Beg Me (16 page)

But she couldn’t, because she needed him.
She loved him.

Curling her hand into a fist, she whispered,
“And what if I want your heart, Superman?”

H
er voice was
so faint, he almost didn’t hear her.

In the doorway of the kitchen, he stopped
and paused, looking back. She still sat there, her slender back to
him, wearing a shirt of his, one she must have tugged out of his
closet when she woke up that morning. Her long hair hung in a
tangle down her back, and her shoulders were slumped, her head
bowed.

As he stared at her, she lifted her head and
turned to look at him.

“
Well?”

He swallowed. His voice rusty, he said,
“Well, what?” He hadn’t heard what he thought he heard. He knew he
hadn’t.

Tania crossed her legs and smoothed his
shirt down over them, staring nervously at him. “What if I want
your heart? Then what do I do?”

He stared at her.

“
You’re pulling away from me. I see
it.” She slid off the stool, her hands fisted at her sides. Tears
glinted in her eyes as she stared at him. “And I know it was
because of last night—I’m sorry if it hurt you that bad, but damn
it, after what had happened, I
needed
something I could control, and fuck it,
Drake, but you… I knew you wouldn’t hurt me, I knew you’d let me.
You’re the
only
safe thing in
my life. What else could I control but you?”

“
Tania—”

“
I’m sorry. Maybe I should have tried
to cope a different way. I get that. But I still can’t think of
anything else. I just…” Tears spilled out of her eyes and she
swore, reached up to swipe them away. “I don’t like knowing I hurt
you. I don’t like knowing I’ve pushed you away.”

“
That’s not what it is, not what this
is,” he said, his heart hollow.

“
No?” She gave him a tight smile. “I’m
not an idiot, Drake. I know when a man’s brushing me aside.” She
glanced back at the island, shook her head. “Fuck it. You know, I
was going to tell you something this morning. I guess it’s better
off that I didn’t.”

She went to brush past him, but he caught
her arm.

“
Tell me what?”

She pulled away from him. “It doesn’t
matter now. You’re pulling away and I’ll be damned if I strip
myself bare like that
now
.”
She went to dodge around him.

“
I’m not—
fuck
.” He pinned her in against the wall. “Be
still, damn it. You’re right. I am—
was
pulling away. I’m too lost inside you and I
feel like I’m losing myself more every day. And last night…fuck, I
couldn’t even say no, even that I wanted to, needed to. I
just—shit.”

“
I already know that. I get the point.
Leave me alone.” She shoved at his chest.

“
You don’t get the point.” He wrapped
his arms around her waist and she stomped on his foot. “Damn it,
you mean little brat, would you stop it?”

“
Let me go,” she snarled.

“
I…shit. I can’t. Even when I know I
should, even when I know you’re going to break my heart, I can’t.”
He buried his face in her hair.

She stiffened. “I don’t want to break your
heart, you idiot. I was going to tell you that I love you this
morning, but you’re trying to find a way to give me the brush-off.”
With a delicate sniff, she muttered, “Fine, I’ll make it easy.
We’re done.”

But Drake didn’t hear anything
past
I love you…

Stunned, he lifted his head. He reached up
to capture her face between his hands, and she immediately tried to
pull away. “Like hell,” he muttered. Pulling her back against him,
he fisted a hand in her hair, forced her to look at him. “What did
you say?”

Tania jerked against his hand. “Leave me
alone. I don’t want to talk to you now.”

“
What did you say?” he pleaded. He
pressed his brow to hers and when she still wouldn’t talk, he
pressed a line of kisses from her temple down to her neck. “Tawny,
please…”

She shuddered against him. The hands she had
clenched between them opened, then curved over his shoulders, her
nails digging into his skin. “Drake…damn it, make up your mind,”
she muttered, staring at him.

“
It’s never changed—it’s always been
centered around you,” he said. “What did you say?”

She sighed. Then, her hands came up,
cupping his cheeks. “I love you. I don’t know when it started—if it
was after we started this…or before. I just know that you’ve always
been there whenever I’ve needed you. And I can’t imagine you
not
being there. I don’t want to… I
wasn’t looking for this, but somehow you went and became my
everything, Superman.” Her lips pressed against his. “I need you. I
want you. I love you.”

The strength drained out of his legs and he
went to his knees, burying his face against her belly. “Tawny…” he
whispered, shaken.

Her hands pushed into his hair, absently
stroking his scalp.

“
You mean it,” he said, his voice
rough. Tilting his head back, he stared at her.

“
Yeah.” She sank down in front of him,
touched his mouth. “I mean it. I was going to tell you that this
morning…and I’ve actually been thinking about trying the right way
to tell you for the past few days.”

Closing his eyes, Drake clutched her close,
sinking down to sit on the floor.

She cuddled in his lap, her hands stroking
his back, her head rested on his shoulder.

“
I love you,” he muttered. Lifting his
head, he stared down at her. He brushed her hair back from her face
and gazed into her eyes. “I love you so damn much.”

Leaning in, Tania pressed her mouth to his.
“I love you. With all my heart.”

H
ours later,
they lay in bed together, wrapped around each other.

Drake stroked his hand up her back and
rolled onto his side, studying her face. “I’ve been thinking about
something.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Yeah. I want you to marry me.” He
blurted it out fast, before he lost his nerve. “It doesn’t have to
be right away or anything, but I want you to think about it
and…”

Tania smiled at him. She leaned in and
pressed her mouth to his. “Marry you? Hmmm…I kind of like the sound
of that. I might. If you ask me real nice. Maybe if you beg
me…”

Drake chuckled and rolled her onto her back,
going to his knees between her thighs.

“
Like this?” he teased as he lowered
his face to kiss the mound of her sex.

“
Well, I wouldn’t complain…but…you
know what? I think I’ll say yes, no matter what…”

“
No…I’m going to beg you
first.”

About the
Author

Shiloh Walker has been
writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with
the book
Bunnicula
and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious vampire
stories. She loves reading and writing anything paranormal,
anything fantasy, and nearly every kind of romance. Once upon a
time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full-time and lives
with her family in the Midwest.

For more information on
her books, please visit her website at
http://shilohwalker.com

Blog
http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/

Twitter
http://twitter.com/shilohwalker

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/shilohwalker

Please enjoy this excerpt
from Alison Kent’s
Love Me
Tender

For more info,
visit her site
…

"I have a delivery to make in Farmersville."
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "But I was hoping
we could do some business first."

Eden pushed off the door, determined to
finish her breakfast dishes, equally determined to ignore the way
Jace Morgan filled her kitchen. And the way she felt less blue when
he was around. "I don't know, Morgan. I can't afford to do much
more business with you."

"It'll only cost you time."

She turned, soap suds clinging to her hands.
"Time?"

"Yep. It's called bartering."

"What could I possibly have to barter with
that would interest you?" she asked, then wished she hadn't. His
heated look flared between them, wordlessly answering her question.
Finally, he turned. The back seam of his shirt gaped open,
revealing taut muscles and smooth skin.

Too much skin to Eden's way of thinking.
With unsteady hands, she rinsed her tea cup and pulled the stopper
from the drain. "Bartering, huh? Like, in exchange for my services
as a seamstress, you'll knock a couple bucks off your estimate to
redo my kitchen?"

Lifting the cheesecloth covering the basket
on her stove, Jace helped himself to a cinnamon roll. "If that's
what you want."

What she wanted right now was best not put
into words. She watched the final swirl of bubbles vanish down the
drain, wiped down the lip of the sink and dried her hands. "No.
What I want is to ride into Farmersville with you. I've got an
order to pick up at Calico Corners."

He looked up, half the roll in his mouth.
"That's it?"

"C'mon, Jace. Ten minutes of my time isn't
worth much more than a ride." She tossed the towel on the
countertop.

"Sounds like a helluva deal to me."

"Then let's take a look at the damage."

Jace licked cinnamon glaze from his fingers,
braced his palms on a chair back and bent at an angle that gave
Eden a clear, close view of his back. Her fingers trembled for no
good reason. At least none she allowed herself to consider.

Skimming the buckskin with a light touch,
she tested the strength of the seam's worn edges. Heat from Jace's
skin breathed over her hands, a seductive invitation to slip her
fingers inside the shirt.

She closed her eyes. The scent of leather
and man seeped into her loneliness. Then Benjamin kicked, reminding
her not to be stupid again and she backed a step away. "Fabric
looks tough enough. I think the thread just gave up the ghost."

Jace glanced back. "So, can you fix it?"

"Sure."

"Now?"

"Now?" she repeated.

He nodded. "The bed of my truck's loaded. I
need to get over to Farmersville before it rains." The sunlight
shining through her kitchen window dimmed on cue.

"I don't think I have time to drive home and
change." When she only stared, he went on to say, "I can go like
this if you don't have time."

Eden shook off her trance. How bad could it
actually be to have Jace undress in her house? She'd seen him
shirtless just last week. Then they'd been outdoors, with acres of
breathing room. Now they were in her house. Alone. With gloomy
skies increasing the intimacy.

"I have time," she assured him, then held
out her hand and held her breath. He slipped out of the shirt and,
before she allowed herself more than the briefest glimpse of male
belly dusted with black hair, she headed for her workroom.

His moccasins whispered over the hardwood
floor behind her, the sound a gentle coaxing of her senses, a sweet
song to her ears. She felt his presence like a wildness inside her.
His shirt grew warm in her hands.

Shoving back the curtained partition, she
tossed the shirt on her sewing table, gestured for Jace to sit in
the rattan side chair and headed for the cherry cupboard in the
corner.

The top drawer held hundreds of spools of
thread and, in her state of klutz and nerves and hormonal
melancholy, she nearly toppled the contents to the floor.

Especially when she sensed Jace move to the
window behind her. Eyes closed, she took a small backwards step his
direction, close enough to indulge herself in the warmth of his
bare skin, the scent of naked man and the subtle need to be near
another human being.

It was crazy, this weakness shifting through
her. Crazy. Insane. A gut awareness she hadn't counted on. She'd
never expected to come up against a man who'd make her want this
way again.

Be honest, Eden. A man who makes you want in
a way you've never wanted before.