Covered In Lace

chapter NINE

Flynn pulled into the driveway of Lacey's cottage and parked his truck. He looked at her across the seat and smiled.

“See? I got you home in one piece,” he said.

“Yes, but if we had flown in the jet, we would have been back two hours ago.”

“And where's the adventure in that?” he laughed. “Just think of all the Massachusetts countryside you would have missed had we flown?”

“The plane has windows,” she said.

Flynn hopped out of his truck and reached for her bags in the back seat. Lacey grabbed a handful, too, and followed him into her cottage; dropping everything onto the living room floor. He looked at the piles of her belongings and shook his head.

“You certainly don't travel light, do you?” he said.

Lacey faced him and put her hands on her hips. “You enjoy teasing me, don't you?”

He pulled her hard against him; the smile faded from his face. “I enjoy doing lots of things to you,” he said. “Teasing just happens to be one of them.”

Lacey could feel his erection growing between them and the fluttering in her lower belly returned. Her hands sifted through his hair. “It's hot in here,” she said. “Let's go for a swim.”

Three hours later, after skinny dipping and having sex in the lake, Flynn and Lacey lay entwined together on top of the wooden dock. Lacey was happily settled against his side, slowly rubbing the swirl of hair on his stomach. A low grumble announced his hunger.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“I guess I am,” he said. “Maybe we should get dressed and go get something to eat?” Soon as he suggested dinner, his stomach growled again. “I think it's time for me to restore some of my depleted energy.”

Lacey sprang to her feet and held out her hand for him to take. “Come on, old man. Let's get some food into you.”



Flynn opened the door to O'Sullivan's sports bar and waited while Lacey stepped inside. He pressed his hand to the small of her back in a possessive gesture, directing her toward the bar area. The place was mobbed with people and several of them recognized Lacey straight off.

They reached the bar and Flynn nodded at Emma, ordering two draft beers, then watched as Lacey got distracted to sign a couple of autographs for the locals. Emma set the chilled mugs of beer onto the bar in front of Flynn.

“Are you starting a tab?” Emma asked him.

The question forced Flynn's gaze to lift from Lacey's beautifully shaped behind and the swishing fabric of her sun dress; barely concealing what he knew she was wearing underneath it: almost nothing. The thought of her half-naked ass had his cock reacting.

“Yeah, go ahead and start a tab,” he said, glancing at Emma, then his eyes went back to Lacey and the small group of people starting to surround her.

“So, you and Lacey are together now?” Emma asked.

The question seemed odd to Flynn, as did her sarcastic tone. He faced her with quizzical eyes. “What are you getting at, Em?”

“You're sleeping with her?”

Flynn sipped his beer. “Is that any of your business?”

“I don't want to see you get hurt, that's all.”

“I'm a big boy, Em,” he said. “But, thanks for the concern.”

He lifted Lacey's beer mug and turned away from the bar and Emma's heated glare. Then he stepped to Lacey's side and handed her the mug. His hand settled on her hip this time, making sure the men talking to Lacey saw it.

When the last star-struck person had turned away with Lacey's signature in hand, she set her mug down on the bar and draped her arms around Flynn's neck.

“Hungry?” he asked, both hands cupping her bottom.

She brushed her lips with his; felt his tongue reach for hers, and kissed him. “Are you on the menu?” she asked.

“Later, baby,” he said, squeezing her butt. “That'll be dessert.”

He pressed his lips to her cheek bone. “Let me use the men's room and I'll get us a table,” he said.

Lacey nodded and watched him move through the crowded bar; admiring the confident swagger that rolled his hips, and an involuntary shiver shook her. She leaned against the bar with an elbow resting on the worn wooden top and sighed loudly. She tried to hide her smile behind her hand.

“He's not your type,” Emma said.

Lacey turned to face Emma. The girl's face was scrunched into a snide grin as she wiped down the top of the bar with a damp towel.

“And you know my type?” Lacey asked, stepping back to the bar.

“Let's just say, Flynn doesn't travel in the same social circles as you do,” Emma said.

Lacey leaned into the bar. She watched Emma work, trying to size up her motivations for the bitchy remark. The girl was either stupid or hot for Flynn and either option didn't please her.

“You're implying you know the circles I travel and the men I socialize with and you don't,” Lacey said. “In fact, you don't know me at all.”

Emma's behavior made perfect sense to Lacey now. The emotion in the girl's eyes anytime Flynn was nearby, her subtle attempts at flirting with him over the last several weeks; why hadn't she seen it for what it was before now?

“I know Flynn and you're not typically what he goes for,” Emma said.

“And you are?” Lacey asked.

“At one point, yeah, I was.”

“He's a little old for you, isn't he?” Lacey teased. She watched the anger crease Emma's brow.

“I'm older than you think,” Emma scoffed. “But certainly not as old as you.”

Lacey glanced away and smiled. She was sure she probably deserved Emma's last comment.

Emma tossed a wet bar rag into the sink behind her. “Our age difference was never a factor,” she said. “It didn't work out. Simple as that.”

“Then why do you have a problem with him being with me?” Lacey asked.

“I didn't say I did,” Emma said. “What I said was: you're not his type. But for whatever reason, you seem to make him happy; which is something none of us have seen since before the accident.”

“What kind of accident?” Lacey asked.

“Car accident. It happened three or four years ago.”

“Was he hurt?” Lacey asked.

“He wasn't in the accident,” Emma said. “His wife was.”

“You mean, ex-wife.”

“Nope. Wife. They never divorced.”

Lacey dropped her gaze and spun away from the bar and Emma.

“He hasn't mentioned the accident yet, has he?” Emma asked with a laugh.

“Or the wife,” Lacey added for her own ears.

She pushed herself off the stool and began walking toward the exit. A moment later Flynn returned and Lacey was nowhere to be found.

“Where'd she go?” Flynn asked Emma.

“I think she left,” Emma said, trying to hide her smile from Flynn.

Flynn narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you say something to her, Em?”

“Just girl talk.”

“Girl talk my ass,” he said. “What the f*ck did you say to her?”

“I told her we hadn't seen you this happy since before the accident...”

Flynn didn't stick around to hear the rest of Emma's statement. He ran to his truck and raced home, arriving just as a cab left the driveway and Lacey was reaching her doorway. He managed to catch the door with his foot just as she was shutting it in his face.

“Go to hell, Flynn,” she said.

“I meant to tell you,” he said, attempting to slide his arms around her waist.

“Really? You've had weeks to do so,” she shouted, pushing off his arms. “Makes me wonder what else you're hiding from me.”

“I not hiding anything,” he said, and reached for her again.

“Why lie about being divorced?” she asked. “I was honest and shared the details of mine with you!”

She shoved him away and walked through the kitchen and into the living room. Flynn reached her by the arched entrance and gripped her wrist, holding her in place.

“I think you should go home, Flynn.”

His hold around her wrist tightened. “I'm not leaving,” he said. “Not until we talk this through.”

“Suddenly now you want to talk?”

She pulled her arm free and fell onto the couch, bouncing on a cushion. Flynn paced the floor in front of the coffee table rubbing at the knotted muscles at the back of his neck.

“There was no need for a divorce,” he finally said. “My wife died in that accident about three and a half years ago.”

“Jesus, why wouldn't you tell me that?” Lacey asked.

“It's not an easy subject to discuss.”

“I've told you so much about my past, intimate details I've never shared with anyone before you. Did you think that was easy for me?”

Flynn rubbed at his face, then sat down on the couch beside her. “We'd been separated seven or eight months when the accident happened,” he said. “No one knew about the separation though. They all assumed Jen was out on tour.”

“On tour?”

Flynn glanced at Lacey, then looked at his lap. “Yeah, Jennifer was a musician,” he said, and swallowed hard. “She was the lead singer for a band called: Mile High Fever.”

“Oh, my God,” Lacey said. “I remember them. They performed at few of the Summer music festivals we used to play out in the mid-west.”

“I wondered if your paths might have crossed,” he said. “You never would have seen me there though. That was her thing – not mine.”

“I don't remember a Jennifer Beckett though.”

“She went by Jenny Black. Said her maiden name had a better ring to it for the stage. I don't think her heart was ever fully into being a Beckett.”

“Were you married long?”

“About six years, but we rarely saw each other during the last four,” he said. “She was always on the road touring or recording. I built the recording studio thinking it might keep her at home more. It didn't work.”

“You really loved her,” Lacey said on a sigh.

Flynn nodded and tipped his head back against the couch. A long moment passed and he was silent. She watched him swallow hard, then roll his head to face her.

“She wasn't alone when she died,” he finally said. “The police weren't sure who was driving – my wife or her male companion. Both of them were thrown from the car.”

Lacey touched his arm and squeezed it as a show of support; unsure of what she should say.

“Accident happened in Michigan,” he said. “I had to fly out there and identify her body.” Flynn ground the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Best part, as I was leaving the morgue the coroner offered his sympathies for the loss of my wife - and our baby.”

Lacey covered her mouth to stifle a cry.

“Turns out, Jen was four months pregnant,” he said blankly. “It'd been at least a year since I had f*cked her, so it sure as hell wasn't my kid.” He leaned forward, his head hanging over his knees. “I never had the heart to tell her family about the baby not being mine. So I stood on the hillside of that Colorado cemetery playing the role of the grieving husband. While inside I was so sick to my stomach, I couldn't get away from there fast enough.” Flynn stood up and walked to a window facing the lake. “And I've never been back.”

Lacey came up behind him and pressed her forehead to the center of his back. Her hands eased around his waist. “That must've been horrible to go through.”

“Yeah, it sucked, and it wasn't Emma's place to tell you about it,” he said. “I would have done it, in my own time.”

“Emma had her motives,” Lacey said.

Flynn faced her. “What'd you mean?”

“She's jealous I'm with you.”

“She told you about us?” he asked.

Lacey nodded.

“And, let me guess, you're pissed off I didn't tell you about that, too?”

“I wouldn't say that,” she said. “But I am a little curious why you never mentioned you'd slept with her, considering how many times we've all been at the bar. Knowing about your past relationship with her might have explained some of her off-handed comments to me.”

Flynn's back stiffened. “There was no relationship, Lace, and I never mentioned it for the same reason you never mentioned you f*cked Mike.” Flynn watched the shock register on Lacey's face and a smile crept across his. “Funny how people tend to give off subtle messages without having to say a damn thing.”

Lacey reached for him. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I should have told you about Michael, but it happened so long ago. He feels like a brother to me now, not an old lover.”

“I get it, Lace. We both have pasts. I'm certainly no saint and I'm not expecting you to be one, either.”

She stepped to him and eased her hands around his waist, then pressed her face to his chest. A moment later, her circled her with his arms. A sense of warmth and security flowed through her. A feeling like home, a place she never wanted to leave.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole story about Jen,” he said, rocking her against him.

“What about Emma?” Lacey asked. “Is there anything else I should know about that situation?”

“Like what?”

Lacey tipped her head and looked up at him. “It's obvious she doesn't like me being with you and the longer I'm with you, the more agitated she's becoming.”

“She's harmless, Lace,” he said. “No need to worry, but I'll talk to her about it and see if she'll lighten up a bit.”

“Were you together a long time?” she asked.

Flynn's lips curled into a smile but the warmth of the emotion never made it to his eyes. “I wouldn't say we were ever together.”

“She seems to know a lot about you,” Lacey said. “A whole lot more than I do.”

He shook his head. “Not true,” he said, pulling her tighter. He kissed her temple, holding his lips there; his tongue teasing her skin. “You know my soul.”

“Do I?” She leaned back in his arms and looked at him.

His lips brushed against her throat and he whispered, “Baby, you do.”

His hands roamed her back, then slipped down onto her bottom, cupping first, then lifting and rubbing her against his groin. His mouth moved from her neck to her mouth and covered it; his tongue dipping inside to taste. His fingers raised the hem of her dress and disappeared beneath the fabric, fanning across her bare skin and squeezing.

“You never wear panties,” he sighed beside her ear.

“Thong.”

A groan vibrated inside Flynn's throat. His cock stretched behind his zippered fly. He scooped her up in his arms and started walking down the hallway to her bedroom. He tossed her on top of the bed and stepped back, admiring her form; the dress crumpled at her hips, exposing her thighs and the damp spot between them. Jesus, she was beautiful, he thought.

“Undress for me,” he said.

“Maybe I don't want to.”

Flynn smiled at her. “You lie.”

He bent forward and eased his index finger beneath the thin strip of satin covering her mound. A slick pool of heat greeted him and coated his finger. He swirled his finger up around her *, watched her pupils dilate, then pulled his finger from her panties and raised it to his mouth to taste.

“Undress or I'll take you like that.”

She held his gaze for a long moment. She loved the way he took charge in the bedroom; loved the physical effect his assertive words had on her, making her so wet and aching within seconds.

Lacey's eyes dropped to the long arch of his cock pulsing beneath his cargo shorts. “Let me see it,” she said; licking her lips, her eyes darting up to his.

“Not till you're naked and spread on that bed.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Such a tough guy,” she said. She slid across the quilt toward him and spread her thighs, pulling him between them by the waistband of his shorts. One swift jerk and she had his zipper down and her hand inside digging to lift the heavy weight of his cock.

“I know what makes you weak,” she said. Her tongue swirled the heated crest, then ran along the rim of the head, wetting the entire circumference in one long, painfully slow stroke.

Flynn sucked in a breath making a hissing sound through his teeth. His hand cupped the back of her head, holding her in place. He watched his tip pulsing against her lips and tongue, so small in comparison to the thick erection she held in her grip. God, he could let himself get lost in her mouth for days, he thought. But not tonight. He pulled himself free of her mouth and stepped backward.

Lacey looked up at him. “I wasn't done,” she said.

His eyes went soft; the lids dropping halfway. “Come here,” he said, and held his hand for her. He pulled her up from the bed and slowly turned her, putting her backside to him. His fingers twined with her long hair and slid it onto one shoulder, then his lips feathered at the nape of her neck.

Lacey's head dropped forward; the warmth of his breath and lips heating her. Her whole body was starting to tingle from his delicate touch. His tongue drew circles across her skin and she shivered. His fingers eased the zipper down on her cotton dress, then his hand worked inside; over her shoulder blades, and pushed the dress off of her. It quickly pooled at her ankles, leaving Lacey standing there wearing nothing more than a sapphire colored thong.

His muscled arms circled her, fingers roaming everywhere, then focusing on her beaded nipples. He groaned as he tugged at them; leaning over her back, his cock pressing into her crack and rubbing against the thin strip of satin separating her ass cheeks.

“Baby, you make me so crazy,” he whispered below her ear. His teeth raked her skin then nipped, sending a sting of pleasure throughout and making her center begin to pulse.

Flynn pressed his hand to the middle of her back and Lacey bent at the waist; steadying herself on the mattress with her hands. He dropped to his knees behind her; his fingers skimming along her ribs, then gripping at the flare of her hips. He rubbed his face on the flawless perfection of her butt, then his fingers eased the fabric from her crack and his tongue traced a wet line through the crease.

All the way down; he used his lips and tongue, destroying every spot they touched and tasted. She arched for him, tipping her butt higher, and his mouth moved lower still. He used his shoulders to part the back of her thighs to get even closer to her wetness.

“You taste so good,” he said.

Her soft humming noises had grown louder, turning into desperate gasps every time his tongue lashed out and hit a new bundle of nerve endings.

“Please, Flynn,” she sighed, and her legs began to quiver. If he didn't let her come soon, she was certain she would break apart and die.

He pushed a finger into her thick wetness and Lacey whimpered. A second finger entered and she started to rock back against his mouth and the fingers impaling her with a deep and steady rhythm.

His tongue hit the knot of her * and she shattered, screaming out, and bunching up the quilt in her fists. Before her last spasm passed, Flynn was standing up behind her. He rolled on a condom and thrust into her. Within a few strokes, he had Lacey climbing a second peak. He held her tight; her back to his chest, his fingers rubbing circles between her thighs. She clenched around him, hugging his cock with her inner muscles.

“Feels so good,” he moaned against her neck, licking then biting the skin.

And then he felt her burst open again; her legs going stiff, her back arching, her fingernails digging into the flesh on his arms holding her in place on his cock. She wiggled and squirmed on him; while he continued to deliver mind-numbing thrusts; each one deeper than the last.

His hips rolled forward one last time and he released, sending them falling onto the bed with Flynn pinning Lacey beneath him. He turned onto his side, pulling her with him, his cock still buried inside.

“I can't believe how good you make me feel,” she panted.

“Ditto,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her face.

Lacey rolled to him; nose to nose, his breathing still labored.

“You never got naked,” she said, running her hands across his shirt.

“I couldn't wait.”

Lacey's lips skimmed his, then covered his mouth. His tongue reached for hers. She could taste herself on him, smell the scent of her arousal on his face. Her fingers slid between their bodies and circled his still pulsing cock.

“You took the time to put on a condom,” she said.

She pushed him flat to the bed and climbed up on top of him, straddling his hips. “Do you have any more?”

“In my pocket,” he said, and lifted slightly to pull the t-shirt over his head.

Lacey pressed her breasts to his bare chest. “Are you always this prepared?” she asked.

His hands cupped her bottom and squeezed. “With you in my life, it's proving to be essential.”

Lacey smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose. “What's that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“It means, I may have to start buying condoms in bulk and have them shipped to my house.”

Lacey slid off to his side and watched as he pulled off his shorts, reach into the front pocket and retrieve a couple more foil packets. He set them onto the small bedside table and faced her.

“I have two more with me,” he said. He smiled and lightly stroked her face. “After that, we'll have to head over to my place.”

“I'm not usually this horny,” she said.

“And I'm not complaining.”

“Lately, it's all I seem to think about.” Her fingers circled his cock and he moaned. “You're my new drug.”

Flynn moved between her thighs. His cock, sheathed with a new condom, pulsed at her opening. “Then I better give you another fix before you start jonesing on me.”