Chapter Four
Cara gasped, the pressure of his fingers on her arm was just short of bruising. His eyes were stormy and more serious than she ever remembered. What could she say? If she told him the reason, he’d be repulsed. They wouldn’t even be friendly acquaintances afterward, much less anything more. That thought made her eyes sting.
She took a deep breath and opted for a vague, “We had some great times, but it just wasn’t working.”
“That’s a bullshit answer.” He gave her arm a little shake. “I think I deserve the truth.”
Dammit. Why couldn’t he just let it go? “I’m thirty-one. My biological clock isn’t ticking yet, but it’s foolish to stay with someone I’m not compatible with.”
“Define ‘compatible’.” Dropping her arm, he ran his hands through his hair, the gesture one of pure aggravation. “We got along great, didn’t we? One minute you were practically living here, and the next you were gone. I need to know what happened.”
Her stomach twisted. This wasn’t fair to Ron. Even if he hated her afterward, he had a right to know why she’d left. But once it was out, any feelings he had for her would truly be dead. “Yes. We got along great everywhere but in bed. You’re just…too nice for me.” She turned and walked out of the kitchen.
“What the fuck?
Too nice
!”
She rounded to find him right behind her. “Stop yelling. You want to scare Charlie?”
He gritted his teeth, but his angry voice was lower when he continued. “Too nice? I was so careful—”
“Did I ask you to be careful?” Dammit, she wasn’t a bad person. Why did she have to justify her needs? Her frustration unleashed her temper. “You treated me like a porcelain doll, like I’d break if you looked at me cross-eyed.”
He leaned closer, his arms folded over his chest and his expression thunderous. “I’m over a foot taller and one hundred pounds heavier than you. What was I supposed to do, body slam you to the floor and screw you senseless?”
“Yes!” God, it would have been wonderful if he’d been more sexually aggressive. “Anything but the same old lovemaking. I can count on my fingers the number of times we did something beside the missionary position.” Cara dreaded his contempt, but she needed to finish this. “I loved you, Ron, but I can’t commit to a man whose lovemaking is so…”
“So what? Boring?” He was being sarcastic, but his mouth dropped open as something in her eyes must have confirmed his comment. “This is crazy. I put you first, made sure you came every time. Do you want a selfish bastard who just cares about his own needs?”
He crowded her personal space, and Cara’s anger spiked in self-defense. “You can be generous in bed and still open to new things. Selfish and daring aren’t synonymous. Hell, Ron, you wouldn’t even let me go down on you.”
“I didn’t want you to do me any favors.”
“Favors? If I hadn’t wanted to suck your cock, I wouldn’t have suggested it!”
“So you want what?” His lips twisted. “Some guy who’ll treat you like a slut?”
There it was.
The disdain she’d been expecting. “Yes, if that’s what it takes to add spice to my love life.”
For several seconds, she squeezed her eyes shut. He was so close, his musky scent was making her mouth water. God help her, fighting with Ron was turning her on. What a rotten time for her libido to resurface. Too bad they hadn’t had this argument when they were dating
. And whose fault is that?
“You want spice or kink, Cara? Just how far are you willing to go? Should I get a copy of the
Kama Sutra
?”
“I’m not ashamed of my desires. How about you?” She was sick and tired of men scorning her for having a strong sex drive. Cara balled her hands on her hips and leaned closer. “You’re the one who’s repressed. Why keep such a tight leash on yourself? I’m not going to faint if you give into your urges.”
His pupils dilated and his jaw clenched, but she wasn’t afraid. Ron would never hurt her, she knew that in her heart, but he might finally let his inner-caveman out. And if he threw off his good-boy manners and didn’t despise her for her fantasies, there might be a chance for them after all.
Ron’s gaze dropped to her mouth. His voice deep and sensual, he asked, “You want me to give in to my urges, Cara?”
Yes.
She’d had dreams like this since she’d met him—Ron taking what he wanted, giving in to his wild side. Licking her lips in anticipation, she nodded.
In a blur of motion, he pulled one of the ladderback chairs away from the table, sat down, and yanked her over his lap. Before she could do more than yelp in surprise, his hand smacked her bottom. It barely stung through her jeans. He was still being careful with her, not letting himself wallop her in his frustration. But no one treated her like a spoiled brat.
She tried to wiggle free. “Cut it out, Ron.”
“Don’t you like my urges?”
Cara literally saw red at his smug tone. “Let me up, you jerk!”
“Stop yelling,” he chided, as she’d done earlier. “You want to scare Charlie?”
“Why are you doing this?”
He continued to administer stinging swats. “I loved you, dammit, and instead of telling me the truth, you just walked out of my life.” He easily captured her left hand when she tried to protect her butt. “I’ve spent seven long months—over two hundred days and nights—wanting you and wondering what I’d done wrong. I like spice and even kink, too. Maybe I would’ve enjoyed exploring your fantasies.”
“And maybe you would have been turned off by them.”
“You never gave me the chance to find out!”
Unable to break away, she changed tactics and dug the nails of her free hand into his ankle. Instead of stopping, he brought his hand down harder. Her whole butt tingled, and the feeling was spreading to other intimate areas. The ridge in his pants that pressed warm and thick against her stomach confirmed she wasn’t the only one getting off on this embarrassing but hot scene.
She might be lusting after the bully, but she still had her pride. “You’ll regret this. Paybacks are hell.”
“What’re you going to do? Leave me?” He smacked her again. “You’ve already done that. After tonight, we won’t have to see each other ever again.”
Cara stopped struggling. That simple truth did something the spanking hadn’t. It brought her to tears.
Ron swatted her one more time, then dumped her off his lap. Her tender bottom hit the hardwood floor. Instead of helping her up, he stood and walked toward his hallway.
Without looking back, he dismissed her. “Goodbye, Cara. You know the way out.”
He wanted her gone? Mouth gaping, she watched him disappear into his bedroom. After making her want him more than her next breath, he was tossing her out? No way.
“Damn you, Ron Hart.” She charged after him, hands fisted, and entered his bedroom for the first time in over half a year. “I knew you’d hate me if I told you.”
His grim expression morphed into surprise as she shoved him hard. He stumbled against the wall, then caught her hands as she flailed at him. “I don’t hate you. Stop it. You’ll hurt yourself.” He jerked her close, and she gasped, feeling his rigid erection through their clothes.
Despite her determination to make him pay, she wanted Ron’s thick, hard cock inside her.
Now.
She was wet and aching, tired of turning to her vibrator every time she woke from an erotic dream about this man. There was only way to see if they had a shot at a future, to see if he could be the lover of her fantasies. With sensuous slowness, Cara rubbed her body against his.
Chapter Five
Ron bit back a groan. He struggled for control as she pressed him into the wall, using her body to massage his cock through his clothes. Was this her payback? Was Cara going to take him to the edge and then walk out? Or would she drive him into embarrassing himself, like a hair-trigger kid getting his first blow-job?
He reversed their positions, pinning her shoulders to the wall. Her breath hitched, then quickened, the movement brushing her hardened nipples against his chest.
God almighty.
If she was teasing him as punishment for the spanking, it was pushing her buttons as well. Her eyes were dark with longing, and he remembered her skin pinkening just like this before she orgasmed.
“Cara.” His voice was so ragged he barely recognized it. “I’ll give you one more chance to leave. When I let go of your hands, if you don’t walk out of here, I swear I’m going to fuck you ‘til you scream.”
Her beautiful eyes widened, and her pulse fluttered under his fingers. Slowly he straightened until their bodies were no longer touching. Then he dropped her hands.
Instead of running away, she stood on tiptoe, slid her hands around his neck, and brought his mouth to hers. After months of longing for her, the contact was shocking, like touching one of his station’s poorly grounded speakers with his tongue. And, God help him, he wanted more.
Taking control, he deepened the kiss. Cara tasted so right, and he knew he’d never stopped loving her. He wanted to carry her to bed, slowly stroke and lick her, and make love until dawn.
Boring
. He remembered her earlier comments and silently vowed tonight would be anything but boring.
Ron pulled away, gratified when she made a noise of protest. Her eyes opened slowly, and the look she gave him was dazed. Before she could speak, he swung her around so she faced the wall, pulling her hands over her head and holding them there in one of his.
“You were warned.” He brushed his lips against her left ear, enjoying her shiver. “Your body is mine tonight, and I’m taking you every way a woman can be fucked.” At his crude words, her breathing grew erratic. His little temptress obviously liked dirty talk. Ron grinned. He was going to drive her as wild as she made him. Tonight he’d live up to his “Rabid Ron” DJ handle.
With his free hand, he yanked her t-shirt out of her jeans. “I’m going to touch and bite and suck every inch of you. And I won’t be gentle, Cara.” He slid his fingers up under the shirt until he reached the front of her bra. He popped the clasp and smoothed his palm across her delicate breasts. Then he captured one nipple between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed.
Cara gave a strangled gasp, arching her back and pressing her sweet ass into his crotch. But she didn’t complain, so he pinched her again as he bit her nape.
“
Ron
.” She called his name in a low, pleading moan as she writhed against him.
He let go of her hands and tugged off her t-shirt and bra, baring her from the waist up. Placing her palms flat on the wall above her head, he ordered her to keep them there. And Cara obeyed.
“Good girl,” he praised. “I wouldn’t want to have to spank you again so soon.” Then he dragged his own t-shirt off and curled his chest over her back, reveling in the softness of her skin and the caress of her long braid. With her strawberry-blond hair pulled back, her sensitive ears and long neck were exposed. Perfect.
He roughly cupped her breasts and sucked the skin below her ear.
Mine
. The primitive urge to mark her throbbed in time with his cock. He lifted his head and smiled in satisfaction at the rosy bruise. It was only the first of many such bites he’d place on her body tonight.
She was almost sobbing his name, the needy little sounds shredding his control.
“I want you naked and open for me.” Ron dropped his hands to her jeans and wrenched down the zipper. She was panting now, like one of her canine charges, and his breathing mirrored hers. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he’d lose it for sure.
“I’m going to fuck you from behind, Cara, long and hard, and so deep you’ll swear you feel me in your throat.” At his raw promise, she moaned again.
“Kick off your shoes.” She did as he asked. He pushed down her jeans, and she stepped out of them without moving her hands from the wall. Her underwear was a lacy red thong that had his mouth going dry, but it was in his way. So he grasped the thin material that circled her hips and ripped the thong off her. She whimpered, the sound going straight to his groin.
Her bottom was pink from the spanking, and he rubbed his palms against her tender skin. “Do you want my cock?”
In answer, she arched her back, bracing her hands on the wall.
“Say it,” he snapped.
“Please, fuck me, Ron. I need you.”
Straightening, he unzipped his pants with shaking hands. In quick, jerky movements, he toed off his sneakers and stripped off the rest of his clothes. Some sane part of his lust-fogged brain flashed a birth-control warning, and he managed to ask, “Are you still on the pill?”
She nodded.
“Have you had any other…” the question clawed his throat, but he continued, “partners since me?”
Cara turned her head so she could meet his gaze. “No. I haven’t wanted anyone else since I met you.”
Emotion tightened his chest, and he kissed her hard. “There hasn’t been anyone but you for me either.”
Cara’s eyes welled, but the tears didn’t spill. “Show me. I need you inside me.”
Spooning her body from behind, he slid his erection between her legs, brushing her wet core. They both groaned at the exquisite sensation. Reaching around, he stroked her mound, finding the sweet spot hidden in its folds. Then he drove his cock home.
She screamed her pleasure, asking for more, urging him faster and deeper. She tilted her bottom, aiding his penetration, as his thrusts shoved her up on her toes. The chant of
mine, mine, mine
ran through his head as seven months of sexual need spurred him. Too soon her release hit, and the strength of her climax triggered his own. With her name on his lips, he had the longest, strongest orgasm of his life.
Chapter Six
Cara’s arms trembled, and her legs threatened to collapse, but Ron’s arm around her waist held her tight against him. He remained inside her, and small contractions, both hers and his, echoed their simultaneous climax. Finally, their breathing slowed, and he slipped out. Before she could mourn the loss, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bathroom.
She squeaked when he set her on the counter by the sink. The tile was cold, but it felt great against her hot skin. Without speaking, he turned on the water in his Jacuzzi tub, and soon steam was filling the bathroom. The silence stretched between them, companionable and yet still sexually charged. She was almost afraid to speak and break the mood. Feeling a little shy, she looked at Ron under lowered lashes. She’d never been so turned on in her life. Would he think less of her for loving his coarse language and rough sex?