Ropes and Revenge (17 page)

“So do I,” she said, “but sometimes it’s fun to ignore the voice of reason and do as you damned well please.”

John glanced down at her, a sparkle in his eyes. “Well, hell. I should have known.”

“Known what?”

“That you had a wild side, Spooky,” he said. “Rule bending women have always been my kryptonite.”

“If that means you’re helpless to resist me, I’ll take it.” Percy tried not to read too much into his teasing remark, but she couldn’t help flushing with pleasure as John wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

“I’m not even going to try to resist.” He leaned down, whispering his next words into her ear. “Tonight, I’m at your mercy, Miss Styles.”

“Excellent,” she said, sighing as his breath warmed the skin at her throat, sending tingles prickling across her nerve endings.

John opened the heavy wooden door to the Mexican restaurant and they stepped into the shadowed room. Inside, fist-sized multi-colored lights twined around the wooden rafters, the smell of grilled onions and fresh lime lingered in the air, and music and laughter made the large space feel warm and cozy.

Percy laughed when she saw the display case behind the empty hostess stand where a cartoon iguana grinned out at her from tee shirts and bumper stickers. “Is that the name of the restaurant? The Ticklish Iguana?”

“It is.” John twined his fingers through hers as he veered left into the bar. “They have an iguana named Napoleon who lives in a case near the bathrooms. Rumor has it he laughs when the line to the ladies’ room stretches down the hall.”

“You’re kidding,” Percy said.

“Do I look like a kidder?” John grinned at her over his shoulder, making Percy’s empty stomach flip.

Even when he was serious and withdrawn, John was a handsome man, but when he smiled, he was breathtaking. His smile softened the sharp angles of his cheekbones and set his blue eyes to dancing. In that smile, she could see the man he must have been before tragedy shadowed his life.

For the next hour, they sipped margaritas on stools at the far end of the bar, leaning in close to be heard over the country band playing on the stage. They talked about the six months Percy spent touring Mayan ruins in Mexico and the summer John and Cole walked across the state of Texas to raise funds for one of Cole’s friends who was battling cancer. They talked about their favorite travel memories, the places they’d still love to visit, and what season they would choose if they could only have one all year round.

“Summer, no doubt,” John said. “It gets hot as hell here, but I love it. I love the long, dry days and nights sitting out on the back porch drinking a beer and watching the kids play.”

“Summer for me, too.” Percy nodded, her head feeling more loosely attached to her body than it did before, but she’d always been a lightweight when it came to tequila. “Autumn used to be my favorite, but I don’t want to be seduced by the last flash of color before the death of the year anymore. I want summer and sunshine and days that seem to stretch on forever. I want to be summer-time-alive. You know what I mean?”

“I do.” John brushed a stray strand of hair from her margarita-chilled lips. “But I think you’re already more alive than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Percy swallowed, holding his gaze. “I am when I’m with you.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to dance?” he asked, his fingers easing through the hair at the back of her neck. “I think the next slow song has our name on it.”

“All right.” Her attention drifted to his mouth. “Though I think I’d rather kiss, instead.”

“I’m not going to kiss you in public.” John’s tongue swept across his full lips, sending a painful wave of longing washing over her from head to toe.

“Why?”

He leaned in closer. “Because I don’t want anyone to hear the hungry sounds you make when we’re kissing except me.”

Percy’s breath rushed out. “I make sounds?”

“Sexy little whimpers and moans,” John continued in that rough whisper that threatened to undo her. “Just thinking about them is enough to give me a hard-on that won’t quit.”

Percy brought her hands to his jean-clad thighs, digging her fingertips lightly into the thickly muscled flesh beneath. “So does that mean…”

“If I stood up right now, I’d embarrass myself,” John confirmed. “So we’d better change the subject or I’m never going to be able to get you on the dance floor.”

“Is that right?” Percy let her left hand slide higher on his thigh. She wasn’t sure if it was the tequila making her bold or the lust John stoked to life in her every time they touched, but she didn’t stop until her fingers brushed against his thickness, hot and heavy behind the fly of his jeans.

His jaw clenched and her pulse leapt. A moment later his fingers closed around her wrist, but he didn’t pull her hand away. He simply met her challenging gaze with one of his own. “What if someone sees?”

“It’s dark and my hand is under the bar,” she said, her voice thready with desire as she caressed him through his jeans. “No one will see.”

“So does that means it’s okay for me to return the favor?”

Before her lust-fogged mind could make sense of his words, John’s hand was between her legs, the thick pad of his thumb caressing her clit through her thin linen pants, sending a sudden, almost violent, shudder of need spreading through her core. Percy’s breath caught, her nipples pulled tight, and before she could stop it, a soft moan escaped her parted lips.

“See there. Sexy, hungry sounds.” John pulled his fingers from between her legs at the same moment as he set her captive hand back on the bar beside her drink. “And that’s why we’re going to behave in public.”

“I don’t want to behave,” she said, wrapping her fingers around her half-empty margarita, hoping the ice melting in the glass would help cool her heated blood. But the sweating glass offered no relief and behind them the drummer launched into a frantic, urgent solo that she swore made the pulsing between her legs even worse.

“So you’d be okay with me making you come right here?” John asked, leaning in to be heard over the pounding beat. “You’d let me slip my hand down the front of your pants and play with you while you tried to keep what I was doing from showing on your face?”

Percy’s teeth dug into her bottom lip, but after a moment she shook her head. She could barely keep her need from her face right now and he didn’t have a finger on her. “No, but I don’t want to dance anymore. I want you.”

“And you’re going to have me,” he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I’m going to take you across the street to your hotel room, get your out of those clothes, and show you how crazy you make me.”

Percy’s eyes slid shut and she fought the urge to whimper.

“I’m going to have you against the wall just inside the door to your room because I won’t be able to wait,” he continued, sending her desire spiraling higher. “And then again on the bed and again in the shower. I’ll take you from behind while the water streams over your breasts until you come so hard you can’t stand and I’ll have to carry you back to bed. But first…we’re going to dance.”

Percy’s eyes flew open. She shot him an incredulous look; to her surprise, John laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she huffed though a smile stretched her lips. “This is cruel and unusual punishment.”

“No, it isn’t, it’s foreplay.” John winked as the first aching notes of a slow country song twanged from the lead singer’s guitar. “Come on, beautiful, dance with me.”

Percy shook her head. “I can’t. My knees are weak.”

John’s arm wrapped around her waist. “Then I’ll hold you up.”

“Seriously, John,” she said, as she slid off her stool. “I’m clumsy enough when I’m not…”

“When you’re not what?”

She tilted her head back, looking up into his handsome face, for once seeing nothing but herself reflected in his eyes. “Nothing,” she whispered, changing her mind. “I’ll survive. Let’s dance.”

“You’ll do more than survive,” he said. “You’re going to enjoy it. I promise.”

She followed him onto the dance floor and stepped into his arms, sliding one palm up to rest on his broad shoulder and curling her fingers around his hand. She felt the familiar flutter of anxiety as she prepared to stumble along to the music, but then John’s hand was at her waist, steadying her, the firm pressure of the heel of his palm urging her to step forward on the beat for once.

He guided her around the floor with a calm assurance that slowly banished her nerves. By their third turn, she was actually relaxed enough to look up at him and focus on something other than her feet.

“I’m doing it,” she said, with a laugh.

“See there.” He grinned. “I might not be a world traveler, but we country boys know how to dance the hell out of a two-step.”

“And I haven’t stepped on you once,” she said, seconds before her left foot went back, colliding with another dancer’s foot, summoning a startled yelp of pain from the person behind her and sending Percy into a full-body cringe.

“I’m so sorry!” She spun to find Yasmin standing behind her, clutching her abused foot. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, I have five left feet.”

“No, it’s my fault,” Yasmin said, hopping to the side of the dance floor.

Percy and John followed, stepping out of the path of the less grace-challenged dancers.

“I was just trying to get your attention,” the clerk continued, with a smile, clearly trying to conceal her pain. “There’s a letter for you at the front desk. I wanted to let you know before I got off work, and Layla said she thought she saw you and John come in here a while ago.”

“Oh, well thank you,” Percy said, frowning. “Though I have no idea who would be writing to me at the hotel. I didn’t give anyone the address that I know of.”

“It wasn’t sent in the mail,” Yasmin said, curiosity flashing in her caramel eyes. “It just showed up on the front desk. I stepped away to sign for a delivery at the back door and when I got back, there it was. It has your first name on. That’s it.”

“Strange,” Percy said, glancing up at John. “I guess I should go see what it’s about.”

“You should,” Yasmin said. “Because I get off work in fifteen minutes and I’m dying to solve the mystery.” She grinned. “I mean unless it’s a love letter from a secret admirer or something like that. Or just none of my business. And feel free to tell me it’s none of my business. All of my friends do. I don’t take offense. I know I’m a terrible snoop.”

Percy laughed. “All right, I will. But I don’t have many secrets. I’m pretty boring.”

“Yeah, right,” Yasmin said, rolling her eyes. “Said the ghost whisperer. You’re the most exciting thing that’s happened to Lonesome Point in years.”

“I’d have to agree with that,” John said, touching a hand to her lower back. “Why don’t you head over with Yasmin. I’ll pay the bill and meet you there in a few minutes.”

“Okay, thanks,” Percy said, cheeks heating as she remembered all the things John had promised to do to her as soon as they made it back to her hotel room. She certainly wasn’t going to complain about their dance being cut short if it meant she was going to be alone with him even a few minutes sooner.

“See you in a few.” John pressed an unexpected kiss to her cheek before lifting a hand to Yasmin and turning to circle around the dance floor to their stools.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Yasmin said, “So is tall, dark, and sexy staying over again tonight or what?”

Percy’s blush deepened as they started toward the door. “Well, his mom is watching the kids, so…maybe.”

“Maybe,” Yasmin scoffed. “Whatever. He’s definitely staying over. He’s totally smitten with you. I’m so rabidly jealous.”

Percy glanced down at the shorter woman, surprised.

“Not of John,” Yasmin hurried to clarify. “I just wish Clint was more of a feelings guy, you know? I mean, he’s amazing in the sack, but he’s not much of a cuddler. And definitely not a cheek kisser.” She waved both hands in the air in front of her face. “But I’m never satisfied. I had a cheek kisser and he bored me. Maybe I should just become a nun and forget about men.”

“For some reason, I don’t think convent life would agree with you,” Percy said with a smile.

“You don’t think?” Yasmin laughed as they stepped outside, where a cool breeze was whipping down Main and the air was beginning to smell like rain.

“I can’t believe it’s dark already,” Percy said, following Yasmin across the street. “We must have been in there longer than I thought.”

“Time flies when you’re having fun.”

“Time always flies with him,” Percy said, absently. “Even when we’re not having fun.”

Yasmin reached out to give her an encouraging pat on the back. “Hang in there, okay? I know it can’t be all slow dances and cheek kisses with a man who’s been through what John’s been through. But he’s obviously crazy about you and he’s a great guy.”

“He is,” Percy agreed, hoping she and John would be able to recapture their light-hearted mood when he met her at the hotel.

The past week with him had been mostly wonderful, but tonight had been pure magic. As she walked down the sidewalk with the cool wind sweeping across her skin, she felt keenly aware of every hair rising on her arms, every cell pulsing in her body. John brought her to life and made her feel a part of the waking world in a way she rarely had before. She didn’t want to go back to the filmy, cobweb-cluttered corners she inhabited without him.