Page 24 of Back in the Texan's Bed
“No.” This time he shook his head, vehemently. “For two years, you’ve provided for Ben on your own without any financial help from me. If I’d known about him, I would’ve gladly paid child support. Consider this a lump sum of back payments. The money is yours and Ben’s, Charlotte. I’m not negotiating on this.”
Again she hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Okay. That’s fair.”
“Good. NowIhave one last condition.” He paused. “I want Ben to have my last name.”
He braced himself for her argument, had his reasons ready—he was, after all, Ben’s father; if he’d been at the birth, he would’ve signed the birth certificate; and he wanted to claim his son.
But shock erupted inside him, stealing those words and his breath when she whispered, “Okay.”
“Thank you,” he said softly.
They stared at one another, and the tension vibrating between them thickened, tightened to the point of bursting. As if of its own volition, his gaze dropped to her mouth, and he could practically feel the softness of it. The tender give of it. The gut-twisting greediness of it.
Fuck, he wanted it. Wanted it all. That uninhibited response to him that held no artifice. That needy moan he remembered so well he could hear a faint echo of it now. That sultry, addictive taste that’d had him counting down the hours until he could see her again. Indulge in her again.Devourher again.
He’d never been one to deny himself. And he didn’t now.
Lust throbbing in his veins, he edged closer, eliminating the space between them. Immediately, the heat from her body and the rich, heady perfume from her skin inundated him, and he inhaled. It was visceral. Intoxicating. Borderline...sexual. Taking a part of her into him, just as he’d once slid so hard and deep inside her.
He granted her time to move, to avoid him—at least he convinced himself he did. And when she didn’t, just stared up at him with those lovely, bottomless eyes, he surrendered to the urge that had been riding him since the moment he’d seen her cross that restaurant floor, her sexy, confident stride carrying her to his table.
Need was a growling, straining animal inside him, but he didn’t pounce on her like that beast demanded. Not when it had been three years of deprivation, of starving for the touch that taunted him in his most secret, dirtiest dreams.
Because it had been that long, he intended tosavor.
Dragging his fingertips up the elegant column of her neck, he relished the softness of her skin before tunneling his fingers under her braid and over her scalp. Her low, soft gasp bathed his lips as he lowered his head, and when he took her mouth, he took that small, hungry sound, as well.
He groaned as his lips closed over hers, unable to restrain it. Not when her lips parted for him so sweetly, as if she didn’t resent every breath he drew. As if this need wasn’t one-sided. As if she’d been dying for a taste of him, too.
He slid his tongue over that overripe bottom lip, sucking on it for good measure before slipping between. Slipping into heaven. Intoher. With another moan, he pressed closer, aligning his larger frame against her curvier one. God, she was made for him. Even as the thought prowled through his head, he hated it, shoved it aside so hard it ricocheted off his skull. Sentimental drivel had no place here. Not when her tongue greeted his, lapped at his, tangled with his.
This. He lifted his other hand, cupping her cheek, holding her for a deeper, harder possession.Thiswas what he’d been searching for the last three years with the nameless, faceless parade of women. This hit, like an unhealthy combination of dopamine and alcohol, arrowed straight to his system. That lethal mix pumped through his arteries, aided by his wildly hammering heart, and pounded in the erect thickness of his cock.
One kiss. She had him on the verge of coming withonekiss.
He angled her head, positioning her so he could take more. No, to hell with that.Conquermore. He wanted to brand her with his kiss so she would remember clearly how he made her body convulse with pleasure, made her throat raw by eliciting scream after scream.
He could do that for her now. Fuck, heneededto do that for her now. For him, too.
She released a whimper then leaned her head back, turning to the side. “Ross,” she rasped.
He trailed his damp lips over her cheek to her ear. There, he pressed a kiss to the tip and murmured, “Come away with me this weekend.”
The invitation tumbled from his lips before the idea had fully formed. A warning alarm blared in his head, loud and screaming, What the fuck? But he didn’t rescind the offer. Though she stiffened against him, he didn’t release her, just shifted his hand from her face to her hip, steadying her.
“I have a cabin in Colorado. You, Ben, me—we can fly there tonight after you’re finished at the restaurant, spend tomorrow there, and I’ll have you back Monday in time for work. We can talk over the details of the move and how we’re going to proceed with our families. I want to spend time getting to know my son with his mother. Take a risk and a day off work, Charlotte.”
“I don’t have to take a day off,” she murmured, almost absently. “One of my conditions when I accepted the job at Sheen was that I have Sundays off to be with Ben.”
Whether she realized it or not, she was halfway to agreeing to go with him. He pushed his advantage, because the invite might’ve been spontaneous, but he wanted this. Wanted her and Ben alone.
“Say yes, Charlotte,” he said, finally stepping back even though his body screamed in rebellion and promised swift retribution. Even though his palms tingled with the need to cup that rounded, firm hip again. To squeeze it. Mark it. “This is about Ben. What happens afterward—ifsomething happens—is up to you.”
Her eyes darkened, and the thick fringe of her lashes lowered. But not before he caught the gleam of arousal in her eyes. The uncertainty, too. Yes, she’d understood his meaning. He hadn’t been referring to their co-parenting plan or how they intended to break the news to her parents that he was Ben’s father.
He’d meant that kiss.
And the hot, raw sex that followed.
