Big Easy Temptation (30 page)

“Just an inch or two either way and . . .”

He forced her to look up at him. “There’s no point in wondering about what could have
happened, sweetheart. I lived. I managed to give Everly, who is now Gabe’s fiancée,
enough time to save him while Connor did the heavy lifting. But it’s good you saw
this. You should know the shit storm you’re getting into if you continue investigating.
They’re not playing around. This is damn real.”

Was he doing the right thing, dragging Holland into this? Dax couldn’t treat her like
some fainting flower who needed protection day and night. Maybe he should send her
into hiding with his mother.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Tell me
you didn’t just think about shipping me off to your mom’s.”

Sometimes she could practically read his damn mind. “Never. You’re an asset. You’re
smart and capable and you know this case. I need you with me, but I wonder if I’m
being selfish. If anything happened to you, I don’t know how I’d live with myself.”

Her fingers brushed the scar one more time, but when she looked up, her jaw had taken
on that stubborn line he knew so well. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my case, too.
I started it and I’m going to finish it. And you’re right. We can’t think about what
could have happened. We need to live in the here and now. It’s all we’ve really got.”

He could have argued that they had a future, but she rose up on her toes and pressed
her mouth to his, her tongue boldly sliding against his own. She plastered her body
to his, letting him feel the soft fabric of her blouse, the pebbling of her nipples.
He needed more from her, wanted her warmth against him, but he couldn’t do it here
and he needed to make things plain.

“I want to make love to you, Holland.”

“I can’t seem to say no tonight.”

“Perfect.” He lifted her into his arms and strode toward the
bedroom.

H
olland was past logical thought. She didn’t care right now what had happened in the
past. Not tonight. She could reconstruct the walls around her heart tomorrow, but
tonight she intended to take everything he gave her. She didn’t have the strength
to fight him—and herself—anymore.

Any encounters she’d had while apart from Dax had been forgettable and unsatisfying.
Only one man knew how to handle her. He was dangerous to her peace of mind, her soul,
but if she played this right she might get what she needed without getting too burned.

He lifted her into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. When she was with Dax,
she could indulge her feminine side. So often she had to be tough and physical. She
had to prove she could carry her own weight. Not with Dax. She never felt more feminine
and delicate than when he picked her up and then laid her down on the bed they would
share.

It was funny. She would never extend another man this kind of physical trust. She
feared anyone else would drop her, but the thought never entered her mind with Dax.
He wouldn’t let her fall. Not ever.

Punishing him for his marriage was unfair. Deep down she knew it, but she couldn’t
seem to let it go. He’d entered into the most sacred institution between two people
with another woman. She’d mourned him while he’d been saying I do.

“Don’t.” He stopped outside the bedroom door. “Don’t go there. Stay with me tonight.”

A sound from the bedroom down the hall caught her attention. She heard a low growl,
followed by a feminine laugh before the obvious sounds of bedsprings squeaking.

“You’ll have to excuse them. They’re trying to conceive a baby.” Dax’s face softened.

“They’re in love. It’s natural. I would never have thought Connor could love any woman.”

“Only the right one,” Dax whispered. “It’s that way with all of us. We’ll play and
fuck and party until we meet the right woman—and then we’re done. Holland, let me
take you to bed. Let me show you.”

Her body reacted to the sounds of lovemaking that filled the house. She wouldn’t be
able to sleep next to Dax and not be with him. She’d been foolish to ever think she
could be in the same room with that man and not touch him.

She nodded and tried not to think about the past.

Dax opened the door and tossed her on the bed, following her down onto the sea of
soft bedding and fluffy pillows. He raised up enough to work open the fly of her jeans.
The hiss of her zipper still lingered in the air when he dragged the denim over her
hips. “Do you know how long I’ve been dying to see you like this?”

No matter what they did, the past was always there. “About two days?”

He shook his head as he unbuttoned her blouse and pulled the halves apart. He stared
at her for a suspended moment before he palmed the lacy cup surrounding her breast
with a reverence that brought tears to her eyes. “Always. Even when I was so mad I
couldn’t
see straight, I wanted you right here. I wanted you naked and spread out for me. I
wanted to look down and know that this gorgeous body belonged to me.”

“You hated me.” She still couldn’t stand the thought. Yes, she’d planned it that way,
pushing him to see her in a bad light. Sometimes she still pushed, trying to gauge
the extent of the damage between them.

So far it all seemed one-sided on her part, and Holland wasn’t sure what to make of
that.

He flicked the center clasp of her bra. A lone light shined in the room from a small
table lamp and it cast shadows around them, making Dax’s body appear even more heavily
muscled and predatory than usual. He settled himself on top of her, still wearing
his jeans while he’d stripped her down to nothing but a bra and a filmy pair of panties.
His every muscle seemed taut and there was a lean, hungry look in his eyes.

“Maybe.” He drew the cups of her bra to the side, freeing her breasts, exposing her
peaked nipples. “I still wanted you. I wanted to fuck you until you couldn’t muster
the energy to betray me again. On those long nights at sea, I would close my eyes
and there you would be, spread out underneath me. You would beg me to take you back
and offer me your body. And, oh, I would accept. I would brand you with my skin and
you would never be able to leave my side again because everyone would know you were
mine. In those dark hours, nothing mattered but making you pay and, sweetheart, I
was definitely interested in my pound of flesh.”

Somehow he made the nastiest things sound so sexy. “Tonight isn’t about revenge.”

He cupped one breast. “No. It isn’t, but I still want to fuck you so long and hard
that you can’t even think of another man again. I want to be the only man in your
mind, your body, and your heart.”

She couldn’t tell him that he’d already achieved his goal. Even
when she’d dated another man, she hadn’t forgotten Dax. No one would ever match him.
“Touch me. No one touches me the way you do.”

He palmed the other breast. “No one cares about you the way I do, Holland.”

It was true. She could pretend that her desire stemmed simply from the fact that he
was so damn good in bed. But she’d learned that his passion and skill in bed meant
nothing without the emotional connection they’d found.

Maybe it had been severed when they parted. Maybe it wouldn’t come back.

He leaned in and his naked chest met her breasts. “You’re everything to me. When I
was bleeding in the Crawford building after being shot, the only thing I could think
about was you. I couldn’t imagine dying without seeing you one last time.”

The idea of a world without Dax filled her with complete denial and terror.

Holland clung to him tightly as his mouth descended on hers. She let go of her reservations,
her barriers. No more talk of the past or the future. She couldn’t handle it tonight.

Instead, she looped her arms around his back to find the smooth skin there. She traced
the long line of his spine as she kissed him back with everything she had. Their tongues
tangled as her nipples hardened, begging for his attention. “Please, Dax.”

He nipped at her ear, the sensation flaring along her skin. “Please what?”

“Kiss me all over. It’s been so long.”

“How long? Never mind. I don’t care. What you did with that asshole doesn’t matter
to me. I only care that you’re with me now.” He kissed the shell of her ear, dragging
his tongue over the sensitive flesh there.

She shivered. He was right. All that mattered was the here and now.
She had to stop thinking about anything except how good it felt to be in his arms
in this moment.

He kissed his way down her neck, leaving a trail of heat wherever he touched her.
He forced her legs apart, making a place for himself between her thighs. The roughness
of his denim rubbed against her damp folds. Only those thin panties shielded her and
they did nothing to disguise his thick erection jutting against her.

“It feels so good to be here with you.” His low voice rumbled over her breast as the
heat of his mouth caressed the skin around her peak. “Like finally, finally coming
home.”

Holland concentrated on sensation as his tongue laved her nipple and tried not to
think about his words. They were too sweet and they dragged her from the now into
insane thoughts about the future.

She rolled her hips, needing the friction to take her higher. The frenzy she always
felt when he touched her, took her, was already starting. The desperate need to feel
him inside seized her.

But he seemed determined to take his time. He pinned her down, his body pressing her
deliciously into the comforter. “Are you going to go wild for me?”

“I already am.” She couldn’t play coy or pretend.

Now that she’d made the decision to give him her all, she couldn’t stop touching him.
She hated the scant clothing still between them. It felt wrong. Nothing should come
between them when they were alone together. They should spend hours naked and entwined.

“You’re going to have to wait until I’m ready.”

“Dax.” She pressed her hips up, grinding against his hard erection. “You feel ready.”

“Not even close.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth as he forced her back down.

He tormented the tips of her breasts, his body infuriatingly still. Tingles brewed
between her legs. As he brushed her hair from her face and murmured her name, Holland
felt dangerously adored. Dax must
know it, but he just piled on the torture, licking and sucking, moving between her
nipples until she wanted to scream out her need. Every time she skidded toward the
edge, he pulled back, contenting himself with a kiss, a caress, a sweet nip on her
aching buds.

“Please, Dax,” she panted, feeling feverish and restless. “I can’t take it anymore.”

He lifted his head, lips curling in an arrogant grin. “What do you want from me?”

“You know what I want.” She clawed at his back.

“I want to hear you say it.”

Of course he did. And in that moment, she wasn’t too proud to let him hear it. “Fuck
me.”

He shook his head. “Can’t yet. I need to taste you again. All over again. It’s been
so long. I can’t move on until I remember just how sweet you are on my tongue.”

She wanted to scream in frustration, but Dax was already sliding down her body, leading
with his mouth, kissing his way over her breasts and to her belly. His tongue delved
into her navel briefly before he licked his way to the elastic edge of the panties
clinging to her hips.

She peered down the length of her body. He stared back up, those chocolate orbs meltingly
intense. Their eyes met. The connection flowing between them jolted her.

“I’ve never gotten the taste of you out of my mouth.” He dipped his fingers under
the waistband of her panties, tugging them down. When they wouldn’t move any farther,
he simply ripped them off.

“Damn it, Dax. Those were my only pair of undies.”

“You don’t need them when you’re with me. I want to keep you just like this. Open,
ready for me. God, you smell so good.” He nestled his nose right in her pussy, breathing
deeply.

If anyone else had done that, she’d likely squirm and try to wriggle free or distract
him. Not Dax. With him, her hips moved of their own accord, lifting to offer him everything.
It wasn’t wrong for him to bury his nose there. Nothing was too intimate between them.

Holland tossed her head back. She wanted this, ached for his mouth on her. Needed
him so desperately. She could feel how wet she was. Her pussy pulsed in anticipation,
and he was the only one who could send her hurtling into screaming ecstasy. He was
the only one who could make her heart ache.

He pressed her thighs apart. “If I had my way, you would never wear panties again.
You wouldn’t ever leave this damn bed again. I would keep you right here, always ready
for me. Always sweet for me to taste you. You’re my favorite treat.”

As he breathed, his hot exhalations spread over her pussy. She fisted the comforter,
trying to hold in a whimper. But it was impossible. She begged without a word, her
whole being focused on his generous mouth. He had full, sensual lips that shouldn’t
belong on a man. They, along with the rest of the package, made him far too sexy to
deny.

He was also a man who liked to hear her talk dirty. She was willing to do it for his
pleasure.

“Please, Dax. Please put your mouth on me. Lick me. Make me scream.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, his Southern drawl arousing her even more, “I can do that.”

He lowered his head and his tongue into her vulva, dragging up toward her clitoris.
He stopped just shy, pausing to exhale his hot breath over her again. Holland bit
back a scream. But he wouldn’t give in or be rushed. He was far too stubborn and determined
to make her pay. He clearly intended to extract his pound of flesh, waging a sweet
war by using her own body against her.

He wouldn’t let her up until he was satisfied. And unless she was willing to fight
with him, she could do nothing but give in and let him have his way.

Finally, Dax dragged his tongue over her clitoris, warm and soft, and she couldn’t
muster the strength to fight him a second longer. She liked being helpless and at
his mercy. She had to stop trying to control
things between them and simply let them be for as long as they remained together.

Holland relaxed as his fingers parted her slick flesh, allowing him full access to
her feminine core. His tongue pierced her. So good. The intimacy, the sensations,
felt beyond anything she’d remembered. How had she forgotten for a second what this
man could make her feel? So far beyond mere pleasure, being with Dax hit her square
in the chest, right in the heart. Had she ever really been out of love with him?

She was so cold and intellectual most of the time. Given her occupation, she had to
be. But with Dax, she couldn’t seem to take a mental step back. He made her feel like
the center of the world, like she was the only one who mattered to him. When she was
with him, no one else mattered to her.