Bridging the Gap Read online

  “And a lot more action.”

  “Please?”

  He tapped her nose with a wet finger, traced it over her lips, down her chin and throat, then between her breasts before settling on the peak of one. “Begging already, sweetheart?”

  “If it’ll get me what I want.” She would not be ashamed of how breathless she sounded. Her skin itched to have him drive inside her.

  “Begging’s not necessary right now. Later? Maybe. For now, I’m good with simple asking.”

  “Would you please fuck me?”

  “No.”

  She was sure her eyes popped out of her head. Ryan came to her knees between his outstretched legs and crossed her arms over her chest. “Excuse me?”

  “No fucking. Loving. I will make love to you.” He gripped her hips and pulled her close to kiss her.

  His tongue pushed into her mouth. It seemed like forever ago she’d kissed him, tasted him. She wanted to taste more of him but unless she wanted to drown, the act of swallowing his cock would have to wait until they were out of the water.

  “Straddle me.”

  She did, putting her knees on either side of his thighs. His erection grazed her pussy and she nearly bent to impale herself on his length.

  “Wait, sweetheart.” His fingers found her pussy. Two of them slid into her while his thumb circled her clit.

  “It’s not enough, Carter. Please.”

  He kissed a nipple, sucking it into his mouth with a firm tongue. Little flames of desire licked across her skin.

  “I’ll take care of you.” His murmured words barely penetrated the lust-filled fog controlling her mind.

  She whipped her head up and stared at him. Surely he’d lost his mind. Here she was, craving his possession of her and he wanted to take care of her? While she’d normally love for him to take care of her, right now she wanted his cock inside her.

  “No condom.” He looked agonized.

  “Oh. So what.”

  He grinned and scissored his fingers inside her, somehow nicking an ultra-sensitive spot, nearly causing her to jump.

  “I hardly think you’re ready for a baby, sweetheart, much as I’d love to see your belly round with my child.”

  “Pregnant?” How was she supposed to think with him doing what he was doing? She was lucky her eyes weren’t crossed.

  He added a third finger, stretching her wide, preparing her. “Yes, you know the thing that happens when a man leaves his sperm inside a woman?”

  She smacked him, then bit her lip when he withdrew his fingers and stabbed them back in.

  “Pill. I’m on the pill.” Time to take matters into her own hands. Ryan lifted off his hand and settled herself where she wanted to be more than anything. She sank down on him, groaning in sync with Carter, whose eyes closed.

  “You don’t play fair.”

  “Nope. Never said I did.” She moved on him, rising and falling until the water sloshed over the sides. She needed just a little more…

  He added a thumb to the mix, zeroing in on her clit and pushing her over the edge. She held herself rigid against his chest. Apparently he’d primed her well because she’d come but he hadn’t.

  “Sorry, sweetheart.” He gripped her hips to hold her down and drove upward. Her clit throbbed with each thrust, prolonging her orgasm. Again and again he filled her. Just as she thought she might miraculously come again, Carter stiffened beneath her. Even through the heat of the water she felt him pour into her, and for the first time wondered what it would be like if she weren’t on the pill. He’d opened her eyes to the possibility. Was that really what he wanted?

  He must have sensed that she was close because instead of basking in his own glory he pressed a thumb to her clit once more. The cylinders were all still firing, sending an arrow of tingling sensation straight to her womb.

  “Come for me one more time, Ryan.”

  She tried, sought the release sitting so close she could taste it. The kicker that sent her over the edge was his mouth on her nipple, his teeth biting gently on the nub and wringing the orgasm from her. Ryan arched into it, urging the throbbing pulse at her clit to keep going.

  But alas, climaxes were not made to last. She sank into his chest to catch her breath, loving the way his arms came around her and held her tight. She loved him.

  The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She loved Carter Malone. Never before had she ever loved someone to the point where she couldn’t imagine life without them. She swallowed, almost afraid to find out what he felt.

  “Carter?” Ryan drew a heart on his pec.

  “Hmm?” He’d settled farther down into the water, keeping them both warm.

  “Were you serious…about the baby thing?”

  “What baby thing?”

  Shit. He didn’t even remember. Damn men and what they say in the heat of passion.

  “Never mind.”

  His chest rumbled against her cheek but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Her ears were hot with embarrassment.

  “Do you mean the part about me wanting to see you round with my child?”

  Ryan perked but said cautiously, “Uh-huh.”

  He tilted her face to his with a finger under her chin. “Most definitely.” His lips touched hers tenderly. “At least three or four times.”

  She laughed. “Are you sure you’re a man?”

  He flexed his hips, making her groan. His cock was still hard inside her. Or getting hard again. “Pretty sure.”

  “So…what are you saying?” Fish much, Ryan?

  “I think my biological clock is ticking. Meeting you changed something inside me. Then seeing my partner Ridge and his wife with their new baby made me jealous as all hell. I want that. With you. If you’ll have me.”

  Ryan sat up. “Why, Carter Malone, are you proposing to me?”

  “Yes.” He grabbed her knuckles and kissed them. “Marry me. You have to.”

  “Why is that?”

  “You mother said so.”

  “What?”

  “Mmm-hmm. Her words were, ‘You’ll be good for my daughter.’ Yesterday she told me to make sure I have you at her house for brunch on Sunday promptly at ten.”

  “Oh geez. The woman is relentless. If we don’t show, there will be hell to pay.”

  Carter leaned over and licked a circle around her nipple. “We could tell her we were busy making her a grandchild.”

  “I haven’t said yes.”

  “You will.”

  “What makes you so sure?” She gripped his hair and pulled his head back so she could see into his eyes.

  “Because I will never feel sorry for your sorry ass.”

  Ryan laughed out loud and ground herself on his erection. More water went over the edge to splash on the tile floor.

  “So?” he asked, holding her in his lap so she couldn’t wiggle anymore.

  “Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I love you.” She’d never been so happy.

  “I love you too, Ryan Cooper Dixon Malone.”

  She cradled his face in her hands and kissed him, long and deep. “Malone will suffice, thank you very much.”

  About the Author

  Annmarie McKenna lives in Missouri where she stays busy writing, shuffling four kids to various activities, and training for triathlons. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached at [email protected]. To learn more about Annmarie, please visit www.annmariemckenna.com or join her Yahoo! group for updates on her latest releases or other information. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Annmarie_McKenna/.

  Look for these titles by Annmarie McKenna

  Now Available:

  Mate series

  Seeing Eye Mate

  Checkmate

  Finding Strength

  Two Sighted

  The Strength of Three

  Between a Ridge and a Hard Place

  Bridging the Gap

  Fantasmagorical

  Court Appointed

  Tooth and Claw

  Blackmailed<
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  Look What Santa Brought

  Coming Soon:

  Ultimatum

  Trifecta

  Mystified

  They’re craving something sweet. She likes it spicy.

  Glutton for Pleasure

  © 2009 Alisha Rai

  Devi Malik knows how to heat things up. She does it every night as head chef in her family’s Indian restaurant. Her love life, though, is stuck in the subzero freezer. Now, with a chance to fulfill a secret fantasy with her long-time crush and his brother, it’s time to put her desire on the front two burners.

  For Marcus Callahan, a love-’em-and-leave-’em attitude isn’t only a necessary evil of their kink. It’s a protective device. Lately, though, his brother Jace has been making noises about craving something more.

  Jace’s dissatisfaction with their lifestyle grows with every glimpse of sweet little Devi. Yet Marcus is too haunted by the pain of their shared past to give love a chance.

  Despite their reputation for vanishing with the dawn, they discover one night with Devi isn’t nearly enough. And Devi finds herself falling in love with two very different men.

  It’ll take more than explosive sex to light up the shadows surrounding the Callahan brothers’ secrets. But Devi’s never been afraid of the dark…

  Warning: This title contains two sizzling men for the price of one, ménage a trois, oral sex, anal sex, fun toys, great food, and creative uses for syrup and dressing rooms.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Glutton for Pleasure:

  “I didn’t hear you knock.”

  Devi spun around, her hand pressed against her chest. “Oh. Marcus. You startled me.”

  “I was in the garage.”

  He stood in the kitchen doorway in only a pair of unsnapped jeans. A sexy smear of grease highlighted his rock-hard abs. Involuntarily, her gaze slid over his bare chest, the arrow of hair that trailed into his open jeans. She was suddenly all too aware of the little toy she wore, forgotten while she’d toured the house.

  “Um, Jace told me to just come on in. He’s upstairs, showering. I hope that’s okay.” He didn’t say anything. “I like your house. Or what I’ve seen of it.”

  “Take off your clothes.”

  She blinked. “Wow, you’re not one for social niceties, are you?”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Not really.”

  “Do you want a drink?”

  Devi slicked her tongue over her lips. “No. I’m good.”

  “Good. Take off your clothes.”

  “Marcus.” She frowned, though she really wanted to laugh.

  “I want to see if you’re wearing the stimulator.”

  “I said I would, and I am.”

  “You wore it from the minute we dropped you off?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  Devi stared at him, confused. “What?”

  He grinned and slid his hand into his pocket. The first gentle vibration had her legs stiffening in shock. The little box came alive, rubbing against her already-stiffened clit like the finger Jace had likened it to. She relaxed and allowed the slow pleasure to sink into her bones. Marcus didn’t allow her time to appreciate it, and he must have turned a dial up somewhere, because the vibrations against her over-stimulated clit increased in their intensity. She moaned and leaned against the couch, her legs boneless and incapable of supporting her weight.

  A low male chuckle reached her. “I think we can believe her.”

  She opened her eyes to find Jace standing in the room as well. Clad only in a sexy pair of black boxer briefs, water still glistening on his chest and hair, he watched her with a small smile and narrowed eyes already heated with lust.

  Just as her climax yawned before her, the soundless stimulation ended. “What are you doing? Turn that back on, this instant.”

  Marcus tsked and walked forward until he stood right in front of her. “Didn’t we discuss you giving us orders?”

  Heat rose from his body. All of the relentless unappeased desire from the day welled up inside of her. She frowned at him. “I was about to come.”

  “We don’t want you to, yet.”

  “I don’t care,” she said waspishly. “Turn that damn thing on again or one of you fuck me here.” Amazing how a couple of days of ceaseless pleasure could lower her inhibitions—she felt no hesitation in making the demand.

  “No.” With that simple announcement, Marcus startled Devi by scooping her off her feet.

  She shrieked and grabbed on to his shoulders. No one had carried her since she’d been a small child. Pudginess had crept up on her at a young age, so even her father had declined picking her up. “I’m too heavy for you. Put me down.”

  He ignored her and spoke to his brother. “Where are the supplies?”

  Supplies?

  Jace studied her with predatory interest. If she hadn’t already been soaked, that look would have done it. “In my room.”

  “Did you hear me? I’m too fat to be carried around like this.”

  Marcus walked out of the room and back into the grand entryway. He glanced over his shoulder. “I think the toys were a bad idea. They’ve made her way too contrary.” He jostled her until she tightened her arms around his neck in reaction.

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here. Wreck your back, see if I care. And the toy doesn’t make me contrary. Hours of sexual deprivation make me contrary.”

  “Then you should be nicer to the men who are going to end that deprivation,” Marcus explained patiently. “In the meantime, why don’t you pretend your hero is carrying you off to be properly ravished instead of worrying about your damned weight?”

  Devi paused. He had a point. Once she thought past her sexual frustration, of course. She relaxed into his arms. “Sorry. I’m not a very good heroine, I guess.”

  He handled the dark stairs with ease, not even breathless. He turned right at the top of the stairs and entered a tidy bedroom lit by soft track lighting. Peripherally, she got the impression of heavy wooden furnishings and a huge four-poster bed. Marcus looked down at her, his face cast in shadows. “That’s okay. I’m no hero.”

  She slid her palm over his jaw, the slight stubble catching on her skin. “I think you’re doing a pretty good job.”

  Devi caught the hardening of Marcus’s jaw under her hand. “Then your judgment sucks.” With that harsh pronouncement, he dropped her on her feet. She stumbled back. The backs of her knees hit the mattress behind her, and she sat down.

  Since they were both underdressed to begin with, it didn’t take more than a minute for Marcus to kick off his jeans and Jace to skim his boxer briefs down his legs. After viewing them in the buff so many times now, Devi could make out differences in their physiques that were easier to overlook when they were decent. Jace was an inch or two shorter, his muscles lean while Marcus was bulkier.

  In the package department, the twins had been blessed with equally beautiful penises. Man, when she got lucky, she really hit the jackpot. For a second, Devi was overwhelmed with the knowledge that she didn’t just get one of these excellent specimens, she got two.

  On loan.

  Yeah, yeah, whatever.

  “Like what you see?” Jace’s tone was amused and indulgent.

  Devi managed to tear her gaze away from his huge member and smiled teasingly. “Always.”

  “Take off. Your. Clothes.” Marcus’s hands clenched and unclenched at his side.

  She responded to the heat in his gaze and stood up from the bed with a seductive little shimmy. Her shirt and bra she tossed in the same direction as their clothes. Their eyes tracked over the swell of her full breasts, and she tossed her hair. She had damn good boobs.

  When her fingers stroked down to the snap of her jeans, though, she hesitated. Cellulite. Love handles. Dimples. Her bottom and thighs were not her friends.

  Marcus must have mistaken her hesitation for a tease. “All your clothes.”

  Devi shot a q
uick glance to the overhead track lighting, even less forgiving than her bedroom lamp. “I don’t guess you’d consider turning off the light this time?”

  “Nope.”

  She sighed. “You two are the contrary ones. If I said I wanted the lights on, you’d snap them off in a heartbeat.”

  Jace grinned. “Too bad you didn’t think of that before, huh?”

  Marcus shot her a disbelieving look. “We’ve seen you naked already, did you forget?”

  She squirmed, the air-conditioning cool against her tightened nipples. “I don’t like my butt, that’s all. It’s not attractive.”

  Jace squinted at her and wrapped his hand around his bobbing cock. “Do you think we get this hard for unattractive asses?”

  “Are you serious? I don’t understand women at all. I like your butt. In fact, I love your butt,” Marcus replied emphatically. “If you take your jeans off, I’ll show you how much I love it. I’ll love it so much, you won’t be able to walk in the morning.”

  She gulped and unsnapped the top button. “Let’s not get too hasty, here.”

  Marcus walked over until he stood right in front of her. He brushed her hands aside and took over the chore of unzipping the pants. He slid his hands inside the loosened waistband and pushed the jeans down. She wore only the G-string/stimulator. “Too late. You’ve challenged me. I’ll have you loving your ass as much as I do by the end of the night.”

  Apprehension and anticipation danced along Devi’s nerve endings, drowning out the twinge of self-consciousness. As her clothes pooled around her feet, Marcus tightened his hands on her waist, picked her up with little effort and tossed her back on the bed. She bounced once and then settled into the giving mattress.

  Marcus crawled up her body like a hungry cat, the muscles in his biceps and chest flexing. She twined her arms around his neck and drew his head down to partake of his passionate kiss.

  “So sweet,” he breathed against her lips.