Read Need You Tonight Online

Authors: Roni Loren

Tags: #Fiction, #Literary, #Romance, #Erotica, #Contemporary

Need You Tonight (10 page)

BOOK: Need You Tonight
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And she’d felt awful that he’d had to go through that. But it hadn’t meant she’d stopped
hoping that he’d be able to come to terms with that and loosen up a little. That things
would get better. But of course, they hadn’t. Instead, he’d apparently chosen to
fuck
other women who were not his wife to fill in the gaps. She got to be the expensive,
untouched china in the display case while the other women served more base needs.

Kade wouldn’t put her in the china case. He wanted her like she was Friday night—lustful
and bold and dirty. He didn’t want to polish and display her; he wanted to unhinge
her.

And maybe that’s exactly what she needed.

“What if you pick what happens instead?” she said on a surge of bravery. “I would’ve
never been brave enough to plan out what happened Friday night. The fun was in the,
I don’t know . . .”

“In the lack of control,” he said simply. “You liked that I took over.”

She smoothed her lipstick, considering his theory and realizing he was dead-on right.
As soon as he’d stopped her in the hallway, the barrage of worries and
what ifs
had fallen away and she’d been happy to let the tide that was Kade Vandergriff sweep
her onto a new beach. And once they’d gotten upstairs, she hadn’t had to think or
worry about who would make a move or if it would be awkward or if she did something
wrong. He’d taken care of it all, taken care of
her
. She’d just followed his lead and instructions and enjoyed.

The realization niggled at her. She’d spent too much of her life letting someone “take
care of her.” She didn’t want to be that girl always looking to let some guy handle
things. But when it came to sex, she was out of her depth. Having him guide her was
a big part of the appeal. She just had to be sure that control didn’t bleed into anything
else.

“I guess that was a big part of it,” she admitted. “It felt more comfortable to let
you take the lead.”

A pleased smile replaced his serious expression and as if no longer able to keep from
touching her, he took her hands and pulled her to her feet, caging her between his
knees. “Well, lucky for both of us, my favorite thing of all is taking charge, so
I’m more than happy to oblige that wish. You give me the okay, and you won’t have
to worry about another thing. All you’ll have to do is show up and be mine for the
night.”

That last part sent her mind racing down bunny trails she hadn’t even known were there
in her psyche, images of what being his for the night would mean. “Are you going to
make me wear a Princess Leia costume and chain me in your garage or something?”

He slid his hands onto her waist. “Wicked girl, now you’re just talking dirty to turn
me on.”

She rolled her eyes, but the way he was looking at her had her body waking up in all
the important places.

“I need to hear you say yes, Tessa. I want you. Once wasn’t enough. And I know you
feel the same way.” When she opened her mouth to respond, he tugged her even closer,
lowering his voice. “In fact, I’d bet the net worth of this company that you’re wet
beneath this prim skirt right now, imagining all the things I could do to you. It’s
taking all my self-control not to slide it up and feel for myself.”

Heat washed over her skin, like opening an oven and feeling the blast of it. Instinctively,
she pressed her thighs together and averted her eyes, knowing he was right and hating
that she was so freaking transparent.

He captured her jaw with gentle fingers and turned her head to face him. “Don’t be
ashamed of that, own it. We’re two grown people who are attracted to each other. That’s
something to celebrate and enjoy, not feel guilt over. Fuck being a ‘proper lady’—whatever
the hell that’s supposed to mean—and be a woman who takes what she needs and deserves
without apology.”

The fervor of his words hit her on some level deep beneath the layers of the person
she put out into the world. That permission to grab onto what she really wanted or
needed had never been presented to her like that before. Her life was full of how
she could accommodate others, fit into the proper cardboard cutouts of their lives
so she’d have a place, each foster home a new script to follow. And even when she’d
become an adult, she’d simply signed onto another role with Doug—a paper doll with
pretty costumes.

“I’m not sure I even know how to do that.”

“Then let me show you. One more night, Tessa. That’s all I’m asking.”

She took a deep, spine-straightening breath, resolve crystallizing inside her. On
the exhale, calmness bled through her. Good or bad, her decision was made. “How do
you want to do this?”

The satisfaction that illuminated his smile was almost reward enough. He leaned in
and touched his lips to hers, a soft, cajoling kiss that had slow, rolling awareness
building in her. “Can you trust me?”

She closed her eyes, her entire being melting from the simple contact of his lips
against hers. Trust? Ha. She didn’t have any of that to give. But she’d asked him
to take control so she found herself nodding anyway. “Okay.”

“Good. Give me your address and phone number.” He handed her a stack of sticky notes.
“Let’s get together tomorrow night. If I keep you in here much longer, my assistant
will be wondering why this interview is taking so long.”

“Where are we going to go?” she asked as she jotted down her information on the paper.
“I’d prefer to keep this private since I’ll be working here now.”

He smiled and molded her body flush against his, her hands and the stack of sticky
notes caught between them. God, he was so solid, so . . .
guh
. Her knees wanted to buckle beneath her just so he could hold her up. “That’s where
the trust part comes in, beautiful.”

“Oh.” It was all she could manage to say with him pressed so close, his hardening
erection imprinting on her hip.

“Now, go tell Maile that you’re hired and need to fill out a new employee packet.”

She grimaced and pressed her forehead to his, his instructions reminding her of just
how screwed up of a situation this was. “This is so very, very wrong.”

He grinned, the boyish expression changing his face into something much less intimidating
but no less attractive. “Ah, but that’s part of what makes it so damn fun.”

“You’re bad.”

“You have no idea.” He released her and grabbed the stamp again. Before she could
figure out what he was doing, he hiked up her skirt, exposing her black underwear.

“Kade!”

“Hush.” He crouched down and traced a line along the edge of her panties, pulling
them down ever so slightly. Electric pulses of warmth shot through her, every ounce
of her being zeroing in on that single touch. But instead of dipping his hand lower
and relieving the tension building there, he pressed the stamp to the spot right below
her navel. “There we go. All mine for now.”

Her mouth fell open as she saw his name in blue on her skin. “You did not just
stamp
my girl parts, Kade Vandergriff.”

He laughed as he stood and tugged her skirt back down. “No, I stamped
you
. All the parts are mine through tomorrow night. Now stop dawdling and get to work,
Ms. McAllen. I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow.”

She shook her head and stuck the sticky note with her address and phone number to
the lapel of his jacket. If he got to brand her, then she got to brand him back. “A
chill just went down the spine of every HR manager within a fifty mile radius.”

He laughed and lifted the signed document from his desk, holding it up. “Not true.
I have no power over you, remember? At least not when it comes to work.”

“And outside of work?”

With an expression she couldn’t quite pin down, he turned back toward his desk. “See
you soon, Tessa.”

NINE

“Hold up, you hired someone to head up the fundraiser without even consulting me?
Dude,
not
cool.”

Kade turned the volume down on his car’s speakerphone, deserving any wrath his younger
stepbrother, Gibson, wanted to throw his way but not needing to hear it in full stereo.
“Look, I know, but I have good reason. And yes, she’s inexperienced but I know she’s
going to work her ass off.”

There was a long pause. “I’m waiting for this good reason. I don’t have time to babysit
someone.”

Kade sighed and turned into the driveway. “Hey, I’m here, we’ll finish this inside.
Do I need to wear a hazmat suit?”

“Nah, I’m not contagious anymore. But you may want to wear a helmet ’cause I’m kind
of feeling like I want to punch you right now.”

Kade sniffed and cut off the ignition, ending the call. He grabbed a paper sack from
the passenger seat and climbed out of his car. Gibson’s golden lab, Sasha, gave a
happy bark from the front window when she saw Kade striding up the walk. He gave her
a little wave and pulled out his key, but Gibson opened the door before Kade could
get it into the lock. Sasha charged past Gib with excited whines and greeted Kade,
stopping just shy of tackling him to the ground.

Kade grinned and gave her head a scratch. “Hey, pretty girl.”

The dog bounced on her front legs and appeared ready to launch herself at him again,
but Gibson grabbed her collar. “Sorry. I haven’t been able to take her on her walks
the last few days. She’s stir crazy and sick of me.”

“Can’t blame her there,” Kade said, giving his brother a once-over. Gibson’s normal
uniform of Armani suits sans neckties had been replaced with wrinkled pajama bottoms
and an old Pearl Jam T-shirt. And his dark curly hair was going in three different
directions. “You look like you’ve been at an all-night kegger then passed out in the
yard.”

“I wish,” he said, heading into the kitchen. “At least then I would’ve probably gotten
drunk and laid. Strep throat was much less fun. Want a beer?”

“You got Diet Coke?”

Gib gave him that look that said diet soda was a chick’s drink, but pulled one from
the fridge and tossed it Kade’s way. Kade caught it with his free hand and set the
bag he’d been carrying on the counter.

“What’s that?”

“I brought you Avgolemono soup from that place by the office, figured that’d be better
than chicken noodle from a can.”

Gib’s face brightened as he leaned over and opened up the bag, peering in. “Aw, hell
yeah. That’s the good stuff right there. I’m telling you, you need to buy that concept.
There are far too few Greek places around here.”

“Don’t worry, a Mediterranean concept is next on my list.” He slid onto one of the
barstools on the other side of the counter. Sasha settled at his feet as if waiting
for her own takeout to be handed over. “And go ahead and eat. It’s still hot.”

Gib looked up, eyes narrowing as he pulled out the container of egg-lemon soup. “Don’t
think this absolves you from hiring someone in my department while I was out. Start
talking.”

Kade shook his head, amused by this hard-ass version of his little brother. Growing
up, Gibson had always been the meek one. Hell, the poor kid hadn’t had much choice.
After Kade had left home, Gib’s father—Kade’s stepfather—had moved on to Gibson as
the next easy target and had escalated from verbal beat-downs to real ones. The thought
still made Kade’s blood go cold. He’d never thought that bastard would rail on one
of his own kids.

Kade opened his soda and took a swig as Gib hopped up on the opposite counter and
eyeballed him. “The woman I hired is the founder of the charity we’ll be sponsoring.
She’s very dedicated to the cause.”

“Okay . . .” Gibson said, then took a bite of soup, keeping his eyes on Kade.

“And I told her the position was only temporary at this point. Though, obviously,
if she does a great job and Evelyn is unable to come back, feel free to keep her on.”

“Sounds like a big
if
on the great job part,” he mumbled between bites. “So why her? What’s with this rush
to hire? I’m going to be back in the office tomorrow. You could’ve waited for me to
interview her.”

Kade blew out a breath, figuring he just needed to lay it out there and deal with
the consequences. “Because it’s Tessa McAllen.”

“Tessa McAllen.” Gibson’s dark brows dipped low, like he was trying to access an old
file in his brain. Kade could almost see when the light bulb clicked. Gib’s spoon
dropped into the bowl. “Wait,
the
Tess? From high school?”

“The very one.”

Gibson put his bowl aside and slid from atop the counter. “Jesus, Kade.”

“She’s divorced and is trying to get back on her feet. Her heart is in the right place
with this charity, and I think she can do the job.”

“And you think you can get her in bed,” he said flatly.

Kade’s jaw clenched.

“Goddammit, man. You saddled me with this girl because you want to get her naked?
You could’ve done that without the song and dance.” He flattened his hands against
the counter in front of Kade, scowling. “Look, I know she was like the forbidden fruit
for you back then, the girl you couldn’t have. Hell, I get it. I wanted her, too.
But come on.”

“You
what
?”

Gibson shrugged like it was no big deal. “I was two years younger but I wasn’t freaking
blind. That girl was
hot
. Every time she walked across the quad in those little skirts, I had to stop whatever
I was doing to watch. That chick had legs for days.”

Kade’s fingers gripped his bottle hard enough to make the plastic crinkle.

“And I know you think y’all had something between you two. But after everything went
down, she never came back around, Kade. She never asked why you didn’t come back to
school or where you’d gone. She stayed with that prick of a boyfriend and went on
like nothing had happened. She was hot, but she was a stone cold, self-serving bitch.”

“Hey,” Kade said, anger surging at the accusation. “She didn’t have a lot of choices.
You don’t know anything about what her life was like. There was a lot of pressure
on her, and I couldn’t give her what she needed. Not back then.”

“Bullshit, bro. There’s always a choice. Did you know that after you left, rumors
started that you had tried to rape her that night and dickhead rescued her?”

Kade looked away. He’d heard a version of that story from his mother when she’d called
to check on him a few weeks later. But he’d been living with his dad by then and too
numb about everything that had happened to care.

“And Tessa didn’t say a damn thing to dispel it,” Gib said, disgust in his voice.
“I had to go to school hearing people calling my brother a pervert and a freak. Even
after your class graduated, I had people giving me the side eye like I was some sort
of criminal.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” Kade said, wishing he could’ve shielded his
brother from more than that after he’d had to leave town. Maybe if he hadn’t been
so fucked in the head over it all, he could’ve gone back and not only protected Gibson
but told Tessa the real truth about that night. He could’ve saved her a lot of heartache,
but he’d run far and fast and had forced himself to forget about that previous life.
“The whole situation was twisted and fucked up. Tessa was caught in the middle and
did what she had to do to protect herself. She’s not what you think. Trust me. I need
you to give her a fresh chance. It’s been a long time. We’ve all grown up and moved
on.”

Gibson leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “I thought we had, but here you
are, looking like you’re chasing after her again. Tell me the truth. Is this just
about helping her out?”

He could lie to his brother, but it’d be pointless. Gib was too smart not to figure
it out the first time he saw Tessa and Kade in the same room. “No. I’m sleeping with
her.”

“Fuck. Of course you are.” He leaned his head back, looking to the ceiling as if it
held better answers. “And now she’s willing because instead of some punk kid from
Dunlop Road, you’re
the
Kade Vandergriff.”

“It’s not like that. In fact, I had to persuade her into a second date. She didn’t
know who I was when we slept together. She found out about my job when I called her
in for the interview. And she still doesn’t know I used to be Kaden Fowler.”

Gibson stared at him like Kade had lost his mind. “She doesn’t
know
?”

He sighed. “There hasn’t been a good opportunity yet. And I wanted her to get to know
me as I am now, not by who I used to be.”

“And what happens when she finds out you fucked her under false pretenses?”

“Well, technically, I didn’t realize who she was either at the time.” He rolled his
bottle cap between his fingers.

“And what about that you’re a dom?”

He groaned. “I don’t think I need to drop that bomb on her any time soon. At least
not officially. I told her I like being in charge and that I’m kinky. She’s intrigued
by all of that, but she’s also as jumpy as a squirrel after her divorce. I have a
feeling Doug wasn’t just verbally abusive but a controlling fuck—and not the fun kind
of control. God knows what she went through in her marriage. I need to tread carefully.”

“And here we go again,” Gibson said. “My brother tortures himself by going after a
vanilla girl who’s going to be freaked out by how you are. Why waste your time, man?
You sure you’re not a masochist? You should just drop this whole thing, and I’ll sign
you up for a session with Fabienne at The Ranch. She can beat this stupid notion out
of you.”

Kade sniffed. “No thanks, I’ll leave that to you. I’m sure those paid sessions are
very fulfilling.”

Gib’s expression darkened. Even though Kade was well aware of why Gibson went to The
Ranch, the BDSM resort they both belonged to, neither of them usually acknowledged
it aloud. He had a feeling his brother wasn’t as comfortable as he pretended to be
with his conflicting proclivities.

But Gib shrugged, seeming to shake off the comment. “Hey, it’s better than getting
knotted up in some relationship then realizing too late that your girl’s not into
what you’re into. You’ve been down that road. Don’t do that to yourself again.”

“This isn’t a relationship.”
Yet.
“Tessa isn’t in the market for something serious,” he added, the reminder of his
past mistakes like a mallet to the chest. He refused to liken this situation to that
one. He and Angie hadn’t worked because he’d changed the rules of the game two years
into their marriage. He’d never enter into another commitment without the woman knowing
his very deepest kinks.


She
doesn’t want anything serious. And what about you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Fucking brilliant,” he said with a shake of the head. “You’re already getting tangled
up, aren’t you? This girl is under your skin again.”

Kade slid off the barstool and stood, knowing his brother’s concerns were coming from
the right place. Gib knew all too well the consequences Kade had had to deal with
after his failed marriage. And he knew what was at stake now. But he was growing tired
of the interrogation. He couldn’t explain what it was about Tessa to his brother.
He couldn’t even explain it to himself. He just knew that when he was around her,
his
mine
gene activated. More than a decade may have passed, but that automatic reaction hadn’t
changed. It was probably something he simply needed to work out of his system because
he’d been thwarted the first time around. But regardless, it wasn’t something he could
ignore. “I’m just having a good time with her.”

“Bullshit. Let’s not pretend I don’t know the kind of setup you really want with a
woman—that’s anything but just having a good time. And you never go into anything
without a plan, so don’t feed me that line, either. What are you going to do?”

Kade pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time, unwilling to risk being
late for his plans with Tessa, then looked back to his brother, meeting his gaze with
grave determination. “You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Tonight, I’m going to introduce her to kink, fuck her until she can’t remember
another guy ever existed, and make her wish she’d chosen me all those years ago. Is
that what you want to hear? Then I’m going to use what I didn’t have then to sweep
her off her goddamned feet so that she agrees to another night and another.”

Gibson scoffed. “Un-freaking-believable. So that’s what this is about, huh? Your ego
and proving you can get the unattainable chick from your past?”

Kade’s molars ground against each other. That wasn’t it at all. Gib didn’t get it.

His brother stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder. “A few minutes ago I
felt sorry for you. But now I just feel sorry for her, bro. Because I’ve seen you
in this mode at work. You think you know what you want, but as soon as you conquer
her and have her wanting you back, you’ll be done with her. Acquisition accomplished,
move on to the next restaurant chain. The only reason this girl is still interesting
to you is because she’s the challenge you never won. And Kade Vandergriff always wins.”

Despite Kade’s attempt to ignore his brother’s pop psych analysis, the accusation
was burrowing right beneath his skin, seeking purchase. Though, he
didn’t
always win. Maybe in business, but not where it really mattered. If that were the
case, he wouldn’t have an unused bedroom decorated in pink and purple daisies at his
house. “Fuck you, Gib.”

Gib huffed with laughter for a moment then as if the air was taken from his lungs,
he went stone cold silent. A strange expression crossed his face as he lifted his
eyes. “Hey, wait a second. What if . . .”

Uh-oh. Kade didn’t like the sound of that. “What if, what?”

Gibson’s eyes were bright now, a sure sign that bad shit was about to commence. “This
could actually be the perfect solution.”

BOOK: Need You Tonight
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