Desert Bound (Cambio Springs) (18 page)

“Okay…” She had no idea where he was going with this, but she stopped stuffing shoes in her bag and looked at him.

“I’m Cam’s employee, but I’m also family. So when Alex treats me as a friend, please know that I consider him the same.”

“Ah.” It was becoming more clear. Alex’s buddy was trying to convince her to hang out. Well, that was understandable, even if it was useless. She turned back to her suitcase.

“Ted, don’t leave.”

“Romano, you seem like a nice enough guy, but you have no idea what happened tonight, so—”

“Cam called me minutes after you left the restaurant to make sure you were taken care of and had everything you need.”

“I was your next stop after Lauren, huh?”

“Cam didn’t mention Lauren, and I wouldn’t expect him to.”

There was a soft knock at the door, which Romano turned to answer. He cracked the door open, then a small hand slid her purse through the door. He took it, closed the door, and set the black clutch on the table in the hallway.

Ted said nothing, trying to think through the implications of a man with possible mob connections telling a family member that she should be “taken care of.”

She looked up. “Romano—”

“I keep having to interrupt you, and I do apologize for that, but if you could let me explain one thing, I would be grateful. And then I will call a rental car for you if you still wish it.”

Fair enough. She stood and crossed her arms. “Go for it.”

He took another step forward, but did not change his relaxed stance. “You can tell a lot about a man from the way he conducts himself when he’s had a little too much scotch.”

Well, that wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

“Cam is…” Romano smiled. “Cam. He’s a very funny drunk. Very appreciative of the few people he considers friends, Alex among them. Very generous. Tells a great joke.”

“I can see that.”

“Alex is not a funny drunk.”

Ted said nothing. Because when they’d been together, he had been. He’d been funny and affectionate. Sweet and a little crazy. The first time he’d told her he loved her, there’d been bourbon involved. Of course, he’d repeated the same thing the next morning when he woke her up with his mouth. He hadn’t forgotten. He’d whispered it in her ear as they made love.

It was a stark reminder that he wasn’t that man anymore. He was a different man. Years had passed. Life happened. And the young man you fell in love with at twenty-two could turn into a man who sent you from the table when a conversation turned uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat. “So what kind of drunk is Alex?”

“Quiet.”

Yeah.

Yeah, she could see that.

“Romano—”

“I keep having to interrupt you. Perhaps I need to be more succinct.” He took another step toward her, but Ted’s cat had calmed. This man was no threat to anything except her temper, which was slowly calming. “One of the few times that Alex talked to me on a night that there had been more than a little wine poured, he spoke of you. And there was a… well of regret when he did.”

“Romano—”

“He missed you,” the man said quietly. “Deeply. He admires you. You are his ideal in the best possible way.”

“He sent me from the table,” she said quietly. “Cam sent Lauren away, then Alex sent me away. As if I was…”

“You are not Lauren, nor will you ever be. I don’t know what happened tonight, but I do know the man who’s talking to Cam right now does not want you leaving him. He looked happy today. Happy in a way I have not seen since I’ve known him. So… please don’t make me call a rental car. Be angry if you’re angry.” Romano smiled a devastatingly handsome grin. “He probably deserves it. But don’t leave.”

 Ted thought for a moment. “You don’t have to call a rental car.”

“Thank you.”

“But give me a few hours, and I might need your help stealing his keys from the valet.”

He gave a slight bow and said, “I’ll await your call, Doctor Vasquez.”

She smiled at him before he slipped from the room.

Ted heard his footsteps an hour later. Heard him hesitate at the door.

Good.

Ted was still pissed at him, but she wasn’t a dramatic teenager to run off in a huff. She’d calmed down. He’d have a chance to explain. Then she’d decide if she was stealing his truck and leaving him in Sin City with the Laura-ens of the world.

She was sitting on the couch, dressed in the black yoga pants she’d brought to lounge in, along with a black camisole. She’d been trying to read on her tablet to calm down, but her mind kept slipping to what Cam and Alex might be talking about. Part of her reaction was a consequence of the nearly full moon. She knew it. Alex probably knew it too. Moods were volatile around moon nights and Ted knew from years of living with the swings, it was the absolute worst time to fight about anything. If she and Alex escaped this without claw marks, it’d be a miracle.

The door clicked open and she saw him walk in, hands in his pockets. His stance was a deliberate attempt to remain casual, but she could see the tension in his shoulders.

“You’re still here.”

“Romano calmed me down. I’m keeping his number in case I need to steal your car later.”

“Romano?” He stepped closer.

“How was your chat with Cam?”

“Cam worries about exposing his father. Doesn’t trust many people. But it went okay. Let’s go back to Romano calming you down.”

She lifted her eyes from her tablet. His tone of voice scraped across her nerves. “Why?”

“Because I want to know.”

“Well, I’d like to know what, specifically, you and Cam talked about. Why don’t we start with that?”

He pulled off his black jacket. “Why don’t we get to that part after you tell me what the hell Romano did to calm you down, why his scent is all over this room, and what you’re doing out of your dress, Ted?”

Her eyes popped open. “You’re joking.”

“No.”

“You
must
be joking.”

“I’m not joking, Ted, now what the hell—”

“Where do you get off accusing me of something like that, Alex?” She sprang to her feet and barely resisted snarling. “I was about five minutes from walking out of this room because you acted like a jerk at dinner, and you—”

He stepped into her space. “You know why I wanted to speak to Cam alone. He doesn’t know you. He doesn’t trust—”

“And
that’s
why you dismissed me?” she sneered. “That’s why? Maybe you should have delayed your conversation until you two could have a private drink. Maybe you could have simply met for coffee. Maybe you could have told me ahead of time and I could have faked a damn headache, Alex! What you shouldn’t have done was send me out of the restaurant following Cam’s fuck-buddy!”

He leaned down and yelled, “Why the hell was Romano here?”

“Be glad he was, because someone needed to remind me why I love you,
asshole
!”

Alex’s hand shot out and grabbed the nape of her neck, pulling her head up as his mouth slammed down on hers. Her back arched as he gripped her hair, pulling it back and twisting the long strands in his fist. She gasped when he let her mouth go, only to dive to her neck, kissing, biting her with sharp nips she knew would leave a mark. 

Her body was on fire, and his hunger consumed her.

She turned her head, but couldn’t move an inch because his left arm had welded her torso to his. Her arms twisted around his neck and pulled him closer as Alex’s teeth sank into the soft curve where her neck met her shoulder.

Burn, burn, burn.

She closed her eyes and felt it. The curling heat spread from her middle, filling her limbs with a strange weight. She wasn’t a weak woman, but had the feeling she would fall if he didn’t hold her up. 

Alex walked him backward and she started tearing at the buttons on his shirt.

“Tea?” he panted.

“Yes.” There it was. She felt the buttons start to pop and his shirt was gone, falling to the floor like so much ash. He let go of her to yank it off as he continued to walk them backward to the bed.

“Mmm…” He pulled his mouth from her neck and claimed her mouth again, drinking her in deep gulps as their breaths mingled and their lips danced. Touching. Teasing. He caught her lower lip with his teeth. She licked at his tongue. 

“Need—”

“I know.”

He fell on top of her, bracing himself with his forearms for a second before his mouth was on her again. She struggled to unbuckle his belt, then sucked in a deep breath, back arching as Alex pulled down the top of her camisole, baring her breasts to the cold of the air-conditioned room. They didn’t remain uncovered for long because he was on them.

His mouth descended to her left breast, taking it in his mouth as his teeth scraped the edge of her nipple before he pulled, sucking the tip in his mouth as his fingers teased the other. Her back arched off the bed at the sensation. Raw hunger seared through her and she needed—
needed
more.

“Alex!”

“Shhh.” He took one more deep pull, so hard he probably left a mark before his mouth was on her again. Twisting farther up the bed, Alex quickly unbuckled his belt. Then struggled with his pants while Ted pulled off her top.

Alex growled, on her in seconds, but this time his burning skin hit hers and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, digging her nails into his shoulders as he lifted her in his arms, bringing her up to straddle his lap. He fisted a hand in her hair again and she let him, baring her neck to his teeth.

Only with him. Only ever with him. 

He laid her back on the pillows, chest heaving. His cheeks were red with hunger, and his jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed on her pants. He reached down and ripped them off, along with her panties. 

She lay there, bared to him. His eyes drank her in. Every inch. Their eyes met, and Ted’s heart almost stopped.

Alex
. Her mouth moved to form his name, but she couldn’t say it. Couldn’t say anything. The sheer hunger in his gaze leveled her.

And she needed him. Needed his touch. His hands. His mouth. More than she’d ever needed anything in her life.

She was his.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, tasting the weight of the air around them. Then he bowed between her legs and put his mouth to her.

She cried out at his kiss. His tongue. His teeth on the soft inside of her thigh. He devoured her. She was lost, her eyes closing as she slipped closer to the edge, but then he was gone. She opened her eyes to see him watching her, crouched over her like the predator he was, his eyes never left hers as he bent his head to her skin.

“Alex.”

“Watch.” His voice was feral.

He kept her eyes when his teeth closed over the flesh of her belly. He kept them when his tongue licked up her ribs. He watched her as his teeth scraped over her breast again, then his lips touched hers. Not kissing. His breath kissed hers as their gazes locked and he surged inside.

Ted gasped and her eyes fluttered, but he growled out, “Eyes!” as his hips nudged deeper.

They made love with eyes locked on each other, Alex braced over her. Her legs wrapped around him. And when she came, he watched her face and the flush on his cheeks grew dark. It was hard and raw and fast. It was everything and nothing like it had been before.

She saw him start to fall over the edge.

“Eyes,” she said, and his gaze sharpened on her.

“
Tea
.”

“Yes,” she whispered, arching back to bare her neck to him, eyes still locked with his.

“Baby.”

“Let go.”

And he did. His mouth touching hers as he came with a groan. When he finally stopped moving, he let her eyes go and buried his face in her neck.

“I love you, too,” he whispered.

Her arms were around him, long strokes up and down his back as she felt the tension seep away. The waxing moon, nearly full, shone through the high arched windows. Her cat stretched beneath her skin, soothed by the fierce love-making and the weight of her mate’s body.

Alex moved to her side, pulling her with him, chest to chest, he lifted her thigh to lay over his and locked her to him. His left arm came around her waist and pulled her close and she rested her head on the hard curve of his bicep. It was surprisingly comfortable.

“Alex,” she whispered, “I need—”

“Shhh,” he kissed her temple. “Leave it. Just stay here. Stay with me.”

She hesitated for only a moment before her body relaxed into his. “Okay.”

“Sleep, Tea.”

She thought she’d still be wired, but with his hand playing in the curls of her hair, her arms wrapped the massive burn of his body, she felt herself start to slip away.

Within minutes, she was asleep.

She woke later to feel a warm washcloth, cleaning her up.

“Alex?”

“Shhh, Tea. Go back to sleep.” He tugged the cool sheets over her and walked back to the bathroom, his body outlined in the light that glowed over the sink. Then he turned off the light and the room was pitch black except for the moonlight that still shone.

She’d had sex with Alex. Fighting, then sex. And right in the middle of that, she’d told him she loved him. 

If
that
wasn’t a familiar pattern, she didn’t know what was. 

She looked for the anxiety she’d expected. Looked for the fear, but he’d worked it out of her. His hunger had burned so hot, there wasn’t room for any doubt. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. Any second-guessing could wait for the next day.

Or maybe the day after.

He came back and slipped beneath the covers with her, pulling her into his arms again, sliding her leg over his thigh so they were tangled together.

She pressed her face into his chest, her eyes barely open. “We didn’t use a condom,” she whispered, “but I’m on the pill.”

His hand didn’t stop playing her hair. “I’ve only ever
not
used one with you.”

“Me too,” she murmured, then her eyes closed completely.

Her mind drifted, but her body was content. The cat in her had stopped prowling hours ago, the minute Alex had pulled her into his arms and taken her. She was sated. Safe. A drowsy voice came to her through the haze of sleep, but it barely registered.