by JM Stewart
He shook his head but couldn’t contain his grin. Christ. It was going to be a long night. A thoroughly enjoyable one, but long nonetheless, because he’d no doubt be hard for most of it.
Chapter Nine
When Tyler slid into the driver’s seat beside her and closed his door, Cassie turned her head to look at him. “This wager of yours? I accept.”
She’d done a lot of thinking since their conversation this afternoon. If she was going to do this, then she had to go all in, but she had conditions. It was sneaky, really, and had guilt tightening her chest. She’d be pushing him beyond his boundaries. He’d been through hell, but it was time she faced this head-on.
And hell. Who was she kidding? She didn’t bowl. She had to put herself out there, though, because she needed tonight. She wanted one night in his arms. To wake up to his gorgeous rumpled head in the morning. Like she needed to breathe or eat or create her jewelry, she needed him to stay. And maybe, just maybe, her idea would put a fun twist on it.
“You don’t even know what it is.” He grinned, his eyes illuminated and playful. For the first time since he’d come back, he didn’t seem weighed down by the things that had happened to him.
She waved a hand in the air between them. “Don’t care. I’m game. But I have a demand of my own, should I win. You go first. I know you. You have something up your sleeve. What is it we’re betting for?”
He turned in his seat to fully face her. “All right. If I win, you have to spend an entire week with me. Not just this one night.”
That immediately stiffened her spine. Okay, so apparently he didn’t intend to play fair, either. She lifted a brow. “And if I win?”
“What do you want?” He leaned back in his seat and shrugged, like giving her whatever she’d demand was easy. Like he’d give her anything.
She drew a deep breath, her stomach knotting in anticipation of the denial she knew was coming. “You have to stay. All night.”
His easy smile melted from his face, that haunted look returning to his eyes. Several moments passed in silence. When he turned to the console and pushed the button to start the car, she didn’t miss the way his fingers trembled. The engine purred to life, and the tension in the small space became a sharp point between them.
In the silence that filled the car, their conversation two days before floated into her thoughts. Lying in the dark, listening to the sound of his voice, low and etched with a raw sort of honesty. As if it cost him a lot simply to say the words out loud.
“They took everything from me. My freedom. My ability to live a normal life.”
“To have the woman I’m trying to impress know I came back half the man I used to be…they may as well have lopped off my balls while they were at it.”
Guilt tightened in her chest and doubt rose over her. She was trying to be strong, to hold on to her principles, but at what cost? The knowledge didn’t make her feel proud, or strong, or independent. Rather, it made her now feel small and stupid. And completely selfish. How could she force him to do something that clearly tormented him so much?
Before she could think of what to say, Tyler drew a deep breath, beating her to the punch.
“Fine. But we’re going to have to talk, and I don’t want to do it now. Like I said, that shit’s heavy and right now, I just want to get lost in you.” He finally looked over at her, emotion naked on his face. Fear. Love. Even a hint of the same heat burning in her belly. The intensity in his gaze bored holes in the last of her defenses.
Not that she had many left.
“You make me forget, Cassie.”
She turned her head, looking out at the darkened street in front of them. It was six o’clock on a Saturday night. The streets teemed with people and cars, their lights like fireflies illuminating the night. If he could be honest, she owed him the same in return.
“I’m sorry. I thought maybe instead of just being demanding, I’d make it fun. I…” She shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know what I thought anymore. Except that I’ve spent three years thinking you were dead. I just…I need it. For you to stay, I mean. I missed you, you know. I grieved.”
She glanced down at her lap, vulnerability rising around her like a suffocating shroud. Honesty might be the best policy, but it sure as hell wasn’t easy to bare your soul to the one person capable of breaking it.
“But hearing how difficult it is for you…it just seems cruel. And really selfish.” Summoning strength from God knew where, she forced herself to meet his gaze. “I have things I need to tell you, too, and I don’t want to do it now either. So, if you don’t want to stay, you don’t have to. You can owe me dinner or something. You can cook, make me that great pasta dish you make. Because the truth is, I’d give you that week.”
She forced an easy smile, but her lower lip trembled, betraying her. She was about to give her heart to him for the second time, all the while knowing she could very well lose him again. It was terrifying and exciting and it had her trembling where she sat, as if all her bits and parts were hanging out for him to see. Like she had nothing left to hide.
But she couldn’t be sorry for it, either, because she needed this time with him.
“I said this upstairs, but clearly you need to hear it again.” He reached over, sliding his fingers into hers, where her hand lay in her lap. “Baby, I didn’t say I didn’t want to stay. There’s a difference.”
Baby. From any other man, that nickname always sounded condescending. She usually heard it when a man was either trying to backtrack his way out of getting caught with another woman or trying to persuade her into something she didn’t want. From Tyler, the name made her shiver, made her want and need in so many ways. Most of which made her panties damp, because deep down, she couldn’t deny she was his baby.
He let out a heavy sigh. “You want to know the truth? I’d stay, because I need it, too. To lie in your arms and hold you. So, we’re even there.” As suddenly as his dark mood came over him, it lifted. One corner of his mouth tugged upward, and he narrowed his eyes, a wicked glint in their depths. “But you’re going to have to earn it, princess.”
She couldn’t resist an answering smile. “And if I lose?”
He grinned, a full-out cocky smile, and winked. “Then you’re mine, sweetheart, to do with as I please, for seven whole days.”
A heady shiver rocketed down her spine, her clit throbbing in eager response. She squeezed her thighs together, more than a little tempted to move his hand between her legs. A little pressure on the seam of her jeans from his amazing fingers, and she’d come all over his brother’s expensive leather seats.
“Bring it on, soldier boy.” She turned her gaze out the windshield again. “But you better get going, because all this talk has my panties damp. I’m about two seconds from climbing onto that seat with you.”
Tyler leaned toward her, his teeth closing over her earlobe. “How about another little bet, hmm? I know how much you love public sex. I remember the restaurant bathroom I fucked you in. Wasn’t it an Italian place? We almost got caught because you came so hard you shrieked. And let’s not forget you made it to the Mile High Club with me. I bet I can make you come in the middle of the bowling alley without anybody noticing. Think you can keep yourself quiet, princess?”
His hot breath against her skin sent a heady shiver rocketing down her spine straight into her panties. He knew her and knew her well, and God she loved that he did.
She drew a shuddering breath, trembling from head to toe. “Ty?”
“Yeah, baby?” He hadn’t moved. His mouth was still right there, his voice a low, sexy rumble against her earlobe. If he didn’t stop teasing, she was going come, and he wouldn’t have to touch her at all.
“If you don’t get this car moving soon, I’m going to unbutton these damn jeans, and I’m going to use those wonderfully long, calloused fingers of yours to make myself come here and now. Drive. Please. I’ve been hot for you all damn day.”
He pulled her hand into his lap,
settling her palm over the front placket of his jeans. Cassie stifled a gasp. Tyler was hard, his erection a thick bulge that pressed against his zipper. To make matters worse, he tightened her fingers around his length and let out an agonized groan.
“Oh me, too, baby. Feel that? That has your name written all over it. But your orgasm is mine, remember? I get to say when you can come.”
She couldn’t contain her tortured groan this time. The feel of his cock beneath her hand was almost enough to make her come right there, because those words from his mouth had her mind filling with a hot little fantasy. Of climbing into his seat with him and riding that delicious ridge right to bliss. As he’d intended, no doubt.
She jerked her gaze to him and narrowed her eyes. “Drive.”
He had the audacity to laugh, a flirtatious, cocky twinkle in his eye, but he released her hand and shifted the car into gear. Cassie tried not to rock in her seat for what little friction she could find riding the seam of her jeans.
When he stopped for a red light, he reached over, sliding his hand over her thigh. “You do realize I’m so aroused right now I’ll probably embarrass myself and come the second you sink onto me, right?”
Her breathing hitched, certain parts of her anatomy begging for attention. “Ty?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I’m okay with that. Hope you had your Wheaties this morning, though, because I aim to have my fill of you later.”
Tyler’s laughter rang through the interior of the car.
By the time he pulled into a parking spot at the bowling alley in Renton, Cassie was an aching hot mess. If she had to sit still for one more minute, she’d go crazy. She was sure her panties were drenched, because her clit hadn’t stopped throbbing. Most of the drive had been a silent one. Tension of the hot variety had filled the car’s interior. He’d caressed her leg as he drove. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to shift his hand to the heat between her thighs.
Tyler exited the car, came around to her side, and pulled open her door, grinning as he held out his hand.
“Come on, princess. I’m going to kick your butt.” When she set her hand into his, he pulled her into his arms and bent his head to her ear. “I’m going to enjoy torturing you this week.”
Once again, he had her right where he wanted her: a hot puddle of goo. His warm breath on the sensitive skin of her earlobe sent more of those delightful shivers racing down her spine.
Drawing on willpower from God only knew where, she pulled out of his arms and sidestepped around him. “I’m okay with that, so long as you make me come. Hard. More than once.”
Without a backward glance, she set her sights on the bowling alley entrance and strode for it with more gumption than she felt. After all, if he wanted to play hardball, so could she, if only in part because experience had taught her it would make for explosive sex later. Except his laughter rang behind her, and her knees wobbled with each step. She had a feeling she was about to lose this bet, and she couldn’t be sure anymore if that was good or bad.
He jogged into step beside her and slipped his fingers into hers, leading her inside. The place was packed. Couples. Groups of friends. Families with kids. Every lane was full, each face gleaming with the fun of the evening. Thirty lanes glowed with neon. The sound of balls rolling down the alleys and pins exploding filled the room with a deafening din. The lights were turned low as well, black lighting illuminating people’s clothing in an eerie glow. White shirts had turned a dark blue.
Four people stood ahead of them, so they had to wait in line. Tyler stood behind her the entire ten-minute wait, his body pressed against her back. He was still hard, and damn the man, he pressed himself into her ass. Hands on her waist, his thumbs slipped beneath the hem of her top, stroking her skin and sending goose bumps shivering from the point of contact outward.
When their turn came, he ordered four games, but with the alley being busy, they had a forty-five minute wait. After paying for their time and giving them his name, he pulled her aside and turned to her.
“You hungry?”
Okay, so being keyed up apparently made her cranky, because Tyler took one look at her face and grabbed her hand, tugging her in the direction of the connected restaurant.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Come on. Let’s go get a pizza. Maybe if you’re a good girl”—he tossed a wink over his shoulder—“I’ll give you some relief.”
Something in that wink and the amused twinkle in his eye loosened her knees. She followed like a lost puppy, happy to let him lead her anywhere for the promise in those words. It was sad, really. She was supposed to be keeping him at arm’s length, but she couldn’t summon the willpower or the desire. He had her riding a high nothing could touch and looking forward to the moment when he’d tip her over that glorious edge.
The waitress seated them immediately. As Tyler slid into the booth beside Cassie, the waitress smiled at him. Him. The woman hadn’t even glanced at her. “Can I get you guys anything to drink to start off with?”
Seemingly unperturbed, he smiled back. “Soda, Coke if you have it, and scotch on the rocks for the lady.” He darted a glance at Cassie and grinned before turning back to the waitress. “Better make that a double. And a large deep dish with the works.”
The waitress winked, jotting everything down on her little notepad. “You got it.”
As the waitress turned away, heading for the bar across from their table, Cassie nudged Tyler’s arm. “I’m pretty sure she was checking you out.”
Tyler laughed, light and airy. “I doubt it. I’m not much to look at these days.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.” She slid her hand over his thigh, hard and tense beneath her fingers. So, he wasn’t as aloof and in control as he pretended. Good. At least she wasn’t alone in her misery.
He looked over at her. His eyes narrowed, warning her not to push, yet illuminated with a heat that seared her from the inside out. Cassie grinned. Christ, she couldn’t help herself. She’d forgotten how much fun it was to tease him, simply to sit in the same space with him and see the playful gleam in his eyes. With a single glance, he could melt her right out of her clothes, and the hunger in those blue eyes told her in no uncertain terms that as soon as they were alone, they were going to attack each other. She couldn’t wait.
Tyler arched a mischievous brow and released her hand, only to reach over and settle the warmth of his palm over the seam of her jeans. Sitting in the back of the booth, nobody would be able to see them or where he touched her, and he let it rest there, a hot little promise and a warning. “Are you going to behave?”
“Please.” She let out a shuddering breath, her eyes drifting shut. Her body was already riding a fine, razor-sharp line, anticipating the luscious burst of her orgasm. It coupled with the knowledge that they weren’t alone. Someone could catch them. At the moment of release, someone, somewhere could be looking right at them.
“Good girl. Relax.” He turned his head toward the bar and stroked the seam of her jeans, the lightest of caresses. The fingers of his other hand drummed the tabletop. Like nothing was out of the ordinary. Like his wicked fingers weren’t setting every molecule of her body on fire. “Remember, baby. Quiet.”
She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. Despite the thick denim covering her, his apt fingers found the exact right spot. He pressed inward this time, rubbing the little knot on the seams of her jeans against her clit. Her whole body lit up like a Fourth of July firework. Pleasure engulfed her, melting what was left her of sanity. Her head dropped back against the seat of its own accord as her mind focused on the strumming of his fingers.
When he pressed again, grinding the knot against her this time, she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her.
Tyler snatched his hand back.
Cassie groaned and opened her eyes, whispering into the space between them. “Not fair, Ty. You can’t keep doing that, teasing me and stopping. It’s torture, you know.”
He leaned his head beside h
er ear. “Baby, you do that again and they’re going to throw us out of here. And then you’ll have to wait, because I’ll have to find another alley.”
His hot breath on her neck did nothing but increase the ache between her thighs, but Tyler added to it by nipping at her earlobe before pulling back enough to meet her gaze.
“Quiet.” This time the word was a hot reprimand that brooked no objections. His intense gaze demanded she obey. “Or I stop.”
She reached over, gripping his thigh hard in an effort to root herself, and nodded. Normally, she enjoyed taking control. Tyler had always submitted willingly to her bedroom quirks, had told her once he found it sexy, and it had made for some fireworks. Right then, she’d have sank onto her knees and kissed his feet. She’d have promised him the goddamn moon and stars so long as his fingers returned.
He smiled, sexy as sin and in control, and leaned sideways to kiss the spot beneath her ear. “That’s my girl. I’ll ease the ache, baby, but you have to do your part and stay quiet.”
“Please.” She leaned her head against his. To outsiders, they’d look like lovers, or perhaps newlyweds.
He allowed her to take his hand and guide it between her legs. She managed to stay quiet by keeping her teeth locked on her bottom lip as she cupped his hand over her denim-covered mound. Desperate for the release that had hovered out of reach for hours now, she rocked her hips, sliding his fingers along the seam. The thick fabric pushed the softer material of her silk panties against her clit, providing a luscious friction that set her whole body ablaze.
Her gaze went unfocused, the room spinning away from her. The entire time, Tyler planted soft kisses to her cheek, her ear, her neck, occasionally flicking his tongue out to singe her skin.
When he took control and pressed hard, rubbing the knot into her clit, the hot little bubble inside of her burst. Cassie clamped down on her lip, fighting to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head, as pleasure swallowed her whole.
