by Jordan Marie
“How did I ever walk away from you twelve years ago, Casey?” he asks. That reminder feels like cold water being poured on me. I’d step away from him if I could. He has me pinned against the door, so I can’t. He can’t miss the way my body stiffens however, or the way I let go of his shirt. My fingers instantly miss the warm, smooth skin and the indentions of his chiseled abs.
Seriously, how can a man have a six pack like that? I’ve seen them in magazines and book covers, sure. I was one hundred percent sure that the photo was airbrushed to Hell and back again. I know Gavin is a stuntman by trade, but damn does he have to look like sex on a stick, especially when he makes a point of reminding me why I should guard myself around him.
“Because there was a prom queen waiting for you,” I try and joke. I hope my reply doesn’t seem bitter. I’m not, not really, it’s not his fault he never knew I existed in school. And the night that meant so much to me, doesn’t have the same importance to him. He was there with another woman. He couldn’t have known how amazing spending time with him was for me, or how I wished he wouldn’t have walked away. He couldn’t have known that watching him walk away without looking back, or asking for my number…or anything but silence, hurt.
But….it did hurt.
I’m a realist. Gavin O’Leary was never in my stratosphere. He’s still not, despite what tonight might have seduced me into believing. I need to be careful not to forget that. I’m no longer in high school. I’m no longer a kid. The damage Gavin could inflict on me now would be painful and long-lasting.
“I was a stupid kid,” he dismisses with an easy smile, having no idea what is going on inside my head.
“So, you were leaving,” I remind him. I need a moment to myself. I need to center myself and regroup. I mean really, what have I been thinking? I haven’t seen Gavin in twelve years and he flirts with me and I’m transported back to a time when I’m young, infatuated and stupid. It’s definitely time for a reality check and maybe a visit with my vibrator because obviously I need to get laid.
“Give me your key and I’ll unlock the door,” he grins.
“Or you could leave and I can unlock my own door.”
“You’re a very stubborn woman. You know this may surprise you Casey, but most women fall easily at my feet.”
“This may surprise you Gavin, but I’m not most women,” she answers.
“Trust me Moth-girl, I have that figured out. Are you really making me leave?”
“Yes. I think I am,” I answer and I ignore the regret I feel in my answer.
“I don’t want to leave,” he says, weakening my resolve even more.
“I’m not sure I want you to either,” I answer truthfully.
“Then let me—”
“But I’m asking you to, all the same,” I tell him, pulling away when he would hold me closer.
He sighs and steps back, letting me go. I immediately miss his warmth and the weight of his body against mine. I have to bite back the words that would invite him inside. It’s not easy because everything inside of me is screaming for me to say them.
“At least agree to go out with me tomorrow,” he says and those damn butterflies are taking flight in my stomach again.
“Gavin, I’m not really your type,” I start, letting fear hold me back.
“Besides tonight the last time we really spent together was twelve years ago. You don’t know what my type is, Casey.”
“Gavin—”
“Say yes. You know you want to.”
“Gavin—”
“Besides that, I’m really not going to take no for an answer,” he adds, interrupting me again.
“Will you let me answer?” I sigh with frustration.
“Only if your answer is yes,” he grins.
“Fine,” I grumble, secretly happy.
“Fine?” he questions.
“I’ll go out with you tomorrow night.”
“Thank God!” he answers dramatically.
“But only if I meet you there, that way there will be no repeats of you refusing to say goodbye at my door,” I tell him out of self-preservation. I’m not stupid, I know if he pushed it tonight I would have let him inside and most likely a lot more.
He frowns, but then his lips spread into a smile that for some reason makes me question my demand.
“I can work with that,” he answers. “Now, quick. If you’re going to insist on sending me away tonight instead of keeping me warm and snuggly in your bed, the least you can do is give me another kiss.”
“Do you usually spend the night in bed with a girl after a first date?”
“Truthfully, sweetheart. I don’t date. But I like that I am with you.”
“Why’s that?”
“I already told you,” he says moving into me again. This time his fingers tangle into my hair as he brings my lips to him. Then his voice drops down into a quiet, throaty whisper that makes me tremble deep inside. “You’re special Casey Langley. Very special.”
The words practically touch me, because his warm breath caresses my lips, right before he claims my mouth again. It’s a kiss that leaves me wet, wanting more, and needing Gavin in my bed. It’s a kiss that almost makes me believe….
Somehow after all these years, I could be special to Gavin O’Leary.
8
Casey
“I thought you would never get here,” Gavin says, flinging the door open the minute I ring the doorbell. He puts his hands on me and all but yanks me inside. I probably would have fallen, except he pulls me into his body and kisses me.
It’s not a gentle kiss with a slow build up like before. His tongue demands entry into my mouth and immediately takes me over. I feel the hard outline of his cock press into my stomach. The feel of it so masculine and uninhibited that I find myself pushing into him, wanting to feel more of him, needing to tease him as much as he is me right now.
“Wow,” I whisper, when we break apart.
“I missed you Moth-girl,” he whispers, his face completely serious.
“I can kind of tell,” I tell him, my eyes going down to his dick which is clearly tenting the long, loose gym shorts he has on.
“Ignore him. He’s pouting because I refused to use my hand on him this morning,” he jokes.
“You really talk without thinking, don’t you?” I laugh, only slightly blushing. “What are you doing?!!?” I squeal when he picks me up in his arms.
“Carrying you out to the pool. You did bring your bathing suit, right?”
“Well, yeah, but I thought I would be meeting you at a country club, or the beach—or somewhere. I didn’t realize the address you gave me was—”
“My house? I don’t want to share you tonight, Casey. So I’m keeping you here. I’m going to spoil you. We’ll swim, I’ll fix dinner, we’ll swim some more and then maybe you’ll let me enjoy you for dessert.”
“Gavin, I—”
“Quit worrying. Let’s see where the night takes us,” he says, kissing my lips briefly.
I’ve looped my hands behind his neck on instinct as he carries me through the house. I get to glimpse briefly at his home. It’s all dark wood, earthy colors and white granite in the kitchen. It’s pretty, classic and feels homey. It’s not exactly what I imagined a bachelor having. His furniture is a worn leather, very masculine and seems to suit him. He takes me through the French doors off of the kitchen. Outside is a stone patio that connects to a beautiful kidney-shaped pool. On one end of the pool is a waterfall. There’s a small house on the far end with landscaping around it and then an area farther out where the pavers end, but there is gravel, a stone fire pit, and comfortable seating around it. It’s like a private outside oasis which is surprising, especially considering Gavin’s place is so close to the city.
“Wow.”
“Do you like it?” he asks, watching my face.
“It’s really nice. Do you plan on holding me for the whole date?”
“Would you let me get away with that?” he grins like
a little kid.
“You’re a freak,” I laugh.
“Since you don’t have a bag, I’m assuming your bathing suit is under your dress?” he asks as he gently lowers me down to the ground. I rub my hands against my upper arms, mostly to resist reaching out to Gavin. I miss the connection instantly. I’m starting to worry about my sanity.
“Uh…yeah.”
“Well? Let’s see it!”
“You’re not exactly dressed for swimming,” I tell him, stalling because I’m feeling uncomfortable.
“I was hoping you’d agree to naked swimming,” he grins, his eyes daring me to take him up on his offer.
“That’d be a no.”
“But—”
“A hard no.”
“I figured. I’ll go change, after I see for myself that you came ready to get wet.”
“You never stop,” I answer, shaking my head.
“Hey! I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not my fault you have a dirty mind, Casey.”
“Sure you didn’t,” I reply, shaking my head. “Where can I change?”
“I thought you said you were wearing your suit?”
“Well, I am, but it’s under my dress, I was going to…” I stop replying because Gavin moves behind me. His hands move under my hair pulling it to the side and over my shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you out of your dress,” he whispers, his lips so close to my ear that I can feel tiny goosebumps spread on my skin. I feel like I can’t breathe as he unties the back of my dress. I feel the bow at the back of my neck slowly loosen. His callused finger caresses against the base of my neck, before moving to the side where it repeatedly strokes my pulse point, which is beating erratically. “I ever tell you, Casey,” he whispers. The raw quality to his voice hypnotizes me. I feel my eyes flutter closed. I try to concentrate—just to breathe. “A woman’s neck is one of my favorite parts on her body?” he finishes.
“Gavin,” I whisper and my voice doesn’t sound like my own. “I don’t think we should…” I have to stop talking—partly because I can’t breathe and partly because I have no idea how to tell him what I’m feeling.
“I get that you don’t trust me yet, Casey, I do. But there’s something you need to understand,” he says and I jump slightly when he places a kiss against my pulse.
“What’s that?”
“I’m not playing with you, sweetheart. I’ve wanted you from the moment I asked you out and—”
I have to stop him from talking. I need to pull myself out of the haze that he has me in. I try to pull away, but he doesn’t let me. One hand moves to my hip and bites into the flesh there, holding me in place.
“Gavin, stop,” I all but plead. I hear him exhale behind me, the sound almost sad—regretful. He kisses the inside of my shoulder and the kiss seems so tender, so earnest my eyes close.
“You can try to ignore it, Casey, but I’m convinced this thing between us is not going away. You are mine. You just haven’t accepted it yet,” he says. Before I can digest the words, he pulls my dress down. I step out of it as if I’m in a trance. If his hand hadn’t somehow joined with mine so he could spin me around to face him, I’m not sure how long I would have stayed standing there, looking out over the pool in a daze, with my brain replaying his words.
“You are mine. You just haven’t accepted it yet.”
9
Gavin
“Sweet Jesus,” I groan when I make it back to the pool. I had seen the bikini that Casey wore before I left. I even took the time to admire it. Yet, now coming back from changing and grabbing us a bottle of wine and some glasses, I’m standing by the door blown the hell away. She’s been in the pool and when she stands up the water drips down and slides along her body. That’s enough to make a man beg of course, but damn if the whole package isn’t so fucking amazing that I stop breathing, afraid that anything might make the moment end.
“What?” she asks, looking alarmed. It’s obvious she has no idea the effect her body has on a man.
Her curves should be marked with warning signs. Instead they’re hugged by the sexiest purple and teal bikini I’ve ever seen. There are two thin strips of purple fabric which travel down to the teal and lavender paisley blocked bikini top and does its best to hide her breasts from me, but instead teases me with cleavage and flesh that refuses to be fully contained. Her hips are hidden in the water, but I know the view there would be just as amazing.
“I was thanking my creator that you chose to wear a bikini, Moth-girl.”
She studies my face for a moment and then I can see her relax. Her body broadcasts it, almost as much as the smile on her face.
“Are you finding religion on me?”
“Sweetheart, I’d worship at any altar that had you on it,” I tell her, placing a couple of towels down on a lounge chair and putting the wine and glasses in easy reach from the pool. Then, I get into the water with her. I make a beeline for her, as if she was a magnet and I the metal. Her pull is that strong.
“Are you ever serious, Gavin?”
“I may joke, Casey, but it doesn’t mean my words aren’t utterly truthful. Trust me when I tell you, I’m completely serious about anything that has to do with you.”
“But then, you don’t know me—not really,” she answers, and it’s like she’s watching my face closely. I’ve come on too strong with her from the beginning, but I can’t seem to make myself be any other way around her.
“Isn’t that the purpose of dating?” I ask, unable to stop my hands from finding her hip in the water and pulling her body into me.
“I don’t think you want to date me as much as you want to…”
My fingers breach the waistband of her bikini. I don’t move lower to her pussy, like I want. I keep them there, slowly brushing the soft skin in a back and forth motion, through the water.
“As much as I want to fuck you?” I whisper against her pulse, which is jumping along the side of her neck. I’m drawn to that particular spot once more. I flatten my tongue out and lick against it tasting her. The pool has diluted something that is uniquely Casey and I mourn its loss.
I’ll have to search her body until I find it again.
“That’s what I mean. You only have your mind on sex, not on getting to know me, Gavin,” she responds.
As much as she’s censuring me with her reply, she bends her neck so her head rolls back, giving me more room. Her body trembles against me and as she says my name her voice breaks off into what can only be described as a sigh of pleasure. She wants me. For whatever reason, I think she feels like she shouldn’t want me and maybe that is because it’s so soon. I can work with that, wear her down. I have to, because there’s no way I’m not claiming her tonight. There’s no way she’s leaving me tonight.
I need to slow down a bit. I don’t want her running away. I can’t allow her to do that, even if I have to chain her to my bed—and that thought holds definite promise.
10
Casey
I’m a moron. The hottest, sexiest man I’ve ever met in in my life is trying to seduce me and I keep finding ways to stop him.
I’m a complete moron.
“You’re a hard woman, Moth-girl,” he sighs against my skin as he pulls away from me. I want to cry out from the loss of him, which is further proof I am in fact a moron. I watch as he walks away, the water splashing around him, moving in an erotic way that makes it impossible for me to look away. I try to control my breathing—and my hormones—as he picks up the wine he placed near the edge of the pool earlier. I jump as he pops the top off of the bottle.
I’m a mess.
“What if I didn’t want wine?” I grumble, feeling way out of my depths with Gavin. I’ve been a rather self-assured woman in my life—well at least most of my adult life. I’ve refused to take shit from anyone. Maybe it’s because Gavin is…well…Gavin, that all my old insecurities I had through high school are back. I’m starting to think I had even more than I knew.
“Y
ou need it Moth-girl. You’re way too tense. Don’t you know that living in California you’re supposed to be laid back and relaxed all the time?”
“Whoever thinks that hasn’t spent time on our roads, especially during rush hour.”
“Can’t argue with that,” he laughs, giving me my glass.
“For some reason, I would have thought you left California after graduation,” he says taking a drink and watching me over the rim of his glass.
“For some reason, I figured you never thought of me at all,” I grin, feeling more at ease now that he’s not putting the moves on me.
“I was a dumb kid, I admit it, Casey. But, it might surprise you to know that I’ve thought of that night on the football field plenty of times over the years. You were different from what I was used to.”
“Meaning I didn’t fall at your feet?”
“Well, that was different. I should have known then you were special,” he says with a grin and he has no idea that his words make my heart flip inside my chest. “But, honestly it had more to do with your encouragement. Because of you I went off to play football.”
“You did?” I ask, extremely shocked.
“I did.”
“But then…How did you wind up where you are now?”
“Car wreck my junior year of college. Me and my buddy had been out partying, it was raining and the car hit water and hydroplaned. It flipped and my leg was wedged, fucked up my knee.”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry,” I tell him, and I know from the offhanded way he’s explaining things it was probably much worse than I’m imagining.
“Don’t be. Football served its purpose,” he shrugs.
“What was that?”
“Pissed off my parents and taught me to live my life for me,” he grins.
“Good plan,” I tell him looking down at my drink, contemplating his words. “I barely talk to my mother anymore.” The words make me sad, but they’re real. “Last I heard she was living in the Valley with a new husband and the perfect stepdaughter.”