He wasn’t surprised, so he obviously knew exactly what he was trying to feed her. Which only made her irritation skyrocket.
With a shrug, he pulled back and popped the rest of the chocolate into his mouth.
Staring at the box, his fingers waving over the top as if he were playing eenie, meenie, minie, mo, he said, “You don’t really believe that a little chocolate can make you do something you don’t want to do, do you?”
“No.” The single word came out hard and clipped.
His lips twisted into a knowing smirk. She wanted to wipe it off his face.
“So, does that mean you already want me and you’re afraid the truffles will push you over the edge?”
Tatum hissed long and low. She’d walked into that one.
“No.” Yes. That was exactly what she was afraid of. Several of Lexi’s customers swore by her truffles. She had a booming internet business. Tatum dealt with enough customers to realize people wouldn’t keep coming back for more if they didn’t do something—even if it was merely a placebo effect.
Her body was already throbbing enough, though, and there was no reason to tempt fate and play fast and loose with her steaming urges.
Evan popped another one into his mouth and chewed slowly. Tatum watched the thick column of his throat work and fought the need to close the space between them and lick.
“So far,” he said. “I don’t get it. These things aren’t making me any more aroused than I was the moment I walked in your front door.” Lifting his penetrating gaze to hers, she watched, spellbound as he slipped his index finger into his mouth and sucked. He did it again, thoroughly cleaning chocolate off of each finger until she was practically panting.
“But then, I don’t see how anything could make me want you more than I already do. Do you know how many nights over the last three years I’ve woken up, sweating and hard, with the echo of your cries ringing through my head? Or how many times I stroked myself, eyes closed, praying for you to be the one touching me?”
She couldn’t breathe. The room spun, the only thing keeping her centered his glittering eyes full of heat and promise. The need was so sharp she could feel the cut of it deep inside.
Why was she denying them both what she desperately wanted?
She couldn’t remember anymore.
To hell with it.
Tatum’s body coiled, on the edge of launching herself at him, when he surged up from the couch and out of her reach. Dropping the open box of chocolates onto the table, he peered down at her.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night so I’m heading to bed.”
She watched him walk away, all fluid power. Tight jeans hugged his ass and thighs.
What the...? Well, hell.
The haze cleared, like fog slowly lifting to reveal a perfect spring morning.
He’d done that on purpose. Spun her up only to let her crash back alone.
Tatum huffed out an unhappy breath.
Two could play at that game.
* * *
HE COULD HAVE PUSHED, but he wanted Tatum to come to the decision that being together was right, not because her hormones were buzzing, but because she wanted him back in her life.
The tortured expression on her face as he’d walked away had just been a bonus. Although, that euphoria of triumph had been short-lived when he quickly realized Tatum wasn’t the only one going to bed frustrated and unfulfilled tonight.
A high price to pay for scoring a point in round two, but worth it.
Collapsing onto the bed, Evan didn’t bother pulling back the covers. He clasped his hands behind his head and stared up at the beige ceiling. His entire body throbbed. He could practically count the thump of his pulse lodged painfully against his fly.
Closing his eyes, Evan drew in a deep breath and tried to will his body to relax. One muscle group at a time, he forced the tension away. It was working, right up until a noise sounded in the room next door.
The thump was innocent, except for the vision of Tatum getting undressed for bed flickering against his closed eyelids. She’d never been the kind of woman who particularly fussed over her wardrobe. She’d dressed in sharp suits, skirts and blouses when she worked in an office. Obviously, she didn’t need business clothes in order to run a florist’s shop. He assumed her standard uniform had become the jeans and long-sleeved T she’d been wearing earlier.
That thought naturally led him to wonder if anything else about her wardrobe had changed. While the rest of her clothes had run toward the conservative, her underwear and nighties had always been the stuff of male fantasy—soft silks and satins edged with lace that flirted with the tops of her thighs and molded to her skin. Bright, bold colors—red, black, blue and green. No pinks or pastels for Tatum. It had always driven him insane when she’d walked out the door in the morning, knowing what she wore beneath the respectable layers of clothing.
And that he was the only one who’d ever get to see.
Now he could envision her slipping something sinful and sexy over her head and letting it skim down her body.
He was completely lost in the fantasy, which was probably why it took several minutes for the other sounds to filter through. A soft moan. Another thump. A whimper of need. And a telltale buzz that had a red fog filling his head.
Oh, no, she wasn’t.
Especially not while he was on the other side of her damn wall, aching so badly the teeth of his zipper were probably permanently tattooed onto his dick.
Leaping out of bed, Evan tore the door to his room open. Without stopping to knock, he barreled into hers, eyes zeroing on the bed where he expected to find her.
But she wasn’t there.
The room was dark, golden light from the attached bathroom spilling into the space. It took him a few seconds to find her, back pressed against the wall adjoining his room. Her arms were crossed over her chest, one elbow bent, her arm held up with a vibrator clenched tightly in her fist as it buzzed uselessly in the air.
The damn thing was purple. For some reason, the color pissed him off.
Her mouth was open and another moan slipped through, although it was obviously a lie. She glared at him, her green eyes hard and stark with emotion.
“Would serve you right if you’d walked in on me taking care of myself.”
“Honey, we both know in that situation you wouldn’t be taking care of yourself for long.”
Tatum flicked the switch and the buzzing stopped, although the echo of it still relentlessly pulsed through Evan’s brain. She tossed it onto the dresser beside her.
She’d obviously chosen her spot to maximize his torture, but she’d made one tactical error. Wedged between her dresser and the corner of the room, she had nowhere to go when he stalked forward and closed the distance between them.
He didn’t stop until his body was flush with hers. He enjoyed her sharp intake of breath and the way her eyes widened. The way her body tensed and then melted against him. God, she felt so good.
“That wasn’t nice,” he breathed against her mouth right before he fused his lips to hers.
This time he didn’t wait for her to open for him, but took what he wanted, not that she resisted. Her tongue met his, stroke for stroke. Her fingers buried in his hair, tugging just a little and making his scalp tingle.
After several moments, she used that hold to pull him back. “Neither was what you did,” she murmured, brushing her lips softly, seductively against his mouth. He could have broken her hold, but he was enjoying her teasing.
“If it’s any consolation, I pretty much screwed myself with that stunt. Probably more than you.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“You didn’t eat any of the chocolates.”
Her mouth curved, and he could feel her smile as she continued to drive him crazy. “True.”
Evan grasped her hips, pulling her into the cradle of his body. There was no doubt she could feel just how much he wanted her.
Satin slipped beneath his pal
ms, sliding seductively against her skin. Tatum moaned, and this time he had no doubt the sound was real. Her eyes darkened and her lips parted.
At least he had one question answered. She still preferred sexy lingerie.
Dropping his mouth to her throat, Evan licked at the pulse speeding there.
His fingers grasped the material at her hip and slowly began to gather it into a tight ball.
He wanted to see her. Explore every inch of her. Discover any changes to the body he’d known so well. But he’d settle for whatever she let him have. For now.
It didn’t take long to bare the tiny scrap of matching lace covering her mound. And even less time to swipe it out of his way. His fingers brushed up the slit of her sex and straight into the slippery evidence that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
“It looks like we’re both in a bad way.”
She hummed, the sound full of dreamy surrender.
“Let me make you feel good, Tatum,” he whispered against her skin. “Please, baby, let me touch you. Let me feel you. Let me replace all of the fantasies that kept me going with something real.”
Her head dropped back against the wall with a muffled thump. She stared up at him with glassy eyes, and for a brief moment, he felt the tight pinch of guilt. But it didn’t last. Not when she slowly nodded.
He was afraid to take the time to undress her. Reality was a looming giant, just waiting in the wings to come crashing in and reclaim the few minutes he’d stolen.
Caressing her thigh, Evan urged her to wrap her leg high on his hip. The scent of her arousal enveloped him, making him dizzy with need.
Bending down, he sucked the tight button of her breast into his mouth. The satin of her gown was slick against his tongue. She whimpered and arched up into the suction. He grazed his teeth over the pearled flesh, reveling in her choked sounds of pleasure.
Showing the same attention to the other breast, Evan reached blindly to the dresser. He searched, letting out a sound of triumph when his hand closed around the velvety surface of the vibrator.
With a thumb, he flicked it on, the gentle buzzing filling the room. Tatum jolted in surprise, her eyes widening as she stared up at him. Her heavy breath sawed through parted lips. His own chest ached with the pressure of wanting her. Needing her.
Slowly, he brought the purple tip to the inside of her thigh and let it play across her skin. Evan held her in place, one demanding hand cupping the back of her head, refusing to let her look away from him.
The connection he’d always felt with her snapped between them, vibrant and intense.
He trailed the humming instrument up to the sensitive crease of her hip. His fingertips followed the same path, delighting in feeling the prickles raised on her skin.
She pulled in a sharp breath and her eyelids fluttered, trying to close.
“No,” he whispered, “Look at me. Let me see.” He wanted to watch her dissolve beneath the pleasure he could give her.
Her eyes sprang open, dark and deep. Such a vibrant green, like the dense rainforest he’d become so familiar with. No one liked the moist heat, but though his trips into the suffocating vegetation had been few and far between, somehow he’d always felt safer there. Less on guard. Comfortable.
Just the way he felt diving straight into Tatum’s gaze.
Her neck arched into his hold, his fingers tunneling through the soft haven of her hair to the heat of her skin. Even as he lost himself in the reality of holding her, he moved the vibrator relentlessly closer to that delicious center of hers.
He let it play across the seam of her sex, torturing her even as his own body rioted in response. She gasped and groaned, writhing against him and trying to get him to move where she needed him.
“Please,” she pleaded, the single word dripping into his blood like the sweetest honey.
He wanted to draw this moment out as long as possible, but didn’t have the patience or strength to follow through.
Diving deep into the hot cleft of her sex, he found the straining bud of her clit and applied pressure. Her entire body bucked. Her thighs strained open wider, offering him more. She whimpered, but she didn’t look away. She let him see absolutely everything she was feeling.
And he couldn’t help but feel a thrilling moment of triumph. She wouldn’t be able to keep him out, not after letting him see so much.
She was so close. He could feel her body winding tighter and tighter, the muscles right at the opening of her body fluttering with a need to be filled. He had every intention of giving her what she needed.
Evan dragged the vibrator down to rim her sex, teasing, before finally letting it slip inside her body. Bit by bit, he fed her the smooth purple surface. Part of him wanted to look down, watch her body swallow what he was giving her. But he couldn’t pull his gaze from hers, he was so entranced by the intense pleasure suffusing her face.
He pumped the vibrating shaft in and out, his own hips involuntarily matching the steady, thrumming pace. She whimpered and whispered, “Oh, my...”
Her fingers dug into his back and shoulders, pinching and leaving marks. Her body undulated beneath him, shamelessly fighting for more.
And then she was crying out, the sound barely breaking free before his mouth dropped over hers so he could absorb the taste of her pleasure. She trembled, her entire body rolling with the force of her release.
God, she was gorgeous. On any given day Tatum was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. But when she was open like this to him...there was nothing greater. Her trust, need, innate sensuality, vulnerability and happiness all laid softly in the palm of his hand to protect and cherish.
Pressed tight against him, her entire body went lax. She clung, this time not with building tension but fluid relief.
And he felt like the strongest, luckiest, most invincible man in the whole damn world.
Right up until she pushed him away.
6
“WHAT THE HELL was that?” she roared, slapping at his chest and trying to shove him away.
The man was a veritable mountain. She knew the only reason he stumbled backward was because she’d surprised him. If he’d been braced...
He frowned. “That was me making you feel damn good.”
They both knew she couldn’t argue with that, not without looking like an idiot, and a lying one at that. She’d come so hard she was afraid he’d have scars on his shoulders from her nails.
Yanking at the hem of her nightie, she tried to find a shred of the modesty she’d obviously lost. It didn’t help that her panties were utterly soaked as they settled back into place, snug against her still-throbbing sex.
“Don’t play that horrified, affronted game with me, Tatum. What exactly did you expect to happen when you taunted me with this?”
He held up her purple vibrator, still glistening wet from her body. Heat, which had nothing to do with arousal, suffused her skin. Considering all they’d done and been to each other over the years, her embarrassment seemed out of place. But she couldn’t stop the tide of bright pink as it swept up her chest and face.
She slapped back in the only way she could, with words. “I didn’t expect you to charge in here and use it on me.”
“Bullshit. That’s exactly what you wanted. You wanted me to barge in here and overwhelm you so you could pretend you didn’t have a choice, that you didn’t really want me to touch and tease until your body was on fire.”
Tatum opened her mouth to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. Because, God, he was right. And up until he let her think he was dead for three years, they’d never lied to each other.
Evan had been the one person she’d opened herself up to. She’d let him see the worst of herself, which she’d hidden from the rest of the world—the guilt and grief and relief when her father had killed himself.
She was a terrible person, angry at her father for taking the easy way out, but at the same time feeling freed from the oppressive weight of being responsible for him and his pai
n. There had been days she’d resented having to live apart from her husband—a man she’d loved desperately. That she’d had to give up her dreams of college when her dad had lost his job and been emotionally unable to handle a new one when her mother had gotten sick. Resentful that, before she was ready, she’d had to become the responsible adult.
And then she’d hated herself for those feelings.
Evan was the only person she’d ever been completely honest with about her jumbled emotions after the devastation of walking in and finding her father lying in a pool of his own blood.
She couldn’t lie to him tonight, not even if he’d earned it.
Seeming to sense her crumbling resolve, Evan closed the gap and pressed against her until she had no choice but to flatten against the wall. And immediately, her body responded to him.
How could he do that to her? Not five minutes after an amazing orgasm, she wanted more. Wanted him.
The long ridge of his erection nestled perfectly against the cradle of her thighs. He rubbed against her already sensitive clit, sliding silk over her slippery skin in a torturous caress.
“Don’t do this, Tatum. Don’t put walls between us that have never been there before. Give me two weeks. I can make you love me again.” He leaned forward, brushing his mouth along the ridge of her cheek until he reached her ear. “I’ve never stopped loving you. You, Tatum, are the only person in this world who matters to me. I need you, now more than I ever have.”
Her eyes slid shut. Hope and need and fear collided inside her chest, a heavy concoction that seemed to drag on every muscle.
“I...can’t, Evan,” she whispered, the words cracking because deep inside she didn’t want to say them. But she had to. She needed to protect herself, because heaven knew no one else would.
No one had protected her against the pain of watching her mother slowly waste away from cancer. No one interceded when her father crumbled and she was left to try and hold both of their lives together, only to have him reward her sacrifice by taking his own life.
And no one stood beside her to blunt the pain of losing the only person who’d ever been there for her. Oh, there’d been people, but no one who understood. No one she could talk to. Confide in. Even now, surrounded by friends she loved, and who obviously cared about her...she hadn’t exactly opened up. Hell, she hadn’t told them she’d been married.
Bring Me to Life Page 7