive, and pink all over. I like you, señorita. But the truth is, I don’t need relationship troubles, and I don’t need a woman.”

  “Then would you like a date with a guy?” she countered.

  “Crap, no! Why would I want to date a guy?”

  “Well . . .” Let’s see, now. How to phrase this delicately?

  “Because I’ve enjoyed fucking a few?”

  So much for being tactful. “Yes.” And the visual made her just a tad wet in the panties. “Have there been a lot? Men, I mean?”

  “A couple.”

  “And do you prefer . . . well, you know.What role do you prefer, the woman’s role, or the—”

  He guffawed with laughter, slapping a hand on his thigh. “Oh, Christ, Cat!”

  “I’m sorry,” she quickly burst in.“Don’t unsettle the horse! And I know I’m prying. I’m too curious for my own good sometimes. I’m sorry. Really.”

  “It’s okay. I like that.” The laughter faded from his voice. “If it gives me pleasure,” he explained matter-of-f actly, “I can take it and I can give it.”

  Like the waves on the shore, a crash of liquid flooded her panties. She should not be discussing this with Heath. She needed to change topics—to one that did not have her sex organs clenching so tightly. She said, “So, you meet someone and have your fun; then you just leave forever?”

  “Right.”

  “You never, ever come back, or want to?”

  “Right again, gorgeous.”

  “You’d never come back to Cabo San Lucas?” With us . . .

  She wrinkled her nose, instantly resenting the thought. She didn’t want any more threesomes and already she was planning on a second trip?

  He reached between her spread legs and boldly trailed his thumb down to her sex. “What would you want of me if I came back?”

  He burrowed four fingers under her body and used his entire hand to grind. The strong heel of his palm bit into her hardening clitoris. “Please don’t,” she cried, stiffening.

  But he continued, massaging her entire pussy with strong, sure presses. “Do you enjoy our sex together, Cat?”

  Her spine curved helplessly. “I don’t want to do this on a horse!”

  “I won’t let you fall.” He spoke against her temple, where she felt his tongue snake out for a lick. “Grey told me to be careful. In his own words. And he has kicked the shit out of me before.”

  “Don’t. I don’t . . . I don’t want to do this without him.”

  “It’s all right. I’m just caressing you. We’re making out on a horse—isn’t it fun?”

  “No,” she lied, and prayed her dampness hadn’t seeped into her clothes so fast.

  “All right.” He easily relented, leaving her pussy a furious throb between her legs when he released it. “Let’s ride, then. Here. Take the reins.” He caught her hand in one of his and began to settle her fingers where they should go.

  The sight of her small porcelain hand and his large tanned one moving together sent a jolt of sexual awareness through her. “You tackle all your fears this way?” she asked meekly.

  “If I can.”

  “And the flying?”

  His fingers faltered over hers, then continued to lace the leather reins through her fingers. “I haven’t quite figured that one out.

  “Now, to ride the horse, you just need your thighs.You’ve got lovely toned thighs, so that won’t be a problem.To steer it, you use the reins.You don’t kick the horse to a run and tug on the reins at the same time or you’re sending mixed signals, and it gets confused or pissed out of its wits at you. Understand?”

  Her heart pounded. His palms went to her thighs, and as he bent his head, she felt an unfortunate escalation of her arousal.This was so not the place to be melting....

  He urged her legs into the horse’s flank. “Close your thighs tightly around the horse.You grip it with your inner thigh.And I’ve got you with one arm, see? I won’t let you go.”

  “Okay.”

  “And now we trot.”

  “Okay.”

  But nothing happened. He said, “Cluck to it, beautiful. Send it a kiss.You’re the boss here; ask it to trot for you.”

  Beautiful . . .

  She did as he instructed, and the gelding began to trot, and she bounced up and down in the saddle with absolutely no control of herself. “Heath!” She was panicking.

  “We’re doing fine; don’t get scared. Use your legs to rise a bit before your ass hits the saddle and you won’t bounce.Very good, that’s it! You’re getting it. Now, steer this fellow in a circle, and go with it. Be one with the horse.That’s right, Cat.That’s just right.”

  They found a stride, and she began to smile. It did feel good. A sensation of freedom and bliss flowed through her. She moved with the horse, and Heath moved with the horse; their bodies moved like a single entity. Like when they moved during sex, or when they’d once danced so close.

  “I’m going to let go of your waist now, and you’re going to do it by yourself, all right?”

  “Yes,” she gasped, and steered the animal around, trotting it back the same way they’d come. The animal’s rhythmic breathing was a rough, heady sound coming out through its nose, echoing their pace. Toni could tell the gelding was loving this; his ears pricked, head up and alert, his awesome, capable body straining with attention for her commands. The horse looked so content trotting; he did not look inclined to turn his head and bite her leg or throw her off his back at all.

  With that realization, coupled with Heath’s massive chest such a reassuring support against her back, she was getting so into it. She wanted more of this awesome sensation, this feeling of accomplishment, of freedom. “And to get it to gallop I just . . . ?”

  He chuckled.“All right, we graduate to galloping. Ju
st kick with your heels a bit, send him more kisses, and let him find his stride.”

  She felt exhilaration when they took off. “We’re galloping!”

  “We’re galloping.”

  “Yay!”

  He was chuckling, and her own laughter was welling up in her throat. After a few minutes they slowed to a canter, then galloped more and trotted again. By the time they rode up to the house, Toni was wearing a smile so wide it was almost painful.The chestnut mare stood waiting by the curved, willowy palm tree. On the second stone step leading up the cliff, Grey waited cross-armed, his glasses tucked into his polo.

  “There’s your Grey,” Heath said.

  And she said, breathlessly, “He’s smiling.”

  “He’s proud of you.”

  With a smile that made her all the more breathless, he strode up to help her dismount.Toni fell into his arms, her limbs winding tight around his strong, solid body.

  He gave her a fierce squeeze and brushed her tangled hair out of her face, running his eyes over her cheeks and lips and eyes. His face worked with emotion. “Look at you. All smiles and laughs.”

  “Did you see me?”

  “You’re a sight, Miss Kearny.” He cradled her face between his two hands, his eyes like molten amber. “We should’ve done this months ago.”

  “Why didn’t we?” It felt so good!

  “You know why,” he said quietly, and caressed her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb.

  “Because you saw me fall?” she asked, reaching out to brush a blond lock from his forehead. “Would you miss me terribly if something happened to me, Grey Richards?”

  Grey either didn’t like the question or the thought it conjured; she’d never seen that strained look on his face. “Don’t even think it,” he hissed, and crushed her lips with his. When he pulled away from that slow, stirring kiss, he spoke over her shoulder.

  “Heath.”

  “Grey.”

  There was a wealth of satisfaction in their voices, giving her the impression the words meant more than just their names. Rather than say thank you, Grey had merely said Heath, and judging by Heath’s reply, he’d known exactly what Grey had meant. How oddly they communicated!

  Turning, she noticed Heath was returning from tying up the gelding, smiling directly at her as he closed the distance between them. Her legs trembled with adrenaline—and something else. A need to kiss him, hold him, make wild love to him.

  “Hi . . . ,” she lamely whispered as he came within touching range. Belatedly, she realized there was a multitude of meanings behind that single word, too. Thank you, kiss me, touch me, don’t ever stop looking at me that way . . .

  Slowly, he bent to place a chaste kiss on her cheek. His lips lingered over the spot for a pulse-stopping moment, where he breathed raggedly against her skin. “How about you ride me now?”

  In the master bedroom, Grey pinned Toni against the nearest wall and kissed the breath out of her.

  Slamming the door shut, Heath jerked his shirt off, his clothes an untenable scrape against his skin. He’d never had such a need to be naked, to feel free, to take and be taken. His tongue throbbed in his mouth, the sound of their sloppy, wet kisses making him thirst.

  He’d have given his soul to the devil to open her mouth and feel it welcome his. Instead he watched, trembling in his hands, his legs. He was a mass of aching. His cock felt leaden under his shorts, his balls blue with pain. Her laughter still sang in his veins, and her smile . . . god, you’d think he’d given her light, a rainbow, something special and magical.

  No one had ever looked at him with the open, innocent admiration she had. He would never forget those wide green eyes, those pink cheeks, and her airless Hi . . .

  “Get over here, Heath,” Grey growled, and fisted his hand around her shirt to jerk Toni back to his thickened mouth. He kissed her, shoving his tongue in for a quick, demanding sip, and Heath could almost taste her on his own tongue. Against Grey, her body undulated softly, plush and pliable like clay. She breathed short, shallow pants and he found the delicate suction of her lips on Grey’s tongue arousing as hell.

  Heath flanked her from the back, letting her squirm between both of them. Grey loosened his fist on her shirt and grasped the tiny point of a nipple with his thumb and index finger. He pulled it and she shuddered with hot, debilitating desire. “Grey.”

  He circled the peak as it pushed up into her T-shirt, then scraped the balled point until it quivered. His voice was broken with need. “Grey, what?”

  Her mouth worked, but nothing came out. Heath saw as Grey reached between her legs, flattened the pad of his thumb to the throbbing flesh of her clitoris, and rubbed.Toni dug her fingers into his shoulders, her spine arching. “Grey.”

  “Easy, kitten,” Heath purred close, raising her arms above her head in one hand.

  Her ass cradled the bulge of his penis. As she wormed against him, he felt the tiny frissons of need overtaking her body. Sweat broke across his temples, his back, his forehead as he fought to keep from splaying her wide and taking her backside like he itched to do.

  He was so turned on he could come on her clothes, all over her, on her backside, her thighs.

  With a primeval noise Heath understood as urgent, Grey hooked two fingers into her capris and folded them to her ankles, leaving her in only her tank top. Without barriers, the touch of Grey’s thumb on her clit made her throw her head back with a strangled sob.

  “Oh, god.”

  “Is that good?” he cooed, leaning forward to lick one hardened nipple. “Hmm? That good, darling?”

  Heath ducked and desperately French- kissed the silky curve of her nape. His tongue was wild on her skin, tasting a path to her bare shoulder. He wanted her to mount him, ride him harder than the horse. He wanted to watch her hair fly and her breasts jiggle, and he wanted her to have him.

  “I crave something juicy,” Grey murmured and moved to suckle the opposite nipple, swirling his tongue across the tip right over the stamped Y of the word JUICY. He captured the peak and took it into his mouth.

  The helpless sound of her whimper sent a current of electricity down to Heath’s crotch. He grabbed at the breast Grey suckled and wrested it higher up to his mouth, and Grey buzzed the breast in hunger and continued to devour.

  “Guys,” she gasped, twittering in ecstasy. Her sexual scent was powerful in the room. It shredded at Heath’s control, had him leaking against his shorts.

  Dispensing with her shirt, Grey tossed it aside and her hair tumbled in a shimmering cascade down her back.

  “Someone told me patience was a virtue,” he teased her. Heath peered over, and past her newly bared rosy-tipped breasts, he caught sight of Grey’s thumb on her wet, pearly nub as he pressed slow, relentless circles to it.

  She twitched her wrists in Heath’s grip above, trying to break free. “Please don’t make me wait. . . .”

  Heath made a strangled sound when her ass stroked against his fabric-covered erection. I hear you, gorgeous. I hear you. . . .

  Relenting his hold, he trailed his hands down her sensitive inner arms. He smiled at her shudder, then traced her ribs with his fingertips while Grey laved a wet circle around her navel. Her stomach was flat, the skin flawless, leading down to that morsel of a pussy. A sheen of sweat coated her skin, but the gleam was nothing compared to the glistening labia between her thighs.

  She was pink and hot, and she was all Heath wanted.

  Her breasts rose and fell quickly as she labored for air, as though her body were an empty cavern without their cocks inside her. “Grey, I want . . .” She paused to take a quavering breath.

  “We know what you need, don’t we, Heath? Get your shorts off, Solis.”

  Grey steered her around as Heath climbed onto the bed. Leaning back on a tower of pillows, he deftly plucked open the button of his shorts and yanked them down before both their watchful gazes. His cock sprang free, slapping against his stomach.

  “Is that what you need, baby?” Grey
asked.

  She swallowed audibly. Heath took his erection in his hand and swiped his thumb across the dripping slit, inviting her to it. Fuck, he needed her bad.

  Her tongue darted out to lick at her lips, and his blood sizzled in his veins as Grey urged her forward. Slim and agile, creamy and feminine, she was climbing on top of him, straddling his hips with her slim, toned legs.

  Grey held her hips, and Heath’s words barely got past the tightness in his throat. “Ride me, beautiful.” Ride me to hell and back, and then ride me all the way to heaven.

  He cupped her ribs, just above Grey’s hands on her, and they both spread her down over him. He thought he would tear her, he felt so thick, so freaking rigid it hurt to push the head past her swollenness.

  “Sit on it, Toni. That’s right, sit on his dick, baby,” Grey told her.

  Above Toni’s rolling gasp, the men’s gazes met. Grey’s eyes were red with wanting to pleasure her.And Heath felt the chip fall off his shoulder when he recognized his same old friend as before. Grey’s eyes glowed with trust, not hostility. They were one in wanting to drive themselves to ecstasy in Toni.

  They groaned with her when they simultaneously impaled her on Heath. Heath’s head whipped to the side for a blinding, lust-seared moment. Then Grey began to move her. Heath tossed his head again, struggling for control as she clamped and milked him; then Grey lifted her once more.

  Seconds passed, their breaths warring in the silence.

  A part shriek, part whimper caught in her throat when Grey said “Fuck him!” and pushed her low again, embedding Heath in her, embedding him long and rock hard inside the juiciest, tightest, wettest place he’d ever been in.

  “Oh, god!” she cried, head thrown back.

  “Ride him,” Grey barked. “Fuck him hard.”

  Like a wild animal just liberated, she rode him with purpose. Heath wanted to capture her every move in his eyes, and he wanted to fling his head back and roar with ecstasy. He’d never thought a liberating experience like the one they’d shared could be such an aphrodisiac.