as a statue. But so much warmer. Hotter.
Her pulse stuttered like the woodpecker that sometimes woke her by pecking on the gutter outside her bedroom. She sipped from Rand’s mouth and then traced his lips with her tongue.
An almost inaudible sound rumbled deep in his throat. The fingers at her waist tightened. But he didn’t push her away.
In their past relationship she’d never been bold enough to take the initiative with him, but back then she’d been inexperienced and unsure.
She tasted him, sweeping the soft inner flesh of his lips and his slick teeth, and then she leaned in to him. His saunalike heat soaked through her thin gown and robe, scorching her breasts and abdomen and making her ache deep in her core.
Only Rand could melt her with nothing more than a kiss. Only Rand could banish the emptiness and loneliness clawing at her. She wanted him like she’d never wanted any other man. Showing him seemed … important somehow.
She lifted her head and sank back on her heels, then glided her hands over his chest, across the hard nubs of his tiny nipples and the sparse curls covering his pectorals. She traced the hairline leading to the towel with a feather-light caress. His skin goose-bumped and his stomach muscles contracted beneath her fingertips. His indrawn breath hissed.
She’d always loved touching him, pleasuring him, making this man who seemed so in control ninety-nine percent of the time lose it. He’d taught her how. In fact, he’d taught her everything she knew about making love, but she’d always been tentative and afraid of doing something wrong. In the end she had, but it had been her words, not her actions, that drove him away.
Leaning in, she painted a wet circle around one nipple and then the other. She grasped the towel on his hips for balance, sliding her fingers behind the damp barrier. The knot loosened. She tugged and the covering dropped to the floor, revealing his thick erection.
He wanted her. Wanted this. The undeniable proof stood between them.
Encircling his smooth shaft with one hand, she cupped him with the other and tested his length, his silkiness. His muscles turned rigid, the tendons of his face and neck strained. She circled the satiny head with her thumb the way she knew he liked and relished his groan.
“Tara—”
“Shh. Let me.” She sank to her knees and licked him from base to tip.
He jammed his fingers into her hair so swiftly she expected him to yank her away. But he didn’t. Parting her lips, she took as much of him into her mouth as she could, stroking him, loving him. His texture. His taste. His response. Each growl and hiss and pulse rewarded her efforts.
She dragged one hand down a rock-hard thigh and skimmed it around to cup his clenched buttocks. Her tongue swirled around him and the fingers in her hair trembled. Each little quake teased her scalp and heated her core. She smiled and deepened her kiss, knowing he liked what she was doing.
Rand swore.
“Tara.” He ground out her name in a command, a warning, a plea.
She dragged her short nails up and down the back of his thigh. The tremors spread to his legs. His toes curled into the rug.
She remembered his erogenous zones, the spots that made Rand shudder, and she shamelessly reacquainted herself with each one, lingering until his back bowed and his fingers fisted. He tried to pull away, but she cinched her arms around him and wouldn’t let him go. And then he roared out his pleasure.
Moments later his hands fell heavily to her shoulders, then he cupped her face and urged her to stand. She rose slowly, kissing a path from his hipbone to his sternum, his collarbone, his jaw and finally his mouth.
Rand’s arms banded around her, crushing her body to his as he kissed her so fiercely she grew dizzy and had to break away to gasp for breath. His hazel eyes burned into hers and his nostrils flared with each inhalation.
Happy that she could give him as much pleasure as he’d given her two nights ago, she smiled and traced a finger along his jaw. As long as they had this explosive chemistry between them, she had a chance to revive and improve on their past relationship.
“Thank you for being there for me.” Her words came out choppy with emotion. It had been so long since she’d had someone to lean on. But she wasn’t going to turn on the waterworks in front of him again. She’d done enough of that last night.
She wiggled free and made a beeline for the door.
“What was that about?” Rand’s harsh voice stopped her before she could escape. Tara looked at him over her shoulder. Suspicion clouded his eyes, and it tore her heart. Why couldn’t he trust her?
“I wanted to make you feel good.”
The flush of passion had faded from his face and his lips made a thin, straight line. “What do you expect in return?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Right.” Disbelief stretched out the word. He closed the distance between them until he loomed over her. “You want me. I can see it in your eyes and the color of your cheeks. Your nipples are hard. I’ll bet you’re wet, Tara.”
“Without a doubt.”
He lifted his hand and grasped her shoulder. His thumb covered the racing pulse at the base of her neck. She shivered.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t aroused, Rand. I said I didn’t expect anything from you tonight.”
“But you wouldn’t say no.” The razor-sharp edge had returned to his voice. He dragged a finger to her breast, bumped over a tightened nipple, bisected her belly and grazed the sensitive area between her thighs.
Desire clenched her womb. But Rand seemed angry instead of turned on and his anger wasn’t what she craved. The gold flecks in his irises glittered, but not with hunger. This wasn’t the same man she’d lost her heart to. This Rand was harder, less trusting and less charming.
What had made him that way?
“I wouldn’t say no if I thought you wanted me right now. But you don’t. And I don’t want you back in my bed until you want to be there.” Backing him into a corner and demanding sex had only thickened the walls between them. She had to give him space.
His eyes narrowed to slits. “What game are you playing?”
“No game.” She stepped away although part of her ached to stay, to find sexual pleasure with him even though she knew she’d regret it later. “Good night, Rand. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She slipped through the door and into her room.
Gaining his trust would be difficult, but if she couldn’t do that, then she’d never win his heart. Five years ago she hadn’t been up to the task, but today she was older, wiser, stronger and more determined. She wasn’t going to rush this time. She had a full year to accomplish her goal.
She wanted the man she’d fallen in love with back, and then she’d win him over.
Because this time nothing less than everything Rand Kincaid had to offer would be enough.
