A Winter Wedding(82)

He stared at her, wearing a fathomless expression on his face. She thought she saw some regret there and was hoping he’d soften—kiss her and caress her as he’d done before.

But he didn’t. He held her hands above her head as he suckled her breasts. Then he ran his lips down her stomach, kissing and biting her.

Lourdes gasped as he raised her legs over his shoulders and held them there. He wouldn’t let her move, wouldn’t let her withdraw from him. He’d taken control. But she didn’t want to escape him...

She writhed on his bed, her hands clutching the bedding as his mouth brought her to a quick and powerful climax.

*

Although Lourdes had seen plenty of animalistic, rip-your-clothes-off sex depicted in the movies, she’d never experienced it firsthand. Not until tonight. She had to admit there was a certain eroticism to it. Still, she preferred the gentleness with which Kyle had touched her before the fire. But he’d been out to make a point, and she couldn’t deny he’d done a good job of it.

When she tried to return to her own bed, once again he caught her by the waist, and this time he pulled her back against him.

She told herself she’d stay until he fell asleep and then she’d go back to her own room. Given the temporary nature of their relationship, she didn’t think it was wise to cuddle up with him. That would only defeat the purpose of making love so forcefully and fast and devoid of any endearments.

But she was tired, too. And the warmth of his body provided such a comfortable place to sleep that she soon felt too languid to move. It wasn’t until early the next morning, when there seemed to be several people banging on the front door and ringing the bell at the same time, that she opened her eyes and realized she was still in his bed.

Roused by the noise, he got up and grabbed some clothes. Then he took one look at her and scowled as if he wasn’t too happy to see her.

She tugged the blankets up and scowled right back at him. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to run out and tattoo your name on my arm or anything. You made sure I couldn’t mistake ‘f*cking’ for ‘making love.’”

He pushed a hand through his hair. It was sticking up on one side, and yet he still managed to look sexy. “Yeah, well, I guess I’m sort of an all-or-nothing person.”

“I didn’t ask you to show me what nothing was like,” she said. “I was just putting you to bed. What happened after that was your idea.”

“I know. And I’m afraid it wasn’t a very good one.”

“You’d been drinking. Should I have refused?”

“Not because I’d been drinking. I’m not blaming that. Or you.”

“But you’re not happy about last night.”

“How could I be? I was an *.”

“People do weird things when they don’t want to get hurt. But just so you know... I don’t want to get hurt, either.” He’d been vulnerable when they were together before the fire, feeling more than he should. They both had. So she didn’t find it such a shock that after the fire he’d try to get what he wanted while also trying to erect the barriers he felt would keep him safe. “Anyway, as far as ‘f*cking’ goes, that wasn’t bad.”

He shot her a glance but said nothing, just got dressed.

“Okay, fine,” she said. “Maybe I should make things easier on both of us. Would you like me to move to the farmhouse today?”

Without bothering to put on the shirt in his hand, he swung around to face her. “No, I wouldn’t. After what someone did to my plant, I don’t want you by yourself anywhere. Do you understand?”

“Meaning you think Noelle might try to hurt me...”

“Meaning you don’t go anywhere without me until we figure out what’s going on.”

“Kyle!” someone called—a female voice Lourdes didn’t recognize.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

He yanked on his shirt and checked his watch. “It’s Eve. I get together with my friends every Friday morning at the coffee shop. I’m guessing that when I didn’t show up today, they decided to come here. Brandon and Olivia must’ve told them about the fire.”

Someone banged on the door. “Hello? Open up! Baxter’s in town, man!” This was a male voice...

“Coming!” Kyle yelled as he buttoned his jeans.

Lourdes drew the blankets even higher. “Have you mentioned a Baxter to me?”

“I doubt it. He’s one of my best friends, but he’s been living in San Francisco.” His voice softened slightly as he paused at the door. “You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to,” he said, then stalked down the hall.

A moment later, the noise of quite a few people filling the house rose to Lourdes’s ears. Jeez, how many friends did Kyle have?

She told herself she’d stay out of sight, as he’d suggested. She wasn’t that pleased with him this morning, no matter what excuse he had to be out of sorts. What he was feeling for her couldn’t be any more complicated than what she was feeling for him. But she heard several people ask about her. Then a baby cried and she could tell it was a very new baby.

Callie had obviously come with her infant son...

Scooting down in the bed, Lourdes pulled the covers over her head to block out the sound. She didn’t want to think about babies. Chances were, her life wouldn’t include them. Especially now. There were too many things she had to put right in her career. But when four or five people lamented that they wouldn’t get to meet her, she felt selfish and guilty for avoiding them.