Page 43 of Inviting Trouble
They stared at each other for a long moment, his body urging him to take what she offered, his brain slamming on the brakes. The musky scent of arousal made him grip her hips tightly, unsure if he was about to impale her or set her safely away.
Her soft voice reached through the haze of his mind. “I want to know why you have one picture in your wallet and that one picture is of me.”
He loosened his grip on her hips, struggling for the words that would be close to the truth without revealing too much. Finally, he said, “Looking at your picture reminded me I had people back home who loved me.”
“This wasn’t people,” she said, rising to her knees and gazing deep into his eyes, mesmerizing him. “This was just—” she suddenly shifted down, taking him fully inside her. He sucked in a harsh breath at the rush of pleasure “—me.”
“Mad,” he said on a moan. He held her by the hips, knowing he should set her away from him, yet knowing it was way too late for that.
She lifted herself and dropped down on him, taking him deep. His eyes rolled back in his head. She kept going, talking to him as she lifted and dropped over and over, making him crazed, barely hanging onto control.
“Why?” she said on a breathy pant. Another deep slide home. She kept going, kept talking, and he just hung on.
“Why me?”Tight velvet.
“Mypicture.”Perfect.
“Justme.”
Always you. The voice from deep inside his consciousness made everything in him still.
She moved faster, his mind clouding, sensation and the tight bond he’d always felt with her overwhelming him. He took control, slowing her down before he went off inside her.
“You on the pill?” he asked.
She grinned, like she’d won. “Yes. I want to feel you come inside me. I want all of you.”
The words triggered something deep inside, a primal need for possession, and he went for it. Heart-racing exhilaration pumped through his veins as he thrust and she matched him. Everything narrowed down to her, the feel of her petite body clenching around him, her breathy pants, her nails digging into his shoulders. He gripped her sweet ass, and then he went off, holding her tight against him as he emptied himself inside her like he’d never done with another woman before. His woman.
They stayed like that for a long moment, her small frame plastered against him.
She ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and spoke in his ear. “I know why you had my picture in your wallet.”
He pulled back to look at her, all sexily rumpled. And happy. He loved seeing her happy. “Yeah? Why?” This should be good.
“Because you knew I worshipped you.”
He couldn’t deny he loved the way she looked at him. “Maybe,” he allowed.
“Well, guess what?” She lifted off him and slipped out of bed. The loss of her heat, her closeness, made him suddenly bereft.
“What?”
She turned and smiled impishly over her shoulder. “Now it’s your turn to worship me.”
And with that she went into the bathroom, leaving the door wide open. An invitation.
The shower turned on.
He rolled out of bed. It was his turn.
Chapter Eleven
The Christmas festivities didn’t start until nearly noon. Everyone was sleeping off the long night they’d had of partying at Claire and Jake’s wedding reception. Mad showed up at Claire’s cabin with Hailey mid-morning, both of them bright-eyed and cheerful. Mad because she’d finally gotten laid by the man of her dreams and Hailey because she was always perky in the morning. Park had left her this morning after their shower, saying he promised to meet up with Ty and Alex to wrap some Santa presents for Viv while she was on a sleigh ride with her grandfather and Claire’s parents. Viv was nearly two and understood more this year about Santa.
As was tradition, they had a Secret Santa where they’d all picked a name from the Campbell family, blood brothers included, twenty-dollar max. There were just too many of them for it to be affordable to get everyone a cool gift. She’d drawn Josh this year, which was easy. She’d gotten him an immersion hand mixer for stuff that was too small for the big mixer. It was more than twenty bucks, but, hell, she owed him for everything he’d sacrificed for her. She’d just say she got it on a Black Friday sale.
Claire’s cook was preparing a full brunch with waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon, mimosas, fruit salad, and a bagel spread. Mad was on her second cup of coffee in the great room, the cabin filling up with family, while she waited anxiously for Park to arrive. Would he acknowledge her in front of the family? They’d crossed the threshold of just a onetime thing as far as she was concerned. Three times—twice in bed, once in the shower—told her she’d pushed past any resistance he’d had to the two of them. Just a look across the room would satisfy her. Or would he pretend she was nothing more than that mouthy twerp she’d always been to him?
