A Tempting Dare (3 page)

“Yes.” She moved against him. “Please…” she said, even though she had no idea what she was begging for. He pushed another finger inside her and plunged deep, knowing what she wanted before she did. “Oh…” she murmured.

His tongue swirled and circled while his finger found the bundle of nerves no man had ever before discovered inside of her.  Moisture broke out on her flesh, the world around her closing in as pleasure spiked.

“Is this taking the ache away, baby?”

“Yes,” she said, lost in a haze of arousal. Skilled in ways she didn’t want to think about, he increased the pressure, changed the tempo. Tension escalated and when he drew her clit into his mouth and nipped, an explosion tore through her, sparks lighting her nerves, followed by a hot flow of release.

“Sebastian,” she cried out, but his hand closed over her mouth to muffle her voice.  She lightly nipped his finger, holding it between her teeth as she fought valiantly to keep quiet.

He stayed between her legs, lapping at her as she rode out the waves. When her body stopped spasming, he stood and gripped his cock. Jesus, that was sexy. He pumped it in his hands, and her body warmed all over again. His jaw clenched, and his head rolled back. A low growl caught in his throat as his palm skated over his cock, each pump increasingly faster. Wait. Was he finishing himself off?
Like hell.

“I see I’m not the only one with swelling,” she said, going up to a sitting position. His eyes shot back to hers, and she leaned in and took him into her mouth.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair. “Kat, don’t.”

She wrapped her hands around his body, tugging him to her. Ignoring his protest, she strained her jaw and drew him to the back of her throat, not nearly able to take him all in, and his groan turned into a moan of pleasure.

The saltiness of his skin danced on her tongue, and she whimpered. Normally she didn’t enjoy oral sex, but it was different with Sebastian. Not only did she like having him in her mouth, she was dying to taste him, to pleasure him. She tugged his boxers down farther and cupped his balls. He jerked forward as she gently massaged.

“Fuck,” he murmured, his balls tightening in her hand. Her hair tumbled forward as she took him in and out, and he cupped it in his palm and pulled it back. She stole a quick glance at him and found his eyes locked on her mouth, watching the way she was working her tongue over his cock. His throat made a strange sound as he swallowed, and her nipples tightened. She loved everything about Sebastian right now. From the way those baby blues were watching her to the way he was about to come undone from her touch.

With his hips swaying slightly, she licked and sucked and slid her tongue all over him, building the pressure until his hips were rocking and his eyes were closing. His body tensed, and his cock thickened even more. 

His fingers tightened in her hair and he tried to tug her off. “Kat,” he said, but she kept him in her mouth. His breath hitched. “Oh, fuck.” He pumped once, twice, then he released in the back of her throat. He panted and pulsed, and she swallowed every last drop. She inched back and his cock slid out of her mouth.   

His hands tangled in her hair, and when their eyes met, something intimate passed between them. He angled her chin, his gaze like a sweet caress, as he looked her over. His face softened, the hard lines in his jaw relaxing.

Still panting, he sucked in a breath. “Jesus, Kat,” he whispered. He brushed her hair back with his thumb and bent down to place a soft kiss on her forehead, so tender and affectionate it tugged at something deep inside her. While his mouth had been all over her body, they hadn’t actually kissed. A lump lodged somewhere deep in her throat. Maybe that was a good thing. What was it Emery had said?
You can tell if a guy is your one true love by that first kiss.

Now she was glad he hadn’t kissed her. No way would she want to discover that he was her one true love.
This was Sebastian, Mr. One Night Stand. He didn’t believe in commitment, and she didn’t believe in Happily Ever After. So why, then, was her heart pounding a million miles an hour, wishing fairy tales really did come true?

Chapter Four

Even though he was mad with the need to have her again, to finish what they’d started in his bed the previous night, Sebastian couldn’t—wouldn’t—go there with Kat. Last night things had escalated beyond his power to stop it, and he’d given in to her seduction for two reasons. One, he was a man and had wanted her for so fucking long—Christ, the way those lace panties hugged her curvy hips was enough to steal any man’s resolve—and two, some douchebag had hurt her, and he wanted to make her feel good about herself, let her know just how sexy and important she really was.

Stepping into the kitchen, he grabbed a glass and pulled the carton of orange juice from the fridge.

“Morning,” a voice said from behind.

He spun to find Zoe sitting at the table, her eyes locked on his ass. Her gaze lifted when he turned. 

“Oh, sorry, didn’t see you there.”

“Am I that invisible?” she asked.

“No, just some things on my mind.” She pouted, then a frown tugged at her lips. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Peter and I got into a fight last night. I’m about ready to call the whole engagement off.”

Shit, he really didn’t want to be having this conversation with her. He poured the juice into the glass and took a big swig, stalling as he tried to figure out the right comeback.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

She pushed a chair out for him, but he leaned against the counter, wanting to keep a measure of distance. He was intelligent enough to know she was coming on to him, gauging his response to her engagement comment, but he wasn’t about to go after another man’s woman. Even if she wasn’t attached, the thoughts of sleeping with her left a sour taste in his mouth. Not because she wasn’t beautiful or his type—she was. But now that he’d had a taste of Kat, he had no appetite for any other woman.

Great. Just fucking great. 

He raked his hand through his hair and caught of whiff of Kat. Jesus, he’d spent twenty minutes in the shower, but her sweet scent still clung to his skin. Laughter from outside reached his ears and he wanted to excuse himself, but he wasn’t that much of an asshole.

“Juice?” he asked, holding out the carton.

“I’ll just have a drink of yours.” She slid from her chair and sauntered over. She stood close—too close—and took his glass from him. Kat rounded the corner when Zoe put the drink to her lips. His eyes met Kat’s, and her steps slowed. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, hesitated, and then closed it again. Zoe finished drinking and handed the glass back to him. She licked her lips, exaggerating the motion. Alrighty then.

“Morning, Kat,” he said, trying to exude a nonchalance he didn’t feel. The glass slipped in his hand, and he tightened his fingers around it before it smashed to the floor. 

“Morning,” she said, the lightness in her voice belying the stiffness in her body. Dammit, this wasn’t what she thought. Or maybe she didn’t think anything at all. She knew he didn’t fuck around with attached women.

“Zoe was just—” he began, feeling the need to explain himself.

“I was just venting.” She touched Sebastian’s arm. “Sometimes Peter can be so possessive. It makes me want to break the engagement.”  

“I get it,” Kat said.

“Really?” Zoe said, her eyes hardening as she turned them on Kat. “How could you possibly get it? I heard you were anti-marriage.” She lowered her voice and added, “That you were a man hater.”

Kat’s back went poker straight. What the hell was going on with these two? They were acting like two cats trapped in a duffle bag.

Kat slid him a glance. “Oh, so that’s what you’ve heard about me, was it?” 

Jesus, she didn’t think he’d said that, did she? “Kat—”  

Before he could get the words out, Danny and his father stepped into the kitchen.

“Hey Kat Nip,” Danny said, grabbing Kat in a headlock. She punched him in the gut and he let loose a loud
oomph
. “Good morning to you, too.”

Sebastian took that moment to extricate himself from Zoe. He slid along the counter and tried not to stare at Kat—or drool over the awe-inspiring frayed shorts and snug T-shirt she wore as she reached for the coffee pot. His brain stalled, memories of last night swamping him. His cock thickened, and he shifted his stance.

“Stop hogging all the juice,” Danny said, pulling him back from his stupor. He handed the carton to Danny, and his friend angled his head, those too-astute eyes moving over Sebastian’s face.

“What the hell is the matter with you lately anyway?”

“Nothing.”

“Thanks for the drink, Sebastian,” Zoe said. She gave a little finger wave and slipped outside to where the young kids were already swimming and running around the gardens. Sebastian watched her go, and Danny nudged him. He turned back to his friend and caught the note of amusement dancing on his lips. “Ah, never mind.”

If Danny wanted to think Zoe was messing with his head, then so be it. Better that than the real reason. While he’d never want to do anything to hurt Kat, maybe it was better for her to think that, too. Last night was a mistake—a sweet, beautiful mistake that couldn’t happen again. Otherwise, he just might not be able to keep his feelings locked behind the barricade he’d erected years ago. Kat wasn’t looking for anything more for him, anyway, of that, he was sure. She knew his reputation and had straight up called him a player. Yeah, he got around, but fear of commitment wasn’t the reason he had a different woman in his bed every weekend.  

“What are you all still doing inside?” Danny’s mother Janice asked, stepping into the kitchen through the patio doors, her smile so bright Sebastian wished he had his sunglasses on. “Get on out here. The sun is shining, breakfast is set up in the gardens, and we have games to play.” She clapped her hands, and everyone followed her out.

The brilliant morning sun beat down on him, and his body began to burn, but he was pretty sure it had more to do with Kat than the powerful rays. She stood beside him at the buffet table and filled her plate with fruit and pastry.

“Sleep well?” she asked.

Sleep? After she left his room, he’d tossed and turned and spent the remainder of the night fighting the urge to go to her room to bend her over her bed and slide his cock all the way into her.

“For the most part,” he said.

She turned to him, and when she gifted him a smile, he nearly bit his tongue off. “Listen, Kat—” he began.

“Yeah?” She plopped a strawberry into her mouth and his body trembled, instantly rewinding to last night and the way she’d taken his cock between luscious lips he was dying to taste. Shit, he had oral sex with her, but hadn’t even kissed her. Talk about a douchebag move. He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. She blinked up at him. “You okay?”

He pitched his voice low for her ears only. “I just…last night. That can’t happen again.”

There was a long pause and then, “I know.” She gave a small wave of her hand like she was completely unaffected by last night when it had totally rocked his world. “It was a one-time thing.”

What the fuck? He should be happy, right? She just agreed with him. Agreed that it couldn’t happen again. Why then, did he feel like someone had just sucker-punched him? Did he want her to protest? To declare her undying love and tell him she wanted him again and again?

Yeah, I fucking do.

Kat walked away, and his gaze latched onto her ass until she took a seat next to her aunt Judy. Sebastian fisted his hands at his sides, summoning every ounce of strength he had not to go after her—to tell her how he really felt about her.

Walk away, Sebastian. Walk. The. Fuck. Away.

Sebastian filled his plate, even though he only had an appetite for one thing, and plopped down into a chair at one of the shaded tables, as far away from Kat as possible. Kids ran around, laughing and playing, their parents already filling their glasses with Mimosa. Loneliness nipped at him as he took it all in. It was always hard going back to his empty condo, void of personal touches, after a weekend at the happy Quinn estate. Okay, so he’d be lying if he said he hated this. Hell, he looked forward to these damn reunions. These people were his family, his friends, and if he lost this… Well, it would damn well kill him.   

He forced himself to finish his food then went back in the house to grab his swim shorts. He didn’t care if the pool was filled with screaming kids all dunking each other, he needed a good hard swim. He changed, jumped into the pool, and did a few laps. Afterward, the young cousins wanted him to play water volleyball, and he joined them. Laughing and playing with the kids took his mind of Kat, and he found himself enjoying the morning as it slipped away.

His stomach grumbled. “I need food,” he said to young cousin Kasey when he swam up to him, grabbing his arm in an effort to drag him back to the deep end.

“Not yet,” Kasey said. “One more game.”

“Nope.” Sebastian picked Kasey up and tossed him. The kid shrieked as he dipped below the surface. When he came back up again, he was laughing and looking for more.

“Do it again, Sebastian.”

“My turn,” one of the other kids yelled.

“Maybe after I eat.” He hoisted himself from the pool and grabbed a towel. He wiped his face, and as he knotted it around his waist, he caught Kat staring at him. A wave of lust he had no business feeling ripped through him as he focused on the hunger in her gaze. He was grateful for the towel covering his thickening cock.

Christ, if she didn’t want any more to do with him, then why the hell was she looking at him like that?  He watched her glance move over his body, and when her eyes lifted and connected with him, they went wide.
Busted
.

She turned, her long hair flaring over silky white shoulders, and Sebastian ran inside to change his clothes. Once dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he made his way to the lunchtime buffet table set up in the gardens. He barely had time to stuff a sandwich into his face when Danny stood over him.

“Come on, Sebastian. Time for the balloon toss.”

“Not the balloon toss,” he said, feigning misery. “You know I suck at that.”

Danny laughed. “You don’t suck at anything you do.”

As a matter of fact, he did. He sucked, nibbled, and bit. His cock twitched. Shit. Now was certainly not the time to be thinking about that.

“You have to give me a chance to win the trophy back.”

“Fine.” Sebastian stood and followed Danny to the back gardens. Everyone was already paired up, a bucket of water balloons at their feet.

“Looks like I’m not needed.”

“Like hell. I want that trophy.” Danny twisted, and Sebastian followed his gaze to find Kat bent over, her lush ass aimed his way as she filled balloons with water. Sweet mother of God and all that was holy. “Hey Kat. Sebastian needs a partner, get over here.”

She tuned the hose off, and he nearly bit off his tongue as she sauntered over. She frowned as she looked at Sebastian and said, “I’m not sure—”

Danny cut her off. “Tough.” He pointed. “Get over there.”

Sebastian supposed he shouldn’t cause a scene or draw unwanted attention, so he pointed to the unclaimed buckets of balloons and said, “You heard the man. Get over there.”

As Danny paired up with one of the cousins, she put her hands on her hips. “You really want to do this?”

“Kat, look. I don’t want what happened last night to come between us.”

A look he couldn’t identify came over her face, and she gave a slow nod. “You’re right.” Her hands fell from her hips and she stepped up to a bucket. “Ready?”

He stood opposite her and grabbed a balloon. Apparently, the object of the game was to toss a balloon back and forth, and after each successful catch, the competitors took one step back. The last one holding a full balloon wins.

The whistle sounded and he tossed the balloon. She caught it and wiggled her hips in victory. Jesus. He wished she wouldn’t move like that. Wished he wasn’t so aware of her. Laughter and shrieks sounded around him as balloons burst, soaking the players. He caught Danny’s grin from the other end of the line.

“Still in the game, bro,” Danny called out.

“Not for long,” he shot back.

Everyone took a step away from their partners, and Kat leaned forward, her beautiful breasts hijacking his attention and nudging what little control he had. “Ready?” she asked.

Oh, he was ready all right.

She tossed the balloon and he caught it. Kat put her arms in the air and danced. Awareness hit him right between the legs as her breasts bounced, and her body moved in ways that had his mind careening back to last night. As his eyes devoured her, registering every delicious detail, he clenched down on his jaw, striving to keep his shit together. Her T-shirt lifted, exposing a strip of silky white skin on her stomach, and hunger clawed at his insides. His gaze moved back to her face, tripping on her beautiful breasts during the journey upward.  When he caught the glint in her eyes, his pulse leapt. Jesus. H. Christ. She was fucking with him—on purpose. He was sure of it. If she’d agreed they couldn’t have sex again, why the hell was she fucking with him?

“Everyone take a step back,” someone shouted.