Dangerous Tease (10 page)

Something primal awoke within him and demanded he respond to the challenge in her voice. Time for lying to himself had passed. No matter what else Josie desired or how much she was hiding, she still wanted him. And he wanted her. The tension pulling his body tight told of just how much he craved her, no matter her secret motives. Worries of people talking about him faded into oblivion and
he stepped closer. The cord of sexual tension between them drew tight, making it hard to concentrate on anything more than the full curve of her bottom lip.

“Because I'm sorry and I want to make up for being a complete asshole. Because even though I know you have ulterior motives, I can't seem to care about your reasons for finding me. I'm just glad you did. And because you want to touch me
as much as I want to feel you.”

Her long fingers skipped nervously from one button to the next on her shirt, stopping at the deep V opening. “So what is this, a truce?”

“Yes. Let's just forget about Rebecca's Bounty and enjoy a dance.”

“One dance? No more accusations or name calling? No more being a jerk?” Her thumb flicked at the top fastened button.

“No.” His entire body pulsed in time
with his heartbeat, the fate of the world seeming to rest on her next words.

She dropped her hand, straightened her spine and tossed her hair out of her face. “Ask me again.”

His cock twitched in anticipation of touching Josie. “Will you dance with me?”

She considered him for a moment, dragging her gaze down his body and back up. “I thought you'd never ask.” Josie took his hand and pulled him
out onto the dance floor.

He slid his hand across the small of her back, electricity skittering up his arm as he turned her to face him. One hand rested on her hip, the other hand clasped hers. Several inches of air separated their bodies until Josie took a half step forward, eliminating the open space. Her distinct scent of amber and orange wrapped around him, daring him to tighten his grip.
He flexed his fingers and slid his hand from her hip to the small of her back, using his still vivid memories of their night in Vegas to trace the infinity tattoo hidden by her cotton shirt.

The drummer kept a steady beat, followed by the slide guitar, and the dancers circled the floor counterclockwise. Closer than Velcro, Josie flowed with him as they took two quick steps and then a slow one
repeating the moves as they danced. Really, he should keep an eye out for the other dancers to make sure they didn't run into anyone, but Sam couldn't pull his gaze away from her and the way her cherry-red lips moved as she counted the steps under her breath and watched their feet move in time with the music. Her creamy breasts that he remembered so well jiggled against his chest as she swayed. A
burst of pleasure-soaked agony exploded inside him. His gaze wandered down to the soft flesh exposed by her partially unbuttoned shirt. The promise barely contained by that third button elicited a groan of frustrated need.

“Sorry, did I step on your toes?” Josie met his gaze. It took only a second for the worry in her gray eyes to morph into something more carnal.

Attraction tensed his muscles
and he whirled her around in a spin as they two-stepped across the floor. When she faced him again, he pulled her close and she rested her head against his shoulder. One platinum-blond curl brushed against his cheek, tempting him to bury his nose in it.

“If you don't kiss me soon,” she whispered against his neck. “I'm going to be forced to do something drastic.”

“I can't even imagine what fits
into your definition of drastic.”

“It might involve stripping you down to your tighty-whiteys and having my wicked way with you while the band plays “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”.

He let go with a rusty laugh. God, it felt good just to…relax.

“That's the Sam I know.” She raised her head and brushed her lips against his. “I don't know why you pretend to be so stiff, but the only thing rigid
about you right now is this.”

Her fingers grazed his hard-on. The denim of his jeans blocked skin-to-skin contact but the barrier only enhanced the hot factor. “That seems to be the case whenever I'm around you. Opposites attract, I guess.”

“Bullshit.” She nibbled her way up his neck. “We're so much alike on the inside that it scares the shit out of you.”

He stumbled for a moment and nearly
ran over another couple. Smiling his apologies, he spun Josie over to the wall. “We need to get out of here.”

“Let's go, cowboy.”

J
osie swept her palm along the wall, searching for the light switch inside Sam's front door. The simple act proved difficult because of the lightning bolts sizzling through her body as Sam's lips ravaged hers. His body pressed her against the open doorframe, his cock nestled against the zipper of her jeans. Buzzing from flash after flash of pleasurable sensation, she circled her
hips against his hardness, searching for release.

Seeking to anchor herself to him, Josie threaded her fingers into his light-brown hair, which was as soft and yielding as the rest of him was rock hard and demanding.

“Fuck, Josie, you make me forget who I am,” he panted against her neck before kissing his way up, stopping at the sensitive patch of skin behind her ear. He sucked her earlobe
between his hungry lips, nipping it lightly.

She stopped breathing. Heat and damp flooded her pussy; an itch building that grinding against Sam couldn't cure. Her need to feel him sliding between her slick folds hit her even harder than it had in Vegas.

Drawing on powers of self-denial she didn't even realize she had, Josie untangled her fingers from Sam's hair and slid one hand up the
wall until she encountered the cool plastic light switch. By the time she flipped it on, he was licking the top of her collarbone and sending all kinds of tingling sensations across her skin. Her control flickered like a flame in the breeze. Usually a quick, hard fuck would be enough. Wham. Bam. Thank you man. But not tonight. Not with Sam.

Determined to draw out the anticipation, she pulled
out of his embrace and took a few steps backwards. Taking in his living room and its matching beige couch and the identical silver lamps on the innocuous birch side tables, she flicked off her electric-blue heels—so out of place in this den of neutrals. Everywhere she turned were eggshell-colored walls. The only thing interrupting their perfect blandness was a large painting of McPherson's Bluff.
Guilt rose as she stared at the reminder of her mission from Snips.

Her conscience struggled to be heard above the roar of lust, warning her to tell Sam the truth. All of it. Damn, she wanted to, but she had no doubt Snips would deliver on his promise to hurt her parents. She and Sam had declared a truce. This was just sex with a hot and willing partner. Nothing more.

“So are you going to
offer me something to drink? Show me your etchings?”

“I have plenty to show you but it's not on paper.” He moved forward.

She stepped back.

Curious about how far she could push him, she popped open two buttons on her shirt, giving her boobs the breathing room they'd been dying for all night. “But I have an ongoing fantasy of putting you on canvas. Will you pose for me?”

“You know there's little
I wouldn't agree to right now.” The hunger in his tawny eyes blazed as he stared at her tits.

Men staring at her chest had been a daily fact of life since she'd turned sixteen. Usually she didn’t have any response but annoyance. But not with Sam. Having his gaze glued to her boobs sent wave after wave of wanting through her. Pressing her arms together a bit, she pushed her flesh forward so her
hard nipples barely stayed contained within her bra's leopard-print silk. Enjoying the mesmerized look on his face, she slipped a finger beneath the smooth material, warm from her overheated skin.

“So adventurous. Just how I like you.” Josie traced her finger across the tops of the curves capturing his attention.

“And what can I do for you right now?” He quirked an eyebrow.

Josie crossed the
room and sat down on the plain couch, trying to ignore the wetness between her legs in favor of teasing him a bit longer. “Come over here and strip for me. Slow. I have to memorize each line and shadow. It's research, you know.”

He didn't move but his gaze flew to her face. “Yeah, not gonna happen.”

“Come on, Sam, stop hiding behind that stuffy professor image you've locked yourself into. We
both know it's a load of shit. You can be yourself with me.”

He hesitated a moment longer, then pushed off the door and strode over to the couch, an intensity in his eyes that had Josie wondering what she'd just gotten herself into. Without saying anything, he slipped a button on his shirt through the buttonhole.

“Is this what you want?” He made quick work of his shirt, spreading it wide and
showing off the kind of hard abs no history professor should have. “Should I stop here or go on?”

Mouth dry, she had trouble forming words so she just nodded her head. So much for being in control.

Sam's shirt dropped to the floor and his fingers rested against the button of his jeans but didn't pop it open. Pushed on by a need growing exponentially with every breath, Josie reached out for that
button. Fuck the strip tease; she wanted that cock of his inside her.

He pushed her hand aside. “Uh, uh, uh. No touching the talent.” A very unprofessor-like grin curled his lips.

Looks like she'd created a monster. “So that's how it's going to be?”

“Yep.” He flipped off his shoes and popped open his fly.

The brief glimpse of white cotton vaporized any thought beyond getting to see more.

She gnawed on her bottom lip, mentally begging Sam to hurry it up. Slow? What the fuck had she been thinking when she'd made that request?

He hooked his fingers into his waistband. “Sure you're ready for this?”

Josie gulped and nodded her head. Her pussy ached from unsatisfied wanting and the temptation to drop to her knees, put her mouth level with that white cotton, nearly overwhelmed her.

The moment before her restraint snapped, his jeans slid down his muscular thighs. His hard cock pointed straight at her but remained hidden behind that damn cotton.

“Your turn.” His voice barely louder than a harsh whisper screamed out to the desperate need burning Josie's skin, tightening her nipples and making her clit throb.

“For what?”

“I didn't get to look my fill in Vegas, if it's even
possible to.” He pulled her up from the couch. “Stand here.”

Josie stepped onto the oval birch coffee table, but instead of sitting, he stayed close, reaching up to one of the few buttons still holding her shirt closed. His fingers rested there for a moment and he tugged her so she bent forward and his lips were millimeters from the upper curve of her full breasts. His breath whispered against
her, but he didn't touch.

Heat swirled through her body—she needed to be fucked now.

No. She needed to be fucked by Sam now. Josie thought she'd explode if he didn't touch her soon,

“God, you smell so good. Do you know how much you've haunted me?” He licked the deep alley between her full breasts. “Now I want more.”

“Lucky you.” Her attempt at sultry came out a breathy whisper. “You can have
all you want tonight.”

“Only tonight?”

“Who knows how long this truce will last?” She traced a finger down the two-inch scar tearing a jagged path across his cheekbone.

“I can promise you now, tonight will not be enough for me.” His hands spread open her shirt and pushed it down her arms. As it fell to the table, he bent forward, his face traveling south, kissing her stomach and spending time
tracing her bellybutton.

Her knees weakened and he tightened his grip on her hips, holding her firm.

The world grew hazy as her endorphins pulled her higher. She'd broken a lot of rules in her life, but always those set by other people. By being with Sam again she was breaking one of her own. One and done. But at the moment she didn't give a damn.

The button of her jeans snapped open and he
peeled them off of her, following the path of newly exposed flesh with his exploring mouth. Across her right hip. Down the side of her thigh. He stroked the back of her knee, the tickle barely registering in comparison to the heat building between her legs. She didn't know whether to be happy or pissed off that she was wearing panties. At least the tiny swath of fabric matched her bra. Why that
mattered, she didn't know, but she knew Sam would appreciate the coordination. And for some strange reason
that
mattered to her.

As she stepped out of her jeans, Sam worked his way back up her opposite leg, this time kissing and nibbling and licking up the inside of her leg. By the time his mouth was tantalizingly close to her wet pussy, her moans filled the silence of his living room. Josie
threaded her fingers through his smooth hair, guiding him toward the juncture of her thighs. When his head failed to move any closer she almost wept in frustration.

“Getting impatient?” His hot breath brushed against her sensitive clit as if she wasn't wearing any panties.

Sam grasped her full hips in his hands and licked the silk material between her legs. At that point, her knees did give
out and only his strong fingers around her hips kept her from tumbling off the coffee table. The sound of her panting filled the air as she lost herself in the onslaught of sensation. God, the man undid her and almost made her forget for a heartbeat why she never came back for seconds.

“Enough, Sam.” She stepped onto the floor, the Berber carpet rough against her bare feet.

God, he looked
delicious standing there in his crisp white underwear. Instead of the muscled bulk of most of her lovers, he had a runner's physique, thin but strong with well-defined abs that didn't require hours in the gym every day. No. He had better things to do than just hone his body, and that turned her on more than a set of six-pack abs ever could. The sexiest thing about Sam was between his ears—not that
the hard shaft between his legs was anything to shrug at.