Hard Way (14 page)

It took him the entire fast, nerve-racking drive home in his Evo for Dash to realize what he was really scared of.

An empty house.

He needed relief from the suspense that had been riding him all night, more doggedly than the shock of arousal that hit whenever he thought about forcing Sunny. Again. Soon. Without a scrap of mercy.

Would she use the first hint of his inattentiveness as an excuse to bail?

If not…great. They still had a chance.

If so… They were done.

No. He wasn’t giving up on her. On them. Touching her in their steam-filled bathroom and guiding her hands as she tried her damnedest to win at pinball—those were little things. Practically invisible. He’d felt a spark of hope with each.

Being gone all night could be the drop of water to extinguish that spark.

He pulled into the driveway and inhaled. The house was dark, but Sunny’s practical Acura sedan was where it should be. His mind was in such a freefall that he couldn’t believe that as proof she was home. Maybe someone had come to pick her up, or maybe she’d taken a taxi…

Climbing out of the Evo, he found a single source of light. It was coming from beneath the door of their garage in a long golden streak. He walked quietly forward and listened past the cars in their neighborhood, past the air conditioners and their neighbor’s bizarre delusion that he played electric guitar like Jimi Hendrix—and past the staggering beat of his own heart.

Sunny was home. She was inside their garage, sparring without a partner. Thumps and whacks and the jangle of punching bag chains spoke of an intense training session.

Dash let relief spill over him like a flash thunderstorm over the desert. He had left the house for a few hours and she hadn’t darted out of reach. Maybe she planned to leave, maybe she still wanted to be with some assfuck named Jake, and maybe she still wanted a divorce. For the moment, however, Dash still had a chance.

He needed as many as he could get, not because he intended to squander them. No, he wanted to stack them up like chips at a casino and bet all or nothing that they’d make it through.

After his relief came an entirely different feeling. Sunny cussed. She grunted. She cussed again.

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself.

Legs numbs, Dash sat on the hood of the Acura and listened again. The blare of a C-130’s takeoff couldn’t drown out the sounds of Sunny in full-on fight mode. That’s how she sounded when he held her down, when he tied her up, when he forced his way inside her—whether she was ready or not. She was a woman warrior, and he was the man she’d given permission to take her down.

He was breathless and eager, while his mind provided the images his eyes could not. Only when she must’ve stopped to take a breather did he realize he’d been stroking himself. There in the driveway, sitting on a friggin’ red Acura, he had his hand on the outside of his trousers, hand fisted around his dick.

Thought didn’t register. He fumbled for his keys and strode to the front door. A quick turn meant he was inside. Ready for her.

Only, god
damn
.

She was wearing baby-blue boxing shorts and a plain white tank top, the latter soaked down the back with sweat. That shouldn’t have been enough to stop him—revved up and wanting and so fucking scared.

When was the last time he’d admitted he was scared?

What stopped him, though, was seeing her open one particular kitchen cabinet. She stood on her tiptoes, as always, to reach the higher shelves. They probably should’ve bought a step stool a long time ago, but she was stubborn and he liked to watch her ass and legs when she stretched.

Maybe he’d been quieter than the thumping need in his own head and the matching throb in his prick, or maybe she’d still been focused on her session, but it was only then that Sunny realized he was home.

“Oh! You shit!”

“I thought you like when I sneak up on you.”

She shrugged, and he almost believed she meant it. “Doesn’t mean I don’t get to be surprised when you do. What are you doing back so early?”

“You know. Kinda boring.”

Dark wisps of sweaty hair framed her face, but the rest was tied back in a series of braids and twists. “That’s a load of crap, Liam. Give me the real answer.”

“I didn’t want to leave you alone.” He closed the front door, threw his keys on the sofa and walked to the kitchen. “And I thought maybe you’d leave if I stayed out.”

She inhaled deeply, which did mind-boggling wonders for her breasts. The tank top showed off her pert nipples. “Okay, my turn. Am I allowed to say I considered going out? Just to mess with you?”

Dash swallowed. “If it’s true.”

Turning away, she dropped her chin to chest. “If I’d gone out, it would’ve been because I wanted to. Not to mess with you. We don’t need more head games.”

“Then I hope you won’t consider what’s in that cabinet to be another head game.” The only thing that had stopped him from jumping her right there in the kitchen was the hope she might like what she found. “I didn’t want to be here when you discovered it, because it’d seem like I was showing off and waiting for something in return. But. Well.”

He moved to another cabinet and grabbed a glass. Water. Anything to clear the lump in his throat and cool the wicked heat that still burned in his veins. This pause was just that. A pause. He’d stop his impulses dead on a dime if it meant talking with her instead of ripping her panties off.

Bracing his hands on the counter, he waited for more sounds. Cabinet open. Scrounging around.

Sunny’s quiet intake of breath.

He hadn’t wanted to be there, for all the reasons he’d stated. A surprise. Maybe even an apology. Hearing her little gasp, however, was a gift.

“When…?”

He turned to find her holding a jar of that fancy jelly she loved and the sun-dried tomatoes that only came from the organic market.

“On the way home from work yesterday. I don’t regret anything about that night except for when I made you drop your shopping bag.” He cleared his throat. This was grueling. Almost
embarrassing
. She looked dumbfounded, and explaining his impulses was difficult. “So after I… After you were in the trunk, I grabbed it and threw it in the back of the car—just to see what you’d lost. Thought I’d replace what broke when I had the chance.”

For a long, long moment, she simply stared at him. Then came a shuddering exhalation and a nod. “Thank you, Liam. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“You’re welcome. So yeah, I’ll leave you to it.”

He needed out of there. His mind was a mash of too many impulses, and he didn’t trust any. Being near her would explode him or it would explode what was left of their marriage. He would’ve preferred the former. The latter was unacceptable.

Water in hand, he walked toward the corridor, intent on taking a shower. Maybe he could work this tension out on his own.

“Liam?”

He stopped. Didn’t dare turn around. “Yeah?”

“I wasn’t done in the garage,” she said, a little breathless. “I could use a sparring partner.”

Chapter Fourteen

Sunny didn’t want to think. Not anymore. Her invitation to spar had extra weight now. Between either trading blows or getting fucked, her head would clear out one way or the other. Watching Dash, waiting on his decision, had more weight than she would have liked.

He looked good, but then he always did. Physical attraction had never been one of their problems. She liked his pale gray button-down shirt and the way it emphasized the leanness of his torso. He was long. Tasty. Few people knew exactly what sort of strength lurked under those ordinary shirts.

She clenched her hands on the jelly jar. Her throat knotted tight, and it didn’t get better once he nodded.

“Lemme go change. I’ll be out there in a minute.”

Blindly, she nodded in response. “Yeah. Take your time.”

Because once she got out to the garage, that brain of hers, the one she’d wanted to avoid, gave a great thumping tumble. Jesus, she was an idiot.

She was already half exhausted. She’d gone through the last two hours in a haze of movement and activity. She’d run through an hour of warm-ups, rotating through various poses, all of which eased the lingering aches from that weekend. After that had been time with both punching bags—the bag and the one meant for sparring.

Her hands were sore. Her shoulders twinged. The backs of her legs shook, sapped of energy.

And she’d invited Dash to join her.

Might as well lie flat on the blue mat and spread her legs. She’d be that easy to take down. Everything they did now was tinged with that rush of possibilities, where their world and their life could intersect with their games.

At least Sunny was honest enough to admit what was going on. Even if she’d be an easy target, taking Dash’s cock would still be better than addressing the unfamiliar feelings swirling in her chest.

Finding balance was rough as hell.

She should’ve gone out for drinks with Jake. He’d invited her and she’d passed, even though she’d
known
that Dash would be out until all hours. It didn’t seem right to take another man up on his offer when she was in the middle of such a mess with Dash.

Worst of all, she’d quietly hoped he wouldn’t go out with Mike and Eric. Except for sex, she and Dash had spent the weekend like combatants in a ceasefire. Nothing resolved, but no live ammunition either. Her hope was growing out of proportion to reality. So, yeah, it was stupid but she’d stayed home. Waiting.

Only, she’d never expected him to actually show up. What in their history ever suggested that was a possibility?

When the door opened and she turned to see Liam standing there shirtless, her body lit to full alert. The tips of her breasts tightened and rubbed against her athletic support tank top. Her breathing jerked.

He was something approaching perfection. The white pants of his workout
gi
ducked low around his hips, displaying the carved lines that dipped beneath his waistband. He paused for a moment in the threshold. His expression approached the earnestness he’d shown at the vintage pinball arcade, layered with heat. His intention was obvious—as obvious as her invitation.

Sunny curled her fists at the same time her belly warmed and readied. She stepped backward until her feet were on the soft mat, inside the sparring circle. “Rules?”

“Do we need any?”

She nibbled the inside of her lip. “You tell me.”

“How about we play a new game?” He approached her like a fighter. His gait was easy and low as he kept his knees loose. “Every blow landed earns a question answered.”

“What do you think I want to know?”

He shrugged, then started doing windmills with his arms to warm up. “I have no idea. If I already knew, I’d have been answering all along. That’s the point.”

She kicked him in the upper thigh with no warning. “Why did you really come home early?”

“Jesus, woman.” He briefly rubbed his thigh before hunching into an attack stance. “That was cheating.”

She dropped her hips, spreading her knees and crouching. “Probably. But I’ve been working out for two hours. I doubt I’ll land many more.”

His grin flashed. She liked that cruel smile. It promised good stuff. Her depravity knew no bounds. There was nowhere she’d stop, nothing she couldn’t take from Liam.

“Fair enough,” he said. “You get this one. I came home for the reasons I told you. But also because I missed you.”

“You mean you wanted to fuck me.”

“Was that a question? We seem to have a problem defining them in this relationship.”

They circled each other. Sunny stepped to the side, hands up in a defensive position. “Not a question. A statement.”

He feinted toward her. “Sure I want to fuck you. That’s
always
a given. But I…wanted to be near you too. However you’d take me.”

She attacked. Mostly because she didn’t want to hear his softness—something that sounded so true it made her heart clench. He parried her right hook with an easy return.

Then he slapped her.

It was fairly light compared to most blows, certainly nothing to the closed-fist punch she’d taken at a dojo a year ago. But the shock was enough to jerk her head back.

The sting was undeniable too. Her body purred with anticipation. She showed her teeth. “Question.”

“Have you kissed Jake?” He was all growls, like a vicious animal.

“No.”

He moved in again. She tried to sweep his ankles, but he deftly avoided her. Two punches in a row landed on her shoulder and her side. Still so light. He was playing with her. She danced backward on the tips of her toes, hands at the ready.

“That’s two for me.”

She barely held back her curses. “Fine.”

“Did you want to kiss him?”

“Yes.”

Who wouldn’t? Jake was a decent, good man. He’d be safe to kiss. Easy. She didn’t have to guess at how to make him better or to help him.

Even though her answer was honest, Liam’s hands curled to fists. His posture slipped from precise attack mode to something meaner. More streetwise.