An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Love Thy Neighbor

ISBN 9781419916137
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Love Thy Neighbor Copyright © 2008 Amy Ruttan

Edited by Shannon Combs.
Cover art by Syneca.

Electronic book Publication May 2008

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in
part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing,
Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal
copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales
is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

L

OVE

T

HY

N

EIGHBOR

Amy Ruttan

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the

following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Birkentstocks: Birkenstock Orthopadie GMBH Corp.
CC Chanel: Chanel Inc.
Cadillac: General Motors Corporation
Chrysler Sebring: Chrysler Corporation
Dr. Phil: Peteski Productions, Inc.
Estee Lauder Skin Essentials: Estee Lauder Inc.
Froot Loops: Kellogg Company Corporation
Gone With the Wind: Turner Entertainment Co.
Grey Goose Vodka: Bacardi & Company Limited
Harvard University: President & Fellows of Harvard College Corporation
iPod: Apple Inc. Corporation
Khakis International Design: International Direct Group Inc.
Liz Claiborne: Liz Claiborne Company Store
Manolo Blahnik: Blahnik, Manolo
Mercedes-Benz: DaimlerChrysler AG Corporation
Polo: Polo Ralph Lauren USA Holding Inc.
Pro-Keds: SR Holding Inc.
Runaway Bride: Paramount Pictures Corporation
Sexual Michel Germain: Bailey, Steven Individual Canada
Special K: Kellogg North America Company Corporation
The Oprah Winfrey Show: Harpo Inc.
Vanilla Fields: Vanilla Fields
Victoria’s Secret: V Secret Catalogue, Inc.

Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter One

Damn, she looks just as good as ever, David thought as he pulled into the driveway of

his parents’ home in the small suburb of Deerpark, Illinois. He hadn’t been home in two

years. Not since she and her husband moved in next to his parents. Unfortunately, he

had already been out of the house and on his own by then—but he had been there the

day she had moved in. Ms. Robins, the woman he had been fantasizing about for two

years. A woman fifteen years older.

He turned off the ignition and braced his hands against the wheel, letting out a

deep breath as he watched her water her lawn with the hose. She was wearing a light

cotton sundress. The spray from the hose was leaving a fine mist of water on her golden

tan, firm calves. Her white sundress was almost transparent and he could see the line of

her panties through it. She wore a big straw hat and her chestnut curls with streaks of

gray were tied back in a ponytail.

He felt his cock respond—just like it had when Mr. and Ms. Robins had moved in

two years ago. He had just graduated from Harvard Law and was preparing to start as

a junior in a law firm. His heart beat wildly against his chest as he thought back to that

day. He had been sitting on his parents’ front stoop, waiting for his friends, when the

moving truck followed by a red BMW had pulled up. Mr. Robins was a big man, an ex-

football player who had never went pro. Instead he became a big-shot investor and a

man who completely ignored his gorgeous wife.

His breath had been taken away when Ms. Robins got out of the car. She wore a

well-tailored suit, her chestnut hair in a bun, she looked somber and severe—but deep

down, something inside David stirred. He remembered going instantly hard when he

had first seen her. He had stopped bouncing his basketball and tried not to stare open-

mouthed as she had walked slowly up the drive behind her husband. She had slid her

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sunglasses down her nose and fixed him with her emerald-green gaze, a look that he

would have sworn was full of want, desire, sexual heat. As she had looked him up and

down he almost came in his pants. She had laughed under her breath and slid the

sunglasses back up her nose with a perfectly manicured nail and then walked into her

house.

He had turned red every time he saw her that summer. Like he was some zit-faced

teenager instead of the twenty-three-year-old man who had just graduated at the top of

his class, the youngest to get accepted into Harvard Law and finish at an accelerated

course.

She had made him feel so inadequate. He had girls his age falling at his feet and

never once had he felt intimidated, out of control of his passion—but when he had sex

with his girlfriend it wasn’t her face he had seen. It had been Beverly Robins, Ms.

Robins.

Two years of torment, two years her face had haunted him and he had never

plucked up the courage to approach her. Why would he? She was married to a very

successful, influential man whereas he was fifteen years her junior. He hadn’t had

enough time to make it big—he had nothing to offer her. He had left to go to a law firm

in Boston and never looked back.

Well, he had tried not to look back as he scrambled to become the youngest partner

at his firm. His mother and father begged him to return home for a visit but he couldn’t

bear the thought of seeing her again. Wanting her.

Beverly Robins distracted him and he didn’t need that kind of distraction in the

corporate dog-eat-dog world. He was a veritable tiger in the courtroom. Defense

attorneys quaked when David Craig was on the case. Women, he had plenty, nameless

women who slaked his needs when he was horny. But try as he might, he couldn’t get

Ms. Robins’ face out of his mind.

He had to lay the demon to rest. He had to go home for his younger sister’s

wedding. He couldn’t avoid it any longer.

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Love Thy Neighbor

He had vowed to be strong when he showed up in Deerpark on his parents’ tree-

lined street. He was David Craig, the killer, yet now the killer was sitting in his black

Mercedes-Benz feeling like an awkward, horny teenager instead of a very successful

twenty-five-year-old attorney.

“David, what are you doing out there?” his mother called from the doorway.

“Shit,” he cursed, banging his head against the steering wheel. He peered through

the crook of his arm to see that Ms. Robins had stopped her watering. She was staring at

him through the tinted windows of his car, giving him that same intense, heated, sexual

stare she had given him two years ago.

There was a tap at the window, his mother’s face pressed against the glass with her

hand cupped around her eyes, trying to see through the tint.

“Hello David, are you in there?”

Jesus fucking Christ, Mother. He grabbed his cell phone, flipped it open and popped

open the door. Feigning that he was on a really important call.

“Yep, yep, got it.” He snapped the phone shut with such purpose.

“Sorry, honey, I didn’t know you were on a call,” his mother said.

He bent down and kissed his mother on the cheek. “It’s all right, Mom. Just work.”

As he hugged his mother he could see Ms. Robins staring at him and then she

walked toward the white picket fence that separated the Robins’ yard from the Craig

yard.

“Why, Louise, I believe it’s been a long time since I’ve seen David here. How have

you been, David?” Ms. Robins asked huskily. Her gaze eating him up. The effect

worked fast on David, he pushed his mother away a little too quickly so she wouldn’t

feel what Ms. Robins’ presence was doing to him.

“I’m fine, Ms. Robins, how are you and Mr. Robins doing?”

“David,” his mother hissed out the side of her mouth.

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“No, it’s all right, Louise,” Ms. Robins said, waving her hand at his mother in

dismissal. “It’s no secret.”

“What?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Mr. Robins left me almost two years ago, not long after we moved in.”

* * * * *

She had been single for almost two years, two bloody wasted years. Ms. Robins had

gone on to explain that Mr. Robins had found something young and blonde at the

investment firm he worked at…his secretary to be precise.

Alone, she had been all alone, and where the hell had he been? David knew where

he’d been, screwing nameless women and climbing the corporate legal ladder.

His mother and Ms. Robins had gone on to chat about his sister’s upcoming

wedding and the pre-wedding luau that his parents were throwing in their backyard

tomorrow night, a goofy barbecue that Ms. Robins had been invited to.

“Well, Louise, I wasn’t going to come…but as I haven’t seen this delightful young

man in so long, I think I just might.”

His mother had been thrilled. Ms. Robins had patted his arm, the heat of her soft

skin against his bare arm had set him on fire. He had sucked in a breath as she had

looked at him with those deep green eyes, “Until tomorrow then.”

Until tomorrow then, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Couldn’t stop thinking about

her. Even being in his old room, kept in pristine museum-type quality with all his

childhood trophies still adorning the wall, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, lusting

after her.

Christ, get hold of yourself, man, he raked his fingers through his dark brown hair. He

pulled off his sweaty Ralph Lauren Polo shirt and tossed it through the basketball hoop

over his dirty laundry basket. He wandered over to his window, the one that

overlooked Ms. Robins’ home. He wondered what she was doing at this very moment,

what she was wearing. He wished he was in her bed right now, pleasuring her.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Man, he was pathetic and horny. He should just approach her—not stand here and

fantasize about her. He should do something about it. He turned to head back to bed

when the flash of light caught his attention. A light went on in Ms. Robins’ house, her

bedroom light. He shouldn’t look, but he couldn’t help himself. Standing well into the

shadows, he gazed out his window to see Ms. Robins on her bed, naked. She sat there

only for a moment before she stood up.

Fuck me! His pulse raced and his cock twitched beneath his loose twill pants. She

had a nice body. She still had a tight abdomen and long sexy legs. Her breasts weren’t

quite as firm as the women he was used to dating, but who the hell cared!

She was wearing only a pair of heels as she strode to her window and pulled back

the gauze curtains. She stood with her arms braced on either side of the large balcony

windows. She seemed to be staring out into the night at nothing in particular.

What is she doing? His erection was damn near ready to burst out of his pants at the

sight of her standing there in stilettos, only a few yards away from him. He wanted to

release his cock, stroke himself to climax like he had done so many times before when

he thought about her but he felt guilty peeping on her like some perv. He turned again

to walk away when she propped her leg on top of a small vanity chair that stood next to

the large balcony windows. He could see her clean-shaven pussy open. Oh God! He

unzipped his pants, letting them drop to the floor.

He began to stroke his shaft up and down, slowly tugging, thinking about burying

himself in her wet pussy.

As if she knew that he was there, she licked her fingers and sent her hand down

over her belly, down into her pussy and began to rub.

“Oh my God,” he whispered, quickening his pace. How many times had he wished

this would happen? He couldn’t actually believe that she was doing this, in front of her

window. His most erotic fantasies were coming true.

She rubbed herself, harder and faster. Her thumb working her clit as two fingers

thrust in and out of her cunt. As she quickened her pace, so did he, he wanted to come

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Amy Ruttan

with her. He could only imagine what it would feel like to have his cock buried in her

cunt, feel the walls of her pussy squeezing him, milking him for all he was worth.

He rubbed his head, stroking it, pulling it hard. He came as she did, his cum

spilling out on the pane of glass. He braced his arm against the window and stared out

at her, the look of ecstasy as she came. And then she looked through the darkness, as if

staring at him, as if she knew he was there. She smiled at him and flicked out the lights,

leaving him alone in the darkness once more.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Two

She knew he had been there. When she came up to bed she had looked over to the

house and saw him standing in the shadows, staring into her room. It thrilled her to

think that a sexy, sophisticated man would be turned on by her. To be honest, she had

been attracted to him since she moved in two years ago.

A tall, muscular twenty-three-year-old on the fast track to success. Something about

his strength, his drive, something about his adoration for her—David Craig had looked

at her the way her ex-husband George never had. He wanted her, he worshipped her,

she had never seen him look at another woman, even a younger woman the way he

looked at her and that was an immense turn-on. She was outdoing the very age group

that had snatched her brute of a husband. Ha! Take that, you fat bastard, she thought

happily to herself. Not that she cared her husband had left her for another woman, she

had hated the prick for a long, long time.

When David had left for his life in Boston, he had disappeared off the face of the

earth. She had felt dowdy, old. It had been a long time since any man had sent those

hungry, smoldering looks her way. Three months ago she had found herself in a store

catering to women of middle age. Jeans that rode up above the bellybutton,

cardigans…Birkenstocks. She shivered as she remembered that moment.

It had been so long since she was well and truly fucked. Anytime her husband had

bothered with her, it had been nothing but a few grunts and no release for her.

After that disastrous shopping trip, just when she felt like she was drying up and

ready for a tight perm, was when Louise told her about her daughter Janie’s upcoming

wedding and invited her. She’d almost declined until Louise mentioned that David

would be returning. He was, after all, the best man. Janie was marrying David’s high

school buddy, Mark Turner.

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She knew that she couldn’t decline and miss the opportunity of a lifetime. David

Craig was a single, successful lawyer in Boston. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was

involved with someone, if he would still look at her the same way. She hadn’t been

disappointed.

That’s when she knew a shopping trip and a spa appointment were needed. She

wanted to look her best when he came back for Janie’s wedding. She really hadn’t let

herself go, but it had been a long time since she had properly groomed herself or had

her hair done and wardrobe updated. Perfect excuse to spend some alimony.

She hadn’t been disappointed when David came home—he had looked at her the

same way. The thrill, the rush of knowing a man wanted her came back. An electric jolt

of need coursing through her body.

His blue, blue eyes had raked her body the same way they had always done. David

Craig had grown into a fine, strapping man. At six-foot-two his arms were like cannons,

his abdomen rippled underneath his tight Polo shirt. His dark brown curls trimmed, he

was well-groomed, tanned and smelled so good. She had recognized the fragrance

Sexual on him.

If Louise hadn’t been standing there she would have jumped him. She had wanted

to bury her face in his neck and inhale his masculine scent. She had wanted to taste him,

bite him, ride him hard.

When she had gone to bed she had seen him standing at his window, staring into

her home. She had wanted to do something daring, something she had never done

before. That’s why she had decided to take a chance and masturbate in front of the

window, acting like she didn’t see him though she knew he was there in the shadows of

his bedroom, watching her, jerking off.

It was the most thrilling thing she had ever done. She was aware that others might

see her and that’s what made it all the more exciting, the thought of her being caught

with a man fifteen years her junior.

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Love Thy Neighbor

* * * * *

When she woke up the next morning, she decided to go shopping for the most

gorgeous fuck-me dress she could get her hands on. Something nice and classy, not

slutty, but would still convey the message that she wanted him, wanted David Craig to

fuck her over and over.

She hopped into her black Chrysler Sebring and slowly pulled out of the drive. Her

eyes lingering on his house, the Craig house. She wondered if he was in his bedroom

trying to get a look at her or if he was in bed dreaming of her.

She made a right-hand turn onto Lilac Street and headed out into the metropolis

that was Deerpark, Illinois.

She headed straight for Deerpark’s “fashion” district, which happened to be a strip

mall full of big box-type stores. She headed right for the Liz Claiborne store, which was

right smack-dab next to Victoria’s Secret. That’ll be my next stop, she smiled to herself,

parking her car and pulling the key out of the ignition. It was one thing to have a fuck-

me dress, but she needed something under the fuck-me dress, something that would

make him come in his pants as soon as he saw her.

* * * * *

David helped his mother and his younger sister Janie get ready for the pre-wedding

luau his mother insisted on hosting.

“Well, they did it in Runaway Bride and I just thought it was so clever,” his mother

trilled happily beside him, dropping two metal stakes on the ground next to the

barbecue pit before walking back to the house.

“Mom, you’re basing this party on something you saw in Runaway Bride? What are

you trying to do, curse me?” Janie whined, dumping a large bag of charcoal briquettes

into her father’s brick barbecue where, to David’s horror, they would be roasting a

whole pig.

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Amy Ruttan

“If I were you, Janie, I’d run. I mean you’re really planning on marrying Mark

Turner? The guy’s a knob,” David said, hammering a stake into the ground that would

support the suckling pig.

“He’s your best friend, David, and you’re the best man for Christ’s sake,” Janie said,

wiping the sweat from her brow on the sleeve of her T-shirt.

“Exactly,” David said, bringing the hammer down on the metal stake. “I know him

well, Sis, you better run if you know what’s good for you.”

“David Craig, do not try to talk your sister out of this marriage,” his mother

screeched from the sliding door. “Just because you don’t seem inclined to settle

down—”

“You’re right, Mother, I plan on never settling down.” He pulled off his shirt,

sweating in the sweltering heat at high noon.

“Been working out?” Janie asked, eyeing him speculatively.

“Yeah,” he answered gruffly, hammering the second stake into the ground.

“Got something on your mind?” Janie asked, whispering as their mother worked

out of ear shot.

“Nothing particular.” The last thing he wanted to do was get in a discussion with

his sister about his two-year infatuation with Ms. Robins. He never obsessed about a

woman this long. No one could be that good…but he knew it would be oh-so fucking

good.

He hadn’t been able to get to sleep after that show. Ms. Robins masturbating at her

window. God, it was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot of shit.

“Earth to nerd bomb,” Janie said, waving her hand in front of his eyes. “Did you

hear me?”

“Yeah, sure you don’t want your wedding to remind you of Runaway Bride.”

She glared at him, her hands on her hips, giving him a look like he was absolutely

mental.

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Love Thy Neighbor

“That’s not what I said at all, genius.” She wiped her brow, leaving a streak of

charcoal across her pale forehead. “I was telling you about one of my bridesmaids, I

think you’d really dig her. She doesn’t have a date to this thing tonight and I was

wondering if you’d like to escort her…? You know, be her date for tonight.”

He rolled his eyes and brought the hammer down on the metal spike, the clang

piercing the uncomfortable tension. He didn’t want to be set up with anyone. Then

again, he didn’t want to be rude to his sister. It was obvious that in her own demented

way, she was trying to help him.

“Well?” she prodded, tucking her red hair behind her ear. “Come on, David.

You’ve never really had a serious girlfriend. Mom thinks you’re gay and I think she’s

convinced Dad.”

“Jesus, I’m not gay,” he said, leaning on the large mallet balanced on the end of the

metal spike.

“I told them that. I’ve had many gay friends and their ‘gaydar’ never picked up on

you. Though I think a few of them wished—”

“Just stop, Janie, this conversation is over.” He tossed the mallet away and rubbed

his sweaty face in his T-shirt. “All right, I’ll be your friend’s date tonight, but I can’t

promise anything.”

Janie smiled, her dimples showing as she kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Bro.”

“Mark Turner really is a knob you know.”

“Shut up, David.”

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Chapter Three

Beverly Robins stood in the entranceway of her home, her very empty home, and

checked her face in the mirror. Suddenly she was having a few doubts. What does he see

in this? No, don’t think that way, Beverly, just because that prick left you for some bimbo with

big tits doesn’t mean you’re not a sexy, clever woman. She hated when her hurt from her

failed marriage crept into her mind. She hated what that bastard had done to her by

leaving her.

She was mad at herself for starting to fall into a middle-age groove that she had

always sworn she would never do. She was not going to be one of those nameless, blue-

haired, permed little old ladies who lawn-bowled and knitted. She wanted so much

more from life. She wanted to travel more, she wanted to taste what life had to offer.

She had been in a rut for so long, afraid to take risks…well, not anymore. She was going

to take a chance and go after something she had wanted for so long—she was going to

have David Craig over and over and over again.

She pulled out her lipstick and ran it across her lips. Straightening her dress and

taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped out onto her porch.

The sun was setting as the Craig luau was just getting started. The driveway was

lined with bamboo torches, leading partygoers through the back gate into the Craigs’

well-groomed backyard. Ukulele music and Elvis could be heard drifting from the

party, mixed with a cacophony of laughter and talking.

The tangy smell of citronella hit Beverly’s nose as she took another deep breath and

walked down her drive. She kept to her walkway but the other guests were walking on

the soft, damp lawn. Well, there was no way in hell she was going to take a shortcut

across the grass in her new dress and her Manolo Blahniks. She’d stay on the flagstone

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Love Thy Neighbor

path and take the long way to the backyard. She had never worn her Manolos, never

had a reason to in Deerpark—that is, until tonight.

She walked up the driveway, letting her finger run lightly over David’s car, sensing

his power through his choice of vehicle. She did always like a man in a power suit,

sitting behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz. They mystery of him, the power he held.

Her ex was considered a powerhouse but there was nothing mysterious or

business-savvy about him. He just bossed people around and yelled and cursed. She

liked the killer men, the men who exuded power, the man David Craig had turned into.

Her heart beat faster as she pushed open the back gate and walked into little

Hawaii, Deerpark, Illinois. The whole backyard was adorned in palm trees, plastic tiki

lights, leis, poi, everything cliché and stereotypical of Hawaii.

All the men were in Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts. She looked over and saw

that David’s father, John Craig, was spinning a spit with, dear God, was that a whole pig?

She rubbed her collarbone, thinking how unappetizing that suckling pig looked, but

then again there was only one thing she wanted to devour tonight and that was David.

“Beverly,” Louise said happily, bouncing up to her holding a flower lei. “Thanks for

coming.”

Beverly bent her head as Louise put the tacky lei around her neck. “Thanks for

inviting me, Louise.”

“Oh hush, you’re our neighbor, you’re coming to the wedding so you have to come

to the luau.” She snapped her fingers and her youngest daughter, Melissa, came with a

coconut shell drink. The drink had umbrellas and a sword-pierced cherry floating in it.

“Have a drink, it’s a piña colada.”

Beverly tried not to laugh. Poor Louise, she’s trying her best. She probably doesn’t

know a piña colada isn’t Hawaiian. “Thanks, Louise.”

Louise smiled and then went on to greet some more guests who had arrived.

Beverly wandered deeper into the jungle that had just sprung up in her neighbors’

backyard, scanning the faces for David. She felt like a hunter and she smiled to herself.

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Her pulse quickening, she felt her juices flowing, wetting her inner thigh as she spotted

all six-foot-two of David Craig leaning against a post under his parents’ gazebo. He was

slugging something back stronger than a piña colada, staring off into space as a tanned,

blonde, twenty-something goddess gabbed away beside him.

He wasn’t interested but the damn girl couldn’t take the hint. It felt good, so good

seeing the little blonde beauty queen strike out. She flipped her hair over her shoulder

and stared at him. Suddenly he looked up, his ice-blue eyes locking onto hers. His gaze

virtually eating her up from the distance, locked in a visual foreplay in a ridiculous

suburban backyard party.

She smiled and turned her back on him. She wanted to seduce him, she wanted to

play hard to get, she wanted him to come and get her. She walked toward the buffet

table and the fake volcano, lit up with red Christmas lights, spouting off steam. Maybe

the steam would blow up her skirt, showing him just how wet she was for him, how

clean-shaven her pussy was for him.

* * * * *

He was absolutely bored out of his mind. His mother tried to get him to drink her

Hawaiian piña coladas but he insisted on drinking his Grey Goose. That’s all he ever

drank when he was feeling on edge and horny as hell.

Janie’s friend Brenda was the typical woman he ran into all the time. Money-

grubbing, brainless bimbos who would do anything for his power, money and status.

She gabbed on, completely oblivious to his disinterest. She had probably already named

their children, he snorted and sucked back the last dregs of his Grey Goose. Wouldn’t

that make his mother and father happy? He had seen his mother shooting him looks of

approval.

“Don’t you think that’s too funny?” Brenda said in an annoying high-pitched voice,

laughing hysterically at what she thought was the funniest joke of all time.

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Love Thy Neighbor

“Sure,” he said. He was about to get another shot of Grey Goose when Ms. Robins

walked into his line of sight. God, she was gorgeous. She was wearing a tight red dress, V-

neck with a loose, billowing chiffon skirt. Something very summery but sexy with a pair

of strappy heels. She was probably sinking into his father’s soft lawn but she walked

with ease, seductively swaying her hips.

She looked at him, her emerald eyes boring into his soul. Giving him the look to

come and get it, come and get her. He felt his cock stir in his pants like it was straining,

trying to get out.

He watched in dismay as she wandered over toward the damn papier-mache

volcano mess his little sister Melissa had made.

Go to her, man, just do it, go to her. He looked down at his empty glass. Well, he did

need some more Grey Goose.

“Excuse me, Brenda. Someone I haven’t seen in a while has just arrived and I need

to greet her.”

“Oh…sure of course, David, I’ll just go talk with your mother.” She smiled at him,

flashing him her bleached white teeth.

Yeah, you go off and ingratiate yourself with my mother, won’t get you anywhere. He

walked over to her casually, honing in on her, like his prey. He wanted her and he was

going to have her. He was going to have her underneath him, wearing nothing but

those heels, with those long legs wrapped around him, while he pumped into that wet

pussy.

He sidled up beside her. “You look great tonight, Ms. Robins.”

She turned to him, a slow smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Good evening,

David. How did you manage to get away from your date?”

He looked over his shoulder to see the date in question nattering away at his

mother. He smiled and held up his empty glass.

“What are you drinking then?” she asked, her voice husky.

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Amy Ruttan

“Grey Goose.”

“Very fancy,” she said, leaning in closer to him. He got a whiff of her perfume, she

smelled like coconuts and orange blossoms and it reminded him of his trip to Tahiti. He

felt her hand trail down his bare arm. “I’m glad you’re not wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Very glad.”

He cocked his eyebrow. “What do you have against…” he trailed off as he caught

sight of his eighty-three-year-old grandfather hobbling by in a garish Hawaiian shirt,

Bermuda shorts hiked up and belted under his armpits and black socks to his knees

with mesh shoes.

“Hey sonny,” he called out as he walked by.

Ms. Robins was giggling into her hand.

“Point taken, Ms. Robins,” David said.

“No, enough of that,” she said seriously. He wondered briefly what he had done to

offend her. “Not Ms. Robins, we’re both adults, you can call me Beverly…unless that

makes you uncomfortable?”

“Not at all,” he said, his pulse beating rapidly in his ears. “Ms. Robins…I mean,

Beverly, I have a mild confession.”

“Only a mild one?” she asked, cocking a finely shaped eyebrow.

“Well, maybe mild to you but severe for me,” he leaned in then, hovering his

mouth to her ear, breathing on her neck and taking deep breaths of her intoxicating

scent. It was like he could smell the arousal coming off her, at least he hoped that was

arousal. He smiled, pleased as a trail of gooseflesh broke out on her neck and trailed

down her shoulders. “I had a crush on you when you first moved in two years ago,

right before I left for Boston.”

“I know,” she said, her voice deep and sultry, “and now two years later, do you still

have this crush on me?”

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Love Thy Neighbor

Her head was turned toward his mouth, which still hovered by her ear, above her

shoulder. He was so close to those luscious lips, close enough to capture them and taste

them. He was thinking only on instinct when he slipped one arm around her hips and

dragged her back against his loins, grinding his throbbing erection against her ass. He

heard her gasp in both pleasure and shock, then she wiggled her ass gently against his

burgeoning cock.

“I think that’s the answer you require,” he said, putting down his empty glass, the

Grey Goose all but forgotten. He let his free hand trail down her back and he grabbed

her firm ass.

“What about your date over there, what are you going to tell her?”

“Fuck her,” David said, nuzzling his face into Beverly’s hair.

“I think that’s what she would like,” she teased, pressing her body more tightly

against him. He wanted to take her right here, right now with her body leaning up

against him. Thank God for Mom’s canopy of palm trees, he thought, knowing he was

partially obscured.

“I don’t care, it’s you I want, Beverly.”

She turned around and faced him. He could see her tight nipples under the fabric of

her dress. She stared up at him intently, her emerald eyes dark and full of longing.

“I want you too, and I want you to fuck me,” she said ferociously. She pushed him

farther into the dense forest of potted palm trees. She grabbed hold of his face and

kissed him.

Her tongue pushed past his lips and he wrapped his arms around her thin waist.

He let his hands trail down the smooth red chiffon to cup her taut ass and he pulled her

up hard against his erection. By running his hands up her thighs he noted the distinct

feel of lace and warm, wet pussy. She was wearing crotchless panties and he could

hardly wait to see them. He moved his hand to cup her mound, her very wet mound.

She moaned in his mouth as her tongue snaked with his, entwining, sucking, tasting

him deeply.

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Amy Ruttan

He was lost in the kiss when he heard his mother and Brenda walking toward their

hiding space.

Ms. Robins pushed him away and straightened her dress.

“Are you busy later?” she asked breathlessly.

“Never, why?” he asked, trying to adjust his pants so his erection wouldn’t be so

obvious.

She looked over her shoulder and gave him the most delicious, devious smile he

had ever seen.

“Come to my house later tonight, I give the best damn head.”

His cock jerked in his pants and he swallowed hard, thinking about her luscious

cherry red lips wrapped around his dick.

He watched her turn on her heel and leave the canopy of palm trees to go mingle

with the other guests as his mother and Brenda, the clawed eagle, found him.

“David, you’re positively panting, is it too hot out here?” his mother asked,

concerned.

“No, Mother, it’s the shirt I’m wearing…maybe it would have been better to dress

down on a hot night like this.”

His mother looked at a giggling Brenda and shot her an I-told-him-so type of look.

“I think I’ll go change and refresh my drink,” he said, grabbing his abandoned cup

from the table.

Brenda grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear. “Shall I help you with

anything?” she asked suggestively. Her cloying scent of Vanilla Fields was

overpowering and made him dizzy. It was nothing to the subtle fragrance of Beverly

Robins.

“No thanks, I’ve got it.” He removed her arm and walked into the house. First

things first, he was going to lock himself in his room and relieve the tension so he could

22

Love Thy Neighbor

last all night long pleasuring his Beverly, the woman who had haunted his dreams for

two long years.

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Amy Ruttan

Chapter Four

“Mmm, that smells great,” Janie said as Beverly held out her wrist. She always did

like Janie, the girl had great fashion sense and style. “What’s that called?”

“It’s Azuree Soleil from Estee Lauder. I picked it up the other day.”

“Well it’s great, I have to get some. What’s in it?”

“Gardenia, orange blossoms, coconut…you know that kind of tropical scent.”

“I smell Sexual mingled in there.”

Shit, Beverly thought she smelled David’s tell-tale cologne on her skin. She had

forgotten about the fact she might have picked up some of his scent from their playful

foray.

“I’ve been seeing someone, Janie,” she said, making up a quick white lie. Well, of

course she hoped that she would be seeing someone tonight, all night long.

“Well, that’s great. It’s about time you got out and started dating again after that

prick left you.”

Beverly smiled at the young soon-to-be bride. Janie was such a nice, understanding

girl. Not as clueless as the well-intentioned Louise.

“I’m happy,” she said.

“Janie, over here,” someone beckoned. Janie waved in response.

“I got to go, it was great talking to you again, Beverly. Bring your date to my

wedding. I can always add an extra dinner, it’s no problem.”

“You’re a sweet girl, but he’s on business this week. Out of town.”

“Shame, I really want to meet him… Coming,” Janie yelled back before hugging

her. “It was great seeing you.”

“You too, congratulations again, darling.”

24

Love Thy Neighbor

Janie smiled and ran over to a group of elderly people who were leaving. Beverly

checked her watch and decided it might be a good time to go. She had been at the luau

for three hours.

David had kept a discreet distance from her but she could tell that he was watching

her. She could feel his eyes burning into her. She looked over her shoulder at him and

smiled.

He was standing under the gazebo, Brenda clinging to his arm, his mother on the

other side as they happily chatted with whom she assumed to be family as she had

never seen them before.

He was staring at her as he drank methodically from his glass of Grey Goose. He

was eating her whole with his gaze.

God, he was a handsome man. Of course, she’d always thought so from the first time

she’d laid eyes on him.

She had noticed him the first time she had come to look at the house with the agent.

He seemed to be the type of man she had always been secretly pining for when she

was in college. The type of guy she’d never dated because girls in her social circle

always dated jocks. Hmm, and look where that got me.

Of course, she never thought she would act on her attraction, or that a man of

twenty-three could be attracted to her. She had been surprised to see that he was, but

she had been married. By the time she had learned her husband was screwing his

secretary in town, David went to Boston and he never came back…until now.

She walked over to him, swaying her hips, keeping her eyes locked on his. She

watched as he slowly lowered his glass. She reveled in the reaction she was gleaning

from him.

“Louise,” she said, putting her hand on David’s mother’s shoulder. “It’s time for me

to go. It’s been a lovely party.”

25

Amy Ruttan

“Oh, why thank you, Beverly. Thank you for attending. I hope that you’ll be at the

bridal shower and the wedding next week.”

She smiled and met David’s gaze. “I wouldn’t miss this wedding for anything in the

world, Louise.”

She sent David one last smoldering gaze. “Good to see you again, David.”

“Ms. Robins,” he said, his voice cracking slightly.

She could feel the daggers being sent her way by the very clingy Brenda.

“I told you, David, please call me Beverly. You make me feel like a grandmother.”

“Aren’t you?” Brenda asked, laughing slightly.

Touché, bitch, she smiled at the blonde bimbo who unfortunately was a bridesmaid

and would be involved with all aspects of the wedding.

“No, I’m not. I don’t have children and I would be a young grandmother if I did.

I’m only forty and as Oprah says, ‘forty is the new twenty’.”

Louise started to giggle like mad. “That’s right, she did. I love Oprah and Dr. Phil.”

“Good night,” she said, quickly getting out of there before Louise dragged her into

an endless discussion about the talk shows she loved. She walked out of the backyard

confident in her goal. She grew wet as she thought of David coming to her bedroom

tonight and all the fun she was going to have with the right kind of man.

* * * * *

David was cursing the last few stragglers from his mother’s backyard luau. For the

love of all that’s good and holy, go the fuck home, he thought. Brenda was one of the

stragglers and he knew why. She was hoping that he would walk her back to her place

and she would invite him up to screw her. She wanted to get laid and she wanted

David to do the laying. Problem was, he wasn’t interested.

Sure, if they were in Boston he would be more than happy to oblige and ease

himself inside her for an hour or two. She was just another nameless harpy looking to

him because of his money and power.

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Love Thy Neighbor

The type of women men in his circle deem as trophy wives. He had no interest in

procuring a trophy wife and there was only woman he wanted tonight. He was going to

have everything he ever wanted tonight.

“Walk me home?” Brenda asked, stroking his arm.

“Sure, you live around the corner, right?” he asked.

“That’s right just a short, hop, skip and a,” he felt her hand trail down the front of

his pants, cupping his flaccid cock, “jump away,” she said, surprise lacing her voice as

he didn’t respond to her touch.

“All right, let’s go. I have to get up early tomorrow. Best man duties.” He took her

by the arm and started quickstepping her out of the backyard. “Be back, Mother, just

walking Brenda home.”

His mother smiled, her cheeks red and rosy from indulging in too many piña

coladas.

“No rush, David,” she belched loudly. “Take your time.” She started giggling like a

ninny as his father ushered her inside.

“Come on, Louise, beddie-bye.”

David shut the gate and practically started jogging down the street. Leaving Brenda

behind him, huffing and puffing.

“Hold on, David,” she said, slipping off her thong sandals and panting as she came

up beside him. “Jesus, what’s the rush?”

“I told you I have to get up early tomorrow. I want to hit the hay.”

“Well, you can always hit the hay in my bed,” she said as they stopped in front of

her small, dark bungalow. She leaned in to kiss him.

“I don’t think so,” David said, holding her at bay. “I think you’re a great girl but

there is someone else.”

“Who?” Brenda said saucily, crossing her arms, her shoes hanging off the end of her

perfectly manicured finger. “Janie said you were single.”

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Amy Ruttan

“It’s a new involvement, Janie doesn’t know about her. Good night, Brenda.” He

turned on his heel and headed back home.

“David, wait! Come back,” Brenda called out after him.

He ignored her. There was only one bed he was planning on lying in tonight.

Beverly’s—and she was waiting.

When he made it back home he knew that the door would be left open for him, but

he had no plans on heading back there until closer to dawn. Then he would sneak back

in. No one would be awake and no one would care. The state his mother was in, she’d

be in bed all day with a headache.

He bypassed the stone-cobbled walk of the Craig home and headed to the other

side of the white picket fence. He took a deep breath before he took a step up the

flagstone steps toward Ms. Robins’ door.

The house was dark, except for the porch light. There was a note sticking out of the

mail flap. He pulled it out and read it in the dim light.

The back door is open, come on up.

He smiled and folded the note. He wandered to the side of the house, heading for

the back. He looked up at the balcony windows where he had seen Beverly pleasuring

herself the night before. The lights were on and he saw the shadow of her pass by the

windows, her silhouette obscured by the thick canopy of leaves from the big oak tree

outside Ms. Robins’ window. The tree had branches that hung over the little balcony off

her bedroom. Now how dashing would he be if he climbed it? His personal trainer in

Boston always said he was in tip-top shape. I’m going to climb up and sweep her off her feet.

He had thought about climbing that tree and sneaking into her window last night

after her show. Now here was the chance to do what he fantasized about.

He looked up at the tree that had grown even taller over the last couple of years.

Damn, can I climb it? He was unsure for a moment as he grabbed hold of the lowest

branch and hoisted himself up. He grunted as he slipped a bit, but soon he learned the

knack of climbing trees again. Just like riding a bike.

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Love Thy Neighbor

In a few minutes, longer than he hoped it would take, he had climbed the tree. He

felt a little bit like Tarzan standing in the branches, peering into Beverly Robins’ lit

bedroom.

She came out of her bedroom and was startled to see him standing in the branches,

out of breath.

“The back door was open,” she chuckled.

“I like climbing trees, so much easier than climbing corporate ladders. Less work

and less pain,” he said, trying to keep himself from panting and wincing from the pain

in his abdomen from pulling himself from branch to branch.

“I see. Are you going to be all right? You’re breathing pretty heavy there,” she

asked, cocking a thinly arched brow. He could tell she was trying to control her

laughter. He beat his chest and gave a soft Tarzan yell.

“Just the sight of you, it takes my breath away.”

“Well, are you just going to hang out in my oak tree all night or are you actually

going to come in?” she teased, materializing from the shadows. Her silk robe opened up

and he could now see she was dressed in a black lace teddy and black spiked Manolos.

“Shit,” he said as he eyed her up and down appreciatively. “Maybe I’ll just hang

out here and admire you all night long.”

She smiled and put her hand on her hip. “Suit yourself, but I plan to have some fun

with or without you…and I’d rather it be with.”

He leapt out of the tree and landed with a thud in front of her on the balcony.

“I’ll take that as a yes you’re planning on joining me?” she said, laughing.

“Oh God yeah,” he reached out and grabbed her hips, feeling her warm skin

through the intricate holes of the lace.

“Good, I’ve been on my own far too long.”

“Well, that’s about to change.” He bent down and kissed her lips softly. Tasting

them, savoring them—she tasted like coconut. She felt her tongue break through his lips

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Amy Ruttan

but he pushed her away. He wanted to make this last forever, he wanted to bring her

such pleasure that she would forget about every other lover she had. “What’s that

smell, that fragrance?”

“Your sister asked me the same thing. Are you two into selling perfume or

something?” she teased, cocking a finely arched brow.

“No, but I like to know what my woman wears.”

“Your woman?” she asked, surprised. “Am I your woman now?”

His answer was to reach down and pick her up in his arms, slinging her over his

shoulder and slapping her on the ass. “After tonight, you will be.”

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Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Five

She wanted to scream out in a girlish giggling fit when he did that. Never had any

man ever swept her off her feet in a firefighter way and then state that he planned to

claim her as his own. It was so Neanderthal of him and she loved it. It excited her, made

her heart beat faster when he slapped her ass in such a possessive way.

He threw her on the bed. She was still giggling as he shut the open balcony doors.

He had a dark, possessive look on his face as he stared down at her. She looked up at

him and instantly sobered up. She saw the lust, the want and passion etched on his face.

She propped herself on her elbows and met his intense gaze with one of her own.

She wanted him and had thought about this moment for two years. She would forget

about him every once and a while. But then Louise would show her a picture of David

and it would remind her how much she wanted him, how virile he was.

She raised her knee so he could get a view of her assets through the black lace of her

teddy. She watched in anticipation as his eyes flickered to her pussy, the spot that

ached, throbbed and longed to be touched by him.

“I know what you want,” she said seductively, breaking the silence.

“Do you now?” he asked, slowly unbuttoning his shirt and then pulling it off and

tossing it into the corner. “I don’t think you know really what I want to do to you.”

She hungrily let her eyes wander over the bronze expanse of his chest. His chest

was bare, rippled, hard, built. She couldn’t wait to run her hands over his rock-hard

pectorals and abs. He obviously works out a lot.

“And what is it that you want to do to me?” she asked, sitting up.

“Where do I start?”

“At the beginning,” she teased.

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Amy Ruttan

“Fine because, Beverly, there has been so much that I have fantasized doing to you

and I plan to try out everything.”

“Good, I am always up for a challenge.”

“What would be challenging?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“Competing with you because, David, I have a few fantasies I need to work out of

my system with you.”

She heard him give a faint growl as he went to undo his belt but she leapt forward.

She stood up and grabbed hold of his hands on his belt. “No, let me do that.”

His hands stilled on his belt as she ran her fingers over them. She gently pulled his

hands away and slowly undid his buckle. She never broke eye contact with him as she

slid his belt out of the loops of his pants.

She rubbed her pussy up his thigh between her legs as she undid the button of his

khaki pants and pulled the zipper down slowly. She let his pants fall to his knees as she

felt his hard cock straining against his tight boxer briefs. God, he’s so big, she thought,

letting her tiny hand encircle him through the cotton fabric.

He sucked in a deep breath, throwing back his head and closing his eyes. “If you do

that much longer, I might come,” he said through clenched teeth. He moved her hand

away and held her wrist in his large, rough hand while pulling her closer with his other

arm. “And I don’t aim to come any time soon,” he warned, pulling her tight against his

warm chest.

She licked her lips, her pulse racing as their gazes locked together. He backed her

up against her bed, the back of her knees hit against the edge and she fell back. He

stepped out of his pants but kept his black boxer briefs on as he leaned down over her.

“Do you know what you do to me? How you haunt my thoughts and dreams?” he

asked, breathing on the pulse point of her neck, causing a thrill to rush through her. Her

nipples tightening in excitement with him braced over top of her.

“Why don’t you tell me?” she whispered, licking her lips.

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Love Thy Neighbor

“You’re beautiful, so beautiful. Other women I have dated, they don’t hold a candle

to you.”

She felt a sob well up in her throat. No man had ever told her something like that.

She kept the tears in check and felt herself grow wet with her cream, her cunt screaming

to be touched, her nipples begging to be sucked. Suddenly the black lace teddy was too

constricting, too tight. She wanted it off her skin, she only wanted to feel his hands on

her, she wanted to be taken hard and fast by him.

“What do you plan to do to me first?” she asked, her voice hoarse with longing and

hunger.

He smiled, wickedly devious as he looked down the length of her, running his large

hand down between her breasts to her hips. “Do you mind if this goes, because this will

be one of the first things I can check off my list of fantasies.”

“No, do what you want,” she said, arching her back and wiggling her hips so he

would touch her where she wanted to be touched the most.

“All right then.” He grabbed the vee of the lace fabric of her teddy and ripped it

open.

She gasped as he breasts were freed. He’d torn the teddy straight down to her

bellybutton.

“Damn shame, it looked good on you. I’ll buy you another one.”

“Deal,” she whispered. She sucked in a deep breath as his hands found her breasts

and cupped them. His thumbs stroked her tight, sensitive nipples.

He bent down and drew one of those nipples into his mouth. Sucking it slowly

before he teased and flicked it with his tongue. His tongue was so hot on her, branding

her. She couldn’t remember the last time they had so much affection. Her ex had never

really paid much attention to them other than a quick feel up while he was grunting

over top of her.

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Amy Ruttan

“You like that?” he asked, nibbling up her neck to her lips. “What else would you

like?”

“You tell me, this is your fantasy.”

“What if I want to taste you, eat you?”

She pulled his face closer and slipped her tongue deep inside his mouth as his hand

found her pussy. He was stroking her through the damp fabric of her lace teddy.

“I would say that was a yes,” he chuckled, pulling away from her kiss. “You’re so

fucking wet for me.”

He knelt on the floor at the edge of the bed and slipped the remnant of the black

lace teddy off her, sliding it past her knees. He then went to work on her black Manolos.

“As much as I love the look of your fuck-me pumps, I’m afraid I might get

skewered on your heels.” He tossed each shoe over his shoulder and spread her thighs

wide. “That’s better,” he said. “Oh my God, you’re fucking beautiful. I can’t wait to

taste you.”

She was going to say something else until she felt the hot searing kiss on the inside

of her thigh. Her body tensed like a well-strung instrument.

“That’s it, baby, watch me, watch me eat you.”

She watched as his head dipped down between her thighs. His eyes were focused

on her as he slowly slid his tongue up the crease of her labia.

“You taste so good,” he said before sliding his tongue in farther, “so good.” She felt

his fingers as he splayed the lips of her pussy open. His tongue licking her sensitive

clitoris. Sliding down to lick her juices. His thumb began to rub her clit, slowly stroking

it. She felt the pleasure building in the pit of her stomach. She moaned as she began to

rub her hard nipples.

“Do you like that?” he asked as he slipped two fingers inside her.

“Mmmm,” she moaned.

“Do you want more?”

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Love Thy Neighbor

“Yes, oh yes.”

He moved his hand and began to eat her cunt, nibbling at her clit. His fingers

pushing in and out of her, fucking her. She reached out and grabbed his head, holding

him there while she rocked her hips against his face.

His tongue licked and stroked her clit. She couldn’t help it, she came violently. She

cried out as her body tensed and she felt the waves of pleasure wash over her. She

couldn’t remember an orgasm so strong, so full of pleasure before.

Her body was still shaking as she fell against her bed. She felt the heavy weight of

him on top of her and his hard cock through his underwear pressing against her wet

core.

“I think it’s your turn,” she said breathlessly, pushing against his chest, but he

couldn’t be moved.

“No way, I plan to bury myself deep inside you and make you come again and

again until you can’t take it anymore. It’s my turn now, you can have your way with me

later…but for now I plan to fuck you senseless.”

He rolled over and grabbed his pants. She knew he was searching for a condom but

she didn’t care. She wanted to feel him, tonight she wanted nothing between them. She

grabbed his wrists.

“Unless you don’t get regularly tested, you don’t need that.”

He smiled at her deviously. “Oh no?”

“No, I want to feel you, and I want you to feel me.”

He moaned as he pulled his underwear off. She wanted to scream out in joy at the

size of his cock—it was huge. She had never seen such a large cock except in the

magazines. She licked her lips, wondering what he tasted like, wanting to wrap her lips

around his cock and taste him, suck him.

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Amy Ruttan

“Time for that later,” he said, reading her mind. He spread her thighs and quickly

thrust into her. She cried out as he stretched her, filling her so delightfully. “Right now

I’m going feel you come around me. You feel so damn good, so tight and wet.”

He began to slowly slide in and out of her. His arms braced on either side of her

head. His cock hit her at every angle, he was so huge. He bent down and captured one

of her breasts in his mouth. He sucked on her nipple, laving it with his hot, wet tongue.

She began to rock her hips, trying to urge him to go faster. He groaned and his

mouth let go of her breast. He closed his eyes and threw his head back. She ran her

hands along his back, watching the cording in his neck as he strained against her. Soon

she won out and he began to thrust in and out of her, pistoning faster and faster. He

pinned one of her legs up over his shoulder and rubbed her clit.

“Come with me, baby,” he groaned. “I’m so close.”

She felt the pressure, the delightful swirling in the pit of her stomach building up

again. She came, her pussy clenching his hard cock as she felt him come deep inside

her.

“Christ,” he groaned. He let her leg go as he collapsed against her. She licked his

shoulder, she loved the smell of his sweat, musk mingled with his cologne.

“I hope I lived up to your fantasies, David,” she said dreamily, rolling on her side.

“This is just the beginning, only the beginning.”

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Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Six

He woke up close to dawn. He had fallen asleep against her and she had drifted off

as well. That one bout of fucking, his first time with her, had nearly done him in. All

that pent-up sexual frustration mixed with Grey Goose just didn’t give him the stamina

that he needed.

Thank God he had a week. He planned to come here every night and make love to her.

He paused as he thought about that word—make love, where had that come from? He

had never once thought of fucking as making love. Yet with Beverly Robins it had been

different. It had been mind-blowing, it had taken him to a place he didn’t know existed.

He grabbed his clothing, not wishing to disturb her. He quietly entered the master

bathroom, turned on the shower and climbed in. He let the water run down over him

and thanks to her double-headed shower, he felt the water spray massage his back. He

had to get back into his house before his parents woke and discovered where he really

had spent the night.

He felt the cool air hit him on the back as the shower curtain opened. He looked

back to see a very naked and now wet Ms. Robins standing behind him.

“Were you thinking of sneaking out on me?”

“Sorry, have to get home before my mother sees me leap over your white picket

fence,” he smiled at her and turned to face her. He felt his cock stiffening, rising to the

occasion. He reached out and touched her face, rubbing her wet cheek with his thumb.

“I was planning to return tonight, sober, and finish what we started. We have all week.”

“That’s most acceptable, Mr. Craig. I was worried once you had a taste then that

would be enough to quench your thirst.”

“This will sound horribly cliché, Ms. Robins, but one taste is never enough.” He

bent down to kiss her but she pushed him away.

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Amy Ruttan

“No, now it’s my turn,” she got down on her knees and stared up at him with those

bright emerald eyes. Before he knew what she was doing she took the whole hard

length of him in her mouth.

“Damn,” he groaned out, bracing his hands against the wet tile wall. Her hot, wet

mouth enveloping him. Her tongue teasing his head. Her hand encircled the base of his

shaft as she began to suck and bob her head up and down the length of him. Slowly at

first she pulled her mouth away.

“You taste good,” she licked slowly down to his balls which, she took into her

mouth, sucking one. “Really good,” she sucked his balls while her hand slid up and

down his shaft.

He laced his fingers in her hair. She released him from her mouth and returned

those luscious lips back to his cock. She took him into her mouth again, deep throating

him. He held her head there as he began to pump in and out of her mouth. He cried out,

he wasn’t sure what, as he came in her mouth. She licked and sucked him dry.

He was panting as she stood up and began to rub soap over his chest.

“I told you I was good at head.”

* * * * *

He got back in the house almost undetected.

“Hey there,” Janie said. She was sitting at the island in their mother’s kitchen

having breakfast.

“Are you eating Froot Loops?” he asked quizzically.

“Yeah, Mom keeps them in stock still. I don’t know why—I’m a Special K girl. This

morning felt like a Froot Loop kind of morning.”

“Should we turn the morning cartoons on then?” he asked, grabbing a bowl from

the cupboard and pouring himself a bowl of sugar-coated empty calories.

“So where were you last night? With Brenda?” Janie asked, prying.

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Love Thy Neighbor

“Nope,” he answered, pouring milk over his Loops, knowing that in about two

seconds they’d be soggy.

“Come on, you were out all night, you’re wearing the same clothes.” She leaned in

and sniffed his collar. “Is that a woman’s perfume I smell? It smells like—” she stopped

and her eyes opened wide.

“What?” he asked.

“That’s Azuree Soliel on your collar. Were you with…no you couldn’t have been,”

she said, shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

“What if I was, what would it matter? We’re both consenting adults.”

“David, I know you had a bit of a crush on her when she first moved in a couple of

years ago—”

“I was with Beverly last night, end of discussion. Do you have a problem with that?

Do you think less of her because of it?”

“Holy shit,” Janie said, nearly dropping her spoon. “No, I don’t think less of her or

you…but really, where can it go?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” He finished off his bowl and put it in the sink.

“Please be discreet about this, Janie. I don’t think Mom and Dad will understand.”

“Dad might, I think he’s thought about boning her once or twice.”

“Ugh, Janie, gross. That’s a little too much information about our father.”

Janie laughed. “All right, I promise, I won’t say a word. Just be careful.”

“I will,” he leaned down and kissed her on top of the head. “You should be too,

you’re marrying a knob.”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. David.”

* * * * *

David spent the whole day chauffeuring his mother and sisters around while they

picked up last-minute stuff. All day, dragging himself through stores or sitting in his

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Amy Ruttan

car with the AC cranked waiting for his mother and sisters, he couldn’t tear his

thoughts away from Beverly Robins.

Last night had been a dream come true. He couldn’t have rehearsed it better. His

fantasies were dim and dull compared to the electricity the two of them generated

together last night.

He rubbed his lips as if he still could taste her honey on his lips. She tasted like

coconut. So sweet, so tropical, so exotic.

“Hi there.”

He jumped as Brenda’s face appeared in the open window.

“Hi,” he said coolly. “I think they’re inside, waiting for you.”

“Oh yeah, well, they’re not expecting me. I just was shopping and I saw you sitting

here all by your lonesome.”

“I’m fine,” he said, trying to brush her off in the friendliest way that he could.

“Look, sorry about last night. I understand why you didn’t come up.”

He looked up at her like she was crazy. “What was there not to understand? I told

you I had someone here in Deerpark already.”

He saw the blush rise on her face. “Well, I just assumed that was an excuse because

I had been drinking and you didn’t want to take advantage of me.”

“Brenda, I think…” He forgot what he was going to say as he caught a glimpse of

Beverly walking across the parking lot toward her car.

She was pushing a cart of groceries. Her hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing

denim shorts, a pink tank top and white Keds. She looked like every suburban

housewife in Deerpark.

He pulled his key out of the ignition and got out of the car.

“Great seeing you again, Brenda, I’ve got to go.” He brushed her off and ran toward

Beverly to help her load her car.

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Love Thy Neighbor

He missed the ugly look of outrage on Brenda’s face as she put her hands on her

hips and watched him run after Beverly Robins.

If he would have seen the look he wouldn’t have given a damn. He didn’t care who

knew about his attraction to Beverly. The only reason he didn’t spring it on his parents

was because it would give his mother a heart attack and he didn’t want to make it

awkward for Beverly and his parents when he returned to Boston in a week.

“Need a hand?” he asked, coming up behind her.

“Always,” she said, smiling and looking him up and down. He helped her heave

the few bags of groceries into her trunk.

“What are you making tonight?”

“Something special. I have a hot date and I am hoping that he likes what I make,”

she said suggestively.

“Oh I’m sure he will. What kind of wine should this special date bring?”

“Red,” she said seductively. “A nice, dark, lush red.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

He wanted to lean in and taste her. Kiss her lips, but his mother’s call from across

the parking lot stopped him. Beverly froze and closed her trunk.

“You better go. Will I see you tonight?”

“Oh yes, count on it. When?”

“Eight.”

“I’ll be there.”

He opened the door to her car and she climbed in. She turned her ignition and

rolled down the window. “It’s a date then.” She motioned over his shoulder. “I think

they’re waiting for you.”

“’Til tonight.”

He turned and jogged back to where his mother, his two sisters and a very sour-

looking Brenda waited beside his black Mercedes.

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Amy Ruttan

He looked back and watched her drive away with a quick wave toward his mother,

who waved back frantically.

“That was so nice of you to help Ms. Robins, David.”

“Yes, it was very nice,” Janie said knowingly. David shot her a warning look as he

unlocked the doors and helped his mother load up his trunk.

“So, shall we see you tonight, Brenda? I am sure David will escort you to the

Turners’ dinner party.”

Brenda looked at him expectantly and David’s heart sank.

“Sorry, Mom, I have dinner plans with a friend tonight.”

“David, didn’t I tell you about the Turners’ dinner party two days ago, right when

you came home?” Louise said, putting her hands on her hips.

Brenda smirked. “I’ll see you tonight, Janie,” she said before flouncing off.

“Mother, I have plans. I am sorry.”

“Janie, talk some sense into your brother.”

“I don’t think I can, Mom,” Janie said, smiling at her brother. “Let him go out to

dinner with his friend. He hasn’t been home to Deerpark in over two years. I’m sure

there’s a lot of catching up to do. I think we have wasted enough of his time for today.”

Janie slid into the car next to their sister Melissa who was bopping away to music on

her iPod.

“Oh well, if Janie’s okay with it, then I guess I’m okay with it too. As long as you’re

at the rehearsal dinner on Friday I don’t care what you miss.” Louise slid into the front

seat and David shut the door. He would make it up to Janie later.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Seven

His family left for the Turners’ at six that evening so he wandered over to Beverly’s

undetected at eight. He hopped over the short, white picket fence with a bottle of red in

his hand. A nice merlot he’d picked up at the wine store after his family left.

He knocked on the door and Beverly answered it. She was wearing a simple cotton

dress. He could smell something deliciously Italian cooking in her kitchen.

“Hi, did you bring what I asked for?” she teased, eyeing the bottle of red in his

hand.

“Oh yes, it’s a good wine. I had the opportunity to actually tour this winery in the

Niagara region last summer. Have you ever been up to the Canadian Niagara wine

region?”

“No, I can’t say that I have. It’s a place I would love to see though.”

“Well, maybe you’ll have to go sometime.”

She pulled him inside and shut the door with the heel of her foot. “Maybe I will.”

He bent down and kissed her as she ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of

his neck. He put the bottle of merlot down on the hall table and grabbed her ass,

molding, squeezing it in his fingers.

“You’re not wearing any underwear?”

“Not a thread, not a bra, nothing under my dress.”

He felt his blood thicken at the thought of her naked under her thin cotton dress.

He pushed her against the wall. “Time to check another fantasy off my list.”

“What’s that— Holy fuck,” she cried out as he knelt on the floor, lifted her skirt and

began to taste her.

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Amy Ruttan

She tasted so damn good on his tongue as he licked and sucked her clean-shaven

pussy. She wrapped one leg around his shoulder, allowing him better access. He licked

his fingers and inserted them inside her, fucking her again with his hand as he flicked

her swollen clit with his tongue.

She was moaning and rocking her pussy against his face.

“You want to come for me, baby?” he asked. “I want to taste your come in my

mouth.”

“Oh yes, oh God, yes.”

He increased the tempo of his tongue. He removed his fingers and covered her cunt

with his mouth, tasting her, tasting her as she came on his face. Feeling her cream slide

down his throat.

He could feel her legs shaking as her orgasm hit. Fuck, this was the best thing he’d

ever had. He couldn’t remember ever getting so worked up over giving a woman oral

sex. He always did it out of a perfunctory nature but this was different. He wanted to

do it. He wanted to taste her on his lips. He wanted to give her mind-blowing orgasms.

She slid down the wall, a smile on her face, and he wandered into her powder room

to wash off his face.

“So,” he said, coming out of the washroom. “What’s for dessert?”

* * * * *

She had cooked him a delicious seafood linguine. One of her specialties. Her

grandmother was Sicilian and had taught Beverly all her coveted recipes when she got

married. She had tried a few times and wasted her energy on cooking these very all-

consuming meals when her ex just either gulped them down in a heartbeat or never

showed up for dinner. After a while she had given up trying.

She hadn’t made this recipe in almost eighteen years. She had been quite pleased

that David seemed to enjoy it. Of course, they both had ended up naked, sitting at her

antique dining room table. She wore only her heels and a string of pearls.

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Love Thy Neighbor

He wore nothing but a smile as they enjoyed the dinner, the wine and good

conversation. She couldn’t remember the last time that she actually had a good,

intellectual conversation. They talked about everything and nothing.

He talked about his job as a lawyer in Boston. He talked about his time at Harvard.

She talked about her brief stint in college before she got married to her ex and became a

wife.

She was relieved to know that he loved to read and he liked just about everything

except romance, which she was addicted to.

He liked jazz music, so she padded over to her stereo and put on a great jazz album,

a mix she had burned with some of her favorite singers like Diana Krall and Lena

Horne.

After dinner they headed upstairs where, according to her fantasy, she had a nice

luxurious bubble bath with him.

“What is with women and bubble baths?”

“They’re nice, relaxing,”

“And these bath salts like to effervesce up my ass.” He moved slightly as she began

to laugh.

“That too.” She was quiet as she rubbed his arms under the suds.

“How come you’re so quiet?” he asked.

“Just wondering, I mean why me? I am so much older than you. I mean I’m not

expecting a future with you or anything—”

“Sssh, let’s not talk about that. And as for why you, you’re an extremely attractive

woman. Age doesn’t matter to me—there has always just been something about you.”

He stood up, the suds sliding off his naked skin. He climbed out of the tub and rubbed

himself with a towel.

“What are you doing?” she asked, leaning her head on the tub, admiring his taut,

yummy ass.

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Amy Ruttan

“I’m going to show you exactly what I think of you,” he said, reaching down and

lifting her out of her soaker tub. He set her down on the floor and toweled her off. He

picked her up again and carried her to the bedroom.

He laid her down on her silk sheets. He didn’t say anything and she didn’t need

him too. She stared up into his dark and serious blue eyes. He leaned down and gave

her a tender kiss as he entered her slowly, filling her. His kiss was tender as he slowly

ground his hips against her. She could hear him breathing in her ear.

“Nothing else matters this week but us. This is how much I want you.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him tight against her throbbing

pussy. She loved the feeling of him slowly stroking in and out. His cock was so hard, so

long, so big.

His breath came in short pants and she knew that he was getting close. She knew

instinctively that he wanted to go faster, wanted to come.

“Stop, David,” she whispered.

He paused, confused. “Am I hurting you?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

“No, just get on your back. I’m going to ride you.”

He moaned and pulled out, lying on his back. She straddled his waist and sank

down on his cock. She began to slowly grind her hips on his cock and slid luxuriously

up and down his length. Her hair fell over her face. She ran her fingers through it,

holding it off her face as she rode him slowly. He was groaning as he bucked up at her

but she held him at bay as she took her time with him.

She loved the feeling of controlling the pace. Of having the power over him,

controlling the pleasure that built deep down in the pit of her stomach as her clit rubbed

up and down the length of him.

He reached out and began to stroke her clit. She moaned and her nipples tightened

and she slammed down onto him, quickening her pace.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Soon she was meeting his hard bucks. She lay down across his chest, kissing him as

he grabbed her ass, pumping her up and down his cock. She came the same moment as

he did, while their tongues were entwined. She broke off the kiss to listen to the rapid

beating of his heart beneath his chest. She felt his hands rub her back gently, his fingers

trailing down her spine with him still buried deep inside her.

They didn’t say any more to each other. There was nothing to really say. But this

was turning rapidly from a mere lust, infatuation situation for her. Dammit, I’m falling in

love with my neighbor’s son.

* * * * *

When she woke up, David had left. She reached out and touched the pillow. She

wrapped her arms around it, inhaling the scent of his cologne and the natural smell of

his arousal still permeated her sheets.

What are you doing, Beverly, how could you let yourself fall in love with him?

She threw the pillow from her then and rolled back to face the window. The

sunlight streaming in. She better end it—end it before she got hurt.

She got up and stretched, letting the sheet slip down off her body. She got up and

went to the shower. She stopped in front of the mirror, staring at the few wrinkles now

across her body. A story of her life, they reminded her of everything she was. She

lovingly touched them and then she noticed the single white rose that was left on the

vanity with a note.

Until tonight was written on it in a flourish that was David’s handwriting. She

smiled, smelling the rose and thinking about him, when suddenly the phone rang. She

ran into the bedroom and picked up the slimline white phone.

“Hello,” she said into the receiver.

“Hey Sis,” Trina’s voice came across the other end a bit crackly. Her twin sister

Trina, who lived a gloriously happy, perfect life with a wonderful man and kids on the

West Coast. Trina said she was always jealous of her, but Beverly had always been

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Amy Ruttan

jealous of Trina’s happy, peaceful, love-filled life. Especially as her life with George was

empty and meant nothing to either of them at the end.

“Isn’t it a bit early out there in sunny California?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t wait to tell you this. Sue’s going to have a baby. Paul and I are

going to be grandparents, which means, dear sister, you’re going to be a great-aunt.”

Beverly nearly dropped the receiver when she heard the news.

“That’s wonderful, darling. I am so happy for you both.”

After talking to her twin sister for a bit more they said their goodbyes. She hung up

the phone and realized how foolish it would be for a woman old enough to be a

grandmother to date a young attorney from Boston. She would have to end it the next

time she saw him.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Eight

He hadn’t been able to see Beverly in a couple of nights. Wedding preparations had

gotten in the way. She also seemed to have disappeared. He rarely saw her outside of

her home. Her car was present in the driveway but there was no sign of Beverly Robins

anywhere.

He watched for her from the window in his room, but there was nothing. No sign of

life from the shadows of her room.

He grew restless and agitated. Where is she, why isn’t she answering my calls?

Thinking about her constantly filled his mind, occupied his thoughts.

“Hey, honey, can I fill your drink?” the sultry sound of a barmaid shook him from

his thoughts.

“Sure,” he pushed out his shot glass and she filled it with whiskey, her smile giving

him the come-on as she poured.

“Yo, David, are you going to sit at the bar all night?”

David looked over his shoulder to see Mark and a bunch of other men who were

included in the stag party waving him over, across the strip club. He waved in response

and threw a twenty down on the bar.

“Keep them coming.” He didn’t even look at the sultry bottled blonde. He didn’t

need to. These women were all the same in his book, none of them held a candle to

Beverly Robins.

He wandered over to the private party room where the men were being entertained

by three girls who were dancing and doing lap dances for the men.

“If my sister ever finds out about this, man, you’re so dead,” David teased

halfheartedly. “I told her you were no good.”

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Amy Ruttan

“So I’ve heard,” Mark complained.

David just chuckled and he sat down in a far corner away from the festivities,

watching the dancers through jaded eyes. Mark sidled up beside him, saying nothing at

first.

“You’ve got it bad,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “Who is she?”

“I don’t ‘got it bad’ as you so colorfully put it. So the answer to your question

would be no one,” David said, sucking the whiskey through clenched teeth.

“That’s bullshit, I can see right through you, man.”

“Can you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mark said, leaning over and looking at him. “Come on, man, all through

high school when you crushed on Sabrina you acted the same way, all moony and

pensive. I know when you’re head over heels, man.”

David froze, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He could feel the blood drain

away from his face. “What?” he croaked.

“Look, sorry, I know I shouldn’t bother you with this. It’s just you’ve been so

preoccupied and Janie’s worried about you. She knows about all your women in the

city. The girls you run through.”

“It’s okay, Mark. I’ll try to be more focused. Work…stuff like that.”

Mark nodded. “All right, fair’s fair. You don’t want to talk, I can respect that. Glad

you’re here.”

David watched as Mark got up and headed into the thick of things. Mark had come

so close to the truth, so close to figuring out his obsession. His want, his need. He

downed the scotch quickly, letting the alcohol numb his pain. He watched the dancers

on the pole, stripping and gyrating. Their faces turning, morphing into Beverly’s face,

Beverly’s red lush lips parted in ecstasy, moist, soft, full.

He flipped open his phone and checked his messages. The little annoying voice said

there were no new messages. Dammit, where is she?

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Love Thy Neighbor

He got up and left the bar unnoticed. He called for a cab and hopped in. There was

only one thing that was going to cure him tonight, to fix the itch that tortured him—and

he was going to get it.

* * * * *

Beverly woke to the pounding at the door. Her heart was racing as she rolled over

and looked at the clock. Two o’clock, who the hell is it? She thought about picking up

the phone and calling the police.

She got up as the incessant pounding continued. She grabbed her flannel robe and

grabbed the small pistol from her nightstand drawer. She didn’t turn on the light as she

slowly made her way down the stairs.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly went down the stairs one by one. She

got to the door and looked through the peephole. Her breath caught in her throat at the

sight of David leaning against the door jamb, obviously drunk out of his mind.

She unlocked the door and opened it a crack. “David, it’s two o’clock in the

morning. What are you doing here?”

“Why haven’t you called me?” he asked, swaying slightly. She could see his five

o’clock shadow creeping across his face.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. She checked to see if the pistol’s safety

was on before she put it down on the table by the door. She clutched the flannel robe to

her chest as a secret thrill coursed through her.

He held out his phone and waved it in a flourish. “This is what I’m talking about.

Why haven’t you called me?”

“Was I supposed to?” she asked sternly.

“You haven’t called me in two days,” he said, slurring his words. She caught the

scent of whiskey on his breath. She looked up into his eyes. They were wild, sparkling

in the dark, thrilling her.

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Amy Ruttan

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I think it should end, David. It should end.” She tried to

shut the door but he held it open.

“Tell me why.”

“I don’t need to tell you why. It’s over, you were a fling. You know that…we’ve

both known that from the start.”

“I’ve never known that, it’s more than a fling to me,” he said fiercely, barging his

way inside. He shut the door behind him.

“Leave, David. I mean it.”

“No, you give me one good reason why it’s over.”

“I don’t need to give you a reason. It’s over, David, it’s over.” She felt like he was

looming in on her personal space. She backed up against the small end table in her

entranceway but he still advanced on her until she felt the table move. It shuffled

against the hardwood floor with a dull clunk and screech.

“I need a reason, Beverly,” he said, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her up

against him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight to him.

“Why do you need a reason? David, it will never work. I’m too old for God’s

sake…I’m forty for Christ’s sake.” She blurted that last part out.

He paused and she pushed him away. She felt like hitting him. She wanted to

pummel him.

“So you see, you’ve been screwing an old woman,” she bit out viciously. “Now if

you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of my house and my life.” She pushed

past him and threw open the door. She held it wide out, while clutching her robe to her

chest. “Get out, David. Just leave.”

He staggered out the door. His expression blank, stunned, she thought. She bolted

the door after he left and felt a few hot tears fall down her face. She wiped them on the

back of her hand.

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Love Thy Neighbor

She peered out the peephole and saw that he had disappeared. She climbed back up

the steps slowly in the darkness. Why did she tell him to leave, why did she tell him

that she was too old? She felt like she was a hundred years old. She crept down the hall

and opened the door to her bedroom. All she wanted to do was pop a sleeping pill and

sleep like the dead for hours.

She flicked on the light and almost cried out when she saw David sitting on her

bed. He held his head in his hands, his shoulders hunched over. He looked at her

slowly.

“I don’t want it to end,” he whispered.

“David—”

“No,” he said as he walked over to her. He cupped her face in his hands. “No, it’s

not going to end. It can’t end… I won’t let it end.” He bent down and kissed her, gently

nibbling her lips and then moving down her cheek and to her chin and neck.

“David…I’m going to move to California. In a couple of months I’m going to put

the house on the market and move out to live near my sister. Since my marriage ended I

have no family in Deerpark. I’m alone.”

He stopped kissing her neck and rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

“You have to return to Boston, I believe.”

“Yes,” he said grudgingly. “I guess we never did make commitments to one

another.”

“I made a commitment once, David, and that commitment betrayed me. I won’t do

that again. If you want more from me, more than I can give you, then leave. Leave now

and let’s not prolong this further.”

“All right, if that’s what you want. Then I promise it’ll be nothing more than that.

At the end of this week we’ll go our separate ways…if that’s what you want.”

“It’s what I want,” Beverly replied slowly, although deep down her heart was

screaming at her, calling her a fool. “It’s what I want.”

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Amy Ruttan

* * * * *

David woke up with a pounding headache. He rolled over on his side and saw

Beverly curled up beside him. Her brown, gray-streaked hair spread across her pillow.

He watched her eyes flutter against her cheeks, deep in a dream. He shouldn’t have

stayed. He shouldn’t have spent the night in her bed. He was going to have to sneak out

soon before someone caught him. So what? his inner voice asked. So what if someone

caught him, he didn’t care. Frankly the only thing that he cared about lately was the

woman beside him and that thought scared him, thrilled him.

He wanted to be with her always. He hated the idea of her leaving, selling her

house and moving away. Boston seemed so far away.

He peeled back the sheets and slowly climbed out of bed. He found his clothes

scattered on the floor and quickly got dressed, trying to ignore the pounding at his

temples from his hangover.

He sneaked out of her house and through her backyard. He hopped the fence

between Beverly’s yard and his parents’ yard. He found the key under an ugly little

garden gnome and slipped in the side door. He would see her tonight. One more time

before it all ended and he went home and she moved away. It made his gut clench. Her

announcement to sell and leave made him feel queasy.

“So, rough night?” Janie asked, sitting at the breakfast table. “I believe it was two

nights ago that you wandered in around the same time…looking about the same.”

“Did you move back in or something?” he asked, rubbing his throbbing temple.

“It’s Mom’s preconceived notion that the bride and groom shouldn’t see each other

before the wedding let alone live together before the wedding.” She winked as she took

a sip of her coffee.

“Let me guess, Mark isn’t too crazy about that idea.”

She giggled and motioned over her shoulder. David watched as his best friend

Mark hopped down from his mother’s garden trellis. Mark stumbled and waved

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Love Thy Neighbor

through the sliding glass doors from the backyard before disappearing through the

back gate.

“I take it he’s not the only one that’s climbing trellises lately,” Janie hinted.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not blind, David. You’re still sleeping with Beverly, aren’t you?”

“Whatever gave you…?” He couldn’t think of a plausible lie or excuse. “So you’re

going to tell Mom.”

“David, you’re a grown man. I don’t care who you see. Just be careful, I like Beverly

and I love you. I would hate to see either one of you get hurt.”

“You’ve told me this before,” he grunted.

“I know, I know, but I mean honestly, where can a relationship like that go?”

“Nowhere, Janie, that’s the point. Beverly’s selling her house in a couple of months

and moving to California.”

Janie almost choked on her coffee. “Oh God, Mom will want me to buy that place. If

she doesn’t buy it for us.”

David chuckled as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Why is she moving?”

“I don’t know. She says she’s alone out here. She wants to be near her sister.”

“Beverly’s really moving.” Janie said, surprised.

“I know.”

“How do you feel about this?” she asked, eyeing him speculatively.

He knew how he felt, deep down. It was just too unreal. He didn’t want to admit it

to himself yet, let alone talk to his sister about it.

“David?” she questioned him.

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“I better go have a shower, busy day. Mom will be having me do some running

around for your big show tomorrow.” He put his mug down on the counter and walked

out of the kitchen.

Beverly was leaving him, leaving him to go to the other side of the country. What

did you honestly expect? She has responsibilities, she has family she wants to be with.

You have nothing and no one to tie you down.

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Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter Nine

She rolled over and he was gone again. He had come over again last night,

exhausted from errands, yet he had made passionate love to her. She clutched the sheet

to her bare breasts. She felt like crying. She knew deep down that it had to end, even

though he said that he didn’t want it to end. It had to end.

It was going to end.

She had a meeting in three hours with a realtor. She was going to put her house on

the market and then she was going to start looking for a home in California. Not that

she particularly wanted to live in California and it wasn’t like Trina asked her. She just

was tired of Deerpark. She was tired of it all.

She grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her. She had to forget about this

town—she had to forget about David.

She peered out through the window. There were tents going up in her neighbors’

backyard, party planners were scattered about putting up decorations, arranging

flowers. She spied Louise in the midst of all the havoc, barking out orders. She chuckled

to herself. She would miss David’s mother and all her crazy antics.

Maybe she shouldn’t go to the wedding. She walked over to her rolltop desk and

pulled out the cream and pink invitation. She held it in her hands. No, she should go.

She should say goodbye to the Craigs, wish Janie well, end it with David.

She put the invitation back and went to take a shower. She had a lot to do today.

She had to get ready for the wedding this afternoon. She had a gift to buy for Janie,

Damn, why do I always leave things like this to the last minute? But more importantly, she

had a house to put on the market.

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Amy Ruttan

When she was groomed and dressed she climbed into her car and headed toward

town. At the realtor’s office, she parked her car and ran smack into David. He had a

tuxedo in a garment bag in his hands. He looked shocked to see her.

“Beverly, what are you doing here?”

“David, I think you know,” she motioned to the door of the realtor’s office. His face

fell.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, tonight…tonight will be our last night together.” She looked away. She

couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“I told you how I felt two nights ago when I came to your place drunk.”

“Did you, David? I don’t recall.”

She heard him open his car door and toss the tuxedo in the backseat. Then she felt

his arms on her shoulders. He was pulling her into an embrace but she held herself

away from him.

“Beverly, I told you that I didn’t want it to end, I never want it to end.”

“David, it has to. I’m fifteen years older than you.”

“I don’t give a shit, Beverly. Didn’t I tell you that last night?”

“It doesn’t matter, David. Tonight it ends. I am putting my house up on the market,

I will move out of Deerpark. You will go back to Boston and I will go to California, it’s

as simple as that.” She noticed out of the corner of her eyes the other people in the

parking lot and on the street looking at them strangely. Like they knew David was her

boy toy.

She pushed past him and marched into the realtor’s office. Her heart was beating

against her chest.

“Ms. Robins, are you ready?” the young realtor asked, looking up from her desk.

She held out her perfectly manicured hand.

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Love Thy Neighbor

She looked back over her shoulder, to the parking lot where David was still

standing. His keys in his hand, staring at her through the glass of the realtor’s office.

She turned away and took the agent’s hand.

“More than ready,” she said.

* * * * *

After her run-in with David, she went out and got a dress for the wedding. Not a

knock ’em out type of dress like she wore to the luau. She bought a sensible, pink

Chanel dress styled like something from the fifties. A nice shift with a bit of flounce in

the skirt, a Doris Day type of dress.

She wanted to buy the red one on the rack, another sultrier knock-out type, but she

opted for the simple, sensible one. The garment that would make her look her age.

Stylish, a dress that was fit for a grandmother.

As she looked at herself in the dressing room mirror, she ran her hands over the

flounce of the skirt. Grandmother, oh good Lord, her twin sister was going to be a

grandmother. She still felt like she was thirty, not heading toward fifty. When she was

with David she didn’t feel old. She didn’t feel middle aged. She felt young and foolish

again. Like she could do anything, like she was invincible, like she was desirable.

She looked back at the hanger and stared enviously at the red dress but she didn’t

put it on. She couldn’t put it on.

“Is everything all right in there, ma’am?” asked the chirpy sales assistant from the

other side of the curtain.

“Yes,” she said, trying to bite back the curse she wanted to fling at the twenty-

something sales associate for calling her “ma’am”. “I’ll take the pink Chanel.”

She pulled back the curtain and handed the young girl the red dress.

“It’s a wise decision, ma’am,” the girl happily chirped. “The Chanel is more suited

for a wedding than this. This is more suited to…” the saleswoman trailed off, her

cheeks turning the color of the dress in her hands.

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Amy Ruttan

Beverly just pulled back the curtain on the girl. She unzipped the back of the Chanel

dress. She knew exactly what that girl was thinking. The salesgirl was thinking that the

red dress was more suited to a younger woman. A woman with a firmer body, higher

tits, tighter ass, well fuck that. She flung open the curtain with the pink Chanel almost

hanging off her.

“Miss, I’ve changed my mind, I’ll take both.”

“Of…of course, ma’am.” The salesgirl looked flustered.

“Wrap it up, and—” She mustered up all her courage and peeled off the pink

Chanel dress. Standing in her dressing room in only her underwear and bra, she flung

the dress over to the embarrassed girl. “I’ll be out in a moment.” She was smiling to

herself as she pulled the curtain shut. She would wear the pink Chanel to the wedding,

but who’s to say when she wouldn’t need a red fuck-me dress again.

* * * * *

David returned back home briefly after picking up his tuxedo. He needed to get a

few more things before going over to Mark’s to get dressed. And by the state of his

mother and his now flustered sister, it was best to get ready at Mark’s. Although he

sneaked in an opportunity to remind Janie how much she and their mother were

suddenly alike. That got him a good clout around the head and now he feared that he

was deaf in one ear.

He side-stepped caterers and crazy wedding planners to see the real estate agent

hammering a “for sale” sign in Beverly’s front yard. He frowned when he saw the sign.

It would take no time before the house would sell. This neighborhood was popular and

had good schools nearby. In no time, Beverly would be packing up and moving to

California.

He wondered briefly if having Beverly on the other side of the country would

quench his lust. He thought that sleeping with her would do the trick, yet it hadn’t. It

had just stoked his fire. Made him want her more.

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Love Thy Neighbor

He watched as her car pulled up. She didn’t even look his way as she popped the

trunk of her car. She got out and retrieved two garment bags from the trunk. She didn’t

even spare a moment for the happy bubbling real estate agent. She just ran inside with

her bags and shut the door behind her.

Why is she in such a rush? His cell phone rang. “David Craig,” he barked into the

receiver.

“It’s me, Mark. Where the hell are you?” he sounded panicked.

“What time is it?” David said, looking at his wrist and realizing that his watch

wasn’t there. He must have left it at Beverly’s.

“Late, man, come on. We got to get ready, the wedding is in three hours, man.”

“All right, I’ll be there soon,” David snapped his phone shut. He pulled out his key

and opened the door to his car. He could get his watch later.

“David!” his mother screeched from the doorway. David looked back to his

formidable-looking mother. She stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Her

nails done, her hair in curlers.

“What?” he asked.

“What, what?” his mother raged. “What are you still doing here? You’re supposed

to be at Mark’s.”

“All right, all right, I’m on my way.”

He looked one last time at Beverly’s house and he thought that he saw the flicker of

her drapes from her bedroom window. Tonight, I’m going to show her, show her what a big

mistake it is to leave Deerpark. To leave me.

* * * * *

Beverly walked into Deerpark’s Episcopal church. Louise was a regular churchgoer.

The rest of the Craigs were not and she knew for a fact that Janie was doing this for her

mother.

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Amy Ruttan

She had eloped, she never had the big wedding. She had always somehow felt

cheated.

Still, as she entered the church and saw a flustered and blustering Louise, she was

momentarily grateful that she hadn’t had to go through that.

She took a seat at the back of the church, near the door, on the bride’s side. It was a

big turn-out. She thought back to her wedding day, to her ex-husband. What a naïve

soul she had been. She had thought she had been in love, thought that he would always

honor and protect her. How wrong she had been. Sure, it had been good for a while but

then he started to work late and she began to see the lipstick smears on his collars, on

his underwear.

She knew what he was doing to her. He had been cheating on her. When she had

confronted him, he didn’t care and by that time she didn’t care either. She wanted a

stable home life.

She wasn’t going to go through a marriage ever again. She wasn’t going to bind

herself to one man. She just couldn’t put her trust in anything again.

The wedding march started, the doors at the back of the church flew open. She

looked up at the front to see a very nervous Mark, beside him was David. The sight of

him in his tuxedo took her breath away. He looked at her and was staring, devouring

her whole across the church. She felt herself grow wet under her pink Chanel dress. She

felt a fine sheen of sweat break out on her brow, a hot flash breaking out through her

body. Like a wave of heat, the inside of the church suddenly felt like an inferno.

Visions of David came to her. Images of him filled her mind. His naked body, his

sculpted and defined muscles, his eyes glazed over in passion. His eyes would grow

dark, hooded as he fucked her. His eyes were deep when he was aroused—like she

could drown in them, feral with want and need. That’s the way he looked at her now,

from across the church. Like she was his prey.

She pulled out a handkerchief from her purse. I have to get out of here. She turned to

sneak out but Janie was walking up the aisle on her father’s arm. There was no escape

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Love Thy Neighbor

now, she had to stay. She looked back up to the altar but he was no longer looking at

her. He was smiling at his sister as she came up the aisle.

Her heart began to settle in her chest but the fire he had lit in her still burned strong

for him. Tonight, their last night together, would be something to remember.

* * * * *

David watched her all evening. Whenever she was in sight, he kept his eyes on her.

He wanted her to know how much he wanted her, how much he needed her. That she

was his. He wanted her and only her. No one else would do.

He had come to that realization. The women he had been with were a dim memory

to him. The only problem is she wouldn’t have him. She was leaving him and he

wanted her to be happy. If leaving him would make her happy, if going to California

would make her happy he would let her go. He wouldn’t stand in the way of her and

what she wanted.

“So grab a special someone and let’s all go out on the dance floor,” the DJ said in his

radio voice.

He watched as the lights were dimmed in the tent in his parents’ backyard. Janie

and Mark went out onto the dance floor and began to dance slowly, seductively

together, like they weren’t aware of the one hundred or so wedding guests watching

them.

As Elton John’s “Something about the Way You Look Tonight” streamed out

through the speakers more couples joined the newly married pair out on the dance

floor. The makeshift dance floor awash in the fragmented light from a disco ball

hanging overhead.

He made his way through the crowd. He stalked her from across the large tent,

keeping his prey in sight all night.

She was standing by the door of the tent like she was ready to take flight.

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Amy Ruttan

He came up behind her. He watched as the gooseflesh spread across her bare

shoulders.

“I forgot to tell you how lovely you look tonight,” he said huskily, lightly running

his fingers over her shoulders.

“That’s the cheesiest pick-up line I have ever heard,” she teased, breaking the

tension.

He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her. She pulled away.

“Don’t,” she hissed. “I don’t want—”

“You don’t want what? Tell me, Beverly. If you don’t want me I’ll leave.”

She looked up at him confused, only for a moment before she dragged him from the

tent. She pulled him, urging him, running ahead as they made their way to her house.

She pulled out her key and unlocked the door. He watched as her hand shook as she

tried to get the key in the lock.

When they were inside, she was still shaking.

“I do want you, David, but as I said before, this is it. I will never marry anyone

again. I like being free, I like being my own person and making my own decisions. I like

to be on my own.”

Her words stung him but he shook his head. “All right, then let me love you

tonight.”

She shook her head.

“I’m returning home to Boston tomorrow. I won’t stay the night but I want to be

with you one last time.”

She nodded her head and fell into his arms.

“I’m sorry to end it, David. Truly I am.”

“Sshh, none of that tonight.” He bent down and scooped her up in his arms. “We’re

going to do this the old-fashioned way.” He smiled down at her and kissed her. “Gone

with the Wind-style,”

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Love Thy Neighbor

She giggled as he carried her up the stairs. He took her into her bedroom. He could

hear the strains of the wedding reception carrying in through her open window. The

bedroom lights were off but the light from the moon and the flashing lights from inside

the tent as they played Prince’s “Purple Rain” were all the light he needed to make love

to the woman of his dreams.

“Put me down,” she whispered against his neck. He obliged and she turned

around. He admired her silhouette, the curve of her back in the shadows. Her long

brown hair was loose and hanging over her right shoulder. He ran his hand down her

almost bare back. Bloody Chanel, he thought. He could feel the warmth of her skin

through the fine pink chiffon.

“Unzip,” she whispered.

“As you wish,” he bent down and began to nibble on her neck and shoulders as he

slowly unzipped the pink dress. It slipped off her body and fell in a pool of chiffon and

silk around her feet. She coyly looked at him over her shoulder. He ran his fingers

down her bare back, pleased to note that she wasn’t wearing a bra. All she wore now

was a pair of boy-cut lace pink panties and a pair of pink pumps.

She turned and slowly stepped out of the pumps. Brown tresses covered her breasts

but her pink coral nipples were peeking through the strands of hair. “Touch me,” she

whispered, closing her eyes.

He reached out and ran his hands over her cheeks, down her face, down her neck

and across her collarbone. She was murmuring and sighing as his rough, calloused

hands stroked the sweet silkiness of her skin.

“You’re so soft,” he murmured as he bent down and began to nibble at the pulse

point of her neck. “So bloody soft.”

He let his hands cup her full breasts. Rubbing her nipples, she groaned and arched

her back, pushing her breasts against his hands.

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Amy Ruttan

She ran her hand along his well-tailored sleeve and guided his hand down to her

pussy. He gasped as he felt the wetness there, her cream seeping through the fabric of

the lace.

“You’re so ready, so wet.”

“I know, all night I have been thinking of this. Thinking of your big cock sliding

deep into me.” She pushed his hand away from her pussy and, taking his hands, she

pulled him to the bed. She let go of his hands and pulled the lace panties down her legs.

She kicked them away before turning over on the bed. She lay back and spread her legs.

“Take me, take me slow, take me hard, take me any way you want.”

He swallowed hard at the sight of her spread-eagle in the moonlight, begging him

to take her. He loosened his tie and pulled it off, then stripped the rest of the tuxedo

away.

He kicked off the uncomfortable shoes and quickly pulled off his pants and briefs.

He ended up doing a weird sort of dance, hopping around as he pulled the socks from

his feet. He could hear her giggling behind him.

“You think that’s funny?” he teased as he tossed the sock over his shoulder. He

leaned down over her, studying her body in the shadows. The perfect body, the perfect

woman.

“Come inside me,” she whispered, her calf running against his hip.

He positioned himself against her wet, hot pussy, grinding the head of his cock

against her before he slipped right inside her with ease. She cried out as he filled her, a

loud cry that echoed in his ears. A cry that was muted by the strains of the music from

the wedding outside her window.

He moved inside her slowly at first. Luxuriating in the feel of her pussy wrapped

around his cock. Sliding in and out of her, her hips matching the slow, seductive sway.

He looked down into her green eyes, they sparkled in the night as the reflection cast

off the disco ball from inside the tent spun and swirled in her room.

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Love Thy Neighbor

He moved faster inside her, pulling tight against her and burying deep inside her as

their hips ground together like they were fused as one being.

She met his thrusts, her lips parted, her eyes hooded as she increased her rhythm.

Her nails digging deep into the skin of his shoulder blades. He could feel the first

quivering of her orgasm as her cunt clenched down on his cock, milking him.

As her orgasm peaked, he caught her face in his hands and kissed her. He pried

open her mouth with his tongue and tasted her deeply. He was like a condemned man

getting his last meal, kissing her with all the passion he could muster. Showing her just

how much he needed her, showing her just how much he wanted her and showing her

how much he loved her. All in that kiss.

His emotion was real and raw as he came. He realized he loved her with all his

heart and soul—and that was why he had to let her go. To let her go would make her

happy.

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Amy Ruttan

Chapter Ten

He unlocked the door to his uptown condominium. There was a light drizzle falling

on the streets of Boston. The city looked gray and dismal, everything looked gray since

he left Deerpark.

After he had made love to Beverly he had left like she wanted him to. He hadn’t

seen her again. He had just left home and he had known that it would be awhile before

he could return again. He just couldn’t bear the thought of someone else in that house.

Some other family, intruders, invaders on those few magical moments that he had been

able to spend with the woman of his dreams.

He tried to get back into the normal routine of his life but he couldn’t get Beverly

Robins out of his mind. Couldn’t get her out of his thoughts, she haunted him. She

invaded every fiber of his being.

He went to work, but suddenly the thrill of being a killer in the courtroom no

longer held an appeal. It was summer in Boston, but it wasn’t summer to him. Nothing

was bright and cheerful. Days and weeks dragged on.

His sister called him every weekend. He tried not to ask about the house next door.

He really did.

“I bought it,” Janie finally said one night on a crackling connection.

“You bought what?” he asked, not really listening.

“I bought the house next door to Mom and Dad’s. I bought Beverly Robins’ house.”

“Janie—”

“She’s moved away, David. She left about a week after you returned to Boston.”

He made an excuse and ended the call with his sister. He went to bed, thinking

about Beverly and thinking about where she was…who she was with.

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Love Thy Neighbor

He dragged himself into work. Thinking of having to visit his sister in the house

where he and Beverly had made love. He couldn’t stop the ugly little thought that his

sister and her husband, Mark, his best friend, would be making love in the shower, in

the bedroom. The places he and Beverly had shared.

Get a grip, you can’t live like this, he chastised himself as he rode the elevator to the

twentieth-floor offices of McCaskill Greeves Law Firm. He knew one thing, he had to

get his life back in order.

“Good morning, Mr. Craig, your nine o’clock appointment is here,” the receptionist

chirped from behind her desk.

He rubbed his eyes. Oh God, he had forgotten he had an appointment.

“Sylvia, see if one of the juniors can talk to the client. I have a brief I need to work

on.”

“I would, Mr. Craig, but this woman, she asked specifically for you. She told me

point blank that no one else would do.”

“Well, what is her situation?”

“It’s an out-of-state relocation. She’s looking to start a business here in Boston and

she needs legal counsel.”

“Moving a company?” David asked mindlessly, not really expecting an answer

from the secretary.

“It would seem so. She’s in your office waiting.”

“Thanks, Sylvia. Hold my calls for the morning.”

“Yes, Mr. Craig.”

He walked away as the switchboard lit up. He kept his head down as he tried to get

into focus to meet a client he had no interest in meeting. He took a deep breath at the

door. He turned the knob and stepped in without looking up.

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Amy Ruttan

“Good morning—” the words died in his throat as he saw Beverly Robins, the

woman of his dreams, sitting on the edge of his desk. She wore a business suit, her legs

crossed and her hair in a bun. She smiled at him coyly.

“Good morning, Mr. Craig.”

“What are…? You’re the client looking to relocate?”

“Yes, so it would seem. You see I had this very brilliant idea, well, I’ve had it for

some time, to open up my own business. I have no idea what it is yet but I thought that

Boston would be a good place to start.”

“Indeed. What happened to California?”

She smiled, “California turned into Alaska. My sister’s hubby got transferred to

Anchorage and as much as I love bears, mountains and glaciers, Alaska is just too far

away from civilization for me.”

“Alaska is civilized,” he teased, moving in on her.

“Not for me. I don’t fancy bears and bugs.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t be tied down to one man again?”

“I’m not asking you to marry me, David. Just fuck me and take me out to dinner for

right now and I’ll be happy,” she teased him.

“So how do you feel about marriage?” He leaned over her.

She laughed. “Not quite yet. I’m not ready, but in the future who knows.”

He barked with laughter. “You’ve changed your mind I see.”

“Oh yes, I love you, David. Although I’m not ready yet to commit to a marriage or

live with you I do know that I don’t want to lose what we have. We do still have

something, don’t we?”

“We most certainly do.” He leaned in and pressed a feathery kiss against her red,

moist lips. “So,” he said, running his hand down her cheek, his heart beating a fast

tattoo in his chest. “You’re looking for a place to live in Boston.”

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Love Thy Neighbor

“Already got a place.” She pulled out a set of keys, dangling them in front of him.

“Who do you think your new neighbor is? I bought the condo on the floor above you

last week.”

He laughed as she twirled the ring of keys around her fingers. “Well, you know

what they say, Ms. Robins.”

“What’s that, Mr. Craig?” she asked huskily, leaning in, breathing on the base of his

chin.

“Love thy neighbor,” he replied, stroking her breast through her white silk blouse.

She wasn’t wearing a bra and he could feel her nipples hardening underneath his touch.

She purred and bit his lip, sucking on it.

“Oh I hope so, Mr. Craig,” she said, releasing his lips, her emerald eyes full of lust,

looking up at him. “I certainly hope so.”

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About the Author

Amy discovered her love of the written word when she realized that she could no

longer act out the fantastical romances in her head with her dolls. Writing about

delicious heroes was much more fun than playing with plastic men dolls with the

inevitable flesh-colored “tighty whities”.

She loves history, the paranormal, and will spew out historical facts like a volcano,

much to her dearest hubby’s chagrin.

When she’s not thinking about the next sensual romp, she’s chasing after two rug

rats and reading anything spicy that she can get her hands on.

Amy welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email

address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Masque of Desire

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