Gaming for Keeps (Entangled Ever After) (5 page)

Oh hell, that sounded like the best bad idea in the history of his life, but there was no way he was turning her down for whatever she wanted. He signaled the bartender for the tab, stood, and took her hand, helping her off the barstool. Once she was standing, he twined his fingers in hers. It felt so good there, so right, and the look in her eyes said she sensed it, too.

Knowing that, Cal couldn’t think of a better
Firefly
quote than the simplest one. The one that said something wonderful had all his attention. “Shiny.”

Chapter Five

Love Me Back to Life

Cal fumbled with the stupid card key. He pressed it against the lock three times. Then, when he tried flipping it over, he dropped it. On the fifth attempt, he finally managed to get the damn door opened. Very smooth. Thankfully, Pen seemed to be dealing with her own set o
f nerves. He held the
door open for her and once more took in her wood elf costume.

A short jagged skirt made of brown suede shifted against her upper thighs, and a matching bra-style top held her small breasts while showing off her toned stomach. Whether she realized it or not, the lacy knit “chain mail” only made her more enticing. Damn it, he needed to stop staring or he’d turn into a raging ball of want.

And then he looked past her.

The last thing he’d anticipated when he left the room was that he’d be bringing anyone back, much less the very same brunette he’d been thinking about all day. But here she was, and his room was an absolute disaster. He quite literally had a pair of underwear hanging on the freaking lampshade.

“Exploding TARDIS!” Cal cursed. He edged past Penelope and drew her into the room, hoping she hadn’t noticed the catastrophic state of things.

The wig came off with a jerk, landing on top of the scattered contents of his makeup kit. He bumped the lamp intentionally, and the underwear tumbled to land among a bunch of costume pieces. Another few steps and he managed to shove the pile under the bed with his foot—all without letting go of Pen. Not perfect, but better…and now they stood in front of his bed.

So much for not seeming pushy. Heat rose in his cheeks and probably stained them crimson beneath the body paint. Without the layer of indigo camouflage, he would have lost all of his strong and brooding credibility.

Instead of noticing his embarrassment, Pen was glancing warily toward the door. She worried at the nail of her right index finger again, and all he wanted to do was take it and kiss her nerves away. Too bad that went against the not-rushing-and-screwing-this-up plan. Clearing the mess in front of the bed had already done a bang-up job of giving the wrong impression. He squeezed her hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I…” Biting her lip, she glanced back toward the door.

“Hey.” He caught her chin with his fingers and tugged until she met his gaze. “I like you, Pen, but there’s no pressure here. We can hang out and talk movies or games if you want. I meant it when I said I wanted to get to know you.”

She shook her head, and when his touch slipped away, she seemed like she’d made up her mind, but then she started talking. “I… Damn it, something happened earlier, and I was looking for trouble, and…” She squeezed her hands into fists.

So the asshole he needed to pummel was here? He tried not to think about it. Right now belonged to Pen, not some jerk who’d upset her.

“And you found me?”

Something in his words must have tripped a switch inside Pen, because she turned to go.

The instant she moved toward the door, he caught her wrist and said, “Okay, answer this. If whatever had you looking for trouble hadn’t happened and we’d still run into each other at the bar, what would you do right now?”

“You don’t understand. I wouldn’t be here if—”

He wasn’t letting her run. Not out of fear about why she was with him. It’d be different if she seemed like she didn’t
want
to be with him, but not for something some other guy had done. Not for the ghost of someone else haunting her. When he spoke again, he pushed a note of command into his voice. “What. Would. You. Do?”

Her mouth dropped open, and for a microsecond she looked ready to argue with him. Then, without enough time passing for words to come out of her mouth, Pen wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his, lingering for a moment. Before panic had time to set in and spook her again, Cal returned her kiss gently, tentatively, knowing that one wrong move right now could have her bolting for the door.

Soon enough, her reactions made him stop hesitating. The second her hands tangled in his hair, he drew her closer until their bodies pressed so tight they could have melded together. He wanted that to an absurd degree—to become one, lose himself in her until there was nothing else.

His tongue caressed hers, the barest contact electrifying his entire being. She moved her hands down his back, fingers skipping over his chain mail, until they came to rest on the bare skin beneath. He wanted more, so much more. His hand was in her hair, tipping her head back as his lips and teeth grazed over the soft skin of her neck. She smelled like apples in a rainstorm. A tiny moan escaped from her lips, and Cal growled. Encouraged by her shivering, he swept her into his arms and carried her over to the bed.

Sitting now, Pen inched her hands under the front of his chain mail, fingers playing along his abs. She blushed as his gaze shifted to her fingers. Shy was fine, but he’d wanted the damn thing off for a while so he reached down and tore the metal shirt over his head. Now if he held her close, they’d be almost skin-to-skin. The thought stirred something inside him that he had to rein in before it took control.

Pen’s eyes widened like a startled deer, and her breasts heaved with every shallow breath.

“Pen. Look at me.” With one finger, he tipped her chin up. “The shirt was heavy. You can stay dressed. I’m not pushing. I swear.”

Cheeks crimson once more, she tried to look away without moving against his touch. “It isn’t that.”

Trying to calm her, he caressed her cheek and neck, not moving for anything more intense than that. “What is it, then?”

She swallowed hard, her pulse racing beneath his fingertips. “You’re blue all over.”

The body paint? She already had traces of it on her face and hands. Did it bother her that much? “I can hop in the shower and wash it off if you want.”

“No. Well, I mean, you can, but—” She bit her lip, and the only part of her skin that hadn’t reddened were the tips of her elf-ears. “I just wondered if you actually painted…everything.”

Laughter rose inside him, spilling into the air and shattering the tension strung between them. “Well, I can tell you. Or we could leave it a mystery.”

Sucking in a deep breath that seemed to embolden her, Pen tipped her head up again. “Or I could find out later?”

Oh hell yes
. Even if he couldn’t be sure she meant it, or meant it now, the tiny thread of control he’d had over his cock snapped with her words. An erection that would quickly become painful strained against his leather pants. “Whenever you want to.”

Pen’s head moved up and down in series of tiny rapid nods. “Now. Now sounds about right.”

…

Pen didn’t know exactly how they made
it to the bathroom. She’d said now, and they’d started kissing again—the kind of kisses that made her want to never stop because nothing,
nothing
, could be better—and the next thing she knew…
poof
they were in the bathroom and she was well on her way to being naked. He kept kissing her as the pounding water in the shower built a cloud of steam around them.

Nothing could kill the perfection of this moment. Well, nothing except the dark edge of guilt that had started slicing at her. She’d gone to the bar furious and wanting to do something stupid in retaliation for the way Kent had treated her. Somehow she’d ended up here, with Cal. Could she really use a guy who quoted
Firefly
and kissed her like this for angry sex?

He stepped away for a second and began peeling off his leather pants—a task that the steam had apparently made difficult. He raised a finger, signaling that he needed a minute. And she fought the urge to laugh as she watched him trying to wiggle out of the glorious black leather. He was the perfect guy, and she was about to have sex with him to get back at someone else.

God, she felt sick just thinking about it.

She liked Cal, and not just because he was easy on the eyes. He exuded a sort of magnetism and charm that brought out her inner Disney princess and, screen-name notwithstanding, she’d been sure she’d killed that bitch on a mental raid
years
ago. As much as she wanted to be here—
really
wanted to be here—she should apologize and walk out the door and…

Then he flashed her a smile that made every thought melt away.

The pants finally came off, and Cal flung them out the bathroom door then wrapped her in his embrace again, sweeping her clothes off in seconds. She had her answer now—no, he hadn’t painted everything—and he was glorious. All that separated the two of them were the remnants of a dusting of baby powder. “I am never, ever wearing those again.”

“Well that’s disappointing. Other than the removal dance, I liked them. Actually, even the dance was kind of fun.” She nipped at his chest, her teeth leaving lines in the melting body paint as her hand wrapped around his shaft.

He let out a little moan. “In that case I’ll buy dozens of pairs and we can just cut the fuckers off if you aren’t in the mood for a strip-tease-of-the-ridiculous. Shower. Now.”

If any worries lingered, the command in his voice chased them away, and she was under the steaming spray before she thought about moving. She pulled him in after her, missing his heat even here. Water sluiced over their skin and ran toward the drain in indigo spirals. This was right. So very right.

Their bodies slippery, he held her close with one hand and brushed her hair back with the other. A piece of green fabric caught between his fingers. “We forgot to take out your leaves.”

“I don’t care.” Paint ran down his cheeks and chin and neck in deep blue rivulets. She wanted it gone, wanted to see
him
again. Pen swept more water onto his face in an effort to wash away the makeup.

He laughed until he sputtered, his erection shifting against her belly. Soon enough he caught her wrists in his hands. “If I had realized the punishment for
not
putting body paint everywhere was death by drowning, I would’ve reconsidered where I stopped.”

“I don’t want
more
paint. I want it off. All of it. This isn’t about the wood elf wanting the dark elf. I want
you
, and you don’t have blue skin.” It made sense in her head, but when Penelope said the words, she felt stupid. She didn’t want lies and pretty pictures. Not now.

Cal just chuckled, the sound rumbling from deep inside his chest. “All right, but if you weren’t so fucking cute, I’d probably argue.”

He tipped his face up to the spray, scrubbing at his skin. The word still made her twitchy, but as soon as he looked at her again she forgot why. He didn’t have that condescension in his gaze that Aaron had always had. When Cal looked at her, it was with yearning—the kind of want reserved for something beautiful.

And then he was there in front of her again. No makeup. No hiding. Just Cal. A shiver raced through her, and she wound her arms around him, drawing herself under the water, but it did nothing to stop her trembling. The shivers were all for him.

Just tonight. Don’t think about waking up to him in the morning. Don’t think about some ridiculous fairy-tale happily-ever-after. The men you know suck, and a fantastic fling with someone who doesn’t set off alarm bells and makes you feel wanted is
exactly
what the doctor ordered. For once in your life, Pen, enjoy yourself and stop wondering what comes next.

“Hey, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Cal traced a finger down her nose. “Those look suspiciously like worry lines.”

She snuggled closer to savor the heat of him and the way the water tried to come between them but couldn’t. “No worries. I was waging a tiny war in my head, but it’s over now.”

His mouth found that spot on her neck that made her legs turn to Jell-O. “Sounds dangerous. Who won?”

I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you.
Pen cringed as Lohonas’s typical comeback shouted in her head. She would
not
think about Kent or
Heroes
or anything. Not when reality was so much better. “I’m kind of hoping you’ll think you did.”

Cal twined his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer, his lips hovering so close to hers that she felt them move when he spoke. “I’ve thought that from the moment you started talking to me in the bar. Haven’t stopped.”

His lips covered hers, and she opened to him without hesitation. Their tongues slid against each other, dancing to a rhythm neither of them could hear but both seemed to know by heart. She stood on tiptoe, her arms slinking around his neck, as she tried to get closer. Hungry for more of him, for everything, Pen hooked her leg around his.

Cal’s hands roved down her body, cupped her ass for a second, and then gripped her thighs as he lifted. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him, and he backed her against the wall of the shower, kissing her as water poured over them.

With his lips pressed to her collarbone, he murmured, “Will I sound like an ass if I say I’ve always wanted to have sex in the shower?”

“Maybe, but then we’d both be jerks because I have, too.”

He pulled away from her skin for a moment and grinned. “Where the hell have you been all my life?”

The words sent a tingle down her spine that felt so good she wanted it to never end. Pen dipped her head and nipped at his earlobe. “Hiding behind a book or a computer screen most likely.”

“No more hiding.” Leaning out of the curtain, he fumbled with something in the bathroom, returning to the heat of the shower with a little square packet between his fingers. “Yes?”

His cock twitched and her insides responded, contracting around nothing and feeling emptier for it. “Yes, damn it, yes! So much yes.”

She’d never thought of condoms as particularly erotic, but watching him roll the latex onto his dick sent moisture pooling between her legs. Her clit started throbbing and her nipples formed rosy peaks. She hadn’t wanted anyone like this in…it seemed like forever.

No. She was certain she hadn’t ever wanted anyone like she wanted Cal right now.

He picked her up and carefully lowered her, her back scraping on the tiles until the tip of his cock pressed against her entrance. She kissed him as he adjusted his grip on her thighs…and she slid down the wall. Cal caught her before she went too far. “Sorry. You’re more slippery than I thought. No wonder I never caught you before today.”