Brave Enough (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous #3)(25)

I’m already getting breathless again when he takes my lips. His kiss is a mixture of satisfaction and promise and something fierce, like he wants to mark me as his own before I leave this room. It reminds me of what he said about seeing his muddy handprints on my body. He’s possessive, and for some reason, as antiquated as the thought is, I like it. I want to be possessed by him. I want to be his and no one else’s. And I love that he seems to want that, too.

Yes, I needed this. I needed him.





FOURTEEN


Tag

I hadn’t planned on joining Weatherly, her father and her would-be fiancé for dinner. I figured there would be enough of a blowup without my help. In fact, Weatherly and I didn’t even discuss it. We didn’t exactly have food on our minds as much as we did other delicious edibles. But after I left, and the more I thought about that cool shower and her come in my mouth, the less appealing dinner without her became. Turns out that my idea of torturing her with thoughts of us ended up torturing me just as much. Besides, as far as they’re concerned, she’s my fiancée. My place is at her side, whether they like it or not. And until she calls off this charade, she’s mine and Stromberg better damn well get used to it.

Now I find myself dressed in a silk shirt and slacks, headed toward the dining room for a fashionably late arrival to a dinner I wasn’t invited to attend. My smile is one of anticipation, both to get under Stromberg’s skin, but also to sit beside Weatherly and touch her oh-so-casually with fingers that were buried inside her only a short time before. That thought alone gives me much satisfaction.

When I stop in the doorway, all three people at the table glance up at me. William looks perplexed, Michael looks aggravated and Weatherly looks nervous yet deliciously flushed. I don’t have to be a mind reader to know what she’s thinking. In fact, if I think about her thoughts too long, I’ll probably end up having to excuse myself. My dick seems to have lost its head when it comes to Weatherly. She can make me hard faster than a cowboy can say “spit.” Damn the woman!

“Good to see you, Tag,” William offers when the silence becomes uncomfortable. “What brings you here tonight?”

“Dinner. If that’s all right,” I say, glancing at Weatherly.

“Why wouldn’t Weatherly’s fiancé be welcome at the dinner table?” Michael interjects, one dark brow jerking up in challenge. I nod my head in a mute touché.

William’s face starts to redden the instant he processes what was just said. “Weatherly, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Um, well, I wanted to tell you about it in private, but we’ve been on the go since you got here.”

“Tell me what?”

“Tag and I ar-are engaged.”

To William’s credit, he doesn’t freak like I half expected him to. He just gets quiet. Very quiet. But it’s easy to see by his rigid posture and the vein standing out in the center of his forehead that he’s livid.

Finally, he glances to Michael and offers a tight yet pleasant, “Excuse us, please.”

Then William gets up, tosses his napkin on the table and stalks out of the room, giving me an “eat shit” look as he passes.

I stop Weatherly with a hand to her arm when she reaches the doorway. “Will you be okay by yourself? I can come if . . .”

“I’ll be fine,” she says, impulsively rising up on her toes to give me a quick kiss. I’m sure that pisses both men the hell off, but I don’t give a damn.

William stalks on ahead and when Weatherly would pull away to follow him, I reach up to hold her to me for a few seconds longer. I don’t know why, but I want her to know she isn’t alone in this. And I want her * father and his bag-of-dicks friend to know that Weatherly isn’t alone, too.

When I let her go, she leans back and stares into my face, her violet eyes sparkling up at me like twin amethysts. In them, I see caution and dread, but a ferocious determination, too. That makes me smile.

I bend to whisper in her ear. “Maybe you should stop thinking about our shower for a few minutes. You might need all your concentration for this.”

Two pink spots infuse her cheeks and it’s all I can do not to drag her back upstairs and make her forget that there’s anyone in the house besides us.

“You are a wicked, wicked man, Tag Barton,” she scolds softly, licking her bottom lip when she moves her glance down to my mouth. “Your face cleaned up nicely by the way.”

She moves to walk past me and I turn to watch her go. When she looks back over her shoulder and grins, I think to myself that this woman might be more of a problem for me than I ever would’ve guessed.





FIFTEEN


Weatherly

“You’d better have an excellent explanation for this prank, young lady,” my father says the moment I shut the door to his study.

“Dad, I’ve told you all along that I want to marry for love, not for business or convenience.”

“And I have told you— Wait, so you’re telling me that you’re in love with this person? Just how gullible do you think I am, Weatherly?”

“Why is that so unbelievable? What do you know about my life other than what you choose to fill it with?”

“So you’re going to stand there and tell me that you’re in love with the help?”