The door opened.
The sound of laughter cut through the scene like a bad sitcom. They both moved like naughty teenagers, removing hands and fingers, and adjusting clothing as his cousins bounded through the door. One look at Lizzie’s rosy cheeks and Michael bet they’d gotten reacquainted in the car. After all, if four boys was any indication of their lifestyle, he figured they skipped the token movie and went straight for the fooling around.
Michael sat up and pulled Maggie with him.
Brian’s grin widened. “Well, well, what do we have here?” He crossed his arms and clucked his tongue. “My four innocent sons are sleeping down the hallway and you’re conducting yourselves like an X-rated movie.”
Michael called him a dirty word, which only made Brian laugh harder. One look at Maggie’s face caused his cousin to frown. “I’m just kidding, Maggie.”
Her lip caught between her teeth, his tigrotta had lost her growl. She stood and shifted foot to foot, looking embarrassed, uneasy, and vulnerable.
Michael grabbed her hand and pulled her against him, snagging his arm around her shoulders. “Sorry, Bri, we’re both exhausted. The boys are fine. They trashed the house and I didn’t clean it up.”
“Asshole.”
“Ditto.” They said good-bye, Lizzie and Brian giving Maggie hugs and kisses, and Michael got her into the car.
She rested her head against the seat and stared out into the night, not speaking. For the first time in his life, he felt completely uneasy around a woman, unsure what her thoughts were, and only wanting to comfort. No, he was a liar. He wanted to make love to her, then comfort her.
“I’m sorry.”
Michael shook his head and wondered if he’d misheard her softly spoken voice. “About what?”
She gave a sigh. “About before. In the bathroom at your mama’s house. I was a bitch.”
Great. A woman who admitted she was wrong. What was he going to do about her? Why couldn’t she just stay in character and stop surprising him? “Accepted.” He paused. “Mind telling me why?”
She stiffened but didn’t avoid the question. “I’m screwed up.”
He laughed. “Who isn’t? I moved too fast. These past few days have been overwhelming, and I surprised you.”
She let out a snort. “Oh, please. I had planned to seduce you, so you didn’t overwhelm me. Don’t think I’m some ditzy shrinking violet you can manipulate with your charm.”
He grinned. This was the Maggie he was used to and enjoyed battling with. “If that’s so, I hope you make up your mind fast. I don’t think I can take another night with a hard-on.”
That remark earned him a sneer. “Maybe if you’d stop driving like an old man, we’d get home before you lose it.”
He didn’t answer. Just stepped on the gas.
• • •
They snuck inside the house and locked the door. Maggie kicked off her shoes and motioned toward the bathroom. “You go first. I need to grab something from my suitcase.”
Michael rushed through the minimum of necessity, deciding to remove his shirt but leave his jeans on. Barefoot, he walked out of the bathroom, his heart pounding like his first woman was waiting for him, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to last.
When he finally spotted her, he realized he was doomed. She was heaven and hell in one, and he’d greet the devil with a smile on his face.
She stood under one of the antique lamps cast half in shadow. The dim light emphasized the high thrust of her br**sts encased in delicate black lace. The fall of her silky hair as it brushed her shoulders. The full curve of her hip and the bare expanse of leg where the slip stopped above the knee.
As he moved forward, he realized it was more than her body that mesmerized him. For the second time tonight, a flash of vulnerability shone from her cat-green eyes. Her feet shifted just an inch as if she was still unsure, but he already decided he’d waited too long to claim her.
He grasped her shoulders as he closed the space between them. The tips of her ni**les teased his bare chest, and she let out a tiny gasp. Satisfied, he gazed down at her in silence, taking in every inch of her body that was about to belong to him. His tigress scrambled for footing.
“Um, Michael, maybe we should—”
“No, cara.” He smiled and tipped her chin up. “It’s time.”
• • •
Maggie wondered if all those BDSM romance novels weakened her mind. Instead of taking charge in her normal sexual capacity, she watched with trembling knees as the man before her told her exactly what was going to happen.
God, she loved every moment.
The heat of his body pulled and tantalized as he lowered his head. A catchy little gasp escaped from her throat, but she was past caring. She needed his mouth and his hands and body to drive away the demons of doubt and vulnerability that tore her apart. The same ghosts that waited in her closet late at night to taunt her about not belonging dissolved in smoke as Michael Conte finally kissed her.
No-holds-barred.
The time of seduction and slow kisses was long gone. Maggie was completely overtaken by the assault that pushed and prodded every crevice of her mouth until she opened further and dived in. The taste of coffee and mint and raw hunger swamped her senses, and she slid her arms around his shoulders and hung on. He bent her backward and devoured her, promising her heaven and hell, while excitement pounded her body in waves. Control long gone, the kiss was pure survival, and she reveled in every stroke of his tongue, each nip of his teeth, until his thrusts parried his erection as he rocked between her thighs.
He ripped his lips from hers and breathed hard. Savage lust gleamed from the coal-black of his eyes while his gaze roved over her half-naked body. A thrill shot through her at the need that shook his hands as he traced a line down the valley of her br**sts and around the cups. Her ni**les rose in demand. His thumb tweaked one, then the other, and her knees grew weak as a spear of hot need shot straight to her clit.
He took half a step back and studied every inch of her. Then with a wolfish grin, he pushed her back on the bed.
Maggie had no time to gather her thoughts as he divested himself of his jeans in record time. The sheer power and length of his erection stole her breath. She reached out to touch him, but he moved too fast. His fingers grasped the fragile straps of her slip and worked the fabric down over her br**sts, her thighs, her calves, her feet. He threw the lace away, then slowly eased her legs apart.