Free Waiting For Him by Denise Johnson Page B

something.
    Stone cleared his throat and they both glanced up.
    Steve lifted a brow. “What’s up?”
    “I’m going to stick around awhile.”
    “Gotcha.” He pushed to his feet. “Then I’ll walk Alexis home.”
    “I live right next door,” Alexis said. “I think I can make it on my own.”
    “But what fun would that be?” He gave Stone a determined look. “I’ll be back tomorrow to help with the doggy door and to take some measurements for the fence and—”
    “Yeah, fine, whatever.” Stone waved that off. “I wasn’t cutting you out.”
    Confused by that exchange, Keisha looked at Alexis, but her friend didn’t appear to find anything amiss.
    It took only moments for Alexis to gather her purse and say goodbye to the pets. Given that Stone held Keisha close to his side, Alexis merely waved to her. To Stone, she offered, “I can fire up my grill tomorrow, if you think you’ll be here that long.”
    Steve answered for him, saying, “I’ll bring the steaks.”
    Moments later, they were alone, and Keisha felt such a smoldering rush of excitement she could barely contain herself.
    Stone turned her to face him. “Your fence out back isn’t secure enough to leave the dogs out alone.”
    “I know.” She planned to work on that while they put in the doggy door.
    “Do they sleep with you?”
    “Sometimes.” The loss of her mother had changed her in so many ways. Years earlier a dog would have never been in her bed but now she enjoyed the comfort they provided.
    “I figured.” He held her upper arms, his thumbs caressing. “You have a spare room?”
    She nodded while staring at his incredible mouth, thinking about his kiss, his taste.
    She saw his smile and met his gaze.
    “You wanna show me where it is?”
    “The spare room?”
    His smiled widened. “We don’t want the dogs joining us, honey.”
    “Oh.” She glanced around and saw that the animals all stood on standby. “I have treats.”
    The animals went nuts over that. Keisha rushed to the kitchen and grabbed treats to keep them happy for a while.
    Her babies were so content she closed the gate to keep them in the kitchen. “That’s what I do when I have to clean the floors.”
    “Works for me.” He took her hand and tugged her down the hall.
    With each step, Keisha’s heart beat harder and her breath grew shallow.
    His thumb rubbed over her knuckles. “You’re going to have to trust me on this.”
    Her body felt tight and achy in key places. “On what?”
    In her bedroom, Stone flipped on an overhead light, closed her door and looked around at her neatly made bed. “The second time will better.” He caught the top of her comforter and tossed it to the foot of the bed. His hot gaze landed on her. “Because I don’t know how long I’ll last with the first.”
    *****
    Stone told himself to slow down, to ease her into things but the second he faced her, she was on him. Arms tight around his neck. Her mouth seeking his. Her belly against his erection.
    Damn.
    A virgin shouldn’t be so hot, so sexy.
    Stone turned her, pinned her to the wall and took over, kissing her so thoroughly that she subsided and gave in. By small degrees, she fell into that slow, deep kiss, her hands now clinging to his shoulders, her breathing harsh. He kept his hips angled to keep her still. If she squirmed against him one more time, he’d lose it.
    He held her jaw in one hand and with the other stroked down her waist to her hip. She gave a ripe moan of encouragement.
    Stone walked his fingers, inching up the skirt of her dress until the material bunched in his hand. She tried to ease her mouth free, but he turned his head and recaptured the kiss again. He wanted her drugged with pleasure, giving without reserve, but not so anxious.
    Cupping the back of her neck to keep her steady, he stroked his tongue into her mouth at the same time he slid his hand into the back of her panties.
    Soft, sleek, warm skin…
    She jolted, but he crowed in closer, gentling