House Rules (17 page)

Tess giggled some more. “Thanks for making me laugh.”

That easily, my pulse slowed, and the desire to kill my best friend subsided with the joy she got from our banter.

“You’re only off the hook because of Tess. Now tell me, what did you find out?”

The easygoing look on his face melted away to be replaced by concern. “It’s not good. Bastard owes Marcello half.”

“Fuck.” It was worse than I thought.

Tess perked her head up. “You mean Ray’s already got whatever he owes Marcello down to half?”

“No, babe, he means Ray owes half a million dollars.”

Tess began to sputter and cough. “He owes five hundred thousand dollars,” she panted out between coughing fits.

“It’s all right,” I said, patting her on the back.

Dean hoped up and poured her a glass of whiskey. She took the glass with shaking hands, throwing back half of it like a shot.

“How is it all right? Ray owes five hundred thousand dollars and this Marcello guy is going to come after me to get it.”

“Not if I have any say in it.” I was determined to keep her safe, no matter the cost.

“Ray’s in the wind and Marcello has men out looking for both of them.” Dean’s eyes ran over Tess before looking back at me, bracing himself for my reaction. “He checked Tess’s old apartment, but hasn’t been able to find the new one yet. No one seems to know where you’ve gone, Tess.”

“I’d like to keep it that way.” Her hands shook as she set the glass on the table in front of her.

I gripped her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “I told you, nothing is going to happen to you. I need you to trust me on that one.” She gazed into my eyes for a long time before nodding her head once. I turned to face Dean. “I want you to see what you can do about setting up a meeting between Marcello and myself. He needs to understand that Tess is mine now, and if doesn’t back the fuck off we’re going to have real problems.

Dean nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.” He stood and glanced down at Tess. “Sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances, but we’ll get all of this taken care of for you.”

Tess tried to smile. “Thanks, Dean, it was nice to meet you, too.”

I didn’t care if it took a bottle of wine, a foot massage, me fucking her until she couldn’t remember her own name, I was going to make her forget everything she’d just learned and make her enjoy the rest of the evening.

Dean nodded at me and left. He’d get everything set up. The question would be whether Marcello would even listen. I needed something else to focus on and dinner with Tess seemed like the perfect topic.

“So . . . dinner?”

“You still want to do dinner after all of this?” She gestured to where Dean had gone through the door.

I took her hand in mine. “I do. Now pick what you want, or I will.”

She went quiet for a moment and I thought I was going to have to put my foot down until she said, “Sushi?”

“Sounds perfect. How about I drive and I’ll bring you back to get your car later? Or I can have Dean or Charlie bring it to the house in a bit so you can go home when you’re ready.”

“I can do that. Are you sure they won’t mind bringing it over?”

“Not at all.” I laughed. “The both probably want every opportunity to gloat.”

She looked puzzled. It was a cute look on her.
Fuck, did I just think the word “cute”?
“Why would they gloat?”

“How about I tell you over dinner? I’m starving.”

She nodded and I followed her out of the office and through the bar. I saw people watching us, their eyes following the path we made to the doors, I wasn’t interested in their opinions.

Today was a chance for me to learn more about Tess, not worry about bullshit we couldn’t deal with until later.

CHAPTER 16

Theresa

Dinner was nothing like I expected. I thought Miller would spend the whole night trying to sleep with me again. Surprisingly, he was much more forthcoming about his life than I’d expected him to be. I won’t lie and say the wine didn’t help me relax, but this time I made sure to drink each glass slower, savoring the taste and keeping myself from getting drunk.

"You promised to tell me what Ashton said to make you change your mind.”

He smiled. When we got back to his house, he’d changed into jeans and a simple blue T-shirt. In a tailored suit the man was sexy; in a pair of jeans he was an orgasmic feast. One look and you knew the man would help you experience things you never had before. Once again my body was on high alert, but that didn’t stop me from trying to get to know more about him.

“I did. He called me a ‘fucking idiot’ and told me to get my shit together. Said that you weren’t the type to only want sex. He also made me realize that wasn’t all I wanted from you, either.”

And there was the golden question. What
did
Miller want? Was this some sort of experiment? I saw the way my stepfather treated my mom. That wasn’t what I wanted for my life. He never physically abused her, but that didn’t mean he treated her well.

“And what is it that you want from me? To be honest, I don’t want to be some experiment for the guy who’s never been in a relationship before.”

“Is that what you think?” His tone was harsh and caught me off-guard.

“I’m not sure what to think. I want to believe that you want me . . .” I paused and my voice was low as I admitted, “I guess I’m afraid you’ll get bored of being in a relationship.”

His jaw clenched and unclenched. “It pisses me off that you think that, but I guess I deserve it. I’m not sure this will make you feel any better, but it’s all I have.” He reached over and refilled the almost empty glass in my hand. Warning bells went off in my head that I really wasn’t going to like what he had to say. I took a sip of the drink and braced. “The blonde that came into the bar a few weeks ago was part of my attempt to fuck you out of my system.”

I flinched, the thought that he would attempt something like that filled me with dread. I didn’t know the rest, but better to hear it now than later when more than intrigue and desire were involved.

“I couldn’t get you out of my head. For that first week, I dreamt about you—the feel of your lips, the way your body held me tight inside you. With my dad handing over the business to me, time wasn’t on my side. I worked my ass off to take over and I wasn’t about to let a woman stand in the way of that.” He rubbed a hand over the muscles in his neck.

“When I couldn’t get you out of my mind, I decided to go out and screw you out of it. I thought I could pick up where I left off and nothing would change. The first night, I picked up a woman and between kisses called her Tess. Then there was the blonde you met. It took me the whole night to realize that I’d spent our entire exchange comparing every little thing she did to you. Before I would have taken her home anyway, fucked her senseless and sent her on her way.”

He picked up my hand from where I had it fisted against my leg and turned it over, lifting it so his lips could touch the sensitive underside of my wrist. My eyes were glued to his lips on my body.

“You were the first woman to ever spend the entire night in my bed.”

My head snapped up, eyes wide. “I was . . . I . . . You never let another woman sleep in your bed.” I said it like a statement even though it was half a question, my disbelief shining through.

“No. It was always about fucking and pleasure. But you . . . you were different. It took me a while to work it all out in my head purely because you were
so
different. There’s plenty I’m going to fuck up, Tess. I’m a selfish bastard, I like getting my own way, and I almost never compromise. But if that’s what I have to do to be with you, then I’ll try. Because I want all of that and more with you, and if you’re willing to stick around and give me a chance, I’ll break my back to give you all of it.”

His teeth nipped at the soft skin before he soothed it with his tongue. A moan rose low in my throat. The man knew exactly how to touch me.

“How can I say no when you make such a persuasive argument.” My voice was low, raspy.

“Mmm, that’s what I like to hear.”

He moved closer on the couch, leaning in to nibble right behind my ear. Sparks flew along my nerves directly to my clit. I turned my head, dislodging his mouth and plunged my hand into the back of his hair, bringing his lips to mine. At the first swipe of his tongue I opened for him, the invasion sweet and spicy all at once. Tingles raced through me and thoughts of going home without feeling him inside me once more seemed like such a bad idea.

He’d let down his guard, for me. Dropping so many of the walls that I’d wanted to climb that first night at dinner. It was hard to say no. There was no longer a war within me; my body and my brain wanted him.

I slid my other hand down his chest and across his stomach until I could feel the bulge of his cock pressing against his jeans as his hips thrust up into my hand at the same time he tore his mouth from mine. He watched me, waiting to see how I reacted when he slipped his hand below my tank top and bra to roll my nipple between his fingers and found the bud already tight, waiting for something. I thrust my chest out. A sharp, but delicious pain pierced me when he pinched my nipple hard.

“Oh god,” I cried, struck by the sensation of pain and pleasure mixed together.

No man had ever touched me that way.

I loved it.

His thumb continued to lightly rub my nipple. Breathe in. Breathe out. Each breath came harder and faster. His eyes never left mine.

“I promised you no sex tonight. I’ll keep my promise, walk you to the door right now, and take you out another night. Or we can go upstairs and explore all the things I want to do and make you scream my name over and over again. The choice is yours.”

I shivered, wanting to stand my ground and stick to my words from earlier at the same time as my body hummed in anticipation of what he could do with his hands . . . and mouth . . . and . . .

Gah!
      There were so many things that I should be thinking about. Things to consider and decisions to make. But with his hands on me I couldn’t think straight. He was a devil in disguise, but I wasn’t sure that was an issue for me anymore.

Sincerity and lust warred in his eyes. He’d let me leave if I really wanted. But that wasn’t what I wanted. When I made that demand, I thought that was the only reason he wanted me to come home with him. But now, after everything he’d just said, I knew there was more to all of this and I wanted to explore it. The last two times together passion raged between us.

It was hard.

Fast.

Perfect.

I wanted—no
needed
—to know what slow and gentle felt like. Although I had a feeling gentle would be missing.

“I want to stay.”

“Are you sure?”

I moved from my seat and straddled his lap. He groaned. Taking his face in my hands I crushed my mouth to his. Passion ignited, our tongues dueling for dominance. I had a feeling that would be a constant part of our relationship: this fight for power. I tore my lips away from his.

“I told you I wanted to stay, so take me upstairs.”

“Bossy. I think I like it.”

He curled his hands around my ass and stood with me in his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist, moving my hips against his. My body was wet and ready for him.

“If you keep that up, I’m gonna flip you over and fuck you right here on the stairs.”

While the threat sounded promising, I had other things in mind. I nipped at his ear and whispered, “Another time. Now take me to your room.”

He finished the climb, taking the stairs two at a time, and for a brief moment I thought he’d put me on my feet; at least, until my back hit the mattress. He followed me down, covering my body with his, and kissed me. Miller’s kisses were like an erotic dance, with bends and flicks all mixed together to create enough desire to fill the entire room. I pushed my hips up into his again. Even the slight friction of the jeans against my clit settled some of the ache inside me.

He pulled his hips back away from mine. “Oh, no, no, no. I get to play with you for a little bit.”

“Miller,” I begged.

He shook his head and began unbuttoning my jeans. The moment the zipper reached the bottom they were off in a flash of denim and lace, as my underwear hit the floor, too. In a daze, I let him lift me, sitting me up so that my shirt and bra could join the rest of my clothes on the floor. His teeth started at my collarbone, taking small bites on the way down to my breasts, where he stopped and drew my nipple into his mouth. The was a tingle as his tongue flicked back and forth over the pert bud. I leaned back, resting my elbows on the bed, letting sensation wash over me.

Then he bit down.

And I saw stars.

For a brief moment I thought I might come. My arms slid out from underneath me, my body slamming down onto the bed. I squirmed, trying to get more friction from something, even if it was only Miller’s jeans. Only a little bit more and I would fall over the edge into paradise.

“Not yet,” he whispered, kissing his way across the valley of my breasts to tease the other nipple.

My mind was numb with the pleasure I was getting from his rotating licks and bites. My eyes closed and I became a mass of nerves, begging for attention. I was lost in a sea of pleasure when I felt a finger slip inside, only to pull back again and slide further down.

Oh.

He pressed his finger in. It felt strange, but I didn’t want him to stop. His teeth and tongue continued to torture my nipples. I thrashed my head on the pillow.

In. Out.

In. Out.

His finger sunk deeper into me and I could feel it building. It was there just at the tip of my toes . . .

Then he pulled away.

“Miller!” I lay there, suspended in a state of sexual need I’d never experienced before. His mouth descending quickly to take mine. This kiss wasn't like the ones from earlier. Those kisses let the passion build slowly between them. I felt this kiss all through my body, like an electric shock. His mouth possessed mine as he pushed his tongue past my lips, only to suck mine back into his mouth. My nipples hardened once again, begging for his touch, but as quickly as the kiss began, it ended, him pulling away again. I groaned at being denied once more.