“I want you too, Cailin.” Alex spoke from his heart, and his voice cracked with emotion by the end of those five little words.
“And that sounds like my cue to get outta here,” Sara Beth teased. She stood and looked down at them both. Then she brushed Alex’s cheek with a sweet kiss. “Congrats, Alex.”
Questions remained—a lot of them—but for tonight, he let them go. Instead he smiled. “Thanks.”
Cailin stood from the love seat. She stepped tentatively toward Sara Beth, then enveloped the other woman in a fervent hug, turned her face into Sara Beth’s neck, and whispered fiercely, “Thank you. Your secret is safe with me.”
Sara Beth gripped her tight and whispered something Alex couldn’t hear in her ear. Cailin stepped back with a laugh and brushed stray tears from her cheeks.
Sara Beth headed for the door. “Don’t worry about tonight. Ian has enough presence for all of us put together. Take the night off.”
As if he’d planned on anything else. Alex raised a brow at Cailin. “You heard the lady. Go get your stuff. We’re going home.”
“We are?”
“Absolutely.” He leaned close, her scent surrounding him, and breathed against her ear, “I’ve waited a long time to have you again. You’ve got five minutes. Then you’re mine.”
Chapter Nine
For some reason, Cailin had expected Alex to jump her the minute the door closed on her tiny house. The frantic groping in the bathroom had shown evidence of desperate need, a need she more than shared. But Alex seemed to have other ideas.
Leaning back against the closed door, he drank her in. Cailin dropped her bags, for once not anxious or nervous or afraid. Instead she waited, confident that the man standing in front of her wanted her, needed her with an aching urgency that matched her own. Even if she hadn’t been, the words that escaped his mouth would have convinced her.
“God, sweetheart. I just keep waiting to wake up and find out this is a dream.”
It wasn’t an admission of love—she wasn’t even sure she wanted one. Their situation was too complex, too rife with the possibility for heartache. But they were exactly what she needed to hear.
Tears gathered, but she shook them away. This was no time for tears. That time had passed. Now was the time for her and Alex. Holding her arms out from her sides, she said, “I’m right here. Touch me if you don’t believe it.”
Molten heat flashed across his face. He tensed, lifting his body away from the door, and began a slow stalk across the room. Cailin backed away on weak legs, stumbling blindly down the hall, dragging her hands along the walls to help guide her in the dark. But Alex she saw clearly. Fire blazed in his eyes, so hot she felt beads of sweat gathering between her breasts.
“The shirt.” His voice rumbled, vibrating along her spine. The buttons resisted her trembling efforts and concentrating as she walked backward didn’t help, but finally her shirt slid down her arms, leaving mostly bare skin to Alex’s sight. He purred his pleasure, then commanded, “Bra.”
The smile she struggled to hold back stretched her mouth wide. She couldn’t contain it, couldn’t contain the joy bursting inside. She reached behind her back, undid the clasp, and slowly shrugged her bra off, allowing the cool air access to her overwarm skin. She bumped into the hall wall.
Alex grinned too, but his smile was all teeth. “Skirt.”
One step. Two. The button gave, then the zipper. The stretchy material clung to her legs, hindering her next step, the little shimmy she gave to free it setting her breasts jiggling in a way that caused Alex to stumble. Femininity and freedom filled her as the cloth finally slid the rest of the way to her feet. Oh yes, she liked this.
The doorway to her bedroom loomed behind her. Cailin caught one edge, using it for leverage as she lifted a leg to unhook the blue shoes she still wore. Alex growled and shook his head. “Uh-uh.”
Tilting her head at his gruff command, she allowed her hand to meander its way back up her leg, drawing attention to hills, caressing valleys, beckoning the man who watched to trace the same path all the way to the vee of her thighs. Bold as brass, she stroked the strip of lace that made up the thong she wore. Moisture wet the delicate fabric.
“Touch it,” Alex said.
A single digit responded to his command. She dipped her chin to look down and sent her finger swirling in slow, titillating circles around the swollen nub of her clit, barely brushing the sensitive tip, sending her desire soaring. The act’s effect on Alex was equally explosive. He hurtled down the hallway, tackling her as he reached the doorway and carrying her across the room to land on the bed in five seconds flat. Cailin laughed as she flopped onto her back. Alex’s momentum carried him right over her; his grip on her hips pulled her into a sitting position on top of his firm lower belly.