“I’ll wait for you outside.”
“It’s going to take a while. Go home, Dylan.”
“You sure?”
She nodded, shooed him away.
I looked at Dylan. “I got her. I’ll take her home.”
He must have seen something in my face that reassured him. He patted his sister’s shoulder, told her he’d see her at home, and left.
Then the door closed.
And I was alone with her.
At last.
Chapter 11
Kara
Cameron’s blue eyes were even deeper, somehow more intense, in the muted glow of the light. They were patient as he followed Dylan to the front door—no, not patient. They were waiting. Anticipating what was to come.
I heard my brother’s footsteps and Cameron’s, then the click of the lock.
The echo it made in the room was as loud and heavy with meaning as a declaration of war.
Then those eyes, with those deep-blue irises, shifted to mine.
Conquer me, they challenged, before I conquer you.
It was bait.
And I wanted to bite.
I curled my hands into fists and instinctively stepped back, stopping when the back of my knees hit the couch.
The effect he had on me was undeniable, and I didn’t care for it. I didn’t like the way I felt defenseless around him, how he could strip away my reasoning just by looking at me.
As if he heard my thoughts, his lips, slowly and deliberately, formed into a smile.
I got you, his smile said, exactly where I want you.
Strength and controlled power showed in every movement of his body as I watched him cross the room toward me. His body was big and sleek, like a stealthy cat roaming the jungle, patient and hungry.
My eyes took in the long lines of his arms, the ripple of muscles, the veins that stood out like cords, his thick wrist. Every part disciplined, tight, and masculine.
He stopped in front of me.
“Kara.” He whispered my name. His voice was deep and rich, and my name sounded and felt so carnal coming from his lips. “Tell me why you’re here.”
I tried to answer. God knows I tried, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. It felt so easy, so sinful, like a soft, silky feather stroking my skin, to give in. Let someone else take control for once. No, not just someone. It had to be him. I closed my eyes in defense. I was losing, and surprisingly, I didn’t seem to mind. Was this what it felt like to want? To need?
The air was thick with tension, and I felt it shift before his fingers stroked the inside of my wrist. Once, twice. Then it was gone.
My lips opened a fraction, letting out a sharp breath. An expulsion, a way my body dealt with the surging desire in the aftermath of his touch.
Or maybe, maybe, it was a silent demand for more.
“Open your eyes,” he said softly.
I kept them closed.
“Kara.” His voice was soft as velvet, coaxing. “Look at me.”
But what would happen if I did?
This was something I’d never felt or experienced before. I’d never been this close to anyone nor had I wanted to be.
I was teetering between two worlds—the one where I would stay the same if I stepped away from him now, and the other one where the world I knew would end and change to something unfamiliar.
Which one would I choose?
I always put others before me. Responsibilities, commitments, family. When was the last time I did something just for the hell of it?
I opened my eyes. And stared right into the blue of his.
He was ruthlessly beautiful. The straight, dark brows, the deep-set eyes, the long, straight nose, the full lips. And all that beauty framed by soft, black hair.
I had thought he looked like a dark archangel when I first laid eyes on him. I still did.
He was as deep and dark as a cave, and I was standing right at his entrance. Should I go in or leave?
I made up my mind.
His lips parted in surprise as my finger slowly traced his collarbone, marveling at the warmth of his skin, at the smoothness of it. I thought I’d be satisfied just by feeling it, but I wanted to do more.
His muscles tensed as I moved my fingers to the long line of his neck, rubbing the stubble on his jaw, tickling myself.
I smiled but didn’t say anything. I usually had a lot to say, but I wasn’t myself right now. I was different when I was with him. I felt more beautiful, more aware of myself as a woman.
The pulse at the base of his throat jumped as I focused on his lips and continued my exploration there. They were full, pink, with a prominent Cupid’s bow.
Suddenly, he opened his mouth and caught my finger between his lips, between his teeth, then with his tongue. And sucked.
I gasped, my eyes snapping to his as I snatched my finger away, feeling like my whole body was on fire.
There was so much emotion raging inside me. My skin prickled. I felt hot, itchy, needy. I wanted…more. Just more.
“You’re driving me fucking crazy,” he whispered. His voice was husky, more than a hint of frustration in it.
Where every move before had been disciplined, he now radiated restless energy. It felt like having a big, edgy cat in a small cage.
His eyes grew heavy, hungry. “I’m waiting for you to run away,” he said quietly.
When I didn’t reply, his arms fell dejectedly to his sides.
“I don’t want you to.”
I bit my lip at his confession. He made me feel wanted. That I shouldn’t deny myself what I wanted. Even just for this moment.
The way he looked at me felt like heat gliding across my skin. Hot, palpable, alluring.
He looked so good, so unapologetically male.
“Kara.”
I looked up at him. He held his hand out to me, palm up.
“Come here,” he said huskily.
As if in a trance, I placed my hand in his. His hand was wide, with long, tapered fingers, and rough, with calluses and scrapes. A working man’s hand. A capable, strong, gorgeous man.
My eyes shifted to his. There was a delicious hot curl in my stomach at the approval and hunger I saw in his eyes.
He kissed my palm and placed it on his chest. His hands banded on my hips, his fingers pressing intimately, possessively, as he sprawled on the couch, pulling me to him and settling me on his lap.
I gasped as our bodies made contact, as I straddled him. He was wide, and God, so big that my legs stretched to accommodate him.
Up close, he was even more beautiful. Almost unreal. His features were perfect, his skin creamy and smooth.
His hands slipped under my sweater, fingers stroking the skin on my lower back. I shivered at the delicious rough texture of them.
When his lips touched my ear, I jumped. He let out a deep, low laugh.
Butterflies whirled in my stomach at the sound. Even his laugh was sexy.
“Can’t stop thinking about you,” he murmured.
He dragged his lips from my ear to my jaw, inhaling long and deep. My hands gripped his arms, waiting, wanting him to keep going, wanting to feel what was going to happen next.
His hands left my back, gliding up my arms, gently securing both sides of my neck. His thumbs stroked the hollow of my throat. My head fell back as I savored his touch. Back and forth and back and forth on my pulse that had gone mad.
He leaned forward until his lips were almost touching the side of my mouth. Almost.
“Kara,” he whispered. “Won’t you kiss me?”
I hissed out a breath.
I thought he would just take, remove the decision from me and just take, but he waited until I was ready. Until I made up my mind.
I felt his body poised for my rejection or my surrender. But the
re was no question in my mind.
I closed my eyes and took his bottom lip between mine. I heard him growl, as if he’d been starved and I’d just served him what he’d been craving.
Then he took over.
His tongue traced the seam of my lips, seeking entrance to my mouth. I opened up to him and he slid inside, shocking me with the arousal that bloomed inside me.
He tasted like orange and mint with a hint of the beer he had been drinking earlier.
One of his hands moved to the back of my head, securing me in place, as his mouth slanted against mine, wanting more, demanding more.
He moaned, deepening the kiss. And I was lost.
I pressed my hands on his back, pulling him closer, rubbing my body against his.
He was hard everywhere, his muscles rippling and tensing as I placed my hands under his shirt, glided up his chest. His skin was burning hot.
His hands settled on my heels, sliding up to my calves, swirling at the back of my knees, up my legs, then cupping my ass.
Then his hips surged up. Oh God.
His hands reached for the zipper on my pants. My eyes flew open.
“Stop.”
I pushed against him, but it was like pushing a car, he was so big and heavy. But he stopped, his hands falling to his sides.
I untangled myself, standing up and away from him, breathing hard.
His mouth was wet, rosy, his eyes smoky with desire. “Kara.”
“No,” I said.
His hands shook as he raked his fingers in his hair. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
He reached out, his hand closing on my wrist.
“Don’t go,” he pleaded.
I shook my head, pulled away, but he was ten times stronger than I was. There was no way I would be able to escape him.
“Let. Me. Go.”
He looked at me for a moment. There was a vulnerability in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. It nearly undid me.
And then he opened his hand and let me go.
I ran to the door, feeling claustrophobic. I needed space, time to think.
I held the doorknob in my hand, twisted.
“Kara.”
I turned my head, looked at him one last time, and left.
Chapter 12
Kara
You have failed the queen mother ship.
Blood pounded in my head as I raced out his door, down his driveway, almost tripping in my haste. I kept running until my couch potato lungs gave out on me.
My legs went weak and I had to stop. I crouched on the sidewalk, burrowing my head in my knees, trying to catch my breath.
What the hell was that?
My lips throbbed. Sore, but a delicious kind of sore. Like I’d been doing something bad, and it was a secret because it felt too damn good to share.
I could still feel the imprint of his lips on mine, still taste him on my tongue, still hear the sounds he made.
The sexy moans and growls he made at the back of his throat.
I made a tight squealing sound that sounded like a hyena giving birth.
God!
That’s right. Only God can help you now. You have failed the fort! I repeat: you have failed the fort! Retreat!
I have failed nothing! I just kissed him…
That’s right! You gave your first kiss away just like that? And note, it wasn’t just a kiss. There was dry humping involved. Girl, you wild thing, you!
Shut up!
After protecting the castle for twenty-one years, you’re going to lower the drawbridge to a guy you just met yesterday? What’s wrong with you?
I wasn’t going to sleep with him. I just…I just wanted to feel…wanted. For once.
That’s not the whole truth.
Yes, it is.
There have been a couple of guys before who liked you, but you never paid them any attention. Granted, one didn’t shower, and the other one hardly blinked. And neither of them was as hot as Cameron, but who is? Still. There’s another reason. What is it?
There’s no other reason.
You like him.
I slammed my hands against my ears, trying to shake off the voice in my head.
You like him. There’s never been anyone who challenged you like Cameron has. He’s not intimidated at all. No matter what you dish out at him.
I just met the guy yesterday!
It’s going to be midnight soon, so two full days now, FYI. But you’re deflecting. Why you deflecting, sister? That’s not what I asked.
Leave it alone.
You eavesdropped on their conversation when they were in the living room.
I didn’t hear all of it! Only toward the end because I was actually really trying to give them privacy but…
You sly grandma, you! But what you heard, you liked. You heard him going easy on Dylan when other guys would just dismiss or laugh at him. Or worse, bully him. He was kind to him. And that, my friend, was your downfall. Cameron’s kindness was your downfall, wasn’t it? And when they came back from the kitchen, you saw how Dylan looked at Cameron.
Dylan already adores him.
Don’t be falling for him now! With all your talk of standards, where are they now, huh? You gave in so easily. I’m so disappointed.
I’m going to bash your head in two seconds if you don’t shut the hell up.
He didn’t even want foreplay. He wanted the pearl in the shell right away. The caramel in the middle. The egg yolk.
You’re just like any other girl to him. He was horny, and you just happened to be there. You were supposed to talk to him about your contract, not suck his face.
You probably didn’t even kiss that good. He dominated that kiss in epic proportions.
“Enough!” I yelled into the night, ignoring the uneasy flutter I felt in my belly. “He’s an experiment. That’s all he is to me. He’ll be gone after his motorcycle is fixed.”
He’ll stay because you’re amusing, but once he gets bored, he’ll be gone. Just like your mother. Just like everyone.
I rose, dusted off my hands, and shivered. I hadn’t grabbed my jacket when I’d left my house earlier because I was so pumped. I hadn’t noticed the cold either when I left his house. But now I did.
I crossed my arms and rubbed them for warmth. Then screamed and jumped in fright when I felt something land on my shoulders.
I spun around, moved into a karate position, got ready to run—and choked on air when I saw that it was him.
He picked up the leather jacket that fell on the ground when I spun around, shook it, and offered it to me. His face, too beautiful even in the dark, was set in severe lines. His eyes, when they looked at me, were indifferent now.
Why did my stomach drop suddenly?
It wasn’t the reaction I’d expected to see on him after…what happened in his living room. But then again, he didn’t get what he wanted from me, did he?
So why was he here, holding out a jacket for me?
It was all so confusing. And frustrating.
Was there a training center I could enroll myself in to get an education in this?
He was looking at me, but I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. His shields were up. The shields that kept people out. I sensed them around him before, but I’d never gotten the full effect of them until now.
It made me…sad.
“You’re freezing,” he said. No hint of the warmth in his voice that had been there before. “Why don’t you wear this?”
But the way he said it wasn’t a request. It was an order. The arrogance in his tone was enough to cause my temper to flicker.
“You’re not the boss of me.”
I sounded like a sulky five-year-old, but I couldn’t have cared less.
He looked at me for a moment before h
e said, “I told your brother I’d take you home.”
I closed my mouth. His words, delivered so matter-of-factly, sounded sweet to me. Sounded so kind and thoughtful.
The guy was a walking contradiction. How the hell was I supposed to figure all this out?
Be strong, girl. Don’t give in. Don’t give in. Really, don’t.
My house was a twenty-minute walk from his house. I turned away from him and started walking home. He needed to stay far, far away from me right now.
He was confusing me, and I needed to be on my A game, especially now. This close to the fruition of my plans, there was no room for interruptions. If I wanted to buy another life for my family, at least give them a comfortable life free from my uncle’s greedy claws, there was no room for weakness. My eyes should always be on the prize.
Fantasies were all I could afford right now. And how pitiful was that?
My steps faltered when I felt something warm settle on my shoulders. Something that smelled like leather and man.
“Don’t,” he warned when I started to remove his jacket from my shoulders. “I’ll just put it on you again.”
“That’s really not the way you should talk to me if you want me to do something.” I shrugged off his jacket and threw it at him. I don’t know why I was suddenly angry. But I was. My skin felt flushed, my breathing sped up, and I wanted to hit something.
“You can keep your jacket right where the sun don’t shine, babe, and you can go back to where you came from. I’ve been walking home my whole life without you,” I said, and my voice failed me when it broke.
That weakness in my voice, that chink in my armor that he heard made me angrier.
“I’m not going to start needing you to find my way back home anytime soon. Because you know what? I can take care of myself and mine just fine. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, and I don’t need you or anyone else to tell me what the hell to do!”
It was unfair to take it out on him. I knew that, just as I knew I was going to beat myself up for it later. But he represented something I couldn’t even let myself want.
He was a great fantasy, one that was being dangled in front of my nose. Life was cruel. Because I was realistic enough to understand that was all he could ever be. He wasn’t meant for someone like me.
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