Red Red Wine (Tastes of Seduction) (6 page)

How could she have been so blissfully unaware that for weeks Declan had questioned his commitment to her? And worse, how was it possible for him to blindside her like this? To know for sure he wasn’t going to marry her, when she’d been able to think about little else other than the wedding and their joint future?

Had there been signs she’d never noticed? Maybe she’d been too involved in wedding plans to discern a change in Declan’s behavior or in his attitude towards her.

But then she didn’t think his behavior or attitude had changed.

“Hello? Earth to Victoria.”

She blinked, and Andrew’s face came back into focus.

“You zoned out on me.”

“I did. I’m sorry. You asked me a question.”

“You answered it.”

“Not really.”

“Should I ask again?”

Tori bit her lower lip as she contemplated her answer. “I’ll try to be more honest if you do.”

“Then I’d be curious to know what you were thinking when you kissed me.”

She took a big breath before doing as she’d promised. “I was thinking how crappy this all is. Being blindsided by the man I love. Completely ignorant of his thoughts and plans.” Her stomach roiled as she spoke, Declan’s silence a hot poker in her belly, making her nauseous again. She swallowed hard against it. “I felt hurt and lonely and betrayed. I…I still do.”

Andrew laid his palm against her cheek. “Can’t say I blame you for feeling any of that.”

She pressed her face into his hand, the warmth from his skin heating the blood that had turned cold while reading Noah’s IMs. The warmth felt good. Comforting. Just like the sweater Andrew’d wrapped around her.

“I…I was angry too. Furious.” Red-hot rage still burned inside her. “I wanted to hurt him. Wanted him to experience the same pain I felt. But…” Her shoulders sagged. “I can’t hurt him. He doesn’t care enough about me to feel pain from anything I do.” He didn’t even care enough to confront her with the truth.

“So perhaps you tried to find a way to make yourself feel better?”

Andrew had to be a therapist of sorts. He understood her too well to be anything else. “Kissing you did make me feel better.”

Much better. For those few moments, lost in his embrace, the pain had lessened as pleasure spread, easing the heaviness in her limbs and heart.

Heat flushed through her cheeks, and again she drew her eyes closed so she wouldn’t have to face him as she confessed the full truth. “I didn’t just want to kiss you,” she whispered. “I wanted to fuck you too.”

She still did. The warmth of his hand sent seductive sparks flaring through her veins, setting her blood on fire. Her breasts tightened even as her pussy muscles clenched reflexively.

His rough intake of breath only made them clench tighter. “I suspect that would make us both feel better.”

Tori shook her head. The desire to fuck him might be a brilliant solution to her predicament, but it was also shameless. A rebound fuck, for lack of a better term. One that left no place for Andrew’s wishes. She was lonely, she was hurt, she’d been rejected, and what better way to instantly feel good about herself than to sleep with a man who openly desired her? “It’s selfish, pure and simple. I’d be taking advantage of a man who’s been nothing but decent, kind, warm and lovely to me.”

His laugh was low, sexy, and wet heat pooled between her legs, reinforcing her selfish desires. “I’m pretty sure I would cope okay.”

She was quick to reassure him. “I wouldn’t do it. Wouldn’t use you so callously, no matter how appealing you might be.”

Yet every instinct told her to do exactly that. Told her to throw caution to the wind and her body at his feet. She wanted him, of that she had no doubt. The man was hot. Smoking, really. And so damned nice. He made her laugh when all she wanted to do was cry, and he lay with her on the floor of the gazebo as though it were a perfectly natural place to lie in the middle of an autumn night.

Even now, her heart beat a little faster, the urge to carry through on her desire tremendous. But he deserved better. Deserved a woman who wasn’t hell-bent on fucking him to make herself feel better.

“Okay.” He nodded, frustratingly amenable to her assurances. “So if you refuse to take advantage of my body—which, by the way, is bloody disappointing—how are you going to deal with your pain and your anger?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Want to punch me?”

Tori stared at him, horrified. “God, no. Why would I want to do that?”

“To vent. It’ll help you work through your anger.”

“It might—if I was hitting Declan. Not you.”

“But he’s not here. So why not hit me and pretend it’s him?”

“I don’t want to hit you.” She wanted to fuck him.

“So what do you want to do?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Dull the pain somehow. Pretend it isn’t there. Pretend this isn’t the most mortifying, horrible night of my life.”

“Maybe you should give the wine another go?”

“Hmmm…” Maybe.

“It’ll dull the pain,” he said. “’Specially if you drink enough of it.”

When she thought about it, her mouth
was
dry. Parched. And a sip of wine—okay, a glass of wine, or a bottle—sounded tempting. She sat up. “Would you drink with me?”

He sat up too. “If you’d like me too.”

“I would. But we’d have to share a glass.”

“I can live with that. Unless, of course, you’re a wine hog and snarf it all before I even get a taste.”

She grinned. “I’m not a wine hog.”

“Sure about that?”

“Absolutely sure. Although…”

“Although?”

“Although I’ve never shared a glass with a stranger before.” She smiled at the irony of her words. A few minutes ago she’d almost licked the back of his throat—a memory that warmed her again instantly. And made her pussy pulse.

“There’s a first time for everything. I don’t have man germs. I promise.”

“Huge relief, since man germs were foremost on my mind.” Yep, right up there, just ahead of the memory of Noah’s messages.

“Then there’s nothing left for us to do but drink.” He leaned over to get the bottle.

His chest brushed against her side, hard and muscular, and his masculine scent hit her like a ton of bricks. Lemony, fresh and delicious. Desire, instantaneous and all-consuming, overwhelmed her.

Whatever assurances she’d given him evaporated with her next breath.

Tori jumped him. Again. Just slammed her body into his, knocked him flat on his back and kissed him.

God bless the man, Andrew let her. Allowed her to take complete advantage without muttering one objection.

She couldn’t get enough. He tasted so damned amazing. Like…like chocolate, only better. A decadent dessert: sweet, rich and forbidden.

If his tongue tasted like sugar heaven, his skin was a savory delight. She should know. Her mouth had moved from his, and she dragged it over his cheek, the hair-roughened skin scraping against her lips.

Ah, the man was a taste sensation. A treat to any palate.

There was no denying her actions were selfish, no hiding from that truth. But the understanding didn’t make her pull away. How could she, when his neck proved as delicious as his cheek? And mouth. And chin. Tori had an all-consuming need to find out if his chest was as appetizing.

The guttural groan that erupted from his throat only amplified the need.

“Victoria…”

His husky murmur reverberated straight through her bones, and she clawed at the hem of his T-shirt, desperate to get her mouth on his naked flesh, desperate to taste the salt of his chest.

Andrew didn’t fight her, didn’t point out that she was doing exactly what she’d promised not to.

If anything, he aided her, yanking the offending shirt up and hauling it over his shoulders, offering Tori what she sought. She dug in, kissing and licking every inch of his chest, moaning her pleasure out loud. Andrew was a veritable smorgasbord of deliciousness. His chest was lean, broad and solid, and curly, dark hairs tickled her tongue and lips as she nipped at him.

She loved hair on a man’s chest. Hadn’t realized she’d missed it until right now. She placed her mouth over his left nipple and sucked it into her mouth.

Tension seemed to coil in his muscles as they stiffened beneath her.

“Victoria.” Her name was a soft growl, a warning, and she should have taken note, heard the caution he issued in his tone. But lost in the wonder of his body, she paid it no heed.

Which was how she found herself on her back a second later, with Andrew kneeling between her thighs, their positions now reversed. His breath was harsh, his chest heaving, and as he leaned over her, the heat of his erection burned through his jeans, searing the skin on her thigh.

“You have five seconds to back out of this. Five seconds to change your mind.” His voice was low, dangerous, and it sent a shiver straight up Tori’s spine. “You’re hurting, you’re upset and you’re acting on instinct, which is the only reason I’m giving you an out.” Hot breath rasped over her neck.

Goose bumps erupted down her arms.

“One.”

Tori stared up into his eyes, thunderstruck by the change in him. Gone was the easygoing guy who’d made her laugh through her misery.

“Two.”

Up until now, he’d been content to let Tori be the aggressor. Perhaps he’d sensed her need to be in control of the situation.

“Three.”

Not anymore. Tori had lost control. She no longer had the freedom to do as she pleased. The knowledge was curiously arousing.

“Four.”

She swallowed but didn’t move an inch—unless she counted the involuntary shifting of her hips as she tried to lift her ass and rub her pussy against Andrew’s impressive erection.

“Run, Victoria,” he growled. “Run now.”

Her limbs liquefied. Even if she’d wanted to run, she’d have been powerless. Lust slammed into her, leaving her gasping beneath him.

“Five.”

She had time to inhale once—a wheezy excuse for a breath—before he claimed her mouth in a scalding assault on her senses. With just his lips, his tongue and his skill, Andrew blew her world clean apart. Took her to the edge of the universe and back in a velvety attack on her mouth and soul.

Because when a man kissed like Andrew kissed, it was impossible not to feel it all the way through to her soul.

His seduction was masterful, the power all his. Tori was a boneless heap of need, helpless beneath him, lost to his sudden yet unquestionable dominance.

So absorbed was she in his kiss, she moaned an objection when he broke it to remove his hoodie and her singlet. The singlet vanished, but he left the sweater beneath her to lie on. The chilled breeze against her heated skin and the temporary absence of his soft yet demanding lips played havoc with her mind.

“More!” Damn it, she wanted more. Needed more. Had to taste him again, feel the stroke of his silvery tongue over hers.

A cry born of frustration rent the air, and she scratched at his arms, pulling him back to her.

He didn’t budge, didn’t give her the satisfaction.

Instead he knelt above her, his gaze fixed on her heaving chest.

She clawed harder, desperation for his kiss a living, breathing animal inside her.

Slow and controlled, Andrew placed a hand over each of her wrists and brought her arms up over her head, laying them on the ground behind her and holding them there effortlessly, leaving her defenseless.

His gaze returned to her chest, and at this angle, the moonlight shone dimly on his features, casting a pale glow over his expression. His eyes were hooded, his mouth parted and raw desire pulsed from him in waves.

Tori’s response was visceral. Voracious need surged through her, and she fought the shackles binding her hands, struggling to free herself. Anything to touch him, pull him down to her. Kiss him.

He only tightened his hold, rendering her helpless.

“I’m going to release you, Victoria. Going to move my hands from your wrists. And in return, you are going to lie right where you are and not move an inch. Got it?”

Yeah, right. The second her arms were liberated, she was grabbing as much of him as she could hold.

“Got it?” he asked again.

“Got it,” she agreed, then had to repeat herself, because in her breathless state of anticipation, she discovered she had no voice.

The grip on her wrists loosened, and she flexed her fingers, waiting for the freedom to act.

He relaxed, pulling his arms and upper body back. His lower body, however, remained snug against hers, his erection pushing against her thigh, making her half crazy with need. She didn’t want that erection resting on her leg. She wanted it inside her achy body. Deep, deep, deep inside.

Andrew shifted, moved lower, repositioning that erection so it now fit against the juncture of her legs.

Tori whimpered, and Andrew grimaced, the desire in his face turning to pain.

God, she understood. The pleasure of contact was also a brutal reminder of the clothes between them, the barriers keeping them apart.