Facing Off with Alexi (Witch Field Prowlers Book 2) (7 page)

He found himself checking his alarm clock every half hour. Nothing held his interest. Once in a while, he’d take off his earphones and listen for the telltale buzzing, even though two doors and a hallway separated them.
How am I gonna get through breakfast without letting her know I heard her?
The question popped up after he’d finished the first row of coconut and chocolate cookies. No answers came to mind after that. Rather than focus on the nonanswers, he decided to check out the latest news around the league. Nothing killed a boner like getting down to business. Except it didn’t. All his lust-draped brain could come up with was all the ways he could use ice to drive Tianna crazy.

Shit.

He got up, checked the time. Five o’clock. Close enough. He stripped his bed, grabbed his bag of dirty clothes—which wasn’t a lot—and headed into the little laundry room off the kitchen. After loading the machine, he got the vacuum out and hoovered up all the cookie crumbs and stray dust that the cleaners had missed, and in desperation, he cleaned off his laptop keyboard. He finished his task. A loud banging jostled him. He dropped the hose attachment and opened his door a crack. Tianna stood there, hair puffed up, sleep in her eyes, wearing one of his old jerseys—which stretched across her chest in interesting ways—the bottoms of the white cotton shorts she’d worn last night peeking out before showing off a long expanse of dark chocolate skin. His dick did a little jerk, and he cursed himself for not being able to keep the appendage under control.

“Ti, what are you doing up?” As if he didn’t know.

“Well, I was wondering why you’ve gone all cleaning psycho nanny on me at five in the fucking morning?”

He blinked. “What the hell?”

She stopped rubbing her eyes and glared at him. “You know, the nanny from that children’s series who forced those kids to clean using magic?”

He frowned. “She wasn’t psychotic.”

“Uh-huh. Tea parties on ceilings isn’t a bit dangerous? Anyway, what cleaning bug jumped up your ass and possessed you?” She moved closer, bringing the perfume of clean skin with a hint of his cologne.

“Ti, why are you wearing that jersey, and why does it smell like my cologne?” Anything to distract her from trying to get into the room.

Twin dark red patches appeared on her cheeks. “Um, never mind. Just keep it down, okay?” She turned on her heel and rushed away.

He shook his head and shut the door. “When did she become so weird?” But at least she didn’t try to get into his room or press him about his early morning cleaning.
I better make it up to her with bacon and hash browns. But first another cold shower.

He stripped and got into the large cubicle. The icy spray woke him up and killed his erection in a matter of seconds. After a quick soap, he turned the waterfall to a warmer temp before rinsing off and then shutting down the spray. He dried and dressed in boxers, jeans, and a T-shirt and sneakers. They weren’t planning to leave the house, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t venture into town if the need struck. His first task was to get breakfast going to make it up to Tianna for all the racket he’d raised. Tianna. Just the thought of her looking so sexy and adorable with her hair mussed, in his jersey, gave his flaccid cock new life.

When he got into the kitchen, he found Tianna puttering around, still in her earlier outfit. “Just so you know, if I threaten to stick noisy little children into an oven due to lack of sleep, that’s on you. Why is this coffee taking so damn long?” She bent over and rested her elbows on the countertop, giving him an excellent view of her rounded ass and her lower buttock cheeks. His already growing dick thickened and pressed against his pants. With her back turned to him, he took a risk and adjusted his erection, hoping that he could find some distraction in cooking. He got out the ingredients while she shifted her hips from side to side, staring at the coffeemaker.

“Drip, drip, drip. This is going to drive me crazy. What are we having for breakfast?” She straightened up, opened a nearby drawer, and drew out forks, knives, and napkins. “I’m going to go set the table on the deck.”

Before he could give her an answer to her first question, she ambled out of the room and onto the back deck. He got the pans going, cut the bacon in half, and placed it on racks before putting it in the oven. The smell of cooking meat, buttery potatoes, and eggs cooking filled the air. The coffeemaker dinged, and Tianna rushed back into the room. “I heard that!”

He grabbed her coffee mug before she could reach for it and poured some java into it, then handed it to her.

“Thanks.” She blew on the top and eyed him over the edges as she took a tentative sip.

“For your information, hash browns, eggs—scrambled—and bacon. Anything else you want?” His stomach grumbled, and the buzzer on the washing machine cut through the pops and sizzles. He handed her the spatula, which she took, and headed to the small laundry room.

From the kitchen he heard the fridge open and thud shut. Despite his curiosity, he loaded up the dryer, turned it on, and rejoined her.

“Needed cheese and I got some turkey sausage to make up for yesterday.”

One more pan sat on a burner, and he noted that she’d managed to stir some cheese into the scrambled eggs without burning them. She handed him back the spatula. “I’m going to shower and change. I want to hit the fair and some of the fruit stands before we hit the butcher’s. We’re grilling tonight, right?”

“Yeah, I didn’t get a chance to yesterday, too full.” He turned over the sausage before plating the eggs.

She laughed. “That’s what you get for not working out before we’d left for the cabin,” she called out.

He resisted the urge to remind her that she’d done it too. By the time she’d returned, he had finished cooking and had the table set.

“Wow! That was fast.”

He eyed her outfit: jeans, dark purple tank top with a V-shaped neckline, sandals, and the ruby earrings he’d given her. The matching necklace nestled over her cleavage, drawing his eye to it no matter how hard he tried to look away. He became both choked up and aroused, wanting to mark her as his and show her off to the world as well as get her to commit to him fully.

“You look beautiful, Ti. Really beautiful.” The words came out before he could think about them. He didn’t regret saying it. “And sexy,” he added.

She grinned and tossed her head. “Thanks. I know I look hot today, which is what I was going for.”

“Trying to kill me before I win the bet, huh?” he teased.

“Not kill, honey, bring you to your knees.” She cocked her hip out and crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up and giving her more cleavage.

Fuck, I’m in trouble.

She chuckled. “Yes, yes, you are.”

He blinked. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

She nodded, her hair slipping back and forth as she did it. “Oh yes, you did. Now let’s eat.” She made her way past him, poured herself another cup of coffee, and darted around him to enter the back deck. He followed her, unable to keep his gaze off the sway of her hips and the way her butt cheeks moved up and down in the tight denim.

He been so focused on her that when she stopped, he crashed into her. “Shit. Sorry,” he muttered.

“Hey, are you trying to get me bent over the chair? If you want to call off the bet, just say so, and we can start fucking like bunnies.”

He grunted and moved back. Temptation reared its ugly head, but he pushed it down with willpower. “No, not gonna let you get out that easily.” He made his way around the table and sat across from her. For a moment, he contemplated telling her what he’d heard on his way to get a midnight snack.

“Of course you wouldn’t, and I wouldn’t let you unless you declare me the victor.” She grinned and placed her napkin on her lap.

He decided to just tell her and get it out of the way, even though he hadn’t stayed long enough to hear anything except his name. “Look, don’t freak out, but I heard you, um, masturbating last night.” He held up his hands. “Not the whole thing, just long enough to hear you murmur my name and that’s it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So what? The bet is off? I’m disqualified, or is that why you decided on the clean-a-thon last night?”

Need to be careful with this part
. “Um, no. I just ate a box of cookies and surfed the Web.”

“So you had to vacuum up the evidence, huh? I see. You owe me.” She tossed her head. “You owe me.”

“That’s it?” He’d expected her to try and take it out of his hide. “And you’re not mad about the cookies?”

“Well, if there’s no sex, what the hell was I supposed to do? Just be horny? No, don’t think so. I’m a grown woman, and I enjoy sex. You know that. Not going to punish you since you didn’t stay and listen or jerk off while I was in there all alone without you. But you will be punished for the cookies. They are part of the reward, Alexi. At least one of us is behaving.” She snorted and dug into her meal.

They fell into quiet, him wondering what she was plotting. Every glance he threw her way told him nothing. She had put on what he called her “lawyer face.” A sinking sensation filled his stomach.
Great. She’s probably gonna make me eat something disgusting, like one of those protein shakes she swears is delicious despite the faces she pulls while downing them
. He slumped in his seat.
At least my erection has deflated
. With that thought, the little fucker twitched.
Shit.

“I’ve decided that instead of punishing you, we’ll just up the ante. I’ve been playing it safe and flirty, but now all bets are off, mister. And just to really stir the shit, I’m throwing in a blowjob if you win, and if I win, you have to act out any fantasy I want.”

He studied her face. Every line and curve of her features had hardened, and there was a steely glint in her eyes.

“You’re serious?” He ruminated over the new prizes. “So the BJ would be separate?”

She nodded. “By itself, yes.”

He noted that she didn’t specify time and place. “Anywhere or you decide?” He didn’t care who got the say about when and where. He just felt honored she’d want to do that for him.

“You get to call the shots on that so long as it’s not in public and it won’t ruin my reputation—not that you’d do that,” she added.

“How about I throw in eating you out anytime anyplace you decide? Fair is fair, Ti.” He wanted to show her that they were equal in all things, sexual acts included.

She gifted him with a winning smile that made his stomach flip. “Deal. You drive a hard bargain, Kurraine. And thanks.”

He shrugged.

“You do realize that this is going to heat things up, right?”

He swallowed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“You didn’t think of that, did you?”

He shook his head.
I’m fucked
. Tianna fought dirty when it was something she really wanted, and he could only imagine what he was in store for.

“Let the games begin.” She went back to eating.

What the hell did I just do?

Chapter Eight

Tianna tried not to stare as Alexi walked past her for the third time, shirtless and in shorts that molded to his ass. After yesterday’s little breakfast tête-à-tête, things had become hot under the collar, so to speak. They’d returned from the town fair, which ended up not being set up yet. Alexi had taken to walking around without a shirt on, cooking on the grill and working up a sweat. He’d started brushing against her or walking close to her when they were cooking or setting the table. Last night had been another session with her vibrator. Whether or not he heard her, she didn’t care. The desire had been too potent to ignore. All those muscles, the tats, the light bit of chest hair that covered his pecs and arrowed down to the place he denied her—it was too much. Whenever she turned around, she couldn’t ignore the tenting of the fabric of his pants at groin level.

To keep herself from turning into a horny, drooling mess, she focused on gardening…well, as best as she could before getting attacked by every flying pest and spider known to man. Then she’d tried reading until lunch. That became a washout after Alexi decided that going with no shirt was a fantastic idea. Rather than shut herself in her room, she’d opted to change into a bandeau top and short shorts, showing him two could play at that game. The plan’s weakness became evident after five minutes of sitting in an air-conditioned room and needing a blanket to get warm.

He hadn’t commented on this development and whether he found her actions amusing or not. She didn’t know as the grill was out of her view. When reading failed, she turned to TV, thankful for the satellite dish on the roof. A thousand channels, nothing on. Next to try: movies. For lunch he’d presented her burgers with the cheese molded into the center of the burger patty rather than on top of the meat, corn on the cob, and for dessert slices of fruit cooked on the grill. He’d kept the conversation light and didn’t mention her blanket. No mentions of bets or cookies or anything of that nature. Dinner was the same affair, only she’d changed into yoga pants and a tight V-neck shirt, no bra. They’d repeated the movie date, cuddled up into each other, his arm around her shoulder, her snuggled into his side as they watched a classic rom-com featuring pirates, giants, and sword fighting.

She’d even fallen asleep in his arms, and he’d carried her to bed only for her to wake up alone and horny, hating the bet with every fiber of her being. On the plus side, when she’d woken up, he’d presented her with breakfast in bed: homemade buttermilk strawberry waffles, bacon, hash browns, and a large mug of coffee. He’d told her that he would be fishing for most of the day, so she’d be on her own. A small bit of relief for the both of them. He’d bent down and pressed the softest, sweetest kiss against her mouth that left her flesh tingling and her yearning for more.

Banked energy buzzed along her limbs, demanding movement. Rather than watch the maids do their thing, she headed into town on foot, wandering around, nodding at people she knew, stopping off at farm stands for small treats in fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables. She checked in on the fair once again, only to find they still weren’t finished setting up; the need for repairs had delayed them a bit. After that, she returned home for lunch. The cleaning staff Alexi hired for their stay had already left. Alexi lay in the boat, line in the water, hat covering his face. She stood on the small dock and called out to him, “Coming in for lunch?”