Blood & Rust (Lock & Key #4) (51 page)

I stroked the smooth skin along her lower back and back down her ass. She squirmed against me.

“I think that’s the most intriguing compliment I’ve ever gotten after a round.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me about going rounds with other women when you have your cock inside me.”

“Absolutely right.” I took her mouth, my hand stroking a breast. “And my cock loves being inside you.”

She laughed, burying her face in my chest.

“You must be really overwhelmed right now by all the pressure, huh? The store, your mom, the divorce. Me.”

“Kyle’s daughter calling this morning,” she added.

“Ah, shit.” I pulled out of her and got rid of the rubber.

She turned in my arms and faced me more fully, a leg hitching over my hip. “You took all that away just now. I didn’t have to make a decision. I didn’t have a chance to analyze. You made me let it all go.”

“I have to make you?”

“Sometimes.” She curled into me further, her face in my throat. “I think I need that,” she whispered, her fingertips tracing a line along my jaw. “I liked that with you. Safe and wild at the same time.”

She was being shy, vulnerable, telling me what she needed. Beautiful.
Priceless
. Heat swirled in my chest.

“If you want to come, baby, you’ve got to let that shit go.”

“I definitely want to come. I came right now in a big way, and I want to keep coming."

“I can help you with that.” I nipped her bottom lip with my teeth.

She let out an almost inaudible cry. “Yes, yes, you can.”

Tania nestled her pelvis against mine, and I chuckled softly, as she released a drawn out sigh at the sensations.

“Secret is, you trusting me to give it to you.”

And I so wanted to give it to her. Everything she wanted. Over and over again.

“Interesting.” Her lips brushed over my chest. “There’s that word again—
trust
.”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

She brushed her hair from her face and pushed back from me to sit up. “I need to get home. I can’t leave my mother alone at night when she’s sleeping. She gets up sometimes and—”

“Right. Of course.”

She stood up and found her clothes and got dressed as I watched her from the sofa.

I grabbed my boxer briefs from the floor and slid them on. “You okay to drive? Let me take you.”

“No. I’m good. I had lots of coffee before.”

Coffee with Finger.

I went to my door, holding it open for her. I followed her down the stairs and outside to the porch. The rain had stopped, the porch steps, the cracked cement walkway glistened in the light of the street lamp.

She raised up and kissed me softly. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Tania got in her car. She pulled out of the road, and her red taillights were swallowed up in the darkness as she drove away. But the sweet press of her lips on mine remained.

I HATED THREE O’CLOCK
in the afternoon with a passion.

Every day without fail three o'clock came, and all I ever wanted to do was close my eyes and lose consciousness. All I needed was a five or ten minute snooze to reboot, but today, stealing a quick nap was impossible. No, I’d gone to the bank to apply for a small business loan. Yippee, oh, what fun it was. Now, I had to get back to the store and tackle the long list of phone calls I needed to make.

First, however, I stopped in at the Meager Grand Cafe, owned by Erica, an old friend from high school, to get one of her mega-size gourmet coffees to get me in gear. Erica’s family had once run a restaurant, Drake’s Cafe, on the very same spot, a family favorite for generations. Dad would treat us there for dinner on his rare free Saturdays before planting season. Erica had taken over the aging restaurant about six years ago and had transformed it into a coffeehouse extraordinaire.

I stirred the thick dribbles of half-and-half in my steaming hot very tall cup of Tanzania at the condiment counter. The creamy swirls I created on the surface of the black brew were pretty. I took a sip.
So good.

I chewed on the wooden stir stick. My mind went back to me and Butler at his apartment. He hadn’t answered my question of him trusting me. No, that particular thorny issue had not been resolved, had it? The following day he had texted me that he had to go out of town on business, and I hadn’t heard from him in three days.

Good sex can either bring people together, or it can cause mighty doses of confusion and awkwardness. I figured he’d call me or come see me when he was ready.

My phone dinged. I put the coffee down and reached into my bag. A text from Grace.

Are u going to answer my calls? :( :( :( Or do u not have cell service in Nebraska???

Cute.

I hadn’t spoken with Grace since I’d left Dead Ringer’s with Finger. Did she really think I’d ridden off with him into the Nebraska sunset? I owed her an explanation.

I tapped on her name, putting a phone call through. She immediately picked up.

“Hey.”

“Tania! Finally. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I replied.

“There she goes again with the
fine
.”

“Grace—”

“Where are you?”

“Not in Nebraska, that’s for sure. I’m at Meager Grand.”

“I’d stop by, but I’m on my way to a Mommy and Me class with Thunder. God, I haven’t been to the Grand in so long.”

“We’ll make a coffee date for another time. I can’t stay anyway. I’m procrastinating. I have to get to the store and—”

“Don’t do this to him.”

My neck stiffened. “What?”

“To Butler. Don’t lead him on. Don’t be with him if it’s really someone else you’re obsessing over.”

“It’s not like that.”

“That’s what it looked like the other night at Dead Ringer’s, Tania. To all of us.”

“Well, that’s wrong.”

“I already did that to him.” Her voice lowered. “So, please, please don’t you do it, too. He doesn’t deserve it.”

My breath caught at Grace’s confession of her sins.

I turned toward the wall, hunching over my coffee. “I agree. He doesn’t deserve that. But I’m not obsessing over anyone else. I’ve been obsessing over
him
for a long time, in fact.”

“Over who? You’re confusing me, damn it!”

“Butler, damn it!” I whispered loudly into my phone.

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Good! I’m so glad. I was hoping.”

“You were?” I asked.

“Yes. You think I haven’t noticed? Geez!”

“You care about him that much, don’t you?”

“I always have and always will.” Her voice was steely. “And I’m not going to let anyone fuck with him, despite good intentions and mysterious doings.”

I smiled to myself.

“Tania? You still there? You hate me now?”

“No, bitch. I love you,” I whispered. “And I love that you care about him after all these years, after everything.”

“I’m concerned about him. The other night at Dead Ringer’s, after you left, he was upset and took off alone on his bike. I was worried he might go back to old habits. Now, he’s been away for a few days on a run through Wyoming.”

“Wyoming?”

“You need sugar with that?”

My pulse skidded at the sound of that voice.

Butler stood next to me at the side counter, his pale blue eyes flickering over me.

My road gladiator had returned.

I cleared my throat. “Um, I’ve got to go, Grace. Call you later.”

“Wait! Who was that?”

“Don’t worry about Butler. I just found him. Or he just found me. Bye.”

I stared into those heaven-splashed eyes, sending me into a sublime numbness, as my phone dropped onto the counter. “Um, no, I don’t like sugar in my coffee.”

“You don’t say.”

“I do say.”

His lips turned up at the corners. “Then, why are you hogging the sugar section here?”

“Sorry, could you—” A woman stretched a hand out toward the stainless steel pitcher of almond milk.

I grabbed my phone and shuffled back a step.

“Excuse me,” piped up a tall teenage guy with a lock of bright green hair in his eyes.

Butler’s hand went around my bicep, pulling me toward him and further into the coffee shop. The place was crowded, not one cozy gray love seat or peachy upholstered easy chair available. He ushered me to the far wall, and we placed our coffees on the strip of wooden bar along the stone facade. He released me from his iron grip, and I rocked back on my heels to steady myself.

“How are you?” he asked, a hand running over the golden stubble on his sculpted chin.

My face heated. Words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.

His eyes slowly swept up my body and down again. A searing flare erupted inside me, spreading its heat as it went. Shit, he didn’t even have to touch me, and I went off.

“Look at you.” His voice was warm, appreciative, aroused.

“I had a meeting at the bank. I had to get out the pencil skirt and heels.”

“Is that what they call it? A pencil skirt? I can see why.”

“I don’t know if my appearance swayed Mr. Hessler, but I tried my very best to impress.” I batted my eyelashes.

“I’m sure you did, Scarlett. Did he approve your loan?”

“I don’t know yet. I should be hearing from them soon.”

His eyes narrowed. “You want me to strong-arm this Hessler guy for you?”

“Well, that’s a tempting offer, but no, thank you.” I sipped on my coffee.

“You expanding the business already?”

“Actually, Neil and I are buying up the rest of Gerhard and Astrid’s pieces. I kept in touch with Dave, the nephew, in Sioux Falls. I did what I could with the cash I had, but now, I need to make up the difference with Neil.”

“That’s great news.”

“It is. Gerhard’s work is my next show at the gallery. Neil is working on putting together a private viewing of some of the key pieces to show several museum curators he’s been in touch with. I’m very excited that it’s all coming together.”

He stared at my mouth.

“Butler? What is it?”

“I want us to
come
together
.”

“Oh God.” My grip on my coffee mug tightened.

“I’ve got to be in
private
with you, too. Something fierce.” He plucked my coffee from my hand and plonked it on the bar next to his. He pulled on me.

“What are you doing?”

“Finding some private.”

“What about our coffees?”

He dragged me toward the back, and the line of people waiting for their orders parted for us. He banged open a door to one of the two unisex restrooms and swiftly slammed it behind us.

“Lock it,” he rasped against my mouth, his hands cupping my face.

He licked my lower lip, and my heart hammered in my chest.

God, how I missed him.

I reached out, my hand sliding across the smooth panel of wood, grasping the knob. I jammed in the round button with a loud click. His mouth crushed mine, and I opened up to him.

“Hell yes,” he breathed in between kisses.

His taste surged in my mouth, and a melting heat seeped through me. Coffee and warmth and man. The ache I had shuttered and bound up for so long now pounded against the doors, and I was setting it free. I danced and was being twirled. I spun on exploding nerves and excitement. I was at the top of the roller coaster, looking down, my every muscle tight. Feverish, exhilarated. My fingers pulled on the thick, soft waves of his hair.

Butler turned me to face the mirror over the sink of the small restroom, his erection firmly up against my ass. Our eyes held our reflection in the mirror. I was helpless in his grip. His hostage.

I loved it when he did this.

I leaned my head against his chest as his hand passed under my jaw, his fingers over my lips. I took his thumb in my mouth on a moan. Animal instinct. Base lust. All of it wrapped into one blaring call of the wild. His other hand went to my breast and stroked it over my thin crepe blouse. My tongue lashed over his warm, salty skin, my mouth sucking on his thumb as if I couldn’t get enough of it.

I couldn’t
.

A tower of heat and pleasure built fast inside me, staking my frenzied heartbeat at the very top of that tower, like a flag snapping in the strong wind.

His hand slid down to my middle and then between my legs where he rubbed over the thin fabric of my skirt. My defenseless body trembled.