“So you can loosen me up?”
“If you’re afraid that’s possible, I’ll give you a soda.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Only if I get to open the can.”
“Are you afraid I’ll slip something in your drink?” His lips twitched. “I think I’m almost insulted.”
“You kidnapped me. I don’t think there’s much you wouldn’t dare.”
“Only when it comes to you, sugar.”
Chrissi rolled her eyes. “Don’t ‘sugar’ me. You are not gonna wear me down. I don’t want to be here.”
Cade ignored that last statement, taking heart from the fact her grumbling sounded halfhearted. “Would you like a drink? I’m havin’ a beer. It’s hot out there.”
She let out a deep sigh, and he noticed the lines of tension around her lips. She looked tired.
“How about I promise that we won’t make any moves. That we’ll spend the evening just havin’ a nice relaxing time. It’ll be like old times, before…”
“Even if we wanted to, we can’t go back.” Her glance slid away, and her mouth twisted. “I missed us, you know. We were friends.”
Cade barely resisted the urge to slide his hands around her and draw her close. If anyone needed a hug more, he’d never seen it. “You trusted us. We let you down.”
“Yes, you did. But I should have had better sense too.”
“See? We were young and stupid. We don’t have to be enemies.” When her expression eased, he gave her a small, coaxing half-smile. “Want a beer?” He held out his hand, holding his breath until she tentatively slid her palm inside his.
He’d always known he was attracted to her, that he’d yearned for her for years, but he hadn’t really known how much he missed her until that precise moment. Her hand felt just right—small, slender, warm. He tightened his grip and gave her a guarded smile. Not enough to make her worry, he hoped.
He turned and pulled her behind him, like old times, drawing her deeper into the living room to the bar at the far wall. He opened the fridge and grabbed two Shiner Bocks, uncapped them and handed her a bottle. He held his up until she klinked her glass against it.
They both took a long draw from their bottles.
Her sigh when she set it down was louder than his. A faint smile tugged up one corner of her mouth. “It’s been a long day. I needed that.”
“Heard you were up at the Dunstan place,” he said. “How’s Lettie doin’?”
Her smile was tight, but it was a start. “Fine. She’s eager to move in with her sister in town. They plan to go to bingo on Tuesdays and have pedicures every Friday.” She gave a little laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, I know she misses her husband, but she seems ready to move on.”
“She deserves a little fun. Couldn’t have been easy livin’ out there, the two of them, for so long. Gets lonesome.”
“Do you get lonesome?” Her lips pressed together. “Scratch that. It’s none of my concern.”
Cade leaned back against the bar, resting on his elbows, then gave her a waggle of his eyebrows. “Admit it. I’m gettin’ to you.”
She shook her head ruefully. “All three of you are getting on my nerves. I want to go home.”
“And you will,” he said, nodding. “Come Sunday—if you still want to.”
Her face grew serious as she eyed him. “I don’t believe you of all people went along with this.”
“Because I’m so boring?”
“No, because you’re the most honorable.”
He remembered the biggest test of that honor—she did too by the shadow that crept across her face. He’d failed her, going along with his brothers. “There’s not a day we don’t regret what went down. The way it happened anyway. It was the wrong place.”
“It was just plain wrong. Every part of it.” She set her beer on the bar.
“I won’t ever believe that.”
“Why don’t you all find some other girl to tag team,” she bit out, an underlying tremor in her voice. “I’m sure there’s a whore or two in town who’d be only too happy to oblige.”
“That’s what you think we made you?”
Her mouth trembled, the corners turning down, and she wrapped her own arms around herself. Giving herself the comfort he wished she’d let him offer.
Hoping to distract her from unpleasant memories, he pushed from the bar. “Day’s nice. Let’s head out to the patio and rest a spell.”
She gave a vague nod, and followed him as he headed toward the French doors and the sounds of water lapping against the sides of the pool. Ezra would know how to reach her. She’d always trusted in his strength. No matter how bad things were now, he had to hope that deep down she knew she could lean on at least one of them.
Chrissi dragged her feet as she followed Cade to the pool. Another of those places that she’d just as soon forget. She remembered the time after Mr. Kinzie’s heart attack, when the boys’ parents had taken a vacation to reaffirm their gratitude to both be alive and together. Ezra had had a tough time, stepping into his dad’s shoes, when the ranch hands and his brothers hadn’t learned to respect an eighteen-year-old, no matter how big and smart he was.
She’d lived for the hours when he’d finished up working for the day. They’d escape to the pool, take a leisurely swim then lay naked in each other’s arms on one of the loungers. It had been an unspoken thing between his brothers and him that those hours were his time, that no one was to interrupt.
She’d savored the attention and loved even better that he’d turned to her for comfort and escape from all his worries. She’d been deeply in love with him for years, but even though she’d been the only girl he dated, she hadn’t been sure he returned the feelings, at least not to the degree she felt them.
Cade leaned against the boulder next to the pool, watching his brother skim below the surface, then turned his head to watch her.
Chrissi ignored him, glancing into the pool. Then she couldn’t take her gaze from Ezra’s honed body. She felt a moment’s satisfaction knowing that he was bothered by what had passed between them on the road and inside his truck—that she’d driven him to this. Swimming was his release valve.
She wasn’t surprised that he was nude. And right now, despite what she knew he wanted to have happen this weekend, it didn’t feel like a gratuitous peep show. His powerful arms and thighs cut through the water, his face breaking the surface now and then for him to gulp for air. At the far end of the pool, he curled like the competitive swimmer he’d been and shot toward the opposite side again.
Chrissi watched him, her skin getting hotter, her belly cramping, not from any nausea but from desire so strong she knew she was past resisting.
She heard a scrape beside her, felt hands cup the notches of her hips and pull.
For all of a second, she resisted, and then she melted against Cade, her breath leaving in a long sigh. She didn’t want to be this easy. But what was the point? “Cade?” she whispered, giving a little moan as he kissed her cheek, her temple.
“Yes, baby?” he said, gliding his hands over her belly, then up to cup her breasts through her clothing.
“Go away.”
Chapter Three
As soon as Cade withdrew, she swayed, dizzying need swamping her. She caught herself, shivering, and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort as she watched Ezra turn and push off the side of the pool to return.
She couldn’t help herself, she stared, her gaze roaming his tall frame, her mouth drying as his arms cut through the water, his powerful shoulders rippling with each slice.
The patio, partially shaded by trees and enclosed by a tall rock wall, had always seemed so cozy and safe. She inhaled the scent of chlorine, felt the slight breeze whispering through the oak trees waft against her hot face, and couldn’t maintain her anger beneath the assault on all her senses.
This moment was inevitable. An itch that had to be scratched one last time before she could let go of the disappointment and yearning she’d harbored for all the
se years.
She slipped off her shoes and tugged her blouse from her trousers. She’d known where the day was leading from the first hiss of her radiator. Hell, she’d known she’d have to face up to this ever since she’d given Ezra the slip when he’d left her in the girls’ bathroom after that fateful hook-up. She’d been running scared for a long, long time.
Ezra swam to the steps and stood at the bottom, water sluicing down his body. He wiped more water from his face and held her stare. “Baby, you sure about this? Are you really ready?”
The banked heat in his eyes, the tension revealed in the flex of his arms and chest muscles, set her heart fluttering. “Of course not,” she rasped. “But I’m hot and bothered—by you, by your damn brothers. And I’ve had enough. We end this.”
His ice-chip eyes darkened to a stormy gray. “That what you think this weekend is about? Ending it?”
“I don’t care what you three think is supposed to happen.” Not a lie, because she couldn’t think of anything beyond the expanse of bronze skin, the crest of the cock rising from the water. “Right now, all I can think about is how much I ache,” she said, her voice hoarse.
Chrissi unbuttoned her blouse and let it slide off her arms to whisper to the flagstones. She reached up and opened the clasp holding up her hair, and shook her head, enjoying the way the heavy fall trailed across the tops of her shoulders. Then she shimmied out of her trousers. When she stood in only her underwear, she stepped down into the pool, wading toward Ezra, whose hot glance raked her body, eliciting shivers that slid in ripples across her skin.
Standing in front of him, water lapping at her waist, she lifted her chin. “I don’t want to make any decisions,” she whispered. “I don’t want to think at all.”
Ezra nodded and slowly lifted a hand to grasp her arm and turn her. With her back to him, she breathed deeply while he unfastened her bra and drew it off, letting it float away in the water. Then his fingers slid beneath the band of elastic at her hips and pulled down her panties.
He walked around her, staring at everything he’d bared, then slowly lifted his glance to lock with hers. “You’re prettier than I remembered.”
“Was I so homely then?” she quipped, although she felt anything but humorous—her body was too tight, her need too strong.
He gave a harsh shake of his head. “You were perfect. No one’s ever measured up.”
“I don’t want to hear that you’ve been with anyone else. It isn’t any of my business. And I don’t really wanna talk.”
“I’m okay with that.” He cupped her face between his large hands and bent his head to capture her mouth.
She didn’t wait for him to come to her, she rose on her toes to meet him, her mouth slamming into his, her arms sliding around his shoulders to clutch at him, because she was afraid he’d hold back and tease her, and she didn’t think she could take that and not fall apart.
Her heartbeats thudded, the tips of her nipples contracted into hard little beads, and she leaned against him to ease the ache, rubbing her breasts on him as his tongue pushed into her mouth.
He devoured her; her ragged breaths intermingled with his. She scraped her fingertips upward, sinking them in his thick, dark hair and pulling because urgency gripped her, coiling in her belly. Faint tremors radiated, rippling through her channel and tightening her pussy. She hiked up a thigh, and he dropped his hands to cup her ass and lift her against him.
She gave a little jump and slid both legs around him, locking her ankles low on his back as he began to rut, flexing his hips forward and back to rub his cock against her mound, all the while kissing her thoroughly, sweetly.
He broke the kiss and slid his cheek alongside hers. “Do you want it?”
She felt him smile against her skin and bit his earlobe. “Dammit, just do it.”
“How bad do you want it, baby?” he rumbled.
How many times had he teased her like this? Making her beg for him to plunge inside her and ease the fever he built.
“Fuck, I ache for you, Ezra,” she said, gasping. “I hurt.”
He groaned and lifted her higher.
Eagerly, she slipped a hand between them, gripped his shaft and centered the tip between her folds. With their foreheads pressed together and their gazes locked, his fingers dug into her buttocks to move her steadily down his shaft. As he crowded into her, pumping shallowly to work himself inside, her mouth fell open and her head fell back.
She thought she’d remembered how it felt, but this was so much better. His water-cooled dick shocked her, causing sensual convulsions to work their way up and down her hot inner walls. “Ez-raaaah.”
Ezra’s teeth nipped her jaw, bringin her back up. Then he rubbed her lips with his.
She gave a throaty groan, and her body vibrated. Her legs stirred, gripping his waist tighter. “Please…fuck me,” she gasped. “I need it hard, baby. Please.” And she kissed his chin, his cheek, stroked her tongue over his firm lips.
He growled and his mouth opened over hers, suctioning, drawing on hers while he rocked forward and back, his thrusts gaining strength.
Her short, jagged breaths rattled her chest against his. She was quivering hard and whimpering. She jerked her head back to beg him again, but was caught by his expression.
His gaze was hot. His nostrils flared. His skin pulled taut across the sharp blades of his cheeks, making him look wilder, scarier. His movements were controlled, but she felt the tremors shuddering through him. He held back for her, to make the moment perfect, to stoke her desire when she knew all he wanted to do was slam deep inside and pound her like a wild thing.
“You don’t have to be careful with me,” she whispered.
“Sugar, you’re tight. I don’t wanna hurt you.”
“You won’t. I need you to move. Hard. Fast. Please, Ezra.”
“Chrissi… Damn, Chrissi…” Ezra worked her up and down his cock, water churning around them. When a splash filled her mouth, he halted and shook his head. He pulled her against his chest and walked toward the steps, his cock still buried deep inside her body. He took the stairs slowly.
“Afraid if you slip you’ll break somethin’?” she teased.
“I’m so damn hard, I’d fuckin’ shatter,” he growled. His body swayed with his steps, working him deeper. He cupped the back of her head and lowered her to a chaise.
With his face and shoulders above her, the blue sky blotted, she lowered her eyelids halfway, watching him begin the movements again, this time with better leverage to power into her. His strokes were strong, hard…getting faster.
Her breaths gusted at the end of each hard thrust, driven from her lungs and coming so fast she grew dizzy and lost in sensation. “Lord, it’s been so damn long, Ezra,” she moaned. “I forgot how good this feels.”
His movements slowed, and his ice-chip gaze narrowed. “What about Kyle?” he asked, his voice dead even.
“Kyle?” she repeated, not understanding, and then she remembered the boy she’d dated after the incident. Kyle had been steady, reliable, but boring as hell as a lover. Far too careful with her body to satisfy her. “We didn’t stay together long. Only until I left for college.”
Ezra’s movements stopped altogether, although his body shook with the need to thrust. “Who else?”
She undulated her hips to tempt him, to make him stop this line of questioning, but to no avail. “Who else what?” she bit out, beginning to get irritated because she’d almost been there.
“Who else did you take to your bed?”
Realizing he was serious, she silently fumed. By the tightness of his face, she knew he wouldn’t relent, wouldn’t give her what they both needed, until she told him. And pinned to the chaise by his heavy body, she had no way to escape his interrogation.
“Well, I didn’t exactly take Kyle to my bed,” she said acidly. “I was still livin’ with my mom. It was more like the back seat of his Corolla.”
His jaw clenched, a muscle popping and rolling along t
he hard edge.
She couldn’t look away from the evidence of his tension. He was angry. Which nonsensically made her even hotter. “Did I ask for the names of all your lovers?”
“Why are you hedgin’?” he bit out. “Have there been so many you can’t remember their names?”
It was almost funny, except the truth made her look pretty pathetic. She bit her lip and turned her face away.
Ezra growled and thrust his arms under her knees. He pulled her butt off the lounger and crammed himself deeper. Then he stopped again. “Names, Chrissi.” The muscles of his forearms and shoulders bunched.
Maybe she’d pushed him too far. “There wasn’t anyone else,” she said, her voice small. “Not that it’s any of your damn business.”
“What?”
The hoarseness of his voice brought her gaze back. His disbelief was there in the deep scowl that forged a line between his heavy, dark brows.
She couldn’t blame him for thinking she lied. She’d been such a horny little thing around him. She inhaled and fought to keep her mouth from trembling and letting him know just how humiliating this was. “It’s been almost seven years since I’ve been with anyone,” she said hoarsely.
Ezra’s expression didn’t change, but his chest rose and fell faster. His cock stirred inside her, and she couldn’t help the little welcoming flush of liquid that seeped around him. Couldn’t he tell how much she needed him to move? Right. Fucking. Now.
“Kyle wasn’t what I wanted,” she blurted. “And I couldn’t think about bein’ with anyone else because I knew it wasn’t gonna work.”
“Did he satisfy you?”
She glared up at him. “What do you think?”
Ezra grunted. “Was he too nice for you? Did he ask you if he could touch you first? Close his eyes when he fucked you?”
Good Lord, how did he know? “It’s none of your goddamn business.”
“He didn’t do it for you. Guess I won’t have to look him up and beat the shit out of him.” Ezra pulled away, his cock sliding almost all the way out, but then he stroked back inside—easy as silk because she was so wet. “He didn’t do it for you, did he, Chrissi? Not like I could.”
Breaking Leather: Lone Star Lovers, Book 4 Page 3
