14
EXOTIC MUSIC with a pulsing beat drifted from Tess’s bedroom, and automatically Mac became aroused just wondering what she had in store for him. Whatever it was, he’d resist.
Not that resisting would be easy. With each rendezvous they planned, he always wondered what she’d come up with that would surprise the hell out of him. And totally turn him on. He and Tess had tried stunts that had never crossed his mind with any other woman.
Yet now that he thought about it, sexual adventure suited Tess perfectly. She’d tempted him with bold ideas when they were kids, too. The raft they’d built and almost drowned trying to ride, the wild-horse roundup, the cave-exploration trip—Tess had thought of every one of those.
God, it wouldn’t be easy walking back out of here tonight and giving up the excitement of loving Tess, the pure fun of just being with her. But that was short-term thinking. For the long term he needed to start learning to do without Tess’s soft mouth, her warm, moist body, her… He stood in the doorway and felt his resolve slip away.
Tess was dancing. And not just ordinary dancing, either. She wore filmy pants that hugged her hips, a jeweled bra dripping with gold coins, a gold armband and a veil across her nose and mouth. She was a vision straight out of a sheik’s harem, complete with tiny cymbals attached to her fingers. She kept time with them as she rotated her hips in the most mesmerizing rhythm he’d ever seen.
“Surprise.” Her grin was faintly visible behind the veil. “I’ve been practicing for weeks.” She continued to dance as she motioned him to a straight-backed chair in the corner of the room. She’d obviously placed it there for her audience of one. “And now I’m going to dance for you and drive you insane. Enjoy.”
The light veil had the most incredible effect, emphasizing the sultry look in her eyes and making him hungry for her mouth simply because he couldn’t see it very well. By covering her lips, she made them seem more exciting and forbidden, more of a prize when they were finally claimed.
Not that he would be claiming them. He had something to say, and that would eliminate the chance of kissing those temptingly disguised lips of hers.
But he couldn’t make his announcement immediately. After all, she’d been practicing this dance for weeks to surprise him. He ought to at least let her show him what she could do. Courtesy demanded it.
Besides, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the circular motion of her hips. He wondered what that would feel like if…no. He wasn’t going to make love to her tonight, so it didn’t matter what that would feel like. Fantastic, probably. But he was ending it. Definitely. Once she’d finished her dance.
He slouched in the chair and tried to look slightly bored as she danced slowly around him. When the beat became faster, so did the motion of her hips. He swallowed. Then she began adding a new dimension, a gentle shimmy of her breasts that made the dangling coins dance. He licked his dry lips.
She drew closer, brushing his arm with her hip as she danced. Her shimmy increased in speed, and she leaned forward, shaking her breasts so close to his face he could see the tiny drops of perspiration in her cleavage. The pearl necklace rested there, as it had all summer. And looking at it never failed to get a response from him.
“Unfasten your jeans,” she whispered.
He glanced quickly into her eyes. This wasn’t going at all the way he’d thought it out. “No, Tess, I—”
“Do it,” she whispered more urgently, dancing around him, her hips keeping that maddening, erotic rhythm. “I want you now, Mac. And I can tell you want me.”
“But—”
“Now.” Still dancing, she took off the finger cymbals and reached beneath the snug band around her hips for a small package she’d obviously hidden there earlier. She swayed closer, her arms undulating with the music, and tucked a condom in his shirt pocket.
He was lost. If he didn’t go along with her plan, she would be very disappointed. She had this scene all worked out and had gone to a lot of trouble to make it happen. Besides, he was so aroused he was in pain. He couldn’t walk out of this room now if his life depended on it. He worked clumsily at the buttons of his fly, his heart pounding as he focused on the fascinating shimmy of her breasts and the amazing rotation of her hips.
He took the condom out of his shirt pocket. Then he nearly dropped it when she reached between her legs and somehow made the crotch of the filmy harem pants come undone without missing a beat.
“Are you impressed?” she asked softly.
“Oooh, yeah.” And shaking with need. He managed to get the condom on as she danced closer, the coins jingling from the quivering rhythm of her breasts.
“Hold perfectly still,” she whispered. “I’m going to do it all.”
Incredible as her body looked as it moved, he was completely captured by her eyes. Emphasized by the veil, her eyes seemed to smolder with more fire than ever before. He couldn’t look away.
Still keeping time to the music with her hips, she braced both hands on his shoulders and straddled the chair. Then she slowly lowered herself in a sensuous, rotating movement that made him gasp with pleasure. Yet he wouldn’t, couldn’t close his eyes. As she used all the sensuous dance movements to make unbelievable love to him, he focused on the blazing heat in her eyes, searching for the depth of emotion that rocked him whenever they came together like this.
And he found it. As her rhythm increased, her eyes told him that yes, she felt what he felt, that her heart had been branded as surely as his.
“I love you,” he said. For the first time in his life the words meant something special, something so real he could almost touch it.
Her eyes were pure flame. “I love you,” she murmured.
Joy surged so intensely through him that at last he closed his eyes, afraid she’d see his tears of relief. She loved him. Everything would be okay. As her movements grew more uninhibited and her cry of release filled the room, he held her tight and abandoned himself to a soul-satisfying climax.
They stayed locked together for many long minutes, Tess’s veiled cheek resting on Mac’s shoulder. He gently stroked her back, unsure what to say next. He really wanted the first words to come from her—something along the lines of I’ve decided not to go to New York. I love you and I want to stay here with you.
They’d honeymoon in New York, he decided. They’d take lots of trips, in fact, to make up for the loss of her big adventure. They’d—
“Yo, Big Mac! Where are you, buddy?” The unmistakable sound of Rhino’s voice came from the direction of the living room.
Tess scrambled from Mac’s lap and ran to the bedroom door. She slammed it and plastered herself across the door frame, her eyes wide.
“Oh, God.” Mac stared at her. He’d completely forgotten he’d promised to meet Rhino and Hammer at the Ore Cart, and that he’d told them where he was headed in the meantime.
“Hey, Mac!” Rhino called again, this time obviously from the hallway. “What’s going on?”
Mac swung into action, jumping from the chair. “We’ll… I’ll be out in a minute!” he called. “Lock that,” he muttered to Tess.
“Why can’t you come out now?” Rhino sounded suspicious.
“Just give me a minute, okay?” When he heard the lock click Mac headed for Tess’s bathroom.
“What’s going on in there, Mac?” Rhino’s tone had changed from suspicious to angry. “Is Tess with you?”
“Yes, I’m with him, Rhino. Go on out to the living room. We’ll be there soon.”
Mac finished quickly in the bathroom. “God, I’m sorry, Tess,” he said as he returned, buttoning his fly on the way.
“It’s not your fault.” She’d taken off her jeweled bra. Topless, she pulled a plain one out of a drawer.
“Yes, it is my fault. I met them when I was driving over here. I told them I was on my way to your house but I’d meet them in a half hour for darts.”
She turned in the act of fastening the front clasp of her bra. “Why would you—�
� She paused. “You weren’t planning to stay, were you?”
“No.”
Her face grew pale. “You were going to end it, weren’t you?”
“Well, yes, I was, but I—”
“Never mind the long explanation.” Her voice quivered and she turned away from him. “Just get out there and talk to them while I get dressed.”
“Tess, dammit, I—”
“Go! I mean it, Mac!”
A knot formed in the pit of his stomach. “What do you want me to tell them?”
“You might want to start with the truth.” She cleared her throat. “There’s no way we can make up a story they’ll buy at this stage. We got caught, Mac. There isn’t any way we can pretty it up so they’ll like it.”
“The hell there isn’t. We could tell them we’re in love with each other.”
She pulled a T-shirt over her head. “Thanks for the thought, but I’d rather you didn’t.”
Raw as he felt right now, he didn’t have the courage to question her. Maybe she didn’t want anyone to know she’d fallen in love with the guy who was merely doing her a service before she left for New York. And the way she was acting right now, he was pretty sure she would go. Maybe she loved him, as she’d said. But she’d leave him anyway.
Without another word, he unlocked the bedroom door and walked down the hall to face his inquisitors.
HE’D BEEN ABOUT to break up with her. Tess fought tears and struggled to get dressed. Oh, he might love her, as he’d said in the heat of passion. He’d probably told several women he loved them over the years, especially when they pleased him sexually. He still hadn’t felt the urge to marry one of them. She was just another of his conquests, fun for the summer but not the one he wanted to spend a lifetime with.
There was only one thing Mac could say that would placate her brothers, and that would be to announce their engagement. And he wasn’t going to do that.
Angry voices from the direction of the living room told her things weren’t going well. Stuffing the harem outfit in a drawer, she ran a brush through her hair and padded barefoot down the hall.
Rhino sounded furious. “So you stand there and admit that you took advantage of our sister’s innocent nature?”
Hardly, Tess thought, wondering what sort of story Mac was spinning out there.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Mac’s tone was lower and more controlled. “And if I hadn’t, some city slicker in New York would have. She couldn’t stay innocent forever, dammit. I convinced her she needed to be prepared before she went off to the big city.”
“You convinced her?” Hammer bellowed. “You seduced her, you mean! That poor girl didn’t have a chance!”
Tess hurried into the room. “I did so have a chance. I—”
“Tess.” Mac turned to her. “You can’t assume the responsibility for this. I took advantage of your lack of experience. Simple as that.”
“You most certainly did not.” She realized he was trying to protect her, but she couldn’t let him do that. If he had any chance of saving the relationship with her brothers, the truth had to come out. She glanced at her brothers. “I don’t know what he told you, but this whole summer project was my idea. I decided back in June that I wanted to lose my virginity before I left for New York.”
Rhino and Hammer stared at her, their jaws slack. Rhino was the first to speak. “Summer p-project?”
Mac snorted. “Don’t listen to her. You know Tess. She could always make up wild stories on the spur of the moment, and most of the time it was to save my sorry ass. She’s doing it again.”
“I am not! I came up with my plan and asked Mac if he could fix me up with someone. He offered to take care of it himself.”
“Oh, I’ll just bet he did!” Rhino advanced on Mac. “And how did she get this idea in the first place, huh? She’s never been worried about stuff like that before, so who was putting ideas in her head, buddy-boy?”
Tess stepped between them. “I’ve been thinking about stuff like that since I was fourteen years old, Rhino! It wasn’t Mac’s idea, it was mine.”
“He probably made you think it was your idea,” Hammer said, joining his brother as they faced Mac, fists clenched. “We’ve always known this is one slick character when it comes to women. We just never thought he’d go behind our backs and prey on our little sister, right, Rhino?”
“That’s right. Guess we have to take you outside and work you over, Mac.”
“You will not!” Tess pushed a hand into each one of her brothers’ substantial chests.
“I can take care of myself, Tess.” Mac rolled his shoulders. “You don’t have to protect me from your brothers.”
“She can’t stop us, anyway,” Rhino said. He gently nudged Tess aside.
“Yes, I can!” Tess pushed her way between the men again. “If you touch one hair on his head, I’ll tell Mom and Dad about the time you guys drove over the border, got drunk on tequila and spent the night in a Nogales jail.”
“I don’t care,” Hammer said. “No biggie.”
“And what about the time I found the marijuana in your bedroom, Hammer?” she added sweetly.
“You had pot in your room?” Mac asked. “You never told me that. God, your dad would have had a fit.”
A flush spread over Hammer’s face. “I only smoked a little of the damn stuff, and it made me puke!”
“So that’s what I’ll tell the folks,” Tess said. “I’m sure they’ll understand. Although they might wonder what happened to the rest of the joints, since I found about six.”
Hammer’s flush deepened. “I sold them at school.”
Rhino turned to him, his eyes wide. “You peddled those things? You told me you flushed them!”
“Who flushed what?” called out Tim as he came through the front door. “And what’s up with the darts tournament? Suzie said you called, so I went and picked up Dozer, but when we got to the Ore Cart they said you’d come down here.”
“Yeah,” Dozer said, walking in behind Tim. “Are we gonna play or not?”
Rhino crossed his arms over his chest. “It seems somebody’s already been playing.” He glared at Mac. “Our friend here, the one we all thought we could trust, has been playing house with our sister all summer.”
“What?” Dozer looked from Tess to Mac. “Tess, is this true? Did this guy…?”
“It was a mutual decision,” Tess said, “so don’t go—”
“That’s it.” Dozer started across the room. “He’s toast.”
“Hold it, Dozer.” Rhino grabbed his brother by the arm. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is simple,” Tess said. “I’m the one to blame here, not Mac. I asked him to do this!”
“And he couldn’t pronounce the word no?” Hammer said.
“I didn’t want him to say no! I wanted to finally experience sex!”
Tim’s face grew red. “Aw, Tess! What did you have to go and do that for? There’s plenty of time for that after you’re married!”
“Oh, really?” Tess lifted her chin and surveyed her four brothers. “And I suppose all you guys waited until after you were married?”
There was a general clearing of throats and glancing everywhere but at Tess.
“That’s different,” Rhino said. “We’re guys.”
Tess stared at them. “Hello? Can any of you say women’s rights?” She threw up both arms and paced across the room. “I can’t believe we’re almost to the millennium and you’re still making such outdated statements. In case you hadn’t noticed, women aren’t considered helpless little flowers anymore.”
“Hey, we know all about that stuff,” Hammer said. “We got women in the mines now. Women driving the big ore trucks. Women everywhere. But, dammit, Tess, you’re our sister.”
“Yeah, and guys can be real sleazy!” Tim added. “We didn’t want you getting hurt or anything! A lot of guys only want to fool around. They’re not into the marriage thing.”
“Which reminds
me of a very critical point.” Rhino narrowed his eyes at Mac. “Just what are your plans, now that you’ve had a real fun summer fooling around with a sweet and innocent young girl?”
“I’m twenty-six, Rhino!”
“That’s very young!” Rhino shouted back.
“Not that young,” Tim said. “I’m twenty-seven.”
“We’re off the subject,” Rhino said. He fixed Mac with an intimidating look. “What are your intentions, Mac?”
Tess panicked. She didn’t want to listen to Mac fumble around and try to dodge the question. Suspecting he had no interest in her as a wife was not as bad as hearing him say it. “No plans, folks! Nada. Have you forgotten that I’m going to New York in a couple of weeks to start a new job? I’m in no position to make a commitment at this point. In fact, Mac and I had that understanding from the beginning, didn’t we, Mac?” If she expected him to look at her with relief and gratitude, she was disappointed.
The blue eyes that had been filled with such passion not so long ago gazed at her without any expression at all. “Yes, we did.”
“That probably suited lover-boy right down to the ground,” Hammer muttered. He glanced at Tess. “And I still say you’re covering for him and he came up with the idea first. He probably figured this deal was too sweet to pass up—a girl who was leaving town at the end of the summer. Perfect, right, Big Mac?”
Mac’s nonchalant shrug broke Tess’s heart. That’s probably how Mac had thought of their lovemaking. A summer romance. Fun while it lasted. “Well, that was the beauty of it for me, too,” she said, forcing the words past a tight throat. “I couldn’t afford messy entanglements when I was about to leave.”
Rhino looked at her, his gaze far too perceptive. “I don’t buy it, Tess.”
She squared her shoulders. “Well, I don’t give a damn whether you buy it or not. It’s the truth.”
“Let me get this straight,” Dozer said. “On the one hand we have a guy who’s been romeoing his way around the county ever since he was fifteen, and on the other we have a girl who’s lived like a nun until the age of twenty-six. What—”
“I didn’t live like a nun by choice! You guys scared off all my prospects!”
Pure Temptation Page 15
