More Than Meets the Ink (5 page)

Since this morning’s incident at his dad’s, he’d made a point of running into her. And each and every time, his body had instantly reacted, which was a surprise because lately he’d been quite uninterested in sex, tired of the empty feeling those physical encounters left him with. Not with Tate, though; she smiled at him and he got hot—hell, she frowned at him and he got hot too. He liked her, a lot. She wasn’t only gorgeous and outspoken, but there was something in the strength and vulnerability he glimpsed inside her that called to him. She worked hard trying to hide the latter, but he saw through all the smoke screens; she was hurting and stubbornly refusing to let it show. That was why he enjoyed making her laugh; she probably hadn’t done much of that lately with the sudden death of her dad and brother. James couldn’t even imagine going through something like that. No wonder her mom was losing it. But Tate was a fighter; he could see it in the stubborn tilt of her nose and chin, in the way she narrowed her astonishing eyes before snapping at him. She was
not
going down.

By the time they were driving back to the Eternal Sun Resort, James was hot and painfully hard, pretty much dying to get to know her better—intimately. Her proximity played havoc with his senses, her body broadcasting a do-me vibe that was driving him totally insane. Although she tried to appear unaffected and even indifferent, she was flustered and twitchy, and her brights were so totally on his fingers itched with the need to reach out and pinch them. Not to mention, the way her thighs tensed and her breath caught slightly at every bump in the road were making his cock pound and ache in agony. Her brain might not want to admit it, but she was so ready to be fucked she was glowing.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, wondering which kind of panties she was wearing under those snug jeans. Whether they’d match the white lace bra he could glimpse under her white top. He wanted to lavish attention on her perky tits, spread her open, and fuck her senseless, see if her pale blue eyes got all smoky and glazed with passion, find out if she screamed when she came. Oh yeah, he’d bet his truck and then some that she was a screamer, he decided as he stole another peek at her. How would she taste? Salty or sweet? Curly hair? Dark or light? Trimmed? Shaved? Raspberry nipples or brown ones? Oh hell, all this fantasizing was giving him a dizzy spell.

In spite of what she thought of him, would she let him close? Could he get her so hot and bothered that her desire would override her prejudices? He wasn’t sure, but his cock surely hoped so because with every passing second, it was more and more difficult for him to ignore his reaction to her.

He parked the car, and as she fumbled with the belt, they sat in silence.

“Well, thanks for a great night,” she said when she finally got free.

For the longest moment, neither of them moved. They just sat there, a vortex of shiny, flirtatious energy swirling around them, growing thicker and sweeter, engulfing them.

He turned to her. “Great enough to grant me a kiss?”

She wasn’t answering, but neither was she screaming
uncle
. And what the fuck, since when was it his modus operandi to ask verbal permission for a kiss? He reached for her and brushed his lips against hers. Softly, nothing scary. Fuck, she was sweet, and hot. And not pushing him away.

“I’ve been dying to do this all night,” he said, after nibbling at her lower lip. “Actually I’ve been thinking about it since this morning.”

She smiled. “Was it worth your wait?”

“Very.” He scooped her up and placed her on his lap.

“Hey.” She squeaked in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“You were too far away. I wanted to see if you’re as breathtakingly pretty up close.”

And hell if she wasn’t. Her mane of hair had started the night loosely pulled back in a thick, long braid, but now it fell free over her shoulders, framing her beautiful face, with those huge silver blue eyes, so pale they looked like a husky’s eyes. She had delicate features, with high cheekbones and a cute, small nose. And those pouty lips, soft and pink and warm, calling to him. He lifted his hand and traced her lips with the pad of his thumb, unable to stop imagining how that pretty mouth would look stretched around his cock, sucking him in. How that sweet little tongue of hers would feel swirling around his crown. Man, he had to put a lid on his dirty mind right now or his hard-on would burst from his jeans and scare the hell out of the poor girl.

“You’re trying to charm me, mister.” She scowled at him without much intensity, her gaze straying to his mouth.

“Yes, ma’am, I am. Is it working?”

Her breath was shallow and urgent, her pupils dilated, and the pulse at the base of her neck was speeding madly. Yeah, despite all the red flags his so-called “kind” raised in her, she was melting for him.

Her gaze glued to his mouth, she finally nodded, nervously licking her lips, her tongue accidentally brushing his thumb. Oh fuck, that little tiny lick went straight down to his groin, his cock jerking like a motherfucker. He cupped the back of her head and fell upon her. The second her lips tentatively opened for him, he pushed his tongue in and took charge immediately, owning the kiss, letting her taste explode in his mouth and in his head. She tasted sweet and a bit spicy from the Mexican food, and he couldn’t get enough of her.

Her small hands reached up to his neck, her delicate fingers caressing him, and the kiss grew amazingly hot amazingly fast, catching James by surprise.

Without breaking contact, he rearranged her in his lap, getting her to straddle him. She sat on his throbbing dick, opening her legs wide enough to accommodate him in just the right place. Fuck, that felt too good. Her hot mound against his hard-on—beautiful.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” he mumbled into her mouth. “And you’re turning me on big-time.” He glided his hands to her breasts, brushing his knuckles over her hard nipples. He swallowed her gasps, and as he cupped her tits, her body quivered and she arched her back, begging for his touch. Although her boobs were not too big, they were cute and soft and filled his hands nicely. As he rolled his fingers over a nipple, she jerked so badly in his arms he almost lost it, especially as she whimpered and breathed a ragged “yes” against his lips while her hips ground into him.

Unable to stop himself, he moved his other hand to her ass, pushing her against his aching hard-on, pressing his shaft through her open folds, adding more fuel to the fire burning in his loins. She began riding him, her hips rolling against him, her pussy going up and down the length of his painfully hard dick.

“Jesus, Tate, you’re so hot you’re burning me alive. So responsive.” Even through his jeans and hers, he could feel her heat branding his cock.

Her hands sank into his hair while she continued wantonly rubbing herself against him. Her movements felt so good he could almost feel the head of his erection nudging at her clit. He redoubled his efforts on her nipples and urged her on. With every tug on the hard buds, she seemed to go wilder, her breath getting more labored. He was dying to have his mouth on them, but there was so much he wanted to do to her he didn’t know where to start. He kissed her jaw, her throat, nipped at her neck, licked her where her pulse beat erratically; then his lips slid back up to her ear. She tasted so damn good he wanted to devour her.

Her hands moved to his chest, her short nails raking it, her hips sinuously rolling against him while she kissed him with sensuous abandon. Gritting his teeth, he roughly surged into her, giving her and his cock more friction. Man, she was driving him out of his mind. She was letting out the most adorable, gasping moans. She looked so sexy, her eyes glazed, her breath ragged. Suddenly her body tensed, her back bowed, and she choked out a soft scream as she went over. Despite the pain his poor shaft was in, he had to smile. A screamer, as he’d suspected. Just the way he liked it.

He closed his eyes, trying to regain control. Fuck, he was breathing hard. Dry fucking had never been so intense for him; he was more than ready to explode. Making love to her was going to knock the wind out of him.

As she came down from her orgasm, her dazzled eyes opened slowly. “Whoa,” she mumbled, seemingly in awe. “I’ve never gone off like that before.”

He grinned. “You know, for all your utter lack of coordination out there on the dance floor, you sure know how to roll your hips to maximum advantage.”

She silently chuckled and lowered her head, shying away from him, engulfing them both in that curtain of hair of hers, making it all that much more intimate. He reached for her, trailing his thumb over her lips softly, feeling her hot breath searing his skin. As his gaze lifted to hers, he recognized the same restless awareness in them he was feeling inside. She was far from done.

“I want you,” he said, dragging her face to his. “Can I have you?”

She took her lower lip in between her teeth, chewing at it. He could see the dilemma in her eyes. “This is just sex, right?”

“Great sex,” he corrected her.

“Just a hot vacation fling. Nothing more,” she repeated as if trying very hard to convince herself. “I’ll be gone in less than a week. End of the holidays, back to reality. Just sex and fun. No strings, no regrets, no commitments. No future.”

He nodded. He had to leave in less than a week too. Not enough time for a relationship, not that he wanted one. Still, her thinking he wasn’t good enough for anything else besides screwing rubbed him the wrong way. Fuck if he knew why; after all, he was the one always giving the I-am-not-available speech.

At the reassurance this was just sex, she let her guard down and licked her dry lips, her pink tongue now not accidentally but wickedly brushing his thumb. “Then yes, you can have me,” she whispered to him. “Because I intend to have you too. If you’re as good as you say you are, that is.”

He offered her a cocky grin. “Oh, I am, sweetheart, I am.”

She was on board; he could have her body, not her mind or her time, and that was great. Up until now, that had been the perfect scenario, the one he’d gone for with all his women. Now for some inexplicable reason, this win-win situation pissed him off. Whatever; he’d take what he could get. He didn’t need a relationship either. That door had closed years ago, the day he signed the divorce papers, in fact.

He reached for her and dragged her face to his. He wanted to ravish her. Kiss her all over, make her come again, and then bury himself deep in her. Damn, this truck wasn’t big enough for all the things he had in mind. As she placed her hand on his groin and palmed him, he groaned and ground his hips into her, his mind going completely blank. He was forgetting something, something damn important. Never mind. He gripped her ass, pushing himself against her and dipping into her mouth.

As she began working the zipper, she asked, “Um, do you have protection?”

Fuck, that’s what he was forgetting, his damned no-sex-in-Florida rule. “I don’t. Do you?”

She shook her head. Of course she didn’t. Just his luck.

“You mean you don’t have condoms right here with you, or you don’t have them at all?” she questioned him.

Not here, not at his dad’s condo. The closest condom was a ten-minute ride away. Hell! “Not at all. I never bring condoms when I come to visit my dad,” he said, breathing hard, throwing his head back and trying to run away from her enticing smell. He could barely think as it was. With a huge effort, he peeled his fingers from her. Damn his stupid no-sex-in-Eternal Sun Resort rule. Who knew it would come back to bite him on the ass.

Tate stared at him suspiciously, one eyebrow cocking up. “How come you don’t bring condoms when you come to visit? Or is it that your kind doesn’t use latex at all?”

His kind? Which kind was that, the brain-dead one? That ticked him off. “Come on, how stupid do you really think I am, uh? Of course I use protection; I’m quite fanatical about it.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.” She looked contrite. Maybe she didn’t think so little of him after all. “So then why don’t you bring condoms along to Florida? You know, they are legal here…”

He rolled his eyes at her. “This is a senior community, Tate. The eligible women here are a bit outside my generation.”

She laughed. “Well, I know that, but what about all those wonderful granddaughters like Tessa?”

He was shaking his head before she even got to finish the sentence. “No sex with them either. It’s a rule of mine. My dad lives here; any involvement would be too complicated in the long run. Until now, I’ve been religiously avoiding complications.”

“Until now?”

“Until now,” he repeated. He didn’t give a flying fuck about complications now. He needed to be inside her—the sooner the better. He wanted to charge to the next drugstore, but by the time they had the fucking condoms, the moment would be gone. Poof. Lost. Tate would build her barriers and leave him outside with his dick in his hand leaking like a pathetic motherfucker. Unable to resist her, he sank his hands into her hair and pulled her in for a kiss. He may not be able to fuck her, but damn if he couldn’t work her up to another of those sexy orgasms.

As he began unbuttoning her jeans, she stiffened and grabbed his hands. “Forget it. We can’t—”

“I know I can’t take you. But that doesn’t mean I can’t pleasure you.” He’d like that very much.

“And what about you?”

“What about me, babe? You let me worry about that.”

She didn’t look totally convinced but slowly let go of his wrists, and he finished unbuttoning her jeans. Her breathing quickened as he slid his hand down and delved his fingers under her panties.

Silky, soft skin. Bare.

“Fuck me,” he said on a whoosh of breath, dick pounding in desperation. “No hair.”

She was bare there, soft and bare and delicate like a baby’s butt.

“Brazilian wax,” she whispered into his mouth. “Like it?”

“‘Like’ is too mild a word,” he said with a deep growl and captured her lips, eating at her mouth, taking possession of her with his tongue. He wanted his fingers inside her, pushing into her as his tongue thrust in her mouth.

He ventured lower.