“Did she say she was going straight home?”
Bailey squinted at him. “What happened between you two? Are you the reason she suddenly left?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I just need to talk to her, Bailey. Help me out, please.”
Rolling her eyes dramatically, Bailey reached into her pocket and then slapped something in his palm. “Go. Find her. Don’t make me regret helping you.”
He looked down in surprise at the key in his palm. Then he grinned. “Thank you, Bailey. We’ll put a sock on the door if it’s not safe to come in.”
She waved her hand in front of her face. “No details. As long as it’s not on my bed.”
Cage turned and almost mowed people over in his haste to get out of the crowd. There was a good chance he could beat Talia home, especially if she was somewhere waiting on a taxi. He’d driven his car, so instead of searching for her outside, he’d just go to her room and wait. She had to come home at some point, right?
He’d be waiting. Then they’d talk.
When he arrived at her dorm, he glanced around the parking lot but he didn’t see any taxis dropping anyone off. He locked his vehicle and then walked inside, taking the elevator up to her floor. After opening the door with the key, he could immediately tell that no one was there because the room was pitch black. They hadn’t left any lights on in the room before they left for the party.
It felt incredibly voyeuristic to be in her room when she wasn’t there, but Cage managed to restrain his desire to snoop. He turned on the light in the bathroom so it wasn’t completely dark and then settled on her bed to wait. There was a battered copy of Shakespeare’s The Tempest on the bed, which he picked up and attempted to read. Attempted because he didn’t get very far.
“How does she read this tiny print?” he murmured aloud.
The door opened and he dropped the book back on the bed. Talia hadn’t even noticed him yet. Then she turned and let out a squeal that scared them both.
“Cage? What the hell are you doing? And how did you get in here?” Her eyes narrowed at the thought. Then she shook her head. “Bailey. She always was a sucker for a sob story.”
He was sure he must have done a cartoon double-take. “Sob story?”
She had the grace to at least look apologetic. “I didn’t mean it like that. What are you doing here?”
Cage sat up, abandoning Shakespeare to the comforter. “I couldn’t leave things like that. What happened between us wasn’t a mistake or a casual thing for me.”
“It wasn’t?” she asked in a small voice.
Taking a chance, Cage stood until they were face to face. When she looked up at him with a tender expression he couldn’t hold back any longer. He tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers, savoring her softness and the smell of her skin.
“Not a chance. Come home with me. We can talk and…I’m just not ready to let you go yet.”
She tilted her head. “I can’t just leave. You have Bailey’s key. How will she get in?”
Cage hadn’t thought of that. But he wasn’t going to be defeated that easily. “Leave it at the security desk downstairs. Text her and let her know.”
Talia pulled out her phone. “We’re just going to talk?”
Cage didn’t bother answering. He wasn’t making any promises that he wouldn’t be able to keep.
“Text your friend,” he growled.
“Ok. Let me just change first. My feet are killing me.”
Ten
Cage wasn't sure why, but having Talia in his place made him nervous. He’d brought her here because he wanted to talk in private. Away from prying eyes and eavesdropping ears. But the moment they were back in his apartment, the confines felt too small and constricted, like there wasn’t enough air to go around.
Talia took in his apartment, and he wondered how it must look to her. It was the first time he’d given any thought to interior decor or the cobbled together hodgepodge pieces of furniture. It wasn't exactly warm or homey, but it was clean. Growing up, his father had always been a stickler for neatness and he'd carried some of that over. Cage had lived here for two years, but part of him had been afraid to settle in, in case it was only temporary. In case he slid into the same abyss his father had, and fucked up his whole life.
She smiled up at him. “It’s different than I pictured.”
“Oh? What did you picture?”
She laughed. “I don't know. Lots of rugby jerseys I guess.”
He couldn’t help but return her easy smile. “I keep those in the drawers. And I don’t really have any famous rugby players' signed jerseys or anything. But if I ever make it to New Zealand, I'll probably get one of the All Blacks and frame that.”
She glanced around again. “Wow, you're a lot neater than Bailey and I. There is not a bit of clutter anywhere. Our place would drive you nuts.”
With a sudden pang of longing, he wished he'd taken the time to explore her place the last two times he'd been over. “I doubt that.”
Her tongue peeked out to moisten her bottom lip. “So, I guess we should talk…” Her voice trailed.
Cage shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching for her. “Well, I figured it might be a good idea. That shit in the hallway was intense. And risky. And not at all what I was expecting to happen.”
Her eyes went wide. “It's hard to think when I'm with you. I just knew I wanted you.”
He grinned, knowing exactly how she felt. “Yeah well, the feeling’s mutual. But you've been pulling away from me. So I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Everything is all jumbled up. And complicated. I don't know how I’m supposed to feel.”
He could tell she was on edge. Her whole body practically hummed. She had to be feeling it too. Primed. Ready. Like she’d spent the last three years wanting him and she couldn’t take it anymore either. Cage rocked onto his heels.
“Talia, I was serious when I said I wanted you. But I'm not the guy you think I am. Before I got into a relationship, maybe. I really haven’t been looking for anything since Jenna and I split. I just needed a little freedom. But then you turned up and I can't get you out of my damn head. I get the feeling you thought I’d be the one-night kind of guy. But that's not what I want from you."
Talia licked her lips. "I just don't want to get hurt again. You've stayed away from me for a reason. A couple of those reasons are still there. Trevor, for one." She looked down at her feet. "But honestly, I'm not as worried about him. I'm more worried that you’ll wake up one day, decide this isn’t what you want, and ghost me like you did then."
"As I said before, I was a dick. It was like my mind completely blocked out the one image that could have made me happy. I'm not that same guy. And I want you. And I will wait as long as it takes to have you. And just so we're clear, I'm not interested in that quickie bullshit. Was it hot? Absolutely? But now that I've tasted you, now that I remember? I don't want to let you go. So we're not going to fuck and run. But if you need some time coming around, that's fine. I can wait. You waited three years for me to notice you. I can wait, too. But I'm far less patient than you are and I don't fight fair. The only way you can stop me from being with you is to tell me you don't want this. To say those words."
Cage held his breath. The last thing on earth he wanted her to say was that she didn't want him. And he wasn't lying when he said he didn't plan on fighting fair. If she needed a few more orgasms to convince her, then he was more than happy to dish those out. All was fair in love and war. Love? Where the hell had that come from?
He lifted his gaze to find her studying him. "Talia, sweetheart, you’re staring.”
“I guess I am.” Very deliberately, she stepped in front of him. Holding his gaze, she placed her palms on his chest.
His muscles gave an involuntary leap, and he barely stifled the groan. “Talia, what are you doing?”
Her dark gaze met his, and he clenched his jaw against the need.
With sheer force of will, he managed to keep his hands in his pockets. And he might have been at least twice her size, but he didn’t have the strength to push her away. He wanted her to want him. Needed her to want him. Needed to know he wasn’t the only one taking the leap.
Her voice was soft but firm when she spoke. “Living dangerously.”
With shaky hands, she lifted the hem of his T-shirt and slipped her hands beneath. Her feather-soft fingertips scorched a path of heat from his waist to his pectorals. She pulled him to her, flicking her gaze to his briefly before her eyelids fluttered closed and she pressed her lips to his.
It wasn’t quite a kiss, just a whisper of lips meeting, really. But as he breathed out, she breathed in, and vice versa. It wasn’t long before he started to feel like he might die without her to supply him with air. “What do you want from me?”
“I want what I’ve always wanted. You to make love to me. I used to think about you touching me. Kissing me. Back then, you starred in every one of my fantasies.”
Oh shit. His hands trembled, and Cage struggled for control. “And what about now?”
“You still have this way of making me ache.”
She was barely touching him, and he was already so close to losing it. He wanted to pick her up, back her up against the wall, and bury himself so deep inside her that they couldn’t separate themselves for a week. Just like he’d done in that hallway. He needed her like he needed his heart to keep beating.
She nipped his jaw, then followed the love bite with a small lave of her tongue. His knees almost buckled. He dipped his head to meet her gaze. “I want to give you what you want. To help you alleviate that ache. But I want to make sure this is what you want.”
She nodded. “I’m tired of fighting it.”
So was he. “Talia?”
“Mmm,” she whispered as the tips of her fingers started miniscule fires all over his torso.
“I’m going to kiss you.”
She grinned revealing a dimple. “We’re already kissing.”
He couldn’t help but return her smile. “Then allow me to show you what I’m really capable of.”
He should have been gentle. He meant to be gentle. But as soon as he pressed his mouth to hers, electricity kicked through his whole body. Lust chased away every thought until he couldn’t think.
Talia moaned as he licked into her mouth, and his dick jerked. Those throaty sounds of hers drove him crazy. He dragged her closer as lust coursed through his body, and Talia molded herself to him.
There was no hesitation in her kiss. When his tongue chased hers, she met the demand, sliding hers against his, tempting him into a wicked game. Low in his belly, lust pulled at his tenuous control, and he had a fleeting worry that he might possibly come in his pants. Get yourself under control.
Cage dragged in steadying breaths as he pulled back. “Talia, what are you doing to me?”
When she lifted her heavy-lidded gaze to meet his, her pupils were dilated. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Backing her against the wall of the living room, Cage finally let go of his control. Every cell in his body urged him to hurry, to bury himself inside her deep. But when he kissed her again, she slowly melted into him. Her tongue teased and drove him mad.
She had the power in her touch and in her kiss to burn him.
Without breaking their kiss, he slid his hands down her arms and brought them up to wrap around the back of his neck. He pulled back momentarily. “You are so beautiful.”
In some darkened corner of his brain, an alarm bell rang. It tried to warn him of the danger she posed. That now, like then, he was too caught up in her. Trapped in a web of her making. That extricating himself would be painful. But he didn’t care. As she ran her fingers through his hair, all he could think about were those hands and where he wanted them. How much he wanted her to be his, if even just for now.
Talia arched into him. The curves of her full breasts pressed into his chest. He slid his hands under the silk of her blouse. When his thumbs came into contact with the soft flesh of her belly, they both hissed.
Cage slid his hands up her satin skin, pausing when he encountered the lace of her bra. He watched her carefully as he lightly skimmed the soft flesh, but let his hands continue to travel upward, pushing her T-shirt over her head.
The fabric fluttered to the ground without a sound, and he turned his full attention back to her exposed flesh. Shit. She was stacked. “God, you’re so fucking perfect.” Her full breasts pushed against the fabric of the satin, and he desperately tried to swallow around the sudden mouthful of sawdust. He may have already had her once, but he wanted to take time to savor.
He reached behind her. He bent his knees and dipped his head, making sure their gazes met as he silently asked for permission. When she nodded, he exhaled the breath he’d been holding and released the clasp.
Talia slid the straps off her slim shoulders then arched her back in silent offering. Shit. Perfection. So lush. So full. Taking advantage of her arched form, he hovered his mouth over a puckered bud for a moment. She shivered in his arms. Pressing his lips over the raised peak, he suckled her gently. Her answering moan was low and throaty, and Cage tugged harder, trying to taste every rich flavor of her skin.
“Cage.”
What kind of spell had she woven around him? He’d never wanted anyone this badly. He’d never been this connected to another human being before. It was like he could feel what she was feeling. The desire now thundered like a crescendo in his skull, and so did the longing. He would be happy to hold her all night, doing nothing more interesting than playing with her curls.
Talia reached for him, and he could only watch as her delicate fingers tugged at his T-shirt. As she leaned in close, her sweet, vanilla scent comingled with his.
She slid her hands under his shirt and his muscles spasmed as she worked them up over his pecs. Lightly, she skimmed his shoulders as she slipped it off over his head. At the contact of skin on skin, his cock jerked against the fly of his jeans, urging, begging him to bury himself in her and get lost.
Heat flared in her eyes as his cock nudged her belly. She reached for his jeans, and he bit back a curse. “God, Talia, you’re killing me.” He had to get control and quick before he did something else stupid. Gently, he eased her hands away from his belt. He grabbed a foil packet from his wallet before violently stripping off his belt and jeans. He left his boxers on and tucked the condom into his waistband.
He was far gentler with her skirt and that flimsy scrap of material she called a thong. He groaned as he cupped the generous curves of her ass. “Put your legs around my waist.”
When she complied, he cursed as her wet heat slid against the thin material covering his straining cock. He braced her on the side table before kissing her slowly. Sliding his tongue against hers, he teased her until she mewled and writhed against him.
Cage let his hands freely roam from her ass, to her flat, firm waist, to the generous handfuls of her breasts. He lightly circled the tip with his thumb, and Talia clamped her thighs around him tighter, trying to draw him closer.
Dipping his head, he grazed first one nipple with his beard and then the other. He followed up with his tongue and with playful tugs with his teeth.
“Cage, Jesus.”
As he feasted on her chocolate-tipped nipples, he whispered, “You taste like heaven.”
She answered with a rotation of her hips, and his cock jerked again, insistently desperate for her heat. He slid a hand between them, searching for her center. He growled her name as he dipped a finger into her slick channel. “So fucking wet.”
She bucked as he withdrew his finger then slowly slid in again. He buried his lips in her neck. With each gentle slide and retreat of his finger, he whispered to her. How good she felt. How he couldn’t wait to taste her. How much he wanted to slide into her slick heat.
Even though she dug her nails into his shoulders and softly whimpered, he took his time. Never mind th
at he was on the verge of spontaneously combusting. He kept up the slow, lazy retreat and entry.
She rocked her hips into his questing hand. Hell. She was so hot. “Cage, please stop teasing me.”
He smiled against her flesh. “This is called seducing. We were in too much of a hurry before. This is what I wanted to give you the first time."
She gave a little frustrated growl, and he chuckled. Finally, he reached between them and snatched the condom from his waistband.
He dragged his head back to watch her. With trembling hands, she took the condom from him, then tore the foil and discarded it. She met his gaze levelly and reached into his boxer briefs, freeing his cock.
Fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Her sure fingers froze his brain synapses for several seconds. Not once did she take her eyes off of his. She pumped him slowly, then again, and he bit back a strangled choke. Cage was in trouble. Would she always do this to him? “So good. Oh, God.”
Still, she didn’t take her gaze off of his. Instead, she sheathed him before smiling. That simple, confident smile had an orgasm chasing partway up his spine.
Hell. If that didn’t wreak havoc with his self-control. He eased his fingers out of her and tugged his boxer briefs all the way down. His cock nudged her slick folds, and her eyes fluttered closed. Her rocking motions caused her sex to rub against the tip of his cock, and he had to clench his jaw to ward off the orgasm.
He shuddered. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me.”
She smiled. “Only the same thing you’re doing to me.”
With slow, tilting motions of his hips, he slid in to the hilt. She moaned and threw her head back while he gritted his teeth and cursed. “Fuck.” Bliss.
Taking advantage of her exposed flesh, he nipped at the column of her neck even as he drove forward. On his retreat, she milked him with the tight sheath of her core. She dug her nails deep, scoring tracks of fire into his upper back and shoulders.
As she moaned his name, Cage knew the danger. This would never be enough. He would need this like a drug. He would crave it. She was already under his skin.
Bad Intentions Page 7