Page 27 of Paradise Found
“Why? Because you said so? Because you know everything about me, you jerk?!” I ignore the tingling behind my eyes and stomp towards him, ready to open the door and throw him out.
I’m so discombobulated, I stumble when reaching for the doorknob. In a beat, his arms wrap around me. Lance hugs me so tightly, I’m lifted. He buries his face deep in my hair, his words muffled.
“I didn’t mean it, Little Cassie. I didn’t mean it at all. Please believe me. I’m sorry I said what I said, but I didn’t mean it.” Anguish makes him sound shaky in a way I’ve never heard before.
“Let me down.” I push weakly, even if it’s the last thing I want. I’m enveloped in Lance’s warmth, his breath against my ear and his arms the perfect cocoon. He smells amazing, with the hint of manly sweat under sandalwood spice. I don’t want our embrace to end.
Still, my pride won’t let me forget. “I said let me down.”
He gently restores my feet to the ground. Instead of backing away, his hands cradle my chin to tilt it up. Lance’s brown eyes are nearly black, those perfectly shaped lips slightly open as if he’s as breathless as I am.
“That’s not what I think about your business and your talent and your dreams. The fact that you’re launching something you’re passionate about—that’s remarkable. I said it because those guys, they don’t deserve to know you that way, OK? They hook up with a different woman every other night.”
“What do you care if they hook up with me? I’m not a woman, is that it? Here’s a newsflash, Lance Harper Jefferson,” I state, full of bravado. I straighten my back and wiggle out of his hold.
Gripping my hips like a daytime television diva, I exclaim, “I am a grown woman who can make my own decisions. Which meansIcan sleep with a different hockey player every other night if I want to.”
“That’s enough, Cassie.” His voice has lowered to a feral-sounding growl. It riles me up more.
“Sergei treats me like a woman,” I say more intently. “I like it, you know. Feeling how much a man wants me.”
He looks tortured and furious. “I saidenough.”
“That’s not what Sergei said.”
I can’t believe what’s coming out of my mouth. I’ve sobered up since the club, yet the night continues its surreal quality, turning me into someone whowantsconflict. Craves it. I’m desperate to discard the lingering hurt of being treated like a child.
“Shut up, Cassie,” he growls. “You don’t want a guy like Sergei.”
And there it is: Lance shutting me up like I’m a kid who doesn’t know what she wants. I’m not a kid. At the moment, I’mobsessedwith proving it to this man.
“You’re right, Lance. It isn’t Sergei I want,” I pause, letting the words sink in. “It isn’t Sergei I dream about, is it?” My voice has a raspy quality I’d never had before.
His eyes narrow, his breath shallow when he states gruffly, “No, it isn’t.”
We’re both referring to the morning I woke up grinding on him. Lance searches my face like there’s a secret only he can unveil.
“You dream ofme, don’t you, Little Cassie?”
That nickname again! I want to wipe it from the face of the earth. I shove him back so his butt hits the closed door. Then I step in and wrap my arms around his neck, pressing myself against his granite chest.
“There’s nothing little about me, Lance.”
I’ve noticed the way he glances at my breasts. I thought I had imagined it, but Lance’s stiff erection confirms he isn’t unaffected.
Who you calling a kid now, hotshot?
“You’ve made your point,” he mutters through gritted teeth.
“Have I? I don’t think so. There’s so much more I can do to prove my point.” My voice deepens when I go on tiptoe and lean into his neck, my lips brushing the pounding pulse. “What didyou call me, Lance? Innocent? Do you want me to show you all the ways I’m not an innocent little girl anymore?”
In a flash, Lance spins me around. I’m lifted and pressed against the door, his groin cradled in the wetness barely contained by my tiny sleep shorts.
“You’ve made your point loud and clear, Cassie. You’re a woman who’s determined to drive me crazy. A woman who makes me so fucking thirsty for your pussy, I can’t think straight. Now shut. The fuck. Up.”
“Make me,” I say before pulling his head down to crash our mouths together.
Lance
