Longing for You (Touched by Magic Book 1) (11 page)

Fuck
!

He was hoping she hadn’t heard him. Had it not been for the images filling his mind, he would’ve kept his big mouth shut, slipped on a condom, and fucked the hell out of her. But thinking about Cassie wasn’t enough. It was
never
enough.

“I, uh…I didn’t mean…” The excuse twisted his tongue as he stammered for the right words. But there weren’t any, and there was no bullshitting his way out of this slip. “All right, fine. I messed up.”

“No shit, but that’s not what I asked you. I want to know whose name you just used because it sure as
fuck
wasn’t mine.”

The four walls that made up the closet seemed to close in. Maybe it was because they were still thumping from the music. Or maybe it was the fact that he knew Cee-Cee wanted to rip him to shreds. Yet the longer he thought about it, the more he questioned why he even cared. She wasn’t his girlfriend.

“It was Cassie, okay? I called you Cassie.”

Cee-Cee shook her head slowly. An air of disgust blazed in her eyes. “Yeah. That’s what I thought you said.”

Heat erupted in his cheek when her palm connected with it. A
crack
pierced the air, and his head jerked to the side. It didn’t take her long to walk away from him or to reach the closet door. He wouldn’t be sad to see her go, yet when her fingers curled around the knob, he blurted out an apology.
 

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to say it.”

A snort echoed through the tiny room. She shot him an icy glare and turned the knob. “
Screw you
.”

The door swung open as Cee-Cee shot into the club. Before it slammed shut, a cool draft filtered into the closet, reminding him that his dick was still hanging freely.

Despite the awkwardness of the situation, he couldn’t help but laugh. This precise moment put new meaning to getting caught with his pants down. Only he hadn’t been caught. He’d been dumped, and all because of his big, fucking mouth.

Humph. More like his obsession with a certain redhead, and not the one that just stormed out the door.

Once he pulled up his jeans, and zipped and buttoned them, he exited the closet and glanced at his watch. One-thirty. Great. It was an early night with no hot girls to bang until sunrise. It was turning out to be a rather shitty end of the day.
 

But there was a bright spot to it all. Cassie had his number, and there was a good chance that before he left town, he’d get to see her again. He’d do everything in his power to make sure it happened, even if it meant convincing Jonah to man up and ask Ally on a date. Judging by the way his brother reacted to seeing her, it wouldn’t take much to persuade him.

This was all happening for a reason—the four of them running into each other after all these years. He refused to believe anything else, and he didn’t believe in coincidence. It was an easy explanation for someone without an imagination. Life wasn’t that simple.

Regardless of the how or the why, he knew one thing for sure. He wouldn’t throw away this opportunity. There was no way in hell he was leaving Savannah without getting what he wanted, what he’d always wanted…

Cassie Clarke in his bed, taking every inch of him.

* * *

A loud crack filled the room as Cassie sucked in a deep breath. She released it through a sensual moan while millions of goose bumps erupted over her skin. Her body heated, her nipples hardened, and the dull ache between her legs intensified again.
 

She concentrated on the heat surging through her, the same heat that stemmed from the handprint she knew was on her ass. There was no denying how much it turned her on. The thought alone made her wet, and that wetness had her gliding up and down the rigid prick inside her.
 

Rocking her hips forward and back, she kept a constant pace. Then the spasms began to increase…and increase. Any second she’d—
 

“Oh…”
 

Oh was right. The big O, the one she’d been waiting to overtake her. She gripped the shoulders beneath her palms and accentuated her movements. Grinding. Clenching. Coming…
 

“
Oh god…
” Strong hands gripped her hips. She circled them faster and tossed her head back when it became too much. “Oh
fuck
yes…”

As her body began to quiver, she lowered her eyes to the ones gazing up. Instead of the teal blue ones she expected to see, a different pair stared back. They were light blue—Theo blue—because the face peering up at her was his.

The mere thought had her body shuddering. There was no way to control it, nor did she try. She gave in to the ache, the same one that had her voice climbing and clit throbbing. The longer she stared, the more her little nub throbbed. And she came. Hard. Pulse after pleasurable pulse quaked through her body, but she couldn’t look away. She was too caught up in the moment, too focused on the thought of Theo buried inside her.

Grunts and groans mixed with her cries just before he reached his release. He dug his fingers into her hair and pulled her mouth closer. She wanted to kiss him. The need overtook her when the heat of his breath tickled her cheeks.

There was no hesitation on his end. Sweep after sweep, their lips pressed and parted, tongues swirled and danced. They continued kissing long after their bodies stilled. And when she finally eased away, the ugly truth punched her in the gut.

It wasn’t Theo she was straddling. It was Mike.

He studied her face, taking in every inch. “Wow,” he panted. “You’re fucking amazing. Do you know that?”

Her lips lifted and spread into a smile. So it wasn’t the man she’d imagined it to be. Didn’t mean she disliked the pleasure he brought her, and God, did he please her tonight. Sort of… His body may have produced the bliss, but it was thoughts of Theo that sent her over the edge and coming hard.

Damn, she needed to get him out of her head.

Once her thighs began to ache, she rolled over to her side and turned her back to Mike, who was busy peeling off the condom he’d been wearing. As she leaned back, the pillow cradled her head with its feathery softness. She snuggled in closer and sighed. God, the cool sheets felt good against her skin. Mike always managed to make her break a sweat.

The bed jostled as he lay back down and scooted closer. He bit her shoulder, just like he did any other time before they fell asleep, but then he did something else—something she wasn’t expecting. He curled his body behind hers and wrapped his arm around her waist.

It wasn’t until a deep sigh escaped his lips that she realized he had every intention of remaining in their current position. Maybe she shouldn’t have given two shits about such a small gesture, but it was completely out of character, like everything else he’d done tonight. Add the fact that she couldn’t get Theo’s face out of her mind, and it made for an uncomfortable situation.

Being as casual as possible, she tried to slip away from his embrace, but she didn’t get far before he gripped her hip.

“Um…what are you doing?”

“This?” His arms circled her again, and he pulled her back to the same spot she’d just escaped. “I thought we’d try something different. Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before.”

She peeked over her shoulder, viewing his chest first, then his face. “And what exactly is
this
?”

“We’re spooning, Cass.”

Spooning? Was he kidding?

A quick twist of her hips had her flipping over to her other side. Less than a foot of space separated his mouth from hers, but she didn’t let that fact distract her. She did what she normally did in awkward situations. She cracked a joke.

“Sweetheart, we’re not eating utensils. Besides, we just forked. No need to spoon, too.”

Laughter erupted from Mike’s direction. He trailed his finger along her jaw, under her chin, and then tapped her nose with his finger. “See, this is what I’m talking about. You’re sexy as hell, make me come harder than anyone I’ve ever known, and you’re funny. I enjoy my time with you.”

The sheets came back into view once she focused on the mattress. Was she in the freaking twilight zone tonight or what?

“Okay, Mike, that’s enough. What in the hell has gotten into you?”

He waited so long to respond that she worried he’d fallen asleep. Yet the moment she glanced up, her eyes locked with his. “Nothing’s gotten into me. Why do you ask?”

The mattress gave as she pushed up on her elbow. “You’re not acting like yourself. You’re acting like…like a—”

“Like a guy who really likes the girl he’s with?”

He was lying. He had to be with all the sentimental bullshit he was spewing. Instead of turning this into another argument, she lowered her gaze to his chest, but it didn’t ease the awkwardness burning her cheeks.

“That’s a sweet thing to say, Mike, which is why I’m having a hard time understanding where this is coming from. Don’t get me wrong,” she chuckled. “You’re quite charming, but this behavior is borderline romantic.”

Silence formed as Mike fell against his pillow. Guess he didn’t get the joke, or she had poor timing. Either way, he chewed on his bottom lip while gawking at the ceiling. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was seriously bothered by what she’d said.

“I don’t know how to explain it, Cassie. I mean I’ve always been attracted to you. But when you walked into the club tonight and I spotted you…it’s like I really saw you for the first time.”

She couldn’t believe he was saying this, and by the way he rose up on his elbow and leaned closer, she knew he wasn’t finished.

“We’ve always been clear about our arrangement since we started this. But what if I want more time with you? What if I’ve decided that I want to settle down and build a lasting relationship with someone? What if that someone is you?”

Each and every question tumbled through her mind as she stared at him, mouth open, her breath held. If he were on the verge of asking her to make vows and promises of forever, she wouldn’t be able to leave the bed quick enough.

Running off would be cruel, but then, being with someone she didn’t love was crueler. She cared about Mike. Probably always would, but she couldn’t spend forever with him.

“Mike, it’s late. I had a bad day, and I’m getting crankier by the second. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Try as she may, she couldn’t ignore the disappointment dulling his eyes. They lowered to the mattress, and he nodded. “Okay. Then let’s get some sleep.”

Her nod of approval was enough to satisfy him. He rolled to his side, putting his back to her. Out of all the conversations they’d shared over the last year, he never reacted this way. Then again, he’d never acted jealous before either.

Once his breathing deepened, she listened to the soft snoring he produced each time he drew air into his nose. The minutes continued ticking by, but each one seemed to take forever. No matter how many times she fluffed her pillow and waited for sleep to overtake her, all she could do was look at the ceiling.

After twenty minutes of tossing and turning, she finally scooted to the edge of the bed and stood. She waited to see if Mike would wake and ask what she was doing, but his snoring increased in frequency and volume, the telltale sign that he was out cold.

Perfect. Now she could grab her clothes off the floor, dress, and sneak out the front door before he knew any different. She didn’t like leaving this way, but she didn’t want to chance sticking around in the morning and having this conversation come up.

It wouldn’t do either of them any good.
 

Perhaps it was time to give him some space. They’d spent way too much time together in the last year. He was getting used to her being around. That’s all this was. A few weeks apart would do him some good and help clear his head.

Though a temporary break might solve the problem developing between her and Mike, it did nothing to rid her of her other issue—a six-foot, well-built wall of lean muscle with eyes that haunted her soul.

Time apart wouldn’t fix that issue, not if six years and thousands of miles hadn’t. Tonight proved that nothing on this planet, including hot sex, could get Theo McCabe off her mind.

CHAPTER NINE

The sound of a car horn blowing ricocheted through Cassie’s head, jarring her from sleep. It faded a moment later, but the damage was done. She was awake, and from the feel of the lumpy object cuddled to her body, she was sprawled across the bed, hugging her body pillow.

She blinked twice in an effort to see the time, but her eyes were like sandpaper—dry and coarse. The sensation prevented her from fully opening them, as did the repetitious pounding in her temples.

God, she needed an aspirin and a cup of coffee. If she weren’t any better after getting both, she’d grab some tomato juice and a beer.

So it wasn’t the most nutritious breakfast, but by god, it would fix her hangover. Sex would too, but that wasn’t an option this morning. Probably just as well. Nothing had gone right for the last twenty-four hours. From Ally’s late arrival, to the minute Cassie stepped inside her house, there was only one thing she wanted to forget.

Running into Theo.

The youngest McCabe brother showed what he thought of her. Nothing. All the flirting he did was for sport. He was out to get laid, nothing more. It’s who he was.
 

Still, she didn’t have a right to be upset. She would do the same had the roles been reversed. In fact, she did. Wasn’t that the reason she ended up at Mike’s?

It sure as hell wasn’t for chitchat.

As she eased into a sitting position, memories rushed through her mind. How she entered Mike’s apartment when he opened the door. How he closed the same door and approached her. His lips had covered hers, followed by his body.
 

Damn, he had an amazing body…

Gripping the sheets, she remembered every vivid detail. Those details included the sound of their clothes hitting the floor, the sound of the condom wrapper opening, and the feel of his hands when he lifted her against the wall and slammed his cock inside her.
 

She’d let him have his way, taking control of her body. It resulted in him carrying her to the bedroom. Her thighs wrapped snug at his waist, and her legs crossed above his ass.