Breath of Magic

by Regina Carlysle

  “What? Are you helpless? Don’t tell me you aren’t capable of doing things and need a little woman to help you out. Your southern man roots are showing.”

  He chuckled. “I am what I am, despite the education. Values around here haven’t changed much over the years.” He shrugged. “I want what my parents have. Home, family, someone who loves me.”

  I love you. I want you. I want everything with you.

  The words ached to get out but she just couldn’t say them. Too much had changed for both of them. Unable to stop herself, she looked up at him, taking in the heat simmering in his dark eyes. His scent, spicy and male, filled her head, made her mouth go dry.

  “Liza.” Turning more fully to her, he cupped her cheek then sifted his hands through her hair, gaining a hold. He pulled her close and bent to take her mouth with a hunger that devastated her senses. His tongue swept the surface of her bottom lip then lashed inside the depths of her mouth. He tasted of heat and wine and a desire for her that she’d never felt from another man. Shifting to meet him head-on, she opened her mouth more fully and felt her breasts brush the hard lines of his chest beneath soft cotton. Her nipples ached, pebbling hard against the lace of the scarlet bra that exactly matched the color of her sweater. Pleasure zinged downward, settling between her thighs. She felt herself grow wet with sudden arousal.

  Tyler groaned against her mouth and Liza knew if they kept it up they’d be headed straight for his bed. Her pulsed soared at the prospect but she drew back a little and lifted her gaze. “Something smells delicious,” she whispered.

  He grinned suddenly and brushed his nose against hers. “Thanks. I clean up good.”

  Liza laughed out loud and pushed against his chest with both hands. “I’m talking about dinner. God, you’re a goof.”

  Off in the distance, a buzzer sounded and Tyler lifted his head, his smile still in place. He stood and reached out a hand for her. When he pulled her to her feet, he planted a short, sweet, delicious kiss on her lips. “Saved by the bell, Ms. Liza. A minute more and I’d have hauled your pretty ass to my bed. Dinner’s ready.”

  “Can I help?” she asked following him into the dining room where squat candles flickered from the center of the heavy mahogany table. “Ah. This looks nice.”

  The candles sat at various heights on chunky but elegant holders amid an arrangement of pine boughs and cones with a collection of colorful, shining Christmas tree ornaments tossed into the mix. “Wow, did you do this?”

  “I’m not such a guy that I can’t be creative sometimes,” he said with a laugh. “Mom gave me these decorations a few years ago hoping I’d do a better job with my entertaining. I pulled this stuff out earlier and gave it my best shot.”

  “I love your mom. The kind of woman who never gives up on hopeless cases.”

  “Hmm. Kind of snotty aren’t you?”

  “You bet. It’s part of my charm.”

  “Why don’t you sit and I’ll be right back with the plates.”

  “Sure I can’t help?”

  “Uh-uh. I’ve got it.”

  Liza looked at the neatly displayed place settings and smiled. Who could’ve imagined the rowdy boy she’d loved all those years ago would come up with something so nice? Shimmering gold placemats were already in place and a big bowl half-filled with Caesar salad was on the table. A bottle of red wine sat breathing on a sideboard along with two clean long-stemmed glasses. It was pretty but more than that, it told her that Tyler had gone the extra distance to make the evening nice for her. It wasn’t all about sweaty, hotter than hell sex, although the very thought of it had her blood heating. She shivered recalling what had happened between them earlier. On his great big desk no less. Longing and lust swept her body, centering between her thighs. The jeans she wore rubbed deliciously against her core as she recalled the deft touch of his fingers on her tender clit. His mastery of her body, even remembered, threatened to send her over the edge. She felt on very shaky ground.

  The recent memories were too much if she had any hope of keeping things casual. She knew Ty wanted to take the best part of the evening straight to his bed. The flesh between her thighs pulsed wildly and her imagination went to overload. She wasn’t given to bouts of make-believe. She was no longer a child. After what had happened with Garrett, she realized she’d been living in a fantasy world but Ty was very real. In an effort to stem the powerful emotions, she suddenly stood and fetched the wine and glasses. She busied herself with filling them and setting a glass upon each placemat.

  Within minutes, Ty came back in carrying two plates. “Hey, you poured the wine. Thanks, sweetheart.”

  “Mmm. Lasagne. Smells so good.” She watched as he put the plates down and took a chair near her. Close enough that she could reach out and touch him if she wanted. Looking down at the yummy stuff, she smiled. “Don’t tell me you made this?”

  He snorted. “Hardly. Do you remember Ashley Smith and Rebecca Broderick?”

  “Sure I do. They were a few years ahead of me in school.”

  “They opened a place downtown where lonely bachelors like me can pick up home-cooked food, bring it home and pop it in the oven. I’m their best customer.”

  She laughed. “Bet you are.”

  Dinner was delicious with quiet conversation. Finally, she set her linen napkin aside and patted her tummy, feeling completely at ease. “Ah, maybe everyone is right and I’m really a tight ass most of the time. It feels so good to just relax and not think about anything.”

  “Can’t have that.”

  She gave him a look. “Huh?”

  Ty reached out and taking her hand, swept his thumb across her knuckles. “I want you thinking about me.”

  A shiver of awareness swept her as they sat together in the quiet. “I try not to, Ty. Surely you know that.”

  “You shouldn’t fight it. Consider it advice from your lawyer.”

  “I don’t need a lawyer. I am one.”

  Lifting her hand, he pressed his mouth to the back of it then turned it over to nip the fleshy pad near the palm. His tongue swept the spot. “Oh, you need one, honey. In bed, inside you, coming hard and fast, making you crazy.”

  “You’re an evil man,” she whispered. Withdrawing her hand, trying like hell to ignore how hard her heart pounded, she took another sip of her wine hoping he couldn’t see how her hand trembled.

  Ty leaned back in his chair to look at her. “You haven’t said much about the jerk who dumped you over a job promotion.”

  She sighed. “I thought men didn’t want to hear about stuff like that.”

  “I’m not just any man, Liza. I’m still fighting the urge to drive up to Dallas to kick his ass. Convince me that I shouldn’t.”

  “I can’t.”

  Silence fell between them and finally she glanced up to see him sprawled like a lazy cat in his chair. His dark eyes were heavy lidded, at half-mast and hiding a world of emotion. The only visible sign of his anger was in the way his jaw bunched as if he clung to his control with extreme effort. “From what I hear he rode your coattails, hoping to gain notice from the partners at Wesley, Howard and Stowe. Looks like he was using you.”

  God, she wanted to lash out at his words but damn it, he was right. “I was an idiot.”

  “Uh-uh. Not an idiot at all. We all want love. You just picked the wrong man. Did you love him, Liza?”

  She wasn’t a coward. His accusation earlier in the day, the one that prompted her to accept his dinner invitation, came back to her. Drawing in a breath, she looked at him steadily. “I thought I did. We were comfortable but the whole relationship lacked—”

  “Passion?”

  “Yeah.” Uncomfortable with the admission and the fact she was facing it for the first time, she shifted in her chair and fiddled with the napkin sitting by her plate. Finally, she shook her head. “Guess I’ve always known there was something lacking and I just kept hoping things would change.”

  “Some things never do. For what it’s worth, I’m so
rry you were hurt but not sorry you’re here with me right now.”

  “I shouldn’t be here. We both know it.”

  “And why not? Do you think we’re so different these days? Our worlds too far apart? What?”

  She blew out a breath and ran her fingers through her hair in sudden frustration. “Maybe all of the above, Tyler. Why are you trying to dredge up something that was over a long time ago?”

  “You’re so fucking stubborn, Liza.” The statement burst from his mouth as he went to his feet. Leaning over, he fisted his hands on the table. “You weren’t saying that earlier. In fact, you called out my name when you came apart. You loved the feel of my cock sliding hard and deep. Every sweet bit of your pussy held on, squeezed me as if you couldn’t get enough.”

  Frustration propelled her to her feet but she knew that was a big mistake when he moved in on her. He pressed his lower body to hers and she felt the full length of his rock-hard erection behind the fly of his jeans as it pressed against her. Just like this morning, he clutched her ass and raked that solid length across her core. Looking up into his flashing eyes, she realized she wasn’t messing around with a boy any longer. Tyler was all man. Hard, strong, dominating. It should have freaked her out but it didn’t. She understood that need to control things. Thrived on it actually. But being on the receiving end of male dominance made her hot. So hot she thought she might implode right then and there. “Why are you doing this?” she murmured.

  “Because I can. Because you need it. It’s time you learned a little bit about losing control, honey.”

  Backed against the table as his powerful hands gripped her, she closed her eyes and moaned. He dry-fucked her, dragging that rigid length over and over against her pussy. Yeah, it might be December but her body was heating nicely. Still she taunted him. Pushing him. “Uh-uh. Don’t need any of this, big guy. Play your tricks on some weak-kneed woman. I’m not one of them.”

  Ty buried his face against her throat. “Liar,” he whispered. “You’re mine, Liza. You’ve been mine since the night I took you out by the lake when we were in high school. I was your first. You were mine. You’ll always belong to me whether you admit it or not.”

  “This isn’t fair.”

  “Maybe not but I’m fucking sick of fighting you.” His dark eyes cruised the lines of her face, centered on her lips and then he bent his head. Taking her lips with unbridled hunger, he nipped her bottom lip, then the top. Teasing further, he swept his tongue deep, stroking. He tasted of red wine, so dark and sweet. Liza moaned low as he moved his erection over her center and, giving in, she writhed against that rigid length.

  Ty made an answering sound. He folded his arms beneath her butt and lifted until she was forced to wrap her legs around his waist. She leaned in with a sigh and held on as he carried her from the dining room, through the living room and into his master bedroom. She hadn’t been here before but she realized it was large, dark and quiet except for the savage sounds of the rising winds outside. Sleet still lashed the windows and the plantation shutters were slatted open throwing striped shadows across his big bed.

  She should leave now before he got her naked but she couldn’t do anything but kiss him. Frantic need, a wanting too strong to be denied, swept her as she clung, breathing him in, sucking at his tongue as it swept her mouth. His breath was hot, heavy. It was obvious to her that Tyler was carried away and she was letting him take her with him. Finally, he stopped kissing her long enough to slide her down the length of his hard body. Shadows speared across features gone dark with lust, his mouth was set in grim lines as he grabbed the hem of her sweater and yanked it up and over her head. The protest on her lips died abruptly the moment he set his hands on her breasts. His thumbnails scraped over nipples that were unbearably sensitive. The ache caused by his touch whipped down like an arrow shot into the earth to center between her thighs. Without thinking, Liza brought a leg up high to draw his cock closer, closer to that pulsing ache.

  She was an intelligent woman but every trace of that quality left her in a rush. Instead of spouting recriminations, she dropped her head back, closing her eyes as he teased her giving flesh. With a sigh of homecoming, of desire, she drew her pussy along the seam of his jeans. Her breath broke over the feel of his hardness, tears shifted across the surface of her eyes and she thanked God he didn’t know.

  This was no longer her home. She didn’t belong here. She was different now from the girl she’d been and her life was elsewhere. Words and phrases sang up like a mantra in her brain and helplessly she clung to them until they broke apart leaving her with nothing but the feel of being held against him. Ty reached behind her to unsnap her scarlet bra as his mouth settled at the bend where her shoulder met her neck. Tenderly, he sucked her flesh and then Liza felt her bra give way and the warmth of his hands when he cupped her naked breasts.

  “I’m hungry,” he whispered against her neck. “I’m dying here, honey.”

  “Ty.”

  “I’m here. Right where I want to be.” He lowered his dark head to draw a hard, throbbing nipple deep into his mouth. The sudden warmth against the coolness of the room had her gasping but he seemed not to notice as he sucked strongly. Instantly, her panties were drenched and it was as if he knew.

  He dragged his erection repeatedly against her core and Liza felt her breath come out in short, quick pants. His fingers flexed on her ass. When he released her nipple and blew a warm breath on it, she shivered. “Gotta get you naked. I can’t wait,” he said, his voice harsh and heavy. After he moved her leg from around his hip, he reached for the snap of her jeans. The rasp of the zipper sounded loud and somehow final. She’d lost this little game of denial. He’d gotten her jeans just past her ass when he plunged his hand beneath the elastic of her panties.

  “Wet. Oh yeah. God, you’re sweet.”

  His fingers sifted through the drenched curls and dipped deep into the sultry layers of her flesh. Unerringly, he found her clit and began to tease. Liza could do nothing but give in to the desperate temptation he offered. Writhing against his fingers, loving the way he worked her, she looked up at him and saw a wickedly burning lust that matched her own.

  With a low sound, he laid her across the bed and finished undressing her. He tossed her shoes aside and Liza heard them fall with a thud to the hardwood floor. Denim and silk were drawn down her bare legs until she was completely naked, splayed wantonly, ready, impatient for him to take her. But it wasn’t enough. “Clothes. Yours.”

  “Yeah.” Ty made short work of the buttons on his shirt and Liza licked her lips as each delicious inch of skin was exposed. His eyes raked her body when he slid it off his shoulders and dropped it. The sexy striptease had her mouth going dry. A shiver that had nothing to do with winter and everything to do with sheer heat, caught her up. His jeans and shoes were discarded and kicked away leaving him as naked as her.

  Even ground.

  Seizing upon her last little bit of control, she sat up and reached for him. His erection, at eye level, drew her gaze and she heard his heavy groan as if from a distance. Liza licked her lips wanting to taste him, master him. More than anything she longed to run her tongue over the broad head of his cock and bring him to his knees. Setting her hands at his hips, she brought him closer.

  “Gimme. Now.”

  Sending her gaze over the heavy length of his erection, admiring the thickness that would soon pump deep and hard inside her, she leaned forward. The press of the bedspread against her swollen, tender pussy was an added benefit, rubbing her, teasing her. What was this thing she had about wanting to make him pay? Liza watched him fist his cock in one hand and slowly stroke. Before she could blink, his other hand swept through her hair to take hold. Closer. He drew her closer.

  The male scent of him filled her head. Her tongue flicked out and brushed along the hard, satiny flesh. The sound he made fueled her actions and she moved his hand away to take over. Wrapping him up, she felt him pulse and she explored the length of him with her mout
h. She drew on swollen flesh and drank his pleasure as if it were her own. And it was. Her pussy clenched with each stroke and with every pleased sound he made. His balls were tightly drawn up as she teased them with her touch, paying homage to that tender skin. When she flicked her tongue across the tiny slit at the end of his cock, she felt him tense and knew she held him on the sharp edge of pleasure.

  Mercy was called for and she knew it.

  Whispering a breath across the head, she gave it a final sweep of her tongue before taking him deep into the wet, warm cavern of her mouth. Ty groaned long and low. Giving into the need she sensed in him, she sucked lightly then harder, moving upon him, swirling her tongue with each upward stroke. She took his fine, hard ass in her hands to draw him closer then sent her hands on a wicked foray over firm muscular thighs that trembled from the strain. Oh, he was trying not to come and she knew it.

  Liza wanted to whip him into a frenzy. To please him and to please herself, she moved until her nipples grazed the front of his thighs. Ty’s breath grew harsher. The sound of it was so damn sexy it made her crazy.

  She was making him crazy!

  She was doing it on purpose!

  Each pull of her mouth brought him closer to the edge and he didn’t want to come that way now. If he had any hope of staking his claim, making her stay, it had to be about her right now.

  But God!

  Tyler sent up a quick prayer to his maker. A prayer that he wouldn’t blast his cum in her mouth like an overeager teenager. At least not until he’d given her about twenty orgasms. Okay, that might be a few too many. Make that at least six orgasms…the mind-blowing kind.

  Oh, he knew very well she was trying to control their sex. That was Liza. She was a woman who liked to call the shots and for the most part he was okay with aggressive women. Loved them, in fact. But tonight, with her, he knew he had to take control of things. He needed to make her realize she still loved him and he had to make her listen. Tyler Blackwell knew if he ever hoped to have her, he had to teach her to let go of that control she freakin’ cherished so much. Time was a factor. Christmas was a few days away and she’d head back to Dallas shortly thereafter.