by BETH KERY
She glanced up at the carvings on the mantel.
“You did this,” she whispered, stating a fact rather than asking. He said nothing, and neither did she as she withdrew the rest of the carved ornaments—a moose with its head dipped as it drank, a beaver on its haunches that had just become aware of an intruder and was about to spring, a twisting trout as it darted away from the hook that almost had snared it.
The last one she withdrew from the box was different than all the others—an angel with wings outspread, the expression on her beautiful face enigmatic and arresting.
“Oh, Alex. You could do this for a living,” she said in a hushed tone.
She was hesitant to turn around and look at him at that full moment…afraid of what she might do. He said nothing, but she’d never been so aware of another person in her life.
After a moment, she swallowed thickly and carefully placed the exquisite angel back into the box.
“When will we be able to put up the tree?”
“Not until this evening,” he replied in a low voice.
“Thank you for getting it, Alex,” she said feelingly, although she was careful to keep her gaze on the leaping flames in the hearth. Her heart began to thrum in her ears in the taut silence that followed. Her neck and cheek prickled with the awareness of his gaze.
She heard him sigh and sensed that he straightened.
“It’s not a huge tree or anything,” he said gruffly behind her. “If you’re finished in the bathroom, I’ll take the heater out to the garage. It’ll help dry the tree. I’ll give it a good once over with some towels too. That ought to help,” he said briskly, and she was grateful to him for breaking the tension of the moment.
He stood suddenly, and Angeline turned. She found herself staring straight onto long, hard-looking thighs and a jaw-dropping, denim-covered package. She told herself to drop her gaze, but instead she looked up into Alex’s face.
He watched her with a heavy-lidded stare that spoke volumes.
Angeline lunged up off the couch and took several steps toward the kitchen.
“I’m finished in the bathroom. Hey, is it okay if I check out what you have in the freezer? It’s kept things cold enough, even without the electricity, but we ought to try to use some of the thawing meat soon. Maybe I can find something suitable for a Christmas dinner?”
His blue-eyed gaze swept rapidly over her from head to toe just like it had when he’d entered the kitchen earlier. Unlike that time, however, he didn’t seem irritated by her standoffishness.
“Make yourself at home, Angel.”
She stood transfixed as he lowered his head, and then she was staring at the back of his broad shoulders as he left the room.
What the hell was she going to do? She was trapped in this house with a man she found immensely sexually attractive, but also appealing and even endearing in unforeseen ways.
She couldn’t quite comprehend Alex’s comfort in expressing his interest in her when they hardly knew each other, but one thing she did know. Angeline was going to have to be honest with Mitchell about what had happened with Alex, at least in a vague, un-detailed format.
It was a conversation she was looking forward to about as much as running out into the blizzard naked.
As for what was still happening between her and Alex, she felt anxious and wary about that as well. Surely Alex’s interest in her was at least partly associated with all the animosity he held toward Mitchell. He’d accused Mitchell of asking her up to Heavenly View to hurt him.
Wasn’t it possible Alex’s motivation in seducing her was a return metaphorical punch? And if so, didn’t that make it an absolute must for her to reject him if he came onto her again?
Logically, that would seem to be the only answer. But Angeline thought of their heated trysts on that floor last night, and she was honest enough to admit to herself she was so curious about…so desirous of Alex Caraddine’s touch, it would be damn difficult to refuse him much of anything.
Chapter Nine
She discovered that Alex’s freezer and cupboards were well stocked. She prepared some oatmeal on the gas stove, and started to plan out a meal for Christmas Eve. After Alex had dried the tree and returned inside carrying a small mountain of towels, he joined her in eating steaming oatmeal topped with blueberries and a sprinkle of brown sugar. They cleaned up the few breakfast dishes together, Angeline worrying about the long day looming before them. But Alex once again showed he was capable of tact by suggesting they play cards to fill up their time.
Much to her surprise, the nervous tension she usually experienced around him—what was really a hyper-awareness of him sexually—eased while they engaged in a fun, competitive match of hearts while sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, Angeline wrapped in a warm blanket. She discovered that not only did Alex possess a sharp, dry sense of humor and an incising intelligence, the man was a card shark. She considered herself to be pretty good at cards, so it irritated her that she couldn’t beat him for more than an occasional round.
Still, she couldn’t help but admire his skill, which was made twice as appealing by his almost casual disregard in wielding it.
“I think I’ve been had,” she stated with a scowl when she added up the points for their latest round.
He leaned back on his hands and grinned. “You picked the game.”
“Lucky for you, I guess. How was I supposed to know you’re the Midwest Hearts Champion?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered what game you picked, Angel.”
She lowered her eyes, pretending to be miffed by his immodesty. In reality, the combination of his new nickname for her and his potent smile knocked her off balance. She glanced out the patio doors at the raging storm. Even though it couldn’t be much later than two-thirty, it looked like it was dusk already. She opened her eyes to comment on it when the kitchen light suddenly blinked on.
“We have electricity,” she exclaimed gleefully.
“Hallelujah,” Alex muttered as he leapt up and headed toward the thermostat. He turned it several notches and Angeline gave a whoop of excitement when the furnace kicked on.
“We can put lights on the tree,” she said when he returned.
He smiled broadly at her show of enthusiasm—how could she ever have thought him cold and unapproachable?—and nodded toward an oak entertainment center. “Do you want to watch the weather on the news?”
She recalled how she’d asked for a radio to hear the weather and traffic report earlier, anxious to start planning her escape.
“What?” he asked when he saw her hesitancy. She glanced down as she shuffled the cards.
“Maybe later. I was thinking…I’m better at poker than hearts. Do you know how to play?”
His upraised eyebrows told her loud and clear—what do you think?
Angeline laughed and dealt the cards while he turned on a lamp, the light seeming like a priceless luxury since they’d been deprived of it for so long.
An hour later she tossed down her cards.
“All right. I give up. You’re even better at poker than you are at hearts.” She squinted at him as he raked in the cards. “Do you memorize the cards?”
There was no other way to account for his uncanny skill.
He grabbed a handful of the popcorn he’d made for them earlier and popped it into his mouth. “If I say yes, are you going to send the gaming commission after me?”
She whipped the blanket off her shoulders in a huffy gesture. When she realized that his lighthearted expression had faded and that he was staring at the front of her sweater, she felt her nipples tighten.
“You have a photographic memory,” she accused.
“There are worse crimes. More fun ones too.”
She didn’t know what to say to those volatile words uttered with that knowing, hot look in his blue eyes and that small, sexy smile of his.
She redirected her gaze to the frosted patio doors. “The snow doesn’t seem to have let up in the slightest.”
“Are you going to tell Mitchell?”
Her gaze flew to his face at the unexpected question. She felt her pulse begin to throb in her neck in the tense seconds that followed.
“I…yes. I’m not the kind of person to lie about something like that. That doesn’t mean…it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything between us,” she fumbled.
“Who says? You?”
She gave a disgusted sound and stood. “I am half the equation, aren’t I? I just meant…well, you know. I’m not a child. It was just an impulsive, crazy thing. It was just the…the heat of the moment.” She sighed as she looked outside again, her irritability ebbing as quickly as it had come.
“Last night wasn’t a fluke, Angel.”
She met his stare. His anger hadn’t been piqued by hers. This time he watched her with a calm certitude that was nearly as unsettling as his irritation.
“How can you be sure?” she demanded.
“I just know.”
In order to avoid the temptation of Alex, she walked toward the patio doors. The chill in the room had been chased off by the furnace. She watched the snowflakes being whipped around by the fierce, howling wind.
“I wish I could take a walk.”
“It’ll be dark soon,” he replied. “If you need to stretch your muscles, why don’t you use my workout room? It’s in the basement. I already worked out this morning, so it’s all yours.”
“You must have been freezing down there, without the heat,” she mused as she watched the buffeted snowflakes.
“Only for the first five minutes or so. You won’t have to worry, though. It’ll have warmed up by now.”
She turned around resolutely, even though she felt far from certain about walking away from Alex at that moment.
“I think I will work out. I’ll go change.”
“I put your bag in my bedroom. The last door on the left.”
Her brisk footsteps stilled. All the desire that had been held in abeyance during their playful interlude came sweeping back, exponentially stronger. Her clit twanged with sharp arousal at the idea of sharing Alex’s bed.
She glanced over her shoulder cautiously. He watched her with an unwavering stare.
Well, it was like he said. They were both single, consenting adults, weren’t they?
“All right,” she said quietly before she headed for Alex’s bedroom.
Twenty minutes of jogging on the treadmill didn’t chase away her doubts, and it hadn’t so much as made a dent in her lustful thoughts. Fifteen minutes of calisthenics and using Alex’s multi-purpose weight machine had no effect whatsoever on keeping her from remembering in graphic detail what it’d been like to have Alex’s cock thrusting deep inside her, how exciting it had been when he held her ass between his hands and swatted her for his pleasure…and hers, how forbidden it had been when he’d pinned her arms to the floor and forced her to meet her desire head on.
She sat on the weight bench and gazed blankly into space. She recalled the shadows that leapt over his bold features as he stared down at her as she lay beneath him.
Goddammit, Angeline, do you want me to tie you down?
“I think I know the answer to that question now, Alex,” she mumbled after liquid heat surged through her pussy.
She jumped when she heard the basement door open. Not a muscle on her body moved except for her eyes as she watched Alex enter the workout facility a few seconds later carrying a pair of handcuffs.
Handcuffs.
“Have a good workout?” he asked politely, seeming impervious to her anxious stare at the silver cuffs that dangled loosely next to his thigh.
“Yes. Alex…what do you think you’re going to do with those?”
“I thought I’d do some convincing.”
“Convincing?” she asked weakly when she met his stare.
He nodded matter-of-factly and stepped toward her. He shoved one cuff into his jean pocket and let the other dangle while he reached for the hem of her T-shirt.
“Apparently I still need to convince to you that you’re mine. Arms up.”
Angeline followed his instruction and found herself stripped of her shirt and bra in seconds. “I’m sweaty,” she muttered when Alex paused and stared at her bare breasts with a gaze hot enough to burn. For some reason, his lusty fascination with her breasts didn’t offend her like it did with most men.
Instead, it made her feel incredibly desirable.
He reached out and stroked the sides of her ribs with both hands, her light coat of perspiration making his skin glide along her own sensually. He groaned, deep and guttural, when he swept up his hands and held up her breasts for his inspection.
“I like it. I can’t wait to taste your sweat on my tongue,” he rasped, his gaze still glued to her stiffening nipples. She shifted her hips, pressing her pussy down on the bench to still the ache that stabbed through it. He noticed and smiled.
“Lay back, Angel.”
When she did, he quickly and efficiently whipped her shorts and panties down her legs. He pulled his gaze off the juncture of her parted thighs and glanced at her white anklets and tennis shoes.
“I think I’ll leave them on. Looks sexy as hell,” he said, a grin pulling at his handsome mouth. “Grab onto the bar, Angeline.”
She did as he ordered, her heartbeat growing louder and louder in her ears and her pussy tingling with anticipation. He looped the chain behind the bar and opened then snapped the cuffs closed around her wrists. They felt cool and heavier than she would have expected.
Alex grabbed two enormous weights and slid them onto each end of the bar and then added two more on each side, along with the clip to keep them secure.
He came around to the side of the bench. Angeline panted softly as she stared up at him. She felt a strange combination of vulnerability and intense sexual arousal when she felt the long, thick column of Alex’s cock pressed against her thigh. She licked her lower lip anxiously, her gaze leaping up to meet his stare when he groaned.
“Fight against it a bit. Let me see if it’s secure.”
She yanked on the chain and cuffs and struggled to see if she could budge the weights, but she was restrained good and fast. Lifting the barbell with two of the large weights would have been an impossibility, and he’d put six on the bar. She stopped abruptly when she realized where Alex stared.
“You knew I couldn’t get loose. You just wanted to see my boobs bouncing around,” she accused sourly.
“So sue me for being a guy—one with excellent taste, by the way,” he muttered through a small smile. Her breath caught and held in her throat when he knelt down in front of the bench. He spread his big hands over her hips and shifted her several inches, so that he had closer access to her pussy. He put his hands on her ass and lifted her slightly off the bench.
“Spread your legs, Angeline. Wider,” he demanded gruffly. She saw his nostrils flare as he stared at her pussy with intense focus. “Now lift your feet off the floor.”
She lifted her head off the bench. “What? Alex—”
He glanced up at her. “Trust me, Angeline.”
She lifted her feet off the floor tentatively, but when she sensed that he held her lower body weight with ease, she left the floor completely.
“Now straighten your knees and spread those long legs as wide as they’ll go.”
She did it quickly, wild to have him press his gifted tongue to her pussy. Her clit tickled and simmered in anticipation.
But it suddenly struck her that it took some abdominal strength to keep her legs suspended and spread like that. He held her bottom up from the weight bench, but he didn’t support the back of her legs.
“Oh…hurry, Alex. I can’t stay like this forever,” she cried out in an agony of growing need. She clenched her teeth and pulled on the cuffs, not because she wanted to escape but because desire tightened every muscle in her body.
“That’s right, now keep that position. You’re not allowed to move. Don’t worry. I plan
to make you come quickly,” Alex murmured before he used two fingers to part her labia and slid the tip of his tongue in the crevice.
Angeline keened softly as he agitated her clit with his lashing, pressing tongue. It felt incredibly good, but a low-grade ache grew in her muscles from holding the position Alex had demanded she take. Still, his lips and tongue were so talented, Angeline bore the ache gladly.
She cried out in excitement when he spread the fingers on his right hand and pushed his thumb into her slit while he continued to whip her clit into a frenzy of pleasure with his tongue. Her thighs and abdominal muscles ached, but her pussy was being treated like a queen. He began to finger-fuck her more forcefully, making her writhe in the double restraints of the handcuffs and his hold. She knew how wet she was by the easy glide of his finger, not to mention the wet, sucking sound his finger made as he plunged into her lubricated flesh.
It felt so good, she sent up a fierce prayer that the uncomfortable tension in her legs and stomach would ease so she could have a delicious orgasm.
And put her feet back on the damn floor.
“Oooh,” she moaned as she neared the crest of climax. He covered her outer sex with his hot mouth and applied a suction that pulled her into a vortex of blind need.
Pain spiked through her thigh.
She lowered it without thinking, crying out in protest when Alex lifted his head and stilled his thrusting thumb. He set her bottom back on the bench and began massaging her thigh muscle deeply. Angeline lifted her head and watched him through a haze of desire.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore,” she said, eager for him to resume what he’d been doing. “It cramped up. It’s only because I was holding—”
“In place like I told you to, I know,” he muttered as he continued to mold her muscle to his palm. He glanced up at her and Angeline thought she recognized regret in his blue eyes. She bit her lower lip at the amplified ache in her pussy when she saw that her juices glistened on his lips and chin. “I tend to like it when you do what I tell you, especially if it increases your excitement, but I never mean to cause you any real pain, Angel. I’m sorry.”