“You’re killing me,” he said in a husky voice. His hands pushed at the waist of her pants, and she wiggled out of them, kicking them to the side along with her shoes. “Nice.” Vance fingered the pale blue bow at the top of her lacy underwear. Something about the way he looked at her body told her he didn’t mind her slightly rounded belly or hips. “Real nice…but it’s coming off.” His fingers dipped below the elastic, and he ripped her panties down and away. Then his hands circled her waist, and he lifted her into the steaming shower, standing them both under the rain-bath showerhead as warm water poured down over their bodies.
Torture. Pure torture of the warm-water-hot-guy-all-knowing-roving-hands type. Katie didn’t know where her body began and Vance’s ended. Somehow, he’d lathered them both in suds, igniting every inch of her body with his touch, leaving her gasping. And then he massaged musky, Vance-smelling shampoo in her hair. His strong fingers dug in her scalp, and Katie almost orgasmed on the spot. A groan slipped from her lips. “Whatever you do, don’t stop,” she moaned and lowered her head to give him full access.
“You don’t know your cues.” His fingers pressed into the base of her scalp, causing her to grip the slick shower wall to keep from falling.
“Huh?” Katie couldn’t understand a word he was saying; her brain had evaporated.
Vance tilted her head up and seared her with his intense gaze. “You’re supposed to say ‘don’t stop’ when I’m deep inside you…thrusting in and out—”
Grabbing his head, she covered his mouth with her lips, delivering her version of a spellbinding kiss. His hand slid down her body in deliberate slowness, causing her legs to clench together. Undeterred, his finger worked its way between her thighs and dipped inside, parting her flesh. Katie gave a long moan. His hard cock pressed against her belly, and his muscles strained beneath her hands as he held himself back.
Vance hauled his mouth off hers. “Let me love you. I want to make you come right here, and then I need to be inside you and make you come again.” She was trapped by his feverish eyes as he worked his finger in and out. He found the magic sweet spot that connected directly to the fireworks going off in her head. “You okay with that, my love?” The heat in his voice poured over her like a trail of hot wax. Katie’s head swayed. Her eyes squeezed shut as stars burst behind her eyelids, and she came apart, clutching his shoulders for dear life.
* * *
Vance watched Katie climax in his arms. All slick and wet and warm. She latched on to him, her full breasts pressed against his chest. The half-moons her nails dug into his bare shoulders still stung. And her swollen-kissed lips and luminous face almost brought him to his knees. It took every ounce of willpower not to shove her up against the shower wall and drive into her wet heat. His body craved hers like it craved air. But this was no wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. This was no casual hook-up. This was not someone he could walk away from. Katie had carved a hole in his heart with a fierceness that made it hard to believe it still beat. This was someone to cherish and love for the rest of his life.
This was the rest of his life.
“V-Vance, you…that was…don’t let go, or I might collapse,” Katie murmured against his chest. Too late. He held her collapsed form close, wondering how a miserable bastard like himself got so lucky. Vance turned off the shower, and Katie lifted her head. “Are we done?” She blinked wet, spiky lashes at him, sounding disappointed.
The irregular beat to his heart confirmed what he already knew. He smiled. “Not even close, darlin’. But we’re done turning into prunes.” Vance helped her around the glass shower wall and wrapped her in one of his thick gray bath sheets. He took a second towel and dried his hair and body before wrapping it around his waist. Katie bit into her lower lip as her gaze landed everywhere but on him. This may be a tactical error on his part, but he needed to tell her how he felt before making love to her. He needed her to believe him before sex fried their brains and they were incapable of coherent thought. Because one thing he was absolutely certain of…the minute he made Katie his own, he’d never be able to think of anything else.
“Come here.” He reached for Katie’s hand and led her from the bathroom through the open loft and behind the interior sliding barn doors to his bedroom. He stopped next to the king-size bed. “You warm enough?” he asked, pressing his hands against her cool upper arms.
“Y-yes. Is everything okay?” Vance kissed the crease marring her brow below her widow’s peak.
Pulling back, he cupped her face with his hands. “Everything is perfect.” He swallowed hard. “Kat, my love…I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything or anyone in my whole life.” She opened her mouth to speak. “Don’t. Not yet. I need to say this.” Vance drank in the perfection of her face. Her dark eyes sliced through him. “I know it sounds crazy and we’ve only known each other seven days and I don’t believe in fairy tales and I’m no frickin’ Prince Charming.” He stopped. He had to get this right. His future happiness depended on it. “In fact, I’m the polar opposite of charming, which you’ve already discovered. But something happened to me when I met you. It’s impossible to explain. Nothing has been the same since you arrived, and nothing will be right if you—” He couldn’t voice that thought. He couldn’t think of her leaving. “Everything has changed. I’ve changed. And I don’t want to change back.”
“Vance, I—”
He pressed his fingers to her lips. “Shh.” Vance kissed her soft mouth and breathed in her essence, hoping it would calm his racing heart. A wave of nerves clogged his throat. What if she didn’t share his feelings? What if she didn’t feel the same way? Katie’s dark brown eyes stared into his, and he had his answer. “What I’m trying to say is…I love you.” She gasped. He smoothed his palm down her slender throat, resting his thumb against her thudding pulse. “And I didn’t want to make love to you until I’d told you. Because this is not a one-night stand or roll in the hay or sleazy hook-up. This…this is the rest of my life…with you. If you’ll have me.”
He waited for what felt like ten minutes…under water. Until Katie slipped her arms around his waist and a smile tipped the corner of her mouth. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t paying attention…do you mind repeating that?”
Vance’s stomach dropped two feet. “What? The whole thing?”
She gave his neck a hot, open-mouth kiss. He went rock hard and ached all over. “Hmmm, just the part about loving me,” she murmured against his tight skin, taking nips with her teeth.
Vance wove his fingers through her wet curls, wrapping several strands in his grip and tugging her head backward. He groaned at the sight of her heaving chest and flushed cheeks. “I love you, Katie McKnight. The girl who wants to hustle my house from me and turn my front yard into a freak show. The same girl who spreads rumors about me and porn all over the Internet. And yet, for some inexplicable reason…I love you. How’s your hearing now? Did you get all that?”
“Every last word.” Katie pushed on his chest until he bumped the side of the bed with the backs of his legs. “So…you think you love me, Pirate Man?”
Vance flashed his best pirate grin. “I don’t think…I know.” He toyed with the tail of the towel tucked between her breasts. “You on board with it? Think you might be able to love me back? One day in the very near future? Like right now?”
Katie gave him a final shove. He fell back on the bed, and she followed him down, laughing. “Why don’t I show you how I feel?” she said, raining kisses on his face and down his chest. Vance’s heart leapt at her words. He shifted his weight, inserting his body between her legs. The towel loosened, and he slid his hands under and over the smooth skin of the backs of her thighs until he cupped her spectacular ass. He rotated his hips, and his hard-on found a home between her legs. Katie shimmied against him until he thought his eyes would cross. Grabbing his head between her hands, she covered his mouth, and Vance let her control the mesh of tongue, lips, an
d teeth for about ten seconds. Then he rolled until she lay trapped beneath him. He reclaimed her mouth with a kiss full of the pent-up sexual heat that had simmered between them since day one and the love they felt for each other. Ravenous to consume her, he untied the towel and pushed it aside. Katie gasped when he pulled away, gazing down at her heaving breasts.
“God, you’re gorgeous. How did I get so lucky?” He lowered his head and sucked a tight nipple into his mouth. Katie groaned and squirmed beneath him, and Vance thought he might lose it right there. He raised his head, panting. “I want you. I want to do things to you that might be illegal in several states. I want you in my bed, but mostly I want you in my heart, my home, and in my soul,” he said, his voice sounding rough and edgy.
“You’ve got me. I’m not going anywhere. Please make love to me…now,” she breathed.
* * *
Katie’s body hummed—more like belted the Hallelujah Chorus. Somehow, some way, in her screwed-up, wretched life, she’d done something right. Because the most gorgeous man with the most talented hands and lips had declared his love for her, setting off a marching band with crashing cymbals, making her rusty girly parts high kick like the Rockettes in celebration. Vance loved her. Cue swelling heart.
All was right in the world.
Vance jumped up, throwing his towel aside, and reached for a condom in his nightstand drawer. Katie watched in fascination as he rolled it over his impressive erection. Holy Queen Latifah. She scooted until hitting the wood headboard to make room for her man. Vance crawled toward her, wearing only a condom and a sexy smile. Life didn’t get much sweeter.
“Kat.” His voice was husky. His gaze raked over her and seared her flesh. “Feels like I’ve waited my whole life for this.” And by this he meant his hard erection nudging the notch between her legs. “I love you.”
Astonished by his admission, she knew she’d never tire of hearing it. Overtaken by the sensation of him invading her body one slow, agonizing inch at a time, she gasped at the delicious perfection. She arched into him, drawing him deeper until they became one. “I love you too,” she said to his dark, intense face. In his eyes, she saw the same thing she felt; a love so deep she thought her heart might burst from the ferocity of it. This night was about two damaged souls finding a home in each other. Katie had yearned for this life, where she abandoned all rules and became a new woman. Living the life she was meant to live. Where she was accepted, valued, appreciated…loved.
“Oh, Vance,” she sighed. He captured her lips in a long, hard kiss.
“You’re so damned beautiful.”
“No. You make me feel beautiful.” She smoothed her hands over his shoulders and around his neck.
“I’m about to make you feel more than that.” Rising up on his arms, he started to move inside her with long, deliberate strokes. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, drawing him closer. Vance closed his eyes and threw his head back, tendons tight in his throat. Low, tortured moans escaped them both with every thrust. Katie dug her fingers into his side and arched her back. “So tight,” Vance grunted. “Damn, you’re amazing. This is killing me.”
The hard planes of his abdomen stroked against her pelvis as he moved. Katie panted, not knowing if she could take much more. “I’m going to explode,” she said between clenched teeth. Her gaze shot up to meet his. He continued thrusting into her, long and hard. He was hers, a vibrant blend of heart and soul and flesh. Katie climaxed, shattering like a zillion tiny shards of glass. Vance covered her lips, his tongue invading her mouth as his hips slammed against her one last time. She swallowed his moan. His entire body went rigid, the muscles on his back like iron under the sweaty silk of his skin.
Vance collapsed against her, his breathing labored. A sheen of perspiration covered both their bodies, gluing them together. Forever. Katie stroked his back. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He lifted his head and placed soft kisses on her nose, cheeks, and lips. “Thank you for allowing me to love you.” Hair tousled around his shoulders, he resembled a fallen angel. “How do you feel?” he murmured, trailing his fingers along her jawline.
“Alive.” She sighed in a sea of contentment. “More than I’ve ever been.”
“Me too.” He rolled to the side, sliding out of her. His heavy leg remained draped over hers, pinning her down.
Katie’s heart tripped, and she beamed at the man of her dreams. “Is it always that good?”
A grin stole over his face, and he wrapped his arm around her. “Hmmm, could’ve been a fluke.”
“Really? You think?”
“Absolutely. Maybe we should do it again to make sure.”
Katie pressed her lips to his. “Maybe we should.”
Chapter 21
Katie awoke to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof of the barn and the tapping of a keyboard. She lifted her head from the pillow and realized she was alone. The bed linens still held Vance’s musky, masculine scent, but they no longer held him. Katie sniffed and picked up the heavenly fragrance of freshly brewed coffee. Sitting up, she gathered the top sheet around her and listened to the rapid tap, tap, tap of the keyboard for a full minute before it stopped. Leaning forward, she hoped to see past the sliding barn doors into the adjoining sitting room where the night before she’d spied a desk piled high with books, papers, and a computer.
“Good morning, cupcake. Did I wake you?”
Her very own gorgeous pirate appeared at the opening, wearing scandalously low-riding sweatpants and a sinful smile. His prime physique was designed for ogling and uncontrollable drooling. In his large hand he held a mug of coffee.
“Is that for me?” she croaked while clearing her throat.
“Freshly brewed.” Vance’s weight dipped the mattress, making Katie roll in his direction—okay, so she might’ve leaned on purpose. She reached for the mug and slipped him a shy smile before taking her first sip. Her mind scrambled as she tried to remember everything they’d done and said last night. If her memory served correctly, the night had been a fairy tale come true. A very naughty fairy tale, with Vance starring as the depraved Prince Charming. Katie felt a flush heating her skin as she recalled all the inventive ways Vance had made love to her. She’d been meaning to start a new exercise program, but if she continued the mattress aerobics with insatiable Pirate Man, she’d be thoroughly worked out and wrung out.
Vance tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. “How’d you sleep, cupcake?” His tone said he already knew the answer to his question.
“The little sleep I got was amazing. How long have you been awake?”
“Couple of hours. I needed to get some writing done.”
Worried, she said, “You’ve got to be exhausted. Will you be able to work today?”
Vance chuckled. “I don’t plan to work all day. I have better activities in mind.” His suggestive leer sizzled inside her belly.
“What time is it, anyway?” The early morning gray light gave nothing away, due to the steady rain.
“Around eight.” He tugged on her wrist, careful not to spill her coffee. “You look good in my bed.” The delicious heat from his body caused more sizzling.
“I’m naked. Of course I look good to you.” Typical man.
“Naked is always a good thing.” His smile went lopsided. He toyed with a strand of her hair. “Your hair’s all curly.”
Her hand flew to the mess of knots and curls from going to bed with wet hair. Great. It must resemble a rat’s nest after a tornado. Not him. His disheveled locks made him all the more mysterious and handsome. Katie hated to imagine what the rest of her looked like. She’d never been the sexy starlet type, with perfect tousled hair, pouty lips, and dewy appearance. Instead, she was sporting telling beard burns in some very sensitive spots on her body. And she was sore in places she’d never known existed.
“I’m sure I look a wreck. Things l
ook different in the light of day.” His inscrutable expression gave nothing away. Nervous laughter bubbled forth. “You change your mind since last night?” It took a Herculean effort not to yank the covers over her head. Katie’s attempts at making light of the situation were feeble at best. She felt a little unsure and a lot insecure.
“What the hell are you talking about?” His gaze dropped from her eyes to her lips. He kissed her with a fierceness that calmed her fears. Katie fell in love all over again. Pirate Man excelled at kissing the way Van Gogh excelled at painting. He was a master. Katie could lose herself in his kisses alone.
“No second guessing and no going back. Got it?” he said, his words hot against her mouth. His muscles tensed beneath her hand as he waited for her response.
“I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
He breathed as if relieved. “Good. That’s more like it. You hungry?” he asked, nibbling at her lips.
“You offering…?” Kiss, kiss, nibble, nibble.
“I’m yours,” he murmured. “All day.”
Katie pulled back, slightly dazed. It would be so easy to do nothing but Vance all day…but she knew he had the pressure of a deadline, and she didn’t want to be the reason he couldn’t make it. Besides…she had her own agenda, like figuring the best way to disappoint her parents—again—with her change of plans. “As tempting as you are”—she slid him her best sultry gaze—“I don’t want to get in the way of your work. Why don’t I rustle up some breakfast, and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“Oh no. You’re not getting away from me that easily. I’ve waited all week to have you, and now that I do…I’m not letting you out of my sight.” Vance placed her coffee mug on the nightstand and followed Katie down onto the fluffy pillows. “The only thing I’m hungry for right now…is you.”
* * *
Sweet Southern Bad Boy Page 24
