by JM Stewart
Cool as a freakin’ cucumber, Tyler’s fingers didn’t stop their torment, but continued to rub the seam into her clit. Super sensitive now, the action only served to heat her up again. Fire flooded her veins as another hard orgasm gripped her.
Cassie tightened her grip on his thigh, digging her fingers into the muscle to keep from crying out. She held her breath, her body trembling. She was sure she tasted blood she was biting her lip so hard. The pleasure seemed endless. He was right. The knowledge they could be caught at any moment only extended the pleasure.
As the last of the spasms died away, Cassie sagged against his side. “Oh, God.”
Tyler kissed the top of her head, murmuring into her hair. “Better?”
“Oh, yeah.” Her T-shirt now clung to her damp skin, and her breaths came rapid and shallow, like she’d just run the Boston Marathon, but her limbs were deliciously heavy. She leaned her head against his shoulder as the sleepy lull of satiation moved over her. “I don’t think I can move, but that was phenomenal. I owe you.”
“Oh, I’ll get mine.” He chuckled and leaned over, his breath hot on her ear. “When you lose tonight.”
Chapter Ten
Good luck, soldier boy.” Cassie sidled up behind him, pushed her breasts into his back, and slid her hand over his ass, letting it rest there.
In two seconds flat, Tyler’s cock was swelling behind his fly. Standing at the end of the lane, a twelve-pound ball in his right hand, he couldn’t help but laugh. They were two games in, and that was the fourth time in the last hour and a half she’d done something similar. Last time, she’d swatted his ass. The time before that, she’d kissed him, pushed her tits into his chest, and thrust her tongue into his mouth. The little minx clearly attempted to throw him off his game.
Damn her, it worked, too. She’d sent his ball shooting off into the gutter three times now, because he couldn’t concentrate worth a damn. His mind was currently in her jeans. Namely, on getting her back to her penthouse and out of them.
He turned his head and tried for a glare, but the wicked gleam in her eyes made his heart pound, and the corners of his mouth twitched. “I see what you’re doing, you know. You’re trying to sabotage me. That’s cheating, princess.”
“Just improving my odds.” The spoiled brat didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. She winked at him, all sassy and full of herself. Christ she was beautiful when she looked at him like that.
“Yeah, you just wait. I’m still ten points ahead of you.” He faced the lane again, and she moved back to give him room. Ignoring the heat of her stare, he took aim and swung his arm back.
“Want to know what I plan to do to you if you stay tonight, Ty?”
Her voice sounded behind him as he released the ball, and his hand jerked as possibilities bombarded his mind. All the delicious ways he wanted to make love to her. Against the wall in the foyer, to take the edge off, like they had last night. Or maybe she’d fall to her knees and take his cock in her small, hot mouth…
The damn ball left his hand with a little more force than necessary. It hit the first pin and barreled through, knocking down the six pins in the center and leaving him with a four-six-seven-ten split. Damn it.
He groaned. He’d never make that.
As he headed for the ball return, he shot her a glare. “Two can play at that game, baby. Wait until it’s your turn.”
The ball came rolling out of the return with a quiet whir of the motor, and he grabbed it and moved to the end of the lane again. He lined up his sights, the way Dean had shown him. His brother had told him once how to do this, to hit the pins right in order to pick up a spare. Not that he’d ever managed to accomplish it.
As it turned out, he managed to knock down three of the remaining pins, leaving one standing, as if to mock him.
Cassie pranced to the ball return with a self-satisfied smirk. “Nice try.”
After grabbing her ball—pink of course—she moved to the end of the lane. Tyler followed, moving to stand behind her. He tucked his thumbs in his pockets and leaned his head beside her ear. “Want to know what I want, baby? I want to bury my face between your thighs and suck on your clit. I want to feel your hands grip my head and your hips arch into my mouth because you can’t help yourself. And more than anything, I want to feel you come on my tongue.”
She drew a shuddering breath that damn near made him drag her off to the bathroom, hiked her chin, and darted a glance over her shoulder. “Are you going to move back so I can take my turn or what?”
“Oh, my bad.” He held his hands up in surrender and backed away from her.
Cassie, of course, didn’t need his help to ruin her game. Her way of throwing the ball was to hold it in both hands and swing it between her legs. If she wanted to play dirty, though, so could he.
Just as she took her swing, he called out to her. “Good luck, my tasty little treat.”
When her ball skittered off into the gutter, he resisted the urge to gloat.
Cassie turned and glared at him, marching back to the ball return. “Oh, it’s on, Benson. It’s on.”
He dropped into a plastic chair and winked at her. “Consider that challenge accepted, princess.”
As she stepped up to the lane again, he should’ve tossed another cocky taunt at her, some barely disguised innuendo, but he could only watch. Despite her protests regarding bowling, they were having a good time. His head had been quiet so far. Not once in the last hour and a half had he thought of that fucking cell in Iraq. The crowd around him, the deafening noise, hadn’t triggered anything ugly, because he was lost in her, in keeping her smiling and laughing.
By the fourth game two hours later, they both played so lousy he laughed every time he stepped up to the lane. Cassie, though, was ahead by five points. This game would decide who won his little bet.
As it turned out, his ball curved off into gutter. Leaving all ten damn pins still standing.
Cassie let out a victorious squeal behind him, meeting him at the ball return with a grin plastered across her face and her chest puffed out with pride. She stepped into his personal space and poked him in the chest. “You. Are. Mine. I won, fair and square, soldier boy.”
He leaned down and touched his nose to hers. She might have won, but he could still pull a few punches of his own. “I’ve always been yours. Believe me, princess, I’m going to enjoy letting you have your way with me.”
That got her. Cassie froze, heat flaring in her eyes. A heady shiver moved through her as she stared up at him. “So, what now?”
“Well, that depends on you, but”—he leaned his head beside her ear and lowered his voice—“I’m dying to peel you out of those jeans.”
Her breathing hitched. When he met her gaze again, she stared at him for one tension-filled moment, grabbed his hand, and marched off, tugging him behind her. He followed in silence out of the bowling alley and into the quiet of the night. She didn’t say a word or even turn to look at him as she led him to where his brother’s car was parked at the back of the lot. Once there, she pressed him against the driver’s door. Hands braced on his chest, she lifted onto her toes and captured his mouth, all fire and determination. She pushed her tongue inside, her kiss hot and desperate, and he was pretty sure they were both shaking.
As suddenly as she’d kissed him, she released him, pausing a moment to catch his gaze. Hers was filled with the same need that had him tongue-tied. Then she moved around to the passenger side of the car.
His fingers shook as he dug his keys from his pocket and hit the fob. Once the doors unlocked, she climbed inside. When he got in after her, she reached over and threaded her fingers with his. “You should get this car moving, because in about two seconds, I’m going to climb into that seat with you. I need you. I…”
She shook her head, glancing over at him, vulnerability rising in her eyes.
She didn’t have to say the words. What she meant hung in the air, igniting a solar flare between them. She needed what he needed. S
omething soft and slow. A complete meshing of bodies. He had a feeling they really wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. Not out of physical need, but the soul-deep desire to be as close as possible. To make up for lost time. Three years apart was a lifetime, and the need in her eyes, mixing with the tears hovering at the edges of her lashes, told him she thought something similar.
He squeezed her fingers, then pushed the button to start the car and moved their combined hands to the gearshift. “Me, too, baby. Me too.”
By the time they made it to her penthouse, a tense silence had risen between them. Cassie was unusually shy and quiet. On the elevator ride up, she held herself stiff beside him, hands fisted at her sides. She didn’t say so much as a word, and he let her have her space. He knew her enough to know that when she was ready, she’d voice whatever was on her mind.
Every once in a while, though, her gaze would flick to him. The hunger in her eyes made his cock ache. Standing behind her in the vestibule, watching her unlock her front door, he could have cut the tension with a knife. Tonight was different somehow, like they were letting down walls between them.
He found out as soon as he closed her front door behind him. Cassie turned to him, and although she gave him a sweet smile, he didn’t miss the anxiousness dancing in her eyes. “You were right, you know. I had a good time.”
“Told you.” He winked, hoping to see her smile. The laugh she let out, however, sounded forced. He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “All right, I can’t stand it anymore. You’ve been quiet since we left the bowling alley. Care to tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours?”
She stared at him for a moment before drawing a breath. “I’ve been thinking.”
He dropped his hands, hooking his thumbs in his pockets. “And what’d you come up with?”
“I know I won fair and square, but…” She looked down at the floor for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “I meant what I said. You don’t have to stay.”
Ah. So that was the reason for her silence. Before he let her off the hook, though, he had to know. “Care to tell me what made you decide this?”
She dropped her gaze to his chest and reached out with tentative fingers, stroking her palm over his pecs.
“I realized I didn’t care anymore. I was thinking about it, on the way up. If spending the night is too hard for you, then I don’t want it. Because that matters to me, too. That you’re comfortable with this, with me.” She opened her mouth as if to say something, paused, drew a deep breath and blew it out. “If you could just hold me until I fall asleep? Like last time?”
If ever he had a doubt about whether or not to stay, those words sealed the deal. That she’d give up on the one thing she needed most made the decision a cakewalk. He’d stay, because she needed him to and because he needed her.
He closed the distance between them and cupped her cheeks in his palms. “For the record, I want to stay. Somewhere deep down, you have to know that. I’m not avoiding you.”
She nodded but worry still edged her eyes, and the soft vulnerability playing there only reminded him why he’d fallen for her in the first place. When push came to shove, Cassie’s I don’t need anybody façade came tumbling down around her. Deep down, she had a soft heart.
He sighed and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “It means we’re going to have to talk. You’re going to need to know what to expect, but telling you won’t be easy for me. I’m not sure I could handle watching your expression when I say the words. You’re going to be thinking about everything, and I don’t want to see the reflection of it in your eyes. I don’t want to remember right now. I had a great time tonight. For the first time in a long time, I haven’t thought about being over there, and I don’t want to ruin that. I just want to enjoy you.”
He leaned in, unable to resist stealing a taste of her. The mere mention of the conversation had his shoulders tightening to the point of pain. He’d have to tell her things he’d hate saying to her, and he’d have to watch the emotions she’d try but fail to hide move across her features. Although some part of his brain insisted she wouldn’t judge him like that, the thought of finding disgust in her eyes made him sick to his stomach. He’d come back from hell feeling like half a man, and he still feared seeing an echo of the same in her gaze.
But he was willing to take the risk. For her. Because she was the only person he trusted to share this with.
“You’ve had me wound like a top for hours. I want inside you, baby. We can talk later.” He forced a grin, determined to rid them of the unbearable heaviness hanging over them. “Now kiss me, damn it.”
Her relief was palpable. Her features lit up like the sun, her grin blooming in her face. A wicked glint entered her eye that made his cock ache. Bracing her hands against his chest, she turned him, pressed him back against the foyer wall, and leaned up on her toes. The ferocity with which she seized his mouth pulled a groan out of him. Christ he loved this side of her. Cassie was taking no prisoners.
Her kiss wasn’t soft or slow, either, but fire and seduction. Her lips played over his, her tongue sliding along his lower lip and pushing inside. She had the nerve to tease him, her tongue flicking out and tapping his, only to skirt away when he reached out in return. When she had him shaking with need and completely at her mercy, she went in for the kill shot. Her soft hands burrowed beneath his shirt, sliding over his pecs as her thumbs flicked his nipples.
A deep groan vibrated out of him. Unable to stand her teasing anymore, he cupped her head in his hands and took back control. He deepened the kiss, giving her everything she gave him, and slid his hands to her ass, pulling her legs off the floor. He turned, pressed her back against the wall, and rocked his aching cock against her core.
Cassie dropped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her perfectly polished nails dragged over his shoulders as she arched against him. “If I were wearing a skirt, you could already be inside me, you know.”
Already breathless, she found a primal rhythm, grinding against the bulge in his jeans. When she gasped and began to tremble in his arms, he knew she was close.
He groaned and forced himself to pull back. Oh, he had every intention of driving her out of her freaking mind tonight, but he was wound tight, like a grenade without a pin. If she didn’t stop, he’d come in his damn jeans, and this time when she went, he wanted to go with her.
So, he dropped her legs to the floor and stepped back.
“Hey.” Cassie opened heavy-lidded eyes, a lazy grin curling across her face. “I was enjoying that.”
“I know, but any more and I’m going to come with you, and I’d rather be inside you when I do. You got relief earlier. I, however, am pretty sure my balls are blue.” He winked and took her hand, leading her in the direction of her bedroom on the other side of the apartment. “Come on, princess. I want to peel you out of those jeans.”
Behind him, Cassie giggled, a girlish sound that made him smile again in spite of himself. “I’m going to enjoy watching you come apart, soldier boy.”
He waited until they’d entered her bedroom before answering her, using the purchase of her hand in his to pull her into him. He nipped at her bottom lip. “I just bet you will.”
That mischievous gleam returned to her eyes as she braced a hand against his chest and shoved. He stumbled back a step as Cassie dropped onto the edge of the bed and held one booted foot out to him. “Pull.”
Tyler couldn’t help the stupid grin plastering itself across his face. Oh, he liked this game. Cassie, in dominatrix mode, could rock his whole damn world. So, he put on his best submissive and gripped her foot in his palm. “Yes, ma’am.”
He tugged the first boot off, tossing it over his shoulder.
Cassie drew her brows together and peered around him. “Those were expensive, you know.”
“Yes, but they’re currently in the way of me getting those jeans off you.” Okay, so maybe his best submissive wasn’t very good. Tyler held out his h
and. “Next foot, please.”
Heat flashed in her eyes as she obliged, holding out her right foot. When he tossed that one over his shoulder, too, she glared at him, but the corners of her mouth twitched. Determined to get her out of those jeans as soon as possible, he approached the bed, but Cassie shook her head and stood. Hands sliding onto his hips, she turned him back toward her, reversing their positions, and pushed his chest again. He dropped onto the edge of the bed and leaned back on his elbows. Whatever her game, he was happy to play. Her hot gaze rooted to his as she gripped the hem of her sweater and pulled it up over her head. One corner of her mouth quirked as she tossed it over her shoulder with her boots. Her T-shirt went next, tossed with a la-de-da style.
Her hands dropped to the top button of her jeans, popping it free. Rather than making quick work of those jeans, however, Cassie began to dance, her hips doing erotic figure eights as she pulled down the zipper tooth by fucking tooth. She turned her back to him, swaying her tight little ass, and tugged the denim down only enough to reveal the top of sheer black panties. Two seconds later, she pulled them back up and continued to dance, running her hands over her body. Up her sides and along the edges of her breasts. Down her stomach to her mound. Then back up to cup her breasts in her palms. Everywhere he ached to touch.
By the time she finally flicked the clasp on her bra, he was pretty sure he was drooling. She had him right where she no doubt wanted him, at her beck and call. She didn’t, however, take her bra off or turn around.
He let out a frustrated groan and flopped back on the bed. “Blue, Cassie. They’re blue. So not nice to tease me right now.”
Okay, so her tactic was freaking brilliant. She had him by the balls, and she knew it. He’d give anything at this point for her to shuck the rest of her clothing and join him on the bed. Hell, he’d settle for the jeans. He could work around the panties.
