Chapter Forty-Seven

Closing the door behind her Stephanie leaned heavily against it and blew out a breath.  The guys were at the bar having a drink and she had escaped up to her room.  She pushed away from the door and turned on a low light.  She needed few minutes to herself right now.   They probably wanted to talk about her anyway and couldn’t if she had been sitting right there with them.

She shrugged and wandered to the bar where her bottle of wine still sat.  Let them talk. The only opinion she cared about was Richie’s and he already liked her.  Filling a glass she padded into the bedroom.  He didn’t say it in so many words, but she knew he’d come knocking on her door sooner or later.  

She picked up her pajamas and headed to the bathroom.  She was starting to feel the effects of a long travel day and the wine she had consumed before and during dinner. Hopefully a shower would revive her a little for when her man came calling.

Slipping out of her clothes and pinning up her hair, she stepped into the steamy enclave of the walk-in shower.  The jets pounded at her from different angles and worked out the tension in her shoulders and back.  The evening had been surreal to say the least.  To be privy to the inner circle that is Bon Jovi.  Not that she was a part of it, but she had been invited to a little peek at their exclusive boys’ club.  It was more than any fan could have asked for.   She smiled as she slid her soapy puff over her arms and down her legs.  She’d have to email the girls.  They were gonna flip when they found out about this.

Still smiling, she stepped from the shower and wrapped herself in a thick, fluffy towel. Giving her body a cursory rub down, she slicked on her lotion and slid into her pajamas. Pulling the pins from her hair, she retrieved her wine glass from the dresser and headed back to the living room to refill her glass.  Taking her wine to the couch she picked up the remote and turned on the stereo.  While her laptop booted up she flicked through the channels until she found a soft rock station. Humming along with the song she opened her browser.  Google had just popped up when she heard the knock on her door.

Pushing at her glasses she opened the door.  “Hi.”  She stepped back and let him enter her room.  He had stopped in his room and changed his clothes before coming to knock on her door.  His long sleeve black t-shirt had faded to several shades lighter and his jeans were threadbare and loose, hanging low on his hips.  The loafers on his feet looked as soft and worn as a pair of bedroom slippers.  He looked utterly relaxed and totally comfortable.  She had the urge to cuddle right into him.

As if reading her mind, he took her hand and tugged her close, wrapping her in strong, steady arms.  Long fingers brushed her hair away from her face and tipped her chin up.  His mouth came down on hers, kissing her lightly, a teasing taste before going back for a second more thorough dip.

He couldn’t seem to get enough of her sweet mouth.  The tang of the wine on her tongue was as intoxicating to him as if he had been drinking it himself.  Skimming across her cheek he nuzzled into her neck and the headiness of her perfume wrapped around him and he inhaled deeply. “You’ve got to tell me what that is” he murmured as he nipped the sensitive spot by her ear.  It was flowers and a moonlit walk in a midnight wood and her.  She wore different scents, but this one, this is the one that would forever in his mind be her.

Stepping closer, he pressed her back to the door and as her arms wound themselves around him, he continued to ravage her mouth with his.  He had wanted her from the first second that he had known she was just two doors away from him in the hotel.  Watching her with his friends that evening, the way she had enchanted them simply by being just who she was, and that she had come to see him of her own volition, that she hadn’t asked him for a damn thing, she only wanted to be with him for him, not because of who he was or what he could do for her, that skewed the need to the next level.  He was half in love with her and could easily see himself tumbling the rest of the way in short order.  That thought brought him up short and had his lips hesitating over the sweet notch where her shoulder and neck came together.  Whoa.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.  He swirled the tip of his tongue in that delectable dip and slowly eased back.  

He watched her face, waiting for her to open her eyes.  Her cheeks and the line of her jaw showed the slight whisker burn where he had nuzzled against her.  She blinked her eyes open slowly, the green and brown and gold were swirled together in a hazy cloud of lust and arousal. His heart did a slow roll in his chest and he knew he was sunk.  There was no halfway.  He was totally, completely, head over heels for this woman.

She looked up at him with the sloe-eyed look of a woman who had been thoroughly plundered and they hadn’t even made it two steps away from the door.  Holy hell the man knew how to use his mouth for much more delicious activities than singing and speaking and all he had done was kiss her.  She blinked up at him slowly.  Kissed her senseless apparently.  She couldn’t even find a coherent thought in her head let alone try to get one to come out of her mouth.  Her blood was humming, singing and something started to shift inside her, started to bloom.  She pulled back from it, afraid to examine it too closely, sure she wasn’t ready for what she feared the feeling meant.

They reached for each other’s hands at the same time.  With a quiet laugh he brought hers to his lips, “come on sweetheart, let’s get away from the door.”

She followed him into the living room.  She picked up her forgotten wineglass and downed the little bit that was left.  A glance at the bar told her the bottle was empty.  A glance back had her nearly dropping the glass.  He had settled on the couch, his feet were propped on the table and one long finger was beckoning her.

“Come here, baby.”

She shuddered at the deep, husky tone his voice taken on.  She couldn’t help but move to him, her outstretched fingers tangled with his and she let him pull her close.

He dropped his feet from the table and tugged her to stand between his widespread knees. His fingers toyed with the zipper on her sweatshirt.  “Cute pajamas.”   Dragging the zipper down, he nudged the hoodie off her shoulders and nuzzled her belly, inhaling the mystical scent that was all her once again.  He’d never get enough of the way she smelled.

Her cheeks took on the color of her sweatshirt as she looked down at herself.  The pink flannel pants had high-heeled shoes and handbags scattered all over them, the sleep tank she wore was a darker shade of pink and the sweatshirt darker still.  “They’re warm” she managed to mumble. Lifting her head their eyes met and she couldn’t look away.  The normally golden brown was dark, so dark now they were nearly black.  It was a heady feeling to know that she had done that to him.

Keeping her eyes on his and feeling less inhibited than she had in a long time, she climbed on his lap, straddling him like she had before they’d gone to dinner.  Running her hands up his arms, she stroked her fingers across the seam of his shirt where is crossed his shoulder. Breathing deep, she found her voice.  “Muddy Waters’ isn’t going to interrupt us again, is he?”

Checking his surprise that she knew Muddy Waters, Richie shook his head.  “No.”  As if to prove it to her, he fished the phone from his pocket and shut it off, setting it on the end table.

She rolled her hips, rubbing against the hard length of him trapped behind the faded denim. “Good.”

His hands slid up under her top, cupping her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples to tiny, hard points.  Taking one into his mouth, he got the beautiful groaning purr he had been longing to hear since the last time he’d heard it.

Dropping her head back, she rolled her hips against him in the same rhythm as his mouth was pulling on her breast.   The orgasm spread through her like wildfire, taking her breath and leaving her undulating wildly against him. 

Gripping her hips, he kept himself pressed firmly against her as she worked her way through her release.  When she opened her eyes again he stood, aiming for the bedroom.  He was ready to blow himself and he wanted to be inside her when he did.

Lowering her gently to the bed he quickly stripped her of her pajamas before adding his own clothes to the pile on the floor.  Protecting them both, he nudged her thighs apart and slipped inside her in one easy thrust.  The perfectness of the way they fit had him pausing, the heat and slickness of her got him moving.  When he felt her start to tighten around him, he let her take him with her up the rise and over into oblivion.