Take This Man

Chapter Eight



“Well, I can"t say I"m surprised,” Jason remarked when Elyse returned to the hotel later that day and informed him she was staying with Adam for the rest of their visit.

“You don"t have to be so damn smug about it,” she grumbled, as she flopped onto his bed.

“Leelee, it"s obvious you still have feelings for the man.” He sank into the armchair near the bed.

“Sexual feelings, that"s all.”

“Oh, really?” Jason looked at her in the obnoxiously supercilious way he sometimes had.

She gritted her teeth. “Yes.”

“And I suppose you think by doing this, you"ll somehow work him out—or should I say f*ck him out—of your system?”

“Don"t be crude.” Elyse turned up her nose. She could be supercilious, too.

He laughed. “Oh, but I"m right on the money, aren"t I?”

That was the trouble with best friends—they knew you too well. It was annoying.

Still, Jason wasn"t wrong.

She would never be able to trust Adam— really trust him—again. Though she"d agreed to stay with him, a hard kernel of anger still lay buried in her heart. Nonetheless, the pull between the two of them was strong, as strong as it had ever been. Elyse was caught between her anger and her lust. Maybe spending the next few days with Adam would free her. Maybe she really could f*ck him out of her system.

86

“Well, good luck,” Jason told her, again reading her mind.

She stuck out her tongue at him. “Just be glad you don"t have to pay for a second hotel room anymore.”

“You think I care about that?” Jason shook his head with a sigh. “Leelee, when are you going to face facts? You are ass over teakettle in love with the man. That"s the problem. Sex, darling, you can get anywhere, from anyone. It"s that old black magic"s got you in its spell…”

“Uh-oh, he"s gonna start singing now.”

“No, I"ll spare you. But be careful. You think you"re taking the easy road. You might be fooling yourself.”

That got her back up. “I could say the same to you.”

Jason"s shoulders stiffened.

A little devil made Elyse ask, “How are things with you and Coop, anyway?”

His

gaze

darted

away.

“Things

are…progressing…”

Her radar went off. “What"s that mean?”

“Debra"s stalling.” Jason"s handsome features turned morose. “She wants them to have another go at counseling.”

“Well, for God"s sake, why doesn"t he come clean with the poor woman and tell her he"s gay? It"s so f*cking unfair, the way he"s playing the both of you—”

“Stop it,” he told her harshly. But it wasn"t the tone of Jason"s voice that shut Elyse up. It was the pain she saw in his eyes.

He must have realized how naked his expression was, because he looked away. “You don"t hear me bad-mouthing your lover-boy, do you?” His voice was less rough now as he tried to calm himself.

“No. I"m sorry.” She wasn"t sorry because her 87

remarks were untrue. Rather, she was sorry they were true, and Jason knew it. The last thing Elyse wanted was to rub salt in his wound.

She leaned forward and took his hand, pressing it for comfort. “I guess I don"t understand. How can you still want him, after the way he hurt you?” He let go a sigh. “I love him. That"s why.

Couldn"t you forgive Adam?”

The question was moot. Adam didn"t want forgiveness. He wanted an interlude of hot sex and no strings, which was fine with Elyse. Sex was all she wanted, too.

Still the question niggled at her. Could she forgive Adam, if it came to that?

She had no answer. ****

That evening Adam had a surprise for her.

“Well, this is different.” Elyse watched as he opened the picnic basket he"d prepared. “I never thought of having a picnic in the middle of right field.”

They sat on a blanket Adam spread in the grass of the town baseball field. An overcast gray sky threatened rain, meaning the field was deserted and they had the place to themselves. “Can"t say I"m not inventive,” he told her.

“Why not just go to the park?”

“People walk their dogs there, we"d be taking too much of a chance. No animals allowed here. And look how lush and green the lawn is.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “How soft.” Heat raced through her as she caught his meaning, but she rolled her eyes. “Dream on, dude.” She was just blowing smoke, because the thought of having Adam right here made her sex pulse with excitement.


It wouldn"t be the first time they"d had sex out in the open. As a matter of fact, their most 88

memorable public interlude had taken place at this very ball field, right in the dugout. Elyse had been terrified they might be caught, and somehow the danger made the experience more electrifying.

The sex had been spectacular. But what she remembered most about that night was telling Adam she loved him.

“You don"t have to say it back,” she told him as she gently stroked his face. She straddled his lap, in the darkened dugout, her clothing askew. Elyse hadn"t planned to tell him how she felt, although she"d loved him for months. But tonight, as she was panting and gasping in the midst of her climax, the words simply erupted from her throat. “Oh, God, Adam! I love you!”

He didn"t answer. But it was all right. Elyse knew how he felt—he just couldn"t say the words.

Were the words really so important when everything he did told her how much he cared? The way he treated her, the way he touched her—those were his “I love you.”

“I"m not going to rush you,” she said. “I want you to know I"m not going anywhere. I"ll be right here, and someday I know you"ll tell me that you love me, too.” But he never did.

“Elyse.” Adam was holding out a plastic cup of wine.

She took it and gulped a swallow. “Why are we here?”

He seemed taken aback by her abrupt question.

His hand hesitated as he spread some soft cheese on a cracker. “You telling me you don"t remember?” He cut his eyes at the baseball dugout.

Oh, she remembered all right. And those memories brought nothing but pain and confusion.

She remembered it as the night she"d laid her heart out for him, offering all the love she had.

89

And all he remembered was a hot f*ck.

They said they"d leave the past alone, but here they were, revisiting it.

But the past never really stays there, Elyse supposed. It"s always with us wherever we go.

The only way to banish old memories was to create new ones.

She nodded at the cheese cracker Adam held between his thumb and forefinger. “That for me?” He blinked. “Yeah. Sure.”

Elyse took it, popped it into her mouth and chewed. “Mmm…” She swallowed, eyeing him and licking her lips. “Tasty.”

He watched her, the knob of his Adam"s apple bobbing in his throat as her tongue swept over her lips. “Elyse…” His voice was thick. “There"s a reason I brought you here tonight…”

“Mmm-hmm,” She murmured. She crawled across the blanket to him and knelt in front of him.

“I"ll bet there is. I"ll bet it"s the same thing I"m thinking about right now.” She rubbed her hands over the soft cotton of the T-shirt covering his broad chest.

She wasn"t about to let him know how the memory of that night hurt her. She"d never give him that power over her again. He thought bringing her here would get her hot and horny. Well, fine. She"d give him what he wanted, and get something for herself as well.

Elyse thrust her hands under his shirt, palming the warm skin and the crinkly hair on his chest. He grasped her wrists. “I want to—”

“I know. So do I.” She shut him up by clamping her mouth to his and pushing her tongue inside.

When she pulled away, they were both gasping for breath. “I want to f*ck. Come on.” She tugged his hand, and he got to his feet, 90

following her like a robot as she led him to the wire backstop behind home plate. It was too easy. Get a man hot, and you could lead him anywhere by his dick. “C"mere.” Elyse leaned against the backstop and grabbed a handful of Adam"s shirt, pulling him against her.

With one hand tangled in his shirt and the other on his belt buckle, Elyse was in charge. She intended to rid herself of those memories completely. Adam never wanted to hear that she loved him—she"d been kidding herself. She"d been stupid.

Well, no more. This time with Adam was just about sex. She"d get him out of her system, once and for all—even if she had to, as Jason put it, f*ck him out. “Elyse—” He tried to speak, but she wouldn"t let him finish. She mashed her lips against his angrily, as if to punish him. Why wasn"t she over him? Why couldn"t she let him go?

“Shut up,” she told him, her tone harsh. “Don"t talk.” Both hands were on his buckle now, undoing it and unzipping his fly. “Do me. Do me right here.” He let go a ragged breath. His eyes ignited with lust and something else—anger? But Elyse had no time to puzzle over it. Adam was grasping her breasts in his big hands and kneading them, while his mouth ate at hers.

His breath gusted her face. “This is what you want? Like this?”

“Yeah.” She had worked his cock free of his briefs, and was stroking his velvety hardness none too gently. “Just like that. Come on.” His hand was under her skirt, pulling aside the crotch of her panties, playing with her slick p-ssy.

“Mmm, so wet for me.”

“Yeah,” Elyse panted, rubbing against his fingers. “Ah!” A mini-orgasm crackled through her, 91

an electric shock presaging more to come.

Pushing up her shirt and bra, Adam tugged at the tight hard knots of her nipples. He pinched one between his fingers while he sucked the other into his mouth, hard at first, then gently, so gently. As Adam sweetly suckled her nipples, Elyse felt herself growing melty and soft, like taffy in the sun.

“Now,” she told him, pleading. “Please.”

“This way.” He surprised her by whirling her around so she was facing the backstop, her fingers clawing the wire fence. He bent her over, shoved her skirt above her ass, and pulled down her panties.

The panties impeded her from taking a wide enough stance, so Adam simply tore a seam to let them slide down her leg.

Elyse didn"t care. She was crazy with need and only cared about him getting inside her. She wiggled her bare behind. “Come on.”

She heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper, and then felt his latex-covered shaft rubbing against her slippery heat. “Ah…”

“You want this?” His breath was hot in her ear.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Show me.”

She pushed back against his cock, urging him to thrust inside her. “Come on.” The ache inside her grew and grew, an itch that so needed to be scratched it was driving her insane.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“Put your hard cock in me,” she panted. “I need it. I need it, Adam!”

“Oh, yeah.” In one glorious thrust, he was home.

They both groaned at the sensation. Elyse was in heaven, chock full of him. Her inner muscles rippled around him, holding him tight.

A cold wet drop fell on her neck. Rain? She was surprised it didn"t sizzle into steam as it landed on her hot skin.

92

“Yeah,” he repeated, sighing. “Your p-ssy"s so wet for me, baby. I love it.”

Elyse"s voice was hoarse. “Now you got it in there, make it work, stud.” She lifted her head, and a few more random raindrops plopped onto her face.

“With pleasure.” Grasping her hips, he pumped in and out with vigor. He was gripping her so tightly, Elyse knew she"d find bruises on her skin tomorrow. Her head drooped on her neck as he pounded her. The rain fell gently now, steadily, but she hardly noticed as her need burned hotter and hotter.

“You close?” he asked, his breath gusting her neck.


“Yes…”

“I"m gonna blow. Rub your *, come with me.” One hand clutched the wire backstop as she moved the other between her legs. She touched her swollen *, which was tingling with need. In no time at all she toppled into orgasm, the ripples shivering through her. Only Adam"s hands kept her from collapsing onto the ground. He came right after her, his legs trembling and his cock pulsing inside her. Elyse sagged against the backstop, Adam leaning into her from behind, both of them breathing hard.

“You"re squashing me,” she finally laughed.

They were both wet, their clothing clinging to them.

“Sorry.” He slipped out of her and pulled away, removing the used rubber and letting it fall on the grass. Elyse stepped out of what used to be her panties, looking at the two items on the dirt—they told quite a story.

“Let"s leave them there.” Adam wore a wicked grin as he pushed wet hair back from his face. “Give whoever finds them something to talk about.” He sounded like a horny teenager. It was up to 93

Elyse to be the responsible one. “No, that"s gross.

What if it"s kids who come along?” She straightened her clothes and used the panties to pick up and wrap the condom. As she deposited them deep into a trash bin, rain suddenly began sluicing down from the sky. Elyse screamed and Adam swore, laughing at the same time. He ran to grab their basket and blanket while she raced for the truck, screaming again when she found he"d locked the doors.

They were both laughing and cursing by the time they tumbled, soaked to the skin, into the truck"s cab.

Adam kissed Elyse"s cold wet lips, and licked the rain from her throat. “Mmm. You taste good.” Then he frowned. “You"re shivering.”

“It"s a good shiver,” she assured him.

All the same, he turned on the heat and handed her the blanket to use as a makeshift towel. “Here.

Dry off.”

She patted off most of the wetness, then dried him as well. As she toweled his face, he wore a lopsided smile. “Well, that was some picnic,” he said.

“Pretty suckworthy planning on my part. Should have checked the Weather Channel, huh?”

“What are you talking about? I think it was very…memorable.” She gave him a playfully sultry look. “And there"s no reason we can"t finish it up right here.” She placed the basket on her lap.

“Elyse…” His expression was serious again, and her heart fluttered. No. She didn"t want serious. She wanted light and fun, period. Light and fun and sexy.

“Ssshhh,” she told him, to forestall whatever it was he wanted to say. She took something from the basket popped it into his mouth. “Have a cracker.” 94