Waltz This Way (v1.1) (17 page)

His mood shifted without warning when he shot her a dazzling smile. “No. I think it’s sort of sexy in a thrown-together way.” Then his expression returned to its original pissed off when he shouted, “What I’m mocking is your—”

She muffled the next words he planned to hurl at her with her mouth.

On his.

How they ended up in his apartment was a hazy journey of heavy breathing, lips and tongues preventing a great deal of clarity, and some mention of its location being right next door to Daisy’s Café.

With the door safely shut, Drew’s hands reached for her, pushing her up against the cold metal, molding her to him, crushing her body against his until she thought she’d die from the sharp pleasure it brought.

He was everything she’d been afraid he’d be and more. Mel was sure she’d regret that fleeting thought later. Right now, he was doing things to her body that hadn’t ever quite been done in the way he was doing them, and her reason went the way of off-the-shoulder sweat-shirts and Duran-Duran.

His passion was an unrestrained force, palpable and filled with a heady combination of his lips and hands. Drew touched every part of her body through her clothing, making her hips jut against his to revel in the rigid strain of his cock through his jeans.

Mel’s fingers plowed through his hair, devouring the slick sensation of his tongue with whimpers of delight. Sex with Stan had always had a certain amount of restraint attached to it she’d never realized until this wild abandon with Drew. She’d never felt as free as she did at this moment. Free to explore every tense muscle in his body with hands that shook and fingers that fumbled here and there in the process of relieving him of his clothing.

She heard the pop of buttons on her worn flannel shirt and groaned her approval when he shoved her bra out of the way to cup her breast with a callused hand. Pulsing-hot pleasure shot through her veins, making the ache between her legs almost unbearable.

“Wait,” she gasped, forcing air into her lungs. “Nate.”

“At my parents’ for the night,” Drew gasped back, driving her skirt upward and yanking her panties and leotard down with a rough jerk.

Mel kicked them from around her ankles, spreading her legs wide when Drew plunged a finger deep within the folds of her swollen sex.

She clutched frantically at his shoulders, pulling at the fabric of his shirt until he rolled his shoulders to remove it.

When flesh met flesh, hisses of satisfaction mingled with the duel of their tongues.

Mel’s knees began to crumble at the pressure of his lips consuming hers, the drive of his silken tongue exploring her mouth, demanding she return his kiss.

Drew’s chest crashed against hers, scraping against her nipples, now exposed to the cool air. Mel whimpered when he pinched a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it to a tight peak.

He reached the other hand under her ass, hiking her leg up around his waist to grind against her, wreaking havoc with her senses.

Mel let her frantic fingers find the zipper of his jeans, the rasp when she dragged it downward erotic to her ears, knowing she was revealing yet another layer of Drew.

He groaned into her mouth, low and hot, sending a round of shivers along her exposed flesh. Drew’s hips drove against her hand when she pulled his jeans down and enveloped his cock, thick and hot, in her shaking hands. He pressed against her hard to gain leverage, kicking his jeans from around his feet to free himself.

Grabbing her around the waist, he hoisted her upward, letting the tip of his shaft caress her swollen clit. A deep, guttural moan slipped from their lips, a sound made in unison.

Mel clung to his shoulders as he walked her toward somewhere.

She couldn’t focus on anything other than this blinding need to have him hard within her, thrusting, quenching her insatiable need for him.

Drew tore his lips from hers and muttered, “Condoms this way.”

Vaguely, she realized it was a good thing he had some or in desperation she might have DIY’d it and used plastic wrap and twisty ties as a makeshift form of protection.

And then she forgot everything but the feel of the soft mattress beneath her back and Drew’s sinfully heavy weight on her. There were no words, no sounds. There was just his cock driving into her slick passage with a force that left her dizzy.

Mel cried out, burying her face in the muscles of his shoulder, biting her bottom lip from the sheer bliss of his possession. Her hands reached for his hair, driving her fingers through the thick strands, clinging to it, and wrapping her legs around his waist to allow him to drive deeper.

Drew strained against her, slowing his driving thrusts, finding a rhythm that he seemed to realize brought her the most pleasure.

The crisp hairs at the base of his cock scraped against her clit, heightening the onslaught of new sensations. When the first wave of orgasm tore through her, she arched her neck, rearing her hips upward to meet his.

Drew gripped her hips, his fingers digging into her tender flesh, making the next rush of release that much more exciting. Heat pooled in her belly and the electric jolt of pleasure spiraled upward and out of her control.

Just as she thought she had nothing left in her, she fought a scream of unadulterated bliss when Drew drove into her for the last time, dragging another gut-wrenching climax from her body.

He collapsed on top of her, taking harsh, raspy breaths of air while pulling her close.

What had just happened between them didn’t hit her immediately. She was too wrapped up in the musky scent of his cologne and the safety the warmth of his arms around her left her feeling.

In fact, it didn’t hit her until the next morning.

It also didn’t hit her until they’d committed more lewd and las-civious acts than two porn stars on a bipolar high …

She woke with the jolt of an unfamiliar bed beneath her and the scent of burned toast. Mel sat up, catching herself before she fell out of said unfamiliar bed. Her eyes brought the room into focus slowly, her blurred vision clearing in increments, her fuzzy thoughts coming in bits and pieces.

She ran a hand over her tangled hair, pulling it from the drool it was stuck to at the corner of her mouth. Bleh. Cotton mouth. She swallowed to relieve the dryness and wrinkled her nose. No doubt, she had morning breath, too.

Huh. Nice room. Lots of manly colors like burgundies and navy blue strictly meant for only the manliest of men. The bed was a dark cherry with an iron frame.

That must have been where all that clanking had come from last night.

Last night.

She gasped, putting her hand to her mouth to muffle the obnoxious sound. Why her brain was just now catching up with her nymphomaniac-ish lady parts was a mystery. It wasn’t like she’d been drunk on too much coffee to know what she was doing.

Oh, Holy Mother of God. She’d thrown herself at Drew McPhee in a parking lot without even a little prompting. One minute they were screaming at each other and the next they’d landed in his apartment, tearing each other’s clothes off like they were next up in a potato sack race at some nudist colony.

Mel threw back the covers then realized she was naked. In broad daylight.

Her eyes flew to the bedside alarm clock. Seven. Damn.

She dragged the sheet from the bed, wrapping it around her during a frantic search for her clothes. Where the hell was her underwear? From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a straight-backed chair with a plaid cushion to the left of the bed. On top of it sat her clothes, neatly folded, and her purse.

She scrambled to pull her bra on, wincing when she found a tear in the pink lace. Grabbing her flannel shirt, she threw it over her head and pulled on her panties and her skirt, shoving her leotard into her purse.

Peering around, she noted there was no connecting bathroom to at least run a comb over her hair, and there was no mirror in Drew’s bedroom either.

Silly. Why would someone as good-looking as Drew need a mirror? He clearly didn’t need the kind of reassurance most mortals did.

Drew … where was Drew?

Maybe he’d gone out to leave her some dignity when she scurried out of his apartment like some cockroach caught in a darkened kitchen?

Opening the door carefully, she poked her head out and saw the front door. The one she’d been pressed so tightly against last night they’d almost been labeled a couple.

God.

She’d make a run for it and not look back. The rest she’d figure out later while she berated herself for being such a whore. Mel made a beeline to escape— the white steel door her target.

“So, was that the best date ever, or what?” a voice filled with amusement mocked.

Mel screamed and jumped, dropping her purse.

Drew came up behind her, curling a strong arm around her waist to pull her close. “So, your verdict?”

Mel bit the inside of her cheek, desperately searching for the resources she’d called upon when she’d decided to play a part she had no business playing on anything other than a dance floor. Where was your slutty dancer when you needed her most?

Drew turned her around, a piece of burned toast in his hand.

Dressed in nothing but gym shorts, he made her knees weak all over again. “Uh-oh. Is someone embarrassed?” He grinned down at her.

Of course, like everything else with Drew, his breath was perfect while hers smelled like the inside of a fifteen-year-old tennis player’s sneaker.

He kissed the tip of her nose. “You know, I made a discovery last night.”

Yeah, that she was an unruly, out of control tramp who needed a chastity belt. Praying the words that came out of her mouth next sounded self-assured when she was anything but, she gave him her smoldering tango eyes. “What did you discover last night, Drew?”

“Dancers rock. Hardcore. I mean, I know I made fun of it, but wow— hoorah for flexibility.” He dropped a kiss on her lips then asked with a cheerful voice, “Toast?” He held up the burned bread under her nose.

Her blood boiled. The nerve of this man. “I …”

Drew hauled her so close to him, her back arched. “You’re speechless. Nice change. But I’ve got your back. You’re wondering what I’m thinking, aren’t you? When you woke up in a strange bed this morning, you thought, ‘Mel, what kind of a woman insults a man she barely knows in front of the entire town of Riverbend, then sleeps with the man she barely knows like he’s the last man on Earth? How can I look him in the eye after we did all those things?’ ” he drawled, mim-icking a female tone.

A strand of her mussed hair fell in her eyes. She blew it out of her face.

Drew winced. “You need a toothbrush? I think I have extras.”

“No, thank you.”

“Where were we?”

“We left off after we did all those thiiings,” she repeated.

He nodded. “Right. Those things. Anyway, I’m sure you assume I think the phrase, ‘For a good time call Mel’ is memorialized on bathroom walls across the country, right? And don’t lie because I’ll know if you are.”

Her eyes shifted to his shoulder. “The thought crossed my mind.”

“Well, you can just put that thought right out of your pretty little head. I never once thought about bathrooms.”

Mel struggled to get out of his grasp by clamping her hand on his forearm. “Let me go!” Stupidhead.

He bit his toast, keeping her body flush to his and shook his head.

“Nope, not until we hash this out, and you explain what the hell all that shitty attitude was about last night.”

“Before or after our sexual free-for-all?” What kind of Neanderthal wanted to talk a one-night stand over?

“Don’t play coy with me, Mel. You were anything but coy last night. So spill. I’m all ears, and I have coffee, which you look like you could use.”

Calling all sluts! Calling all sluts! Could I get some slutty ‘it was just sex’ attitude here? It would really be useful right now. “What’s there to talk about? We had sex.” Oh. That was good, Mel. Good use of the ‘indifferent acquaintances with benefits’ clause.

He let his lips fall to her ear and grumbled. “Boy, did we ever. Now I want to know why one minute you were calling me stupid—”

“I didn’t call you ‘stupid.’ I called you ‘unclever.’ ” She remembered that much.

“And right after that you were all over me.”

“Huh. As I recall, you weren’t exactly not all over me right back, buddy.”

“Well, c’mon. You have to admit there’s a certain kind of awesome involved in being accosted by a hot woman only seconds after she’s made it clear she’s just not into you. Do you take meds for all that bipolar?”

She averted her eyes to her feet. “I don’t …” How could she tell him she’d purposely set out on their date with destructive intent and an even more destructive attitude? If this was purging, it was a good thing she wasn’t hoarding.

“So I suppose you’re going to tell me you don’t know what came over you and you don’t do this kind of thing often, right?”

“Not ever!” she shouted then bit her tongue. “I mean, I’ve never done something like this. Not that I haven’t had sex. I have. I just mean I’ve never had sex with someone I hardly know and don’t even particularly like.” She paused. “I’m rambling, yes?”

“Yes, and it’s very cute. Well, until you got to the part about not liking me. What’s not to like? I’m a nice guy. You can’t deny I have mad bedroom skills. I was willing to pay for your coffee. What’s the beef?”

“We have absolutely nothing in common.” Except that thing he did when he’d been … Oh, God.

He scrunched his handsome face up in question. “How would you know? We were sort of at the ‘a little less conversation, a lot more action’ stage last night. You can’t possibly decide something like that so quickly. It’s presumptuous and rude. Again with the rude.”

“I’m not being rude. I’m being practical. You don’t like the one thing I love most.”

“Do you love radial arm saws?”

“What? I don’t even know what that is.”

“That’s the one thing I love the most, besides Nate. Do you like the smell of sawdust? Varnish? Stain?”

Mel wrinkled her nose, relaxing in his grip a bit. “Not even a little.”