AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I had to shut the water off to the water heater. Now I need to drain it. You might want to step back so you don’t get your shoes wet.” He hooked the garden hose to the water heater as quickly as he could, but some still got out onto the floor. He reached for a dirty towel in the basket and laid it over the puddle. Satisfied more water wasn’t leaking out, he got to his feet and turned for the door. “I gotta go check to make sure it’s running out the other end.”
Bellamy followed behind him through the house like a little puppy. He opened the door wider so he could get a better look and grunted. “What?” She caught the door before it could close and stuck her head out. Water drained out of the hose. That was a good thing, right?
“Nothing. Pretty much what I expected. Looks like your tank is full of lime. Need to replace it.” He headed back to the laundry room.
“How do you know it needs replaced?” she asked as she caught up to him.
“There isn’t much water coming through the hose. Means your tank is full of lime. Bet you haven’t had much hot water.” Race continued down the hall to the laundry room.
“More like no hot water. I haven’t had hot water for over a week now.” She slipped into the laundry room behind him.
“You haven’t had hot water for over a week?” He spun toward her so suddenly she pulled up short, trying not to run into him.
Too bad she slipped in some water and lost her footing. “Whoa!” She would have landed flat on her back if Race’s reflexes had been any slower. His strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her upright and into his body. She was shivering, but it had nothing to do with fright and everything to do with how good it felt pressed against his body. She bit into her bottom lip and clenched her eyes closed, trying to deny how much she liked being in his strong arms. Damn it. Could he feel her heart racing? She started to slip again only to have Race secure her more tightly to his chest.
“Careful, Princess,” he cautioned, his mouth next to her ear.
Oh my God. I’m going to hell. All she could think about was how solid his body felt against hers from chest to thighs. If she could feel his rather large hard member against her hip, she was sure he could feel her hard nipples against his chest. Did she mention he was rather large?
She clutched at his t-shirt, her head slowly tipping back to look him in the eyes. For once, she didn’t find any mocking humor. What she found was heat and could it be interest? Their faces were close enough to feel each other’s breaths. If he bent just the slightest bit, he could be kissing her. Did she want that? God help her, she thought she did.
* * *
Race’s breathcaught in his chest when Bellamy slipped in the water he’d failed to get completely wipe up. If he had been any slower, she would have fallen and possibly hit her head on his toolbox on her way down. She clutched his t-shirt in a death grip, holding on for dear life. He felt her shiver and felt bad that she’d been so frightened. She tried to get her feet under her and started to slip again. He pulled her closer, securing her to his chest even tighter if that were possible.
He clenched his jaw against the ache setting up in his balls from being so close to Bellamy. Fuck! The more she tried to get her feet under her, the more she rubbed against him, causing his dick to perk up and take notice. If she didn’t stop moving, he wasn’t going to be able to hide his obvious erection from her.
He thought seeing her bent over in her tight skirt with the slit up the back had been torture, but it was nothing compared to the feel of her in his arms. Son of a bitch. He could feel her hard nipples poking into his chest. What he wouldn’t do to get one of those perky nipples in his mouth. Images of bending her over the washing machine and plowing into her from behind, fucking her until neither one of them had the strength to stand flashed behind his closed eyes. Having those kinds of thoughts was almost his undoing.
What actually did him in was when she tipped her head back and he saw the heat in her eyes. Yeah. She was feeling it, too. God, the woman had the most beautiful eyes.
Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers, giving her ample opportunity to push him away, to call him a bastard, to slap his face, anything to snap him out of this trance he felt himself falling under. Taking her acquiescence as permission to continue, he touched his lips to hers. He could have sworn he felt an electrical shock between them, but then only pussies thought those kinds of things.
Fuck, her lips were amazing. Her bottom lip so soft and full, he just had to nip it. She gasped in surprise and he took advantage of the moment by slipping his tongue into her mouth and touching hers. He’d wanted to kiss her from the first time he’d met her at Redemption Days and she’d been with Calliope.
A loud clanging, whining noise coming from the kitchen broke them apart. Bellamy took a tentative step back, her fingers going to her kiss-swollen lips. She appeared to be dazed, her eyes a little unfocused. He’d find it funny if he wasn’t feeling the same damn way. He needed to get control of the situation. That kiss, the one that left his balls aching, should never have happened. He cleared his throat. “What’s that noise?”
“Oh, um, that’s the refrigerator. It’s been acting up for a while, but the noise only started yesterday.” Bellamy backed out of the laundry room, heading toward the kitchen, knowing he’d be following. The noise grew louder the closer he got to the sad sounding appliance. He hit it once, like one did when their bag of chips got stuck in a vending machine and wouldn’t fall. The noise stopped. The blessed silence that followed was amazing.
“What’s it been doing before now?” He opened the fridge side of the side-by-side noting she had a half-empty gallon of milk, yogurt and several other things he didn’t particularly care about. What grabbed his attention was a six-pack of beer. It was a local brew he was familiar with and happened to enjoy. Thinking back, he didn’t recall ever seeing her drinking beer at any of the Sons of Redemption gatherings Calliope brought her to. Was she seeing someone? Jackson had never mentioned it and Race had never seen anyone pick her up here at the house during those times he sat in his house in the dark, watching her with his binoculars. But then again, he wasn’t home 24/7.
“Well, it started freezing everything on both sides, then it didn’t seem to be running at all at other times. Honestly, I probably shouldn’t be eating some of the food in here with the questionable temperature control.” The sound of a phone ringing over by the counter drew her attention. “Sorry. I need to check that in case it’s work related.”
He waved her off and opened the freezer. The cold air felt good on his heated skin. He wondered if it would be frowned upon if he held a bag of semi-frozen peas on his dick. He would only need to do it long enough to calm his pulsing erection down.
“Grandma?” Bellamy’s smile was full of joy. It took her from beautiful to stunning in a blink. “You’re where? On my front porch? Hold on, I’m coming.” She hung up her phone and all but bounced on her toes. “My grandma’s here!”
“I heard.” Race laughed at her obvious joy toward her grandmother. “Go open the door and let her in. I’ll check out your refrigerator.”
He listened to her hurry to the front door. Locks were thrown, the door opened and Bellamy squealed like a kid getting their favorite toy at Christmas. It cracked him up that a woman in her thirties could still act like a young kid under the right circumstances. He stuck his head out to see her grab her grandmother, hugging her close. “Grandma! I’m so excited to see you! When did you get back from Vegas? How long are you here?”
He ducked back inside the refrigerator, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with it. He smiled and shook his head. He liked this goofy, playful side of her. The woman had so many different sides to her, it would take the right man years to discover them all. And he definitely wasn’t the right man. Knowing that didn’t stop him from replaying their kiss in his mind. The way her eyes got all dreamy and unfocused shouldn’t make him feel ten feet tall. The way her lips were swollen from his kiss and the way her chest was rising and falling in excitement shouldn’t matter either. Fuck. He bet she was a wild cat in the sack.
“God damn it.” There went his dick again. Grabbing the most frozen bag of veggies he could find, he held them to his crotch. The cold felt good even through his jeans. He could hear Bellamy and her grandmother talking in the living room and prayed they stayed there until he had himself under control. Should’ve known he wouldn’t be that lucky.
“Race!” Bellamy’s cheerful voice preceded her into the kitchen. Clutching onto her grandmother’s hand, she introduced them. “I want you to meet my Grandma Martha. Grandma, this is Race. He’s my landlord. He’s checking out my hot water heater and my refrigerator.”
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” He kept his body angled behind the open freezer door and extended his hand in greeting.
