Meeting His Match (A Match Me Novel) (Entangled Lovestruck) (7 page)

Rachel nodded, the edges of her mouth twitching. “I have it on good knowledge that chicks dig dogs, so it looks like she was pointing you in the right direction.”

“What other pointers did she give you?”

“Oh, not to wear my comic character shirts, or ones that swear, or pretty much anything in my wardrobe. Also, to avoid talking about comics or web design or how Black Widow would totally kick any other Marvel character’s ass in a fight.” She waved her hand. “So, you know, all the things.”

“Sounds like we’re both works in progress.” He took a pull from his beer. “If anyone else had told me that I’m an ass who can barely dress myself, I would have kicked them to the curb. But she’s a force of nature. By the time I realize she’s about to rearrange my life, she’s already there and doing it.” He lowered his voice a little. “To tell you the truth, I’m actually starting to like it—and her.”

He heard movement at the door before the woman herself marched into the room. “I’m sorry, Rachel, but this is ridiculous.” Addison poked him in the shoulder. “I know what you’re doing and I don’t appreciate it.”

“What I’m doing is having a nice conversation with Rachel.”

“Bullshit. You’re trying to sabotage this date just like you did the last one, and I won’t stand for it.”

He took another drink. “What are you going to do about it?”

Rachel’s gaze jumped between them. “Uh…do you guys need a minute?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Caine raised his eyebrows when she turned a dangerous red color. “You’re the one barging in here, making a scene. It’s not very professional.”

“I… You… Ah! I can’t deal with you anymore. Sabotage the date for all I care.” She strode to the door, but paused in the doorway. “Rachel, I promise I’ll make this up to you.”

“Make it up to
me
?” She laughed and toasted them with her wine. “This is the most entertainment I’ve had in months.”

At least someone was getting entertained by this mess.

Chapter Ten

What the hell was wrong with her?

Addison burst through the front door and then just stood there, not sure how her life had spun so out of control. Storming in to interrupt a date between two clients? That was a giant no-no, but it seemed like she’d been breaking every single rule she had ever created since she met Caine. Don’t kiss clients? Don’t let clients stretch you out on their formal dining room table and make you come? Don’t fantasize about doing even more with said client?

Yeah, she was failing in a singular fashion.

She needed someone who’d be rational and talk her down. She paced, staring at her phone. Regan was the first person to come to mind, but Regan had also sent her on this mission to begin with. What would her friend think to know she’d been crossing the line with her brother-in-law?

Damn it. It didn’t matter. She needed help, and she didn’t have anyone else to call. She started to lift her phone and then had to scramble out of the way as the front door slammed open and Caine marched through. She looked behind him, half expecting Rachel to be there, too, but the walkway was empty. “Where’s Rachel?” He had to have left minutes after her to get here so quickly.

“I paid for whatever she wanted to eat and drink and left. She seemed to think it was a more than fair trade.”

“You are so goddamn rude! You can’t just pay for a meal and leave her alone in a strange city by herself. What kind of gentleman does that?”

“The kind who didn’t want the date to begin with.”

Here they went again. “Caine, I may look like a miracle worker, but even I can’t match you up with anyone worthwhile when you’re actively working against me.” And she
had
to match him up with someone. She just had to.

“Why not you?”

She froze. “What?”

He kicked the door shut. “Why not you? Regardless of what you may think of me, I don’t strip women down, make them come, and tuck them into bed just for the hell of it.” He closed the distance between them, one purposeful step at a time.

That’s what she was afraid of. “It would never work with us.”

“How the hell do you know? Do you have a crystal ball stored around here somewhere?”

“Because you only get one soul mate, and I’ve already had mine.”

He stared. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Wow, Caine. Don’t hold back. Tell me what you really think.”

Had he moved closer? She wasn’t sure, but he suddenly seemed to take up entirely too much space. “What I think, darlin’, is that you’re scared. You loved a man once and losing him shredded you to pieces. How long did it take you to put yourself back together again after he died?”

Years. Years of forcing herself to go through the motions before she started to actually enjoy life again. She bit her lip. “You’re missing the point.”

“I don’t think I am. I’m right on the money.” And then he was in front of her, his big hand cupping the side of her face. “And I’m not interested in dating any of these matches. I’m interested in dating
you
.”

Before she could come up with a reply—and what was she supposed to say?—he kissed her. It was a long, slow exploration of her mouth, his taste one she couldn’t resist if she tried. And she was so damn tired of trying.

Caine lifted his head, but he didn’t release his hold on her. “I’m taking you to bed tonight, darlin’.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

He searched her face. “I’m not going to force you and you damn well know it. You want me to stop, then this stops.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

It would be so easy to say the words that would make him back off. So easy to retreat back into her safe place where she didn’t have to face the mixture of uncomfortable emotions that rose whenever he touched her. So easy to go back to how things were when she was sure the world fit a certain mold.

She couldn’t force the words past her lips. Instead, the ones she gave voice to sealed her fate: “Take me to bed, Caine.”

“With pleasure.” He scooped her into his arms and started up the staircase. At least he moved fast enough that they were in his bedroom before she had a chance to start second-guessing herself. Or worse,
not
second-guessing herself. She was a hot mess.

He let her slide down his body until she was on her feet again, and then pulled her dress over her head. She went to work on his shirt, unbuttoning it with shaking fingers. The man’s chest was criminally good, and if she was doing this, she wanted him as naked as she was about to be.

She was definitely doing this.

The cool air on her skin almost snapped her out of her lustful haze, but Caine stepped into her, his chest pressing against hers, so much skin-on-skin contact that she had to stop him with her hands on his shoulders. “A second. I need a second.” And God bless him, he waited for her to adjust. All too soon, that overstimulation turned to just stimulation. She closed her eyes. “Okay, I’m good.”

“When was the last time you got this close to a man?”

Years. Years and years and years. She bit her lip, nearly moaning as he ran his hands up her sides and down her back. Just when it seemed like he’d forgotten the question, he stopped at her hips and gave them a slight squeeze. “When, darlin’?”

“Six years ago.” It had been a year after Aiden’s death, and she’d been so desperate to feel something beyond overwhelming loss that she’d talked herself into bed with Lee. He’d been a shoulder for her to lean on up to that point, and it seemed like things could potentially work. It had been a terrible mistake. All it had done was make her miss Aiden more, and it had cemented her belief that her grandmother had been right all along. She only got one soul mate.

And she wasn’t Lee’s. He’d met his six months after things exploded between them. Their Christmas card from last year was still on her fridge, the happiness on their faces a reminder of what could go wrong if someone tried to force things.

Was this going to ruin things with Caine? She couldn’t decide which answer to that question scared her more.

For his part, he looked shocked. The expression passed, though, replaced by something that made her thighs clench. He looked at her like she was virgin territory that he was about to conquer and claim for his own. The man truly did have a savage streak a mile wide. He clasped the back of her neck and leaned down for a kiss. This one felt different from the others, more like he really
was
claiming her. The sensation was nearly overwhelming, from his tongue stroking hers to his hard body against her own, and she clung to him, shaking.

Caine unhooked her bra with one hand and tossed it aside. He used his grip on her neck to force her to meet his eyes. “Tonight you’re mine.” Then he released her, the loss of his touch nearly making her go to her knees. She could only watch helplessly as he undid his pants and stepped out of them, leaving him completely nude.

“God.” She drank in the sight of him, from his broad shoulders down to lean hips and lower. Her gaze snagged on a line of black across his ribs, and she ran her fingers over it. “A tattoo?”

“Lord, what fools these mortals be.”
It was surrounded by an intricate design that had a flavor of the Celtic knot work she’d seen, but somehow managed to be something else altogether.

“
A Midsummer’s Night Dream
? I would think something like
Richard III
is more your style.”

“He was just misunderstood.” His grin made her knees week. “Maybe we have that in common.”

She hadn’t expected to find that he had this softer side, something that might be described as whimsy. Then again, she hadn’t expected a lot of things when it came to him. “Maybe you do.”

“We can debate Shakespeare later if you’d like. Right now I have other things on my mind.” He pushed her panties down, and nudged her to step out of them—and toward the bed. She’d been in his room half a dozen times already, but she’d pointedly ignored this particular piece of furniture every time. There was no ignoring it now. It was massive, and the red bedspread only made it look bigger. The frame was dark wood and simple, but it had an unrelenting masculine vibe that fit Caine perfectly.

He didn’t give her a chance to examine it further. She felt him behind her and half expected him to toss her right in the middle of it, but he climbed on and lay on his back. “Come here.”

She obeyed almost instantly, following him onto the soft comforter. But when she reached him, she wasn’t sure what to do. Climb aboard? Lie next to him? Sit on his face? Addison blushed at the last thought. Where the hell had that come from?

His hands on her hips urged her to straddle him, and the time for thinking passed the second she had his hard length between her legs. Addison kissed him, needing to feel closer, needing to
be
closer. As she moved down his neck, his hand tangled in her hair stopped her. “Tonight is about you, darlin’. Whatever you need, I’ve got it covered.”

She went still, the profound knowledge that he was handing the reins over to her nearly undoing her right then and there. Ever since she met him, he’d been pushing and pulling at her, edging her closer and closer to the point of no return.

And now he was letting her control things?

God, this man made her feel so many things. Things she didn’t have a name for, that weren’t completely comfortable, but what they boiled down to was that he made her feel alive. Terrifyingly and gloriously alive.

She pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat. “Okay.” Then she resumed her path, working her way down his chest to his stomach and lower.

He went tense, his abs clenching beneath her mouth. “What are you doing?”

“What I want.” She grinned against his skin. Even now, even when she was damn near desperate for him, she couldn’t help enjoying the way he spoke through clenched teeth when she did something that didn’t fit in with his stringent world view. “Isn’t that what you just offered?”

He hissed out a breath when she licked his left hip bone. “I’m reconsidering.”

“Too late.” She slid slower, settling between his legs and taking him in her hand. He started to move, but whatever he was going to do died when she eased his cock between her lips. His muttered curse was music to her ears, but the feel of him in her mouth quickly surpassed that. All that strength, wrapped in smooth skin, and all for her.

His hands tangled in her hair as she worked him, licking her way down and back up, and then circling his head with her tongue. She was just getting into the rhythm when he cursed again. “Darlin’, as much as I’m enjoying this, I’d really like to be inside you this first time.”

Well, hell. How was she supposed to argue with that? It was tempting to keep going just to feel him come undone at her hands and mouth, but the truth was that she wanted him inside her this first time, too. She reluctantly released him and sat up. Caine didn’t waste any time hauling her back on top of him. He pulled a condom out of the nightstand, but she grabbed it out of his hands.

“Let me.” She ripped it open and slowly rolled it over him, the feeling of him in her hands making her entire body shake. She was really doing this, and with Caine. As soon as he was covered, he sat up, nearly unseating her, and kissed her.

“I’ve wanted this ever since you barged into my office. Maybe before then.”

“Before?”

“I saw you at my brother’s wedding and everything paled in comparison. Did you know you light up a room when you smile?”

She didn’t know what to do with this new side of Caine. He was easy to put into a box when he was growling at her and stomping around with a forbidding expression on his face. But the wicked sense of humor and the way he was looking at her now, as if she were about to give him a gift beyond price? That was something else altogether.

“I’ve wanted this, too.” Even if she hadn’t been able to admit it to herself—was
still
having difficulty admitting it to herself.

“Then take it, darlin’. Take
me
.”

She’d never taken anyone before. Not like he meant. The power that rose at his words gave her the courage to lift herself onto her knees and sink down, sheathing him in one smooth movement. They froze, their eyes level for the first time that she could remember. His gray gaze held something soft that scared the shit out of her, but she was too caught up with how wonderful it felt to have him inside her to stop. She rocked her hips, taking him a little deeper, the movement rubbing her front along his, sending sparks flying beneath her skin. “That feels good.”

“Yeah.” His voice was a little strangled, but his hands on her hips urged her on, helping her find the right rhythm to have pressure building deep inside her. She clutched his shoulders and let her eyes slide shut, luxuriating in the feeling of being so close to him. Who knew that a man so tightly wound would be the one to set her free?

Her orgasm hit her, sucking her under like a riptide and sending her hurtling into oblivion. “
Caine
.”

“That’s right, darlin’, I’ve got you. I always will.”