Cass’s head swiveled his way, and then snapped forward; a scowl darkened her eyes. Her lips pulled into a pout.
Adam began to whistle as he dumped his burden into the bed of his truck and came around to the door. Once inside, he didn’t look her way, knowing that ignoring her would drive her wild.
He gunned the gas, and the truck leapt forward. From the corner of his eye he watched her grapple with her bindings and slam her feet against the floorboard to keep from being thrown around the cab. Again, a smile threatened to ease across his mouth, but he fought the urge. No use letting her know he was enjoying this so much.
The trip to his ranch took only minutes, but it was long enough for the storm to catch up with them. The clouds opened. Rain whipped sideways in a gusting wind.
He parked in front of the porch rather than the garage, not wanting to wrestle her that far to get her into the house. He shoved open his door, hurried around to hers and slung it open before she had a chance to think about her next move.
Good. Let her stew and wonder what he had in mind. Although she had to have a pretty good idea what priority number one was from the instant erection that had poked her taut belly when he’d held her against the rock.
He stood in the opening of the door, rain beating down on his head and shoulders, and stripped away the tape. Then with his hands spread to grip the opening and prevent her escape, he said, “Going to come along peaceably or do I have to carry you inside?”
“Why’d you bring me here?”
He noted the muted excitement shimmering in her eyes. “Afraid I brought you here to exact revenge?”
Her chin rose, but the glance she gave him from beneath her lashes was pure invitation. “Depends on whether your brand of revenge is sweet or not.”
Heat stirred in his sex. “Get out of the truck,” he growled.
She eyed him warily. “You’re going to have to give me room.”
He backed up half a step and she slid to the ground, her body gliding down the front of his. She stood in thin-soled climbing shoes, and he was reminded again just how small she was. He tended to forget that fact when he was in her company because she was so damn ornery.
“Don’t suppose you’re going to offer me a warm bath and meal?”
“Maybe later.”
Her gaze skimmed his face. She opened her mouth to say something then seemed to change her mind because she clamped her lips closed.
“What? No comeback?”
“Think I’m going to argue with my kidnapper?”
“So long as you know who’s in charge here…”
A shiver shook her slender frame, and he wondered if she was chilled or aroused. Only one way to find out.
With steam rising off their heated bodies, he pulled her hips flush with his and bent toward her—and then waited. He was too tall to press his mouth to hers without a little cooperation. He left the choice up to her.
Cass licked her lips, blinking against the water streaming down her face. Her tongue flicked out to capture moisture beading on the bow of her upper lip.
Adam rubbed his thumbs on her belly, increased the pressure of the fingers spanning her hips, and let the distinctive bulge at the front of his pants prod her into responding.
Cass’s mouth parted. She ran her hands up to his shoulders and slowly pulled herself up.
Her kiss held a world of promise—at once sweet and carnal, it had him shaking in seconds, his hands clamping on her hard enough to bruise, but she didn’t protest. She raised an inch higher and groaned into his mouth.
Adam devoured her, his tongue tasting her lush bottom lip, relishing her growing desire, which she confirmed with a sexy inward stroke of her own. He clutched her buttocks and rutted against her belly, letting her know exactly where this was leading.
Cass didn’t demur. She boldly opened her mouth and waited until he stroked his tongue inside again, and then clasped it with her lips and sucked on it, giving him a hint of where she was willing to be led.
Adam lifted his head, then bent and swept her up into his arms. She tucked her forehead against the corner of his neck.
“This still about revenge?” she asked in a small voice.
“It’s about a lot of things. Some not very nice. Does it matter?”
“No.”
Her body tightened inside his embrace, and for a moment, he thought she’d changed her mind. Last thing he wanted to admit was how much he didn’t want that to happen.
Adam strode toward the porch steps and set her down next to the door while he fished his keys from his pocket and opened the door, all the while watching her from the corner of his eye.
Her arms were crossed over her chest; her bottom lip was sucked between her teeth. She was thinking hard, but the nipples outlined so revealingly beneath her thin T-shirt were dimpled, the tips erect. Her thighs squeezed together, sliding forward and back.
She wasn’t backing down. She was as hot for this as he was.
His own body was tight, his cock heavy and throbbing. He twisted the knob and swung open the door, pausing to give her a glance. “You first.”
“Bet that will be the last time I hear that tonight,” she said, her voice tight.
“Don’t know what kind of men you’ve been with, but based on your sparkling personality I’d say you’ve been disappointed a time or two.”
She slipped past him, entering his house quickly, and then slowed as her head craned around the room. “I don’t think I’ll be disappointed,” she said, her voice halting as her glance landed on the multicolored rug stretched across the wooden floor. “I have no expectations. Remember, you brought me here. Against my will.”
“The house not what you expected?”
“It’s…colorful.”
Adam gave a quick glance around and shrugged. “Our mother liked bright colors. Haven’t bothered to change anything.”
“You don’t have to. It’s nice. Warm.”
“It’s orange and yellow and red. Hurts the eyes first thing in the morning.”
“That is such a guy thing to say. I’d suppose you’d be happier if everything was brown.”
“What’s wrong with brown?”
She lifted her hands, fingers spread. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For reminding me you’re not any different than the rest of your sex.”
“You think so? So, any man will do?”
Her tongue wet her bottom lip, and then she lifted her chin. “Didn’t the other night at The Stone Pony tell you anything?”
His body went rigid with the reminder of what he’d seen. Her plastered against Johnny’s chest, his brother’s hands roaming her back and the curve of her bottom. Her unblinking stare, challenging him even as she tilted her head to let Johnny glide his lips along the silky skin of her neck.
He curled his fists and strode straight for her.
Her eyes rounded, and then her head turned as she sought an escape. She launched herself toward the hallway door, and he followed. She’d save him some trouble if she’d just go to the end of the hallway and try to hide inside his bedroom.
Glancing over her shoulder, she shoved open a bathroom door and stepped inside, but he’d lost what was left of his patience and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back into the hallway.
She bucked against him, pushing down against his arm, but he hugged her closer and stomped toward his own bedroom door. Blood pounded at his temples, his muscles bulked out, spiked by a rush of adrenaline and sensual anticipation.
He kicked backward to slam the door closed and slung her on the bed.
Cass scrambled backward across the mattress, started to roll to her belly to crawl away, but he was already on her, turning her, his hands going straight for her waist. The belt slung over her hips went first, along with the bag of chalk that
fell with a soft thud and a cloud of pale dust. He tucked his fingers under the elastic of her waistband and pulled, dragging down her shorts and panties over slim legs and knocking her shoes off in the process.
Her arms flailed at him, her hands going straight for his hair, pulling hard.
He grabbed the bottom hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Her sports bra proved more challenging, but he managed to rake it off as well. Then he came down on top of her, still completely dressed and soaked to the skin. He used his chest, thighs and hands to pin her to the mattress.
Cass bucked beneath him, her breaths rasping harshly.
He let her fight until she tired, quivering beneath him. Her eyes were fierce slits. Her lips trembled around shattered, breathy sobs.
Adam had never subdued a woman with force before. Had never felt the urge before now. Lying on top of her, her legs spread beneath him, her body shuddering under him, he felt heat build between his thighs, thickening his already rigid cock to the point of pain.
He brought her hands together above her head, and clutched them with one hand. Then he lifted his hips just high enough for him to rip open his belt, the button, and then the zipper of his pants.
His cock sprung from the opening, landing on her soft, hot belly, and he could only feel relief and driving tension that wouldn’t let him take the time to push his pants past his hips.
He braced his knees in the mattress and rooted for a second between her legs, then speared inside.
“God. Fuck!” He’d dreamed about fucking her, countless nights, waking to find his own fist wrapped around his cock. Now, surrounded by her heat, he couldn’t stop, couldn’t slow the arousal cramping his balls. With only three hard thrusts he tensed, his breaths hitched, and cum shot in burning spurts inside her.
Still he couldn’t stop rocking against her for long seconds afterward. Only when he came to a complete halt did he admit this hadn’t been about sex, hadn’t been about her attraction—pure, burning revenge had held him captive while he took her.
She’d led him on a cock tease, however unintended, for weeks while he’d fought his desire for her. Then to see her with Johnny, his arms and hands surrounding her, he’d tasted the bile burning in his belly long after he’d left her in the parking lot, hours after he’d gone to bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering how he’d put this attraction behind him.
His head sank to the mattress beside hers. The slight trembling of her belly against his, the gusts of her shallow breaths, would have told him she’d been very near to orgasm if the soft, waning convulsions rippling along his softening cock hadn’t clued him in.
He couldn’t shake his anger with her, with Johnny, which she’d sparked with her careless words. Couldn’t let go long enough to see to her pleasure—because he wanted her to hurt.
Adam slid from her pussy, clenching his jaw at the loss of her warm, wet heat. He backed off the mattress, not meeting her eyes, then turned and dragged his shirt over his head. His boots and pants followed, but he didn’t face her.
Standing with his hands on his hips, he wasn’t done being angry. But now he had shame beginning to creep along the edges of his conscience.
“Adam…” Cass said behind him, so softly, so choked, he wondered if he’d made her cry, and he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Chapter 5
“I’m sorry,” Cass repeated, hating the jagged texture of her voice. “Truly. Nothing happened between Johnny and me. It was just a kiss.”
Adam stood with his back to her, naked but unmoving. The shock of the three violent thrusts, and then his abandonment, rammed home the point he’d meant to punish her. And she deserved it for ever thinking she could manipulate him with such a childish game.
One hand lifted from his hip and tugged at the rubber band fastening his hair, and his fingers slipped through the thick strands, combing it. The long black tangles hit him squarely between the shoulder blades. Her fingers itched to thread through them, tug them hard, and make him wince and growl.
But would he give her the chance? And if he did, would he forgive her and let her try to make things right?
“I’m taking a shower,” he said, his voice a raspy whisper. “Use the one in this room. I’ll go down the hall. Find something of mine to wear.”
He walked away without looking back, and her stomach clenched. Moving as slowly and carefully as an old woman, she scooted off the bed and made for the bathroom. She flicked on the light and gripped the counter beneath the mirror and stared at her own reflection.
No wonder he hadn’t wanted to linger. Her hair was plastered flat to her skull. Her features were washed clean of color but smudged with mud on her chin and cheek.
She’d likely left his bedding dirty and admitted a grim satisfaction over the fact. It had been his idea after all—that quick in and out that had left her shaking with unfulfilled desire.
Her nose wrinkled as she opened her legs. Semen smeared her thighs, and she realized neither one of them had given a thought to using a condom. She wasn’t going to mention it. Hoped nothing would come of it, but she was damned if she’d let herself seem even more vulnerable in his eyes. She’d already apologized with tears thickening her voice.
She grabbed a towel off the rack beside the shower, tossed it over the top of the stall and stepped into the tub before she turned on the tap.
Cold water warmed then scalded as she scrubbed. At the end she leaned against the cool tiles and let the water slip over her skin, soothing her, lulling her into a peaceful frame of mind where his hard glare couldn’t hurt her.
When her toes and fingers wrinkled, she turned off the water and dried herself, wrapping the towel around her body then entering his bedroom cautiously.
She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed to find it still empty, but she rifled through his drawers for a T-shirt and pair of shorts with a drawstring waist, which she cinched tightly around her own narrow hips.
And then only because she didn’t want him to think her a complete coward, she cracked open the door and slipped through it, heading to the living room.
He stood in the growing shadows, staring out the large picture windows. Outside, jagged bolts of lightning ignited the clouds and streaked toward the ground.
She didn’t want to pull his attention toward her, but the suspense was killing her. “Are you taking me home now?”
His shoulders stiffened. “I will when I’m done with you.”
Cass swallowed and lifted her chin, assuming a more defiant posture than she knew she could sustain. “The storm can’t last long.”
“Planning on walking back to Canyon?” he replied, his voice taut and grating.
“You really mean to keep me here? You could have gotten more enjoyment from a knothole than me.”
A muscle along the sharp edge of his jaw flexed. “I got what I wanted. Think I should care that you didn’t enjoy it?”
If he didn’t, why did he look so unhappy? Pushing aside her own hurt, Cass thought about that for a moment. It wasn’t over yet.
She took a deep breath, gathering strength for the storm she knew could erupt again with one misstep. His fuse was just that short. “I could really come to hate you.”
“Then we’d be even.”
Her breath hitched on a sharp gasp. Sure, she’d felt pain, but she exaggerated her reaction. “I’ll fucking walk to town,” she bit out.
“Not until I say so.”
“Don’t you think people will be looking for me eventually? Do you think I won’t tell them what you did?”
His gaze swung to lock with hers. “Gonna complain because I fucked you and left you hungry?”
Shock sucked air from her lungs; an indrawn breath fanned her fury. “Don’t think I won’t tell them that you—” She halted, not able to lie and say the hateful word.
“That I raped you?�
�� he said, silkily. “Is that what I did?”
She shook her head. He’d done something. Something just as damaging, just as hurtful. He hadn’t forgiven her.
“Will you tell them I kidnapped you?” he continued in his silken rumble.
“If it wasn’t that before, it is now. I want to go home.”
His hand shot out, and she flinched away, but he was faster, fisting her hair to pull her face toward him, forcing her onto her toes.
Cass reached instinctively for his shoulders to steady herself and felt the flex of hardening muscle. She wet her lips, her gaze snagging on his mouth.
“Do you? Do you want to go home?” he whispered. The steady, emotionless tone of his voice flayed where a shout wouldn’t have. “I’ll take you home now. If you ask me to.”
She read the warning in his voice. If she said yes, then they were done.
Something in his dark, pitiless stare had her back straightening, her remorse curdling. If this was all about revenge, then maybe it was high time she took a little of her own.
But she wasn’t going to speak her surrender. She held his stare, her lips firming into a straight line.
His grip tightened in her hair, and he dragged her higher.
Her scalp burned, but so did her lips as his mouth devoured hers. She opened her mouth to gasp, and he thrust his tongue inside, sliding deep, sweeping her tongue, the tender roof, curling to lap behind her teeth. He tasted her so thoroughly she felt as though he ravaged her again, more so than when he’d stroked his cock in three short bursts inside her.
When he drew back, his gaze held hers. “Be sure of what you want,” he said, repeating the words he’d spoken before she’d stepped out with Johnny.
Then, as now, she knew exactly what she wanted. Him. Deep inside her, cramming every bit of his cock deep and hard, shafting her long after she’d shattered like glass.
Still standing on tiptoe, she met his heavy-lidded glance. “My wants haven’t changed a bit,” she whispered, leaving her answer ambiguous. Why give him everything when he didn’t intend to cherish her surrender?
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