Tell Me You Crave Me

by Joya Ryan

  Not that she was thinking of last time. Or East for that matter.

  But Honey’s was always busy, and so many people were laughing and having a good time. Meanwhile, Natalie sat there, wishing that the man she was with made her feel…anything.

  But he didn’t.

  “So, you bake?” he asked.

  Natalie nodded. “Yes, I have a cupcake shop.”

  “Aww, that’s cute,” he said, and looked at her like she was just as adorable as the dog he’d been going on about. What was it about her that couldn’t seem to spark up the hot and bothered emotions?

  Speaking of hot and bothered, East walked in right then—with a giggling woman on his arm.

  Literally.

  The woman was literally hanging on him and patting his bicep like he was made of some sort of precious metal.

  Natalie glared. It was her “I don’t care what you’re doing” glare, but she still gave it.

  The blonde he was with was exactly his type, the kind of woman she’d seen him parading around for years, while Natalie sat there, boring date and new dress, round two. This was just not fair. And for whatever reason, just seeing East annoyed her.

  Because he looked good. Didn’t even have to try. Jeans, black belt, and T-shirt. That’s it, and he was hot. The man didn’t even shave! He had at least three days’ worth of stubble. Just like the other night. Only the other night his accessories had been a brown leather belt and Stetson. Not that she was hung up on details.

  The man still looked fine.

  So. Not. Fair.

  The woman was at least five ten with a skintight red dress that showed off her boob job.

  Natalie glanced down at herself. She’d gotten over the fact a long time ago that she wasn’t the tallest or the thinnest. And her dress was simple, blue, and fit her well. She wasn’t spilling out of it or anything, but the zipper in the back went all the way down and made her feel sexy. With one swipe the entire dress would part. Not that there would be any unzipping of any kind.

  She glanced at the tall blonde again. Natalie just wasn’t that kind of sexy. Not like her. Not like her mother. Not like her friends.

  But she wasn’t feeling sorry for herself. She was finding out what she did like. And damn it, if she had to go on a thousand boring dates to find that passion, she would. Because she knew it existed. She just couldn’t have it with the man that gave it to her. But she could find another man. Could find passion with someone else. And at the very least she’d find a date for her brother’s wedding. Because Michelle was right—why not?

  “You all right?” her date asked.

  Natalie snapped her attention back to him. “Yes, sorry, I was just distracted for a moment.”

  Her date followed where she was looking and she watched him ogle the blonde on East’s arm. “Yes. Distracting,” he muttered.

  What the hell! Even her boring date was checking out another woman right in front of her? Now she really felt like a dweeb, and this guy was definitely not a winner. But dessert was on its way, so hopefully this experience would be wrapped up soon and she could get out of there before her pride took another hit—

  East’s eyes met hers.

  Too late. That ego she was worried about? Suddenly felt safe. And her body caught on fire.

  She’d expected him to ignore her. Or scowl at her. But East took a long, long glance at her, and even though she was sitting, she could feel his gaze sweep from her mouth, to her breasts, then back up to her eyes. He was looking at her as if he found her…

  Edible.

  Goose bumps pricked her skin. She put her elbows on the table and threaded her fingers together. Not to push her cleavage up even more. Just relaxing…

  Because East’s gaze wasn’t leaving her. Just one look and she was heating up for him. She couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate the tall, chiseled man. When she openly gave him a once-over, silently challenging him in this little across-the-room staring contest, she caught sight of something on his arm. Right below his shirt sleeve…

  Holee-crap!

  She smiled when she realized that the great Easton Ambrose was wearing her marks. Her fingernails had left deep red scratches in his skin. And that had her sitting up a little taller and giving a confident raised brow in his direction. That blonde could hang off his arm all night, because last night it had been Natalie who’d rocked his world. Anyone who touched him would see those marks, and even though they wouldn’t know it had been Natalie, they’d know someone had given that cowboy the ride of his life.

  If she had a mic, she’d drop it. A surge of confidence raced through her. Funny how East had a way of making her feel things she’d otherwise not experience.

  But in true prick fashion, he realized she’d noticed his arms and gave a little flex. When blondie then ran her hands along his skin, rage boiled low in Natalie’s stomach. It was absolutely not jealousy! She was just irritated that he was so smug, and some woman was touching him where she had just touched him last night and…

  “Prick,” she muttered.

  “Did you say something?” her date asked.

  She smiled and shook her head. Her whole body was heating up to strangle East—or kiss him. Because he was annoying. Why did he have to come here? Why did he have to look the way he did?

  Why does he have to look at me the way he does?

  The blonde was laughing, and East’s eyes snapped back to the counter in front of him, where Chloe set down a round of shots. Natalie idled through more droning conversation with boring-date guy while stealing glances at East. She watched him toss a shot back, and so did the blonde. That looked like a good way to spice up a date…get drunk.

  Natalie reached for her glass of white wine and finished the considerable amount in two swallows.

  When East looked at her again and gave her a nod, it was like he was speaking to her, saying: Yeah, I see you’re here, but I have a hot date, and remember that one time we aren’t talking about, when we had sex in your cupcake shop? And Natalie was ready to tell him where he could go.

  She didn’t need him to speak a word to know exactly the game he was playing. One night with him and now she was desperate for another fix of him. No. Absolutely not.

  “You want more wine?” her date asked.

  “I’m not that girl,” she responded, and realized she’d meant to answer the voices in her head. Not her date. Crap! He looked at her like she was crazy, and maybe she was. Because she wasn’t clingy. Wasn’t pining over East. She was…confused. Her body was confused. How could a man have this effect over her? She wanted him, he was hot, fine. She wasn’t picking out curtains for their house or anything, but she was thinking about him in a way she shouldn’t be.

  If only she hadn’t had sex with him…

  Hadn’t experienced passion…

  She wouldn’t know what she was missing.

  But she had.

  And she had.

  And she knew.

  And now I’m crazy, and it’s all East’s fault.

  “More wine?” she said.

  “Yes, would you like some more?” her date clarified, and Natalie finally unfastened her eyes from East. Watching him flirt like an idiot with the blonde was getting her nowhere. She’d try harder to focus on the man in front of her. The man she felt zero chemistry with. “Um, yes please. Will you excuse me, though, just for a moment?”

  He nodded, and she got up. She needed some fresh air. She had to clear her head and take a breath and convince herself that she was blowing things out of proportion.

  Stop. Just stop.

  She wound around the outskirts of the restaurant, past the bar, making sure she didn’t look at East, and went out the small hall that led to the back of the restaurant. The only people who typically came out that way were her and Chloe because they owned shops there. It wasn’t a main exit or entrance for customers, so she’d have a second to breathe.

  As soon as she pushed the back doors open and the cool fall air hit her, she
felt much better. It was quiet. Dark. And exactly what she needed.

  “Stop thinking about him. You don’t care about him.” She paced by the brick wall. “You are not a crazy clingy girl that gets all antsy after one night together.”

  Granted, she had no idea what kind of girl she was, since this had never happened to her before. She was so great at giving advice to her friends when they were going through their dating drama. Seemed simple: go after what you want.

  Except she wanted what she couldn’t have.

  “Careful, darlin’,” a familiar voice said as the back door made a scraping sound. “Walking around in the dark and mumbling to yourself will have everyone thinking you’re touched in the head.”

  Natalie turned and found East leaning against the now-closed door, grinning at her like he was somehow seeking victory at her demise.

  “You’re the one driving me crazy,” she said. She should probably play coy. Or not even acknowledge him. But Natalie had never been good at games, and she’d never really dated, or been this flustered in her life, so honesty was looking like the best route to go.

  “I drive you crazy?” He took a step toward her. “You’re the one who’s a pain in my ass.”

  “I didn’t even look at you,” she snapped.

  “Oh, you looked at me.”

  She threw her arms up and slapped them back down to her sides. “Real mature, East. So, what, you followed me out here to tell me to stop looking at you? What are you, twelve?”

  “No, as you’re very aware, I’m a grown man. Or should I remind you?”

  She took her own bold step toward him. “Grown man, huh? Is that why you parade Blondie around, with the grand plan to get drunk and get laid?”

  The low light of the flickering outside bulb was enough for her to see his eyebrow arch and his grin widen.

  “You jealous there, baby?”

  “I’m…I don’t know,” she said with a weird hitch in her voice. He’d just called her baby again. The only time he’d done that was when they’d been—

  “Listen,” he said. “I didn’t come out here to fight.”

  “Then why did you come out here?”

  “I wanted to let you know I only agreed to helping you out with this list of bridesmaid duties because Matt didn’t leave me any choice.”

  “Oh.” She cocked her head. “So you’re saying you don’t want to help me?”

  He glared at her. “I’m saying you and I agreed to keep our distance from each other, and I’m not trying to be a dick by making that harder. Jesus. We can both be adults about this.”

  “I’m trying to be an adult about this,” she said confidently. “Unlike you, this is new for me.”

  “What’s new for you?” he asked. “Sex?”

  “No,” she said quickly. “I mean this whole dating, sleeping together, then…”

  “Seeing the guy you fucked in your shop around town and knowing that kind of thing is never going to happen again?”

  “Yeah,” she snapped. “It’d be easier if I just never saw you again.”

  “Well, don’t spare my feelings,” he said.

  “What feelings?” she countered. “Your ego seems to outweigh any that I can see.”

  “Oh, getting feisty?” he said. His demeanor was still joking, but a fleck of something in his eyes made her think he’d actually been cut by her words. So something could actually hurt the guy. At least now she knew he felt something besides lust.

  “Just being honest,” she admitted. “Sex changed things between us.”

  “Why does it have to change? You were a pain the ass before tonight, and you still are. So why are you extra sassy with me?”

  “Same reason you followed me out here,” she said.

  “I followed you out here because I care about you. Unlike that guy in there who didn’t even notice you’re gone.”

  She raised her brows. Was that East being…perceptive? Caring?

  If that were true, it just pissed her off even more.

  “I don’t need you thinking you can come after me and save the day. You don’t even have a jacket to offer me. So stop this bullshit excuse. I won’t tell my brother, okay? You don’t have to stalk me to make sure.”

  A low growl broke from his chest. “You think that’s what this is about? You think you have me pegged?”

  “I know I do,” she said. “Unlike those bimbos you flaunt around, I know you, East. I won’t ruin your precious relationship with my brother, or my family, so go back inside. We’re good. And we’re done.”

  “Oh, we’re not good,” he rasped. “And we’re not done.” In two strides, he was face to face with her, gripping the back of her hair. He yanked her face up to meet his gaze. The zing of lust spread fast, like hot lava, from her core to her stomach, and in a millisecond she was drowning, just from his rough hands on her.

  “East. What are you doing?”

  He pulled her hair. Not too hard. Just hard enough. “See, I can’t go back to my date knowing you’re sitting with that idiot who can’t see what’s right in front of him. Just like that other idiot you were with last night. You have a thing for idiots, baby?”

  She stared him down. “Looks like I must.”

  He yanked her hair harder, and she gasped, loving the sting. Wanting more. Wanting to pin him down and kiss the hell out of him. Wanting to hate him for making her feel the way she was feeling. Just wanting him.

  “Mouthy,” he said. “That’s my problem with you now. Because maybe you’re right. Maybe sex did change something, because I can’t walk into the bar and just see you. Now you know exactly how that mouth of yours feels on my skin.” He pulled her closer so that he could nip her earlobe. “I also know how you bite my shoulder when you’re close to coming for me.” Another nip along her jaw. “And I know how you gasp once, then moan my name, when I slam deep inside of you.”

  She gasped. And she felt his smile against her neck.

  “Yeah, just like that,” he said.

  The asshole meant for her to react to him. And her body betrayed her by heating up. Playing right into his hands. But damn it, there was no place she’d rather be at the moment. She couldn’t look at him without feeling the desire she’d repressed for twenty-five years. The genie was out of the bottle and couldn’t be put back in.

  “Well, I know you now, too,” she said, trying to sound calm, but her body was boiling from the heat of her blood. “I know that you bore easily.” She skimmed her mouth along his and took a deep breath. “I know you like a challenge. And I can tell you right now, Easton Ambrose, I’m never going to be another notch on your bedpost.”

  Yeah, they’d already had sex, but that wasn’t the kind of notch she was talking about. And he knew it. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he understood. She wasn’t like his other conquests, would never be the kind of blonde he took to the bar for a few shots followed by a few hours of sex. Nope, not her. She’d slept with him, fine. Wanted to again? Sure. But she wasn’t that girl, because she refused to be.

  She was looking for something more than Easton could ever offer. But the passion that came with him was something she couldn’t turn down. Maybe she could get a hit of it and learn, though. Use it to her advantage to really find what she wanted.

  “Like I said…” He placed his mouth achingly close to hers as he murmured. “You’re a pain in the ass, not a notch.”

  With that, he drove his tongue into her mouth and kissed her hard and deep. All the fight in her revved up, not to push him away, but to pull him closer.

  She shoved at his chest until he stumbled back and hit the wall. She was on him in half a second, clawing at his belt while devouring his mouth.

  “Yep,” he growled and grabbed her wrists. “You’re feisty and mouthy tonight.” In one swoop, he spun her so her breasts were against the brick wall and he was at her back. “What should we do about that, hmm?”

  “You should stop talking and take some action,” she said around an annoyed breath. An
noyed because her mouth had just been on him, and now she was facing the wall and not his chiseled muscles.

  A loud zing echoed through the air and a burst of cool wind hit her skin. East had unzipped her dress completely, and it was now hanging around her like curtains, displaying her entire back and ass.

  Just like she thought would never happen. But here she was again, in East’s arms. And that spark of self-confidence came back. Oh yeah, she felt sexy. And ready. For him.

  “Take action, huh?” he said and smacked her bottom with an open palm. She moaned. “Like that?” He smacked again, and the loud slap of his hand on her ass made her wet. He gripped her hips and tugged her ass up and closer while his other hand on her neck bent her forward. She braced herself on the wall in front of her, and the brick scratched against her palms while he kicked her feet apart.

  “This fucking dress has been taunting me. One quick swipe and you’re all mine,” he said. She smiled, because that’s what she’d thought of the dress when she’d worn it, too. So easy to put on…or take off. And now she was bent over, East at her back, the sound of his belt opening, and she was beyond ready.

  “Tell me, baby,” he said, and she heard the rip of a condom wrapper and sound of him moving behind her. “You still annoyed?”

  She felt the tip of his cock press against her entrance. But he stilled. Didn’t go in, just teased her.

  “Yes,” she said around gritted teeth. “I’m very, very annoyed.”

  “Poor thing, sounds rough. What with having to…what was it you said? See me around and know what I felt like inside of you?”

  Now he was really pissing her off because he was stalling her pleasure on purpose, making her skin prick with icy hot need so she didn’t know if she’d burst into flames or split from the frost.

  All she knew was that she needed him. Now.

  She slammed her palm against the wall. “Are you being a jackass on purpose? Or just trying to—”

  “Trying to make you beg for it,” he said, and ran the head of his cock along her folds, back and forth, making her wetter and wetter but never breaching. Just like last time. East liked his control. She was learning that quickly. And now he wanted to hear her say that she wanted him. Well guess what? She wanted to hear him say it first.