Pink Neon Read online

  “Did you see it?” she asked with excitement. “It was a falling star!”

  His chin shifted against her as he nodded. “Did you make a wish?”

  Last time she made a wish, she’d blown out the candles on her sixteenth birthday cake. She wished for a chance at a college, for a life outside the neighborhood, for a man to love her and keep her. None of it came true and instead, Willard rolled into her life like a Sherman tank and destroyed it. After that, Cecily gave up on wishes. She stopped tossing pennies into fountains with a silent dream but tonight something felt different. Hope lived in the open sky, it flickered among the stars and she answered him, “I did.”

  “Me, too,” he told her. “Do you think either one will come true?”

  “I think there’s a chance,” Cecily replied, voice soft. “If it does, it’s up to you.”

  “To me?”

  “Uh-huh,” she whispered. “’Cause it takes two of us to make my wish happen.”

  His serious mask vanished and a vulnerable expression softened his face. “Then tell me your wish, pretty lady.”

  “Take me home,” Cecily told him.

  A grin teased the corners of his mouth. “Are you tired?” he asked.

  “Not unless you are,” she replied. “Take me home and find out.”

  Daniel’s eyes glittered as he grasped her meaning and nodded. “Let’s go.”

  On the way back into Branson, he exceeded the speed limit but his Ford held the road tighter than a fist. He changed the CD from the tribal chants to the Pointer Sisters. Whether by chance or design the song pouring from the speakers was Slow Hand. An old favorite, learned as a child listening to her mother and aunts play the stereo, it suited Cecily’s mood. The desire prickling her skin increased with the music and she hoped Daniel would have a slow hand when they made love.

  As he rolled down the Strip, the car seemed to crawl after their fast ride back to town.

  “Don’t you want me to tell you where I live?” she asked. If she didn’t know different, she’d swear he headed in the right direction anyway. “Or am I going home with you?”

  He laughed, short and somehow harsh. “I wouldn’t take you back to the flea pit where I’m staying,” he said. “So tell me how to get to your place unless you want me to get a room in a nice hotel or something.”

  “Home will do,” she said. “Turn up here.”

  After parking the Ford in her empty drive, Daniel came around to open the door for Cecily. She handed him the door key and he kissed her with a swift savagery beneath the wide branches of the maple tree in the front yard. Once inside, things escalated with speed. She dropped her purse onto the couch just inside the front door and he tossed the key onto the end table beside it. She kicked off her shoes and watched him do the same, noting he wore no socks.

  “Do you want a glass of wine or a beer?” she asked, testing the water. Cecily needed him to be as certain about this as she.

  “I want you,” Daniel said.

  Her bones melted inside her flesh, victim to the heat flaring through her body. When he opened his arms wide Cecily walked into them and he locked her in a tight embrace. Sweet shudders rocked her torso as she anticipated what came next. Daniel lifted her chin upward and bent to press his mouth on hers. His lips caressed her mouth and his hands reached beneath her blouse to touch her body. She clutched his black t-shirt with one hand, her other stroked his hair, rubbed his cheek and then rested on his arm. Eyes shut, Cecily reveled in his kiss and as the heat they generated spread, she worked her hand up under his shirt, no easy task since it fit skintight. Her fingers fondled his right nipple and she liked the way it hardened beneath her touch.

  At the same time, Daniel’s fingers unhooked her bra and with deft talent managed to remove it, pulling it through one of her sleeves. He dropped it on the floor without sound and his hands cupped her breasts. His grasp burned against her flesh but he didn’t hurry, just rubbed her breasts and accentuated the sensitive nipples as he did. Each stroke brought a moment of pure delight, physical and intimate. She rubbed her twat against his denim crotch, up and down to enjoy the friction then arched her back like a cat. Even through the heavy cloth Cecily felt his dick harden and he worked her blouse over her head. With quick fingers, he removed his shirt too and she ran her hands over his naked torso with delight. Rock solid and lean, she savored the feel of his flesh under her fingers.

  When she fumbled at his zipper, Daniel paused long enough to pull off the pants and she shimmied out of hers without waiting for any help. She admired his red briefs before she hooked one fingernail into the waistband and pulled them down to his ankles. He kicked them away and removed her panties. The heat of his hands against the silk sent tremors through her body and she thought she’d come before he ever entered her. Damn girl, he’s got you lit and going, all the way.

  His cock stood up, proud as a soldier at full attention and she grasped it in her hand. Cecily stroked it with steady motions and he groaned. It twitched in her hand as if it possessed a life of its’ own. As Daniel’s breathing increased, her pulse kept pace but when he stuck a finger up into her passage and fingered her clit, she gasped aloud. Intense sensation began within and spread like wildfire as he worked it, then dug deeper to hit her G-spot. Her legs buckled and if he hadn’t caught her with his free hand, she would’ve fallen onto the floor. Daniel steered her onto the couch where Cecily collapsed onto her back.

  When Daniel lowered himself onto her body, her hands flailed out and then stroked his back. Her long fingernails raked over his skin, deep enough to tantalize, slow enough to provoke. Within, her cunt grew warmer and moist. Need tensed her body tight and she spread her legs wide to welcome Daniel into her inner most sanctum.

  “Take me,” she begged. “Come on, do it now.”

  He didn’t need the invitation and by the time the words flowed out of her mouth, he’d entered her, his cock hard as stone as it plowed into her depths. His passage brought erotic delights and her box squeezed tight to caress his dick as he came into her body. Cecily locked her legs around his back and tilted her body for maximum effect. Connected, they rocked back and forth, each movement swirling pleasure through her body in intense waves. He slowed his pace until she didn’t think she could bear much more. To tease, he worked his prick up and down in a sewing motion but he never pulled out all the way. He grunts were sounds of pleasure, she thought, and her own cries mingled with his.

  Their momentum hastened until they were in full motion, seeking the moment of nirvana, the ultimate explosion as one. By the time they came, she thought she’d die within moments but the intense burst of incredible delight relieved all the pent-up tension, eased the longing and she came on a wild tide of feeling. Tears rained down her cheeks from the powerful impact, a release as emotional as it was physical. Daniel rode the rush with her and he cried out, hoarse and wordless at the end, shuddered, then went still.

  They lay intertwined together, two vines made one with their coupling. Cecily lacked breath to speak but as her heart rate slowed back to normal she wanted to purr with contentment.

  That’s the best ride I’ve ever had. He’d taken her body and devoured what she offered in return but beyond, Daniel managed to notch his name on her soul. He owned a little piece of her now and although she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it, happiness surrounded her like a mink throw, soft and all enveloping.

  “So did your wish come true?” he said after several minutes.

  “Oh, yeah,” she replied, her fingers playing across his chest with light caresses. “How about you?”

  “Yeah, totally.”

  Cradled against him, caught in his arms, Cecily let the rhythm of her breath match his. After another moment or so, she said, “Daniel?”

  “Yes?”

  “Let’s go to bed, okay?”

  “To sleep or fuck?” he asked, voice drowsed.

  Cecily considered the question. “First one, then the other,” she said after consideration. “I
don’t care what order.”

  He laughed, soft and easy. “Sleep first, querida.”

  In the small house, the bedroom she used was just a few steps away. Naked, they walked the short distance and crawled between the plain sheets she’d bought at a discount store. She curled up against him and his arms snaked around her to hold her tight. They slept and when she woke once or twice, Cecily stretched out her hand to stroke him for reassurance it wasn’t a dream.

  They slept long and late. She awakened to an unfamiliar pattern of sunlight and shadows on the bedroom wall, aroused. As Cecily recalled the chain of events from the previous night, she realized Daniel stroked her pussy. She inhaled the sexual musk lingering around them both and stretched out her foot beneath the tangled sheets. Before she could say ‘good morning’, he went down on her, his breath warm against her soft pubic bush and his lips easy in a kiss. He plunged his tongue into her twat and she reacted as the intense lovemaking struck her body with the force of a tornado. Helpless against his onslaught she yielded to the pleasure and surrendered to him. Cecily didn’t try to touch him or give back. This time, she let him do whatever he wanted and allowed the sensations to pour over her, sweeter than any wine she’d ever drank, more delicious than anything she’d eaten.

  Sated, somnolent she considered going back to sleep but she caught sight of his face, his eyes glowing with a different light than she’d seen before. The pain she’d noted before receded into the background as he watched her with a man’s stare and a new open awareness. Encouraged and excited, Cecily rolled over and knelt above him. She took his cock into her mouth and sucked. With her long tongue, she licked and lapped as if his member were a treat, each stroke as slow and lavisicous as she could make it. Using self-control, she made the effort last as long as she could, ignoring his grunts of delight and brought him to full orgasm.

  After, they slept again but woke to shower together in her teensy bathroom. Cecily made coffee and scrambled eggs for him. She sliced and toasted French bread and they ate together at the kitchen table, homey and intimate. For once, she didn’t burden her thoughts with speculation of what would come next, where they went from here or to figure out what happened between then.

  Instead, she dwelled in the moment, tasted the joy and left it at that. For a few pleasant hours, this equaled her world and Daniel belonged in it. They carved out a momentary haven and she gloried in it. Cecily saved it to her heart, like pasting images in a scrapbook and vowed she’d keep this memory forever, no matter what came next.

  She ignored the hateful little voice whispering in her ear warnings, the dark side of her personality trained to expect betrayal, to prepare for sadness, the part still believing Cecily Brown didn’t deserve anything good.

  But like a snail leaving behind a trail, the voices left their mark and even at the peak of her happiness, Cecily knew it probably wouldn’t last no matter how much she wanted it to remain.

  And, without reason or restraint, she did.

  Chapter Six

  With his hands cupped around a mug of coffee, brewed strong and served black the way he liked, Daniel watched Cecily scramble eggs and make toast. He couldn’t remember the last time he sat at leisure in someone’s kitchen and it’d been longer still since someone made him breakfast. She’d pulled back her cornrows and fastened them with a plastic hair clip but Cecily had thrown on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. He admired the way she moved, as graceful as a dancer and his loins still radiated contentment from the previous night. He’d broken his self-imposed habit of never spending the night in a woman’s bed, ended his until now unbroken record for leaving after the erotic fact. Shit, he’d even slept without his nightly booze. Daniel allowed his mind to drift as his body relaxed and an easy sense of comfort surrounded him. Realization struck like a closed fist. His buoyant mood and uncustomary tranquility stemmed from being happy. Happiness hadn’t factored into his life often enough to recognize it at first.

  And the moment he did, Daniel tensed.

  What in the hell am I doing? I’m supposed to be investigating her, not sleeping with the woman. I’m breaking rules, putting my damn career on the line like some lovesick teenage kid. I should get up, put on my shoes and get the hell gone before it’s too late.

  He put down his coffee and placed his hands against the edge of the table, ready to shove back the chair to go. “Breakfast is ready,” Cecily said in a voice sweeter than brown sugar. “Here you go.”

  She slid a plate with eggs and buttered toast in front of him and sat down across the small dinette table from him. If she asks a blessing, I’m out of here. Cecily didn’t. Instead she folded a paper napkin into her lap and secured a fork full of fluffy yellow eggs. Daniel formed a sentence, words to say he needed to go but the aroma rising with the steam from his breakfast tempted him. He ate a bite of eggs and closed his eyes with total delight. Sweet baby Jesus, he could taste the real butter she’d used and the light, delicious taste of eggs. Other than a prefabricated egg patty tucked into a fast food biscuit or a pair of eggs over easy at some diner, he hadn’t eaten any in years although they’d once been a favorite food. These brought delight to his taste buds. When he bit into a piece of toast, he savored it too. “This is good,” he told her.

  Cecily smiled in response, a little Mona Lisa kind of expression. Divorced, widowed, whatever the hell she was, Daniel doubted she’d had much experience with overnight sleepovers either. He’d almost bet he ranked as the first man she’d bedded since sprung free from her husband. Caught up in watching the way she parted her lips to allow the fork to enter, he almost didn’t realize she’d said something but he heard the last few words. “…and what were you planning to do today? I don’t want to keep you from enjoying your vacation.”

  “Not much,” Daniel said. It sounded lame, though, for a man supposed to be taking some down time. Think fast, make up something quick. “I thought I might go swimming or something.”

  “Does your motel have a pool?”

  He snorted. “I wouldn’t dip my toe in the cesspool they’re passing off as a place to swim,” he told her. The murky water smelled rank and he doubted anyone had cleaned it all season. Trash littered the concrete deck around it. “There’s a water park here with a wave pool, lazy river, water slides, and the whole nine yards. I thought about going to it.”

  Bullshit. It never entered your mind until a few seconds ago. I bet Cecily looks hot in a swimsuit, though. He watched her eyes light up, enough to seal his fate. “I saw it, White Water, I think,” she said. “Looked like fun but I didn’t want to go alone.”

  Her broad hint pleased his. Although women in his life were ancient history, he remembered how they demonstrated interest and Cecily might as well wave a burning flag in his face. Daniel didn’t try to stop the grin spreading across his face. “Want to go with me? I’d like the company.”

  “I’d love to,” she cried, then her glad expression faltered. “Except I don’t think I have a swimsuit.”

  “So we’ll stop somewhere and you can buy one,” he told her, getting caught up in the spirit of fun.

  Cecily finished the scrap of toast in her hand. “Sure,” she said. “I suppose they have a place to change at the water park.”

  “As far as I know, yeah, they do.”

  “Haven’t you been?”

  “No, it’ll be a first.”

  “Me, too.”

  They exchanged smiles and after they finished their late breakfast, Cecily cleaned up and they headed out. Uncertain where in the hell to take a woman to shop, rich or poor, Daniel ended up at one of the outlet malls. Most of the parking spaces were filled so he dropped her off with a promise to circle around till he gained a slot or she returned. Although he expected her to take an hour and resigned himself to the wait, Daniel saw her on his third pass, bag in hand. He picked her up. “That was quick.”

  She flashed him a grin as she settled into the passenger seat. “I hate shopping,” she said. “I’m the kind of gal who grabs what
she wants, finds one to fit, and get out. Do you have swim trunks?”

  Hells bells, he hadn’t even thought of what he’d wear. Daniel didn’t own any swim trunks, not here and not at home in his Spartan apartment. He hadn’t been swimming in over ten years or to an amusement park or inside a movie theater or arcade or visited a mall no more than a few times, not since Mollie died. Caught short, he said, “No, I don’t. Shit.”

  “Don’t worry, sugar,” she told him as she pulled something red out of her bag. “I figured you probably didn’t so I bought you a pair. Hope the size is right but I think they’ll fit.”

  Cecily held up a pair of shiny trunks and he nodded, speechless. Daniel wasn’t sure if it was the casual endearment she tossed his way or the thoughtfulness she displayed but he swallowed the lump in his throat before he choked. “They look like they should,” he told her. “Thanks.”

  “Oh, no problem,” she said with a little laugh. She stretched out her left hand and rested in against his thigh. The slight weight of it brought his dick to life. “I guess we’re ready to go swimming.”

  If she scooted her fingers a few more inches, they wouldn’t be swimming, Daniel thought but he nodded. “Let’s go.”

  At the water park, he paid their admissions and they wandered through a gift shop. Cecily picked up some sunscreen and paid for it before they separated to change into their suits. Daniel skimmed off his clothes and pulled on the trunks, surprised they fit well. But, she’d had every opportunity to be familiar with his body. When she emerged, her clothes folded into a neat pile, he resisted the urge to wolf whistle. “You look awesome,” he said.