“So you volunteered as the welcome wagon?” She was breathless, and knew he could hear it in her voice. His eyes darkened with the knowledge, causing her heartbeat to intensify.
He moved steadily nearer, until he was only inches from her. She could feel the warmth of his body, and it tingled over her nerve endings. He was tall, so much broader than she. She felt at once threatened and secure. The alternating emotions had her caught, unable to move, unwilling to run.
The blood raced through her veins as she attempted to make sense of the powerful feelings racing through her body and her mind. Two years she had thought about him, fought the temptation he represented and the heat he inspired.
“I’m always here to welcome you, Tess.” He smiled, that slow quirk of his lips that made the muscles in her stomach tighten. “But I have to admit, I was more than eager after talking to you yesterday.”
Her face flamed. Echoes of her whimpers, her fight to breathe through her climax whispered through her mind. Cole’s voice, husky and deep, urging her on, rough from his own arousal, then his own climax.
Tess swallowed hard as she caught her lip between her teeth in nervous indecision. Did she reach out for him? Should she run from him?
“Hound dog,” she muttered, more angry at herself than she was at him.
He chuckled, his hand reaching out to touch the bare flesh at her neck.
“Prickly as ever I see,” he said with a vein of amusement as his eyes darkened. “Would you be as hot in bed, Tess?”
“Like I would tell you!” she bit out.
She fought the instinct to lean closer to him, to inhale the spicy scent of aroused, determined male.
“Hmm, maybe you would show me,” he suggested, his voice silky smooth, heated.
Tess trembled at the low, seductive quality of his voice. It traveled through her body, tightening her cunt, making her br**sts swell, the ni**les bead in anticipation. Her entire body felt flushed, hot. Then the breath became trapped in her throat. His hand moved, the backs of his fingers caressing a trail of fire to the upper mounds of her heaving br**sts.
He looked into her eyes, his own slumberous now, heavy lidded.
“Mine,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened at the possessive note in his voice.
“I don’t think so.” She wanted to wince at the raspy, rough quality of her voice. “I belong to no man, Cole. Least of all you.”
So why was her body screaming out in denial? She could feel the bare lips of her cunt moistening as her body prepared itself for his possession. Her skin tingled, her mouth watered at the thought of his kiss.
“All mine,” he growled as a single button slid free of its fragile mooring over her heaving br**sts. “You knew there was no way I would stay away after hearing you climax to the sound of my voice, Tess. You knew I wouldn’t let you go.”
She shrugged, fighting for her composure, an independence that seemed more ingrained than needed at the moment.
“You don’t have a choice but to let me go,” she informed him, feeling trepidation dart through her at the sudden intensity in his eyes.
His fingers stroked over the rounded curve of her breast, his expression thoughtful as he stared down at her.
“Why are you fighting me, Tess?” he suddenly asked her softly. “For two years I’ve done everything but tie you down and make you admit to wanting me. And I know you do. So why are you fighting it?”
“Maybe I want to be tied down and forced to admit it,” she said flippantly, ignoring the flare of excitement in her vagina at the thought. She had heard the rumors, knew the accusations her mother had heaped on her father’s brother-in-law for years. “Yeah, Cole, me tied down, just waiting for you and one of your best buds. Hey hon, the possibilities are limitless here.”
Her mouth was the bane of her existence. She mentally rolled her eyes at the sharp, mocking declaration.
“My best bud, huh?” He tilted his head, watching her with a slight smile.
“The more the merrier.” She moved away from him, denying herself the touch she wanted above all others. “You know how it is. A girl has to have some kind of excitement in her life. May as well go all the way.”
She was going to cut her own tongue out. Tess felt more possessed than in possession of any common sense at the moment. Tempting Cole, pushing him, was never a good idea. She knew that from experience. Yet it seemed she knew how to do little else.
“Tess, be careful what you wish for.” He was openly laughing at her. “Have you ever had two men at once, baby?”
The endearment, softly spoken in that dark, wicked voice sent her pulse racing harder than before.
“Does it matter?” She turned back to him, some demonic imp urging her to tease, to tempt in return.
She flashed him a look from beneath her lashes, touching at his hips, suppressing her groan at the size of the erection beneath his jeans. Damn, he was going to bust the zipper any minute now.
“Doesn’t matter.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I can give you whatever you want, Sugar. If you really want it. I’m flexible.”
* * * * *
Cole felt his dick throb. Damn her, he knew she had no idea how far she truly was pushing him. He could see the excitement in her eyes, a glimmer of sexual heat, of determination. Did she think she could turn him off by giving him carte blanche to do his worse? She had no idea how sexual he could get. The thought of tying her down, forcing her to admit the needs of her body, or his needs, was nearly more than his self-control could bear. The thought of introducing her to the pleasures of a ménage a trois, hearing her screams of pleasure echo in his ears, had his c**k so hard it was a physical ache.
He wanted Tess to have every touch, every sexual experience she could ever imagine wanting to try. He wanted her hot, wet, and begging for his cock. He wanted her to admit to her needs, just as he finally admitted to his own. He wanted Tess, now, tomorrow, forever. However he could get her, every way she would let him have her.
Cole watched the flush that mounted her cheekbones, the flare of interest in her eyes that she quickly doused. She thought it a game, a sexual repartee that she could easily brush aside later. But it didn’t change the fact that Tess had given such ideas more than a passing thought. He could see it in the hard rise and fall of her br**sts, the swollen curve of them, the hard points of her ni**les. They were nearly as hard as his cock.
She couldn’t know, he thought with a thread of amusement, just how much he would enjoy doing both things with her. The dominance level he possessed was incredibly high. Introducing her to being tied down, teased, tormented, or sandwiching her between his body and Jesse’s—