By the afternoon he knew with certainty he couldn't do it; he couldn't pretend that he didn't want her. He felt like he was stalking her around his shop. She went in the back room and he remembered something he needed back there. She was by the counter and he felt the need to look at the appointment book. And it wasn't that he wanted a woman; he wanted that woman.
It wasn't about the chase with Faith, either. He'd already had her and it hadn't lessened the urge at all. It had only made it worse. When he saw her walking around the shop, in her little white sundress, straightening up and then flipping through his books by the front counter, two things ran through his mind. First, she was the very antithesis of what he normally went for. She had none of the edge of his past lovers but that didn't seem to matter. Second, and the bigger issue, if he slept with her again, there was sure to be hurt feelings that wouldn't wear off in a week or two. It was already awkward but if he stayed away from her, things would eventually go back to some semblance of normal. He shouldn't touch her. It would bring nothing but problems.
But all the logic in the world couldn't rid him of the desire to throw her over his shoulder, carry her up to his bed and not let her leave until he finally got his fill of her, if it were even possible. And that thought was starting to consume every ounce of his brain and forcing out all the reasons why he shouldn't.
He watched her walk across the shop floor and then back towards the counter. Her phone dinged a notification and she looked at it and for the first time that day, a small smile appeared on her face as she typed a reply to the text she must have gotten from one of the guys. She leaned forward slightly, that simple action causing the back of her skirt to edge up slightly higher on her thighs. Another ding and a little giggle escaped her lips and jealousy ripped through him that they were making her laugh. She was smiling for them while she wouldn't even speak to him.
Logic fled completely. He didn't care anymore. He'd hit critical mass. She was his and he wasn't letting another day go by that she and everyone else didn't know it.
***
The last client of the day left and Faith watched Lars walk toward the door and click the lock shut. It wasn't something that should have caught her attention. It was right around closing time. Nothing unusual. But it did.
Maybe it was the looks he'd been giving her all day, when he thought she hadn't been looking, or the elevated tension between them. Whatever it was, when he turned around, she knew exactly what his purpose was. It was a very bad idea to go down this road with him again but damn if her nipples weren't hard buds.
He walked over to the two large windows and pulled down the shades until they hit the sills.
"Why are you pulling them down?" she asked, even though she already had her suspicions.
"No reason," he said.
"Don't look at me like that."
He kept walking toward her, expression unchanged. "Why?"
"Because I don't think it's a good idea."
"Why?"
"Because-it just isn't."
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, not enough to be a smile, just enough to add a devilish touch to an already sinfully alarming face. "You're going to have to give me a better reason than that."
"No, I don't." She certainly wasn't going to tell him the way he'd been so cold after they'd had sex had crushed her feelings, or finding out just how little he trusted her had closed the door even further.
He got closer and she turned her back on him, which turned out to be a bad decision and not a deterrent at all. His arm wrapped around her waist, and his hand splayed against her stomach, pulling her back snug against him. Her fingers grabbed his hand, getting ready to pull it from her but her own weakness made her hesitate. Why? Of all the people she'd known in her life, why did he have to be the one she struggled to resist?
He brushed her hair away from her shoulder with his free hand, and then leaning down, started to slowly kiss his way toward her neck.
"Lars-"
"You don't know what watching you all day does to me."
She shouldn't still want him but she did.
His voice, husky as he spoke against her skin, was quickening her response. His hand on her stomach started to slide downward until his fingers were pressing through the two layers of fabric at the juncture of her legs. His fingers pressed there and then didn't move.
"You really don't want this?"
Without meaning to, she moved against his hand.
"I thought so," he said as his fingers started making a circular motion.
She had to stop this, and quickly. She tried to remember why, and it took some concentration but she remembered his cold demeanor minutes after he'd slept with her last time. The thought of that happening again gave her strength. She grabbed his arm and pushed it away from her.
"Lars-" she started.
She'd only taken a step away when he spoke. "I know I've handled things badly."
Her steps paused as she cursed herself for being so weak. She should keep walking, not wait to hear what else he'd say.
"Faith, I want you like I've never wanted anyone in my life." There was a struggle in his voice, as if he hadn't wanted to say those words. What they'd cost him.
Walk. She needed to walk away from him. But those words grounded her to the spot and sucked at her emotions like she was sinking in quicksand.
She stood frozen, common sense and self-preservation keeping her from taking a step back to him but every other piece of her heart, body and soul refusing to let her move away.
He finally closed the gap between the two of them and she could feel him coming up behind her. He was pulling her dress up and then his fingers weren't just pressing against her but entering her and all resistance was gone. If she'd been honest with herself, she'd never really wanted to resist him to begin with. She'd picked out this dress with him in mind. She'd walked around the shop, leaning over just enough to entice him because the thought of him not wanting her, when she hadn't been able to stop thinking of him, crushed her.
She arched into him and then spun around toward him, wanting more. Their lips met and there was no hesitation but a shared hunger as her hands sank into his hair and his grabbed her ass, pulling her against his bulge.
He started walking with her but she stopped him with two hands on his chest that moved down to his pants. She kneeled down in front of him and unbuttoned his jeans, pulling the zipper down. She tasted his desire on her tongue as she took the head of his dick into her mouth.
His hands ran along her scalp as his head fell back on a groan. Then they shifted to her arms, pulling her upward and spinning her in the direction of the tattoo bench. He pressed her forward until she was kneeling on it. His palms ran up the back of her thighs, dragging the dress with them until it bunched at her waist and then pushing her panties down. His hands cupped her ass as his cock teased her entrance. He pressed into her and it felt even better than it had the first time as she pushed back against him. It was a frantic joining that had them both gasping and winded within minutes.
Her body tensed with the most exquisite orgasm she'd ever experienced and then she felt him pulling out of her.
The dread of how he'd act after this second time around didn't have time to settle in as he spun her around and picked her up.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"What I've imagined doing to you all day. Throwing you on my bed and fucking you until your legs are too weak to try and stand."
Chapter 29
His phone buzzed on the table beside him and he grabbed it quickly so as not to wake Faith. He'd had her up for more hours than he should've but he'd had to make up for all that withholding he'd done. Once he'd decided to just go with it, he couldn't seem to stop touching her. Even now, as her face looked so sweet, lying there resting on the pillow beside him, he was thinking of the dirty things he wanted to do with that mouth.
But it wasn't just having sex with her. He liked that she was sleeping beside him in his bed. After he was done with a woman, he usually couldn't wait to get rid of her. But with Faith, he wanted to curl around her and settle in. When he was with her and they were getting along, he felt at ease for the first time in centuries.
His phone buzzed again, stopping him from doing exactly that.
He looked down at the text message from Cutty on his phone. "Come over."
He stopped by Cutty's all the time but something about this invite seemed different. Maybe because they didn't usually do invites. They simply just showed up at each other's places whenever they were in the mood. He texted back, "Why?"