Attraction: (A Temptation Series Stand-alone) (The Temptation Series Book 4)

by Golland, KM

  ‘We need to talk,’ he said sternly, the look on his face one not to be argued with.

  ‘Why? What’s the point?’

  ‘Because I want to set the record straight,’ he said with determination. ‘I never got the chance and that was partly my fault.’

  I sighed, but at the same time let out the breath I had been holding. I didn’t want him to see the emotional havoc his presence caused me. ‘I need to pee, Derek.’

  ‘You pee, I’ll talk,’ he offered, flashing me a cocky smile.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Fine, if you must,’ I said with frustration as I fisted the level two button. ‘Talk, but again, there really is no need. You don’t have to explain anything.’

  ‘Layla is my sister-in-law,’ he said quickly. ‘She is married to my brother who I no longer speak to, nor want to speak to.’

  Oh, shit! Did I jump to the wrong conclusion or what? Chancing a quick glance from the corner of my eye, I spied Derek gauging my reaction. When I didn’t say anything — because I felt like an absolutely stupid bitch — he continued. ‘Layla has been lobbying for me and my brother to “kiss and make up” for quite some time. She loves Sean and wants us to play happy families.’

  The ding of the elevator indicated that we’d arrived at the second floor, followed by the opening of the doors. I stepped out and made my way to the guest bedroom, Derek following closely behind me. ‘When you insinuated that she was a past girlfriend, it pissed me off.’

  Stopping, I turned around and nearly bumped into him. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean —’

  Derek captured me in his arms and pressed me up against the wall. ‘It pissed me off that your first thought was that I had fucked her. I hate how you see me as some kind of bloke who likes to fuck around, Carly. I’m not that bloke.’

  His sudden closeness, his firm body pressed against me, and his face mere centimetres from mine, had intensified my heart rate. My chest rose and fell as I looked into his bright blue eyes, breathed in his fresh aftershave tinged with beer scent, and felt the heat radiating from him. ‘Yes,’ I said honestly. ‘I do get that impression.’

  Derek’s gaze dropped so that he was looking at his feet, his jaw also working from side to side, displaying his obvious disappointment. ‘Why?’ he murmured.

  ‘I don’t know. I guess that “type of bloke” is what I’m used to,’ I said quietly, as I watched his brow crease. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to offend you. And I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion about Layla. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know you well enough to trust you, and every time I ask you a personal question you shut me down.’

  He tilted his head back up and searched my eyes pleadingly. ‘I want you. I want to be with you, whether it’s for an hour, a night, weeks or months. I want to get to know you and you to know me.

  If these past six weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I want to be around you in any way that I can.’

  ‘But you keep —’

  He put his finger on my lips, stopping me from speaking further. ‘I’m going to be completely honest, and after that, you can pee and give me your answer, okay?’

  Nodding while his finger still hung from my lips, I uncontrollably grazed my tongue over it, relishing his salty taste.

  He groaned ever so lightly, then continued. ‘Weeks ago, outside that cafe when you said you may not be the relationship type, I honestly couldn’t have been more fucking relieved. I’m not the relationship type either. But that doesn’t mean I go sticking my dick in anything and everything. What it means is that I have not found anyone remotely interesting enough to want to spend continuous time with. Until you.

  ‘I don’t know what it is between us, but whatever it is, I want more,’ he said with assurance as he removed his finger and replaced it with his lips.

  Derek thrust his tongue into my mouth, my lips parting obediently and submitting to his control. His tongue repeatedly swept across mine with long powerful strokes while his grip on the back of my head tightened.

  Finding his hips with my hands, I pulled him to me, feeling his hard erection press into the base of my belly. My breasts ached for some attention of their own and, as if reading my mind, both his hands found them, greedily massaging and squeezing them with fervour.

  ‘Oh, fuck,’ I moaned around his tongue as he continued to dominate me against the wall.

  He broke free from my mouth and kissed my neck before yanking down my top and bra, releasing my tits. They bounced receptively.

  ‘Fuck,’ he ground out as he captured them in his hands. The look on his face as he stared at my chest was one of both pained restraint and ravenous hunger. As his hands cupped my flesh, the pressure he applied was strong, but at the same time, tender. It was just the way I liked it.

  He leaned forward and licked my nipple with one long slow stroke then switched and repeated his tongue lash on the other one. He was voracious and utterly hot.

  ‘Carls,’ Lexi called out, ‘where are you?’

  ‘Shit!’ I murmured and shoved Derek from my chest before pulling up my top and walking over to the balustrade. I looked down into the lounge area to find Lexi by the sofa, balancing on one foot. ‘I’m up here.’

  She looked up. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Looking for your vibrator! What do you think I’m doing? I’m going to the friggin’ toilet,’ I admonished. Suddenly, I felt Derek nipping at my denim covered arse. I tried to subtly kick him away.

  ‘Well, hurry up. And have you seen Derek? Bryce wants to run some band stuff by him.’

  ‘No —’ I began to say, just as Derek crawled around to the front of me and pressed his back against the balustrade wall, purposely aligning his head with my pussy. Slowly, he started to undo the buttons of my jeans.

  I almost choked as I covered my mouth with my hand and whispered. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘What does it look like I’m doing? I vaguely recall you saying that you wanted to know if my tongue was as good as my fingers,’ he whispered back. ‘So you are about to find out.’

  Thank god the top of the plaster balustrade wall was level to just under my breasts, because the next thing I knew, he had yanked my jeans down to my ankles, baring me completely.

  ‘Jesus fucking Christ, that looks nice,’ he growl-whispered before placing his hands on my arse cheeks and pressing me to his face.

  I yelped at his ferociousness. Yes, friggin’ yelped like a puppy.

  ‘Did you hear me?’ Lexi called out again, this time sounding a little irritated.

  Derek dragged his tongue across my clit in one long swipe, prompting me to quietly moan and step out of one leg of my jeans in order to spread wider for him.

  ‘Yes, sorry. I don’t know where he is. I think he went out on the balcony to order something to eat.’

  ‘Oh, I’m fucking eating all right,’ he mumbled into me, the vibrations of his words igniting my clit.

  ‘Okay, well hurry up. And if you see him on your way down, tell him to get his arse back in here.’

  ‘Sure,’ I replied, barely able to speak through the waves of pleasure his tongue and mouth were giving me. ‘When I see him going down, I’ll tell — what?’ I mumbled, fucking confused and slightly disorientated.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Lexi called back.

  ‘Yes, I’m fine,’ I corrected myself, giving her a reassuring smile.

  With a sceptical expression on her face, she nodded and limped back into the man-cave.

  ‘Oh god,’ I breathed out, dropping my head forward and gripping the balustrade railing with renewed force.

  Derek slid two fingers inside me, gently pumping them in and out as he licked and sucked at my clit. My natural reaction was to mount his fucking face and thrash my hips into him. I wanted nothing more than to ride that cocky, sexy mouth of his.

  Separating his glistening lips from me, he looked up with a satisfied expression. ‘Fuck, you taste good.’

  Almost instantly, he was bac
k in between my legs, alternating between relentless quick flicks of his tongue, to slow tortuous lashes and the sucking of my clit into his mouth. Each time I predicted his next move he’d do the opposite and heighten my approaching climax.

  ‘Are you going to come on my face?’ he murmured.

  ‘Do you want me to?’ I asked huskily, my breathing ragged and laboured.

  ‘Of course I fucking want you to,’ he growled, while plunging his fingers in deep and scissoring them gently.

  In that moment I saw stars and fireworks and all things fiery and bright as my orgasm exploded and sent shockwaves right through me. My pussy clenched around his fingers, gripping and clamping them within me. My thighs tensed and I buckled, collapsing onto his lap.

  Shuddering momentarily, I bit my lip and silenced the cries of pleasure. The restraint it took to refrain from screaming out his name was pure agony, but I managed it and once again found my semblance of normal.

  As I stared up at him, his heavy-lidded lust-filled expression took my breath away.

  ‘Baby, I can’t wait to be buried inside you when you do that again,’ he said with a smile before lifting me upward to kiss him.

  In all honesty, I couldn’t wait either.

  ***

  After cleaning myself up and finally peeing, I made my way out of the bathroom to find Derek sitting on the edge of the bed.

  He looked up and smiled as I walked toward him. ‘Well, so what’s your answer?’

  Stopping so that I was standing in between his legs, I placed my hands on either side of his face. ‘What answer?’

  ‘Carly, I left you alone for six weeks when you didn’t respond to my messages. I don’t want to leave you alone any more. I want more of this.’ He gestured to the both us. ‘I want more of you. Do you want more of me?’

  I could see the desperate plea in his eyes and it both frightened and excited me. Telling him I wanted the same, meant I was quite possibly agreeing to a relationship. A relationship both of us admitted to not wanting or being any good at. Did this mean we were doomed before we even started?

  ‘Don’t think. Just answer. Yes or no. Do you want me or not?’

  I leaned down and licked from his collarbone to his Adam’s apple. ‘Yes, I want you.’

  I winked and walked out of the room.

  ***

  For the hour that followed, the men performed a couple of impromptu jam sessions. Watching Derek sing and play the guitar was my new aphrodisiac. The man was the epitome of sexy and smooth when he communicated through song. Every part of his body spoke erotically to me in one way or another, whether it was the way he strummed the strings of his guitar, or the way he mouthed the microphone, or even the way his stare inflamed my core when he held a note. His voice was sensual and raw, and it rolled from his mouth with superb control.

  ‘Do you still have a fiery hole?’ Tash asked quietly as she sat down on the couch beside me.

  Tearing my eyes away from Derek, I felt my cheeks redden as I answered her. ‘It’s a fucking inferno. I swear the man is going to incinerate me. You wait. You’ll walk into a room and there will be nothing left but a pile of ash. That will be me.’

  She laughed and nudged me with her shoulder. ‘Why are you holding back? That’s not like you.’

  ‘Who said I’m holding back?’

  ‘Carly, if it were any other man, you’d be dry-humping his leg right about now.’

  True! I don’t mind a decent dry-humping.

  ‘Okay,’ I conceded with a roll of my eyes, ‘what if I said that it was time for me to grow up and take things slow?’

  She laughed and pointed at me. ‘Ha! I’d say you were full of shit.’

  ‘Tash, I’m serious.’

  ‘Carls, you don’t know how to be serious.’

  ‘Neither do you,’ I retorted.

  ‘I don’t have to. I’m married. Dean knew what he was getting himself into before he said I do.’

  I swirled my hand at her, emphasising the bird I was flipping. ‘Whatever.’

  ‘Yep, real grown up,’ she winked.

  ‘Look, Tash,’ I squealed excitedly, pointing above her, ‘a balloon!’

  She screamed and spun around, swatting at nothing but air.

  I cracked up laughing and fell back on the couch. Take that, bitch-flaps.

  When she realised there was no big scary balloon hovering above her, she glared at me. ‘Oh you’ll keep, kittykat.’

  Still laughing, I meowed for her. Tash then turned and headed back to where Lexi was perched on Bryce’s knee.

  ‘Do you purr as well?’ Derek whispered in my ear, his warm breath paralysing my vocal chords.

  I tilted back and stared at his upside-down face, finding him leaning over the couch. ‘Do what you did before and I’ll make whatever animal noise you want,’ I replied quietly.

  ‘Just so you know, baby, you’re sleeping in my room tonight.’

  A ghost of a smile played at the corners of my mouth. ‘Who said anything about sleeping?’

  Derek clicked his jaw from side to side and stood upright before swigging his beer and piercing me with a heated stare. That one look spoke many things. It said I was going to get fucked. Fucked hard and for however long he wanted to fuck me.

  Oh ... fuck!

  ***

  Hours later, when everyone was leaving the apartment to go to the rooms that Bryce had arranged, Lex pulled me aside. ‘So, Carly Josephine Henkley, is your fiery hole about to be put out?’

  I smiled at her, but at the same time expressed my trepidation. ‘Lex, he is so putting a scorching heat between my legs, it is not funny.’

  ‘Need I remind you that he is a firefighter ... let the guy put it out. Apparently, that’s what he’s good at.’

  ‘I’m terrified,’ I whispered.

  She whispered back. ‘What the fuck? Carly does not get terrified. Why is Carly terrified?’

  Continuing the whispered conversation, now referring to myself in the third person, I answered, ‘Because Carly really fucking likes Derek.’

  She dropped her hands to hold mine by our sides inconspicuously. ‘Oh, Carls, that’s great. Do you want to know a secret?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘He likes you, too,’ she whispered with an impish grin.

  ‘How the —’ I blurted out, then looked around sheepishly and continued in a more quieter tone, ‘fuck do you know?’

  She leaned in and kissed my forehead. ‘Because he told me.’ Alexis then turned my shoulders around and playfully smacked me on the butt, ushering me out the door.

  As the door closed behind me, I tentatively took steps until I was through the foyer. Derek was waiting for me, a smug but eager grin on his face.

  ‘You told Lexi that you liked me?’ I asked incredulously. ‘What else have you told her?’

  ‘Whoa. What’s the problem?’ he chuckled.

  ‘I ... I ...’ I stuttered, not really sure what the problem was. ‘I don’t know. I guess she just caught me off-guard when she mentioned that you’d talked to her.’ I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘When did you tell her?’

  Derek slid his arm across my shoulder and pulled me to him. ‘I’ve been giving her guitar lessons behind Bryce’s back for a couple of months,’ he explained quietly. ‘Come on and I’ll explain it on the way.’

  ***

  Derek filled me in on his and Alexis’ secret meetings, meetings where he taught her to play the guitar so that she could surprise Bryce and play for him. The idea was genius and if anyone could learn the guitar in a short space of time, it was Lexi. She was naturally talented at many things ... except realising that she was naturally talented was a talent that evaded her.

  ‘I can’t believe she didn’t tell me? We tell each other everything,’ I said sombrely as we exited the elevator cart.

  Derek turned his head and gave me an are-you-listening-to-yourself look.

  I furrowed my brow. ‘What?’

  ‘Have you told her about us?’ he asked, c
learly already knowing the answer.

  Crossing my arms over my chest, we walked down the passageway. ‘That’s different.’

  ‘How?’ he questioned, stopping me outside his room. His room! Shit! We are about to enter his room and have sex. My fiery hole is about to be extinguished.

  ‘Um ... because I wasn’t sure there was an “us”, so why bother her with something that may not have been,’ I answered.1

  He tilted my chin up and looked intently into my eyes. ‘There’s an “us”,’ he stated definitively.

  The honesty that radiated from him as I stood there and stared had me stunned into silence. Deep down, I knew there was an ‘us’, whatever ‘us’ was. Maybe ‘us’ was the chemistry we created. Doesn’t a chemical reaction need its own chemical symbol? Yes, I think it does. From now on, ‘Dc’ will be the reactive substance that crackles in the air when Derek (D) and Carly (c) lock eyes on one another.

  ‘Carly. Carly!’ Derek said, snapping me out of my impromptu science lesson.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Are you coming in, or are you going to stay out in the passageway all night?’

  Turning my head from side to side and taking in that, yes, I was still standing outside his room and that he was standing in it, I quickly stepped over the threshold of the door and closed it behind me.

  I’d barely made it to the main area of the room before Derek was stalking toward me. ‘You ready to feel me for days afterwards?’

  Hell, yes! I want your hose. I want it to squirt me.

  ‘You could be setting yourself up for failure, you know,’ I said quickly before his lips prevented any further words from escaping.

  Derek grabbed my face and thrust his tongue into my mouth, the abrupt and possessive action shocking me to the point of dropping my purse. I ran my hands up his chest and rested them on his shoulders, which was when he placed his hands on my arse and lifted me up. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist and crisscrossed my ankles just above his arse.

  I moaned with pleasure when he vigorously squeezed my cheeks, forcing me to separate my mouth from his and drop my head back. Instantly, his mouth claimed the exposed skin of my neck, kissing, sucking and nipping.