by Karen Anders
“I need to get by,” she said. This particular table was a few feet away from the wall and Sean was blocking the space.
“Go ahead,” he replied without moving a muscle. It irked her that she either had to walk all the way around the other side of the table or squeeze by him.
“Fine,” she countered. Deliberately, she slid her body along his in a slow caress. Sean’s smoky-gray eyes flared and narrowed. The heat of his body seeped into her and she hesitated only a fraction of a second before moving on. Unnerved, she missed her shot.
Sean took over the table and he was good. Very good. But she was lucky that his anger was so thick, he missed a ball and Lana took over.
The first game was close. But it was his win.
He never even gave her an opening in the second game.
Without looking at her, he chalked the end of his cue. His face expressionless, he eyed the table. Bending down, his voice curt, he said. “Six ball in the corner pocket.”
He proceeded to clear the table of balls, making one impossible shot after another. When he’d taken care of all the solids, he spoke, his voice slicing through the silence. “Eight ball in the side pocket.”
With a sharp report of white against black, the black ball flew into the pocket as if spring-loaded.
7
“THAT’S THE WAY TO PUT HER in her place, O’Neill. How about taking on a real man?” Dane Bryant stood close to the table and Lana cursed her luck. She saw the anger in Sean’s eyes intensify and focus on Bryant.
That’s all she needed was for these two to brawl. Sean took a step, but she deliberately blocked him, feeling the heat of his big, male body come up against her back, his groin nestle against her buttocks.
“A real man doesn’t push a woman down and then slash her tires.”
“What the hell are you talking about, O’Neill?”
Sean did a dodge around Lana. Before she could stop him, he grabbed Bryant. With the force of a Mac truck, he propelled the man across the room and up against the wall.
“You know what I’m talking about, so don’t pretend,” Sean said through gritted teeth.
Lana rushed up to them, Rosa flanking her. Lana grabbed Sean’s arm and tried to pull him off Bryant. It was like trying to move a concrete foundation. Even with all Lana’s strength, she couldn’t budge him.
In a detached part of her brain, she was awed and totally turned on by Sean’s strength and protectiveness. She hadn’t realized the gentle friend she knew could be so tough.
Lana knew part of it was that he was so angry with her he wanted a fight. She could see it in the taut lines of his body.
“Don’t do it, amigo,” Rosa said softly. “He’s not worth a night in jail.”
“She’s right,” Lana said, softly. “Let him go.”
Sean held on a moment longer and then let go. Lana grabbed his wrist and jerked him out of the poolroom, through the bar and out into the night.
She pulled him over to her SUV and ordered, “Get in.”
Sean stiffened and turned away. “I brought my own car.”
She grabbed at his arm. “I can’t trust you to go home. I’m afraid you’ll go back and kick Bryant’s ass.”
“Why would you care? You don’t even like him!”
“And since when have you been the kind of guy who wants to punch people’s lights out instead of being reasonable?” Lana yelled.
“Since things between us became complicated,” Sean yelled back.
He got into her car and slammed the door. They sat for a moment in silence. “I’ve decided not to be easygoing Sean anymore. I’m the Sean who takes what he wants, when he wants it.”
Without warning, Sean reached for her and dragged her across the plastic console, settling her into the cradle of his thighs.
The darkness outside the SUV and the tinted windows kept out most of the light and shielded them from unwanted scrutiny.
“Sean,” she whispered against his demanding mouth, but he wouldn’t stop kissing her. She tried to pull away to get a word in, but decided that a little sex would soothe the savage beast in him. She was aroused from Sean’s display at the pool table and his protective episode with Bryant. Her laid-back buddy was turning into this dark, sexy knight and she liked it. She knew that they couldn’t go back to being just friends. The thought of their relationship changing from one that was simple, to this…this out of control intimacy was a bit terrifying. But she would embrace it. It’s what she’d really wanted from Sean.
He cupped the nape of her neck and dragged her face to his for another rough, plundering kiss. He pressed her down against his erection, his hands fisting in her hair. Taking her mouth with a deep groan, his hands were hard, insistent, right on the edge of painful, but it was a delicious tingling pain.
She wished she could see his face. Using her hands instead, she reveled in the texture of his skin. She felt intensely vulnerable, and so excited she could melt into a shimmering cloud. She squirmed against the rock-hard bulge beneath her bottom and kissed him back hungrily.
He vibrated against her, sliding his hand down between the waistband of her jeans and panties and her quivering skin, absorbing the cry with his mouth as he touched her where she so desperately needed to be touched. Lana clutched at him, her body going rigid, and he brought her face against his neck as she involuntarily arched against the stroking pressure of his fingers. An explosion detonated inside her, and a chain of convulsions ripped through her as she came apart.
Sean took a deep breath as Lana climaxed. His feelings were overpowering him right now and he struggled to control the surging, chaotic whirl of his mind and body. He was angry at her, jealous of Pete, furious with Bryant. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to feel the softness of her skin. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to hear her cry his name as she came and came.
He hadn’t meant to kiss her, not when the heart-pumping adrenaline coursed through his veins, not with his hunger riding him relentlessly. He’d meant to yell at her and get all this hurt out of his system before he touched her again, but when she came near him now, he couldn’t think.
He took her mouth again, dragging her back into the maelstrom of his hunger, not easing up his aggressive attack. And she kissed him back as he drew her fast into their passion again, yet not fast enough for his spiraling need.
Angling his mouth across hers, he pulled at her lower lip. She opened her mouth on a gasp and a groan, deepening the kiss, tongue to tongue, caressing the softness of her sweet mouth.
Her reaction spoke for her as she twisted impatiently against him, one knee sliding over his thigh. Cupping her buttocks, he pulled her hips into his rhythm.
This is what he needed. Lana’s fingers in his hair, boldly rubbing his cock through his jeans, jerking at his waistband and working the metal button free. She brushed her knuckles against him, taking him into mindless, dangerous sensation.
It was as if he didn’t know himself anymore, as if Lana was defining him, bringing out his true nature. He hadn’t known he could feel so much in such a short time.
In her fire, he was a phoenix reborn.
In the fire of their need their relationship was being forged, changed, remade. He couldn’t say that he didn’t like it. But it terrified him, this uncontrollable feeling he had for Lana.
It wasn’t only the relationship that was changing. When Lana told him about the souvenir, he’d known she thought he’d go along. It was the last straw to a life of acquiescence. Even their previous relationship had been tame because he’d never reached for anything more. He’d always held himself back. Not anymore.
Bracing her knees on either side of him she reached down to unzip his jeans, but he grabbed her wrists. “No.”
He watched as she stopped abruptly, leaning back. “What…”
“Drive. Now. The sooner you do, the sooner you can slide down on to my cock.”
She swallowed and quickly got off his lap. Settling into the driver’s seat, she started the car and
put it in gear.
Sean had already buttoned his jeans. “I’ll follow you.”
He got out and went to his car, his body throbbing with a desire so thick he could barely breathe around it. He followed Lana’s taillights all the way to her house.
IT DIDN’T TAKE them long to get up the walk, and Lana felt surprised when Sean took her arm and directed her into the garden past the huge sunflowers and fragrant beds until they were out of sight.
She watched as he jerked off his clothes with hard, effective movements. Lana followed his lead, stepping quickly out of her shoes, unbuttoning the clasp of her jeans.
He unbuckled his belt and kicked off jeans, shoes, socks and underwear. He was ready, naked and waiting while she was starting to unbutton her blouse. Her brown eyes caressed the length of his naked body. He was so beautiful in the moonlight, like a sculpted statue come to life.
She knew the moment when his patience snapped. As he advanced, she smiled coyly and backed away. He kept coming at her until her back hit the side of the bungalow. His hands went to the buttons. In his haste to disrobe her, fabric ripped and buttons popped.
She gasped and moaned softly as he shoved the torn garment off her shoulders. This close she could smell his warm, knee-melting scent.
Her hands caught in the still-buttoned cuffs and he brought them forward and up over her head as he pressed his body against hers.
He nuzzled her breasts, his tongue dipping into her cleavage.
Holding her wrists immobile in one of his big hands, he roughly pulled down one cup of her bra to expose her succulent nipple. With a growl deep in his throat, he took it into his mouth, working it hungrily against his tongue and sucking it. Sensations pounded through her, arrowing into her groin.
“Sean, let go,” she whispered. He did, pulling down her other cup and taking her tantalizing nipple into his mouth.
She freed herself of the ruined blouse. Her slender hands ran down his back, over his buttocks, bringing his shaft against the rough material of her jeans.
He cried out. Cursing, he fumbled with the zipper of her jeans. As soon as the fabric yielded, he slid to his knees, wrenching her jeans down around her ankles. He did the same for the scrap of blue lace covering her sex.
Sean stopped panting. He was shaking, muscles rigid, heart racing. She was overwhelmed with how much he wanted her until it was a hard, spiraling ache inside her. His face was mere inches from the soft curves of her thighs, the tangle of dark curls that hid her sex.
Lana stared down at him. His eyes flared and smoldered, enigmatic in the shadows. Her mouth parted and she licked her dry lips. His eyes were so full of emotion, Lana had to look away.
His tousled hair lifted in the breeze, dislodging a lock that had fallen over his forehead. She steadied herself on his shoulders and her fingers flinched at the contact.
“Sean, you’re burning hot.”
Her hand slowly caressed his throat, then his face. She explored the bones of his jaw and his cheekbones with the tips of her cool fingers.
He sighed at her touch, closing his eyes and pressing his face against her soft belly. She battled for air, feeling as if her heart were seizing in her chest.
She felt wild and frantic teetering on the very edge of sanity. His cheek was rough against the skin of her belly.
Grasping her ankle, he ran his hand up until he slid between her thighs. Forcing them apart, he pressed his face against her mound. She shuddered and cried out.
Her hands threaded through his hair, clutching tightly as he pressed his mouth against the tender moist folds inside the nest of curls. He tasted her, absorbing the cry that shivered through her body.
He came to his feet, his chest heaving. Clasping her shoulders, he turned her around, gently biting her shoulder blade, deftly unclasping her bra. He slipped the scrap of lace off her shoulders and down her arms. His hands slid back up her rib cage to cup her breasts in his hands.
She twisted in his arms and he leaned down to take one of her beckoning nipples. His hand grabbed her wrist and guided her hand to his cock.
“Touch me, Lana.”
“How? Show me.”
He directed her hand up and down his shaft in long, hard pulls. He slid her palm around the head, moistening it with a pearly drop of pre-come so that her hand could slide up and down the length of him, slick and silky.
He moved to the other nipple. “Use both hands,” he said roughly before taking her other nipple. He groaned when she gripped him with rough eagerness.
“I like it hard,” he urged.
“I like it hard, too,” she whispered against his ear. Lana made a purring sound, increasing her tempo and dragging a groan of pleasure out of him. His hands roamed over her eagerly, skimming her soft swells and dips and curves.
With hard, bold strokes, she was drawing him dangerously close to the brink, and how she reveled in her power over him. He had never demanded like this from her and she wanted him to overpower her.
He shoved her back, lifting her up against the rough wall.
She held on to his shoulders for balance. She moaned, almost inaudibly, as he kissed her neck, trailing the tip of his tongue over her damp skin.
Her gaze locked with his as he slid a finger inside her sheath, testing her. He withdrew his finger slowly and circled it around her rosy, swollen nub. “You like that?”
Her fingers dug into his shoulders, her hips jerking against his hand. “Yes,” she gasped out.
“You liked touching my cock?” he persisted.
Her hips pulsed eagerly as he slid his gleaming finger in and out of her.
He took a moment to grab up his jeans and get a condom, which he swiftly rolled onto himself, lifting her legs and opening her thighs.
She braced her hands, holding herself upright, watching him, her soft thighs open for him to take what he wanted.
He pushed into her with one slick seamless thrust.
His whole body clenched and he lifted her up against him still thrusting.
Lana cried out. He twisted and they sank into the bed of flowers deep in the English garden he so loved.
He buried his fingers in her satiny hair and kissed her, a greedy kiss.
She twined her arms around his neck, her hips urging him to move, her body arching and begging beneath him.
Lana moaned softly, her hips bucking as he slid down the length of her body. He pressed her legs toward her chest, opening her. She muffled the shocked cry of pleasure as he drew the swollen center of her pleasure into his mouth.
He took her ruthlessly. Sucking and licking at her, he was deliberately intensifying her need as she twisted in his grasp.
She climaxed gainst his mouth. The spasms beat wet, hot and uncontrollable through her body.
Sean mounted her, settling his hips into her soft, moist sheath.
Lana arched and her eyes flew open as he filled her, pushing into her until he couldn’t go any farther.
Her hips rose up to meet him as he pulled out of her and slid, slowly back in.
She slipped her hands into his hair, pulling his head toward her so that she could give him her mouth.
She was his in every sense.
He made her surrender and take the closeness they shared even higher than Lana thought was possible. The hard, pulsing heat of his cock swept away the last vestiges of her self-control.
“More. Harder, please, Sean.”
He plunged in again, her cries sharp and breathless.
She loved the way he thrust mindlessly, caught up in his own body’s primal need. Her world splintered into hard-edged pleasure as she lost her footing, and her pleasure detonated through her with brutal force.
He lay on top of her for a moment and then he rolled to the side. After a few moments, they silently dressed and went into her house.
LATER, Lana brushed a few errant strands of hair from her face. “Why were you so angry?” her voice hushed out.
He closed his eyes and responded, “I thought I un
derstood our relationship.”
“You’re angry because you felt more for me and you thought I didn’t care as much?”
“Yes. I feel like I’m on shaky ground.”
“It scares you?”
“It does scare me. But what I really don’t know how to handle is the fact that I’m some prize in a dare with your girlfriends. I thought I was much more than that to you.”
“You are.”
“Then why treat me like that?”
She raised herself up on one elbow to look down into his face. “Did it ever occur to you that it was unnerving to want to make love with a man I consider my best friend? I took that dare, pushed Sienna and Kate because I wanted you.”
Sean took a deep breath and looked away.
“Jeez, Lana you know how to take the wind out of a man’s sails. What am I supposed to say to that?”
“You don’t have to say anything. I was trying to explain to you my convoluted logic. I’m trying to apologize.”
“I can understand how you feel. I’ve thought about you in bed so many times I’ve lost count. Even when it was contained in my head, it was still unnerving. How would it work between us, if our romantic relationship ended? Hell, we work together.”
“I know but when you want someone, there’s no logic to it. It just is. I tricked myself into thinking that this dare would work and I could have you once and that would be it. But after the last time with you, I knew that I had to tell you why I really seduced you.”
“Because of the need for a souvenir?”
“No. Because I couldn’t admit to myself that I wanted you, but it goes beyond sex now.”
“When did it change?”
“When I saw that hurt look on your face. I couldn’t bear it because I care about you on so many levels.”
“So I think we’re on the same wavelength. We both care. Where do we go from here?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay, Lana. We don’t need to map every nuance and plan for everything. Just don’t leave me out of the loop.”