by Desiree Holt
Jesus, how was it possible for anything to feel this good?
He took a moment to appreciate the curve of her ass, the sweep of her spine, the flare of her hips. Then, gripping those very seductive hips, he pulled out just to the tip, then thrust back in again. Pulled back and drove into her. She was so hot and wet she scorched him even through the condom. He had mentally prepared himself to dig for enough discipline to bring her back to the edge again, but it seemed only seconds before she was rocking with him, arching back to him, tightening down on him like a hot, wet vise. They began moving as one, Tyler riding his thrust and retreat motion, pushing back when he drove into her harder and harder.
When his balls and the muscles at the base of his spine sent him the familiar signals and he teetered at the edge, he reached around to Tyler’s swollen clit and pinched it, hard. And just like that they both exploded. It was everything he’d thought it would be and more, an experience that made fireworks seem tame and a hurricane mild. He lost all sense of anything except his body and Tyler’s, clenching and spasming, shuddering in tandem, her pussy squeezing down hard on his pulsing cock as he emptied himself into the thin latex sheath.
He had no idea how long the orgasm went on, only that he finally was spent, his muscles limp. He rolled to the side, taking Tyler with him, their bodies still connected. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to draw a full breath again or that his heart would settle back to a steady beat. He cradled the warm woman in his arms, one hand cupping her breast, relishing the feel of her body against his.
He was fully and completely drained, emotionally and physically, every bit of who he was emptied into this woman in his arms who was such a contradiction in terms. They lay there like that for a very long time, neither of them saying a word. What could he say? That this was the single most intense experience of his life? That this one taste of her wouldn’t ever be enough? That what he felt for her went way beyond the sex itself. He’d buried his feelings for Tyler Gillette for a lot of years. A lot of careful years. Now they had all come flooding to the surface, threatening to strangle him. This woman was poison for him and yet here he was, totally lost in her.
Damn it all to hell, anyway. He was so fucking screwed.
* * * *
Tyler woke slowly from a very pleasant dream. She was lying in Rafe’s arms, replete from the most satisfying, soul-shattering sex she had ever had. Every muscle in her body ached, her sex was tingly and sore, but it had more than been worth it. The reality had been so much better than the dream.
It had taken every bit of nerve she’d had and then some to pull off the teasing display in her yard. She’d felt like a stripper on stage, enticing one of the customers. It so wasn’t her, no matter what people thought. But she wanted Rafe so badly. If she never had another chance, she was going to make the most of this one. And it was definitely worth it.
Finally, she’d been able to feast her eyes on him, taking in every bit of the reality. And wow, he was just big all over. All over. She shivered at the memory of his very large cock fully seated in her wet channel. She barely stopped herself from reaching down between her legs to stroke herself while she called up memories of the night before. Too bad he’d only had the one condom, but it had been put to memorable use.
She’d finally realized her dream. She’d gotten him into bed for one night of unbelievable sex.
It was more than just sex.
The little voice that always rattled on in her head whispered to her. It definitely was more than just sex. And Rafe had lost himself in her. She’d had enough sex—although not for a long time now—to tell the difference between pure physical and sex with heavy emotion laced through it. For a few hours, he’d let down all his shields, but she was sure they were back in place by now. She’d just have to figure out how to breach them again.
Because the joke, apparently, was on her. One night would never be enough with this man. She wanted more. She wanted it all. He could say he didn’t feel the same thing but that would be far from the truth. They’d peeled back layers and delved into the deepest parts of each other. Now she knew she’d have to battle him to keep it that way.
She stretched lazily, and reached out a hand to touch him, finding—Nothing. Empty space. She opened her eyes and slid a glance to the other side of the bed. Yup. Empty. If not for the dent in the bedclothes and the pleasant soreness of her body, she might have thought she’d imagined the whole thing.
She lay back against the pillows and plopped a forearm over her eyes.
Of course. Just as she’d thought. He’d let his libido overtake his so-called good sense and when it was over he’d rabbited the hell out of her room. Well, too bad. If he thought this was the end of it, he was very much mistaken. He could try to deny all he wanted that there was anything between them except sex, but she knew better. No one made the connection they had without something deeper involved. The problem was convincing him of that.
Would he even give her a chance or would he just pull on the ice-cold shield he kept around himself and act as if last night never happened? She could just hear him now saying, “I’ll take door number two.” Too bad, Mr. Former Football Player. She’d had a real taste of him now and she wasn’t going back. She’d just have to change her game plan a little.
He wanted her.
But in what way and for how long? Obviously not long enough to stick around after the most incredible sex she could ever remember having. She was sure he would either pretend it didn’t happen or try to explain why it could never happen again,
She grabbed one of the pillows he’d used and pulled it over to smash against her face. When she inhaled, she could still smell the traces of his scent, that warm leather that spread through her body and made all her secret places tingle. It occurred to her how absolutely stupid she was, lying here hugging the pillow of a man who had probably already wiped last night from his mind, but she wasn’t giving up. Whoever this stalker was, he’d created a situation where she had a chance at connecting with Rafe. At realizing a dream she’d held onto for a long time. She wasn’t giving up that easily.
Glancing at the little clock she kept on the nightstand, she realized it was after nine o’clock. Not so late for her but probably for Rafe. He’d have team business—security business—to take care of. Who knew how long ago he’d left the room. Okay, time for her to get up, too. She rolled out of bed and started to pull the top sheet around herself then laughed. Who was she covering herself over for? He’d seen just about every nook and cranny in her body already. Opening the door to the hallway a crack, she tried to listen for sounds downstairs. Rafe’s voice floated up to her faintly, no doubt from a phone conversation.
Phone. Her brain clicked over.
She looked around for her cell phone, which had been strangely silent. Maybe because she’d left it downstairs last night when Rafe carried her up to her room. And wasn’t that a delicious image to hold onto. Meanwhile, she wanted her cell. She was sure by this time at least Betsy had tried to get hold of her. They hadn’t spoken since yesterday morning.
Had her stalker called again? Would Rafe have told her if he had? Time to get moving.
She quickly showered and washed her hair, taking a few extra minutes to lather all the places Rafe had used his mouth and his fingers and his cock the night before. She slipped on a pair of skinny jeans and a bright green T-shirt. Again this morning she left off her makeup, realizing with a shock how good it made her feel. Yesterday the ball cap she wore, along with the absence of her usual painted public face, had served to keep people from staring at her, so she dug one out of her closet and plopped it on her head.
For a moment, she was tempted to wear the one from Tequila Sunrise but that would precipitate a lecture from Rafe, and she was not in the mood for that. The waning of the postcoital glow was bad enough. She didn’t need him destroying it altogether. Instead she found one with no artwork on it (And where had that come from, anyway?), stuck it on her head and
pulled her ponytail through the opening in back. Then, still barefoot, she hurried down the stairs.
“Okay,” she heard Rafe saying, “I’ll get back to you but we’ll probably be there late morning.”
She followed the sound of his voice to the kitchen. He was hanging up just as she walked in. “Are we going somewhere?”
He nodded. “There’s a game tomorrow. I have things to do at the stadium today.”
Go to the stadium? The place she despised? Sitting in Rafe’s office yesterday had been bad enough.
“Can’t someone else do it for you?” She sashayed over to him and pulled out her most seductive smile. “My father said you could turn stuff over to someone else.”
She reached up to play with the curl of hair peeking out of the vee of his soft-collar shirt, but he grabbed her wrist and tugged her hand away. When she looked up, his face wore that same hard, implacable expression she was used to. The one that said don’t waste your time trying to tempt me. The one she’d seen every time except for last night. The hot, passionate man of the previous night had completely disappeared. In his place was a man totally in control of his feelings and not about to let that control slip.
Well, wasn’t that what she’d predicted earlier? She swallowed the hurt that bubbled up and stepped away from him.
“Then I’m staying here. I hate that place and I hate the team. You go without me.”
“Not happening.” He said the words as if it were a done deal. “And don’t bother trying to argue with me. I’m not letting you out of my sight until we catch whoever this is.”
She tried on a grin again. “So does that mean we sleep together again?”
His fingers were like steel gripping her shoulders. “Last night was a big mistake, Tyler. It’s the last time it’s going to happen. Trust me on that.”
She searched his face for some semblance of softness but his expression was hard as steel.
“You loved every minute of it,” she reminded him. “Don’t try to deny it.”
“That doesn’t matter. It can’t happen again and it won’t.”
“Give me one good reason why it can’t.” She knew she was pushing his buttons, but she couldn’t help herself.
He released his grip on her and took a step back. “I’ll give you two. Your father and your lifestyle. I took advantage of you last night. It won’t happen again.”
Her jaw dropped. This was not the reaction she’d hoped for. Wanted. Craved. “Took advantage? But—”
“The subject is closed. Now go put some shoes on. We have to leave.”
“Leave? I told you I’m not going.” She had a childish urge to stamp her foot.
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “You’re going if I have to tie you up to go. And we have to stop for breakfast first, since it’s not your job to cook for me.”
She shrugged. “We could order in. Or eat out.”
“Well, we’re taking option number two this morning. On the way home later, we’re making a pit stop at a grocery store. It’s bad enough that I’m stuck here. I don’t intend to starve. We’ll have to leave time for it.”
“Time?”
“We have that fancy shindig tonight, remember?”
“Oh, right.” He had no idea how much she didn’t want to go to the function.
He rubbed his face as if he could rub everything away. “Get me the invitation. I need to check everything out, and we’ll have to stop by my place to pick up my tux. Fuck.” He picked up his keys from the counter. “How the hell did I let myself get talked into this, anyway?”
Tyler turned away, unwilling to let him see how his words hurt her.
“I’m not leaving without my phone. Where is it? I need to talk to my friends. They probably think I’ve run away or something.”
“Yeah?” His voice was edged with sarcasm. “I thought you texted with some of them yesterday.”
“That was yesterday. So, phone?” She held out her hand, palm up.
With obvious reluctance he pulled it from his pocket. He studied it for a long time, frowning.
“Is there something wrong?” Fear clutched at her. “Oh my God. He called again, right? Didn’t he? Let me see that.” She reached out, but he held it just away from her.
“Before I give this to you, yes, he called. I have to leave everything on there because we’re using it to backtrack to your carrier and get at least a serial number of the burner. Just like I told you yesterday. Don’t freak out too badly when you see it.”
“See what?” She wiggled her fingers. “Gimme.”
Rafe handed over the phone and she began to scroll through missed calls. Several from Betsy and three of her other friends. And five of them from the stalker.
“I didn’t answer them,” he told her. “I was hoping he’d leave a voice-mail message.”
“He’s probably too smart for that,” she pointed out. Next she checked her text messages. Again, a slew from Betsy and her friend Lynn, which she knew she’d have to answer before they invaded her place. And one from her stalker. She nearly dropped the phone when she read it.
“Did u fck hm?”
She looked up at Rafe, who was watching her through narrowed eyes.
“He knows you slept here.” She hated the way her voice shook. “I told you not to leave your car in the driveway.”
“Yeah, well, apparently it’s not as much a deterrent as I’d hoped. Instead it pushed his hot buttons. Whoever he is.”
Tyler frowned. “Is there more?”
“Put your shoes on and I’ll show you. We need to get going so I can get my work done. We have to be back here by four.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Shoes,” he said again. “Then I’ll tell you. In the meantime I’m calling the Lone Star offices so they can get someone over here to beef up the alarm system.”
“Beef up? Exactly how?”
“Add more sensors, especially outside. We don’t want this guy to get so close to the house anymore. Next time he might not stop in the driveway.”
A little chill raced the length of her spine, but she did her best not to show Rafe how upset she was. At all costs, she was going to keep her cool. Shoving the phone in her pocket, she raced up stairs and stuck her feet into flat sandals. Rafe was waiting for her at the door. His up and down glance seemed to strip her of all clothing and made her body heat rise.
She waited for him to say something, but he just motioned for her to precede him to the driveway. She stood there while he reset the alarm and locked the door. She hurried down the walk toward his car—and stopped.
An uneven line ran the length of the car, from the front fenders to the rear, along the doors. Forcing her feet to move, she walked around to the other side where the same damage had been done. She looked over at Rafe, who nodded.
“Yes, I saw it earlier when I went out to get something from the car. What really pisses me off is that he managed it right under my nose.”
While we were in bed. Having sex. Fucking.
She wanted to tell him to go ahead and just say it. Get it all out in the open, but the words wouldn’t come. It was bad enough that he’d already been regretting it. Now he’d have a good excuse to avoid it altogether. Well, too bad. She’d just have to figure out a way around his barricades.
In the next moment, the anger was replaced by a surge of fear. “Pretty bold of him, walking right up here knowing you were here with me.”
“I’d venture a guess that might have been what lit another small fire under him.” The muscle twitched in his jaw again. “I called the Lone Star office and asked them to send over an alarm service. They’ll be here later this afternoon to upgrade the system you have and extend it to the outside areas.”
She wasn’t in the mood to argue with him anymore about this. If she did, she was just being stupid, ignoring her own safety. She might want to be independent, she might still nurse a major hurt where her father was concerned, but
she was smart enough to know she should not put herself at risk. Independence only worked to a certain point.
She wet her lips. “Okay.” See how easy that was, Tyler? “And, um, thank you.”
He shrugged. “Your father is the one you should be thanking. We’d better get going here.”
She was so many kinds of nervous by now she even forgot to ask him where they were going to breakfast. It didn’t surprise her, however, when they pulled into a place called Bacon and Eggs. It was not only a favorite spot for the Hawks players but for most of the social and financial players in the city. What started out as a mom-and-pop restaurant had morphed about ten years ago into a comfortable but well-appointed restaurant that served everything from the food in its name to breakfast quiche and practically any exotic breakfast dish you could name.
It used to be one of her ex-husband’s favorite places to eat brunch on a Saturday. He could rub elbows with everyone from football players to bankers to hedge fund managers to reporters and pretend he was a major player in the city. Crap. It would be just her luck that he’d be here today.
“Could we go someplace else?” she asked as Rafe pulled into a parking space.
“Why? I like the food, and I enjoy the people who come here for it.”
“Well, what if I don’t?”
“Unless you have a very valid reason for that, I’m getting out of the car now. I’m hungry, and we’re burning daylight.”
She put her hand on his arm, trying to ignore the way he tensed beneath her touch.
“Why are you suddenly being so mean to me? Why are you acting this way? I thought—”
He jerked his arm away. “You thought what? That some hot sex would change things? Get real, little girl. And get out of the car. I’m hungry.”
She stared at him as if he had suddenly turned into a stranger. Rafe had been cold to her before, the few times she’d seen him, but not like this.