Sneaking a Peek (6 page)

That gained her attention.

“It’s over.” He wiped another stray tear from her cheek. “It has been for a while. We just hadn’t made it official.”

Tarney’s voice cracked as she spoke, “Then why was she so upset last night? Half the street heard her screaming.” Her heart filled with hope, even though her mind still needed convincing.

“She was pissed because she didn’t pull the pin first.” He stroked her lower lip with his thumb. Tarney hated the way her body reacted. “Apparently she’s been seeing a guy she’s been working with for weeks.”

Tarney grimaced. That had to hurt. She watched Ethan, expecting him to be livid at Tina’s betrayal, at least slightly angry, but he didn’t react at all. He merely focused on her with a sad smile and twined his fingers between hers.

She wanted to believe him, to absolve him of any wrongdoing without a second thought. If what he said was true, then she couldn’t really blame him. He had been separated from Tina, their relationship entirely over except for the parting words. The change in situation didn’t make him a saint, but she supposed he wasn’t the heartless, cheating bastard she thought he’d been.

“I’ve loved you for so long, and I know the timing wasn’t perfect. I just couldn’t let you go again.”

All the breath left her lungs on a rapid vacuum. His pain coursed through her, and she wanted to wipe it away. Nothing in her life seemed more important now than believing in him and absolving him of his guilt.

“Really?” she asked in disbelief, taking a step forward into the warmth of his embrace. In all the hours she’d spent crying last night, she hoped something would vindicate him.

His smile widened as he leaned in to brush his lips against hers. “Really,” he whispered into her mouth.

Tarney was a mess, her face wet with tears, her heart slowly recovering from its broken beat, but Ethan’s lips filled her with sparks of warmth. The heated sensation started at her toes, slowly ascending with each soft stroke of his tongue. When the apex of her thighs began to tingle, she moved closer, their bodies now touching from thigh to waist.

He kissed her with sincerity, adoration, and devotion.

“Ahem…so I’ll just let myself out then, will I?”

Shit, Jenna. Tarney had completely forgotten about her. She attempted to pull back and apologize, but Ethan’s hand encased the back of her head, holding her, preventing her from breaking the kiss.

The soft click of the front door closing was the only indication that Jenna had left.

A giggle bubbled from her belly and echoed into his mouth while he continued to kiss her with intense desperation. Their tongues dueled in firm strokes, his fingers tightening in her hair as he backed her into the wall. Her ass hit first, then gently her shoulders before Ethan gripped the side of her face and broke away.

His forehead pressed against hers, the air hot and turbulent in the small distance between their lips.

“I’m so sorry, Tarney. I should have said something. I should have told you.”

She began to shake her head, unwilling to let him shoulder the blame, but he silenced her advancing words with a quick hard press of his lips.

“Let me make it up to you.” He trailed his mouth along her jaw, nudging a knee between her thighs. “Let me take you out for dinner.” His fingers trailed down the sensitive skin of her neck, and her nipples beaded in response. He moved to the other side of her face, continuing along her jaw while he glided his hand down the side of her body. “Let me make you feel good. Let me make up for what I’ve done.”

His touch was exquisite. Every move, every contact hit her with an impact that made her pussy clench.

No. She needed to think. Ethan had received enough punishment from her cold shoulder last night. She needed to set him straight—to let him know he was forgiven. She had no reason to blame him, and he didn’t deserve to still be hurting.

Placing her hands on his chest, she pushed back lightly, not wanting his warmth to dissipate, but needing to speak to him without the drug of his lips on her skin.

“Ethan.” She whispered his name, annoyed when it came out husky and seductive. A few strokes of that wicked fireman’s tongue and she felt the burn. Damn the man.

He stopped kissing her neck, nuzzling instead. “Mmm?”

“Ethan, I need you to get out of the zone. I want all eyes on deck.”

He continued to tease the skin just underneath her ear, and her thighs squirmed at the delicious sensation. In return, he pressed his body closer, her arm crumpling between them as his pelvis rocked against her abdomen.

No mistaking his intentions. He already had the hose prepared.

“Ethan.” Her voice was firm this time, as demanding as her needy body would allow.

Slowly he pulled his head away, his thigh moving from between her legs when he stepped back. A shaky hand raked through his disheveled hair, and now he was the one averting eye contact.

She was so confused. What was wrong now? “Ethan?”

“Hmm?” He met her stare, raising his eyebrows in question before his gaze fell to the floor again.

“What’s wrong?”

His hand came up again, another rough stroke through his hair. He bit his lip, the action seeming more in frustration as he frowned at the floor. Maybe this whole situation was too screwed up to resolve.

“I think we need some space,” she offered, not wanting to distance herself, although she acknowledged it was probably the best decision.

His head jerked up, his tortured eyes falling on her. “No! Shit, Tar, I hate this.” Both hands passed over his face. He dropped his arms to his sides, defeated, and stared back at her. “I’m a freaking mess. I don’t know what to do when I’m close to you. I want to make you happy, but for the life of me I can’t even think around you. I keep falling back to sex ’cause it’s the only thing I’m good at. How do I make this all better?”

Tarney wanted to laugh, but Ethan was dead serious. How cute.

She stepped into him, looking up into his eyes and resting her hands on his firm chest. “You aren’t that good,” she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

His mouth gaped in horror, his posture straightening at her words.

“I’m joking, I’m joking.” Jeez, the poor guy was poised for a heart attack. She only wanted to lighten the mood. Obviously his prowess wasn’t something to joke about.

His chest lost its rigidity as she lightly stroked the hard planes. “And besides, it’s been so long since we had sex I can’t really remember how good you were anyway.”

Ethan chuckled, his eyes brightening as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. If he needed sex to loosen up and make himself feel back on top again, who was she to deny him?

“I think you may be teasing me, Tarney Jensen,” he growled into her ear, walking them both back into their previous position against the wall.

She smiled into his shoulder, happy to feel his confidence return. It went against the force of nature to see such a secure man flustered.

With both hands, he gripped her wrists and guided them around his neck. “Maybe I need to pull out my A-game.”

Tarney snorted, a frenzy of excitement and nervousness making her cling to Ethan. If last night wasn’t his A-game, she hoped she could survive what he had in store.

* * *

Ethan ran his hand under the waistband of Tarney’s shorts, then into her panties. Fucking hell, she was soaked. His fingers were drenched without touching her heat. Her essence lay heavy in the air, thick enough to taste. “Damn, Tar, are you always this wet?”

Her cheeks flushed an adorable shade of pink, and she buried her head deeper into his shoulder, her teeth biting through the material of his shirt. Delicate fingers clawed into the hair at his nape, scratching, tugging.

His cock jerked, ripping a suppressed growl from his chest. “Do you know how good you tasted yesterday?” He slid his fingers into her slick channel and closed his eyes at her warmth. Her muscles clamped around him so tight, so eager, all for him.

She mewled in reply and her weight sank into him, her body malleable and at his mercy. Gliding his hand under her shirt, he pulled down one cup of her bra to expose her breast, then the other. He played with her nipples, torturing the tight peaks until her hips began to undulate against him, her motions making her grind against his fingers.

What he wouldn’t give to be inside her, to push her against the wall and sink deep. Hard. He wanted to feel her tight pussy contracting around his cock. But there would be enough time for that later. First he needed to make up for his mistakes, to give her pleasure to make up for the pain.

“Please, Ethan.” She leaned on tippy toes to whisper in his ear, licking his earlobe. “Please, I want you inside me.”

Oh, he wanted that too. He ground his teeth together, fighting the need to rub against her and give his cock the friction it demanded. With a final plunge of his fingers, he removed his hand from her shorts and gave her nipple one last stroke. He grabbed her hands from around his neck and placed them by her sides.

Fixing her with a grin, he moved to his knees in front of her. She pressed her lips together, her chest heaving erratically as her eyes followed his every move. Slowly he removed her shorts, leaving a trail of butterfly kisses down her legs. Her panties were next, coming off in one lazy pull, before he threw them down the hall. He suppressed a shudder at the erotic sight of her smooth mound and the pink pussy lips glistening for him, begging him to suck them.

“Just a little taste first.” He leaned in to give her heat a deep swipe with his tongue. Tarney arched her back, giving him access to hold on to her luscious ass. He savored her exquisite flavor, closing his eyes as he hummed with approval. Her potent scent no longer tempted his senses. No, her fragrance now penetrated his mind, his soul, driving him insane.

He settled his mouth over her, licking, sucking, devouring. Her body jerked and her opening clenched around his tongue when he sunk deep. She clutched at his hair, holding him closer, and he steadied her against the wall with a firm hand against her abdomen.

Sweat dampened his forehead, the pressure of restraint too much to handle, the throb in his cock built with unrelenting force. He didn’t know how long he would last suppressing his primal urges, and the craving to take her became a constant buzz in his ears.

Running his hands up the delicate skin of her thigh, he took pleasure in the way her legs quivered and tightened around him. In turns, he tormented her hungry pussy, swirling her entrance with his tongue, then his fingers.

“Ethan…Ethan, please. I’m so close.”

Without warning he plunged deep, giving her the penetration she needed. His mouth found her clit at the same time, and he sucked with a ferocity that sent her over the edge. She clutched him tight, her juices covering his hand as her head tilted back and she cried out in release.

He looked up her body, along the flat plane of her stomach, over her enticing breasts, to her angelic face. She was so beautiful, so damn perfect, the urge to simply hold her in his arms overpowered his lust.

Her knees buckled, and he held her upright with a hand on her stomach. “I’ve got you,” he assured her. “I’ve always got you.”

Tarney slid down the wall, and he leaned back, feeling the last spasms of her orgasm. Softly she hit the floor, her legs curling beneath her. Her eyes opened—slow and lazy—and she smiled at him while licking her lips.

“A-game?” he asked, removing his fingers from her sheath.

She chuckled, her eyelids drifting closed as she rested her head against the wall. “Definitely A-game material.”

His heart clenched, his chest expanding with pride, and maybe a little arrogance. Tarney had always affected him. Her gaze touched him. Her mouth tempted him. Her body tortured him. And now that he had her, now that he knew how good they were together, he would never let her go.

He kissed her hard, his tongue parting her lips. Aggression seeped from his pores, and he pulled back when his craving for her didn’t taper. He needed her to understand his interest was more than sexual. Putting his own desires to the back of his mind was how he planned on showing it.

He encircled her waist with one arm, his other lifting her legs as his erection rubbed against her side.

“What are you doing?” she asked in alarm.

Ethan moved to his feet with Tarney’s weight cradled in his arms and headed down the hall. “It’s time to rest. You’re tired, and I’m wrecked.” The latter was a flat out lie. He had never been more alive. But Tarney needed respite, and he had to find grounding.

“What about you?”

His shaft pulsed against her body, voicing the same question. He gave her a one-sided grin and led her through the doorway to her bedroom, placing her softly on the mattress. “That’s why we’re resting. You’ll need to restock your reserves for the next round.”

Her eyes glinted and she wrapped her arms around his neck, beaming a contagious smile. “I’m sorry for not giving you a chance to explain last night.”

He settled beside her, their bodies facing, their gaze focused on one another. “It’s OK. I wouldn’t have given me a chance either,” he replied, reaching up to wipe a strand of hair away from her eyes.

They lay in quiet contemplation as Tarney’s fingers stroked over the material on his chest. Ethan’s nerves were still hyper sensitive with waning adrenaline, and he had to stop himself from pouring his heart out by goading her. “There’s just one thing I need to discuss with you.”

Tarney paused, the smile falling from her face.

He stilled the laughter bubbling up at her cute face. So serious. “If you plan on perving on me while I work out, you’re no longer allowed to do it from your porch.”

Chapter Five

Three months later

Tarney sat on Ethan’s lap as he lay shirtless beneath her, a fine sheen of sweat dampening his skin. She licked her lips in invitation when he moved his back off the ground for another sit-up and kissed her before he descended again.

She fought for control, wanting to gyrate against him. After two point five seconds of constant struggling, she gave up, grinding her pussy against the length of his erection.