Her Insatiable Scot (3 page)

“Aye.” His burr thickened on the single word.

Well, she had the easy part. “I’m ready.”

CHAPTER THREE

Tristan tossed a worried glance toward his partner in crime. She’d fidgeted the first twenty minutes of class until he slipped his hand under the table and grasped her bouncing leg. He kept his hand there for the next two hours and forty minutes. Touching her seemed to be the only thing to keep her from flipping her wig. All he wanted to do was slide his hand up, and that made those two hours and forty minutes torture while he tried to readjust his prick with no one the wiser.

At the end of the class Keri looked like she was on the verge of rambling and probably confessing they weren’t a real couple. Well-wishers on their marriage littered the walkway since most of the sessions had let out at the same time. If he hadn’t forced reform down his throat, he may have continued to make a life out of crime. But Keri should stay far, far away from it. She shouldn’t even flirt with the idea of breaking a single law if this was how she devolved afterward.

He grabbed hold of her elbow, excused them and pulled her into the nearest stairway. The door clicked soundly behind them and the noise level from the convention echoed off the empty staircase. The muffled voices were loud enough to keep the starkness in her gaze.

“Take a deep breath,” he ordered.

Her cheeks puffed up and she blew a few strands of hair out of her face. He added
adorable
to words he’d never used, but it applied to her.

“I’m blowing it, aren’t I?” she asked. “We did good. Everyone likes us. Well, they like you and I’m sort of added to the package.”

“They liked you too,” he reassured her in a calm voice. His heartbeat grew steadier, seeing she’d be okay. “Really they did, especially when you stopped looking like you’d get sick on their shoes.”

She narrowed her gaze, looking better already at the veiled insult. “You pinched my ass. I thought we had an understanding.”

She’d be fine. The worry he had disappeared. He snorted. “You were blowing it. I had to do something.”

“And pinching my ass was the answer?”

He shrugged. “You giggled and blushed. It worked.”

She gasped, looking appalled. “I did not giggle.”

He did his best not to laugh, but a smile leaked out. Tristan had spent a good deal of his adulthood around folks who’d seen more than their fair share of life. Being around her was refreshing. He knew people, he knew women. He suspected Keri wouldn’t take life so seriously she’d ignore adventure when it came to call. He hoped that was something about her that would never change.

“You giggled like a nervous schoolgirl,” he said. “That gave me the opportunity to look at you with longing.
That
sealed the deal. If Jocelyn and Ian don’t get an acceptance, then there’s just no hope for them.”

His words teased out the beginnings of a smile, but not quite. “You think so?” she asked.

“I’m good at what I do. You weren’t too bad either.”

She snorted. “Lies.”

It was, but she’d finally calmed completely. He let her go but chose to stay in her space. He liked being there. She had a warmth and purity about her. And a smart mouth.

“So, now you’ll be going back to your ordinary life?” he asked. “What do you plan to do?”

She leaned against the wall. Her tongue flitted out and ran across her bottom lip. “Don’t know.” She sounded breathless.

He took another step and this one had only one thought behind it—touch her. “A shame, really. Who knows when we’ll see each other again.”

She shrugged, but the action was filled with nerves. “You probably wouldn’t recognize me anyway.”

He lifted her chin with his finger. “I’d know you from your scent alone.”

“Oh.” She was breathless again, and again he stepped closer.

Her words penetrated and he frowned down at her. “Now, why wouldn’t I recognize you?”

She gestured to herself with a wave of her hand. “I don’t usually dress like this. Never really grew out of my tomboy phase.”

“You like football? And I’m not talking the jacked-up rugby Americans play.”

“I’ve caught a few rugby games on TV, but I have to admit I got distracted by the mud and small shorts.”

Honesty. Refreshing. He’d tried to live by that rule of thumb as much as possible. For the first time in a long time, he had something of truth, of value about himself that could impress a woman. “I used to play when I was younger.”

“You did?”

The way she pushed out her breath drew his gaze down. From his vantage point he could see nothing but cleavage. Her breasts were full, round and delectable. “You watch rugby, but it’s a shame you don’t wear these kinds of clothes all the time.”

Just to test the waters, he let his fingers brush the edge of her dress. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t giggle or tell him to stop. Now he wanted to see her irises darken. And she wanted him to. Otherwise she’d have likely told him hands only again.

“You have beautiful legs that you should show off all the time,” he said.

And to prove his point he ran his finger over the supple skin beneath the dress. Higher until his finger caught on the band of her panties. There was too much bare skin for it to be anything but a thong. He hissed out a breath.

“What are you doing?” she asked with trepidation, but she shifted closer to his hand.

Her reaction told him all he needed to know, but he asked, “Do you want me to stop?”

She shook her head. “Just curious, because we’re in a stairwell and no one’s here to see if the newlyweds are hot for each other.”

Her eyes hadn’t darkened yet so he pushed. “This isn’t for show.” He hooked his finger on the thin strap and tugged. “Again, I’ll ask, do you want me to stop?”

“I just—I’ve never— No. Don’t stop.”

He let his other hand get tangled in her hair and closed his fingers in the strands. “Can I be honest with you, Keri?”

She swallowed. “Seems like a good idea.”

Up until now honesty had only kicked him in the balls. The unvarnished truth didn’t turn her away. “Pretending to want you has made me want you.” The words felt thick in his throat.

Her eyes widened. “Interesting.”

“That’s all you have to say?” he teased.

“There’s plenty, but I’m…having trouble. Things like this… I’m no good at words.”

He tsked. “Kind of hoped it was just me who had you tongue-tied.”

Her gaze rose to his lips. “Not yet at least. That’s why you have your hands in my hair, right? You plan to kiss me?”

Here he was planning seduction, and she wanted to be literal. He couldn’t help but be smitten. “Auch, woman. You don’t announce it, you just do it.”

Her gaze lit. “Like Nike?”

Fuck if he wasn’t suddenly charmed. “Aye.”

“Okay. Okay. We can do this. We can kiss, but not announce it. And you’ll just have your hand on my underwear while you do it. I can do this.” Her cheeks flushed, but she bit her bottom lip, likely to quiet the pep talk.

Unease started to bleed through the lust. He loosened his hold on her hair. “You’re not a virgin, are you?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Would you make it special with candles and everything?”

Tension leaked out of his shoulders at her reply. He told her the answer she expected to hear. “Fuck, no. I’ll be too busy running in the other direction.”

She seemed to take measure of his words. “I expected nothing but corrupting of innocents from you.”

Not anymore, he started to answer, but that would keep her from focusing on his hand. He felt a twinge at skirting the truth, but he could see she would lose focus if he didn’t distract her. He didn’t quite know how they ended up down this path, but he couldn’t seem to steer them from it.

He didn’t want to either. So answer her with another lie or the truth? The truth. “Every man has a moral code and he lives by it from experience, not from principle alone.”

She pursed her lips. “How many virgins have you run from?”

“Enough.”

Keri lifted her hands and then put them back at her side. She fidgeted as though she was physically having a debate on what was the best way to relax while being seduced. She stilled, blew out a breath and then dragged his shirt up until it was partially untucked from his pants. She made an appreciative sound. “You must exercise a lot.”

She splayed her hands on his abs. His stomach jumped. “Enough,” he said again and that made her look up.

He could see she finally knew what he meant. They were done talking or asking questions. Despite what he said earlier, he was announcing the kiss. His cock hardened just from watching her slowly realize the truth of his words. Her pupils dilated and made the ring of brown look the shade of melted chocolate.

“I see.” She gasped.

He took that moment to finally brush his lips along hers. She trembled. Tristan pulled back for a fraction and licked his lips. He’d never thought a woman had a taste, but there was a complexity to Keri he needed to suss out. The one tease wouldn’t be enough. He wanted to taste her fully, so he took her mouth again without seduction.

Her hips jutted forward, rubbing against his engorged cock. His groan rasped out, but he kept kissing her, searching for the right word to describe her. Before he could find it, she flicked her tongue over the curve of his mouth. Something fierce and sharp-edged bloomed in his chest. He yanked her panties down her thighs. The sensation building in his stomach didn’t want foreplay—it wanted now and hard. That nagging ache in his cock wanted him to quench his desire for everything and anything he wanted.

But Keri needed something softer. The woman was made up of tells. Her gaze pleaded for something other than what she’d let herself ask for. So he lightly stroked her smooth and flat stomach before venturing lower. Tristan groaned again when he found her mound bare. She flushed whenever he touched her, if he said something even close to inappropriate, but she was bare.

He could see her legs spread wide, except it would be for him. Moaning for him. He sucked her lush bottom lip just to hear her moan now. Her nails scraped down his sides, her breath shuddered out, but no moan. Not yet.

He pressed his middle finger into the crease. Wet. Hot. She rocked against his hand, her nails digging in harder. The reaction was as loud as a spoken command. He moistened the tip of his finger with her arousal and traced the outer edge of her clit. Again and again until he heard the sound he’d needed to hear to fill out the fantasy playing in his mind.

Keri’s breath caught and when she released it on a moan, the sound reached deep into him. He had to take a breath to curtail the sudden need to push her over her limits and make her come right then.

Seduction needed to be slow and deliberate to make the woman beg for more. It was the only way to take it all during sex, everything he desired. A woman in his bed could keep her heart. He had no use for it. Everything else needed to be his. He was never satisfied until he whispered in a woman’s ear,
Mine
, and she moaned back,
yes
.

No. No.
That was what he
used
to need. He closed his eyes to buckle that old urge down. Yet… He needed more tells to give her what she wanted, so he lifted his hand a fraction to see her response.

She ripped her mouth from his. “Wait,” she said.

Again he had to push down the fierce need, but he kept his voice even. “What do you want?”

Her lips were swollen and lids low, but her gaze was still sharp as ever. “You know what I want.”

He lowered his hand again but only let his finger rest against her clit. “Fast or slow?”
Slow.
He could read that answer in her eyes before she told him.

“Fast.”

So he went slow and crushed his mouth back down on hers. Her nails dug deeper as her hips followed the motion of his hand. She moaned for him and anyone listening could hear just how much she wanted it. That was the thing about attraction and sex—it never lied.

He pulled back to watch her. She tried to bury her face in his shoulder. He tugged on her hair. “I want you, but first I need to know how you fuck.”

He glanced down, a tinge of disappointment filling him. Her dress was in the way. He’d make do. Then his gaze clashed with hers. Keri’s eyes were wide.

She swallowed and the vestiges of need clouded her features. “How?”

He stiffened his finger and prodded the tip against the entrance of her sex. “Show me.”

He waited for her to tell him no or to stop, but already she was sinking down with a slight roll of her hips. He cursed softly and plunged his finger into her to meet the thrust of her hips. His cock strained painfully against his slacks. As though she could read that thought she moved her hands from beneath his shirt to his belt buckle.

“Not yet,” he murmured.

Still she brushed her fingers over the ridge. He didn’t think, just let go of her hair, grabbed her hand and pinned it above her head. His digit grew slicker so he added another. Her hips stilled and the noise she made was higher pitched than a moan. It echoed off the bare walls of the staircase. If she touched him again… He couldn’t let her. He’d lose it. Tristan curved his fingers and made a come-hither motion.

She threw her head back and crooned, “Yes.”

Almost. Every moan grew louder. Someone just might check on the commotion and put an end to this before he had his fill. She started to squirm against his hold. She was right there on the very edge. He wanted to see her shudder, her face contorted with pleasurable agony, the unbidden cries—he wanted it all before it had to end.

“Wait,” she blurted. “
Wait
.”

Shock stilled him at her demand. “What?”

Her breath panted out. “Give me a moment.”

He’d never heard a woman on a brink of an orgasm asking for a moment. It took another second for him to feel ridiculous with his hand up her skirt, buried two fingers deep inside her. He was harder than a rock and that wouldn’t change unless he started mentally counting kittens.

“Keri,” he started, and she shuddered. He pressed his thumb against her clit.

She rocked, probably more out of instinct than thought. “
Wait
. I can’t—I—I won’t come. No matter what you do, I won’t come.”