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she was shopping, she had been surprised and a little uncomfortable. Couples

shopped together, and she didn"t want to give Rome the impression that she wanted

more from him. Their relationship was strictly sexual in nature, nothing more.

“I"m almost done. Do you need to buy anything else?”

Rome shook his head. “Nope, I"m good.”

“Great,” she said with a smile, though she was feeling anything but that. This

would be the first time she spent time with Rome where they hadn"t done anything

sexual. It was more than a little daunting.

“Get what you need to get. I"m fine following you around until you"re done.

Maybe we can get dinner afterward?”

“Huh?” she muttered as she looked through another rack of dresses, this time

searching for something for her mom. Dinner sounded too much like a date. That

was outside the rules of their arrangement. She picked up a simple but pretty burnt

orange sheath. Her mother would love it. Then she turned to Rome. “I"m not so sure

dinner is a good idea.”

“Really now?”

He was not pleased. The icy nature of his voice told Sela that although he

wasn"t pissed, he was not happy, and her next statement could push him across the

line. He wasn"t going to like what she had to say.

“I thought we agreed that this…thing between us was strictly”—she paused

and lowered her voice—“sex.”

His gaze darkened. “Are you telling me we can"t eat before we fuck?”

Her eyes widened at his words. “That is not what I meant,” she bit out,

irritated at his blunt manner and just a little hurt by his statement. Seriously, what

the hell was his problem? Did he really expect her to drop her panties for him after

saying something like that?

He stepped forward. “Look, I"m not asking you to marry me. I"ll admit I want

to wine and dine you before I make you hoarse from screaming my name. I don"t feel

that should be a problem,” he said, his tone cold and hard.

Reluctantly, Sela realized he was right. She was being ridiculous. Her attempt

to keep things as simple and emotion free as possible backfired. Now he was angry,

and she was hurt. “I"m sorry. You"re right. I would love to go to dinner with you.”

He didn"t respond for a few seconds. “Thank you.”

“Great, okay.” She lowered her head, unable to hold his mesmerizing gaze. The

weight of the clothing in her arms reminded her why she was there. She looked

around and found a checkout center and clerk. “I"ll just go pay for these over there.”

She indicated the counter in question. He nodded in agreement, and she walked

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over the salesgirl. Since there was no line, Sela was able to checkout within a few

minutes. She turned to the area she left Rome at to find him standing a few feet

away from the table.

“Ready?”

“Yeah,” she replied and started to head to his car.

“What"s wrong?”

Sela turned to him swiftly. “What? Nothing is wrong.”

“Hmm.” Rome looked at her out of the corner of his eye. The way he was

gazing her made her think he knew why she was so uncomfortable. Despite the fact

that they resolved the issue of dinner, she still felt like a fool for making such a big

deal out of it.

Damn him and his perceptive ways.

“Come.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. Dumbfounded, she

allowed him to drag her along for a few steps. Then she dug her heels in and

stopped. He turned around. “Come on. Trust me. There is something I"ve wanted to

do for some time now, and I know you"ll like it.”

Something in his eyes made her suspicious. Still, she wanted to know what he

wanted and why he believed she would enjoy it.

“Did you buy everything you came to get?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Good,” he said with a slow, sensual smile.

Every one of her five senses intensified at the heat. God, this man was

dangerous. One look in his deep green eyes and she could easily find herself

forgetting her resolution and falling for him.

“Fine,” she said.

His smile became wicked. “I promise you"ll enjoy this. You won"t regret it.”

“I can"t believe I"m going to say this. Fine.” She walked over to where he stood

and waited for him to lead the way. They didn"t walk long. She looked at the sign on

the door. Excitement and fear filled her. “Tell me you"re not going to do what I think

you are going to do.”

He flashed her a roguish grin. “That depends entirely on what you"re thinking.

Want to tell me?”

She shook her head. “Rome!”

He leaned forward. “Cupcake, don"t tell me you"re not the least bit interested.

Am I no longer attractive to you?”

She opened her mouth to reply and then realized she was about to walk into a

trap. “I"m not touching that with a ten-foot pole.”

His grin widened. “God, Sela, I want you.”

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Technically, she was too old to enjoy such reckless abandonment, but there

was something about being with Rome that would always make her feel like a

sixteen-year-old.

Forever young.

Which was why she allowed Rome to pull her into the boutique"s single-

occupant dressing room. She told herself it wasn"t nearly as wicked and dangerous

as it sounded. It was early morning on a weekday, and they were in the men"s

department. She and Rome were the boutique"s only customers, and the store

seemed to be lacking employees, at least diligent ones, so there was no chance of

anyone seeing them.

“I can"t believe you. Seriously, what are you thinking?” she whispered in

admonishment as he pulled her deeper into the dressing room.

He grinned. “Taking advantage of the situation.” His smile widened. “It"s not a

closet, but it will have to do.”

“It"s not a closet?” she asked in fake confusion. She would have to be a fool to

forget their history with closets. Their first kiss happened in a closet thanks to

seven minutes in heaven, and they played the same game at April"s party.

Amusement shone in his gaze. “Hmm, yes. So, you noticed we have a history

with closets, huh?”

“Maybe. You got something to tell me? Along the lines of a fetish for closets?”

He took a step toward her. The bulb above them cast his features in a demonic

light, or maybe it was just the look in his eyes and the devilish smile he flashed her.

“I might have a kink or two, but I don"t think I"ve got a fetish for closets, just for a

certain female.”

Her belly muscles tightened, and her sheath moistened with cream at his

words and the look in his eyes. He was always doing that to her, making her feel

like the most attractive woman in the world, and it never failed to turn her on. “You

are such a mess!” she said with a laugh even as she pulled him close.

She was still smiling when his lips touched hers, but that quickly changed

when he slanted his head and pulled her even closer. She brushed her mouth across

his and parted her lips. His tongue, agile and determined, moved over her teeth and

tickled the roof of her mouth before touching hers. She groaned deeply at the feel of

Rome"s tongue teasing and massaging her tongue. When it got to be too much, she

pulled away and took a deep breath into her starved lungs.

His kiss alone made her come undone.

She couldn"t wait until she got her hands on him. With that thought she

grasped his dress shirt and pulled it out of his slacks. She slipped her hands

beneath the cotton to caress his warm, hard abdomen. Her fingers brushed across

wiry hair and traced the hard ridges of his muscular torso.

“God, Sela,” he groaned against her nape and pressed a heated, openmouthed

kiss against her throat. She shivered and pressed closer to him as she undid the

buttons on his shirt. Flashes of heat burned through her with every kiss Rome laved

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upon the column of her throat. By the time she got his shirt undone, her panties

were soaked, her knees were weak, and she was shuddering in his arms.

Callused fingers teased the underside of her jaw before lifting her head. She

stared up into Rome"s smoldering gaze and felt her sheath quivering with delight.

He dipped his head and took her mouth in a bruising kiss that stole what little

mind she had.

Goose bumps broke out along her skin when his hands teased her thighs. They

glided north until they reached the edge of her skirt. She broke off the kiss when

Rome lifted the garment. “Thank goodness you"re wearing a skirt.” The gruff note in

his voice set her body aflame and sent tingles down her spine while heat pooled in

her lower belly. It was rough with need and so seductive she had to press her thighs

together to still the hard shudders that ran through her.

A gasp was torn from Sela"s lips when his hand, warm and sure, slipped into

her panties and cupped her pussy. “Shit, you"re soaking wet,” he growled into her

ear. “You have no idea how hard that makes me.”

Oh, Lord
! The things he said.

“How long have you been like this?” He parted her and slipped a finger

between her folds. She widened her stance to give him more room to maneuver.

“Long enough,” she admitted with a heavy breath.

“Damn,” he released in a low groan. He pressed her back until she was against

the wall. “Just the thought of you walking through the store, acting all prim and

proper, as if you weren"t gushing wet… One of these days you"re going to kill me.”

Before she could respond he shifted, grabbed the edges of her panties, and pulled

them down. She stepped out of them.

“Tell me you have a condom.”

He chuckled. Even the sound of amusement was arousing. “Like I would miss

an opportunity like this.” He pulled a foil out of his pocket and held it out to her.

She accepted it. He undid his buckle and zipper and pulled down his pants. She ate

up the sight of his long-fingered hands working, remembering those same hands on

her and in her.

Then he dropped his boxers, and all thought of his hands fled. Rome"s cock was

a work of art in itself. She touched him with her free hand. “Hmm, yeah,” Rome

murmured in agreement. She grasped his root and pumped her fist several times.

“You keep that up, and this will be a faster quickie than I intended.”

She laughed lightly at that. “That"s fine with me. There"s always the after-

dinner dessert you mentioned to me earlier.”

Rome"s eyes fluttered shut, and his head lowered. For a second Sela was

afraid. Then he raised his head and looked at her. “Fuck, you are so hot.” He

grabbed the condom with one hand and her with the other. His kiss was swift, hard,

and consuming. He tore the wrapper open and quickly sheathed himself. Then Sela

found her back against the wall again with Rome pressed to her front. “I"ll take it

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nice and slow after dinner,” he whispered against her lips before thrusting his hips

forward and sinking his erection into her in one stroke.

Her heart pounding, Sela shifted her hips and lifted her hands to thread her

fingers through his silky hair. He pulled out of her partway, and she moaned his

name as tingles of electricity moved through her body from the folds of her drenched

sex. She moved her hands lower and clutched his shirt tightly, pulling him flush

against her body. She was enveloped in him. His chest was hard against hers, his

arms were around her body, and his cock was deep in her sheath.

When Rome withdrew only to thrust back into her immediately afterward,

Sela"s eyes fluttered shut, and her breath hitched as her chest became tight with

pleasure.

“Oh shit! Don"t stop. Please don"t stop. Yes yes yes,” Sela cried out in pleasure

as her orgasm rushed through her.

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Chapter Ten

Rome slowed his vehicle as the faded banisters of the Haskin mansion came

into view. He cut the engine and simply sat in the car staring up at the home that

had once housed one of the town"s two founders. For over two hundred years, it

stood on the hill, a beacon of all that Brushwood had been. And a reminder of what

the town could be if it was not careful.

Looking at it now one could see faint images of what it had been, but more

than that he saw the vision of what the Haskin mansion currently stood for.

A family that had fallen so badly, it didn"t even realize which side was up.

His fingers gripped the thick circle of the steering wheel as he thought of what

he was about to do. He took a deep breath as his stomach cramped with fear. He

would rather be facing down a dozen angry bulls than seek out the boy he was and

the man he could have become.

Just being in the vicinity of the house brought back all the memories he tried