Smiling widely now, he shouldered past her, saying, “Lead the way to the problem. I happen to know a little about plumbing.”
“Of course you do,” she muttered as she traipsed back to the kitchen. “Under the sink. I tried duct tape, but that didn’t work.”
“Duct tape is great, but it isn’t a cure all,” he said, admiring her for trying. A copy of Home Maintenance for Dummies sat on the counter and an open copy of Plumbing for Dummies lay on the floor, now probably ruined from sitting in a puddle of water, making him wonder how many of those books she had. God, he hated plumbing, Mitch thought as he wedged his wide shoulders under the sink counter to see what the problem was.
Hannah sat down and removed her shoes and socks, set them on the back stoop to dry out then grabbed the mop from the utility closet. She was hoping the chore of cleaning up will take her mind off the sight of his long legs encased in tight jeans stretched across the floor, these jeans just as snug across his pelvis as the ones he wore last week. It was unseemly of her to keep looking in that direction, unlike her to wonder what he looked like naked, immoral of her to fantasize about what he would feel like moving inside her and downright humiliating to feel her nipples pucker tightly, her core grow damp from her musings.
Hannah had a tool box sitting on the floor, and as Mitch fumbled in it, she rushed over to get him what he needed. “Which one?”
“I need a big wrench if you’ve got one.” He watched her dig through the tools, pull out exactly what he needed, then turn bright red when their hands touched as he took it before letting his gaze make note of her small, cute bare feet. “You okay, Hannah?” He couldn’t resist needling her a little; she flustered so easily.
“Fine.” Hannah moved back and barely resisted the urge to blow on her hand, her toes curling when his lips quirked. This had to stop. Surely it was just her curiosity that has her reacting so ridiculously.
But what if it wasn’t just curiosity, a nagging inner voice taunted as she started to pace. What if it was more than a basic human desire to connect with someone of the opposite sex, more than wanting to feel that special closeness she has missed so much since being widowed? Just like there was more to learn, more to discover and experience each day outside of her Amish community, maybe there was more to intimacy than what she had experienced with Caleb in their marriage bed. Her strict moral beliefs have been at odds with her growing curiosity and her body’s continual demands since their first, brief encounter last week. She felt herself weakening, the constant inner battle to remain true to her values which didn’t allow room for her to even consider having a pre-marital, loveless sexual encounter, was losing to a physical ache she desperately needed assuaged but had absolutely no idea how.
Just ask him, Aunt Mary had said, face the problem head on, like she did with the car and water leak. She could do this, she told herself as she paced a little faster, just come out and ask him. If he said yes, and odds were he would because, like Aunt Mary said, he was a man, then she’d at least put an end to these distracting sensations and her wayward curiosity and be able to concentrate fully on her photography business and move on with her new life.
“Something on your mind, sweetheart?” Mitch asked when the sight of her bare feet pacing pulled his attention from tightening and sealing the loose valve as much as possible until he could replace it.
Without making a conscious decision, Hannah blurted, “Will you go to bed with me?” then quickly wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. What on earth had she been thinking?
Chapter Four
“Jesus Christ!” Mitch swore when he banged his head against the pipe, positive he hadn’t heard her correctly. Scooting out, he looked up incredulously just in time for her to say, “You shouldn’t blaspheme,” her brow furrowed in censure.
“Excuse me? You drop a bombshell like that and then berate me for cursing?”
Feeling like a hypocrite, her face warming as he stared up at her from the floor, Hannah shifted uncomfortably as she replied, “You’re right. I apologize, it was inappropriate of me to ask that of you.”
Mitch noticed she didn’t apologize for scolding him for cursing. He had been hit on, propositioned and seduced by more women than he could recount, but he had never reacted so strongly to any of those experienced plays than he was to Hannah’s innocent, straightforward request. It was a struggle to get to his feet with his cock pressing painfully against his zipper and from the way Hannah’s eyes widened and the pink blush staining her cheeks turned crimson, he didn’t manage to do it without drawing her notice.
“What do you expect when you make a request like that?” Even though he sounded like it, Mitch wasn’t irritated with her, but with himself. He didn’t ‘do’ good girls, didn’t know if he could reign in his dominate nature enough to keep from scaring the shit out of someone so innocent. Maybe he should have heeded the McGilley’s advice over the years and taken the time to actually date women, have an occasional night of vanilla sex with someone who wasn’t a member of their club. But he worked ten to twelve hour days, usually six days a week, and didn’t have the time or energy to pursue a woman or to put into a relationship. Lately, he has been regretting not following his friend’s subtle hints, but never more so than now. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t be so amused, intrigued and turned on by Hannah’s innocence and tempted to do something he knew he shouldn’t, like agree to her proposal. “Sorry, sweetheart, it’s not you…”
“I understand,” Hannah interjected swiftly. Where was a tornado to whisk her away or an earthquake to open up the ground and swallow her whole when she needed it to? “Aunt Mary swore you wouldn’t mind, assured me all men wanted sex. I told her you wouldn’t be interested in someone like me…”
“Stop right there,” Mitch snapped out, refusing to let her think he wasn’t interested. He should’ve figured this was Mary’s doing, he thought as he backed Hannah against the counter, caging her in by bracing his arms on either side of her and leaning against her so she could feel the rigid shape of his cock against her mound. He was still coping with the shock of hearing this inexperienced woman with her morally rigid background boldly asking him for exactly what he has been fantasizing about for the past week that he wasn’t thinking straight. “Make no mistake, Hannah. I want you in every way a man could want a woman, which should scare the crap out of you.”
“Why?”
Now, why the hell did seeing that little frown etched between her eyes make his cock jerk in expectation? Wasn’t there anything this woman could do that he didn’t find sexy or humorous or just plain cute? “Why? Beca
use you have no idea what I want to do to you. You’re too good for the likes of me.”
Hannah had been having trouble concentrating on anything except the feel of his member pressing so intimately against her. Her lower body felt swollen and damp, the ache she experienced whenever she saw him was throbbing with ten times the intensity of any other time.
But hearing him say he wasn’t good enough for her, this man who has been nothing but nice and supportive, who made her feel alive again in ways that were new and exciting, made her forget the mortification she was feeling over his rejection long enough to jab her finger against his rock hard chest and heatedly reply, “Listen here, Mitch Burnett, there is no one on this earth who is above others, especially not me. You’ve been nothing but friendly and supportive while I’ve been having thoughts that would have my grandparents down on their arthritic knees praying for me if they knew, so don’t you….mmmf!”
It was either grin like an idiot at her indignation in his defense, pull up her skirt, rip her panties off and sink his cock into her pussy, turning her thoughts into reality or kiss her. Luckily, he was still sane enough to opt for number three. Mitch tried to reign in his lust as her soft lips moved shyly under his. Her small gasp pushed her breasts against his chest as he crowded closer to her and tried to take the kiss slow, make it sweet, like he was sure she was used to and expected. But his need for her was as strong as his need for control, and without conscious thought, his hand snaked behind her neck and tightened as he angled his head and changed from moving softly against that lush mouth to demanding that she open for him.
She shuddered when he traced his tongue over her lips, wetting them thoroughly before whispering roughly with his lips still touching hers, “Open for me, Hannah.”
His voice was a deep, rough demand that she was powerless to refuse. Hannah parted her lips, unable to suppress a gasp when he pushed arrogantly inside, literally invading her mouth and subjecting her to a thorough assault. Unlike the tongue stroking kisses she was used to, this kiss left no part of her mouth untouched, the sensual exploration of his tongue stroking over her gums, the breath stealing eroticism of his mouth sucking her tongue followed by the shuddering feel of his teeth nipping her lower lip worked to turn up the heat building between her legs. The achy longing for something more than what she had experienced in the past that has been plaguing her for the past week was now a painful urge so erotically consuming it left her weak-kneed. If he didn’t have her pinned between his hard body and the counter, she would slide into a boneless puddle on the floor.
It was her soft moan that made Mitch pull away and the dazed, pleading look in her compelling eyes that had him saying, “Do you still want to go upstairs? Think carefully before you answer.”
“Yes, please, Mitch.”
Her answer, coming so swiftly, so sure, so damn politely was his undoing. Knowing she wasn’t cut out for a one night stand, even though he had to admire the guts it took for someone with her upbringing to initiate the encounter, wasn’t enough to dissuade him. He had no idea what kind of sex life she had with her husband, but he suspected it was limited to the missionary position, her climaxes small pops of pleasure rather than the earth moving explosions of ecstasy she was capable of. Telling himself he could hold back his more dominate tendencies for one fuck, that he was more than capable of giving her a taste of the forbidden she was obviously craving without scaring her off as well as one or two of those explosive orgasms without restraining her, or spanking her, or placing her in a position where she had no control, could only accept, and enjoy the pleasure he was heaping upon her, he nodded his head. Her look of relief twisted his heart, her need so palpable he wondered how she waited so long before taking this step.