AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The lock was in the standing position, still locked.
“How did you do that?” She turned back to him, pretending to ignore the fact that he was mouthwateringly sexy as he lay on the flowered comforter of her bed.
“It’s a piece of cake,” he grunted. “The window locks aren’t a lot harder to release. Until I can get the contractor out here to add to the security, you’re stuck with me. ”
His expression was determined, stubborn. It was easy to tell when Rowdy had made up his mind. His expression went completely bland and his sea green eyes turned as cool as the arctic.
“Fine. ” She shrugged. “You sleep here and I’ll sleep in your bed. No biggie. ” She moved for the door.
“Open that door, Kelly, and your mom and my dad are going to get dragged into this little disagreement we’re having. Is that really what you want?”
Damn.
She stopped halfway to the door before turning back to him.
“Whose side would they take?” She opened her eyes wide, with mocking innocence. “Now I wonder, what will they think about the little proposal you put to me earlier?”
He tilted his head, his eyes glittering with lust, with amused hunger.
“Dad would probably kick my ass out of the house,” he growled good-naturedly. “Is that what you really want?”
She turned away from him, restraining the urge to kick his butt herself. He was right. Ray would likely skin his hide if he ever learned of his son’s proposal.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t expected it. She had. She had looked forward to it. How was that for some sick shit? She had actually looked forward to the day Rowdy would return and make good on the promise his kiss had made years ago.
And she had known if he did, the possibility of just such a proposal would come. She had been ready for it. Prepared for it. What she hadn’t expected was the cold-blooded intention he had of using it to catch her would-be rapist. As though the act no longer had anything to do with the two of them. As though the desire, the need, and the hunger were a means to an end and nothing more. It was without feeling, without emotion. And God help her, whenever she was around Rowdy, she felt nothing but emotion. Swirls of it. Lava-hot, lightning forks of sensation that rippled over her nerve endings, rendering even the air itself a caress against her sensitive flesh.
And emotions? Oh, she didn’t even want to go there. Except she was already there. Arousal, uncertainty, fear of the unknown, and a fear of losing the dream in the face of reality.
He was asking her to choose. She had wanted to be seduced.
She turned back to him, drawing in a slow, deep breath, her head lifting as she stared at the confident, cool countenance he presented to her.
“Get out of my bedroom. ” She crossed her arms over her breasts, pressing her lips together as she glared at him. “I’m not one of the Nauti Boys’ playthings. And I’m not in the mood for games. Not yours or anyone else’s. ”
She watched the surprise gleam in his eyes for just a second. For the first time in all the years she had known him, she had never surprised him, until now.
With a ripple of muscle, he moved from the bed, his gaze never leaving hers as he rose, coming to his feet and walking around the bed.
He was aroused. The thick length of his erection tented his sweatpants, drew her eyes and made her mouth water. She had fantasized abou
t that erection. About all the things a woman could do with such a prime piece of flesh.
She let her eyes linger on the proof of that arousal before lifting them to his face again. He was close. So close she could smell the clean, male scent of him. Dial soap and heated male arousal.
She stood still as he stalked around her, the movements deliberate, predatory. Suddenly he wasn’t the laid-back, patiently amused Rowdy she had always known. She could feel the purpose, the male intent that poured from him.
Her breath caught as he paused behind her, his hand reaching up to allow his fingers to smooth her hair back over her shoulder, to bare the shell of her ear.
“You’re mine. ” She jumped at his whispered response. “And, baby, I do like to play. ” His hands ran down her arms, creating a friction of heat as she felt his lips at her shoulders. “I guess that makes you my playmate, if not my plaything. ”
Her eyes widened a second before she jerked out of his hold, turning back to him furiously.
“I don’t think so. ” She gave him a tight, angry smile.
Stupid male confidence, she fumed.
He tilted his head, the beginnings of a smile twitching at the corners of his lips.
