HotTango (7 page)

Tanya nodded. “We are, but a lot of it’s going to wait until
after the Olympics. Cole’s working crazy hours right now and I don’t want to
put too much stress on him. The important thing is we’re talking about this
stuff now.”

“That’s good,” Mallory chimed in, nodding.

“It is.” Tanya smiled and felt it deep in her soul. Somehow
Cole and she had become disconnected and now they were finding that spark
again.

“Okay, well if you want to pass any of that good mojo to me
that would be wonderful. Aaliyah’s ready to chew my ass out, so I got to go,
ladies.” Mallory picked up the skates she’d removed and jogged off to find her
girlfriend.

Tanya shook her head and stripped the rest of her gear and
skates off.

“I’m glad things are going well. Call me sometime and let me
know what’s going on. Maybe we can do lunch or dinner if you don’t mind the boys.”
Goldie shoved her skates into a duffel bag and stood.

Tanya blinked, surprised by the request. Goldie was friendly
with everyone, but she’d never offered to hang out with her one-on-one.

“That would be nice. I like your kids.” And being around
kids made Tanya remember just how much she wanted them. Soon.

“Awesome. Got to run, sitter’s going to hate me this week.”
Goldie waved and took off for the entrance, leaving Tanya alone and free to
check her phone.

She clicked the text message icon and held her breath at her
husband’s name. The text was just two words.

I’m picking.

* * * * *

Cole peeked out the window.

Tanya was home.

He let the curtain fall and headed for the living room.
Since he’d gotten off early and knew Tanya was always starving after practice,
he’d taken the liberty of grilling up dinner so she wouldn’t have to make
something.

Truth was he felt guilty that he’d dumped on Tanya, and sex
wasn’t going to make everything better, though it had opened the door. The lack
of intimacy had only been an indicator of a deeper problem brewing, one he’d
kept bottled up.

The front door opened and closed with a bang. He listened to
Tanya punch in the security code and roll her bag into the hallway closet where
it stank up anything stored there.

“Cole?”

He shook his head. “In here.”

Tanya poked her head into the living room and her gaze went
straight to the blanket on the floor and the candles he’d set up in a makeshift
picnic.

“What’s this?” She stepped into the room, revealing the
all-black getup she’d worn to practice. Black tank top, black shorts, black
knee-high socks and her hair in pigtails.

It was fucking hot.

“I was going to set up on the patio, but it rained earlier
so I brought it in and there you go.” He waved at the setup, feeling more than
a little ridiculous. They could eat at the dining table like regular adults.

“Aww.” She crossed to him, skirting the picnic, and kissed
his cheek. “Thank you. What did you make me?” She threaded their fingers
together and turned toward the spread.

“Grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs.”

“Sounds yummy.” Tanya toed off her shoes and sank down on
the blanket. “Going to join me?”

“Sure, let me get you a drink. Lemonade?”

Tanya twisted to peer up at him. “Did you do something I
should know about?”

A dozen instances he’d thought her better off without him
swirled in his brain, but he shoved those into a corner of his mind and shook
his head. “Nope.”

She didn’t seem to believe him and he couldn’t blame her.

Cole escaped for a moment to the kitchen and poured them both
large glasses of lemonade before joining her on the blanket. Tanya was already
unwrapping the food from the tinfoil pouches he’d prepared it in.

“How’d practice go?”

She chewed the bite of zucchini on the end of the kabob and
bobbed her head. “Really good. Speed skating practice has paid off. I’m not
super fast, but I am getting faster. How was today?”

He shrugged. “Quiet. There were some leads on the suspected
bomb makers from the weekend and we’ve been investigating those. Hopefully
they’ll track them down.”

“In other words, be prepared for an early morning call to
duty?”

Cole nodded. “Wouldn’t surprise me. Something about crime
and 2 a.m. seem to go together awfully well.”

They lapsed into contented silence, eating his peace
offering and enjoying the soft glow of candlelight. Did the heroes in her books
do these kinds of things? Were they full of soft touches and gentle lovemaking?
Or was she reading the kind of down-and-dirty stuff he’d seen online? Did it
arouse her? Their sex life hadn’t been very active until recently. Had she
taken care of those urges herself? When?

The idea that he might have been in the next room while she
read herself horny and got herself off—it was something he wanted to see
firsthand.

Cole cleared his throat and shifted. “I was thinking about
this. Why don’t I ever see you reading any of these romance novels you said you
were into?”

Tanya choked on her food and grabbed her glass. She sucked
down almost half of it before glancing up at him. “What do you think I do on my
tablet?”

“I don’t know. Work?”

She tossed her head back and laughed. “About the only work I
do on my tablet is check email. Other than that it’s mostly reading.”

He stared at her. So many evenings he spent watching TV
while she read—and she’d been reading romance novels the whole time? The kind
where people tied each other up? He shook his head, his mind blown.

“Wait, so you mean to tell me that all those evenings you’re
on the couch, you aren’t working?”

She shook her head, grinning from ear to ear.

“You little shit. I’m always so concerned I’m bothering you
and all you’re doing is reading?” He gaped at her, both amused and incredulous.

“Hey, reading is good for the mind.”

And for the body too it would seem. What did the couples she
read about do on the page? Maybe he could get a few ideas.

“Can I read one of your favorites?”

Tanya literally spewed lemonade across the blanket, choking
and laughing. “What?”

“That was disgusting. Thanks.” He wiped his face with a
napkin.

“I guess you can read them. I got a new one in paperback
yesterday by one of my favorite authors. It’s, ah, pretty far out there. A lot
of the bondage stuff though.”

“Maybe I can read something else.” He was okay tying her up,
and the little bit of spanking had been fine, but the idea of anything more was
outside his comfort zone. The raw sex though, that was right up his alley. A
little rough, her skin going red. He shifted again, trying to ignore the
growing hard-on in his pants.

“Probably a good idea.”

They chatted and bantered for the remainder of the meal,
talking about anything and nothing. He even kept his mind mostly out of the
gutter. It was refreshing. Why didn’t they do this more often?

When Tanya finished she leaned against the sofa and laid her
hands over her stomach.

“That was amazing. You should cook more often.” She winked
at him.

“Tell me when.” He saluted her with his glass and sipped
some of the tart concoction. “I’ll put dinner away if you want to go clean up.”
Usually she jumped in the shower the moment she got home from practice. He’d
upset her normal routine, but he didn’t think she’d minded too much.

“That would be lovely. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

Tanya stacked the plates before getting up and heading to
the bedroom. Cole checked his watch. It was plenty early enough to have a little
fun, and he had ideas. Lots and lots of ideas spinning around in his head.

He cleaned up their picnic, wiped down the kitchen and made
his round through the house, locking the front door and securing the windows
he’d opened up earlier to let the fresh air in.

When he entered the bedroom, the shower was still going in
the master bath. He went straight to the Pandora’s Box sitting under the bench
at the end of the bed. He was all for going with the spirit of the game she’d
proposed.

Cole picked one of the cards at random.

Do something for your partner’s pleasure, after all, it
is better to give than to receive.

From the bathroom he could hear Tanya humming in the shower,
water falling to the tile floor.

He rubbed the card between his fingers, not even bothering
to read the supposed health benefits that were printed after the suggestion in
bold type. The card went on the TV table against the wall in line with the
other used cards. He stood and stripped out of his clothes, an idea already in
place.

Cole strode into the bathroom, which was almost as large as
their first apartment. It had a tub big enough for two people, his-and-hers
counter space and sinks, a toilet stall and a shower with four showerheads. The
glass door was fogged over, but he could still make out Tanya’s form. She
swayed back and forth, humming a tune he didn’t recognize. He could push her up
against the wall and take her like that, but this wasn’t about his
gratification. It was about her, and showing her that she was special.

He pulled the door open and stepped into the steam. Tanya
turned and stared at him, surprise making her eyes go large and round. She
stood under a showerhead, her hair slicked down her back.

“Hi,” she said.

Cole didn’t respond. He walked toward her, crowding her back
into the corner, and took her mouth in a rough, insistent kiss. She wanted less
tenderness, he’d show her the other side. She arched toward him, her breasts
rubbing against his chest. He palmed her firm ass and thanked roller derby for
the toned body it had given her. She might be a small woman, but she wasn’t
easy to break.

Tanya’s hands coasted over his shoulders as the showerheads
pelted him with hot water that had nothing on the scalding heat that bubbled up
between them, immediate and insistent. He hadn’t felt anything like this since
they were in high school, just discovering their sexuality. The years hadn’t
diminished how much he wanted her, he’d just forgotten. Well, there was plenty
of time to make up for now.

She reached between them and wrapped her hands around his
cock, double-fisting his length.

Fuck.

He groaned at the feel of her hot little hands stroking him.

Cole slid his hands down her shoulders and cupped her
breasts. She pressed against his hold, their mouths still sealed. He thrust
into her mouth with his tongue and gently abraded the tips of her nipples. Her
hands stilled on his cock, she groaned and thrust her chest forward again. He
applied more pressure to the tips and she gasped, her eyes flying open and
dilated. He dropped a hand to her hip and squeezed.

Tanya shook her head a little, her gaze focusing on his
face. Her cheeks had a fresh, pink stain on them and her lips were glossy and
slightly swollen. She surged up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his
neck and kissing him back in a way that spoke of a person starving. Arousal
coursed through his veins as he gathered her closer, their desire building
higher and higher.

She nipped his lip, he sucked hers. It was a sensual battle
of wills, each vying to brand the other with a mark, some evidence of the
connection burning between them. Cole pinned her against the wall and she
shivered, gasping into his mouth. He ground his pelvis against hers and she
wrapped her thigh around his. He thrust his tongue into her mouth as she
dragged her nails down his chest. He arched into it, the slight sting of hot
water hitting sensitized flesh new. She’d never used her nails like this
before, not unless it was in climax.

He kind of dug it. Was this from her books too?

Tanya’s hands were all over him, gripping his shoulders,
rubbing his cock, holding him closer. He covered her hand with his and brought
it back to his chest. They both watched as he pushed her fingers into the
muscle and dragged them down, leaving white lines that quickly turned red. She
seemed to understand immediately and drew her other hand up his side. He hissed
as she scraped the ticklish spot under his ribs, but couldn’t deny he liked it.

She gently scored his chest and thighs, leaving little
reminders on his skin that he was hers. The primal part of him that wanted no
other person to ever come between them liked this.

Tanya wrapped her leg higher around his thigh, pulling him
even closer. Her breathing hitched and every so often she moaned.

It would be easy to hitch her leg higher and fuck her
against the wall. But the dare had been about his partner’s pleasure above his
own.

He pushed his hand between them, ignoring his aching cock,
and cupped her mound. Her hips shifted back and forth. Water and her arousal
mixed together, making her glide across his palm. He pushed his fingers into
her channel and her inner muscles squeezed tight. Her eyes drifted closed, as
if she’d won some victory, her lips slightly parted. Maybe she had. Tanya had
him wrapped around her little finger so tight he was wound in knots.

Gently he pumped his fingers deeper and deeper, her velvet
heat gripping him tight until he sank up to his knuckles. Tanya worked with
him, her hands digging into his shoulders, nails scraping his skin raw, her
mouth open and panting. Water droplets clung to her lashes as if they were
miniature diamonds.

She was beautiful like this, aroused, panting, her focus
entirely on him.

Could what she read on a page feel like this?

Cole pried his hands off her. Though he could make her come
this way, he knew what he wanted to do. He disentangled their limbs and pushed
Tonya back against the wall when she would have followed him. She reached for
him and he grabbed her wrist, pinning it against the tiles. Her brow creased
and she frowned.

“Cole,” she moaned.