Kasey shook his head, just barely, before raising his eyes to hers again. His fingers flexed around her bicep, nearly wrapping entirely around it.God dammit she’s infuriating.“You heard me,” he breathed huskily.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she whispered, raising her chin haughtily.
“Yes, you do, Shaun,” he growled, his voice dangerously low. His self-control was rapidly fading. “Don’t marry him. I know you don’t—”
He saw anger flash in her eyes, and she shoved him with one hand against his chest, though his fingers tightened around her arm, refusing to release her. “You don’tknowanything, Kasey,” she hissed, trying again to pull her arm out of his grasp. He held tightly to her, pulling her closer as his face descended toward hers.
“I know that you feel… whatever this is, Shaun,” he growled low through clenched teeth. He inhaled the scent of bonfire and a hint of cherry blossom, and he closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. “I know you feel it, just like I do. You can lie all you want, but I know you feel it, too. You want me as badly as I want you. He didn’t even show up, Shaun. Left you alone all night.”
Pain shuttered her eyes and her breath stilled. He hated the hurt he saw on her face, and it made him hate that douche bag even more. “I’ll ask you again: Is your relationship with that tool bag everything you deserve? Are you happy? Because if you were, you wouldn’t be thinking about how it would feel to have my cock buried inside you right now.”
“You’re an asshole,” she spat, but it didn’t hold the weight he was sure she meant it to.
“No, I’mright,” he breathed, his lips dangerously close to hers. “You can’t stop yourself from thinking about it anymore than I can. You wanna know how I can tell, darlin’?”
Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and he nearly lost it. He wanted nothing more than to slant his mouth over hers and kiss her, then bury his cock inside her so deep and so hard she forgot all about that limp noodle of a fiancé. Her breath was coming in short, rapid puffs against his face. He knew her body well enough to know she was just as turned on as he was, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
He watched as she swallowed hard, and he grinned. Letting his mouth flit over the softness of her cheek, just outside of the curve of her mouth, he squeezed his eyes shut when he felt her head tilt to the side. Biting back the groan as her breath fanned over him, Kasey fought for the control that was very nearly gone.
“You have… several tells, Shaun. And every single one of them is like a drug to me. I can’t… I can’t get enough. Your breathing gets choppy, and I can see your breasts move with each breath you take. It makes this—” he touched the fabric that covered her chest with just the tips of his fingers, terrified if he touched anything else he wouldn’t stop, “—flutter against your skin. This mouth,Christ this mouth,” he groaned deep in his throat, sweeping the pad of his thumb over the curve of her full bottom lip, making her gasp lightly, “you bite this lip and I lose my mind a little more each time. Whether you like it or not, your eyes give you away, too. You give me that ‘Come fuck me’ look and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to give you exactly what you’re asking for.” Shaun opened her mouth as if to protest, but he let his hand drift down, sliding his palm along the curve of her hip, and he could sense her own inner struggle that matched his own. “And you clench your thighs togetherwhen you’re turned on, Shaun. Just like you’re doing right now. Because youachefor me,” he breathed, sliding his palm around her to press flat against her lower back, bringing his hips to hers so that she could feel his reciprocating arousal, “to fill you up so full you can’t stand it. You ache for it, just as much as I do, darlin’. I’d bet my next race that you’re wet for me right now.”
Shaun’s breath hitched in her throat again as he pressed against her, and he knew he was going to lose the fight with his self-control. She was too beautiful. Too sexy. Too close. He was painfully hard behind the fly of his jeans.
“I promise you if you were mine, darlin’, you wouldn’t be thinking about any other man,” he breathed, his lips brushing once, twice, over the corner of mouth. Touching, but not quite…
He ached to press his lips to hers. Had wanted to taste her from the moment he’d seen her walking through that event tent at his cousin’s wedding over a year ago. He knew she wanted it, too. He needed her to understand who she belonged to.
“But I’m not yours,” she whispered back, her husky voice taunting, as if reading his thoughts.
“You want to be,” he breathed on a grin, his lips flitting over hers, just barely.Fuckthey were so soft. “Don’t marry him, Shaun.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice a mix of desire and anguish. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, sliding her body directly against his erection. He groaned out loud this time, unable to stop the rumble from escaping his chest. He watched as one corner of her lips lifted in a seductive smile, the anguish from moments ago lifting from her eyes, and he just about lost it. Spreading his palm wide at the small of her back, he guided her even closer, fairly growling at the breathy gasp that escaped those perfect lips when she felt how hard he was against her, even as she whispered, “Kasey.”
“Because I can’t stay away from you,” he breathed, his words choppy and uneven. He was milliseconds away from losing control and crushing her to him, crashing his mouth down onto hers like they both wanted. “And I can’t stand the thought of his hands on you. He doesn’t deserve you.”
But Shaun shook her head, letting her lips brush across his. She wanted him to say it out loud, the damn minx. “And you think you do?”
He stared down at her, his own breathing harsh, his fingers rubbing along her back through the softness of her sweater. She pressed closer and he groaned, clenching his teeth together. He was about to give her exactly what she was asking for. He’d spin her around, put her hands on the railing of the porch, bend her over and—
“Why are you doing this?” she breathed, repeating her question from earlier, cutting off the fantasy that had just been running rampant through his mind, and tilted her head slightly closer. Their lips brushed again, lingering slightly longer, and he growled low in his throat. She waskillinghim.
Fuckinghell.
Back off, man. She’s still engaged, even if it is to a worthless prick that doesn’t deserve her. Even if she wants this as bad as you do… she’s still engaged and you’ll both hate each other if you don’t stop right now. She’s not yoursyet, asshole.
He felt her fingers as she slid her hand along his side, up his ribcage, before slipping around to press against his back, bringing her breasts into contact with his chest. Pushing the thoughts away, he nipped at her full bottom lip, making her gasp, and his cock throbbed in his jeans. “Tell me, Kase.”
“Dammit, Shaun—”
The front door opened as the light from the entryway illuminated them, and Shaun jumped back, forcing him to release her. Roxy stopped on the threshold, her eyes bouncingfrom his face to Shaun’s, before she grinned and then shut the door, shrouding them in darkness once more.
Kasey turned back to Shaun just as she whirled away, racing down the porch steps. “Shaun, stop!”
“No,” she snapped, yanking her arm away as he tried to grasp her wrist in his hand. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it’s not funny. Leave me alone!”
“Game?” he asked, stunned, stopping in the middle of the driveway as she yanked the driver’s door of her truck open.
She waved one hand from his general direction to the porch where they’d just been, and he hated that guarded, hurt look that shuttered her eyes once more. “Yes,game, Kasey. Whatever cruel game this is, I’m not playing it.”
