Tucker's Crossing (25 page)

How is this for reserved
, she thought, sinking her teeth into Cody’s lower lip and tugging, hard. On a groan, Cody’s hands tightened around her waist, and in one deft motion, without breaking their connection, maneuvered her upward, turning her around. When she next came up for air, she found herself straddling his lap, legs twined around his waist.

Any plans she had for taking it slow fled as soon as his hands reached back and shackled her ankles, locking them at the small of his back. She could feel him between her legs, his hard-on going even stiffer, right where she wanted it. His touch, feather-light and seductively slow, made the long journey up her thighs, drawing her gown over her legs. Cody’s caress stopped the moment he met bare skin, where there should have been lace and satin.

“My, my, my, Shelby Lynn.” She loved how he said her name, light on the volume and heavy on the drawl. “What do we have here?”

“Why, Mr. Tucker, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she flirted back, adding a little drawl of her own.

“Seems someone still likes to sleep sans silk.” His hands spanned to cup both cheeks fully, kneading the sensitive flesh and turning her insides to mush.

Shelby rolled her hips, pressing against him, and creating a friction and pressure that was pure heaven. Even the sore muscles couldn’t stop her. She loved being wrapped around him. Loved when he moaned, deep and uncontrolled, as she sucked on his tongue. She liked him like this. Liked how his unfiltered need made his touch raw. She liked it because it felt real, as though his feelings were out there, exposed for her to see and share.

Then sadly, she felt it. That damn distance he threw up between them whenever he allowed himself to let go. And just as quickly as he’d gotten lost in the moment, Cody’s hands began to slow, bringing her excitement from unbridled to hog-tied. Shelby felt his withdrawal, sudden and painful.

This time was worse though, because she’d been the one to kiss him, the one trying to be all sexy and seductive, to prove she was desirable. Oh, he’d been turned on, there was no question there. Apparently just not enough, because he was still going to turn her down. Talk about old times.

The man could rope the wind, Shelby thought angrily.

“Slow down, honey.”

“Why?” Really, why would they want to slow down when fast was such a turn-on? If he thought they were going to go
there
, she decided, like he’d so cockily stated last night, then Cody would have to let go the same way he expected Shelby to.

“Look, I know what I said last night.” Being the sensitive and attentive male that he was, Cody had the gall to cup her face and whisper, oh so sweetly, against her mouth, “But you’re sore. And I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

He waited for her to speak. Which she didn’t. She was too angry. So she continued to sit there, straddling him, glaring at him. She knew he had issues, but despite how hard she tried, he reminded her of another man who valued control so much he made her feel unworthy.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, tracing her lip with his thumb. “Talk to me, what are you thinking in that head of yours?”

“Sex, Cody. I’m thinking about sex. With you,” Shelby snapped, not in the mood for a Dr. Phil moment and making it pretty clear. “Hard, fast, mind-blowing sex!”

“Well, that’s obvious,” he laughed.
Laughed!

“You know what?” She looked up, ready to give him a life’s worth of her mind, tell him she was tired of him advancing only to hold back. But the minute her eyes met his, all of the old hurt, the confusion over what she had done to scare him off, the insecurity that maybe she would never be enough, poured through her as if it had happened yesterday.

How could she make it through a marriage of him pushing forward only to reject her advances in return? Her self-esteem could only take so many blows.

Shelby unwrapped her legs, fumbling to her feet, desperate to put distance between them, to figure out how this would work. Cody’s hands tightened around her waist, rendering her immobile, half on his lap and half standing.

“Please, let me go.”

“Not on your life.” Before she could respond, he pulled her back down on his lap, rewrapping her legs around his waist and locking them at the ankles. The position that moments ago had felt like ecstasy now left her feeling exposed.

“This won’t work.” The minute it came out she knew it was the truth.

“Why not?”

“Even though I now know
why
you left, you still left.” Time rolled back and she remembered every tear and sleepless night. “I loved you so much and you ran. And you broke my heart.”

“Right back at you,” he countered equally as soft. Then he exhaled, his voice so low she could barely hear him. “Did you love Preston?”

Shelby shook her head. “I tried, but he was a hard man to love. And I still loved you.” Shelby took a breath. “Did you ever marry?”

Her heart pounded harder at the question. Outside of the bare finger, Shelby hadn’t been able to find any evidence that he’d married or had another family, or any evidence to the contrary.

“I keep telling you I am not fit to be anyone’s husband.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“Fair enough. Did I ever marry, no. Fall in love, yes.” The reverence in his voice confirmed that he had, and that it was the real thing. Shelby’s heart, which had been holding on by a thread, finally snapped and shattered at the sobering realization that Cody had moved on. He loved someone else and he was marrying her out of obligation. A role she had been forced into her whole life. A role she was getting tired of.

“She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on.” Shelby heard his words, wanted him to stop, but was too torn to even speak, so she squeezed her eyes shut. “She smiled sunshine and tasted like forever. I met her in the library, and told her I needed a biology tutor. She agreed.”

Shelby’s eyes snapped open, seeing where he was going, afraid to breathe in case she was wrong. “Problem was, I wasn’t taking biology, had actually aced it two years earlier. So I went out and all but bribed my old professor to let me add his class.”

“Oh, Cody,” Shelby said, sounding almost normal, but the energy used to form those two simple words drained her, made holding back the tears difficult.

“It was the first and
only
time I ever lied to her.” There was something in his admission, something honest and open and so transparent that Shelby knew Cody had given her his heart all those years ago.

“I swear it, Shelby Lynn. I never lied to you again.” But he was lying now. He wasn’t telling her the whole story. Because the minute he said those words, told her the real reason he’d run, it would be her walking out that door.

He’d left because he’d seen her with Preston. But he’d stayed away because he knew that one day he’d wind up hurting her. And now that they were getting married, she had every right to know the truth.

He lowered his eyes to hers and got completely honest. “Preston did find me that night, crying in a pitcher of beer.” Cody took a breath.
Just say it!
“He said you never wanted to see me again, that you were terrified of me. That I’d hurt you.” Cody shifted his gaze, not wanting to look at her a second longer, afraid of what he’d see.

“Cody, look at me.” He didn’t want to. But for her he did. For her he’d do anything. “You have never hurt me. Not physically, anyway.”

“That last night, after I got Beau, when we—”

“That last night you stole every last bit of my heart. The whole two years we were together I waited for you to just let go, prayed you’d trust me enough to give me all of you. And that night you finally did. And it was beautiful. And honest. And I liked it.” Shelby blushed at her admission, and for some reason that made him smile a little. “I wanted to tell you how special that was, what a gift you had given me, but you left so quickly and then I never saw you again.”

Cody was afraid if he spoke, he would somehow find out that he’d misunderstood. “But I was rough, too rough, and you’re so . . . you. Sweet, gentle, you.”

“And I’m tougher than I look.” She was wrong, Shelby was the most sensitive woman he’d ever met, always putting her heart out there for everyone to see. And he was a Tucker and his history didn’t lie. But when she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed her legs tighter he didn’t care.

“You listen to me, Cody Tucker. You are not your father,” she whispered. “You are the most gentle and tender man I have ever known. You make me feel”—she placed a wet, opened-mouth kiss to his neck—“safe.”

“Shelby,” he groaned. She was too good. Too forgiving. And he was too weak to stop her.

“And special.” She kissed the cleft of his chin.

“And adored.” She kissed the tip of his nose.

“Like with you I somehow belong.” She pressed her lips to his, squeezing her legs so tight he could barely breathe, and gasped when he dug his hands into her hair and devoured her mouth until she was panting. God, she tasted like sweet tea and sex.

Shelby slid suggestively against him. Her mouth was moist and addictive as hell and he needed her under him, skin to skin, now. She pushed her tongue through his lips and sucked his into her mouth. God, she was fucking incredible.

Cody felt his throat tighten. After everything she’d been put through, she was still willing to give him a chance, give of herself in a way that was honest and unconditionally Shelby.

Desperate to satisfy her, he tugged at her robe, discarding it, forgotten as it piled on the step below. He slid a finger under one of the flimsy straps of her gown, pulling it over her shoulder, and lower, enough to free her right breast.

“Beautiful,” he rasped, dipping to claim her nipple, suckling and rolling his tongue around it, listening to her breath catch when he pulled it deep into his mouth. She arched back and rolled her shoulder, sending the other strap to her elbow so both of her breasts spilled free.

“Christ,” he breathed, moving her so he could devour one and then the other, working her until she mindlessly ground against him, her hands clawing at his shirt.

Holding her in place with his mouth, he dropped his free hand, tugging the hem of her gown up her smooth legs, over her thighs, and higher, grabbing her ass and rolling her over his length. His fingers worked their way around to stroke her from behind, then slid in.

Shelby’s hips thrust back into him, and she released a long, throaty groan as she clenched around his finger. She was wet and tight and so ready. And when her head dropped back, thrusting her chest out for his taking, he pushed in another finger, and finally three, until she was riding his hand.

“Cody,” she begged, and he heard her breath catch on his name. Even after all this time, he’d never forgotten that sweet sound. It had plagued his dreams all these years . . . his Shelby, on the brink of coming.

He picked up the pace, going deeper, hitting that spot, the one that would send her over the edge, and for a second in his arms she’d completely come apart, for him. He watched her body go tense with pleasure, saw her fight the orgasm that was demanding release.

“Let go, Shelby Lynn. I’ll catch you. I promise.”

Her eyes fluttered open, locked on his. She gave a nod. And looking into the biggest blue eyes he’d ever seen, Cody felt himself fall a little, saw his future in that single nod. Because just like that, Shelby had given herself over.

He stirred within her, stroking faster . . . harder. Taking her closer. Knowing exactly what she liked and what she needed. Her heat clenched around his fingers, pulling him deeper. She gave a ragged whimper, and rested fully on his hand, thighs clamping tighter around his waist. He gave one last swirl, drawing out her climax, and when she fell over the edge of ecstasy, Cody captured her cries with his mouth.

Melting into him, her body went limp and boneless. Her head sank to rest on his shoulder but her mouth continued to nip and tease. “I need more, Cody,” she whispered, her voice groggy.

“You and me both.” But first, he needed to get them someplace less exposed. Say, a bed. Hell, any flat surface would do.

He felt desperate and reckless, two emotions that Cody didn’t do. Not good for a man who survived on being in charge.

Cody straightened, taking her with him. She was so relaxed, he felt her struggle just to hold on. Once in the kitchen he tried to engage the dead bolt. Wasting no time, she found his lips, gentle at first, then demanding, until he felt his ability to think clearly fog over into a haze that was all Shelby.

He pressed her against the wall, leaning his weight into her, effectively caging her in place with his body. Three tries later he managed to get the bolt locked. On the first try, however, Shelby ripped his shirt off, discarding it, forgotten, to pool on the tile floor.

Cody carried her through the family room, up the stairs, and into his bedroom, his mouth never leaving hers. By the time he set her on her feet next to his bed, he was missing a boot and his belt, and he couldn’t remember what had happened to her robe.

Shelby stepped back, out of his arms, and Cody tracked her with his eyes, branding to memory her every curve and hollow, some unchanged, others fuller, wanting to follow the same sensual path with his palms. With a sexy grin, she slid the remaining strap off her arm, taking the delicate nightgown with it.

Hell, why did she have to go and do that? He’d nearly lost it on the porch. But now with her taking the lead, he was screwed.