Hot Commodity (Banks / Kincaid Family #1)(49)

He shrugged. "Whatever."

*

Olivia was really starting to unnerve Cameron.

Though he should’ve turned in for the night, he had this overwhelming urge to seek out his new houseguest and see what she was doing. He wanted to seduce her, push her against the first sturdy surface they encountered and bury himself deep inside her warmth. He wanted to suck her ripe nipples into his mouth and bite down until she cried for more.

The urges annoyed him. Sure, he wanted Olivia. She was an attractive woman. But this need in him was starting to get ridiculous. He wanted her all the time. As soon as he pictured her face, his body went all achy and throbby and he wanted to bury himself over and over into the nearest available hole. Hell, he’d been damn near tempted to visit the bathroom at work and give himself a hand job to find some release. Three different times. And it was all because some delicious little Twinkie wouldn’t get out of his head. He’d thought about her more than he should’ve all day. Numerous times he’d been tempted to call home just to check in and see how she was doing.

The pleasure he’d gotten from seeing her trying to cook in his kitchen went against all his rules concerning the opposite sex. He didn’t care about women—not in a lasting commitment sort of way. Okay, okay, that wasn’t exactly true. He loved his mother, and his sister, and all his girl cousins, and aunts, and grandmother, and so forth. But datable women were just around for entertainment. He didn’t feel contentment by watching them destroy his kitchen. That kind of affection wasn’t allowed. Not anymore. Sienna had successfully killed his ability to love that way, just as surely as she’d killed herself.

Yet one little blonde cupcake broke all his carefully ordered guidelines.

Determined to put Miss Livy back into her rightful place, Cameron scoured the house for a sign of her. He needed to do something nasty and mean so she’d know not to get too comfortable. Her stay was only temporary. They both needed a reminder of that. So, before looking further, he stopped by his nightstand and filched a little something from his condom box.

He found her in one of the guest bedrooms. She wore the nightgown from Chicago and hummed under her breath as she stared in a mirror, watching her own fingers smear lotion on her throat and upper chest.

His cruel intentions forgotten, Cameron went rock-solid hard as he recalled touching that throat and slipping those thin straps off her shoulders to bare her full breasts. He ran his gaze down her voluptuous figure. God, she had such a tiny waist to go with those full hips. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on them again.

"You’re not really going to sleep in here, are you?" he asked, startling her into jumping and whirling around.

"Well, yeah," she answered, sending him an odd look after surveying the room. "This is my room. You said I could choose."

Stepping inside, Cameron approached her slowly, like a spider advancing on any tasty morsel caught its web. "Yes, but why should we mess up two set of sheets for Greta to clean when we can just share mine?"

"Because," she started, but he effectively cut her off when he yanked her into his arms and kissed her.

He could tell she tasted alcohol on his tongue. She pulled back immediately and gave him a surprised look. "When did you—" But she stopped herself at the last moment.

He was glad she didn’t continue. He didn’t want to talk about it.

*

Olivia ran her tongue over her bottom lip and lapped up the taste of Cameron. As she did so, she focused on his face and compared it to all the pictures she’d sorted through earlier.

He’d aged a lot in the last few years. And it was true what they said about men only looking better the older they grew. Though he’d been cute in his youth, the features on his face were chiseled and shaped to perfection. Cameron Banks had a defined character about him.

His eyes narrowed. "Why is that look in your eyes making me so nervous?"

Olivia smiled and reached for his face. He stiffened in surprise, but then closed his eyes and nuzzled her fingers as she ran them up his jaw. "I was just thinking you made a good point about the sheets," she murmured, moving closer. "And you’re right. There really is no point in being wasteful. We should just share a bed for tonight."

"I’m always right," he murmured drowsily and made a sound of appreciation when she moved closer and pressed her mouth to the jaw she’d just stroked. His breath caressed her face.

A picture of his first wife entered her head. Remembering Sienna and the way she’d made Cameron miserable upset her. For the first time in her life, she wanted to slap a dead woman. But how could Sienna still control so much of Cameron’s emotions? Irrationally jealous he could sleep with her each night, yet still mourn another woman, Olivia tightened her grip on him.

Determined to wipe all traces of the other woman out of his head, she hooked a finger under one strap of her nightgown and slid it off her shoulder to reveal the slope of her breast. Cameron watched the process. His steady, solemn gaze almost broke her. For some reason, she wanted to soothe the ache inside him. He’d saved her from her mother. She needed to return the favor.

Looping her arms around his neck, she pulled him close. His eyes sparked.

"Take me," she commanded in a low voice. "Now."

He grinned. "Yes, ma’am."

Dipping his head, he set his mouth against hers and caressed her lips, then he pulled back, only to return again, licking her bottom lip and nibbling playfully.