Come (7 page)

And he would. As soon as he dropped her off, he would head home and attack his punching bag with a vengeance. But first, he needed to get a grip on his sensitive side, lying dormant somewhere inside him.

Easing her away from him, he kissed her forehead and then helped her into the truck. As he rounded the front hood, he glanced around. Was that creeper from her office still following her, or had he given up?

Katy stared out the passenger window as he drove her home. He reached for her hand and held it, but she didn’t move her fingers in response.

When Rafe pulled up alongside her condo, a dark four-door sedan pulled away from the curb. It wasn’t a Lexus. This time it was a Kia. Had he been mistaken the other day? They did look similar, but he could certainly tell the difference. He had to shake his unreasonable concern from his head. Other people did drive similar cars, and furthermore, this was a condominium complex. Many people came and went. He needed to get a grip on his worry for her safety.

Surely the blatant public display of affection Katy had started this relationship out with had been enough to send that annoying partner from her firm in another direction.

Rafe rounded the truck before Katy could extricate herself from the seatbelt and took her hand to lead her to her front door.

She smiled at him as she tipped her head toward his face when he leaned against her front door, blocking her from entering. She narrowed her gaze after a few minutes and cocked her head to one side. “Are you gay?”

Rafe stared back in shock for a moment before he realized how very legitimate her question was. He shook his head. “No.” He stroked a finger down her cheek and lifted her chin farther. “Nothing like that.”

“Bi?”

“Not that either.” Now he grinned. “Perfectly hetero and totally into you.”

“Are you coming inside then?”

“No.” He pulled her against his body in the V of his legs as he had in the bar. “I have a very full closet that needs nudging open one of these days. Until I release the contents, it’s not fair of me to sleep with you.” He paused. “I’m so enjoying your company. Will you let me woo you for a while before I divulge all my dirty secrets?”

She cocked her head again. “I suppose. But if you think what we did inside that bar wasn’t an act of sex for me, you’re crazy.”

“Touché. Point taken.” He took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to get carried away like that. It wasn’t polite.”

“I enjoyed it.” She giggled, the sound vibrating through his chest.

“I noticed.” He reached for her hand, grabbed her keys, and then turned them sideways to open her front door. “Get inside and lock the door before I do something I can’t take back.”

She stepped over the threshold and held the door and the frame with both hands before she commented. “Rafe, I hate to tell you this, but you can’t take back anything that’s happened between us.” And she shut the door.

•●•

Katy leaned her back against the cool metal door and slid down the surface until her butt hit the ground. Holy shit. She couldn’t move. She stared into the dark room and relived every second of the last few hours. She had no idea how to process what had happened between them. If Rafe wasn’t gay, then what the hell sort of chivalrous rock did he climb out from under?

Tires squealed outside, shaking her from her musing. Damn crazy drivers in the middle of the night made her crazy. Why couldn’t people have common courtesy for those who slept in the night?

It seemed like forever before Katy had the strength to lift herself off the floor and make her way to her bedroom. She peeled off her clothes, dropping each piece on the floor where she stood, and climbed into bed naked. She didn’t have the energy for anything else. Exhausted from the mind-blowing orgasm in her fully clothed state, she closed her eyes and blocked out the world.

•●•

It was dark… Katy couldn’t make out the images of the people around her. The soft blues in the background seemed to grow louder with each passing minute. She couldn’t break her gaze from the man holding her attention, demanding with his eyes that she pay attention only to him. Nothing else in the room mattered.

Her heart rate increased and she breathed heavily, her chest heaving as she succumbed to his spell. His rugged features held her mesmerized. And the pressure he had against her body made her crave more.

“Come,” he commanded.

She shook, unable to tear her gaze away from his.

“Come,” he repeated.

Spasms racked her body. Her orgasm swept through her so fast, she gasped.

He smiled, cocky about his ability to command her.

She didn’t care. His actions made her horny, even if he was rather unconventional in his approach.

A deep voice to one side broke the magic. “You’re mine, bitch.” His words reached deep inside her, penetrating every cell and shaking her to the core. In a flash, the orgasm she’d experienced vanished from her memory, replaced with fear.

She gripped Rafe’s arms tightly, but it wasn’t enough. The faceless voice to her side interrupted again. “I’ll fucking get you, bitch.”

Katy screamed. She bolted upright, her eyes wide as she stared around the room.

She was alone. It had been a dream—that turned into a nightmare. What the hell was wrong with her?

She gasped for breath, her heated skin chilling against the night air as the covers had fallen to her waist when she sat up, leaving her naked chest covered with goose bumps.

Katy wrapped her arms around her as she drew the blanket back up and lay down once more. She shivered beneath the sheets.

What a strange premonition. Eerie.

It took her a long time to catch her breath and get her heart rate to slow. The imaginary voice of someone threatening her wouldn’t fade.

When she finally fell asleep, she was restless, barely sleeping more than a few hours before morning. After watching the sun slowly rise through the window, she stayed in bed, drifting in and out of consciousness as she attempted to catch more sleep.

Katy’s cell beeped from where she’d left it by the front door the night before, and she dragged herself out of bed, pulled on a robe, and shuffled to the front room about noon.

She smiled as she glanced at the message. “Dinner?”

After her weird night with Rafe, the master of her body, he wanted date number four?

She was almost surprised and secretly relieved. She might have spent an inordinate amount of time wallowing in bed to avoid facing her emotions where Rafe was concerned.

Katy liked him. A lot. More than she should.

He had secrets. Or at least one of them. She had to fight with her mind to avoid straying in that direction. She couldn’t imagine what sort of skeletons a man could have that would keep him from wanting to disclose them.

She almost felt insulted he couldn’t trust her enough to reveal the private details of his life. Maybe that was the point. Perhaps she should lighten up and give him a chance. After all, every time they were together was another opportunity for Katy to prove herself worthy of his trust. And she desperately wanted to earn that trust. Was it a conquest? Or did she really like Rafe as much as her body insisted?

Maybe he was divorced. Or had a kid. Or two. Maybe he’d been in jail. The possibilities were endless, and she busied herself cleaning her condo for a few hoursto avoid dwelling on Rafe too much. Every time her thoughts wandered back to him, she had to fight to keep from masturbating. Not that she had anything against the act. She could easily enjoy a half hour with her vibrator like any other red-blooded woman.

What bothered her was the places her mind strayed when she visualized Rafe—over her, inside her, under her… When she got in the shower around two, she was a ball of arousal. If she met him for dinner in this high-strung state, she would maul him and make a bigger fool of herself than she had the night before.

As the conditioner rinsed from her hair, Katy took the spray nozzle off the wall and rinsed her body.

She gritted her teeth and stiffened when the water hit her clit. She couldn’t fight the need another minute. Planting her free hand on the wall to steady herself, she directed the spray intentionally between her legs and spread them wider.

She tipped her head back and moaned as the water worked its magic against her clit. Normally it would take her much longer to get off this way, if at all. But not today. Her body was primed and ready. Her legs shook with the effort to remain standing. If the nozzle had been long enough she would have given up the fight and lay down on the tile to finish herself off.

Instead, she locked her knees and aimed the spray closer to her pussy, not allowing herself to remove the direct contact until the orgasm washed over her, shaking her entire body and dragging a loud groan from her lips.

When the pulses eased, she jerked the spray away from her sensitive flesh. She released the nozzle to hang from the wall, swaying against the tile as she gripped the door with her hand to keep from collapsing.

It took several moments for her to regain her composure enough to turn off the water and exit the cubicle.

Katy stared at her flushed face in the mirror as she dried off. Thank God she was heading into the office for a while before she met him. It would take that long for the telltale signs of her recent masturbation session to dissipate. If she wasn’t embarrassed enough about her antics last night, that would push her over the edge.

Rafe didn’t need any more fuel to encourage him to believe she was a total nympho.

Saturday evening couldn’t come quick enough for Rafe. He spent the day working out and catching up on business. He’d been so distracted all week, he’d fallen behind on some of his client’s files.

He was exhausted, mentally and physically. After dropping Katy off last night, he’d returned home to beat the shit out of his personal punching bag. Keeping one of those in his basement was the best investment he’d ever made. He couldn’t count the number of times it had come in handy after a rough day at work or a bad match at the gym.

He couldn’t say he’d ever used the bag to take out repressed sexual urges, but there was always a first.