Her eyes widen in response. Her bowtie mouth opens and closes as if those were the last words she expected to hear.
“What happened to your genuine concern for my sobriety?”
“I bought you coffee.” I lean in, my eyes never wavering from hers. “You’ve sobered up nicely.”
She clears her throat, doing a quick visual sweep of the vicinity. “That’s all fine and dandy, but there’s no way in hell I’m taking you up to my dorm—not tonight, not ever, city boy. Let’s just say my roommate has a bit of a rotten temper.” The idea of a smile dances on her lips, and there’s not a whole lot holding me back from leaping at her from across the table. “I’m betting she wouldn’t care too much for finding you anywhere near my bed.” That sassy as hell grin of hers finally breaks loose, smooth and easy as if she’s holding back an inside joke I haven’t caught onto yet.
“My place it is.”
Her mouth falls open with a silent laugh. “You just said you don’t take girls home. Which is it, city slicker? Or did the big three manage to persuade you into breaking a rule or two for the night?”
“For you?” I take up her hand and lead us back out into the frosty night air. “I’d break them all.”
Something tells me that’s exactly what I’m about to do.
“Buddy,” I call as we head inside. He’s pretty docile for a German Shepard but likes to size up new blood with a bark and an inappropriately placed sniff or two.
Cassidy and I walked the three blocks over in mostly silence. But, if that grin her pearly whites have been biting down on signifies anything, tonight will be anything but silent.
“Who’s Buddy?” She looks up at me with those doe eyes just as the lumbering oaf slides into the entry, and Cassidy lets out an ear-curdling scream, loud enough to blow the roof off every house in a ten-block vicinity.
“Holy shee-it!” She jumps up onto the coffee table and does a spastic little dance while I wrangle Buddy and his snarling, snapping snout into the spare bedroom.
“Crap,” I pant as I head back to find her reasonably composed, back on solid ground, holding her palpitating chest as if she just stuffed her heart right back in it. “I take it you’re not a fan of four-legged humans.”
“Used to be.” She gives a wry grimace, her scarred cheek naturally veering toward her left shoulder. “Anyway, I don’t really want to get into four-legged humans right now.” She eyes the exit with a wary glance. “You know, maybe it’s best I leave. If that not-so little pooch gets out, I just might be liable to jump through the ceiling. You can still mop up a girl or two from the Black Bear. I’d hate to block you from a good time.”
“He won’t get out.” I hold up a hand as if testifying to the fact and carefully step in front of her. “I promise. And now that I have you here, the only thing I want to block is the exit. Unless, of course, it’s me you’re trying to avoid.”
“Oh, hon”—a dark gurgle of a laugh trembles from her chest, and she’s ten times more adorable—“if I wanted to avoid you, I would have done that hours ago.” Cassidy blinks back the moisture lining her lashes and takes a step into me. “So, now what, Cade James from New York City?”
I close the gap between us and gently land my hands to her hips, the first place I’ve managed to touch this beautiful girl, and my fingers memorize how soft she feels.
“Now we settle the age-old question.” I lean into her neck and take in her sweet as honey scent and envision my lips on her perky body. “Lights on or off?”
“Off and quick, just like your clothes.” She clicks her tongue with a promise, and I kill the lights and peel off my shirt before she can protest. Her heated hands seal over my chest, and I suck in a quick breath.
“Hey—” She stands on her tiptoes, and the moonlight licks a line over the right side of her face as if it too were shielding her wounds from me. Here we go. My gut cinches, because as much as I don’t want to get shut down right now, I can feel it coming. I don’t blame her. In fact, I blame myself for letting us get this far. I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands, and not a single one of them has struck me as down-home and kind as Cassidy. Their bark was as bad as their bite, but Cassidy—there’s a gnawing ache in my belly that tells me she’s different. This shouldn’t be happening, not like this, not tonight. She deserves better than anything quick and dirty I have to offer.
“I get it.” I drop a kiss to her forehead. “I can give you a ride back to your dorm if you want. It’s getting ugly out there.” My fingers glide up to her shoulders and stay there. This is the part where I should let go, turn the lights back on, and unceremoniously dig out my keys from my jacket.
“What in the heck are you babbling about?” She swats me over the stomach. “I was just gonna say can we please keep this low-key?” She shrugs a little, and a blonde curl swings over one eye, making both my man parts and me perk to attention. “You know, loose lips sink slutty ships and also have a way of welding my knees together. So, like, if you could keep this between the two of us, my good reputation and I would very much appreciate it.” Her cool finger rides down my chest, soft as water.
“I swear I won’t tell a soul.” My hand finds a home in that delicate spot in the back of her neck as my fingers get lost in a tangle of satin curls. A low groan comes from deep within me, and I pray she didn’t hear it. The last thing I want to do is send her running for the hills. There’s something in me that desperately needs this beautiful woman in my life. It’s a violent ache that I’m not sure I’ve felt before, but every last inch of me demands to have her. Cassidy has become the prize I’m suddenly desperate to have.
She swallows hard with those large eyes of hers trained on mine. “You mentioned that sister of yours—”
“You’re kidding, right? I’d rather light my dick on fire than tell my sister who I’m bedding. We’re close, but not that close.” A rumble of a laugh drums through me as I evict Piper from my brain. “The only girl I want to focus on tonight is this one.” My entire body begs to touch hers. My gaze rides down her tightknit sweater, and my mouth waters on cue. I plan to spend a small eternity just giving the girls each their due before I move the party farther down and taste a bit of that Southern charm she doles out like cotton candy.
“Well, then…” Her entire body exhales with relief, and that wicked grin of hers perks right back to her lips where it belongs. “It looks like you’d better show me to your room, Cade the City Cowboy. I’ve got me a bed to warm, and I believe you owe me one expletive-riddled tirade that will make me scream with pleasure.”
My heart thumps with a violent thrust as if beating for the very first time. I have never met a girl this bold and beautiful, never seen myself this trigger happy, but I’m not complaining about either.
I scoop her up and sweep us down the hall, past Buddy’s whining and scratching while Cassidy kicks off her heels with a laugh.
We land softly on the mattress as I swipe clean the laundry debris cluttering up the remainder of the bed and dot a simple kiss to her forehead.
“Oh, sweetie”—her body trembles with a laugh—“are you really starting there? Remember earlier when I said you didn’t have to hold my hand?” Her cool fingers smooth over the back of my neck as she pulls my lips down closer to hers. “I meant it.”
Our mouths collide, hot and hungry, as her tongue does a quick revolution in my mouth. We claw and wrestle with the remainder of our clothes until skin hits skin with the heat of a branding iron, and we both expel a sigh into one another’s mouths. This, right here, is the best damn feeling in the world.
I drag my lips to her cheek, and she twists away in a hurry, landing my mouth to her neck. I must have gone in the wrong direction without meaning to—but I’d love to kiss that scar, let her know without words that it’s okay, it’s not scaring me away. I don’t find a single inch of her revolting. My tongue traces a hot line to her collarbone, and I lick a line straight over it, dipping a trail of kisses to her shoulder just soaking in the feel of this g
orgeous woman I’ve somehow managed to lure to my bed, and now I never want her to leave. My body sinks down further as my mouth traces over her smooth skin all the way to her belly button, and my tongue stays for a while licking a hot circle in it. She gasps and bucks as my lips wander down quickly until the soft hair at the base of her hips tickles my chin.
“Come here, city boy.” She pulls me back up in one herculean move, which tells me one of two things, she’s either gun-shy on taking the party down south and we can resume where we left off later, or it’s a no-fly zone, meaning she’s not into it—not ever. I’m not sure how I feel about the latter. Getting my fill is pretty high on my to-do list, and once I spotted Cassidy, I was suddenly hungry to do just that.
“Hold on, cowgirl.” I reach over to my nightstand and pull out a condom, waving it in the air like a victory flag before I claim her for my very own, and judging by these hot, mouthwatering kisses, the demand will be more often than not.
Cassidy watches me with what in this dim light looks like nervous apprehension. This is the part where I should be a gentleman and ask if this is what she really wants—give her an out in the event she needs one, but my bones are boiling, my gut is grinding, the big three insist I keep my mouth shut and get on with the show.
I dip down and steal a kiss before mounting her, letting her guide me to where she needs me the most. I’ve been with small girls before, but Cassidy feels downright virginal, and this terrifies me. I’m pretty sure the second you’re inside a girl it would be both bad timing and poor judgment to ask if they’ve played this game before. Nope, not going there.
“Crap,” I whisper as my heart detonates with nuclear force over and over. My ears pound with the rhythm, and my body shakes.
Crap. Who’s the virgin here again? Hell, I knew going in I was in trouble. I can’t remember the last time a girl had me so singularly aroused. Cassidy had me long before we ever hit the sheets.
I get on my elbows and glance down at her, a laugh puffing through both of our open smiles. My body collapses next to hers, and I wrap an arm around her waist, closing my eyes as my muscles, my brain, my heart tries to figure out what the hell just happened. Just a few minutes, and then I’ll return the favor. The world collapses into a serene calm as I fall into a blissful sleep that only an earth-shattering finish like that could bring.
Buddy lets off a few wild yelps, forcing me to blink back to life. I reach for my phone, and it reads 3:05 a.m. My limbs sweep the bed for a body, and I’m met up with nothing but ice-cold sheets.
She’s gone.
Kissy Kissy Bang Bang
Cassidy
“Oh my God!” I wake with a start as a horrible thumping shakes my tiny dorm. “What the hell?” I give a few hard blinks into the harsh morning light as Piper bleats out a laugh.
“Is that what it sounded like?” Her voice goes off like a horn, and I toss one of those ridiculous stuffed animals that she has multiplying all over the place right at her tumbleweed of a bedhead.
That cheeky grin of hers goes off, and for a second, I think I’m right back in that heated bedroom with a boy who looks vexingly like his sister. Ugh. What the hell was I thinking? Yes, he was drop-dead gorgeous, seemed like he has a general grip on his sanity and bought me not one but two drinks—but still!
God. I just had my first one-night stand. And with Cade James of all people. Anybody with half a brain cell can predict this isn’t going to end well. It never does when I listen to Caila’s not-so sisterly advice. I picture that annoying mini version of my not-so sweet sis prancing victoriously on my shoulder and giving a mean shudder.
Gah! It was like I was under her spell, like I became her!
I roll over in an effort to evict myself off the mattress, and there he is, the ghost of that drop-dead gorgeous city boy still lingering between my legs. I’ll give him one thing—that boy was hung.
Piper continues with her obnoxious wallops, and it takes a moment of some serious squinting for me to determine she’s slamming into the wall with a pair of her stilettos.
“Would you stop?” This time I toss my own precious pillow. “What the hell has gotten into you?”
She flings a shoe at me, narrowly missing my nose. “Oh, come on, Cassidy. Give it up. I really want to know if that’s what it sounded like when he took you back to his room.”
I suck in a sharp breath so fast, I’m half-convinced I just inhaled that little heart charm on my necklace Caila gifted me for Christmas.
Good God, Piper knows! She knows, and she’s being all sick and glib about it.
“I knew it,” I hiss. “I knew you were one sandwich shy of a picnic. Well, maybe I didn’t know, but I long suspected!” I wield her patent leather weapon in my hand. “How did you find out?”
“Sweetie, you partook in a universal ritual the world over—the walk of shame. Everyone in Cutler Tower heard you traipsing back up here at three in the morning like some wandering back alley whore.” She gives a hard wink. “So, come on. Which fraternity do I owe for turning my best friend into a back alley ho?”
“Ugh! Would you stop?” I give a few hard blinks as the room starts to take shape around us and the thick sleep dissipates from my eyes. “And walk of shame?” I fall back and bury my face into my mattress a moment. Just the thought of keeping this New York-sized secret to myself just a little while longer seems downright impossible. For one heart-stopping minute, I thought she found us out, us—what a laugh. Cade James has a one-night stand every day of the week. My pink parts and I simply, and quite happily, filled last night’s empty slot. I’m sure once he figured out it was slim pickings for the evening, he made his way to my table. Sexual necessity was the mother of inattention to my facial deformity. But I can’t really blame him. I’m the one who agreed to that second drink. That’s where my mistake began. I should have never agreed to drinking with him, which led to winking with him, which led to all that bed warming BS that suddenly reeks of Pick-up Line 101 in the early light of day. Dear Lord, it’s probably his most tried and true lure-’em-back-to-the-dungeon-sex-scheme, and I fell for it like a little old church mouse just aching for a nibble of his rock-hard cheese. Wait… Didn’t I come up with that whole bed warming BS? Or in the least, I was a major contributor. I squeeze my eyes shut tight a moment, desperately trying to pull fact from fiction.
“So, who was it?” My mattress sinks as Piper lands next to me, and I instinctively scoot back a notch. Not only would she scream for a week if she found out I bedded her brother, but the fact my body still reeks of his isn’t going to help the situation.
“Nobody you know.” Great. Now I’m a fibber, too. I’m a one-night stand having back alley whore of a liar. I can’t wait to call Momma and tell her what I’ve been up to this week. This will really spice up our Sunday after church chat.
I try to scoot off the bed, but my insides burn straight through my belly. That boy had a weapon of mass destruction, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. And did it ever detonate. My eyes close involuntarily as I relive the moment he trembled deep inside of me. It’s been a while since I’ve been with a boy, but I’m hard-pressed to remember a seismic sensation quite like that one. Who am I kidding? Cade is no mere boy. What I had deep inside of me last night was an all-American man—all seemingly eighteen inches of him.
“Okay, so I can see you’re going to be coy.” She sneers at me for a second. Piper isn’t used to not getting her strong-willed way. Every bit of resistance life has to offer is a bit of a culture shock to her. “Have I met him before? Like at least seen him? Is he cute? What’s he look like?”
My lips press into a painful smile, just begging to blurt out the words look in the mirror, honey!
“Nope. Rest assured, he’s a cutie, but it’s not happening again. It was a one-time deal, something I really didn’t think through, and now I just sort of regret it.” I wince, pointing down at my lady business. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to shower, then head to the commons to get an ice pack for both my
head and my hoo-ha. My happy place isn’t quite so happy this morning.” Again, who am I kidding? My happy place is whistling Dixie and begging for more.
“Okay.” She makes a face as if it’s anything but. “Get in the shower and wash that man stink off yourself. Once you’re done, I’m buying you coffee.”
I manufacture a smile just for her.
Famous last words.
Hallowed Grounds is brimming with lethargic zombie-like students still struggling to rouse from late-night hangovers, from those “back alley” traipses after coital encounters that left some of us taking a moonlight stroll well past three a.m.
Scarlett and Daisy give an enthusiastic wave from the back of the café, eerily at the same table I sat at just last night while weighing which penis to insert into my body. Caila will be proud I went with the sleep rechargeable human version that actually came with a complete set of the male anatomy—or at least she would be if I ever breathed a word of it. If I never say a word, it’s like this entire mess never happened—with the not-so tiny exception of those heavy-hitting memories. Already I’ve had a half-dozen sweat-inducing flashbacks, and I haven’t been awake a solid hour. That boy was scorching hot in every way, his body chiseled to perfection, his rock-hard abnormally elongated boomstick put that rubber toothpick Caila gave me to shame. Nope, definitely won’t forget him, but still not breathing a word.
Piper and I spot four drinks on the table, so we head on over. Just as my lips part to say good morning, Piper beats me to the punch.
“Cassidy Clayton had a one-night stand!”
Ten groggy faces turn in our direction, and I smack Piper in the arm for her early morning news alert.
Valentine's Day Kisses : Boxed Set Page 43