by C. C. Wood
I took a step toward them but stopped when Marcus said something else to her and Grier grinned up at him. They continued to talk, whatever awkwardness between them gone.
Deciding my intervention wasn’t necessary, I continued to sip the champagne as I walked through the crowd of people. When the glass was empty, I set it on the tray of a passing waiter and grabbed another.
A few minutes later, the first dance was announced and everyone gathered around the dance floor. As I watched Chris and Lucy dance, I forgot about my own frustrations.
They swayed together, talking softly before Chris spun her out and back into his body. Lucy’s laugh rang out over the music and I smiled. Her happiness was contagious.
I managed to forget about what would happen next. For a little while anyway.
Then the song ended and the bridal party stepped out onto the dance floor with Lucy and Chris. I took a deep breath and headed toward Landen. My skin felt hot and my head light and I realized that the margaritas and champagne were hitting me harder than I expected. I powered through it and moved across the dance floor. Landen stood in the center, his hands tucked into his pockets. My heart stuttered at the sight of him but I didn’t hesitate. I walked right up to him and took the hand he offered me.
I was fine until he brought my body flush with his. Why I expected him to maintain a decorous distance between us, I don’t know, but I had. Right up until my breasts brushed his chest and his pants grazed the skirt of my dress.
I tried to take a small step back but he’d already wrapped his arm around my waist, keeping me close. I tilted my head back to look up at him and noticed that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes glittered.
It appeared I wasn’t the only one enjoying the open bar tonight.
Landen began to guide me around the floor, his hold firm. Every time I tried to put a discreet bit of distance between us, he brought me right back against him.
“Give me a little space,” I demanded, keeping my voice low. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me to create a scene but this was Lucy’s wedding. I didn’t want me arguing with Landen on the dance floor to be one of her memories.
“No,” he replied, his voice just as quiet.
I fumed in silence for a minute then grinned to myself. Then I stepped on his toe. Hard.
He grunted, his grip tightening on my waist for a moment, but he didn’t back up.
I was just about to do it again when he spoke, his chin brushing my temple.
“Just let me hold you. Please.”
His voice was rough, low, and, fuck me, sexy. It brought to mind dark rooms, tangled sheets, and damp skin. I very nearly gave in and let my body melt against him.
But I was made of sterner stuff than that.
“Why?” I asked, no longer thinking about stepping on his toes.
To my amazement, he managed to pull me even closer until our chests were pressed together. Somehow, he still managed to keep us moving, even though our legs were dangerously tangled.
“Because you feel fucking amazing.”
This time he turned his head as he spoke and his mouth brushed my skin, bringing goose bumps out all over my body. My nipples hardened and I think every muscle in my pelvis tightened.
I couldn’t say anything else, not when all the breath had left my body. There was nothing else to say anyway. The rest of the dance was mercifully short, but my skin felt as though it were on fire. When the music ended, we stopped moving, but Landen continued to hold me close for just a moment until the next song came on.
As soon as his arms released me, I backed away, unable to look at him. I knew that he would see everything I was feeling if my eyes met his. The need in my body, the ache between my thighs.
Without looking back, I turned and skedaddled out of the ballroom, heading for the doors that led outside. The building was lit up on the exterior, a beacon in the dark night, but I wanted the darkness. Needed the quiet.
I kept moving, heading toward a large tree in the distance. The golf course was empty and silent as I walked around the tree and leaned my back against it. I released a long breath as the cool evening breeze brushed my skin, taking away the burn that Landen’s touch had created.
Until I heard the footsteps.
Without looking, I knew it was him. That he’d followed me outside. Even knowing that he was there, I jolted when he appeared next to me, his face shadowed.
Neither of us spoke as he stepped forward, closing the distance between us. Even if I wanted to, my tongue refused to work. I could only stare up at him, trying to read his expression in the darkness.
But all I could see was the gleam of his eyes. He loomed over me, wrapping one arm around my waist and sliding his other hand up the back of my neck until it was fisted in my curly blonde hair. I leaned into him, lifting my hands to his shoulders, not to push him away, but to get closer.
Landen made a low sound in his throat. “Chelsea,” he whispered.
I shuddered in his arms and lifted my chin so that my mouth brushed his hard jaw. It was a wordless invitation because I didn’t think I had the ability to ask for what I wanted. I was too lost in my body’s reaction to his proximity.
I gasped as he tugged, tilting my head back, but I didn’t tell him to stop. Beneath the dark sky, with the spring breeze blowing around us, I could admit, at least to myself, that I wanted what he was about to do. I wanted him to take control and kiss me.
From his tight grip on my waist to the way he’d pulled my head back, I expected his kiss to be rough and demanding, but my assumption was wrong. So wrong.
When his lips brushed mine the first time, they were feather light, as soft as the wind that shifted around us. I inhaled, smelling the clean scent of his skin and the sharp tang of whiskey.
His mouth covered mine again, remaining closed and gentle as he learned the shape of my lips. I sighed and ran the tip of my tongue over his bottom lip, curious what it tasted like.
His grip on me tightened further, bringing me up onto my toes, as I licked his lips. Landen groaned and opened his mouth and my entire world flipped upside down in a split second.
My body was plastered to his from chest to thigh and I could feel the length of his erection against my belly. I pressed closer, marveling at how hard he was and how heat seemed to emanate from his entire body.
Then I could only focus on the way his mouth felt on mine and how he tasted like the whiskey he’d obviously been drinking and the mints that had been in a little bag on the bridal table. His tongue spiked into my mouth and I lost the ability to think. I met the caress with one of my own, my hands lifting from his shoulders to his hair. I fisted the strands and tried to pull him closer, but we were as close as we could get without being naked.
He lifted me a bit higher and then pinned me against the tree but I barely felt the rough scrape of bark against my bare shoulder. I was too focused on what his mouth was doing to me.
He released my hair and cupped the back of my neck, stroking the side of my throat with his thumb. I arched into him, desperate for something else. Something more.
Which he gave me. His palm moved from the back of my neck, over my collarbone and down to my breast. Landen cupped me through the thin material of my dress, his thumb flicking over my nipple in a way that made my breath catch. Then his fingers delved beneath the fabric and under the cup of my strapless bra and I felt the same flick of his thumb again, this time on my bare nipple.
Shocked, I sank my teeth lightly into his bottom lip, unable to help myself.
He pulled back slightly and cursed, “Fuck.”
I nearly apologized. I didn’t think I’d bitten him that hard, but he buried his face in my neck and returned the favor, sinking his teeth lightly into the muscle that ran between my shoulder and throat and his index finger joined his thumb beneath my bra and tugged at the tip of my breast.
The hint of pain was enough to have me hissing, not because I wanted him to stop but because it only brought me more pleasure. Something
Landen seemed to understand instinctually because his head dropped lower and he did it again, pinching my nipple lightly as he nipped me. Only this time his teeth sank into the top of my breast.
I couldn’t take this. I needed more, even though I was sure it would break me. I opened my mouth to tell him I wanted more, that I wanted him to fuck me up against that tree when the sound of soft whispers and a woman’s giggle reached my ears.
I stiffened, which got his attention. He straightened, looking down at me with his hand still inside my bra. Then he heard the voices and his body grew tight as well. Moving slowly, he removed his fingers from my breast but kept his body against mine.
The voices were coming closer and I knew that in a few moments they would see us. I realized that my hands were still clutching his hair and I forced myself to unfurl my fingers and drop my palms to his chest. Pushing gently, I straightened and winced at the feel of the bark against my skin. I hoped I wasn’t bleeding. That would bring about questions that I didn’t want to answer.
He glanced around the tree and then sighed, taking a single step back. Without his body heat, the night suddenly felt downright chilly.
“It’s a couple and they’re headed this way,” he whispered, his voice nearly soundless.
I nodded, licking my lips and found that I could still taste him on my skin. “We should go back inside.”
Because of the shadows I couldn’t read the look he was giving me and I was glad. I also hoped he couldn’t see my expression. Otherwise, he would know exactly what he did to me. Though the way I’d tried to climb him like a spider monkey moments ago probably gave me away.
Moving quietly, he wrapped on arm around my waist and brought me up against his side. As the couple came around one side of the huge tree, we walked around the other, in silent agreement that we didn’t want to run into the tipsy man and woman.
As we moved quickly across the grass, a woman’s low moan drifted back to us and I knew they were doing exactly what we’d been doing only moments ago. Only I doubted they would stop at just a few kisses and groping.
Once we were inside, I risked a glance up at Landen and found him staring down at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
Then Amanda called my name and I looked away, unsure if I was grateful or pissed that the wedding planner had interrupted the strange, fraught moment between us.
“Where have you been?” she asked. “It’s time to cut the cake and then throw the bouquet and garter.”
Landen’s arm fell from my waist as I stepped away and moved toward Amanda. Though I could feel his eyes on me, I didn’t look back.
If I had, I would have seen more than either of us was ready to admit.
Chapter Four
My phone vibrated on my desk. Again.
And, once again, I ignored it.
I knew who it was without looking. Since the wedding Saturday night, Landen had been texting and calling me sporadically throughout the last two days.
And I’d ignored him each and every time.
I wasn’t trying to be petty or bitchy. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to say to him. Even after two days, I still had no words. Every time I thought back to the kiss we shared that night, my brain scrambled and my cheeks felt hot. I also didn’t know what I wanted. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss him again or if I wanted him to leave me the hell alone.
In other words, I was confused as fuck.
I also didn’t know how in the heck he got my cell number. While I knew his from all the times I’d called him from the office to confirm or reschedule appointments, he shouldn’t have had mine. But he was also excellent with computers so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he’d hacked into Chris’ computer and obtained it that way. I couldn’t say I knew Landen well, but I knew him well enough to understand how his mind worked when he wanted something. He put Chris to shame with his tenacity. And damn me, if I didn’t admire it. Just a little.
He wasn’t going to back off. He might not have the same head for business that Chris did, but he was damn good at designing software. I’d overheard Chris talking about how he would stay up for forty-eight hours straight if that’s what was necessary to fix all the bugs in a program. And that he never backed down from a challenge.
There was no doubt in my mind that he saw my withdrawal and my silence as a challenge. It might not be how I intended it, but that’s how he would perceive it.
Still, I wasn’t ready to talk to him. Not yet. I needed another day, maybe even two, to figure out how I felt. Then again, all my vacillating might be for naught if all he wanted to tell me was that the kiss had been a drunken mistake.
I had to be honest, at least with myself because I wasn’t ready to hear that either.
The office phone rang and I sighed, taking my hands off the keyboard. Though Chris was on his honeymoon and had offered me paid time off while he was gone, I hadn’t taken it. I didn’t have the money to go somewhere fun and sitting at home for a week straight would drive me nuts.
I reached out and snagged the handset.
“Barden Consulting.”
The line clicked and I stared at the phone with a frown on my face. I replaced the receiver with a shrug. Must have been a wrong number.
I reached for my coffee cup and took a sip, wincing at the taste of cold coffee. Glancing at the clock, I realized that I’d been working for longer than I thought. With a sigh, I got to my feet and headed into the small kitchen area.
Instead of making another cup of coffee, I decided to wash out the cup and call it a day. It was nearly five and I was getting hungry.
I heard the electronic ding of the exterior office door opening and frowned. I’d locked it when I came in because I was the only one in the office and there were no appointments scheduled for the day.
Fear trickled down my spine. A hang up call and now some unknown person was in the office. I watched enough Homicide Hunter to know this wasn’t good. My cell phone was still sitting out on my desk and there was no landline in the kitchenette. I grabbed the heavy coffee mug I’d just washed. It was huge and held sixteen ounces of coffee. It was also my favorite cup. Praying I didn’t have to break it over someone’s head, I silently kicked off my heels and crept forward. Before I’d taken two steps, a large male form filled the doorway. I’m ashamed to say I squealed like a small child and jumped backward at his abrupt appearance rather than swinging the mug as I intended. In fact, I dropped that heavy fucker right on my foot.
Yelping, I lifted my foot and grabbed it between both hands as I glared at Landen Weber.
“What in the hell?” I yelled. “You scared the snot out of me!”
Landen crouched down and lifted the coffee mug, looking from it to where I was hopping up and down on my good foot, still clutching my injured one. “What did you intend to do with this?” he asked, an arrogant tilt to his brow.
“Why don’t you hand it back to me and I’ll show you?” I gasped as I released my foot and hobbled over to the counter so I could lean against it as I took in my injury.
When he smirked, it took everything I had not to reach into the cabinet and throw one of the clean coffee mugs at him. He came over to me and set the cup out of my reach on the counter before hooking me under my armpits and lifting me up like a child.
I squealed again, clutching his shoulders, as he dropped my ass onto the cold granite countertop. The thin, flouncy skirt I wore did nothing to protect my ass and the backs of my thighs from the chilly stone.
“Listen up, Landen—” My angry tirade died in my throat as he knelt, gently grasped my ankle, and lifted my aching foot up onto his knee. When his thumb rubbed over the red spot, I hissed at the pain.
“Can you wiggle your toes?” he asked, pushing a bit harder on the spot.
I groaned but managed to move my toes. “I’ll be okay,” I stated. “I don’t think anything’s broken.”
He continued to rub the spot in progressively firmer strokes. After a few moments, the pain fa
ded and a new sensation replaced it. Something dangerously akin to arousal. Okay, so it was arousal, but I pretended it wasn’t. I bit back another moan, this one for a completely different reason.
After a few seconds, his other fingers feathered across the bottom of my foot and my leg jerked.
He took my heel off his knee and stood, his eyes coming to my face. “You’re right, nothing’s broken, but you’re probably going to have one hell of a bruise.”
“Gee, where’d you go to medical school?” I asked.
Landen shook his head and came closer, his belly touching my knees. I watched him warily when I saw the look on his face. He no longer seemed concerned so much as pissed off.
Leaning forward, he propped his hands on the countertop on either side of my hips. “Why haven’t you been returning my calls?” he asked, going directly for the jugular.
Wary of the gleam in his eyes, I studied him before I answered. “I didn’t know it was you,” I lied.
Don’t ask me why I lied, I didn’t know. Well, yes I did. To answer him honestly would have given him the upper hand and I wasn’t prepared to do that right now. In addition to being addicted to a challenge, Landen was also wickedly intelligent. Winning an argument with him was damn near impossible, but that didn’t stop me from trying.
Unfortunately, he knew it. “Bullshit. You’ve called me enough to have my number memorized. You knew it was me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Maybe I didn’t feel like talking to you, did you consider that?”
He stared at me for several long moments and I didn’t look away. I kept my eyes level on his. No way would I back down, not when he was this close to me. It felt too much like surrendering and I wasn’t willing to throw out the white flag just yet.
“No, I don’t think that’s the problem either,” he murmured. His voice was soft, as though he was talking to himself rather than to me. “I think you’re off balance and you don’t know how to deal with me. You can’t place me in a neat little box.”
I fought to keep my expression the same at his words. He was both right and wrong. I didn’t know how to deal with him. Or a man like him at least. Then there was the fact that we couldn’t get along. He was domineering and arrogant. I might admire his confidence in the professional world but I didn’t want to date someone who would take it for granted that I would do whatever he said. Because I wouldn’t.