House of Payne: Ice Read online

  “Together, huh?” She took a moment to talk her heart out of doing freaky little somersaults. When it refused, she mentally shrugged and forged ahead. “It just so happens I’ve got an upcoming adventure that we can do together, though it’s not as exotic as Peru or Italy.”

  “What’s the adventure?”

  “A fundraiser gala for my parents’ political party. That’s an adventure, right?”

  “You gotta be shitting me.”

  Yikes. “My parents can’t go this year for obvious reasons, so I’ve been tapped to go in their place to make a quick appearance. I need a plus-one or risk getting paired off with some political operative who might have orders to sweep the young, single Fairfax woman off her feet.”

  His arm crushed her against his side. “What the hell, Sunny. You are not getting swept anywhere, you hear me?”

  Heh. “You can do the sweeping if you go along with me. Besides, after that doozy of a speech you just made, I wouldn’t dream of going on this little adventure without you.”

  “Shit.” His long-suffering sigh left a vapor trail in the air. “You know, it’s a damn good thing you never wanted to go into politics. The way you massage people with words, you’d be the fucking ruler of the Western Hemisphere by now.”

  “Which is a sweet way of saying I’m manipulative as hell, but since that’s accurate I’m choosing not to get pissy about it.” She gave him a quick squeeze. “So? Do you want to be my plus-one?”

  “I damn well better be, or you might get swept without me playing guard dog. When is this shindig supposed to be?”

  “Two weeks from Saturday, which is why I’m on this dress-shopping excursion. By the way, do you have a tux?”

  He made a strangled noise. “Is that your way of saying no jeans?”

  “It’s my way of saying that any woman with a pulse would fall at your feet at the mere thought of you in a tux. Talk about suit porn. I just wish you could get away with wearing a tux every day of the week.”

  “You’re massaging again.”

  “It doesn’t count when it’s the truth.”

  “Jesus.” He heaved another sigh before he brightened. “You said we’ve got to make an appearance on behalf of the Fairfax family. But after we do that, we can bounce, yeah?”

  She caught her breath. “Does that mean you’ll go with me?”

  “It’s going to suck, and I thought my days of being forced to play dress-up were in the rearview mirror, but I’m determined to be wherever you are, so yeah. God help me, I’m going.”

  “Thank you, Ice. You’re amazing.” Just in case he didn’t believe her, she threw her arms around him, bringing them to a crashing halt in the middle of the crowded sidewalk. “I’ll make sure we’re in and out of there in an hour, tops.”

  “And then I get you all to myself.” Ignoring the people bustling around them, he latched his arms around the small of her back and dropped his head to nuzzle his nose against hers. “You’ll be dressed up prettier than any Christmas present, so thoughts of unwrapping you nice and slow will keep me going.”

  Had she thought it was cold? A few words from him and the world flashed over in a full-blown heat wave. “First I have to find a dress worthy of being unwrapped by you.”

  “I get to pick out your dress.”

  “You?” At first surprised, she noted the hunger sharpening his smile and immediately flushed at the answering tingle in her girlie parts. If he wanted her to wear a burlap sack, she would have been fine with it as long as he kept smiling like that. “Okay.”

  It sounded simple enough, but finding a dress Ice wanted her to wear was easier said than done. At first she’d expected him to do the quintessential guy thing and grab the first dress he saw just so they could get out of there. But to her surprise, he took the job seriously and rejected several possibilities she pointed out, clearly intent on finding whatever it was he had in mind. When she asked what that was, he simply said, “I’ll know it when I see it.”

  The third store, a ridiculously fancy boutique that carried only the best labels, was the charm. He stopped dead in front of a display of several headless mannequins and told her to wait there. Moments later, he returned with a salesperson who asked her size before she proceeded to fetch a full-length silken sheath in a deep cranberry, its halter neckline encrusted with enough crystals to be seen from space.

  In a word, it was gorgeous.

  After another quiet exchange between Ice and the salesperson, Sunny and Ice followed her to the back of the store, through a curtain and into a hallway with only two doors, one on either side. As they approached one of the doors, another attendant appeared with a tray holding two flutes of champagne.

  Wow.

  “This is your dressing suite.” Their salesperson smiled and opened one of the doors before handing them the flutes of pale liquid. “If you feel the dress doesn’t suit, or you like it but would like alterations, ring the bell next to the door and we’ll have someone with you right away to provide you with whatever you require. Sir, you may wait outside in the lounge, and there’s fresh coffee in case you prefer that to champagne.”

  “I didn’t know service like this existed,” Sunny marveled as the door closed, leaving them alone in what looked like a smaller version of the room of a bridal dress reality TV show. At the center of the room was a round dais, presumably where people received on-the-spot alterations, a sumptuous gold-upholstered loveseat and matching chairs flanking it. An ornate, full-length three-sided mirror sat on the opposite side of the dais, a crystal chandelier hung overhead and the burgundy carpet beneath her feet was so plush it was like walking on pillows. “They never give me alcohol when I shop at Macy’s.”

  “This is how they roll in Beverly Hills if you’ve got the scratch. Gotta say, I approve.” He settled in on the loveseat and sipped his drink. “Go ahead and change. I’ll wait.”

  “What, with you in here?” She glanced uncertainly at the closed door before setting her drink aside. “Uh, I don’t think that’s allowed, Ice. She did say for you to wait in the lounge…”

  “And then she left me in here. She knows exactly where I am, and she doesn’t give a shit. It’s cool, Sunny,” he chuckled when she shot another anxious look at the door. “Remember those fondue cops you were so worried about? There aren’t any dressing room cops, either. Trust me on this.”

  Smartass. “That lady could call the regular cops on us.”

  “She won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I slipped her a hundred bucks to leave us alone.”

  She stared at him with her mouth open for a full second before she snapped it closed and headed behind a gold and burgundy three-paneled screen. “Sometimes I worry about you,” she muttered, peeling off clothes. “Most people don’t even think about breaking basic rules of society.”

  “And most people aren’t as obsessive when it comes to following basic rules of society. I blame your goody two-shoes parents for that.”

  “Obsessive about rules? Me? I do have a tattoo, you know.”

  “One dinky little tattoo of the sun, which you didn’t let me put on you. And what the hell does that have to do with anything?”

  “It means I’m a rebel.” Hannah said so.

  His bark of laughter only managed to piss her off. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  “I am a rebel.” Scowling, she fastened the bejeweled halter collar at her nape. “I’m totally rebellious.”

  “When you compare yourself to, like, your mom, I guess you could say that. But when it comes to actual rebellion and rule-breaking, you’re a minor-leaguer at best.”

  “Then you clearly don’t know me.” Barefoot, she stomped out from behind the screen and stalked over to where he sat, discovering as she did so that the dress had a slit that went almost all the way up to her hip. “You want to know what was expected of me after I moved back home? I was expected to settle down with some squeaky-clean Harvard or Dartmouth Poli-Sci product with a K
en-doll smile, a golly-gee-whiz vocabulary and ambitions for the White House. Then I was supposed to open an exclusive political PR firm and become the world’s greatest campaign strategist. Instead, I turned my back on all those soul-crushing expectations, got a job selling mail-order cat toys and went for a sleeved-out bad boy who thinks I’m not edgy. Well, trust me, sleeved-out bad boy. I am edgy.”

  “You’re also hot as fuck when you’re pissed.” He patted the seat beside him with a smile the devil himself would have been proud of. “Come sit down and show me how to take a walk on the wild side.”

  “To hell with that.” When a woman’s rebellious nature was called into question, the only thing to do was prove the damn point. Mouth tight, Sunny hitched up the long fall of cranberry fabric, straddled him where he sat, and enjoyed watching the surprise flash in his eyes.

  Ha! So there.

  “Sunny…”

  “What’s the matter, Ice?” Bracing her hands on the back of the loveseat while her knees sank into the cushions, she threatened his mouth with hers. “Scared?”

  “You’re out of your damn mind if you think a lap full of sexy woman ignites a reaction anywhere close to fear. Now lust…that’s another story.” His hands came to grip her hips, adjusting her position until she was right over the increasing bulge behind his zipper. “What do you have on under this, baby? Anything?”

  “Just panties.”

  “Waste of time.” He shifted her again so that he could help her ditch her underwear. “You should’ve just come out here stark naked, but I’m not complaining. The whole damn reason I chose this dress in the first place was for the easy access I’d get, thanks to that slit up the leg.”

  “I was wondering why you were being so…” She caught her breath when his roving hands slid up her thighs to dip into her cleft. “Picky.”

  “If you wear anything under this dress, it damn well better be crotchless. When we’re at that party, I’m going to want your pussy where I can reach it. That’s the only way you’ll get me to go, because that’s the only way I’ll get you to come.” As if to prove his point, his thumb rubbed against her clit. Her whole body jerked at the shock of pleasure, before her head fell back on an almost-silent moan. “God, I love seeing how you react when I get you under my hands.”

  “Proud of yourself, are you?” Slowly she rocked her hips, rubbing against his hand. She was helpless to do anything else. “You should be. You’ve got hands that could make a nun sound like a porn star.”

  “Just my hands? And here I was thinking my cock would at least get an honorable mention.”

  “Your cock should have odes written about it. If I knew how to write one, I would.” It was getting harder to think, because that hand of his was making her see stars. “Seriously, though. You are really, really good at this.”

  “I love watching you give in to the pleasure,” he murmured, then sat a little straighter as his gaze shifted past her shoulder. “In fact, I want you to watch yourself when you come. You’ll see it’s the most beautiful sight this world has ever known.”

  “What…?” Before she could even think what she wanted to ask, he pushed her off his lap only to turn her around and bring her back to straddle him. “Ice—”

  “Three-way mirror’s right in front of us, baby. You’re so damn beautiful when I fuck you, I want you to see it, too.” The jingle of his belt buckle and rasp of his zipper reached her ears even as she automatically looked to where he’d indicated. What she saw was a riveting sight, she had to give him that. The dress’s material was pooled around her hips, baring her legs, while Ice’s hands slid under the cranberry-colored fabric. In the reflection, she could see the growing excitement in his face. “Lift your ass up, baby. Time for me to be inside you.”

  So enthralled by the sight of them in the mirror, she didn’t speak as she leaned her hands on his knees jutting out in front of her, and positioned herself as instructed. The dress’s skirt prevented her from seeing him release his stiffened flesh from his clothes, or the act of entering her, but that only heightened her sense of feel as he slid his cock along her slick channel. Then he was there, merging their bodies in a way she couldn’t get enough of. She rode him at first slowly, then with growing urgency as he began to roll his hips to thrust deeply into her, hitting that golden spot with such unerring perfection she gasped.

  Wow.

  If reverse-cowgirl was key to getting this angle, she was officially a big fan.

  “There it is.” Ice’s voice was deliciously rough, his shallow breathing audible. “There’s that sexy little gasping you do that I can’t get enough of.”

  “If you like it so much,” she breathed, all the while chasing the growing pleasure that each plunge of his cock gave her, “you’re going to have to work to make me—ooh.” Before she could finish the challenge, he thrust into her harder still while sliding a hand along her inner thigh. It traveled upward, all the way to her hot, soaked channel, before coming to a halt on her throbbing clit.

  “Have to work? Oh, no.” His words were hot against her ear as that hand set up a rhythm that made her whimper. “When you say work, it comes off sounding like some chore. Fucking you until you’re a quivering hot mess isn’t a chore. It’s my greatest pleasure.”

  She wanted to assure him that the pleasure was all hers, but she’d already lost the ability to speak. The deep, urgent stroking of his cock and the driving rhythm of his hand was the only thing that mattered. The sensations he stoked in her were so intense it bordered on painful, but it was too beautiful to stop. Muffled cries escaped her throat as she writhed with the enormity of what he made her feel, and the promise of bliss ratcheted up with every move he made.

  “Look.” From far away, Ice’s voice came to her. “Look at yourself in the mirror, Sunny. See what I see. I watch you come, and I know with everything in me that I’m getting a goddamn glimpse of heaven.”

  With the wild pleasure burgeoning like an overblown balloon, it took the last of her rational mind to follow his command. But at last she managed to lift her gaze to the mirror across from them.

  Oh, my.

  So that was what she looked like when Ice was inside her.

  Her face was flushed, her eyes heavy-lidded and sparkling, her mouth open as her breath came fast and shallow. This was what her amazing man gave her, was all she could think. This pleasure. This madness. This heaven.

  Ice gave her heaven.

  Just as that thought surfaced, the sweetly agonizing tension within her snapped, and a flood of purest ecstasy engulfed her. All thought of watching her reflection vanished, and before she closed her eyes the last sight she saw was Ice’s face and the dark excitement there as his gaze stayed riveted on her reflection.

  It was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

  The pleasure was still shimmering through her when he grunted and slammed her down hard onto his lap, his cock impaling her all the way to his hilt. Then he stilled, the tension draining from his body as satisfaction took its place.

  “So good.” Breathing hard, he wrapped his arms around her and, still embedded deep inside her, held her tight against him, her back to his front. “Hope you like this dress, because I’m definitely buying it for you. Just the thought of you in it is sure to make me hard all over again.”

  “Then maybe this isn’t the right dress for a gala.” But she couldn’t help the thrill of delight that shot through her at his confession. “Maybe I need something a little less…inspiring.”

  “You could wear a bed sheet like a toga and I’d get hard. That’s how it is with us, and whatever you wear isn’t going to change that. This is your dress,” he went on and gave her another squeeze. “You wear this dress, and the whole damn place will want to be where I am, which is with you.”

  “Ice.” Beautiful warmth bloomed like a miracle in her chest, spreading so fast it made her eyes sting. “Sometimes you say the sweetest things.”

  “I’ve made it a habit to only speak the truth. And the truth I’
ve got when I’ve got you is better than any fiction.” He kissed the side of her neck before he gently pulled out. “I’ll give you another truth—the next time you’re in that dress, I’m going to make you come right there at the gala. I can’t fucking wait.”

  Sunny couldn’t come up with an appropriate response, mainly because she couldn’t wait, either.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sunny hummed under her breath as she skipped downstairs and into the breakfast nook, where Matt, Hannah, her father and mother had all gathered. “Good morning, everyone. You know what I just realized? I have no idea what the words are to ‘Carol of the Bells,’ except for the merry-merry-merry Christmas part.”

  “I don’t think anyone outside of the Tabernacle Choir knows the words to that song, and good morning to you, too, Sunny bunny.” Claire accepted a kiss on her cheek, then smiled as Sunny moved to kiss her father. “I take it you’re starting to find your Christmas spirit?”

  “My Grinch mask must be slipping.” Scooping up the cardboard box that still held the few belongings she’d emptied out of her cubicle at IBKC, Sunny came up with the gold-capped pen she’d been looking for. Excellent. “You know what? I think I’ll ask for a new desk set for Christmas. And a fancy-schmancy nameplate. Though, knowing how tattooists are, they’d probably doodle pornographic crap all over something as stodgy as a nameplate, so scratch the nameplate idea. But I definitely want a new desk set.”