She gave him a smart-assed smile that hiked his anger another notch, and braced her weight on one hip. “Funny how that bothers you most, when it was your father’s comments that upset me more.”
Ethan closed his eyes briefly and tried to calm down. He felt irrational, his head all over the place. When he opened his eyes she was walking away from him.
“Come back here!” She looked at him over her shoulder, but didn’t stop. “Now!” he roared.
“No. I don’t go in for all that macho stuff. I am man, hear me roar.”
She was taunting him deliberately and Ethan suddenly lost it. He felt a loud buzzing in his ears, and in seconds he had her pinned face-first to the wall.
“You do it deliberately,” he rasped in her ear.
“Do what?”
“Provoke me.” He pushed her dress up her body and pulled it over her head, baring the long, slender line of her back.
“You need provoking, Gelderman.” She pushed her fine ass back into his groin, and followed it up with one hand, which she ran down the front of his trousers, cupping his hard length through the fabric. “We can’t have everyone agreeing with you all the time, now, can we?”
“Jesus,” he hissed, his breath caressing her back and making her shiver. He kissed the line of her vertebrae, stopping just above the lace edge of her panties. “You ever back off, woman?”
“I learned young not to, or people just stomp all over you in really big boots.”
He kissed back up her spine and then licked her shoulder blade while his fingers traced that slender band of lace around her hips. Pushing one under, he touched the swell of her buttocks.
“I want it now, Ethan.”
“Too bad. You riled me up, so you get to pay the price.” Ethan nuzzled her neck, then bit gently into her shoulder, making her moan.
“Put your hands above your head, Annabelle. Palms flat on the wall, and keep them there.” She didn’t, so he did it for her. “Don’t move.”
He kissed her everywhere, starting with her shoulders, the sides of her breasts and down her ribs, then he pulled the lace down and spread her legs.
“Enoughhhhh.” The breath left her body as she kissed her buttocks. “Ethan.” The word was a warning.
“Shut up and take your punishment.”
He turned her and she dug her fingers into his shoulders as he started kissing her breasts. She was naked except for those killer heels, her lips swollen from his kiss, her breasts full and ripe. It was a picture that could grace any centerfold.
“I watched you eat your dessert, watched as you licked your spoon then place those lush lips over the tip and suck off the chocolate. It was the most erotic thing I’ve seen in years, Annabelle.”
She tugged his hair until their lips met, and then she pushed him back and started taking off his clothes. Her fingers brushed his skin, teasing his flesh until it was like a brand, and then she was on her knees before him, taking him into her mouth. His mind went blank as she licked and sucked his hard length. His body grew taut and Ethan knew he’d never felt anything as good as Annabelle’s mouth before. When she stood, he lifted her into his arms and sat her on his dressing table, then he stepped between her thighs and pushed himself deep inside her welcoming heat.
She felt like heaven, tight and wet, and Ethan knew he was just seconds away from his release, so he used his hands on her body, stroking her breasts, circling the bud between her thighs until he could feel tension spike inside her. Gripping her hips, he drove into her hard and fast until she fell apart, and seconds later he followed. Lifting her back into his arms, Ethan stumbled towards the bed. They fell, half on, half off. Righting himself, he cut the lights, pulled up the covers and settled her against his chest.
“Thank you,” he whispered into her hair. “For saying what you did and for just being Annabelle tonight.”
She didn’t answer, instead patting the hand he had on her waist, and seconds later they were both asleep.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ethan was called away before the wedding the following day. Annabelle wasn’t ready, so she was picked up by Uncle Mitch, who would take her to the church where she would meet up with Ethan. Annabelle was pleased for the break. Her emotions were a mess, and she needed some time to sort them out—time to put the poker back into her spine so she could once again back away from him, because right now, she was totally under his spell, totally enthralled by the Texan.
She was pretty sure it was the emotion that was doing it; all this heavy stuff between him and his family was making her feel unsettled. Seeing him in this new light wasn’t helping, either. He was vulnerable here in his family home, where for years he had taken the abuse his father had thrown at him, and she could see him doing it. Standing silently while he was attacked—it just about broke her heart. Annabelle had a really bad feeling that she was in up to her neck, and even worse, she wasn’t sure she could pull back.
Their lovemaking was out of the park. He just touched her and she combusted. With him she’d lost the ability to be a hard ass. He made her weak and soft, and all those other horrible things that she’d heard happened to women when they least expected it to happen.
She had to try to reclaim who she was, the woman who put all her emotions into a locked and bolted compartment inside her head, where they couldn’t make her vulnerable or weak.
“Regroup, Annabelle. You’ve done it a few times. You can do it again.”
