“He ran home. My cousin begged me not to tell anyone what happened. She thought other people would agree with what Thomas said. When we got back to school, Thomas kept away from me and Regine.”
She stepped out onto the porch and reached for him. Nothing in her doubted his story. Andre wasn’t a liar, and he wouldn’t use his cousin’s name that way. “Andre, I’m sorry.”
He slid out of her reach. “As far as my mom. She’d already signed up to move in to Haven’s Crossing, the assisted-living retirement community, after she fell a few weeks back. I took over her payments after she refused to move in with me. It’s something I’ve asked her to do every time I see her, by the way, including this afternoon when I visited. Now you and everyone else can stop looking at me like I’m the villain.”
He turned and stalked off her porch into the pouring rain. Tamara rushed after him. She was soaked in seconds, but she didn’t care. Maybe the rain could wash away the guilt surrounding her for accusing him without getting the entire story.
“Andre, wait.” She ran to him, grabbed his arm and slowed his steps. He was big enough, strong enough, to have brushed her off and kept going, but he hesitated enough for her to circle in front of him. “I’m sorry. He said all of those things and I needed a reason...”
“A reason to what?”
The pounding of the rain had her standing close to him in order to be heard. Close enough for her body to feel the sizzling heat generated whenever he was near. Close enough for her to recognize she wanted his arms around her, his body pressed against hers, his lips kissing every inch of her skin.
The flash of lightning illuminated his dark features. Thunder crashed. The residual hurt in his eyes mixed with heat.
He stepped even closer until the barest space separated his chest from hers. Her nipples hardened. Her joints turned to mush. “A reason to what?” He didn’t yell over the rain this time, yet the words drummed into her ears. She heard the challenge in them as sure as she felt the strike of the lightning in the earth.
“A reason not to want you.” Before she could think and remember the reasons why getting emotionally attached to Andre was a bad thing, Tamara lifted on her toes and pressed her lips against his. He’d told her to kiss him the next time she wanted to instead of pulling away. She wasn’t about to play chicken with him again.
For the longest second he didn’t move. Embarrassment and panic sparked in her brain. Maybe he didn’t want to kiss her. Then his body shook, and strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her even tighter against him.
His lips glided over hers. Firm and confident. She didn’t wait for him to deepen the kiss. Her tongue darted out and tasted the fullness of his lower lip. Andre’s body shook again, and his lips parted. Their tongues danced across each other. Flashes of heat ran through her body until she ached to get closer to him. To wrap her legs around his waist and feel the hard press of his erection against the growing heat between her thighs.
She gripped his shoulders, then ran one hand up the back of his neck into the drenched curls of his hair. His hands slid over her body. Caressing her back with an almost-urgent need. Everywhere he touched, her body tingled. Between the pounding of the rain and the thundering of her heart, there was no room for any other thoughts. Only the feel of his mouth on her. The need he created in her to let go and accept whatever he had to offer. The yearning to get naked right here in the rain and have him drive so hard and deep into her she forgot her own name.
Tamara jerked back quickly. Shocked by the force of the feelings one kiss stirred up in her. They both struggled to breathe. His bright eyes bored into hers, so intensely she believed he saw past the surface straight into her heart. Did he see how much she wanted him? How much he’d always pulled her to him?
Andre took her hand in his. Despite the wind and the coolness of the rain, his grip was warm and firm. He pressed her palm against his chest. The strong and rapid thud of his heart slapped against her palm and resonated deep in her core.
“What’s next?” he asked. His voice as deep and bone trembling as the thunder.
Tamara curled her fingers into a fist, clutching the front of his soaked shirt. “We take this inside.”
ANDREFOLLOWEDTAMARAinto her house. He shivered in his wet clothes once inside. Tamara wore a white T-shirt advertising a 5k run and dark leggings. Completely drenched, the T-shirt was basically transparent. No bra straps visible as it clung to her luscious skin. His dick noticed that as well.
“I’ll get you a towel,” she said.
To hell with a towel. He wanted her to kiss him again. To have her breasts plastered against his chest and her tongue slide across his.
“A towel won’t do much,” he replied. There was already a puddle of water beneath the two of them. He’d been so determined to set the record straight with her that he hadn’t bothered with an umbrella or a raincoat. He just knew that if he sat in his house simmering in his own frustration because she thought the worst of him, he wouldn’t get any sleep.
She faced him. Damn if the sight of her dark nipples against the wet shirt didn’t punch him in the gut. He’d never been to a wet T-shirt contest and never been interested in attending one either, but looking at Tamara right now in front of him, he was ready to crown her as the woman with the most perfect breasts he’d ever seen in his life.
He jerked his eyes up. Shit, he wanted her, but he didn’t want to come across as if he couldn’t control himself. Even though his hands literally were clenched at his side to keep him from reaching out and touching her. He expected her to scowl, cross her arms over her breasts or give him the spill about why the kiss was a mistake. Instead, her fingers pulled on the edge of her shirt and she slowly peeled the material up and over her head.
Andre’s mouth went dry. His lips parted. He didn’t know whether to haul her into his arms, fall onto his knees and say he wasn’t worthy, or talk himself out of taking a step he knew he wouldn’t be able to come back from without feeling something.
“You’re right.” Her voice was a low, scratchy whisper that he felt on every inch of his skin. “That isn’t what I invited you in here for.”
He wasn’t about playing coy or hard to get. Andre stepped forward and slid the fingers of one hand into the thick, dripping strands of her hair. He tilted her head back and kissed her with all of the pent-up desire coursing through his system. Fuck, she tasted delicious. Like wine, desire and everything he’d always wanted. He was hooked on her flavor the second their lips touched.
Her hands weren’t shy or hesitant as they rushed beneath his shirt and played with the muscles along his stomach. That turned him on even more. He should take her to the bedroom. Do this nice and slow so they could savor every moment. But the way she rubbed against him and toyed with the waistband of his pants dashed away thoughts of slow and easy. She seemed just as desperate as he did to keep this going. To not slow down and let thoughts of what happened next get into the mix.
She pulled him into her living area and down onto the floor. Thank God a nice thick rug covered her hardwood. Andre took off his shirt and then her breasts were against his chest. He gave thanks to every angel in heaven she felt so good.
“Do you have a condom?” he asked. He prayed she did, but he was willing to walk in the rain to go buy some.
She nodded, her eyes dancing with excitement and desire. Her hair was a curly mess that clung to her cheeks and stuck out around her head like a beautiful halo. “In my bedroom. Don’t move.” She jumped up and ran to her bedroom.
