Dating A Cougar (19 page)

“That’s anatomically impossible, but we’ll figure out a substitute later. I’ve been studying the Kama Sutra, looking for variations on the seven safe positions for me. I think I’ve found several that will work. I can’t wait to try to them with you,” Casey said reasonably.

He was enjoying her embarrassment as much as he had enjoyed her climax. Alexa really did bring out a wicked side of him.

Alexa dug in her purse for keys and slapped them into his hand. “Here. Play with my car and leave me alone for a while. I don’t want to talk or flirt. I’m still really mad at you. ”

“Great,” Casey said happily, as they walked to BMW. “I get makeup sex later.”

“No. I want a nap,” Alexa said with pout. “And I will seriously hurt you if I don’t get one. I may take that cane of yours and beat you in your sleep as it is.”

“I can see that orgasmic high didn’t last you long. Sorry, I’ll do better next time,” Casey told her, trying really, really hard not to laugh.

Alexa rolled her eyes, climbed in the car, and glared at Casey when he got in beside her.

“I think I really do hate you,” Alexa said, looking at him and wondering how Casey Carter had gained so much control over her so fast. “I must be insane to be taking you home with me. I don’t even like you most of the time. I can’t believe I had sex with you. Sometimes you can be so charming, but mostly you’re—you’re a bossy, control freak.”

“Have you been reading my bad press?” he teased.

Alexa drew in a breath and let it out slowly. She counted to ten, and then to twenty, just to be sure she wouldn’t launch into a tirade in the parking garage.

Casey’s eyes darkened as he studied Alexa’s pink face and fractured breathing. He wanted to soothe her as much as he wanted to do a hundred other things to her. Loving this thorny woman was not going to be easy, but it was going to be a lot of fun. For both their sakes, he hoped to eventually figure out how to not make her stark raving mad every ten seconds.

But there was already one reality between them Casey had absolutely no doubts about at all.

“Alexa, sleeping with me is the best decision you ever made. I’m the man you’ve been looking for, and honey, I want everything you’ve been saving up.”

“
Honey
—you are full of shit,” Alexa drawled, with Virginia in her voice and loathing in her tone. “I don’t see how your ego even fits in this car.”

“Good point,” Casey said agreeably. “With all the space yours takes up, we’ll drive the pickup next time. It has room enough for both our egos.”

There was another round of swearing, following by some head banging on the seat back, accompanied by a grin from Casey that said he knew she didn’t mean it.

There was also promise in Casey’s eyes to prove what he said was true, but neither was going to mention it until they were alone again.

Tired of being mad and getting no benefit from it, Alexa turned her head to the window, closed her eyes, and to her utter surprise fell dreamlessly into sleep.

She didn’t stir until Casey woke her to code them into her neighborhood.

Chapter 17

Though Casey had let her nap when they got home, he had later exhausted her again. They had fallen asleep early in the evening after a particularly energetic round. When Alexa woke again, it was just after midnight.

Casey’s head next to hers on the pillow confirmed she wasn’t merely having an erotic dream. As a lover, the man was close to being insatiable. She marveled that Casey had gone so long without a woman in his life—without sex.

No,
companionship
, she thought, not able to suppress an amused sigh remembering their first heart-to-heart talk. It was another of Casey’s euphemisms for sex, but at least a nicer one. She’d probably never hear the word again without laughing.

Alexa had also come to think fondly of
getting nailed
, as he so crudely put it. For a man with a physical limitation, Casey could still pound himself into her until she was begging him to stop. The man could give her more and stronger orgasms than she’d ever had with anyone else. If doing so caused him any pain, she doubted Casey would ever tell her.

And that’s what bothered her.

Alexa’s worry over his injury had morphed into genuine concern. Her version of being careful had naturally translated itself into complete physical surrender to him.

As a result, Alexa knew Casey was developing some wrong ideas about her. It wasn’t her nature to be passive—in bed or out—but Alexa was afraid of doing something to hurt him. She couldn’t seem to help feeling that way, and she couldn’t seem to ever quite forget about his hip.

When Casey opened his eyes, he found himself looking into Alexa’s worried ones. She was also frowning. Not exactly a strong endorsement for his lovemaking, he thought.

“I hope that frown is from a bad dream and not from something I did,” he said, reaching out to put an arm around her. “Or something I didn’t do,” he added, “though if you think of anything else you want, just say the word.”

Because the first words that came to mind for Alexa were
companionship
and
getting nailed
, she laughed, but it came out like a snort.

“You remind me of a man when you laugh, especially the snorting,” Casey told her, laughing himself. “Like someone just told you a dirty joke and you can’t decide whether it’s okay to laugh or not. So instead, it comes out in a snort.”

Alexa looked at him and shook her head.

“You know, you sound so much like Regina sometimes, observing and analyzing everything. You should become a psychologist or a psychiatrist.”

Casey hugged her and dipped his head to tuck it under her chin, a bit ashamed. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I just tend to notice everything. My mind comes up with crap constantly, but I try only to let about ten percent of it out of my mouth.”

Alexa giggled into his hair. “Well, at least that partially explains why you talk so much during sex.”

Casey flushed, reached around and pinched her naked backside until she yelped. “Every time you’re mean to me, I’m going to pinch you. One day maybe you’ll learn to be nice.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Alexa said with a laugh, putting her arms around him to hug him close.

He pinched her, berated her, and insisted on her giving up control of way too much to him, but still she liked him. If it was a foolish thing for an older woman to do with a younger man, she would just have to deal with the fallout later.

“One day I may get the nerve up to hurt you back, Casey Carter. I might not settle for pinching,” she warned.

Casey’s head came up on that one. “What’s stopping you from retaliating?” he asked.

Alexa lifted a shoulder and tried for light-hearted. “Hard to stay mad enough when you punish me with
really, really, really
great sex,” she told him, hoping to tease his mind off the subject.

Casey rose up on one elbow to stare at Alexa in the semi-dark. They’d found a nightlight they used now, so they wouldn’t have to leave the lamp on. They both liked to see each other. Neither liked the pitch-black.

“Are you holding back because of my disability?” Casey asked, searching Alexa’s eyes for the truth in case she decided not to answer truthfully.

Alexa answered first with a snort. “I would hardly call a man disabled who can make good on his threat that I would walk funny for a week after sex with him.”

“That wasn’t my question,” Casey said.

“What do you want me to say, Casey?” Alexa protested. “Of course I worry a little. I don’t worry a lot. Maybe I’m being a little careful. We’re still fairly new to each other. I think of it as learning about you. Don’t all new lovers hold back a little?”

“Don’t hold back with me,” Casey ordered, wrapping a strand of her hair around his finger and tugging. “I want your passion. I want all of it. I’d rather you hurt me than hold back.”

“That’s just silly,” Alexa told him.

“Promise me,” he demanded, not able to keep the deep hurt from showing.

Alexa noticed Casey was giving her what she’d come to think of as his Marine look—obstinate, determined, and unbending. There was no counter-logic he could hear in that mental state, but she was learning how to get around him. So she sighed and nodded yes.

“Okay. I’ll try,” she promised, only willing to commit to what she knew for certain she could do.

Casey lay back down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. “I wondered why you were being so submissive in bed. I was having too much fun to question it. But I want the hot, unrestrained woman who kissed me in the elevator, Alexa. Don’t give her up just because you’re worried. You’ll be cheating both of us.”

Alexa rolled to her side and ran a hand over his chest and stomach.

“Sir, yes, sir,” she mocked, hoping to put anger in his voice again. His disappointed pleading was killing her. She let her hand creep south to soothe and rub.

Casey gave her a look that said he wasn’t getting over his mad that easily.

Alexa just laughed because she knew better. And it wasn’t going to take that much either. She wasn’t the only one with a short fuse.

“Since our discussion probably qualified as another fight between us, you get makeup sex again. Though I have to say you are wearing me out with this arguing stuff.”

She leaned into him for a kiss. “And this is absolutely the last time tonight,” she told him, wrapping her hand tightly around an erection that was hot, hard, and already insistent in her palm. She watched his face as she stroked him, watched his eyes darken.

When he whispered her name, she slid herself over his body, guiding him inside her, and rearing up when she felt him go deep. Alexa stilled her body above his for few moments, enjoying the way Casey was bucking beneath her, trying to get in deeper still.

Good, she thought darkly, wanting him to know what it was like to be controlled by desire, to be possessed by the person you were with. This was what he did to her.

“You want to know how I feel about you?” she asked him, more than a little warning in her voice. “You want my unrestrained passion? Fine. Here it is.”

Alexa moved her hips back a little, and then drove down on him hard enough to move him up the bed. Casey stiffened beneath her stroke and arched, giving her all the hardness she sought.

Alexa repeated the process again, at first moving slowly and strongly, and then moving swiftly as Casey’s body broke in release beneath hers.

Then she kept moving on him long past the time he had exploded within her, ignoring everything he said or did, forcing him to remain semi-hard inside her.

Alexa rode him until she found her own release, until using him to satisfy herself gave her back a sense of control, and then once the orgasm passed she simply collapsed on his chest.

His swearing broke the silence. His heart hammering against her in the aftermath, his chest rose and fell with the effort to breathe normally.

Alexa eventually felt Casey’s quivering arms come around her to stroke her back. She purred in contentment. “Sorry,” she said at last, “I heard you talking, but I didn’t get any of it. You’ll have to tell me again if it was important.”

“I don’t remember and it doesn’t matter,” Casey said hoarsely. “I’m sure I lost a few brain cells. I’ve never had two orgasms before.”

Alexa snorted, feeling proud of herself. “Good for you. I thought I was being selfish.”

“You were,” Casey agreed easily. “And I liked it. Next time, I plan to make it more difficult for you. You surprised me this time.”

Alexa sighed against him. “I really am going to walk funny for a week, aren’t I? Sydney will give me hell.”

“We’re both going to walk funny,” Casey told her. “And I’ve never been happier about sex in my life. I can’t believe it’s this great when we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to see what happens in six months or a year.”

Alexa rose up and looked at him. “You’re kidding me. I’ve never had a sexual relationship get better over time. Seriously?” she asked, her eyes searching his for teasing and finding none.

What she saw in his face caused her to shiver instead.

Casey didn’t answer Alexa. There was a lot he could have said about love and a long-term sexual relationship. And he would tell her eventually, or better yet show her.

For now, he just stroked her back and smiled as she lay back down on him and fell asleep.

Chapter 18

Casey woke up alone Saturday morning. He didn’t hear the shower running but thought he heard soft music playing somewhere else in the house.

And he smelled—
pancakes
, he concluded, sniffing the air. Alexa was cooking breakfast.

He smiled and pushed himself up in bed, wincing at the stiffness and throb in his hip. It hurt like hell but made him laugh as well. She’d kill him if she knew.

It was funny until he walked to the bathroom. Casey wanted to go looking for Alexa and pancakes but realized he needed to stand under a hot shower until he could at least fake not hurting. The moment the hot water hit his lower back and hips, he felt immediate relief. Casey took his time, and when he got out he was almost a good as normal. Definitely was going to need the cane today though.

When he walked to the kitchen, what he found was Alexa standing in the arms of a very attractive gray-haired man dressed in expensive jeans and polo shirt. They were laughing and hugging. The intimacy between them was obvious.

Casey looked inside for the jealousy he normally would have felt over the situation, but surprisingly he found none.

Maybe the shock of seeing Alexa in the arms of another man was too great. Or maybe he just wasn’t able to believe that Alexa could ride him to oblivion, drive him to multiple orgasms, and find anything else worth having without him.

The man noticed Casey before Alexa did.

“Good morning,” the man said with a guiltless smile. “You must be Casey. Alexa was just telling me you were here.”

Alexa smacked the man on the arm with a spatula she was using to turn pancakes.

“Alexa was just telling you to mind your own damn business,” she corrected.

Casey looked between the man and Alexa. No—no jealousy, he concluded.

Before he could examine it further, a female arm found its way around his waist. He stumbled a little sideways in surprise, but she caught him and kept him upright.

“Good morning, Casey,” Jenna said with as innocent a smile as she could manage. “I’m so glad you could stop by for
breakfast
.” She winked and laughed as she moved around him.

Casey decided he definitely needed coffee to deal with all this.

“I’m not sure I’m talking to you.” Casey said, using his cane to prod Jenna as she walked by him.

Jenna sounded like Alexa, he thought, as she headed into the kitchen, laughing at him still. “You got me into serious trouble with your mother yesterday. Weren’t you taught to be respectful to your elders?”

“If Jenna lacks manners,” the gray-haired man said, frowning at Jenna. “That’s probably my fault. I spoil her. Her mother is the disciplinarian.”

“Morning kiddo,” he said to Jenna, hugging her back when she hugged him tightly.

“Morning, daddy,” Jenna said, reaching up to kiss his smoothly shaven cheek.

Ah, Casey thought.
Daddy.
This was Jenna’s father.

Casey’s eyes softened then as they took in Alexa’s back and her head bent over the pancakes. She had yet to look at him. Instead, she poured coffee, put the cup in the Jenna’s father’s hand, and pointed to Casey.

“Take Casey coffee and go introduce yourself,” Alexa ordered Paul, ignoring his knowing look. She didn’t need her ex-husband gloating over her new boyfriend spending the night.

“Paul Ranger,” the man said with an easy smile, handing Casey the coffee. “We sort of snuck in on Alexa last night. Well, Jenna snuck in this morning early. I had some work in Baltimore and the plane was delayed. I called Alexa’s cell but she never answered. Anyway, it was about two when we made it to the house. I hope we’re not interrupting your weekend.”

Casey set the coffee on the dining table and put out a hand for Paul to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Paul smiled again and took Casey’s hand. “Same here,” Paul replied.

Casey was so absorbed in checking out Paul Ranger that he totally didn’t see the other man walk up to his side.

“Carter, are you putting moves on my man?” Sydney demanded in a loud voice, making Casey jump for real.

Paul’s grip on Casey’s hand was the only thing that kept him from banging into the dining table with his bad hip.

Casey glared at Sydney and swore.

“Sydney, behave.” Paul said, his voice lowering and his gaze darkening.

Sydney waved his hand like it was no big deal. “Carter and I are old friends now. He knows I’m just teasing,” he said, defending his actions, making smooching sounds by Casey’s ear as he passed.

Paul dropped Casey’s hand and punched Sydney hard in the arm as he walked on to the kitchen laughing.

Casey wasn’t sure what to think about Paul taking up for him.

“Damn it, Sydney. You scared the shit out of me,” Casey said, making Sydney laugh harder. “You’re lucky I didn’t take you out with my cane.”

Casey walked into the kitchen as well.

“Get your coffee and get out,” Casey ordered. “I haven’t had a chance to say good morning yet.”

“Wow, you’re really grumpy without coffee. Reminds me of someone,” Sydney said to Alexa, walking away with a smile. “I bet mornings are some fun around you two.”

Casey watched Sydney leave before he turned his attention to Alexa.

“Gee, is there anything you might want to tell me, Alexa?” Casey asked, leaning against the counter, bracing himself on his cane.

“Last night was wonderful?” she suggested, keeping her focus on the pancakes.

“Thanks. No. That’s not it,” he said, fighting a laugh now himself.

Alexa was flushed and nervous, obviously more embarrassed this morning than she was about anything that happened yesterday.

“My ex-husband and Sydney are partners?” Alexa suggested with a grin, deftly sliding more pancakes onto the mountain already stacked on the platter.

Laughter from the dining table had Casey biting back another smile.

“No, that’s not it either, but I did figure it out.”

Sure. The puzzle pieces were falling into place inside Casey’s mind. The man Alexa had given to Sydney was her ex. And Alexa still loved Jenna’s father. You could see it in the hugs. But Casey had filed the info away already because he would need more several more years of therapy if he thought about it too long.

Casey reached out and tugged the pony-tail Alexa wore this morning. He looked down at her yoga pants, the tight top with thankfully—a bra, because he was going to kiss her like he wanted to and nature would take its course.

Besides, there was no getting around making his intentions clear. The people sitting at Alexa’s dining table were expecting a show, and he was more than happy this morning to give them one.

He let her pour more batter. “Stop,” Casey ordered, using his best and most commanding Marine voice. “Kiss me good morning. If you don’t, I’m calling the press. They’ll be on your doorstep before breakfast is over.”

Alexa put her hands on hips and glared at him. Only Casey could see she was putting on her fair share of the performance.

Jenna giggled and said “Ah-oh.”

Casey stepped into Alexa and tugged her head back by her pony-tail, kissing her deeply until her hands moved to his hips, holding him in place against her.

“Good morning. You could have warned me we’d be having company for breakfast,” Casey said when he broke the kiss.

“Well, I would have if I had remembered,” Alexa told him, actually smacking him with the spatula hard enough to have him calling out in pain. Alexa tossed her head and sent the pony-tail swinging.

So far, she’d smacked just about everyone with it. It made her feel marginally better about forgetting she’d invited Paul and Sydney to come for the weekend. “No one currently sitting at my table considered I might have company for once. They just waltzed right in during the middle of the night, expecting pancakes the next morning.”

“Oh,” Casey said. “Well, that’s a good reason then. I’m sorry.”

He stepped away then, patting her on the shoulder in apology. “Let’s not call this minor skirmish a fight, okay? I’m still recovering from making up yesterday. I can barely walk this morning.”

Alexa laughed and turned multiple shades of pink.

Casey sighed, wishing they were alone so he could show Alexa he was teasing. He wouldn’t need to walk if they were spending the day in bed.

Jenna had taken a drink of coffee only to spit it on the table laughing when she realized what Casey had said. Grabbing a handful of napkins from a nearby rack, she set about cleaning up the mess.

“So where’s my thank you for starting the fight yesterday?” Jenna asked Casey, when he finally walked back to the table and claimed his coffee again.

After he sat, Casey pointed his cane at Jenna. “I’m not as nice as your Dad and Sydney. You might want to wait until I’ve had my coffee to harass me. Your mother almost killed me yesterday because of you.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Jenna said with mock salute. “Will hold all smart remarks until after said coffee has been drunk.”

Casey looked at her in disgust, and then to Alexa who was standing at the stove not bothering to stifle her laughter anymore.

Casey looked at Paul, feeling genuine empathy for the man having had to deal with these two sassy women all these years. No wonder his hair was solid gray.

“I’m sure you were a great parent, Paul,” Casey told him. “And I know damn well Jenna didn’t get her sassy mouth from you.”

Casey picked up his coffee and drank while Paul and Sydney both just beamed at him.

Jenna smiled and winked.

When Casey grunted, everyone at the table laughed.

Alexa brought the coffee pot to the table, purposely refilling Casey’s first. When Casey thanked her, she kissed the top of his head. Then she poured for Paul and Sydney, afterward handing the now empty coffee carafe to her daughter.

“Make some more,” Alexa said archly, giving her daughter her best mother glare.

“Yes, Mama,” Jenna replied meekly, sticking out her tongue to Casey.

“Yeah. Who’s in trouble now?” Casey asked wickedly, gloating.

“Don’t start,” Alexa said, smacking Casey on the back of his head, listening happily as he called out in pain. “We will have civilized and polite conversation over my pancakes.”

“Ouch. I can’t believe you smacked me again. Have you had any coffee yet?” Casey asked irritably, rubbing the back of his head.

“No,” she hissed, tired of taking care of other people. Two nights of no real rest were taking a toll.

Casey scooted back and jerked her down into his lap, not letting her resist. He pulled his coffee over closer. “Drink, Alexa. I value my life and everyone else’s at this table.”

“I think I still hate you,” Alexa grumbled, picking up Casey’s coffee and drinking.

Casey grunted and settled her better in his lap.

“Fine,” he said, sighing heavily. “Drink the damn coffee. Maybe you’ll like me after.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Paul and Sydney exchange some sly looks.

Jenna came back to the table with the giant platter of pancakes and another containing ham. She made one more trip for pancake syrup and toppings, and another to bring a now full coffee carafe back along with a coffee cup for her mother.

Alexa slid off Casey’s lap and into a chair next to him.

He reached over and patted her leg in approval, eliciting yet another sigh from her. This one felt a lot like contentment to her, though a much better kind than she had known for many years.

Looking around the table, Alexa had to admit her odd family seemed more complete with Casey there.

Jenna shoveled a giant bite of pancakes into her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure. She looked at her mother, recognized the mental debate going on, and gave her a thumbs-up sign.

“I’m glad the pancakes are so good,” Alexa said dryly, rolling her eyes at Jenna’s lack of manners.

Jenna looked at Casey who was now deep in sports conversation with both her Dad and Sydney.

“Yes, Mama. The pancakes are good.” Jenna looked at Casey again, and then swung a knowing gaze back to her mother. “Everything is excellent this morning. Don’t you think?”

Alexa’s throat got really tight. Her daughter actually approved of Casey. All Alexa could do was nod in reply. If she tried to talk, she was going to cry.

Jenna patted her mother’s arm and went back to eating. She knew her mother needed to be ignored until she’d had time to collect herself.

Casey felt Alexa’s emotions shift and turned to look at her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned about her again. He hadn’t seen Alexa off-balance except with him. God help him, he actually preferred her sassy mouth.

Alexa nodded to ease Casey’s concern, smiled at little, and turned her attention to her pancakes. She reached over and patted his leg and then picked up her fork.

Now all eyes looked at her, and Casey noticed every gaze held the same question.

Humility was cause for concern in a woman like Alexa. Not wanting to embarrass her further by asking more questions, Casey put one hand on her leg in support, and went back to his conversation with the guys about the obscene amount of money athletes were paid.