Page 47 of Play for Keeps

Skirting the edge of the island, he kept his gaze locked on her. “Do you really have a great-aunt Maude?”

She bobbed her head. “Yep. She’s ninety-four, has three boyfriends, and cheats at canasta.”

He stepped within reach, hooked a hand around her waist, and pulled her up against him. “So you’re a chip off the old block.”

She swatted his chest. “Don’t let her hear you call her old.”

She smiled down at the hand resting on his arm. The inexplicable urge to make her swat him again swept over him with such ferocity he almost laughed out loud. It was a feeble move unworthy of the hellcat in his arms, and he loved it. His smile was irrepressible.

“I’m calling you trouble.”

Millie beamed up at him. “Well, I think we both know you’re probably right.”

“I’m feeling the need to try to teach you a lesson.”

Finely arched brows rose. “You can try.”

The words were scarcely out of her mouth before he bent down and hoisted her up over his shoulder. Formidable as she was, the woman hardly weighed more than his father’s overburdened golf bag. Delighting in her squeal and squirms, he stalked toward the master bedroom. By the time they crossed the threshold, Millie had stopped writhing and started cooing.

“Oh, you’re so big and strong, Coach Handsome. Promise you won’t hurt me. I’m only a girl,” she added with a phony giggle.

She’d pitched her voice high and tried for breathy. The effect was something between a defective foghorn and his ex-wife in a wheedling mood. The combination set his teeth on edge. “Stop.”

The order made her laugh, but it was her real laugh. Throaty and full. Pure pleasure rolled over him like summer thunder, low and rumbly. The sound reverberated through him, making the hairs on his arms stand on end and his dick harden. He stepped up the pace, hoping to get to the bed before his desire for this obstinate woman hobbled him. He made it in the nick of time.

Ty dropped her onto the bed, and she spread her arms wide across the mattress as she scuttled to find a more dignified position, laughing the whole time. The sound of her happiness bounced off his bedroom walls and cut his legs out from under him. He fell on her with a grin and a growl, hoping to sustain the carefree, playful air between them. His fingers skimmed over her rib cage, and she wriggled beneath him. He planted a loud, sucking kiss to the side of her neck. She yelped another laugh, this one accompanied by a protest so absurdly lacking in vehemence, it might as well have been an invitation. He teased the tender flesh with the tip of his tongue, and her giggle segued into a gasp.

Millie planted both hands on his shoulders and pushed. His mouth curved into a smile, and he gave enough resistance to make her increase her efforts. He wanted her giving one hundred and ten percent this time around. No rush to the finish line. This time, he wanted their lovemaking to be more on pace with a marathon than a sprint.

“Tell me you want me,” he ordered.

She pursed her pink lips and gave him a pitying look. “Aw, are you feeling a little needy?”

He shifted to one side and slid his leg up until the meat of his thigh pressed hard against her pussy. Her hips rose off the mattress, her body straining to meet his demands. “I have a lot of needs, but ego-stroking isn’t one of them.”

Her smile heated as she let her hand slip between their bodies and start its teasing slide down to his cock. “How about I stroke something else?”

“Yes, please.”

“So polite.” She cooed the words, but the grip she took on his dick was anything but sweet and playful. “How do you want me?” she asked, her breath hitching as she gave him a hard stroke. “Slow? Fast? Soft and gentle, or do you like things a little…rough?”

He kissed her. Partly to shut her up long enough for his brain to engage again, but mostly because he loved the taste of her. Sweet. Spicy. Hot. Kissing Millie was something like shoving an entire pack of cinnamon gum into his mouth. The heat and flavor nearly unbearable, the sugary shock of her addictive.

“I want you to suck me.”

Her hand stilled, and her gaze flicked up to meet his. The words, stark and unadorned with any of his usual niceties, seemed to jolt her. Truth was, the simple statement shocked him as well. He hadn’t been so blunt with a woman since his days of banging groupies. An apology sprang to the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it at the last second.

Millie’s mouth—the mobile mouth that drove him to distraction—curved up at the corners. “Do you?”

Her saucy smile erased all thoughts of apologies and rescinding the request. He’d told her what he wanted, and he didn’t want to back down. Excitement pulsed through his veins. But unlike the short, sharp strobes pushing him too quickly to the brink, this surge of desire made his blood run slow and sluggish. As if he had all the time in the world, and she was his to command.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Still smiling, she wet her lips, then popped the collar on his shirt so the tips stood up around her ears. “I didn’t hear the magic word.”

The games they’d played on the phone came rushing back in time to keep him from making a huge tactical error. Of all the teases and taunts they’d exchanged, this was one he would not lose. Whether he had what she wanted or needed was for her to decide. He’d be damned if he forfeited his pride to a woman again. Particularly not one who’d been clawing his back a short time before.

“I won’t beg you.”

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