Twisted By Desire (Lust, Desire and Love Trilogy #1) Read online

  “Yep.”

  “Tell Daddy and Hope bye.”

  She turned and waved as she hollered, “Bye.”

  Hope came and kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, Angel.” She even smelled gorgeous -- ugh.

  As Sky stepped closer, I could smell the Dove soap. I loved that smell on him, fresh and clean as a whistle. He leaned in, my breath hitched, his eyes focused on mine, and I licked, then bit my lower lip in desperation as my throat pulsed. He leaned in farther still holding his gaze on me, and my lips pursed as he kissed Abby on the cheek. “Bye, Princess. I love you.” His eyes never left mine.

  “I wuv you.” Abby’s arms stretched to wrap around Sky’s neck, pulling me toward him with her. She gave him a long, wet kiss on the neck. Sky smiled while Hope and I laughed. I hated sharing that moment with her. When Hope looked at me, our eyes met, and the smile on her face turned to a grimace while her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest.

  I walked over to the door where she was standing, and she took a step to make sure to open it for me. She probably wanted to put her foot in the middle of my back and literally kick me out. I’m such a fool, I thought as my face flushed. “I’ll see you guys next week.” I stepped out, and the door closed quickly, behind me.

  After getting Abby buckled into her car seat, I sulked behind the steering wheel, both hands on it in the ten and two position, resting my head between them. I couldn’t believe I was fretting over Sky. We were divorced. He was going to move on; I had.

  I raised my head, and in autopilot mode, eyes barely focused, started the car and began driving down the road. Shaking my head from side to side, I sighed out, relaxing my shoulders. I felt silly, school girl crush silly. I had to shake this and move on.

  After getting in the house, I got Abby bathed and gave her a snack before tucking her into bed.

  My mind still refused to shift from Sky. Was he my Mr. Right? I climbed in bed, pulling the covers up to my chest, and relaxed back into my pillows. I rubbed my heart as I replayed in my mind that day on campus when I had seen him for the first time, me stalking him, and the first time we were alone.

  ****

  When I returned to college for my junior year, it didn’t take long for me to find the most handsome freshman on campus. I wasn’t looking for a freshman to date; he just happened to be a freshman. He had the females on campus buzzing as soon as he stepped out of his mom’s Jaguar. Mandy and I were moving into our new dorm room when I saw him. My mouth gaped as I said, “Oh my God.”

  “Fuck me,” Mandy stammered out when her head spun in the direction I was staring in.

  “He’s mine,” I declared as I swallowed hard. “I love his parents, and I don’t even know them. What wonderful people they must be to have created perfect him, though.”

  We stood in awe, Mandy holding a microwave as I clutched my jewelry box. He was walking toward us.

  He was six feet tall, and had shoulder-length brown hair.

  “Need a hand?” he asked. He had long eyelashes and killer bluish-gray eyes. He was clean-shaven, showing off his strong jawline.

  “Sure, thanks,” Mandy said as he took the microwave from her arms. There were dents across her skin where the microwave had been resting.

  “I’m Skylar Carmichael. Just call me Sky, everyone else does, except my mother.” He had such beautiful, kissable full lips.

  “I’m Mandy, and this is Nikki.” All I could do was smile. Sky smiled back at me. His smile was a little crooked and so irresistible, with a hint of dimpled cheeks.

  “I’ll follow you,” he said to Mandy. My tongue was tied in knots and working overtime to make sure I didn’t drool. My mind was working like a steam engine -- so young, so chivalrous, so damn gorgeous, and so soon to be all mine.

  Watching him walk allowed me to be appreciative of whatever workout plan he had because he had a perfectly round, tight ass. His shoulders were broad. He was fit and trim -- perfect and sexy. His body language screamed confidence and sex appeal; he had an intriguing swagger in his simplest movements. My goal was to get to know him before any of the other females got to him.

  We walked down the hall about twenty feet before reaching the room. Mandy opened and held the door for Sky.

  “Thanks so much; I really appreciate your help.” Mandy stretched out her arm to shake his hand after he set the appliance down on the counter, revealing the raised reddened marks from the microwave.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Now that you know where we live, maybe you can stop by. That is, if Nikki here can take herself off mute.”

  They laughed at my expense. I shot them both a snarky fake smile. “Yeah, come by any time,” I managed to squeak out.

  “Maybe I will.” He winked. “Later.”

  Once he left and I shut the door, I blurted out, “I’m going to rub one out while thinking about him tonight. Did you see his eyes? Oh my god!”

  “He is ridiculously good-looking. You two would look so good together,” Mandy gushed.

  From that moment, I was obsessed and turned into the campus stalker. I got his schedule from one of my friends who worked in the registrar’s office. He lived in an adjacent building from mine, and I made sure our paths crossed as much as we crossed campus for class.

  A few weeks after moving in, Mandy was out with Creighton, and I was sitting in our room clad in a pair of running shorts and a tank top with no bra, engrossed in my smut book, when a knock on the door startled me. We had gotten used to the other girls on the floor just dropping in without knocking. It was like a floor-wide slumber party on most nights.

  I sauntered over to open the door, and to my surprise, there stood Sky. Stunning as ever, his black T-shirt was molded to his body like a second skin. His physique was truly impressive. The muscles in his chest and arms were proof that he spent plenty of time in the gym. His body fat had to be close to zero percent. He looked amazing.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “No, not at all. Come in.” I poked my head out slightly and saw three of my floor-mates staring in my direction, whispering furiously to each other. Eat your hearts out, bitches. I closed the door and locked it. “So what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

  “I figured I’d take you guys up on the offer to stop by. Is Mandy here too?”

  “Nope, she’s out with her boyfriend.” I sat on my bed scooting my ass back so the pillow was between my back and the headboard. “You can sit down.” I patted the bed where I wanted his perfect ass.

  “Where’s your boyfriend tonight?” Sky took his assigned position on the bed, making sure not to pull his feet up onto the bedspread.

  “I don’t have one, not yet.” I was hunched over slightly, in a feeble attempt to make my hardened nipples less obvious. I pulled my legs up and crossed them in front of me. The way I was sitting with the shorts so short, it was a good thing I had shaved or my hairs down there might have shown.

  “Got anyone in mind?”

  “Yep, I definitely have my eye on someone.” I’ll give your fine ass one guess who.

  “Lucky guy.”

  “Thanks. So how about you? Do you have a girlfriend?”

  “No, we broke up before I came here.”

  “Too bad.” I flipped my hair back over my shoulder. Good riddance to bad rubbish -- out with the old and in with the new.

  “It was only a matter of time. She started getting clingy and annoying. Then things really went south the closer it got to me leaving.”

  “Well, hopefully you can get over her soon and move on.” With me. “You’re a freshman, right?”

  “I’m hoping the same, and yeah, I’m a freshman. Enough about me; tell me more about you. I seem to see you all the time.”

  “I’m a junior and normally keep pretty busy. Tonight is a slow night, not much homework, so I’m just hanging out, reading.”

  “What do you read?”

  “Erotica is my favorite. I love a good h
ot, sexy bedtime story.” I’d love to make you part of a good hot, sexy bedtime story.

  “I can’t say I’ve ever read Erotica, but I’ve heard about it. It’s like porn, right?”

  “No, it’s erotic romance; you know, it has a romantic story. But … seriously, what’s up? It seems so random that you came by tonight.”

  “I was coming by to see if you wanted to come over for a bit since my roommate isn’t around tonight, but neither is yours.”

  What’s cooking in that mind of yours, Sky? “Were you going to lure me to your place and take advantage of me?” Oh, wait, that’s what’s in my mind. Why are we still wasting time talking?

  His face flushed. “Nah, nothing like that.”

  “Then what?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought how I’d –” He stopped mid-sentence as I went into seductress mode. I leaned my back against the headboard and closed my eyes. I inhaled deeply while slinking my hands with sensual movements down my sides, across my hips, caressing down my knees and back up toward my hips again. My hips rocked while my breasts invited him closer. I rolled my head up, slowly opening my eyes. I was beckoning him to me without saying a word.

  “Holy fuck.” Did he really just say that out loud?

  “What?” I replied coyly.

  “I think we both know ‘what.’ You know why I came by, and now you’re teasing me.”

  “I don’t tease, darling. I please.” My glance shifted downward to the crotch of his jeans. I let my hands glide up my sides slowly as I rocked my hips forward, emphasizing my small waist. My hands caressed over the outside of my sensitive, pleading breasts, continuing up my neck and into my hair from the nape. “Some of us women aren’t into game playing.” I slid the ponytail holder that had been on my wrist off, and pulled my hair back off my face and neck. “Just tell me why you came by, because we’re probably thinking the same thing anyway.”

  Sky looked like he was going to explode. His hooded eyes were massaging my breasts, kneading them with his gaze. Yeah, he wanted me. I wanted him too, and he knew it. He studied me as I slid my legs out of the crossed position and over toward the floor. My feet touched the floor, and my ass rose up just enough for him to catch a glimpse of my round butt peeking out of my shorts. He was falling under my spell. I took two steps to walk past him, and he reached out, grabbing my wrist, pulling me down into his lap.

  “So now you have me; what are you going to do with me?” I batted my eyes part joking, part flirting, and one hundred percent begging for his touch.

  Sky wrapped one hand around the back of my neck and guided me down onto his warm lips while sliding the other arm around my waist, pulling me into him nice and snug.

  To make sure there was no mistaking what I wanted, I gave him a slight nudge to topple him back so he was flush on his back, but my lips never left his. I climbed on top of him, straddling his hips so I could feel his hardness while I rocked my hips ever so slightly. Rocking forward, I shivered as his thickness pressed against my swelling clit, then rocked back to remove the pressure. I needed to feel him in me so bad. I was sure he would feel how wet he was making me through my shorts. Jeez; fuck me!

  “Would it be safe to say we’ve solved the mystery?” I asked, with my lips lightly touching his – teasing, taunting, and flirting.

  Sky flicked his warm, moist tongue across my pink satin lips. “Mystery solved. Mission not accomplished … yet.” He slid his hands under the bottom of my tank top; his fingers danced lightly against my skin as they made their way up to my eager breasts. Goose bumps rose on my skin as he continued stroking my hardened nipples with the pads of his thumbs. I melted into his hands as our eyes locked on each other.

  “You want this off?” I tugged at the tank top shoulder strap.

  “Not yet; I like it.” He pulled me back into him, crushing my mouth on his, sinking his tongue deep in my mouth, tasting me, and I lost myself in him. Without warning, he held me tight and rolled me onto my back, so he was now in the top position. “Now, it comes off.” He sat me up briefly, yanked the tank top off in one clean swoop, then laid me back down flat on the bed.

  He positioned himself between my legs, kneeling on the floor. “These too.” He tugged at my shorts as I pressed my feet into the bed frame for leverage to lift my ass. The shorts joined the tank on the floor. My wet, slippery sex was exposed to him, waiting and wanting him.

  This was really happening; it had been a few weeks, and I needed this so bad -- God, I wanted him. He pulled his T-shirt off exposing his muscular, hairless chest. He was so damn sexy. I perched up on my elbows so I could observe and admire my prize. Once he tossed the shirt in the same direction as my shorts, he unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped them, sliding them down his narrow hips, exposing his dripping length. My eyes widening in delight, I thought, if he knows what to do with that thing, this is going to be a really good night. He sat down to pull his pants off over his feet, removed a condom from his pocket, which he laid on the floor, then tossed them to join the other garments.

  He returned to his kneeling position, facing me, and let the soft touch of his fingers glide up the inside of my thighs, up and out over my hips, then up to my waist. Once he reached my waist, I rocked my hips forward, grinding into the mattress before returning to the original position. Then, with slow precision, he let his tongue follow the trail made with his left hand up my inner thigh. The heat from my sex got warmer as he closed in on my sweet spot.

  His tongue explored my wet slit, delving into the folds. “Sweet Nikki,” he murmured. His hands slid across my stomach, down over my mound, and his thumb stroked and rubbed my engorged clit while his tongue probed and plunged into my heat as I came unhinged. My eyes squeezed tight, and the tingling feeling rippled throughout my quaking body as I screamed out his name. “Sky, oh, damn!”

  He rose up over me, rolled on the condom, and took his time entering me, stretching me, taking me. Once our skin was pressed together, he withdrew and again filled me with slow precision. “Damn, you feel so good, just like I thought you would,” he whispered to me.

  “You can go faster if you want.”

  Ignoring me, he continued his slow, rhythmic pulsing in and out of my wet hole. The pad of his thumb still fondled my clit. He leaned back slightly, changing the position and place he was touching deep in me, then picked up speed with both his stroke and thumb. My breathing became ragged, and I was moaning as he got me closer to the edge. He continued until I exploded, bound to him in rapture. “Oh, damn! Harder, Sky; do it harder.” He obliged, his thrusts hard and powerful, until he found his release. “Oh, damn, girl!”

  We were inseparable by November and talked about marriage in December. Then Sky came back to meet my mom and Jim over Christmas break.

  Chapter 7

  Waking up feeling just as tired as when you went to sleep sucks! I decided I should have taken a sleeping pill.

  Monday’s are day care days for Abby, so I had to pick up the pace. My normal Sunday-night routine had been interrupted by my own ridiculous actions at Sky’s apartment. Every time I saw Hope, I had the same reaction. She was beautiful, a twenty-something version of Sofia Vergara, only, to me, Hope was so much more beautiful. She modeled part-time and worked part-time in a bar somewhere near his job.

  Maybe the reason she bothered me so much was because she wasn’t like the other women he’d dated since we split. The others didn’t compare to me looks-wise. Maybe it was because she was tall and slim, had a perfect body, beautiful olive skin and was flat-out drop-dead gorgeous. Maybe because she made me feel like I was no longer good enough to be with Sky, because why would he ever want me again after her? Maybe because, deep down, I thought he had stronger feelings for her that he wasn’t ready to admit.

  Whatever it was, I didn’t have time to worry about it. I needed to get to work, and the last thing I needed was to be late today because I was throwing a pity party for myself. Fuck it. I’m moving on, and Sky is moving on.

  Af
ter showering and getting dressed, I ran in and woke Abby. She gave me her breakfast order of toast and candy as I dressed her in her overalls, with the butterfly top that matched, that Sky had given her. Why the hell did I just put my kid in overalls when I know she would rather wear a skirt? Fuck it, I have to keep it moving or I’ll be late. I can’t be late today.

  Hoisting my precious cargo onto my hip, I ran down the stairs in bare feet and walked fast into the kitchen, setting Abby on the chair at the table.

  “You can have toast, but no candy.”

  “Candy.”

  “Not right now, later. Would you like an egg with your toast?”

  “No!”

  “Would you like a pancake?”

  “No!”

  “A waffle?”

  “No!”

  “This is your last chance, a peanut butter and jelly?”

  “Yes!” I knew that would be it. I should just start there every morning and save myself the hassle.

  I made the peanut butter and jelly, cut it diagonally into four pieces, and poured a glass of milk. “Don’t make a mess.”

  “I won’t, Mommy.”

  “I’ll be right back down; don’t get off that chair.” I snapped as I turned and took off running back up the stairs into my bedroom. I pulled the dress I had laid out on my bed over my head and shimmied into it, then went in the bathroom to put on my mascara and lip gloss. I rushed back down the stairs to check on Abby, praying I wouldn’t slip on the slick, worn-out carpet. And I wished I had set my alarm thirty minutes earlier, then maybe I wouldn’t have felt like I needed another shower already.

  “All done?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “Let’s go upstairs and get your teeth brushed.” Fuck, I should have put her lunch together while she ate, then I could be getting ready while she was upstairs with me. Where was my head today?

  I walked up the stairs behind Abby. She refused to let me carry her because this morning was as perfect of a time to throw a mini I-can-do-it-all-by-myself tantrum as any. When we reached the top step, after what seemed like five thousand hours, I convinced her I needed to pick her up to brush her teeth, which stopped the repeat performance she was winding up for. As soon as she was ready, she rode my hip back down the stairs. I sat her on the couch with her Velcro-close shoes and let her try to figure that out while I made her lunch.