Best of Three (Counting on Love) (13 page)

He took a deep breath as he pulled up to a stop light and looked her straight in the eye. “You don’t want someone bossing you around in bed, Emma.”

Now they were getting somewhere. He was bossy in bed? That didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was the way her heart rate revved hearing it.

“I don’t know.” She’d never had a guy take charge in bed. She’d been with guys who knew what they wanted and weren’t shy about telling her, but that was different than someone who actually took over. “I get tingles all over when you say that stuff.”

“Emma.” His voice was low with warning.

Definite tingles.

“Come on, Nate. Lighten up. One time. Like two hours.”

“No.”

“How about a whole night?”

“No.”

“A weekend?” She could go for that.

His scowl intensified. “No.”

“
What
is your problem?” She knew he wanted her. She was willing and ready. Why was he fighting it? “We’re talking about a fling.”

“You don’t want to have a fling with me, Emma.”

Oh, he was wrong on that one. “I don’t? Give me one good reason.”

“I like to be in charge. And you don’t take instruction very well. You wouldn’t like me bossing you around.”

Yep, that sounded like it should make sense. But her body didn’t think so judging by the increased temperature and the difficulty sitting still she was suddenly having. “You’d try to boss me around?”

“Definitely. I boss everyone around.”

She watched him carefully. “What if I think that’s hot?”

“You wouldn’t. Not for long anyway.”

“Maybe I would—”

“
Emma
,” he said impatiently. “I’m a controlling asshole.”

“
Nate
,” she said, mimicking his tone. “I’m gonna do what I want, when I want. I’m not too worried about you being controlling.”

“I call the shots—all the shots—in my relationships.”

“And when I get tired of it, I’ll leave. And what’s with the
relationship
thing?”

“You don’t want a relationship?” he asked.

“With a controlling asshole? No thank you.” She grinned at the pained expression on his face.

Bold. She needed to be bold here. That was almost never a problem, but she had butterflies in her stomach at the moment.
Go big or go home.
She reached for the hem of her top and pulled it over her head. With the fitted tank she hadn’t needed a bra. Her breasts were now bare, her nipples beaded, her arousal clear.

Even being half naked in front of Nate made her hot.

It was dark outside and the windows on the sides of his truck were tinted. The windshield, of course, was not. The streetlight shone in, illuminating her clearly.

He wasn’t touching her. He wasn’t saying anything.
He
wasn’t naked. But she was already trembling slightly, breathless, and feeling like everything in her was drawing tighter and tighter, waiting for release.

And that was with him simply looking at her.

She might be in trouble.

Nate didn’t speak. He didn’t move. But he also didn’t protest or act offended.

He sat watching her, his gaze slowly taking in every detail. Goose bumps sprung up all over her body.

She’d stripped for guys before. She’d been more bare than this. But she’d never felt this exposed.

Damn, the guy was good.

The light turned green and Nate accelerated normally, as if nothing unusual was going on in his truck at all. But he pulled into an empty parking lot and behind a building that was closed for the night.

Once the truck was in park, he turned to face her.

Without a word, she hooked her thumbs in the top of her skirt and began pushing it down as she lifted her butt off the seat.

“No.”

Her gaze snapped to his. His posture was casual, the position he might assume in the middle of a business meeting or during a conference call. But there was an intensity in his gaze that should have intimidated her. Instead it made her feel like getting closer. A lot closer.

“You don’t want me to stop,” she chided softly, inching the soft material down.

He met her gaze. “Stop.”

She did. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, but something—the look in his eyes? The tone in his voice? Something else, something indefinable—made her obey. She put her butt back on the seat.

He studied her for several heartbeats. Finally he said, “Turn toward me.”

She did.

“Lean back.”

She rested her upper back against the door, her feet toward him.

“Spread your legs.”

Now they were getting somewhere. She bent one knee, putting her foot on the seat and letting the other foot slide to the floor, her legs apart.

“Pull it up.”

She knew what he meant. She pulled the hem of the skirt up, bunching the material at her waist, revealing the white thong underneath.

She licked her lips. “Are you going to take anything off?”

“No.”

Man,
he said no to her a lot. “No?”

“No.” A simple repetition of the word. No further explanation, no elaborating.

Emma narrowed her eyes. “You playing along or not?”

“You don’t want to play with me, Emma.”

“Oh, I do. But I want both of us in the game.”

“No.”

Damn him and that fricking word.
“I’m more than half naked here,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“You started taking your clothes off.”

“You didn’t try to stop me.”

“Why would I stop you?”

“So you
do
want to get naked with me?”

“No.”

Emma pulled a deep breath in through her nose. “Nate,” she said calmly, but firmly. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“A gorgeous woman with the best breasts I’ve ever seen starts to undress in my truck? There’s no way in hell I’m stopping that,” he said simply.

She couldn’t even concentrate on the compliment. “But you’re not going to do anything with the best breasts you’ve ever seen?”

There was a flare of heat in his eyes even though he said, “No.”

That little flicker was enough to keep her going. He wasn’t blase about this. Not really.

“And you’re not going to touch the best breasts you’ve ever seen?” she asked, cupping her breasts and running her thumbs over her nipples.

They were so sensitive that she felt the pleasure streak straight to her clit. The way Nate watched, his eyes darkening, his lips tightening, urged her on. She didn’t even wait for the inevitable
no
.

“And you’re not going to suck on the nipples of the best breasts you’ve ever seen?” She rolled one nipple between her thumb and forefinger, her pelvic muscles tightening as she did it.

Nate’s fist clenched on the seat next to him. He didn’t say no. But he didn’t say yes either.

Emma ran her hand down over her stomach to her mound. She rested her hand there, her fingertips skimming over the crotch of her thong. “If you like my breasts, you should see the rest of me.”

“Enough.”

But the huskiness in his voice took some of the sting out of the command.

She ran her middle finger up and down over the silk covering her clit. It felt damned good, but it wasn’t even close to what she needed.

“Come on, Nate. It’s sex. I know I give you a hard time and that I’m a smartass ninety-nine percent of the time when you’re around, but I promise you, I won’t criticize your technique or give you any pointers.” He needed to lighten up. And unbutton. Figuratively and literally.

He gave her a half smile, but he didn’t look exactly amused. “You think you know a lot, don’t you? You think you’ve got me figured out.”

She shrugged and ran her finger over her clit again while she circled her nipple. “You’re a guy. No offense, but you’re pretty straightforward.”

“Is that right?”

Nate wasn’t known as a player like some of the other guys, but she had no doubt that he had as much female company in—and out—of bed as he wanted. And she was sure he wanted that on a regular basis.

“Emma.”

There it was. Low and commanding, matched with that intense look in his eyes…she was a goner. And she couldn’t wait. “Yeah?”

“If you don’t have the finger vibrator in your purse, you’re going to be in big trouble.”

Chapter Five

Emma’s eyes went wide. “I do.”

“Get it.”

She reached so fast, she almost fell off the seat. The vibrator had been a gift with the purchase of her favorite flavored lube and massage oil, and she’d wanted to show her sisters so she’d thrown it in her purse. She was
really
glad she had.

She pulled the bumpy purple plastic device from her purse and handed it to Nate.

He shook his head.

“You want me to do it?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Holy crap, a yes from him.

“When I tell you to,” he added.

She stared at him, the tingles in her body gaining strength, her tummy swirling, her heart pounding. “Are you going to boss me around after all?” she asked.

“You want a taste of this?” he asked.

That was a loaded question. Her gaze dropped to his fly. His erection was apparent.

“Emma.”

Her attention went back to his face.

“Answer me. Do you want to see what it might be like with me?”

She nodded quickly.

“I’m in charge.”

“Okay.” She so wanted to fire that vibrator up. He was making her hot and crazy.

“For the next seven days.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You want seven days of sex with me?” She could so do that. She’d even cancel a couple of classes. The girls in those classes would understand.

“I want to be in charge for the next seven days,” he repeated.

“In charge of…”

“You.”

She sucked in a quick breath at his answer. But she didn’t have to think about it. At all. “Okay.”

It was clear she’d surprised him. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “This is a bad idea.”

“Nate.” She waited until he opened his eyes and looked at her. “Do it.”

He seemed to make a decision. “I will insist on a few things.”

“Such as?”

“Your undivided attention. No other men, no dates, no sex, no one-night stands. No time with your vibrator unless I’m there. Nothing coming up to interrupt what I want to do with you.”

“Yes,” she said quickly. She might end up regretting this, but she couldn’t imagine saying anything other than yes to this.

Hell, she wasn’t too proud to admit that she wanted to know what this was like. With Nate. Only with Nate. For some reason. He was right that she might not like it, or at least, might not like it for long. But she wanted to try it. With him.

She narrowed her eyes as his gaze again roamed over her body. That was probably why he’d chosen seven days. He could have had her, and bossed her around like crazy, for an hour or two. But he’d said seven days. Because he wanted to scare her off.

The jerk.

“Pull your thong to the side.”

And just like that she forgot that she was annoyed with him. He really was good.

He thought he was going to discourage her by being domineering. He had no idea how stubborn she could be when she wanted something. She did as she was told.

As she moved the thong out of the way, Nate grew more stone-like. He seemed to freeze. Nothing clenched or twitched or blinked. His eyes were riveted on her.

She turned the vibrator on with a click.

“No.” His eyes were back on hers. “Not until I say so.”

Fine. She laid it on the seat next to her, still buzzing. That little reminder was going to be there for both of them.

“Touch yourself.”

The lighting from the parking lot was low but it was certainly enough for him to see what he wanted.

She ran her finger over her clit and down to where she was wet and hot. She dipped her fingertip inside and then slid up again, circling her clit. If Nate thought she was going to shy away from this, he was crazy.

“I notice your hip range of motion seems to fine.”

Her hip? She hadn’t thought about her hip since he’d thrown her cane back into the truck.

She grinned at him and slid her finger further into her own heat. “Best rehab session yet, Doc.”

He didn’t reply, didn’t smile, just watched her finger move.

This felt good. She wouldn’t lie about that. She knew her body. But half the pleasure was watching Nate watch her. He was settled into the seat, his posture and body language the same as if he was watching a TV show. A fascinating TV show that he didn’t want to miss a second of, but still, only a TV show. But there was something—maybe it was her imagination or a feeling in the air—that made Emma certain he was as hot and wound up as she was.