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  “If you don’t take those panties off right now, I’m going to do it for you,” he said.

  “By all means,” I teased, and was instantly pulled across the wet floor, skidding into Clark. He spun me around like a top and slid my panties down my legs, leaving me naked and panting.

  “Christ, you’re perfect,” he whispered, beginning to dance kisses down my spine, exactly like in my dream. My dream lover come to life, my dark knight, loving me with his mouth and his words as I arched backward. “Look at you—look at all this gorgeous,” he whispered to my skin, leaving wet kisses on the tattoo of the oak tree on the back of my neck, whose roots spread across the tops of my shoulders. The interlocking circles in the small of my back. The symbol for pi on my left cheek. He groaned when he kissed that one, wet open-mouth kisses and teethy nibbles. Then his hands were slipping beneath my ribs and moving on up.

  “Vivian,” he breathed into my ear, and I turned in his arms. In my dreams I’d never seen his face, and I needed to see him. I didn’t want to miss any part of this. His hands, so very smooth, covered my breasts completely. He cupped their weight and I moaned. Fascinated, he leaned down, his tongue dragging from my collarbone to between my breasts, where he rested his head. My hands went to his hair, holding him close sweetly as he breathed in the scent of my skin.

  Nuzzling now, he swept the tiniest of kisses back and forth, his hair tickling my sensitive skin. His hands clutched at me greedily once more, and I felt my breasts tighten, which he noticed. With a dark laugh, he studied the ring in my nipple, standing tall and aching for his mouth. “Stunning,” he whispered, and then his lips closed over the peak. My back arched, the sensation of his wet mouth and strong tongue teasing and taunting me. Something twisted deep inside of me, a desire so strong I almost came right then from the feel of his mouth on my breast. Flicking the tiny ring with his tongue, he tugged at it lightly with his teeth, and I hissed.

  He sucked me deep into his mouth, his arms wrapped around me tightly, not letting me move under his attentions. My body bowed, aching to get as close to him as possible, looking for any kind of friction I could find. Clark had a similar thought in mind because he stood, picking me up with one hand on my bottom and the other around my thigh, making me shudder with delight at the way we slid against each other. I assaulted his mouth with my own in a frenzy to have him inside of me, any way that I could.

  His strength moved us through the house quickly, past the living room, up the stairs, then pausing on the landing—where he placed me on top of the widest part of the railing, nudging my legs apart with his hips and with a wicked glint in his eye. Then he knelt before me.

  “There’s been something I’ve been dying to do since the first time you argued with me, right here.” He kissed up the inside of one thigh and then the other, licking and thrusting with his tongue, holding my legs open with his shoulders as he groaned at the sight of me, open for him, ready for him. “Oh, Christ, you’re beautiful,” he said in awe. I shook with need, his gaze alone doing naughty things to me, and he looked up. “Do you know where we are, Vivian?” he asked, his eyes almost black with need. My hand was buried in his hair, grabbing for support as my legs scrambled for purchase.

  “On the baluhwhozit?” I managed, and his grin was enough to make me fall in love with him all over again.

  “Balustrade,” he corrected, sliding me even closer to him, his grip firm on my hips. “I’m going to fuck you on this balustrade, so hard you’ll feel it in your bones.” He slowly breathed me in, nudging me with his nose. Sweet heaven, my librarian was a dirty talker. “But first? I’m going to indulge in a dream of my own.” One finger slid down from my hip, circling closer and closer, winding me up, driving me crazy.

  “You see, Vivian, when I called you? Late at night? It was because I wanted to talk to you, get to know you, learn more about you. What you might like, what you might love,” he continued, now teasing lightly at my clit with his fingertip. I cried out, slapping at the railing, trusting Clark to keep me where he needed me to be. “And all that time, what I was actually dreaming about?” he said, looking up at me with those eyes full of lust. “Was the taste of you. All over my tongue.”

  I died. I cried. And then I died again as he buried his face between my legs and fucked me with his tongue. He pulled my legs over his shoulders, wild and crazy and so strong. One hand held me open for him while the other clutched at my bottom, pushing me into his face, holding me tight. While I perched on his mother-loving balustrade. And when I came for him, knees clutched around his ears, hands buried in his silky brown hair, screaming his name, his eyes stared up at me with wicked running through them.

  But I needed more. “Please Clark—please,” I begged, my limp body still so very needy for him. I needed him inside.

  “Condom?” he asked, his voice strained.

  “Pill, we’re good. Tested?”

  “Clean.”

  “Me too.” I stared down at him in wonder. Nothing would be between us—nothing at all. He kissed me, deep and slow and searching, the taste of me all over him. I licked his lips, clutched his neck, needing him closer, closer, closer.

  He stood, wrapped my legs around his waist, and slid into me with one powerful thrust. I thrilled at his groan as he entered my body, a low, deep, growly groan that I felt all through me. Holding him close, I watched his face as he buried himself deep inside me. Before, it had been all lust and decadent thrills. But now, with his face mere inches from mine, his eyes seeing me, really seeing me? It was magic.

  I was rocked to the core, filled with an intensity of emotion I had never felt before. I was in love with the man who was inside me, something I’d never experienced before, and tears ran down my face for the second time that night. Overcome, I shook as I felt him filling up everything that was hollow.

  “You’re divine, Vivian,” he whispered, kissing my tears and resting his forehead against mine. “You’re simply divine.”

  Old-fashioned words? Perhaps, but I’d nabbed me an old-fashioned guy. And how brilliant was that?

  And my old-fashioned guy began to move, thrusting deeper into me, the weight of our combined bodies making the old wood creak. Sweet friction sizzled between us, spinning out of control as his pace increased and my hips moved in time with his.

  “So good, Clark—it’s so good.” His mouth as he panted, his groans as he thrust into me again and again—I marveled at the beauty of this man, and at what this was becoming. It was beautiful. He rolled and circled his hips, pressing in exactly the right spot every time, and soon I was ready to slingshot around the moon once more.

  “Christ, Vivian, I can feel you coming all around me,” he murmured, and with those words, I was gone. And with a few more thrusts, he was gone too. He groaned into my neck as I held him close, and I felt him take a ragged breath.

  Then he lifted his face to mine and tenderly kissed me. Touching the tip of my nose, he said, “I’ve loved you almost from the moment I saw you standing on the porch, threatening to tear it down. I’ve loved you since you put your leg up on the railing and teased me with your bare leg. I’ve loved you since you picked a fight with me about the very thing you’re sitting on, and I loved you even when you punched me in the nose—mostly because you took off your shirt to stop the blood flow. Which was very quick thinking, I might add.”

  Which made me giggle. I loved Daytime Clark too.

  “I love you,” he whispered, and brushed his lips sweetly across mine.

  “Vivian,” I whispered back. “Say it with my name.”

  He smiled. “I love you, Vivian.”

  I smiled back. “I love you too, Clark. But can I ask you something?”

  “You can ask me anything,” he said, nuzzling at my neck.

  “Did you lick my leg when you were under the porch?”

  He froze, then burst out laughing. “I one hundred percent licked your leg when I w
as under the porch.”

  “I knew it!” I yelled, bringing his face back up to mine so I could kiss him again.

  And then the balustrade finally gave way beneath us, and we fell to the floor of the landing in a tangle of naked limbs. I started laughing so hard I was bouncing. Which made his eyes focus on one area in particular, as he asked, “What the hell is so funny?”

  “I told you I’d get a new baluhwhozit.”

  He laughed too.

  Delighted, I pushed him down, my legs straddling his hips, and slid onto his still-hard Substantial Town. Putting his hands on my breasts, I commanded, “Hold on here, Clark,” and began to ride.

  “Impossible woman,” he said, but did indeed hold on.

  For dear life.

  I woke with a start, reaching automatically for Clark, but my bed was empty. Slipping into his white button-down, like all good heroines do the morning after, I padded downstairs. My nose pinpointed his whereabouts, the scent of coffee calling to me like a beacon. I peeked around the corner and saw him dropping French toast into a frying pan, whistling a tune that sounded a lot like “Chances Are.”

  Chances are no one ever looked as hot as my librarian did on this bright and shiny morning. Bare feet, unbuttoned chinos, and a smile. A smile that grew bigger when he saw me. “Get that sweet ass in here,” he said, waving me over with his spatula. Aw yeah.

  I crossed to him in three steps. Catching me in a fast embrace, he dipped me just like in the old movies, planting kisses all over my neck and collarbone, making me giggle and squeal. “Hungry?” he asked.

  “Starved,” I admitted, and he swung me back up onto my feet.

  “Breakfast will be ready in five minutes; there’s coffee already on the table,” he instructed.

  I grabbed two mugs and watched Clark flip his toast, whistling his tune merrily as he shook the pan, making the bread sizzle.

  He made things sizzle all right, and I was so caught up in watching his fantastic butt that I overpoured and spilled the coffee. Hissing at the hot liquid on my hand, I set the pot down and went for the paper towels. Damn, we were out.

  We.

  Stifling a grin at the thought, I slipped into his loafers and made for the door. “Need to grab some paper towels from the backseat of the car; I forgot to bring those in yesterday,” I told him, stepping out into the sunny yard. No traces of last night’s storm were evident. I bore the traces of the Clark Storm, however, in the form of stubble burn on my neck. And between my breasts. And between my thighs. Shivering at the memory, I started across the driveway to the Bel Air.

  Clark pushed open the back door. “You don’t have to grab those, Vivian, I’ll get them.” He crossed to me, taking the keys from my hand and opening the trunk.

  “Hey there, Viv, need some help with— Whoa!” I heard from across the yard, as Hank appeared in the barn doorway. He looked at me, then looked at Clark. Then back at me again.

  Clark calmly picked up the bag of paper towels and closed the trunk. “Morning, Hank,” he said, tucking me into his side and grabbing my ass below his shirt. “I’ve got this.” And he walked us back into the house, holding the door open for me, and grinning broadly.

  Hank stayed in the barn, looking confused.

  And I laughed as I straddled Clark moments later on the kitchen floor. Why ride a cowboy when you can ride a librarian?

  Oh, the French toast? It was great . . . reheated an hour later.

  epilogue

  Six months later

  The sun shone clear and strong through the new windows that had been installed. Heat curled around my bare toes as I stood in the middle of the attic, brush in hand, staring at my canvas. I chewed at my thumbnail, thinking about what direction to take.

  “Vivian?” I heard from below, and my body immediately knew which direction to take. “You up here, Sweets?”

  He called me Sweets. Smiling, I called down to where I knew he was waiting by the steps. “Come on up.” He always waited until I gave him the okay; he didn’t like to bother me while I was working.

  I’d created a studio that was filled with light and color. We’d added heating and cooling so I could work up here year-round, and I’d purchased oodles of supplies. I’d kept some of the dressed mannequins; the colors they wore had become an inspiration for me and helped me get back into this world.

  Caroline and Simon had come up to visit a few months ago, and when I showed her what I’d been working on she’d flipped. She purchased two paintings on the spot for clients, and asked me for ongoing updates on new pieces. It seemed I had a new career.

  I’d carefully packed up all of the paintings by Aunt Maude and sent them to Mr. Montgomery, who was overwhelmed but very grateful. That was their story, and I was glad that the paintings had found a new home.

  Over my head in my home was a new roof, and two floors down was a newly restored staircase with a new balustrade. The woodwork throughout the house gleamed once more, the floors shone, and the front porch was hole free.

  And the Legless Knight still stood proudly in the corner of our bedroom, watching the sea for pirates.

  Clark had moved in almost immediately. Was it too soon? I don’t know, and I don’t care. I loved him so utterly and totally that I wanted him around all the time. I asked him, he agreed, and just like that, we were living together. And we’d taken over the master bedroom. It seemed fitting, and we needed the space, frankly. He had more tweed jackets than I’d realized. Turns out that cedar closet was pretty useful.

  I heard a whinny from out back, and I crossed to the window to look out at the barn. Nina, a veterinary student who had taken over caring for the animals, was exercising Paul and Paula in the pasture. Hank was long gone. We saw him around town occasionally, usually with a big-boobed blonde. Clark always held me a little tighter and his hands were a little handsier when we ran into him. I liked that. Was it wrong in this day and age to want to feel possessed by a man? Who cares; I liked it. He owned my ass 100 percent.

  I heard my librarian’s steps crossing the wide planked floors and he scooped his arms under my breasts and kissed my neck. “I’m not bothering you, am I?” he murmured, his mouth nibbling at the curve of my shoulder. Goose bumps formed instantly, and I leaned back into him as his hands dipped lower and rested on my tummy. He was obsessed with the little bump there, which wasn’t so little anymore.

  Oh yeah. Clark was going to have a house full of kids, if he had his way. And he had his way with me frequently. The hormones I was experiencing made me crave his touch even more than before this wonderful surprise happened.

  The day he found out he was going to be a father, he pulled a ring out of the top drawer in the dresser, fell to his knees, and asked me to marry him. Then he passed out cold from excitement. When he woke a few moments later, lying with his head in my lap, he told me that he was the luckiest person on the planet.

  Second luckiest.

  “Vivian,” he said, my name always sounding so perfect when he said it. Only he got to call me that, and only he ever would.

  “I’m hungry,” I said, suddenly famished. “Let’s get pizza and then go for a drive.”

  “Butcher Block?”

  “Aw yeah,” I answered, turning in his arms to clasp my hands behind his neck. “Then we can go park somewhere along the beach and make out like teenagers.”

  “Impossible woman,” he whispered into my ear, pressing a kiss just beneath it and making me squeal.

  “Come on, Clark, feed your impossible woman,” I said with a laugh, and we headed downstairs.

  And after the pizza, we didn’t even wait to find a beach. We just put the convertible top up and fucked just off the highway. That’s how this romance novel ends. And when my librarian pushed deep inside me and whispered the naughtiest, filthiest things imaginable about what he wanted to do to me?

  It really was my own hap
pily-ever-after.

  About the Author

  Photo by Lisa Nordmann

  After working for years in the cosmetics industry as a makeup artist, esthetician, and educator, Alice Clayton picked up a pen (read laptop) for the first time at age thirty-three to begin a new career as author. Having never written anything longer than a grocery list, she soon found writing to be the creative outlet she’d been missing since walking away from the theater ten years earlier. She enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up after, and is trying desperately to get her long-time boyfriend to make her an honest woman—and also to buy her a Bernese Mountain dog.

  FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Alice-Clayton

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  also by Alice clayton

  The Unidentified Redhead

  The Redhead Revealed

  The Redhead Plays Her Hand

  The Cocktail Series

  Wallbanger

  Rusty Nailed

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