Infatuation - A Club Destiny Novel (35 page)

“
This
has never happened to me before. I didn’t
want
it to happen to me, yet here I
find myself ready to go to my knees and beg for forgiveness because
you are exactly what I didn’t want.

“
You’re
the woman that I want to put first above everyone else, the woman I
want to have beside me through times like this when it seems as
though nothing is going the way that it should, the one I could see
myself going batshit crazy over, and the
only
woman who has ever had me
considering the possibility that there is more... more for
me.”

Tag held his breath, knowing that he sucked
at apologies, but he had laid his heart on the line with that
one.

McKenna was still standing just out of
reach, but he was scared to move closer, suddenly terrified that
she was going to send him on his way. That was likely what he
deserved, but he wasn’t sure he’d survive it if she decided he
wasn’t what she wanted.

*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

McKenna heard every single
word that passed Tag’s lips. In fact, her heart had woken up
somewhere after “go to my knees” and didn’t stop listening until he
was finished. Now, as she searched for the words, all of the things
she wanted to say to him died somewhere between her brain and her
lips.

For days, she had mentally
prepared speech after speech, outlining every single emotion line
by line, hoping she would have the chance to tell him exactly how
she felt. She’d also wanted to tell him exactly how he made her
feel, including the heart wrenching pain he inflicted without a
second thought.

Except, seeing him there, even more
vulnerable than she had ever seen him, McKenna knew he had had a
second thought. Or maybe even more.

“
I... I don’t know what to
say,” she said, that anxious, desperate ache once again starting
deep in the center of her chest.

“
You don’t have to say
anything, McKenna. Just believe me.” His voice, gruff and uneven,
was woven with uncertainty.

“
I believe you,” she told
him. She hadn’t expected those words to come out, but as soon as
she said them, it wasn’t like she wanted to take them
back.

Tag’s eyebrows rose as he
considered her, but when he didn’t move closer, she closed the gap
between them, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him
down to her.

“
Wait.” Tag’s urgent plea
had her pulling back slightly. “About the pictures...”

McKenna needed to tell him the truth, to let
him know how sick those pictures made her, but that was because she
couldn’t bear to think of him with another woman. Not in the past,
not in the present and definitely not in the future. No other woman
except her. “Have you been with another woman since you were with
me?”

“
Never.”

“
Do you plan to be with
another woman after me?” she asked, trying to force the grin that
she could feel tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“
I don’t
want there to
be
an after,” Tag whispered, his mouth hovering just above
hers.

“
Then we can work it out.”
McKenna pulled his head back down to hers, and this time she didn’t
let him go.

She couldn’t help herself
as she tried to climb his body, sucking his tongue into her mouth,
holding the back of his head to her as though he would escape given
half a chance. Then, when he started to pull back, gripping her
hips and still holding her close, McKenna opened her eyes and
peered deep into those seductive eyes.

“
Not here,” Tag told her,
cupping her face in both hands. “Get your things. You’re going home
with me.”

Pulling back, she debated, but only for a
fraction of a second before she grabbed her laptop and her purse
and followed him out of her office. She watched with wide eyed
fascination when Tag stopped at Whisper’s office.

“
When the painter’s get
here, go home. The security guard will stay with them,” he
instructed, waiting for Whisper to nod her head in
understanding.

A small smile passed
Whisper’s lips as she and McKenna made eye contact. It was a look
she had seen before on her assistant’s face, usually after she’d
done something mischievous. And now that she thought about it,
McKenna did find it fairly coincidental that Tag showed up all of a
sudden on the same day they received the photos.

“
I’ll take care of
everything. Go,” Whisper said, her grin spreading across her entire
face.

There was no time to respond because Tag
took her hand in his, leading her directly from the building to his
car. When he opened the door for her, McKenna moved to climb in,
but before she could, Tag pulled her against him, his lips pressing
against her forehead in a gesture so sweet, the tears she thought
had dried up threatened to fall.

When he released her, McKenna looked up at
him and asked, “What was that for?”

“
Because I haven’t done it
nearly enough.”

That was all she needed to hear.

When Tag pulled his car up to his house a
short while later, McKenna had to fight to keep her jaw from
unhinging. She had seen some nice houses in wealthy neighborhoods
in her lifetime, but she wasn’t sure whether she had ever seen
anything of this magnitude.

The house, if that was
what it could be called, was a monstrosity. From the front, once
past the expanse of lush green grass, the multitude of stout oak
trees, and the well groomed shrubbery, was a red brick colonial
house that was significantly wider than it was tall. With two
stories, and more windows than McKenna had ever dreamed of having,
the house was a head turner.

Tag pulled the car down a
side driveway, bypassing the huge circular drive that bisected the
front lawn, and into one of the bays in a four car garage, each
with individual garage doors. From the outside, McKenna noticed the
same setup on the other end of the house, and she wondered whether
there was another garage on the other side or if it was just
designed that way to balance the layout.

As the garage door closed behind them,
McKenna was suddenly anxious to have a look at the inside. Knowing
Tag, she figured the house would be as immaculately put together as
he was, and she was excited to get a better feel for how he lived.
So much could be learned of a person by looking at how they
lived.

McKenna waited patiently for Tag to open her
door for her since that was what he seemed to want to do, and once
they were inside the house, her awe of him only intensified.

Coming in through the garage door, they
didn’t step directly into the kitchen like the floor plan of her
home. No, she wasn’t greeted by a refrigerator, rather a washer and
dryer and enough square footage to house a full Laundromat.

For the next half hour, McKenna allowed Tag
to take her on a brief tour of the house, admiring the warm,
soothing tones of the walls, the large, masculine furniture that
filled each room, and the artwork that was just as unique as the
artwork on his body.

“
Would you like some
wine?” Tag asked as they stood in the master bedroom.

“
Yes,” she told him, but
still holding his hand, she stopped him before he would have led
her out of the room. “But not right now.”

McKenna wasn’t sure she
wanted anything more than him. As far as she was concerned they had
wasted more time than they should have in recent days and
weeks.

For now, he was all that
she needed.

~*~*~

Ever since he had laid
himself bare in McKenna’s office, Tag felt slightly off kilter.
Except for the times when McKenna looked at him the way she was
looking at him right now. With her heart in her eyes, he sensed
that she felt everything he somehow found the strength to
say.

Only she hadn’t said much
of anything since.

When her hands went around
his neck, pulling him close, he growled involuntarily and easily
swept her up off of her feet and carried her over to his bed. Once
he deposited her on the mattress, McKenna surprised him when she
rose to her knees, gripping his tie in her hands and pulling him
toward her. Hard.

“
Remember that little
amendment to our contract?” she asked sweetly, but the intensity in
her eyes belied her tone.

“
I
remember.”
How could he
forget?

“
Well, I think this might
just be the perfect place for me to exact my revenge.”

Tag instinctively went
rigid, his body hardened by her tone and the anticipation that
suddenly circulated through his veins. He’d never been dominated by
a woman. Although he had a feeling this wouldn’t work out quite the
way she anticipated, he was more than willing to let her have her
way with him if it made her happy.

“
I’m all yours, darlin’.”
Tag held his hands out to his sides as a sign of surrender,
allowing McKenna to pull him closer, still gripping his tie in her
fist.

“
The first thing we need
to do is to get you out of these clothes,” she informed him,
stepping down from the bed, allowing her body to brush down the
front of his.

As she eased around behind him, slowly
pulling his suit jacket off of his shoulders, Tag remained
unmoving, waiting for her instruction.

“
Lose the tie,” she
instructed in a firm, crisp tone that had his fists clenching at
his sides.

Doing as she said, he easily unknotted the
tie, then pulled it out from under his collar before tossing it on
the floor beside them. She had been kind enough to lay his jacket
on the chair beside his bed, but as far as he was concerned, there
was no need. At this point, he was ready to rip his own clothes
off, not giving a damn whether he was wearing a five thousand
dollar suit or not.

“
Turn around.”

Tag turned to face her, his back now to the
bed as he looked down at the sexy, red haired vixen that had
somewhere along the way weaved herself into his heart and ensured
she stayed twined there for the duration. No matter how much he had
tried to push her away, in the end, it had been him who had given
in out of sheer fear that if he tried to live another day without
her, he might just not make it through.

McKenna’s small hand easily slipped each
tiny disk on his shirt from its mooring as she watched him with a
wickedly sexy grin on her face.

“
Take off the belt,” she
instructed and Tag didn’t falter as he unhooked the black leather
from the chrome buckle before pulling it from the loops and letting
it fall to the floor beside the tie.

“
Now the pants.” McKenna
was still unbuttoning his shirt, letting her fingers graze his
chest as she went, clearly knowing exactly what she was doing to
him.

With quick, easy movements, he rid himself
of his slacks, letting them fall to the floor at his feet. He still
had his shoes on, so there wasn’t much more he could do at the
moment, so he waited patiently as she continued.

Then the temptress went
and damn near blew his mind, lowering herself to her knees,
trailing her tongue from the middle of his chest all the way down
in one torturous lick. When she brushed the head of his cock
through his boxer briefs, Tag grunted.

“
Don’t worry,” McKenna
crooned. “You’ll get yours soon enough.”

Tag didn’t want his. Well, he did, but he
wanted to lay her out on the floor right there and feast on her for
hours on end in ways he hadn’t had the chance to yet.

While on her knees,
McKenna untied his shoes, allowing him to toe them off, then
removed his socks, which offered him the chance to step out of his
slacks. Standing before her, clad in his boxer briefs and his
shirt, Tag was beginning to think she had on way too many clothes.
She didn’t seem to mind because she continued to taunt him with her
soft, smooth fingers and her sharp little nails while she worked to
remove the rest of his clothes.

“
I think you’re enjoying
this as much as I am,” Tag teased her as she returned to her feet,
pushing his shirt off of his shoulders until the material slid over
his biceps and then down his forearms where he caught it with his
hands before slinging it in the direction of the chair.

“
Well, how can I not, with
such a beautiful playground before me? Now, get on the bed. On your
back,” McKenna urged.

Tag did as she told him, laying on his bed,
tempted to put his hands behind his head and let her do her worst,
but as he watched, he realized she had other plans for him. The
sneaky woman went straight to his closet, peeking through his
clothes before she returned with two of his ties and a bewitching
smile on her face.

With ease, McKenna tied his hands to the
wrought iron headboard, and Tag didn’t struggle. Had she been
naked, he would’ve used the opportunity to tease her, but she was
still fully dressed, but hopefully she wouldn’t be for long.

The next thing he knew, she was standing
above him on the bed, one foot on each side of his chest which
forced her tight denim skirt up her thighs to her hips, offering
him a glimpse of what appeared to be red, silk panties.

He watched, hypnotized as
she began to undress slowly, sliding her form fitting t-shirt over
her head, revealing a barely there red demi bra that gave him a
tempting view of her distended nipples and her perfect, pale
skin.