Calmer than he’d thought possible, he stroked his thumbs gently over her cheekbones. Her eyes softened, and he caught a glimmer of the emotion he’d seen before and wanted to see again. It made it easier to say, “We’re not going to my room, either. We’re not having sex tonight.”
She blinked in surprise. “What?”
He almost smiled at the blatant shock in her voice, except for the fact that he knew it stemmed from his reputation. She assumed he was a ‘sure thing’, and the knowledge helped him to keep a straight face when he said again, “We’re not having sex tonight.”
Her eyes flicked back and forth between his, and he made them appear earnest and solemn so she’d know he meant it. Suddenly, she gasped and shoved herself off of him, her face a red mask of shame. “Oh, my God! I was so stupid.”
He looked at her as he sat up, huddled in the next seat over with her face in her hands. He frowned, confused at her words, more consistent with someone who’d acted out of character than with someone who’d acted a little sex-crazy.
“Wait, what?” he asked, sliding closer.
She laughed humorlessly. “I knew better than to get involved with you, in any way. I’m simply not of the same caliber as the women you’re used to. And now I’ve proven it, by throwing myself at you and being rejected.”
He couldn’t process what she’d said. She thought the issue was with her?! “Wait. What?!”
She sighed. “Please don’t make me repeat it. I’m embarrassed enough.” She started to stand, but he grabbed her arm and wouldn’t let her go. She glared at him. “Drake, please let me go. I need to go lick my wounds.”
He ignored her defensive icy veneer, but released her, speaking quickly. “Evelyn, please don’t go. It’s not you.”
“Right,” she scoffed, and began talking in a deep voice. “‘It’s not you, babe, it’s me. I’m just not ready for that. But I’ll call you.’” Then she shot her fingers at him like guns and made a clicking sound with her tongue before rolling her eyes. “Spare me.”
He had to laugh; she was so off-base. “No, it’s nothing like that-”
“Yeah, right.”
He grabbed her shoulder and turned her slightly, and though she wouldn’t look at him, he could see she had tears in her eyes, defying her sarcastic attitude. Pain went through him because he’d hurt her unintentionally. He stood and moved in front of her, crouching and taking her hands in his.
“Evie, look at me.” When she did, he continued. “I want you, more than I want my next breath. I would gladly give up the last years of my life for just a taste of you.” He stared straight at her, trapping her gaze, so she would know he meant every word.
She frowned mildly, but her brows lifted slightly. He hoped that meant she believed him. “Then why won’t you make love to me?”
“With any other woman, that would be the goal of any date I went on. But you’re different, Evie. You’re more than that to me. And not having sex until you realize that is only one of the ways I’m going to prove to you that I’m not the guy you think I am.”
“Oh,” she said slowly, the sound an odd mix of happy and disappointed. Then she brightened. “What if I told you that everything you just said made me believe you, and proved you right?”
He gave her a look as he stood that said he knew she was simply trying to convince him. “Evie…”
She sighed and stood, as well. “Fine. No sex tonight.” She turned and went to the door, then turned to give him a hot look over her shoulder. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”
She left the room, and Drake stared after her. This sexy, enticing Evie was almost too much to take when the quiet, reserved Evie had been more than enough to get him going. He nearly went after her, and curled his hands into fists to help him fight himself. He had to show her he wasn’t a hound dog if he wanted to keep her, and jumping her at the first sign of interest wouldn’t help.
To give himself time to relax, he slowly and meticulously cleaned up their mess, turned off the movie and put anything out of place right. When he was certain he could leave the room without going after her, he turned off the lights and closed the door behind him.
Chapter Five
The next morning, later than her normal seven a.m., Evie climbed out of bed. She felt a little groggy, and knew instantly that it was lack of sleep from sexual deprivation that had done it. She wanted to curse Drake, but knew he was likely going through the same thing.
She glanced at the clock, figured he was already up and moving as it was nearly nine. She listened but didn’t hear him moving around, and assumed he had decided not to wait for her to eat since she’d slept so late.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she jumped up and went to shower, then dressed in denim short shorts and a white peasant top over her black bikini. Prepped for the day, she stepped out of her room.
She didn’t see Drake in the kitchen, nor was he at the dining table. She walked to the back door and didn’t see him eating outside. Likewise, the boat was docked and he wasn’t fishing. A glance out the side door showed his car still in the driveway.
She frowned, wondering where he might be, and smirked when she thought he must be hiding from her downstairs. She was proven wrong a few seconds later when she heard his shower start: After a week with the man, she knew his schedule as well as her own, and he usually showered as soon as he got up, like her.
Deciding not to wait for him to eat, she grabbed a strawberry fruit-and-yogurt parfait from the fridge and sat at the counter, bar side. If he didn’t dawdle, she would be the first thing he saw when he opened the door.
He did dawdle, at least a little, but so did she. She took her time enjoying her breakfast and thinking about the night before.
She still couldn’t believe her own behavior, or that it had been well-received. At the most, she’d thought last night, he’d sleep with her just because she was willing and available. But no, she knew now, he genuinely wanted her, for her, because of her. It was truly mind-blowing.
She was so far from the women he normally went out with, and yet he was pursuing her, practically wooing her, and wanted her sexually. She’d begun to think her sister had been right, and Drake, too: He’d changed, matured, decided to grow up, and it gave her hope. For what, she didn’t know yet, but something good was happening here.
The sound of his feet on the stairs caught her attention. She took the last bite of her parfait and stood, reaching the door about the same time he did. It opened, forcing her to pull up or get hit.
His eyes widened slightly when he saw her. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” she said cheerfully, letting him close the door before moving to the pantry to toss her garbage.
When she turned around, he was right behind her with a smile on his face. “Good morning.” Then he kissed her, soft and gentle and full of affection.
“Morning,” she mumbled as he moved to the fridge.
“You eat?”
“Uh… Yeah. Sorry I didn’t wait, but you slept in.”
“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep,” he said darkly, sending her a look that said it was her fault.
She smiled, because she liked the thought that she had kept him up. “Me, either. I missed you last night,” she said, just to twist the knife.
He popped a bagel in the toaster oven and glared at her. “Stop it.”
She fought a smile and shrugged. “Just saying.”
He walked to her and grabbed her upper arms, then hauled her against him. When they were chest to chest, thigh to thigh, he lowered his mouth, taking hers fiercely.
She could barely draw breath, but enjoyed the dizziness swirling through her. She’d never felt this way about any other man, and she really, really like it.
When he pulled back, Evie slowly opened her eyes and stared into his.
“Stop it,” he said again, voice husky and breathless.
She smirked but didn’t say anything. Just then the toaster oven ‘ding’ed, and he turned
toward it with a muttered, “Food.”
That night, after relaxing outside most of the day, Evie sat in the living room, on the loveseat, with Entertainment Weekly in her hands. Though she’d invited him to sit next to her, Drake had taken the big chair, and was playing something on his Nintendo DSi XL. Or, at least, he was trying to.
She saw him look up at her several times, often for minutes on end. Though she could have driven him mad by returning the look, she chose to “ignore” him and continue reading about ‘Brangelina’.
After nearly an hour of this, he jumped up like something had bitten him and started pacing. “I’m edgy. I can’t sit still anymore.”
She hid a smirk behind her magazine. “I could help you with that, you know.” She lifted just her eyes and gazed at him from beneath her lashes.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re not helping.”
Deciding she was enjoying making him edgy, she only shrugged and went back to her magazine. She watched him stalk the room with his hands on his hips for ten more minutes, until finally he stormed to the door to the basement.
“I’m gonna go work out. See you in the morning.” He flung the door open, and then slammed it behind him.
She waited until she was sure he was all the way downstairs before letting the laugh go. She didn’t feel sorry for him; not even a little. It was a self-imposed punishment he was suffering. She’d told him many times, in no uncertain terms, that she was willing. It was on him now.
But she slowly realized as she sat there that he was unfairly punishing her, as well. She didn’t have anything to prove, like he thought he did. There was no reason for her to abstain. She wanted sex, and she wanted it with Drake.
So go for it!
She would, she decided almost instantly. She would pursue him, just as she’d thought she was incapable of, because now she knew he wanted her, too. All she had to do was break him, and there were few women who didn’t know how to break a man sexually. Evie wasn’t one of those women.
Capable of being patient now that she’d decided to go after him, she waited until she heard him get into the shower, then closed her magazine and quickly made her way down to his room. He’d left both his bedroom door and the bathroom door open, and the sounds of him in the shower oddly turned her on, nearly as much as the knowledge that soon she’d see him, wet and naked. She shivered in anticipation.
Quietly she stripped and neatly piled her clothes on his dresser, then looked at the bed. Should she climb in and wait for him, or get into the shower with him like she’d originally planned? She heard him sigh as he stepped under the spray, and the decision was made. She moved into the bathroom, and while he was still rinsing his hair, she opened the curtain and climbed in.
Instantly, he went on alert. His eyes and ears were full of soapy water, no doubt, yet he knew she was there. He stopped moving and listened, but she said nothing, only admired his gorgeous body.
“Evie?” he called loudly, thinking she was downstairs somewhere.
“Drake,” she said softly, letting him know she was closer than he thought.
Immediately, he rinsed his face, and then opened his eyes, starting minutely when he saw her there. “Jeezus, Evie, you startled me.” Then he really looked at her, standing naked before him. “God, Evie, you’re… beautiful,” he said reverently.
She blushed and bit her lip, smiling as she looked down. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself,” she said, lifting just her eyes to stare at him heatedly.
Her words seemed to remind him where they were. “What are doing in here?”
“I want you to make love to me.”
“Evie, don’t do this. I’m trying to prove a point here, and you’re making it very hard for me.”
With a grin, she looked down at his stiff member. “I can see that.”
He put his hands on his hips, which should have looked ridiculous with his erection jutting proudly in front of him and water running down his body, but to her he looked… Regal, like a confident lord of the manor. “Very cute. Now get out.” He jerked his head toward the door.
She shook her head slowly and moved forward. “Nope. I’m not going anywhere.”
He watched her coming closer through narrowed eyes. When she was only a foot away, his nostrils flared and he said, “Seriously, Evie, get out.”
She had him. She knew it.
With a sexy smile, she put her hands on his pecs, loving the way his eyes closed and his breath huffed out. “Can’t. You’ve proven your point, Drake.” As she spoke, she outlined the contours of his chest and stomach, gradually peeling away his remaining resistance. “I understand you’re not the guy I thought you were. And while I get your need to prove that, I don’t think it’s fair that I suffer because of it.”
“You?” he asked roughly as her hands moved over him.
“Mm-hm.”
“You’re suffering?”
“Mm-hm. Now, that’s not fair, is it?” She couldn’t believe how calmly she was speaking, when her insides were quaking with need and she felt like she was on fire.
Drake groaned and his head fell back when her hands closed around him, one near the base of his shaft, one closer to the head, each gently twisting in an opposite direction. “Dear God.”
Still holding him, she went up onto her toes to kiss his chin and jaw, nip at his neck. After a few seconds, he brought his head down and kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as his hands found her hair and wove into it.
“You have to stop,” he panted a moment later.
Her grip tightened, and his eyelids fluttered. “No. I’m not leaving.”
His hands gripped hers, ending their movement. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to disgrace myself.” Without warning, he moved like lightning, and Evie found herself pressed against the cool tile wall with her arms pinned beside her head. Drake brought his face close to hers. “And I want to be inside you when I come.”
She gasped sharply, a split second before he brought his mouth to hers and pillaged. Though she pushed against him, he wouldn’t release her arms, telling her that though she’d started this, he was in control now.
He held her against the wall with his large body, taking some of her weight with a thigh between her legs. She gasped harshly when his firm leg brushed her center.
Grinning, he watched her face as he purposely moved under her, alternating between rubbing hard and barely touching her. With her arms held down and her legs practically dangling, she had no choice but to let go and truly enjoy the feelings building inside her.
She moaned when he shifted and began grinding into her, round and round as the pressure grew. He kissed her again, swallowing her next several moans, until her breath began to hitch in her lungs.
Leaving her lips, he kissed a path to her ear. “Come for me, baby,” he whispered, then pulled his head back to watch her orgasm take her.
She climaxed moments later, face tensed in ecstasy, eyes squeezed closed, mouth open as she cried out her pleasure. It swept through her in glorious waves, over and over her, until she felt dizzy from oxygen leaving her faster than she could pull it in.
A minute later, head spinning, she grew slowly aware of Drake pressing soft kisses over her face. Her hands were free and hung limply at her sides, and she rested completely on his raised thigh. Just thinking about it had an aftershock tearing through her, and she whimpered.
“Evelyn?” He spoke very quietly, intimately.
“Hm?”
“You have the prettiest O face I have ever seen.” The soft kisses continued, lulling her even as shock from his words reverberated through her.
Her eyes opened slightly, tiny brown slits. “What?”
He grinned, and seemed to choose his words carefully. “I’ve seen… A few women have an orgasm, and your face during was the prettiest by far.”
She didn’t know whether to be flattered that a man of his experience thought so, or pissed that he’d mentioned former lovers while naked with
her. So she decided to go with somewhere in between. “Um… Thanks?”
He chuckled, the deep sound rumbling through her. “You’re welcome.” He leaned close to her ear, making her shiver. “I wanna see it again,” he whispered.
Amazingly, she felt her womb respond to his words, quivering and clenching in anticipation. Going with her brazen attitude from earlier, she said, “Oh, yes, please.”
He smirked, and bent just enough to turn the water off. The sudden silence was nearly deafening, but there was no time to think about that when Drake was putting his hands on her, sliding them under her backside to carry her out of the bathroom and lay her on his bed.
He opened the side table drawer, pulled out a condom, and spoke while he put it on. “I promise I’ll have more finesse next time, Evie. Right now, I just need to be inside you, before you change your mind and my fantasy is shredded.”
She laughed softly as he wrapped his big hands around her raised thighs and pulled her close. “I’m not gonna- Oh, god!” she cried as he plowed into her.
Her breath caught and held, and above her, Drake held himself deep, eyes shut tight in concentration, and shook with the need to thrust. After several seconds, he still hadn’t moved, and she took a slow breath. “Drake, are you okay?”
“God, yes,” he breathed. “I’m just committing this feeling to memory, in case this is a fluke.”
She bit her lip and waited him out, wondering why he was so sure this wasn’t going to last. Finally, he opened his eyes, the blue color shining at her in the light from the bathroom. With a self-deprecating smile, he said, “Thanks for that. Ready?”
“God, yes,” she said, mimicking his earlier words.
He grinned, slid slowly out of her, then quickly back in, reveling in the breathless cry that left her lips. He moved out again, in again, out again, in again, and every time she sighed or moaned, telling him she’d been more than ready for this.
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