Efrem Read online

  Tension seeped from his shoulders as his dick lengthened and thickened under his ministrations. One hand wrapped around his hardening length, and one washing—massaging—his balls, took his mind off Dan. But Lisa stood out prominently in his hazy thoughts. He pulled his cock out, stretching it, pulling his testicles away from his body. The only tension left in his upper body was the restraint necessary to keep from going too fast, too soon. All that tension was now centered in his lower stomach and groin area. His nuts tightened and he spread his legs and pointed his erection at the floor. He was not a straight in-and-out man, though he could be when needs be. He played with his thick, pulsing penis, soap easing his hand around and along its length. Heat built along the skin of his dick He tried to be slow and methodical, but the image of Lisa with her hair spread across a pillow, her legs spread apart waiting for him, changed his steady, stroking rhythm. She touched herself. He groaned and threw his head back. Slowly, slow, easy. When the image of Lisa sliding her own finger deep inside herself, exactly where his dick wanted to be, he sped up. Giving up on subtlety, he stroked a bit harder and a bit faster. Her very feminine image slipped her finger out of her slick channel. He breathed deeply. Sped up.

  She licked her finger.

  Beating hard, with knees bent, he groaned. He stroked faster but lighter. His hand, barely gripping his aching dick, started to blur.

  Lisa moaned and petted herself.

  His hand tightened and heat and pressure and desire built inside his stomach, balls, and spine. At the first sign of release, he tightened his hand and pumped his fist faster and faster. Cum shot across the shower. His dick pulsed twice, three times. He sank to his knees, sexually replete.

  He remained kneeling for a few moments while he got his breath back. Looking up at the still-streaming showerhead, he said, “Damn, I still have to wash my hair.”

  * * * *

  It was two weeks before Efrem had his chance. He and Lisa spent time together every day. He was frequently late to work or leaving early to squeeze more “Lisa” hours into his day. His boss wasn’t even in the same state, but he knew what was going on. He’d already warned Efrem about being late again.

  He and Lisa had eaten together, too, but he wanted a date. A real date. With dancing. He wanted to hold her in his arms, feel her move against him as they glided across a polished floor. As immature as it was, he wanted to publicly stake his claim and, more importantly, he wanted Lisa to acknowledge the attraction between them.

  Attraction. Huh! A raging inferno filled him when he watched her wrinkle her forehead in concentration. Wildfire raced through him when she smiled at him. God forbid she lick her lips, because his imagination was excellent. He actually felt her tongue on him, licking his skin, tasting him, and wanting more. He shuddered as he recalled how she seemed to know exactly what he was feeling. It was unnerving and exciting, and he wanted more. Needed more.

  Dan hadn’t returned to disrupt the ranch routine as he had worried. Jerry Price had stepped in as foreman—turned out he had a lot of experience which he hadn’t disclosed because of his instant dislike of Dan—so the ranch was under control. Lisa was quickly getting the hang of the software with his instruction. She was smart as a whip and slipperier than a greased pig—to use her words. Every time he opened his mouth to ask her out, she asked a question, or offered him lunch or coffee, but never what he wanted.

  This time would be different.

  After searching two barns, the foaling shed, and the equipment shed, he found her at the damn computer. He loved it and hated it. It originally brought them together, but now, more often than not, kept them apart. She was frowning in concentration and didn’t move or look at him as he stepped up behind her. Glad he could still sneak up on her, he blew a strand of hair that escaped her long braid. She brushed at the strand as it tickled her cheek. He blew on it again.

  “Stop that, Efrem.”

  “How’d you know it was me?”

  She turned and his breath stopped. Something was different in her face. “You’re the only one who sneaks up on me and tries to keep me away from the computer.”

  He smiled. And swallowed. “What are you messing with now?” He didn’t want her at the computer…he wanted her in his arms. She parted her lips just enough for her tongue to flick out to wet them. Every fiber of his being tightened. Her eyes darkened.

  “You,” she said deliberately.

  Efrem wondered why the earth didn’t shake, why the mountains didn’t heave and the oceans founder at the shore. She reached for a kiss and he gave it to her. Pulling her to her feet, he set his mouth on her—yes!—and feasted. Her arms came around his waist and he was amazed his pounding heart didn’t bruise her chest.

  Her chest. Her breasts.

  He bent her backwards over his arm to watch as her nipples pearled and poked impatiently at the soft cotton T-shirt. He sighed and dipped his head to bury his nose between her neck and shoulder. He tasted her neck with a flick of his tongue. His cock reached for her, too, but there were too many clothes between her and it.

  There was so much he wanted to do, so much he had imagined, that he didn’t know where to start. He settled for undoing her braid, releasing the mahogany cloud he fantasized about every night. Her red highlights had been featured on his pillow, his sheets, the backseat of his car, and curtaining them as she made love to him. He pictured his dick wrapped up in it, causing his hips to flex against her. She laughed. Willing to wait, he raked his fingers through her hair and pressed deeper into her mouth. He held her hard against himself and walked her backward to the couch. They fell together, the old couch groaning in protest. She wasn’t laughing now.

  She framed his face with her hands. Efrem forgot everything as she kissed him. He forgot everything but her as they marveled in the feel of each other.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Oh, yes. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  He pressed his erection into her softness. She opened her legs, letting him drop between them, bringing him into direct contact with her warmth. Her hips tilted and Efrem groaned as she pulled her crotch up the length of him. They were so close he felt the seam of her jeans along the length of his erection. It pressed into his hard flesh but did not defeat him. He sucked on her tongue and her breasts, thoroughly wetting the thin, worn cotton. She arched against him and he slid an arm under her back. Biting her gently, he let her drenched shirt slip from his lips.

  “Take it off,” he demanded, breathing heavily.

  She smiled coquettishly. “Why?” she purred.

  Oh, hell. She wanted to play and he wanted to fuck.

  “I want to see what color your nipples are. Take it off.” A little too demanding, but it worked.

  Her eyes grew wide but she reached down and pulled the material up her stomach. It caught on the tight beads around her nipples he had called from her then slipped up to reveal dark brown nipples. Her skin was pinched so tight he could see every pore, every milk duct, every pulsing vein, and a lone beauty mark on her left breast.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “Take yours off.”

  His head jerked up to see her looking at him hungrily. His cock twitched as her hips wiggled. One-handed, he grabbed his own T-shirt and pulled it over his head. Her hands immediately cupped his chest and fingernails scratched lightly across his own dark brown nipples. They puckered. But Lisa’s put his to shame, until she lifted her mouth and sucked one into her mouth.

  “Tit for tat?” he asked.

  Her response was to drench the denim between her legs. He had to see. Efrem grabbed her knees and pulled them up under his arms. He pushed up and saw the damp spot on her jeans. His arms started to shake. They were almost fully dressed, and he was afraid he was about to embarrass himself. The sight of her, the proof of her desire, made him weak. When her slender, strong hand cupped him through his jeans, he slid forward, savoring the feel of her on his cock. His eyes closed in bliss as she scraped her short but e
ffective fingernails along the bulge in his pants.

  “More,” she panted.

  Efrem wasn’t sure how much “more” he could take, but far be it for him to disappoint a willing, wet woman. Here he understood exactly what a woman wanted.

  Lisa made a sound deep in her throat. It sounded like a whimper. But Lisa wasn’t one to whimper. Plead maybe, demand, definitely. But not whimper.

  He stood and stripped off his clothes. Lisa started on her jeans and Efrem helped her finish. Then he stood there and looked. And looked. Reality far surpassed his fantasies. Her pussy glistened with moisture, a bead slipping down to her anus. It reacted. So did his dick. She reached up to him.

  “Come back here.”

  He eased down on top of her, settling himself into her open arms and legs. They lay skin to skin. Each savored the moment. Lisa looked as smug as Efrem felt.

  Kissing her softly, he let his hands explore her. Her skin was smooth and white, and the the cleft at the top her thigh was sensitive. Strong legs wrapped around his waist, inviting him to press inside her—but not yet. His breath hitched when she ran her fingers over his hardness. She was soft, warm, and smelled musky. Drinking in her scent he lipped her nipples, laved her breasts then sucked. She arched and moaned and he obliged her by pulling her breast into his mouth.

  “Please.”

  Okay, that was a whimper.

  “I want…”

  “Me, too,” he mumbled. He cupped the outside of her breasts and pressed them together, then buried his face between them, snaking his tongue in and out.

  She opened her eyes and looked into his. “Efrem.”

  Reaching one hand down, he slid a finger inside her pussy. She was warm and wet, ready for him, and saturated with desire. Another finger and her legs opened wider. His thumb roved around in her slick folds and her knees lifted. Fascinated with her response, Efrem slipped back and sat on his heels. His erection bounced between them until she wrapped her hands around it.

  “Lift your legs higher,” he demanded in a rough voice.

  Her eyes widened but she obeyed. She was completely open to him. He slipped one slick finger out and rubbed it between her cheeks. He watched to see her reaction. She flipped a leg over the back of the couch. He smiled—not knowing how much like a predator the smile made him look—and eased his finger inside. She clenched tight around him, rocking her hips as he gripped her front and back. Her orgasm started deep inside, built slowly then exploded. He moved his hand so he could make love to her but she still held his dick.

  He almost came when she used her own hand to slick him up and down. He took it as long as he could.

  “Enough.” He gently tugged on her hands. She opened her eyes, smiled, and slid up higher. With her help, he didn’t need to brace himself. She prepared herself for him and held his gaze while he oh-so-slowly pushed inside, and home.

  She had melted at his touch and now met every thrust with her own. She urged him on with her eyes and her hands. He rotated his hips, pressing his cock against each of her channel walls. His erection swirled around inside her. As he moved above her, he felt her tighten. When she came, she arched her back and shouted.

  “I love you,” he mumbled. He slammed his hips against her, determined to make her come again. And when she did, he went with her. It was perfect.

  * * * *

  Lisa let the welcome weight of her new lover crush her into the sofa. Well. Hmm.

  She wiggled the toes on her left foot to avoid getting the tingles. It was going numb, but she did not want to move.

  Hmm.

  The large, warm, sated male lying so still on top of her made a noise in his throat. She smiled. He was trying to move but she didn’t think he was having any more luck than she was.

  Another noise came from Efrem and a small movement. His fading erection slipped out of her making both of them groan. Lisa giggled and could feel Efrem smile into her neck.

  “Are we alive?” she asked playfully.

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  Another few minutes passed before either of them stirred. Lisa moved her numb foot, and Efrem eased to her side. There was barely enough room, but he held on to her.

  “Lisa, I—”

  “My foot is falling asleep. We’re going to have to get up.” No way did she want to hear that phrase again, not when she had every intention of ignoring the first time he uttered it. How could anyone fall in love in a couple of weeks? It couldn’t be love-at-first-sight, and it wasn’t the result of a yearlong courtship. Was there such a thing as love-at-the-second-week? She didn’t think so, but if there was, she was voting against it.

  “Lisa?”

  She was wriggling around, trying to get off the couch, but Efrem was in her way. And he wasn’t moving.

  “My foot is asleep.”

  Unbelievably, the man rolled his eyes. “You said that already.” A warm hand settled on her hip, holding her in place. He was going to force the issue. Naked and trapped, she looked at him.

  “Would you go out to dinner with me?”

  With a grin that hurt her cheeks, she threw her arms around him. “Yes!” He grinned back and let her up. Normally, dressing took Lisa a few minutes. But, when there was a beautiful, naked, playful man around, it was more like half an hour. He kept touching her, kissing her, running his hands through her hair which stuck out all over the place. Once they were dressed, he brushed her hair but would only let her put it in a ponytail.

  “It gets in my face too much like this.”

  He stood in front of her and smoothed his hand along the side of her head. “I’ll take care of it,” he whispered.

  He was as enthralled with her hair as she was with his biceps. Since he’d only gotten as far as his jeans, his chest and arms were bare. She ran a hand up his arm, circling the muscle at the top of his arm. “You didn’t get this typing on a keyboard.”

  Smiling, he looped his arms around her waist. “Sure I did. Those suckers are heavy.”

  She pushed him away with a chuckle. “Finish getting dressed. I have to check on Raven and the other mares in the first barn.” So far Efrem had managed to mostly stay away from the horses. Lisa wanted to test her theory that he was afraid of them. Imagine a man like Efrem afraid of a horse?

  “Uh. Okay. I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

  He looked anything but eager. She wondered if he was still in trouble at work. Because of me. Lisa decided to let him be by not teasing him. “Good.” She strolled out of the office wondering if she would ever feel the same way about the room. There was a good chance the answer was no.

  Chapter Five

  This is what she got for teasing him. Never tease a man about his weaknesses, because it brings out his strengths.

  Efrem was not afraid of horses, but he was timid with them. Lisa was deathly afraid of water. And here she was, riding in Efrem’s truck, which sprouted two surfboards. It was aimed for the beach. Not good. Not at all.

  “You said you can swim. What’s there to be afraid of?”

  It was a reasonable question asked by a reasonable man of a woman whose father had drowned in a flooded cow pasture when she was a child. His horse had slipped into a hole hidden by the rising water and gone down. Her father had fallen forward, over the horse’s head, which put him in the path of the terrified animal once it had regained its feet. The horse’s thrashing hooves had caught her father in the forehead, knocking him unconscious. It had taken searchers two days to recover his body.

  “Oh, nothing. Except shark attacks, riptides, and death.” Glumly, she stared out the window, but looked at him when the truck slowed and pulled onto the shoulder. He cut the engine and faced her in the cab.

  “No one I know would anticipate a day at the beach with such gloom. Your enthusiasm is underwhelming, but I didn’t think you were anticipating death. What gives?”

  Again, a reasonable question, but one she did not want to answer. She forced a smile on her face. “I’m sorry I’m being
a wet blanket—ha, ha, get it? Wet blanket? Beach blanket?”

  He stared at her.

  “Never mind. I have a lot of work to do at the ranch.”

  “No, you don’t. You have a great foreman and several excellent cowboys taking care of things. You’re caught up on the books, thanks to my computer, and you haven’t taken a day off since I met you.”

  “I run a ranch. With animals. That like to be fed every day. They’re fussy that way.”

  “Ha. You’re fussy.”

  “I’m not fussy, I’m fussing. At being dragged to the beach when—” She took a quick look at the sky. “It’s going to rain.”

  Efrem looked up. She knew all he was seeing were two or three fluffy clouds with dark underbellies. He started the truck, put it in gear, and started to make a U-turn.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m taking you back to the ranch. Obviously I underestimated how afraid you are of the water.”

  Direct hit. She didn’t like her fears exposed any more than he did. And he didn’t like it at all.

  “No. I want to learn to surf. Really.”

  When he stared at her without saying anything, she slid closer to him and clutched one of his magnificent biceps. “I want to go to the beach with you.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Please? I’ll make nice.”

  He shifted in his seat and tried to hide a smile. “How nice?”

  “You’ll have to wait and see. After you teach me how to surf.” She stifled the shudder than ran through her at the thought of being on a stick of wood in deep water for the purpose of falling into said water. With her face under the water. The phony smile felt tight.

  “Okay.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief and resignation. She might as well get it over with, chances were the man would keep her in the water until she pruned like Great-Aunt Meredith. Ugh.