Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Warren knew he was playing with fire, but hell if that didn’t make the whole thing that much more enticing. Judging from the unsure look on her face, he’d gotten through to Erin, at least a little. Now was the time to dial it back. If he pushed too hard now, she’d instinctively dig in her heels, and he’d have lost what little ground he gained tonight.

So he paid for their pies and coffee and pasted a cocky smirk onto his face. “You tapping out?”

“You wish. No, I’m not going to be the one losing tonight.”

That’s what he was afraid of. He pushed the thought away. “All right then. Truth or dare, Freckles?”

Her grin made him think filthy thoughts. “Dare. Naturally.”

“Naturally.” The word made him laugh, because he knew exactly where to take this. All natural. “I dare you to go skinny-dipping.”

“Skinny-dipping?” She looked around and lowered her voice. “I know we don’t always get along, but I didn’t think you had it out for me. If I get in water tonight, I’m going to die of hypothermia before you can strip naked and warm me up.”

The thought of getting them both completely naked and rubbing up against each other was a tantalizing one. He kept his expression serious. “I’m mean, but I’m not that mean.” He leaned forward, waiting for her to do the same before he stage whispered, “I happen to know the Richardses put in a hot tub this summer.”

“Do you, now? That’s some interesting information.”

It was. Especially combined with them having gone down to Atlanta to visit their newest grandchild over the holidays and left the house empty. He and Erin would have the backyard all to themselves.

And he fully intended on capitalizing on that.

She reached for her coat. “Then by all means, let’s get this over with.”

But he didn’t miss the way she kept shooting looks at him. Making her come in the barn hadn’t scratched his itch any more than it had scratched hers. He took her coat from her and held it for her to shrug into, letting his hands linger on her bare neck. “No need to rush.”

“Oh?” She half turned, her eyebrows raised. “Is there something you’d like to add to that dare?”

“I don’t have to.” Conscious of where they were—and the eyes on them—he didn’t pull her against him. But he wanted to. Fuck, he wanted to. “I know you, Freckles. You’re going to tease me until I snap.”

Her eyes dilated and her breathing picked up. “You think so?”

“I know so. And then I’m going to do exactly what we both want.”

For a second, he thought she might reach out and touch him, or even kiss him. But Erin blinked once, twice, and took a shuddering breath. “You sure have an active imagination.”

So that was how she wanted to play it? Fine. He didn’t expect anything else. “Prove me wrong. Ball’s in your court.”

Erin stared at the glowing Jacuzzi on the patio beneath the Richardses’ massive back deck. The entire walk over here, she’d mentally debated with herself, flipping back and forth over whether she thought Warren was a giant asshole or hotter than hell. Right now, she was leaning toward hotter than hell. There was something downright magical about the hot tub, all lit up with steam rising from the water, surrounded by snow. It was like something out of a fairy tale…or her dirtiest fantasies.

Because it was all too easy to imagine going through the slow steps of stripping, feeling his eyes on her, tempting him until he snapped and took her in the warm water, fucking her against the side of the hot tub.

She suddenly wanted that desperately.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she shrugged out of her coat and carefully draped it over the vee of the wooden deck support. Then she shifted so her profile was to Warren and slowly pulled her shirt off, taking her hat with it. It was cold—too cold to be doing a striptease in the middle of some near-stranger’s backyard—but hearing his breathing pick up was reward enough that she didn’t stop. Her boots went next, and she shimmied out of her pants faster than was probably sexy, but even the desire heating her with each pump of her heart wasn’t enough to combat the wind that picked up.

She slipped out of her panties, but didn’t drape them over the pillar with the rest of her stuff. Instead she gritted her teeth against the feel of the snow against her bare feet and waltzed over to where Warren watched her, his hands in his pockets and hunger in his eyes. She slapped her panties against his chest. “Come and get me.”

He reached for her, but she was already moving, sauntering across the patio and climbing into the Jacuzzi. It wasn’t exactly the stealthiest of entries, and she shot a look at the dark French doors leading into the house’s walk-out basement, sure someone would come investigate, but it remained still and silent.

Erin eased into one of the curved underwater seats, rotating to watch Warren strip. He didn’t take his time like she had, but the show was still more than worth it. Each piece of clothing gone revealed more of his muscular body, and her stomach clenched knowing she was going to have full access to it shortly. He’s not mine. Not really.

But what if he was?

For the first time, she didn’t immediately shut down the thought. What would her life even look like if she and Warren were together? She might not be living in New York at the moment, but he was still in the Marines. When the holidays were over, he’d be gone again, and this time she’d be left behind.

What if you went with him?

Erin snorted. Right. Because she’d make such a brilliant military girlfriend or wife or whatever. No, that life would be even more constricting than the one waiting for her here in Wellingford. Potentially seeing the world wasn’t lure enough to throw herself on the mercy of a man, even one as sexy as Warren.

A splash brought her back to the present. She watched him wade toward her, not sure if she wanted to make it easy on him or put up a token protest. Warren didn’t give her a chance. He looped an arm around her waist, bringing them chest to chest. The strange light of the hot tub gave him an otherworldly appearance, and the feel of him pressed against her felt so good, it almost hurt. There were a thousand good reasons to push away from him, but she ignored every single one of them.

Instead, she wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him with everything she had. He palmed her ass, grinding her against his cock, the warm water around their bodies only making her hotter. She pulled away far enough to say, “You caught me.”

“I did.” He lifted her effortlessly and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. The cold air made her skin prickle, a direct counterpoint to his hot mouth that seemed connecting from her chest, down her stomach, to her core. Each suck made her writhe against him, but the position he held her in made her helpless to do anything but take it.

They were going to have words about this…later…after he stopped touching her in ways that made her head spin and her heart forget all the reasons this was a bad idea. She’d survived after every other of their hookups. She’d survive after this one, too.

Probably.

He moved to the other breast and shifted his grip on her so that he had one arm around her waist. She barely had a breath to process that before his free hand was between her legs, parting her and pushing two fingers into her. She cried out, rolling her hips to take him deeper. “That feels so good.”

“Better keep it down, Freckles.” His lips moved against her skin. “Don’t want to wake the Richardses up.”

She’d forgotten that they were trespassing. Erin shot a look at the house, but the windows were still dark. “Shit.”

“Shhh.” He slid her down his body, his fingers still inside her, to nip her ear. “If you can keep from screaming while I fuck you, I’ll give you a reward.”

Shock had her laughing before she caught herself, the sound wild and breathless and more than a little happy. “A reward?”

He grinned. “I’d think fucking me is reward enough, but it can’t hurt to sweeten the deal.”

God, she liked this man. She liked him a lot. She started to answer, but he did something with his fingers that made her eyes damn near roll back in her head. She gasped, barely managing to stifle a moan. “Deal.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her again, his tongue tangling with hers. He took his fingers back, making her cry out from the loss, but then he set her down and spun her around. “Hang on to the edge.” She obeyed, earning a kiss on the back of her neck that made her toes curl. Then his comforting warmth at her back was gone. “Don’t move.”

She watched him pull himself out of the hot tub and stride to his discarded pants. The man was a specimen of what the word “perfection” meant. Every muscle was carved into his body, ready to spring into motion at a second’s notice. And that ass… Erin licked her lips. It was downright bitable.

“Like what you see?”

She nodded. “Now get back in here and fuck me.”

“Impatient.” He met her gaze as he rolled on a condom. “I’ve always liked that about you. You see what you want and you don’t hesitate to go after it.”

She hadn’t thought he’d noticed. “That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Now bring that cock over here and put it to good use.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He climbed back into the Jacuzzi and around to press against her back again. “Spread your legs.”

She was only too happy to obey. Feeling him notching in her entrance was just shy of heaven, but then his hand snaked around her hip to stroke her clit as he slid into her, inch by torturous inch. She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of perfection that washed over her. Why had she thought this was a bad idea? Nothing that felt this good could be wrong. Not right now, in this moment, where nothing existed outside of him filling her completely, his hands on her body, his mouth on the back of her neck.

“Remember, Freckles, whatever you do, don’t scream.” It was all the warning she got before he started to move. Sliding out of her, and then filling her again, one long motion that had her pressing her face against her upper arm to muffle her cries.

With him wrapped around her like this, it felt like every part of him was focused solely on her. Erin had forgotten how devastating it was to be the subject of that laser focus. The man might play at being chill, but his relaxed surface hid an intensity that would have been overwhelming if he didn’t keep it under such tight control.

And she got the feeling that he’d let it off the leash tonight.

As if sensing her thoughts, he growled in her ear. “A year, Freckles. An entire year you kept me locked out. A year where I couldn’t sink myself into your hot pussy and feel you clench around me. Three hundred and sixty-five fucking days without feeling you come and knowing I was the cause.”

She gripped the side of the hot tub so hard little pinpricks of pain sparked along her fingertips. “I know.” Whose shitty idea had it been to deny herself this pleasure?

Oh. Right. Hers.

He slammed into her, his free hand cupping her breast, calloused palms against her sensitive nipple. “Was it worth it?”

There was only one answer. “Fuck, no.”

“Come back to my place.”

She was so focused on what he was doing to her that it took a second to realize he wasn’t just talking dirty. All the reasons she’d avoided him for the last year fell away. “Okay.”

His reaction was reward enough. He grabbed her hips and slammed into her, again and again, driving her over the edge before she even knew it was before her. She clenched her teeth to keep her cry internal. Warren’s strokes became more and more irregular, until he gripped her hard enough to bruise and came, her name on his lips in a groan.

He turned her around and kissed her, the touch so gentle after the thorough fucking he’d just given her that it made her head spin. He kept his thumb on her chin, using a slight pressure to get her to meet his gaze. “Come home with me.”

This wasn’t a request in the middle of the moment. This was something else. She held her breath, realizing, he’s giving me a chance to back out. It was too late for that. Far too late. She nodded. “I’ll go home with you.”