“They’ve all been distracted today, getting ready for you.”
“I don’t think I’m the one they were getting ready for.” Lance fished the fob to the truck out of his pocket.
“Don’t take it personally.” Craig already filled Lance in a little on the life his sisters led, trying to prepare him for their built-in, and understandable, distrust of the male population. “I’m still positive five out of six of them hate my guts.” He smiled at the line of women. “And that’s only because I haven’t met one of them yet.”
****
“THEY WERE NICE.” Jude sat at the counter, watching Craig and Danny finish cleaning up the kitchen.
“I think Vanessa liked you best.” Danny smiled at her son.
“I think I lost my spot as her favorite tonight.” Craig shut the dishwasher door and set it to start. “You definitely took my place.”
Jude smiled. “Are they staying for a long time?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Craig wiped his hands on a towel before folding it and hooking it over the handle to the oven. “I would say they will be here a little while at least.”
“Are you staying a long time?” This time Jude’s question was softer.
Craig tipped his head in a small nod. “I am.”
“I think it’s bed time.” Danny reached out to tousle his hair. “You need to rest up, because I’m going to bet Vanessa will be ready to go bright and early.”
Jude gave her a quick hug before standing awkwardly beside Craig. “Night, Craig.”
“Goodnight, Buddy.” Craig held out his fist. Jude immediately bumped it with his. “See you in the morning.”
Danny watched him go, her lips curved in a soft smile, relaxing the tiny part of him that worried this day wouldn’t go as well as he hoped.
Then she turned to him and her smile disappeared.
“What’s wrong?” Craig took a little step back.
Danny leaned against the counter, her hip casually resting at the edge as her arms loosely folded over her chest. It was a stance that anyone else would have seen as relaxed.
But there was nothing relaxed about the woman in front of him.
Danny looked ready to hunt. Maybe kill.
“Lance seems nice.” The words were clipped and short.
Abrupt.
Choppy.
“He is.” Craig dragged his own out, hoping to seem calm and cool.
“Is he?” Danny pushed off the cabinet without uncrossing her arms. “Because there was a minute there when things seemed a little off between you two.” Her arms slid down, dropping into place at her sides.
“Was there?” Craig eased back again. He wasn’t trying to get away from her.
He was just looking for a little space to work with.
“There was.” Danny’s slow steps toward him were smooth, languid almost. But each was calculated. Perfectly paced.
Because she was ready to strike.
“I don’t think so. Lance and I are friends.” It took every bit of control Craig had to keep the words as even as her steps.
“I didn’t say you weren’t friends.” Danny kept coming. “I said there was something going on there.” Her nostrils barely flared. “And I think I know what it is.”
An instant later she was on him, her body hitting his with a surprising amount of force as Danny pushed him back into the pantry door. “What happened between you and Kari?”
“Nothing.” Craig said it like it was true.
Because it was.
But there was a time where he’d hoped it wouldn’t be. Long before Lance returned. Before Vanessa made Kari into the woman she was now.
The woman he then guiltily wanted more than before, in spite of the fact that she wasn’t any more right for him than he was for her. “I did want her though. For a while.”
Danny’s head barely tipped to one side as her eyes scanned his face. “Explain.”
He didn’t want to. Explaining all his reasons for wanting Kari would make Danny think they were the same reasons he wanted her.
And that was only half true. He wanted Danny for many of the same reasons he used to wish Kari could be his.
But his reasons for wanting the woman in front of him didn’t stop there.
They kept going, more dropping into place each day.
Each minute.
“I liked how strong she was. How confident. How brave.” Craig laid it out as quickly as he could, knowing Danny would line them together as fast as he handed them to her. “I liked how she treated Vanessa.”
“But she loved Lance.” The hurt coloring the realization cut into him, made him spill so much more than he intended.
“It’s not just that, Danny.” Craig grabbed her as she started to back away.
“She would never have been enough for me.”
“How much do you need, Craig?” Danny pushed against his chest. “There isn’t much more.”
“There is, Danny.” He smiled a little at the jealousy creeping past the hurt in her tone. “There’s you.”
FIFTEEN
“STOP IT.” SHE pushed at him again, wishing it was easy to ignore the firm line of muscle hiding under the shirt between them.
“No.” Craig nuzzled her neck. “Kari is great, don’t get me wrong, but she will never even come close to you, Danny Girl.” His lips were against her ear. “Not ever.”
“Words don’t mean anything, Craig.” Why was she so mad? So ready to fight about something that happened before their paths crossed?
Because nothing like this had ever happened to her, and the thought that it wasn’t the same for him burned her ass in an uncomfortable way.
“Then that means actions do.” He pushed against her, shoving until she was trapped between his body and the counter. “What have I shown you, Danny? That you matter less to me than some woman I was interested in once upon a time?” Craig stared at her silently.
Waiting.
She wasn’t answering that. “You were interested enough that it bothers her husband.”
“Her husband is bothered when a man breathes the same air as his wife.” Craig leaned in and inhaled against her skin. “I’m starting to understand where he’s coming from.” His lips barely brushed over her neck. “And you didn’t answer me.”
Danny pressed her lips together, the ugly bite of jealousy making her even more angry.
Who was she to care what Craig did in his life? Why in the hell should it matter that Craig wanted Kari?
He’d probably wanted a hundred other women.
Most likely had many of them.
Craig chuckled low in her ear. “What was that about?”
“What?” Danny closed her eyes against the thoughts of Craig’s strong body tangled with another woman’s. The mental picture of his lips on her skin. His hands on her breasts.
His—
“I love when you growl like that, Danny Girl.” He caught the lobe of her ear between his teeth. “Love that the thought of me and another woman makes you do it.”
“I’m not thinking of you and another woman.” The words came out too fast. Too defensive.
“Liar.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
Danny ground her teeth together to avoid snapping out another fib in retaliation.
Craig hummed low. “I like that growl too, even though I’m pretty sure it’s a threat.” His hand slid up to the side of her neck, thumb pressing under her chin, holding it in place, forcing her to look into the eyes so close to hers. “Just remember you don’t scare me. Not even a little bit.” His lips brushed just beside hers, teasing her with an almost-kiss. “It’s why I know you should be mine.”
“You think I should belong to you?” She’d seen what happened when a woman belonged to a man.
She was his servant. Used. Manipulated.
And never mourned.
Craig’s eyes sharpened. “Don’t think for a second I would ever take something from you I’m not willing to give, Danny.”
She smirked at the thought. “So you want to belong to me?”
Craig’s lips lifted in a slow, seductive smile. “Sweetheart, I already do.”
Danny barely had time to react to the revelation before Craig’s mouth covered hers, claiming what he clearly already knew was his. He pulled her away from the counter and, in a quick move, hefted her up against him, knocking her off balance enough to make her latch onto him in any way she could, arms at his neck, legs at his waist.
He groaned a little as her limbs wrapped around him. “Do you know how many fucking times I’ve imagined this, Danny?” Craig held her tight as he moved toward the stairs, one arm at her back, one hand bracing her thigh. His voice was soft in her ear as he walked. “How many times I wondered how it would feel to have your legs around me?” He started up the stairs with surprisingly quiet steps. “The sounds I would pull out of you when I made you come?”
Her thighs involuntarily squeezed.
He barely grunted. “No more of that until we’re behind a locked door.” His breathing was heavy when they finally reached the landing. Craig paused. “Jesus Christ, remind me to run tomorrow.”
She pressed her lips together, stifling the laugh trying to escape.
“Laugh now, Danny Girl, because in a few minutes I promise you won’t be finding anything funny.” He peeked his head around the corner before stepping across the hall and into her room, silently shutting the door behind them and twisting the lock. A second later she was on her back in the middle of the mattress with Craig over her. His hands were everywhere, yanking clothing free and chucking them over his head.
When she was fully naked he leaned up, straightening onto his knees, dark eyes staring down at her. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, you know that?”
She’d actually heard many men say the same thing in some form or another.
But hearing Craig say it felt different.
Because unlike those other men, he wasn’t just talking about what he saw with his eyes. “I know.”
His smile from before was back, easy and tempting. “Good.” Craig tried to ease back over her.
Danny pressed one hand to the center of his chest. “Stop.”
Craig froze, eyes on hers as he waited.
She smiled. “You really aren’t like most men, are you?”
“I would argue you don’t know most men.” Craig’s smile flattened into a thin frown. “But no. I’m not like most of the men you’ve been unfortunate enough to know.” He still didn’t move. “There are a lot of good men in the world, Danny, and I’m sorry you and your sisters haven’t known many of us.”
“We’ve known a couple.” JD and his dad were two of the best men in the world if she had to guess.
They were men like Craig. Honest. Hard-working. Respectful.
“I will have to send them a thank-you gift.” Craig’s hands found hers, fingers lacing together. “What now, Danny?”
“Now you show me what you’re offering.” She hadn’t seen any part of him unclothed. Not a bit.
Which was not fair at all.
One dark brow lifted. “If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask, Danny Girl.”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing now?” She scooted up onto her elbows as Craig tugged the hem of his shirt free from the waistband of the worn jeans slung low on his hips. Her eyes locked onto the bit of skin peeking out as he lifted it higher.
Holy hell he had abs.
Danny clenched her hands into fists, trying to resist the urge to touch them. What did something like that feel like?
“You can touch any part of me, anywhere, anytime, Danny.” Craig pulled his shirt up and off, throwing it somewhere out of sight. “It all belongs to you.”
It was shameful how sexy that sounded. The thought of Craig’s body belonging to her sent a possessive thrill running between her ribs and straight down to the part of her he always had an effect on.
Those dimples and the confident swagger had her from day one. She was screwed the minute he stepped into her shop.
And Craig knew it, even if she tried to pretend she didn’t.
Danny flattened her hands on the blanket under her as her eyes skimmed up from the hard planes of his stomach. A dark scattering of hair covered his chest, looking just as damn touchable as the rest of him.
But she didn’t dare start, because once she did, chances were good she wouldn’t want to stop.
And there was still plenty in her way.
“You’re not naked. You said you were going to be naked.” Danny’s eyes dropped to the jeans hiding the rest of him. The hair from his chest picked back up above the waistband, teasing a path that disappeared under the dark-washed fabric. “I want to see the rest before I commit.”
Craig laughed, low and easy. “I like the sound of you committing, Danny.” He eased off her. “If me getting naked is what it takes, then I would have done it days ago.”
“We’ve only known each other days.” She didn’t look away from where his hands worked the button of his fly.
“I know what I said.” Craig flipped the fastener free of its hole. “And I stand by it.” He worked the zipper down in a painfully slow drag.
“Why are you teasing me?” This time she heard the growl carried on her words and it snapped her eyes to his.
“There’s my girl.” He shoved the zipper down the rest of the way and shucked his pants in one smooth move, kicking them aside before standing tall, wide shoulders back, long arms hanging loose at his side.
“Oh.” She’d seen one penis in her life, and it led her to believe they were an acceptable thing. Not too much to look at, but handy enough to have around.
This one made her rethink that assessment.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Craig didn’t look even a little offended by her honest reaction.
He shouldn’t be. His penis was surprisingly nice-looking. Long and straight with smooth skin and a broad head. It was almost pretty.
If that’s something dicks could be.
“You gotta stop licking your lips while you look at it, or I’m going to have a rough time making this memorable in the right kind of way.” His voice was rougher than she’d heard it before.
Danny worked her gaze up to meet his, her breath catching at the hunger in his eyes. “You might be surprised at how little it takes.”
“I’m not gonna lie.” Craig gripped the cock she’d been staring at a few seconds ago and fisted it, stroking a few times. “That makes me feel a little better.”
She’d never watched a man touch himself before, and it was impossible to look away.
Honestly, she’d never done a lot of things before, so unfortunately that wasn’t saying much.
Oddly enough, the sight of his rigid cock sliding through the pull of his palm made her a little jealous. That he was so freely touching something she hadn’t. It had Danny moving across the mattress and sliding off the bed.
Craig stopped what he was doing and took a little step back. “I don’t like that look in your eye.”
“I thought you said you liked what I am?” Family secrets were something she and her sisters held close, but Craig already knew what she was.
Sought it out.
And now he was going to have to deal with the choices he made.
“I do.” He stepped back a little more. “But this is about you, Danny. Not me.”
She paused. “Then why are you running?”
“I’m not running.” He planted his feet.
“You are.” She smiled. “I thought I didn’t scare you?”
Craig’s jaw set. “You don’t.”
Danny shrugged one shoulder as she closed in on him. “Prove it then.” She lifted one hand to run it across his chest, dragging the touch over his shoulders as she walked around him.
Circling.
She leaned into his ear, grazing her breasts across the heated plane of his back. “Can you take what I dish out, City Boy?”
Craig groaned as her hardened nipples brushed against him. “If this is how you want to play, then you should know I’m not so interested in it being a fair game.”
Danny lowered her mouth to the spot where his shoulder met his neck, flicking her tongue against it as an almost uncontrollable need to bite rushed through her veins, ripping a growl from her chest.
Craig’s hands immediately came back, each gripping one cheek of her ass, pinning her front to his back as his head tipped to one side.
Offering.
He was right. About everything.
She was supposed to be his.
He was meant to be hers, and the need to mark her territory was overwhelming. To prove that this man belonged to only her.
Willingly.
Her hands gripped his hips as she tasted his shoulder, his back, fighting the urge climbing through her insides, spurring her to do something that would definitely be considered strange at the very least.
Terrifying at the very worst.
“Craig.” She didn’t mean to say his name. Didn’t mean to look to him to help her through this unprecedented moment.
His hands squeezed, fingers edging the line of her ass, sliding closer to the apex of her thighs. “Nothing you ever do will scare me, Danny.” His touch moved deeper, one hand pressing her closer to his back as the other found her clit. “Whatever you want from me, take.”
Her nails dug into his skin and her legs threatened to buckle as he circled her sensitive nub. She dropped her head to the center of his back as the wayward finger continued it’s perfect rhythm. “Don’t stop.”
“Never.” He held her weight with one arm, pinning her in place against his back.
She hooked her arms through his, hands braced on his shoulders as she rocked against him, riding his wickedly-skilled fingers as her climax built. “Craig.” Her head rolled against him, the urge from before raging back to life with the ache between her legs.
Another growl broke free, feral and almost uncontrolled.
“Do it.” His fingers moved faster, slippery and hot as they slid inside her to stroke a few times before going back to her swollen clit. “I’m yours, Danny. Show the world who I belong to.”
Her teeth sank into the skin of Craig’s shoulder as his touch pushed her over the edge in more ways than one, sending her places she didn’t know existed. Dragging free needs she’d never felt, pulling them to the surface and forcing her to face them.
Danny (Big Northwest Book 1) Page 15
