He laughed. “Hell, yeah. I will anytime you give me the chance.”
She sucked down the better half of her drink way too fast and spoke without looking at him. “That’s not going to happen, and I can’t imagine you’re desperate enough to have to beat down a locked door.”
He leaned forward and dropped his feet to the deck. “Can we just get to know one another again? Maybe put the past behind us?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“And I don’t suppose you care to explain why you think that.” He set his glass down on the wide armrest of his chair and stared out toward the beach. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand why that stupid meaningless bet hurt you so much.”
She blinked away the tears that sprang to her eyes, but knew she couldn’t say anything now that would shed any light on it for him. What had her father had done to her wasn’t something she would bring to life again with words. Not ever.
He reached for her hand, his broad fingers sliding over her slender ones. “I’m sorry, Haylie. I’m really sorry, and I know too much time has passed for us to jump back to where we were, the way we were together…but you still do it for me, more than anybody ever has, and I just want to get to know you again. I want to see if we have a chance.”
She shook her head and stood, setting her empty glass down on the rail. “There’s not a snowball’s chance. Please don’t push me for something I can’t give you.”
Her hands trembled as she reached for the slider. If he tried to stop her, she’d cave. God, she couldn’t afford to cave.
* * * *
Haylie sat up in bed unsure what had woken her. Grady had decided to spend the night with a friend. And despite how difficult Blake had made it for her to fall asleep, he’d mercifully left after he finished his drink.
He hadn’t left her mind, though. And a shadow of doubt hovered in her heart. The more she told herself she needed to stay away from him, the more her reasoning sounded lame. He had hurt her, but she had a hard time believing the man who’d been on her lanai tonight would have ever bet her if he knew about her past. What if she could have trusted him enough to let herself keep loving him ten years ago? She shook her head. Her break up with Blake had taught her one thing. She’d never trust anyone as much as she had trusted him again. That didn’t do a thing to tamp down her libido though. He made her want him like she’d never wanted anyone before.
The clock on her bedside table read 2:00 a.m. The antique mother/daughter figurine her mother had given her on her tenth birthday usually illuminated by the glow of the clock’s LCD wasn’t in its usual spot next to the lamp. She hadn’t noticed the figurine missing when she went to bed, but then she’d had a zillion thoughts racing through her head. And Blake Sheridan played a role in every single one of them.
She glanced around the room. Nothing else seemed out of place. The figurine was the most valuable possession she owned, but an untrained eye wouldn’t have known that. A thief wouldn’t have bothered with it. Where in the hell had it gone?
Her mind drifted back to the open sliding glass doors when she had come home looking for Grady. She tried to shake off the fear that eased into her chest, but her muscles tightened instinctively. Had someone been in her house? Was someone there now? Something had woken her. She strained her ears, but heard only the humming of the refrigerator and the soft rush of waves against the shore.
She stretched one hand toward the phone as her heartbeat pounded in her ears and fear struck her nerves. She didn’t really expect her father to come for her in the middle of the night, but he was capable of anything. She sat up against the headboard and froze, waiting for the slightest sound. A long minute passed. She eased her hand away from the phone and judged the distance to her window. Could she get away if she had to? The unmistakable chime of the doorbell rang through the house nearly sending her through her skin.
She swung her feet to the floor and hurried down the hall, hoping Grady had decided to come home and had lost his key again. She pressed her eye to the peephole. Fear slithered away, and the butterflies in her stomach took flight.
In the shadows of her entryway Blake took her breath away. His hair had a tousled, casual flare that it hadn’t had earlier. His t-shirt and asset defining jeans fit him like a dream.
She swung the door open. “What are you doing here?” Her heart pounded in recognition of the flash in his eye. All fire and heat and want and need, like he had every intention of devouring her from head to toe then going back for another helping.
* * * *
“I couldn’t sleep.” Blake stepped forward, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake in coming. “I can’t get you off my mind.”
“Oh God,” slipped through her lips on a whisper. Her skin flushed in a way that tightened his throat. Damn, she was beautiful, and he’d seen that look on her face before. Sending him away wasn’t what she had in mind.
He closed the door and reached for her before she could change her mind. Her breasts stretched the thin camisole she wore and her nipples strained against the fabric. His cock swelled against the denim of his jeans, and his blood pumped like a drum in his ears. She didn’t resist as he pulled her close and tilted her face to his.
The touch of her lips to his sent enough blood south to leave him light headed. He deepened the kiss, reaching for a taste of her and pulling her body closer. She answered every stroke of his tongue and her baby-soft lips responded with a hunger as powerful as his own. Her kiss washed over him like warm rain, dropping on every nerve, seeping through his skin. The urge to wrap himself around her and dive further into her than he’d ever gone rocked him to the core. Her fingers dove into his hair, and her soft moan unraveled him completely.
He caressed the silk camisole against her back, but he needed to feel the heat of her skin. He needed to hold her in his bare hands.
He pushed his fingertips beneath the elastic waistband of her pajama bottoms and slid his palms over two perfect handfuls of flesh. His heart almost stopped, then pounded with a need to sink into her that he couldn’t hold back. He’d once thought he’d wake up with her in his arms every morning, make love to her every night. He had pictured her in his life forever, and now to have her back in his arms sent a rush through him like he’d never felt before. She clung to his neck, pressing her breasts against his chest, and making him crazy with need for her.
Trailing kisses to her neck, he lifted her slightly. Her perfume grew warmer in hollow of her throat, and he breathed her in, letting her sink deeper into his every thought, wiping his mind of everything but the taste, the smell and the feel of her in his arms. Her familiar scent filled his heart, like coming home after being gone too long and instantly feeling like he was right where he belonged.
He held her as close as he could. “Point me to your room,” he said against her skin.
“Down the hall, last door on the right.” Her fingers raked his hair, and she pushed gently, tilting his mouth back to hers. “Promise me I won’t regret this.” Her eyes searched his pleading for the only answer he could give her.
“You won’t. I swear it.” He moved one hand up her back, beneath her sleep cami and carried her across the room. Her skin burned beneath his touch as he drew his fingers across her ribs. She gasped when he cradled her soft breast in his palm. In the hall, he lowered her feet to the floor and pulled the camisole over her head. She helped him out of his shirt and pressed her body to his again.
The muscles in his arms shook with restraint and a low groan rattled through his chest. Feeling her against him, skin to skin ripped hunger and need through him like a freight train.
He toed his shoes off and shucked his jeans before picking her up in his arms again and carrying her to her room.
Her breath came fast. Her fingers speared the hair at the back of his head as she pulled gently, tilting his mouth to hers again.
He stood her down beside the bed and pushed her pants down over her hips. Her soft belly pressed into his hard cock, a
nd in the soft darkness he knew she was still his. He swallowed the lump wedged in his throat. If he didn’t hold back, he’d jump her like an animal. She deserved more than that, but he wasn’t sure how slow he could take it. Passion bit at him, but he eased her onto the bed. His hands fisted on the mattress. He slowly uncurled one to stroke a long strand of hair away from her face and trace her bottom lip with his fingertip while he fought for control.
“Are you just going to look at me?” Breath clung to her words and her eyes glistened in the darkened room.
“I’ve got bigger plans than that.” The words ground out of him, every minute he spent outside of her was an effort. He spread her thighs with his knee and lowered himself onto the bed above her. He hadn’t forgotten how it felt to sink into her, and anticipation rattled his nerves.
He lowered his head and drew his tongue slowly over one sweet nipple and then the other. Her nipples drew tight and her back arched, pushing her breasts toward him. He looked up to see the passion in her eyes, but she murmured his name and pulled his head closer to her chest. Her skin burned hot beneath his tongue and hands.
Breath poured from her lungs and she squirmed beneath him as he sucked and licked, savoring the flavor of her skin. His cock jumped against her thigh begging to feel her wrapped tight around him. Blake couldn’t hold back any longer. He had to have her.
As if she read his thoughts, her hand dipped to his back, and her fingernails bit into him, pulling his body closer, demanding more.
His mouth followed the soft mound of her breast to the valley between that pulsed with the beat of her heart. She trembled as he pressed his lips against the rhythm and kissed a line down her abdomen. Moving his attention to the fevered skin on the inside of her thigh, he focused first on one leg then the other. She shifted, inviting him to taste the very essence of her desire and giving him the only permission he needed to tear down the wall between them.
“Please,” she whispered.
He spread her nether lips with his tongue, and a moan wrenched free from deep in her throat. His cock throbbed and strained under its own weight. The scent of her bore deep into him. He gripped her thighs, probably too hard, but he needed her so bad he couldn’t hold back. He sucked her little swollen bud into his mouth and teased it with short quick strokes.
Her cries filled the room and she moved beneath him, begging for more. He slipped one finger and then another in her tight little hole, getting her ready. His dick swelled again in anticipation. He pumped and stroked inside her while he licked and sucked her clit.
He didn’t think he could hold out any longer. His whole body shook, but he fought the urge to climb on top of her and bury himself deep inside. She tensed. Her voice rose, and then she convulsed, calling his name and circling his head with her thighs. Her soft, trembling flesh covered his shoulders and her juices poured over his fingers. Damn she still came hard.
He couldn’t hold back anymore. He moved over her, dipping down to plant a kiss on her mouth before bracing his arms above her shoulders.
“Condom,” Haylie said, as the tremors subsided and her ache for him reached blinding proportions. She wrapped her legs around his waist and slid her wet pussy against his cock. “I want you inside me. Tell me you have a condom.”
“In my pants, wherever they are.” He looked back toward the clothes that littered the hall. Instead of leaving the bed, he kissed her again. Her essence and a sweet, spicy blend that was uniquely his flavored his tongue. She’d once craved his kisses as much as her next breath. The familiar taste only increased her hunger. With every slide of his tongue against hers emotions she didn’t want to bring into the mix barreled through her.
She pulled back enough to look him in the eye. “Just sex,” she said, her lips on his. “That’s all.” Even as she said words meant to hold him at a distance, her heart pounded, her pulse raced and her body screamed for everything he could give her. She felt more whole than she’d felt in years, but that wasn’t right. That couldn’t be right. “Sex,” she said again, as if a label could negate the emotions that tore through her. As if a single word could excuse her lapse of judgment.
“Whatever you want.” His tongue found hers again. His intoxicating kiss took hold of her completely. She caught herself falling back, heart racing, pulse surging, ten years rewound as if they’d never passed at all. And she was right where she belonged, in the arms of the man her heart had never let go of, even while her brain prosecuted him mercilessly.
She knocked aside the promises she’d made to herself to never give her body to him again. Nothing mattered beyond the fire that had sparked in her belly and raged through every horny inch of her five-foot-four frame. Enough electricity to power a small nation charged the air between them, and every movement of her fingers on his skin sparked an answering need in her womb.
His bare chest pressed hot and heavy against hers, flattening her breasts between them. A faint, warm, musky cologne radiated from the heat of his skin. She pulled him closer abandoning his mouth to explore his neck, his chest, his strong round shoulders. Her fingers captured the smooth muscles of his back. She wanted all of him at once. His hands roamed, unhurried as he reacquainted himself with every curve of her body. His lips trailed her neck, his hot breath leaving goose bumps in its wake.
“I’ve missed this,” he said. “You have know idea how much I’ve missed you.”
She took his mouth in another kiss before he could say anything that would break the spell of the moment. She wanted him. She needed him. The two years since she’d allowed anyone into her bed felt like centuries, and there was no way she could turn back now. She had to keep him from ruining it, from taking her somewhere she wouldn’t go.
“Now.” Pure desperation laced her words. “Please, I need you now.”
His fingers traveled over her hip, caressing her skin in a gentle touch that left her craving more. She wanted him rough. She wanted him fast and hard, and now. Right now. She reached down and gripped his ass, then brought her other hand around to run her palm along his broad shaft. His head fell forward with a heavy breath, and his rock hard cock stretched beneath her touch, jumping with expectation.
“Find that condom,” she said, closing her fingers around him and gliding down his length. She quivered with anticipation from the weight and width of him in her hand. “Hurry,” she breathed.
“I like hearing you want me,” he said, maneuvering his hand between them, finding her slick heat again. His mouth dipped into the hollow of her throat and worked slowly lower. She gripped the stiff tendons of his neck.
Pleasure spiraled from her nipple through her breast, her chest, so deep into her she felt like a tunnel had opened up to take all of him in. Within seconds she was singing his name and before she’d regained her breath from the orgasm, he lifted her off the bed. The power in the effortless way he maneuvered her touched a chord so deep the reverberations almost set off the beginnings of another climax. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on, trusting his strength more than she trusted her own as he carried her down the hall.
Between her room and the guestroom, he laid her down on the carpet and groped the floor. The soft denim of his jeans brushed her leg.
She barely heard the plastic package ripping over the heavy breaths that staggered out of her chest. But seconds later, he spread her thighs with his knee and his thick cock rocked against her as his mouth came down with a hunger that matched hers. She tilted her hips and welcomed him. His big cock stretched her entrance, and the solid stroke he entered her with shot through her like lightning.
“Haylie, oh honey,” he groaned with his mouth buried in her hair, his body perfectly in tune with hers. Every movement sent them closer to a place they knew well, a place no one could take her the way he did. He flattened his palms against hers and as his strokes built in speed and intensity, their fingers twined. Her hands burned from their crushing grip on one another, but the pain was lost in the pleasure that coursed through her.
He answered her cries from low in his throat. The sounds of his voice, the slick heat of his skin, and the way he filled her more than anyone ever had overloaded her senses. She lost herself completely and gave herself over to a tide of heat and unparalleled sensations, screaming for him as if he could save her before she completely slipped away.
Thrusting deep, his muscles clenched. His breath tore through him and erupted in a growl. She clung to his slick skin. With a final stroke, he collapsed at her side, breathing her name and gripping her waist as if she might run away from him again.
* * * *
The sun had barely risen and Blake stood next to her bed slipping into his clothes. His jeans hung low on his waist and he pulled his t-shirt down over a six-pack that curled Haylie’s toes. He caught her eye. “I’ve got to be in court at nine.”
She sat up and held the sheet to her throat. The unforgiving light of morning did nothing to diminish the strong lines of his body, but it worked her ego over pretty good.
“Is your client guilty?”
“That’s for the jury to decide.” He picked his watch up off the nightstand and tugged the sheet from her grasp with a grin.
“Did he commit the crime he’s been accused of?” She covered her nakedness again gripping the sheet in both hands this time.
He answered her with a kiss, his mouth full on hers, his tongue reaching for more. She lost hold of the sheet and gave herself over to the feel and taste of him. His hand massaged her breast and heat flooded between her thighs. Just one more reason she needed to stick to her guns. In less time than it took him to fasten his watch, he could make her forget her principles and forego her rationale.
He stood up with a smile and took her hand, hauling her to her feet. In defiance she grabbed a pillow and held it in front of her as she walked him to the living room. At the kitchen counter, he reached for her again but a knock sounded at the door before he could plow over her stubborn pride with another kiss.
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