The Virgin's Revenge (21 page)

He turned halfway to the table, relaxing for the first time. “You made ribs?”

“No,” she scoffed. “Vegetarian lasagna.”

Now his brows really went up, that smile of his completely lighting his face. “When did you figure that out?”

“About five years ago. Every time I made it, all the leftovers disappeared immediately. I knew right away it had to be you. None of my brothers eat it unless scurvy starts setting in, and only if I hide some sausage in it.”

His bark of laughter burst out of him so hard he actually covered his mouth.

“What?” she asked, giggling at him as he practically fell into his seat.

“Are you kidding? Can’t you imagine how much fun I’m going to have telling them you’ve been playing ‘hide the sausage’ with them?”

She let him laugh, chuckling a little herself as she went for the casserole in her oven. “There’s something so wrong with you.”

That started him up all over again, and the butterflies in her stomach finally began to settle. This she could handle. This was natural. Comfortable. Wonderful.

She served the food into bowls, setting it in front of him as she shook her head. Another trip to the fridge and she brought out the wine. That served, she settled across from him, sinking her fork into the cheesy goodness. They ate in an amiable silence, one that had his shoulders relaxing little by little.

“So,” she finally said, the edge of her own hunger abated. “Since I told you my secret, how about you tell me yours.”

The twinkle in his eyes brought a few of the butterflies back, but they were the good kind. “Oh? And which secret is that?”

“The lasagna.”

“You sure? Wasn’t that
my
secret already? Because if you wanna ’fess up about the lifetime supply of condoms you bought at Sid’s Pharmacy, now would be a good time.”

Her face heated, she knew it, but she smiled anyway. “I was starting to wonder if anyone told you about that.”

“Your
brothers
told me about that.”

Her eyes widened. “The elder twins?”

“Are you high? My spleen would be on parade right now if they talked to me about it. No, Steven and Peter. They thought it was funny.”

Probably because they knew she wasn’t using them. No one bought two hundred condoms unless they were trying to make a point.

“You didn’t get mad,” she noted. The temptation to get him ticked again after the catalog stunt was always just under the skin. Part of her had hoped, just a little, that he’d freak out and kiss her senseless again. When he was mad, he didn’t have nearly as much interest in saying no to her advances.

“Hard to get mad when your girlfriend publicly buys industrial-sized boxes of extra-large prophylactics.” He winked, and she sucked in a breath. Dammit, he knew what that did to her, she knew he did. “What was the point of that, by the way? Other than inciting the masses?”

“You don’t believe I wanted to be prepared?”

He snorted. “For what? Moving underground for the next fifty years?”

“It would take you fifty years to have sex two hundred times?” She scrunched her face, trying to sort out the math. “How often is that?”

He blinked, and she could see him calculating without even wanting to. “Once every ninety-one point two-five days. Give or take.”

“Give or take?”

“Well, you could ignore that point two-five or save it until it adds up to a whole number, then use it to have extra sex.”

“Like a leap year.”
Don’t laugh, don’t laugh. It’ll be that hysterical hyena laugh of a woman totally out of her depth.

“You could call it that. Leap sex would make a hell of a lot more sense, though.”

That was it, she was done. The man could squeeze all the innuendo out of a sex manual when he wanted. “Only you could turn your girlfriend buying an obscene number of condoms into a mathematical discussion.”

“Technically, you’re the one who did that by asking how frequently you’d get to use them. You’re just unhappy because the answer means a three-month wait.” His gaze moved over her face, the teasing disappearing for a second before he cleared his throat and pasted back on his teasing grin. “Personally, I don’t think they would last a month.”

At that she choked. “Now you’re a sexual Olympian?”

“Anyone could be, with the proper motivation.”

“To say nothing of hydration.” She took another bite, half-wondering if he could hear her heart starting to thud because of this strange conversation. “I bet I could make it.”

“Only once every three months? For the rest of your life?”

“Sure, why not?” After twenty-six years, three months would be nothing. “You know, if it was worth the wait.”

“If it was worth it, trust me, you wouldn’t be able to stop at just once.” His husky voice froze her in the act of raising the fork to her lips.

Be cool. Be cool. Oh, God, did he have to use that tone?
When his voice got all rough and deep like that, all she could picture was him sounding like that with his mouth pressed against her ear, her lobe trapped between his teeth. She couldn’t swallow her bite now—she’d choke for sure. She settled for putting her still-loaded fork back on her plate and lightly saying, “Oh?”

Because that sounded unflustered. Ish.

His nod was solemn, his voice low. “When someone gets in your blood, when all you can think about is the way they feel, the way they taste and sound and touch…” There was no missing the intensity in his dark eyes now. Heat. Hunger. This time, she knew he wasn’t going to leave her wanting. “Once would never be enough.”

She stared at him across the table, heart thudding, breath shallow, uncertainty threading through her. She licked her dry lips, startled when his gaze tracked the motion. A confident woman would probably get up and walk to the bedroom, taking her clothes off as she went, leaving zero confusion as to what she wanted. But hard as she tried, the confidence she had built for herself in everything else was impossible to dredge up.

Cole pushed his plate aside, then reached his hand out to her on the tabletop. This was it. The high road or the low one. Her chance to tell him she knew why he’d come to her in the first place, give him the opportunity to make it real before they went any farther. Susie was right, she knew. Amanda didn’t have to stick to her stupid revenge plan. She could just forgive and forget and move on with her life. A life Cole might very well want to be part of. Maybe. Possibly. At least for a little while.

Or she could take her chance to have what she’d always wanted and leave all the doubts for later.

Put that way, what other choice could she make?

She fit her hand into his, let him pull her to her feet and lead her around the table until she stood between his open knees. His other hand cupped the back of her knee, sliding up and down in a caress that was anything but casual. Did he feel her shaking? She moved her own hands to his shoulders, loving the warm feel of his muscles beneath the soft gray T-shirt.

“Tell me what you want tonight, Amanda.” A sensual order, one that didn’t make her bristle. “Tell me so I can give it to you.”

“No more running for your life?” Because she didn’t think she could bear it if he left her tonight.

Cole shook his head. “Anything you want. It’s yours.”

Anything. Now that was a heady offer. His body? Oh yes, please. She wanted so much to be free to touch him, explore him and memorize every exquisite second of the experience. But as she looked down into his earnest face, tracing his bottom lip with her fingertip, she knew it wouldn’t be enough.

God, she was in love with this man.

More than she ever had been before. She loved his humor and his kindness. The ways he constantly tried to give her what she needed, even if it wasn’t exactly what she wanted. These last few months had to have been miserable for him, even if she didn’t know why he was going through with it. But she did know, somehow, some way, he was doing it all for her.

You don’t have to save me from anything, Cole.

But she couldn’t bring the words to her lips. Because she was just selfish enough to want this one night with him. To need it. To need him, even if it was all a lie.

“I want you, Cole. Just you.”
For the rest of my life.
But she couldn’t ask that of him. Couldn’t expect it or even hope for it. She closed her eyes and leaned down to kiss him.

He met her light kiss with one of his own, rising from the chair as he gave her another. A firmer one. Hands settling on her waist, he pulled her against him as he got to his feet. Securing her right where he wanted her.

As if she were going to go anywhere else…

There was nowhere else.

His lips caressed hers, the lightest lick of his tongue across the bottom curve. She opened more for him, hungry for the next taste. He didn’t disappoint, deepening the kiss, his fingers tightening over her hips. His thumbs slipped under the hem of her tank top, grazing small circles over her skin.

She moaned and his grip tightened.

Long moments passed, the two of them just savoring one another, twining around each other. His hands moved up her back, but when one of his thumbs caressed the underside of her breast, she pulled away in surprise. He followed her lips, his smile something she felt more than saw. There was no way she could lift her lashes more than the tiny bit she already had. Sensuality had already turned every inch of her languid.

“We should…go…” She couldn’t think with his thumb stroking over her nipple that way. It was both exciting and not exciting enough. She wanted more. His hands on her skin. His mouth.

“Bedroom,” he murmured with a small nod.

“Uh-huh.” And yet, she couldn’t move. If she moved, this spell might break. Her dream might end.

“Amanda,” he whispered against her lips.

“Hmm?” She licked his in response.

“Baby, if I don’t get you somewhere else, I’m going to take you right here.”

“On the table?” It was sturdy, but she didn’t think it could handle their weight. Especially not with their plates still on it…

Cole shook his head. “Against the wall.”

Her eyes opened at that. She’d read about wall sex. A lot. “Can we?”

He leaned away to peer at her through slitted eyes. He turned to the wall behind him, then back to her. For a second, she thought he really considered it, but finally he shook his head. “Maybe later.”

Taking her mouth, he shuffled her backward, kissing and steering her this way and that until she had no idea where she was, nor did she care.

“I want to lay you down,” he said softly, his hands easing over her shoulders and sliding the little sweater off them. “I want you spread out, so I can lick every single inch of you.”

Oh God…
“Promise?”

He stopped moving. Their eyes met, his so rich and dark that she wondered if he’d mesmerized her with them. Or maybe it was that purely masculine smile. “Oh, yeah. I promise. Twice, even.”

“The promising or the licking?” Even quivering with need, she couldn’t stop herself from teasing him. That smile invited it, so playful and hungry. And oh, she was so hungry too…

“Both.” He guided her backward until the backs of her thighs found the edge of her bed. Then farther, as he leaned over her for another kiss, not stopping until her back had settled into the softness of her own duvet. “Definitely both.”

His knee dipped into the bed between her own, urging her to scoot up the bed, him following her until they could both stretch out, his body half over hers, their mouths fused, hands wandering.

Her hands found their way under his shirt, and she reveled at the sleekness of his skin, the rippling firmness of his belly. His body was so warm, the crisp hairs under his navel tickling as she followed them to his waistband, then back up over his chest. His textures were so different from hers, and she wanted to feel every one.

He levered up to a sitting position, seemingly reading her mind as he pulled his shirt up and over his head. Smooth skin, lightly tanned, filled her vision. Her mouth watered. Where to start?

“You’re looking at me like I’m candy,” he rumbled. Was that shyness she heard? Hard to imagine, but it was possible. He was baring himself to her the same as she was to him. Changing the rules irrevocably.

“You are,” she whispered, deciding on her spot. She crawled up onto her knees, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. A taste was all she wanted. A lick of him while she breathed in his scent. His arms came around her, welcoming her, his hands molding her.

He let her take her little sucking kisses, the kind she’d already learned made him growl, but this time his hands didn’t lock on her hips to keep her from undulating. No, this time, his fingers hooked onto the strap of her tank top, pulling it and the white elastic strap of her bra off her shoulder and replacing them with his mouth. Hot moisture against her skin had her gasping and squeezing her thighs together.

She arched backward, her senses reeling when his hands each cupped a breast, plumping the tops over her round collar. Then, oh God, he licked a wet trail over the swells he’d made. Her nipples hardened, aching until they stung, craving his mouth to come to them as well.

She clung to him, arching farther, willing him to keep pushing the shirt and bra out of his way, but he continued feasting on her flesh as if they had all the time in the world. She bit back what she suspected was a sob of some kind. He didn’t know, he couldn’t know, how badly she wanted him to lick at them, suck on them. If he did, he’d be there already.

“Wait, wait, wait,” she snapped, unable to take it anymore.

Cole let her go, his cheeks flushed, but he stopped as if she’d suddenly caught fire and started backing up.

Amanda grabbed his waistband and grinned at his swiftly indrawn breath. “I said
wait
, not
stop
.”

Before he got any other dumb ideas, she whipped her top over her head. Rather than deal with this twice—he might get it in his head to take off before she caught him next time—she unhooked the back of her bra too, shrugging out of it and throwing it…somewhere.

Cole sat back, looking pole-axed long enough that the nerves she’d thought burned away came back full force. He just stared. Mouth slightly hanging, like a man gone completely slack. She started to cross her arms over her nudity, but he caught her arms to her sides, shaking his head. “Don’t.”