Authors: Maureen Smith
“God, I've never been so embarrassed in my life,” Raina muttered, removing her hands from her face. “You must have thought I was completely disgusting and immature.”
“Nah,” Warrick said softly. “I thought you were kind of adorable.”
She gave him a dubious look. “Sure, that's what you're saying now, fourteen years after the fact. I seem to remember you singing a different tune that night.”
Warrick searched her eyes. “How much do you remember about that night?”
Do you remember the things you said to me?
was what he really wanted to know.
Raina held his gaze for a moment before glancing away, her full lips curving ruefully. “I remember enough to know I made a complete jackass of myself in front of you and all your friends, to the extent that when they saw me at your graduation a couple months later, they were still laughing at me. And I remember enough about that night to know it was the first and last time I have ever allowed myself to get drunk.”
Warrick chuckled softly. “So you learned your lesson, huh?”
Raina snorted out a laugh. “Oh, yeah. Most definitely.”
“Good.” Warrick smiled at her, enjoying their relaxed camaraderie more than he cared to admit.
Shaking off the thought, he downed the rest of his beer and tossed the bottle in the trash, then went back to work on the car, though suddenly he couldn't concentrate on a damn thing.
Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Raina shifted from one foot to another, looking as if she were trying to decide whether to leave or stay. He found himself waiting, hoping she would choose the latter.
Finally she took a small, tentative step toward him. “Actually, Warrick, I have a confession to make.”
He glanced up from the engine and looked at her expectantly.
Nervously she moistened her lips. “Okay, I didn't lie when I told you I didn't know you were over here until I pulled up. That part was true. What I didn't mention is that the reason I called your uncle this afternoon was to get your phone number.”
He raised a brow. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. There's something I, uh, wanted to discuss with you.”
Warrick straightened slowly out from under the car's hood. He could think of only one reason Raina had sought him out that afternoon. She had decided to sell her property to him. It had taken her just one day to consider his offer and come to her senses.
Good. Better late than never.
“Go on,” he murmured when she hesitated uncertainly. “I'm listening.”
Raina met his gaze for a prolonged moment, then suddenly began shaking her head. “Never mind.”
Warrick frowned. “What do you mean, never mind?”
“It wasn't important. Just forget it.”
“Rainaâ”
“It's getting late. I should go. My sister's expecting me for dinner, and I promised to stop by the bakery first and pick up dessert.”
Warrick clenched his jaw.
“Rainaâ”
“Could you let your uncle know I had to leave?” she said, starting to walk away. “I really wanted to wait for him, butâ”
With a muffled curse Warrick reached out, grabbing her wrist to halt her retreat. As she whirled around, trying to jerk out of his grasp, her beer bottle slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor.
Raina gasped. “See what you made me do!”
Warrick scowled.
As she clumsily tried to sidestep the spill, he instinctively tightened his hold on her wrist and pulled her toward him. “Watch the glass,” he growled warningly. “You're wearing open-toed shoes.”
She glared up at him, dark eyes flashing, nostrils slightly flared, breasts heaving as she struggled to slow her agitated breathing.
Warrick saw the exact moment she became aware of how close they stood, the moment she realized that one more step, one little tug from him, could bring their bodies into full contact. Her pupils darkened, turning almost smoky. Those voluptuous, pillowy lips parted on a soundless breath.
They stared at each other. The electricity crackling between them was enough to power every tool and machine in that garage.
As Warrick watched, her eyes lowered to his throat, following the movement of his Adam's apple as he swallowed convulsively. Her gaze lingered there for a moment before dropping lower. Warrick's heart thudded as she stared at his bare chest, her eyes filled with a smoldering, naked hunger that knocked the air from his lungs.
“Touch me,” he commanded, hoarse with need.
Raina raised her eyes to his taut face.
“Please,”
he whispered huskily.
Slowly and tentatively, she lifted her hand. Warrick watched through heavy-lidded eyes as she experimentally laid her palm against his chest. A hard shudder swept through him. Her hand was soft and incredibly warm, her touch searing his skin. All the blood in his body seemed to converge upon that single point of contact before rushing, hot and heavy, to his loins.
His heart thundered furiously as Raina began to explore him, trailing her fingers over the thick cords of his shoulders and along the rigid planes of his chest. Warrick couldn't remember the last time, if ever, a woman's touch had wreaked such havoc on his senses. When her hand grazed his nipple, it hardened. Her lips parted slightly, as if she were surprised that she could elicit such a response from him. Fascinated, she brushed her thumb back and forth across the flat dark nipple, teasing and tormenting him. Warrick closed his eyes, swallowing a ragged groan. It escaped a moment later when her roaming hand slid down to his abdomen, inching ever closer to where his engorged shaft strained against the zipper of his jeans.
Warrick opened his eyes, and their gazes locked.
No words were spoken.
He lowered his head and slanted his mouth over hers.
At the first touch of her warm, luscious lips beneath his, a jolt of
pure need sizzled through his veins and raced to his groin. She tasted like heaven, her mouth so soft and inviting it was as though she had been anticipating this moment her entire life. Warrick sure as hell felt like
he
had. Kissing Raina was unlike anything he had ever imagined.
Wanting to take his time and savor her, he molded his mouth to hers, exploring the soft, sensual contours of her lips. She trembled beneath him. He sank his fingers into the thick, silken mass of her hair, his other hand banding around her waist to draw her against the full length of his body. She leaned into him, her arms sliding up his chest to wrap around his neck. Warrick shuddered at the feel of her soft, round breasts crushed to his chest. As he traced his tongue over her lips and licked the inner seam, she shivered, rocking her hips against his pelvis. Warrick felt a dark thrill of pleasure.
He opened his mouth over hers, urging her lips to part, demanding it. The moment they did, he plunged his tongue inside the sweet, velvety heat of her mouth. She let out a broken moan, the sound igniting his blood. The kiss exploded. Teeth scraped. Tongues tangled feverishly, erotically. In the space of a heartbeat Warrick went from kissing her to ravaging her.
He cupped her breast, and she gasped into his mouth. Through the thin cotton of her tank top, he circled the outline of her nipple with the pad of his thumb. Her breast swelled in his hand, her nipple beaded beneath his touch. His other hand roamed down her spine, spanning her flared waist before cupping her lush, shapely bottom and holding her tightly against his throbbing erection. Her husky moan of pleasure joined his own.
He dragged his mouth from hers to nuzzle the delicate, sensitive skin behind her ear before trailing lower, raining kisses along her throat. Her skin was as soft as silk, hot and damp with perspiration. He inhaled her scent, an intoxicating blend of the light, exotic perfume she wore mingled with her own natural essence. He flicked his tongue over the pulse beating at the hollow of her neck and gently suckled her. She whimpered his name, cupping the back of his head and urging him closer as his lips returned hungrily to hers.
In a dim corner of his mind, a voice reminded Warrick that this woman was his enemy, a woman who could not be trusted. But in that moment he didn't give a damn about old feuds. All that mattered was quenching the fire in his blood.
With all his experience, Warrick had thought he was familiar with every physical sensation imaginable. But there was no precedence for this savage, insatiable need pounding through his body, making him a slave to his most primal instincts and desires. He wanted to bury himself deep inside Raina's tight, slippery heat. He wanted to devour her.
With a rough, guttural sound, he slammed down the hood of the Thunderbird, grasped her bottom and lifted her onto the car. Her eyes widened slightly, and for an instant Warrick was afraid she would come to her senses and push him away. But when he stepped between her legs, she wrapped them tightly around his waist. He groaned, the sound both tortured and relieved. Their lips and tongues fused in a hot, carnal kiss that left them both panting. Suddenly the air in the garage seemed hotter than before, thick with the musk of their arousal. A slick sheen of sweat covered their bodies, and their pounding heartbeats blended as one.
Warrick couldn't get enough of Raina. Her taste, her heady scent, the silken warmth of her skin, the voluptuous curves of her body. Sucking on her bottom lip, he rubbed his bare chest against her nipples until the friction made them stand out. She groaned and clung to his shoulders.
He could feel the tension tightening in her limbs, could hear her breath coming in short, ragged gasps that matched his own. Her hips writhed frantically against him, grinding against his erection in a manner that threatened to drive him over the edge. Through the thick fog of desire clouding his brain, he thought about carrying her inside the house, taking her to the spare bedroom he used whenever he stayed with his uncle. The king-size bed with the cool cotton sheets would be a hell of a lot more comfortable than the hood of a car.
But he didn't move. He
couldn't.
The thought of leaving Raina's embrace, even temporarily, was out of the question.
And then she reached behind him and squeezed his butt, and he sucked in a sharp breath. They rocked against each other, a slow, sensual grind that left no doubt in Warrick's mind that their lovemaking would be a soul-shattering experience.
Hands tangling in her hair, Warrick deepened the openmouthed kiss, his hips thrusting against her in a blatantly erotic imitation of what he wanted to do to her with no barriers separating their bodies.
Raina moaned, eagerly matching his rhythm. He reached between their bodies and cupped her mound, imagining the glorious heat and wetness that lay just beyond his touch. Raina shivered hard. And then suddenly she stiffened. Her nails bit into his back and she arched in his arms, her head falling back as she let out a hoarse, startled cry. Warrick held her trembling body, reveling in the force of her release even as moments later his own body bucked violently, shocking him, tearing a raw expletive from his throat.
They clutched each other tightly for several moments, their foreheads resting against each other's, their chests heaving as they struggled for breath.
At length Warrick lifted his head and gazed down at Raina. Her face was flushed, her hair was disheveled and her dark eyes were wide with stunned disbelief.
“IâI can't believe we just did that,” she whispered.
“Neither can I,” Warrick admitted huskily.
They stared at each other.
A moment later they heard Randall's voice, talking on his cell phone as he approached the garage.
With a panicked expression, Raina scrambled off the hood of the Thunderbird, batting aside Warrick's hand as he tried to help her down. She smoothed down her hair and tugged her tank top back into place.
“Rainaâ”
“I have to go,” she said breathlessly, stepping around the broken glass on the floor as she hurried away from him.
On her way out of the garage she nearly collided with Randall. He smiled at her as he ended his call and tucked his phone into the back pocket of his blue coveralls.
“Leaving so soon, baby girl?”
Raina nodded, mustering a wobbly smile. “I don't want to be late for dinner with my sister. We get together every Tuesday, and she's a stickler for punctuality.”
Randall chuckled. “I understand. Well, at least let Warrick walk you to your car.”
“No!” When Randall arched a brow at her, she said less vehemently, “I mean, that's all right. IâI can see myself out.” She leaned on tiptoe, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Thanks for letting me
see your prize on wheels. She's every bit as special as you said she was.”
Across the room, Warrick smiled at the irony of her words.
Without sparing him a backward glance, Raina beat a hasty retreat.
Randall stared after her for a moment, then turned to look questioningly at his nephew. “What in God's name did you do to that young lady?”
“Not half as much as I wanted to,” Warrick muttered under his breath, low enough not to be overheard.