Secrets from Her Past: Scandalous, Book 2 (5 page)

He reached out, slid a fingertip over her bare shoulder. “Maybe things have changed since you’ve been gone.”

“You’re telling me crime shot up?” she asked, praying he didn’t feel the goose bumps his light touch had caused.

“Not crime,” he admitted, stroking the tip of that same finger back down her arm. He reached between her arm and her torso and cupped the side of her waist, right above her shorts. “But other things have changed.”

His warm, strong hand holding firm on her body made her wish he’d pull her hard against him and make her forget everything. And from the flash she could see in his eyes, he was just as hungry for contact as she was.

“You?” she asked. “Have you changed, Dylan?”

His thumb stroked over her as he stepped closer. “I’m not as gentle as I used to be. Not as patient.”

The image of him coming down the hall to see her parents flashed in her mind. She knew the man was more caring and loving than any other man she’d met since leaving Georgia.

“You don’t scare me,” she whispered.

His eyes held hers. “I should. You don’t know what’s going through my mind right now, Cori.”

Her breasts grew heavy as they pressed against her tight sports bra. “I have a good idea. But it’s not you that scares me. It’s this moment.”

Dylan’s thumb stilled, his head tipped. “This moment?”

Corinne swallowed and decided to just lay all her cards on the table. “I’m afraid of these emotions that have resurfaced since seeing you again. But most of all I’m afraid if I turn and keep running I’ll regret not telling you that I…”

Dylan’s other hand came up to cup her cheek. His thumb slid along her lips. “Telling me what, Cori?”

“That I want you.”

Chapter Four

It was pretty damn hard to do what your mind was telling you and what your hormonal body was yelling at you to do when they were polar opposites.

“Why can’t I say no to you?” he murmured. “I couldn’t years ago and I sure as hell can’t now. I won’t even try.”

His inability to refuse her blatant offer could have something to do with her nearly naked body that had literally appeared on the beach as he was thinking of her—and the fact that he couldn’t stop touching her. All that silky skin exposed, begging, needing to be touched. And he was going to give in to this desire, this urge, because, damn it, he was an adult and there was nothing stopping them.

So what if they had a past? If this was any other woman who’d moved to town and there was a mutual attraction, he wouldn’t think twice about acting on his urges.

Cori reached up and glided her delicate hand along his bare chest. He steeled himself against drifting back to the past. He had to focus on the Cori here and now…not the one who’d left him broken and confused. Too many years had passed. True, he may remember her body, how she moved, how she groaned, but she was so different now and he wasn’t naïve anymore when it came to sex. He knew the difference between lust and love. This pull between them was merely physical.

“Tell me we won’t regret this tomorrow,” she told him as she locked her eyes with his.

“I don’t do regrets.” He tugged her against his body, a shiver of arousal coursing through him as her bare skin heated his. “I just live for now. That’s all I have, all I can give.”

His mouth slammed down onto hers because he didn’t want to think, didn’t want to analyze this to death, or they’d both go back to their respective homes. And he sure as hell didn’t want to spend his time out on the beach in the soft moonlight in the middle of the night just talking with a sexy woman.

Right now there wasn’t a soul in sight—the moon was high overhead and the lull of the ocean was making this all feel like a dream. A wonderfully erotic dream, and he didn’t want to wake up.

Her tongue darted into his mouth, tangled with his as her small hands gripped his shoulders. Dylan couldn’t get close enough. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pushed his pelvis against hers until she moaned in his mouth.

He tore away from the kiss and slid his tongue along the saltiness of the column of her throat. Cori’s body arched back, pushing her breasts higher and nearly begging to be touched, kissed.

“This damn thing is too tight,” he complained when he couldn’t even ease a hand inside her sports bra.

“You may not want me to take this off. I didn’t work up a sweat yet, but that’s not to say I’m not sweaty now.”

He leaned and whispered in her ear, “You can take it off, or I’ll tear it off.”

Cori’s body trembled against his as she reached and swept the garment off her body and onto the sand. Glorious breasts waited for him and he instantly palmed them both, flicking his thumbs over her perky nipples.

“Oh, Dylan.”

Her groan had him dipping his head to taste her. He couldn’t deny himself any longer. As his mouth worked on her, he used his hands to shove that pathetic excuse for shorts down her legs. She shifted slightly and kicked them aside.

When he could no longer stand it, he pulled back. The sight of her bare except for moonlight sliding over her skin and moisture from his kisses nearly brought him to his knees. In no time he had his own shorts and boxers in a heap beside hers and he stepped back to take a seat on the sturdy canvas swing.

She hesitated. “Condom?”

Damn. This erotic dream was not going the way he’d imagined.

“In the house,” he told her. “But I can tell you that I’ve never gone without one and my recent physical was perfect.”

Cori smiled. “I’ve been on birth control since I lived here and I can’t recall when my last sexual encounter was, but I know I’ve always used protection too.”

He stared at her, wanting her to climb on and say “to hell with it”, but at the same time he wanted her to run the other way. This woman had him all torn up.

“Your call,” he said.

After about ten seconds of hesitation, Cori stepped forward, easing one knee on either side of his hips. As she straddled him and looked down, Dylan knew a weaker man would take this for something other than sex and maybe even wrap his mind around the fact that a world-renowned supermodel wanted him. But not Dylan. He refused to let this woman, or any other for that matter, touch his heart…ever again. The physical was too easy, too simple…too fun to give up.

Cori framed his face. “Don’t think. Feel.”

As if he had any other choice?

Cori slid her body down onto his and Dylan did everything he could not to roll his head back, close his eyes and revel in the warmth and familiarity of her body. Blocking out old memories, Dylan gripped her hips and held her in place.

Cori’s mouth came down on his and he started moving beneath her. Her bare chest rubbed against his. Dylan slid his hands up her curves and around to her back where he pulled her tighter against him. He tore his mouth from hers to focus on those breasts she kept taunting him with.

Her body arched as if she not only knew where his mind had headed, but she’d been craving his touch as well. His tongue flicked over one peaked nipple. Cori gripped his shoulders as her hips bumped against his faster and faster.

Dylan palmed both breasts as he moved his lips back up her throat to find her mouth readily available. Her knees clenched in at his sides and even if he hadn’t been intimate with her before, he’d know she was close. Her body had quickened, as had her breathing, and soft groans were slipping from between her sultry, full lips.

Allowing his hands to move back to her hips, he held her down on his lap and took control, shoving his hips up and down until her body clenched around him. He couldn’t help it—he watched her face as she climaxed. Biting her lip, throwing her head back and moaning was all it took, and Dylan could no longer hold his own release back. He thrust once more and let go, still gripping her hips to hold her right where he wanted, needed her to be.

Her forehead rested against his and they remained locked together until she shifted and eased carefully off his lap. Neither one said a word as they searched for their clothes. He found her sports bra and handed it to her, then pulled his boxers and shorts on.

“You okay?” she asked.

He glanced up from buttoning his shorts and saw worry on her face. Hell no. He wasn’t having any of that.

“I’m fine,” he told her. “You?”

A sad smile flirted around the corners of her swollen, moist mouth. “I’m not quite sure what to say here.”

“This was bound to happen. Seriously. You’d been in town less than a day and we’d already kissed, so sex was inevitable.”

“You’re pretty sure of yourself,” she told him, propping her hands on her hips. “You think I’m that easy?”

Actually, he thought he was that bad at self-control.

“I never thought of you as easy, Cori. Then or now.”

She stared at him and finally nodded. “I know things are weird between us, I just don’t want them to be worse now.”

Dylan chuckled. “They won’t be worse. Apparently the sex is the one point on which we seem to get along.”

“But we can’t do that anymore.”

“No.” He watched as the ocean breeze lifted her hair from her bare shoulders and sent it dancing. “Do you need me to walk you home?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

He started to take a step forward, but stopped himself. “You’re not going to go run more, are you? Because I’m exhausted and I can’t go in knowing you’re out here.”

Cori rubbed her arms and grinned. “I promise I’m going home. I think I got all the workout I need. Good night, Dylan.”

“’Night, Cori.”

She started to turn, but stopped. “It’s Corinne.”

He held her gaze without blinking. “Not to me.”

Corinne hated when reality smacked her in the face. Not that she was some pampered diva or thought she deserved better than others, but because swallowing your pride and bearing all your hurt and failures for others to see was miserable.

She pulled on her nicest Italian-cut suit in a shade of a deep plum. The lines were literally tailor-made for her as the designer had been one of her very good friends. Turning side to side in front of the floor-length mirror in her old bedroom, Corinne smoothed a hand down her suit jacket and hoped she didn’t look like a moron out there hitting the streets looking for a job.

There was no getting around the fact she’d have to work. Her agent had called this morning and broken more bad news that the last company Corinne had modeled for was also dropping her. Too much bad press, whether it was true or false, wasn’t good for business.

After a brief crying jag, Corinne had cursed herself for being weak and immediately decided to take control now, while she was good and mad. Anger fueled motivation…also her parents’ monthly housing and her mother’s therapy bill fueled her as well. If she didn’t get a job, she’d only be able to pay for another two months.

Those damn legal fees had eaten nearly everything Corinne had tied up in savings and she’d even had to dip into her retirement fund and pull some of that out. That was a stiff penalty to pay too, when twenty percent was lost for taking the money out early.

But what’s done was done. No use getting upset about it now. She’d do anything for her parents. Anything, including and especially shoving her pride aside and practically begging someone for a job. Surely there was a doctor’s office or business that could use a receptionist.

She grabbed her handbag and keys, and headed out the door. Of course she spared a glance at Dylan’s house, but his truck was gone. More than likely he was working. And the thought of him working construction instantly had her shivering because she could still feel those rough, calloused hands roaming up her back, gripping her hips, tugging her hair, palming her breasts.

Great. Just what she did not need. Getting horny before going to look for a job was not a smart move.

She tossed her bag onto the passenger seat and set out for the first place she could think of—the rehab center where her parents were. Even though their stay there was temporary, if Corinne could get a desk job there, she could be closer to them during the day.

The ten-minute drive to the facility did nothing to calm her nerves, but she didn’t stress, or sit in the car and pray about it. She shoved aside her fears and headed straight toward the glass double doors, but stopped short when Dylan came around the corner wearing his tool belt low on his hips.

Really? Did she have to run into the man every moment of the day? Could she not do this without an audience?

His eyes raked over her, which was fine because she was admiring the nice, tight fit of his white T-shirt as it hugged those tan muscles.

“A little overdressed for visiting,” he told her as he came closer.

Corinne smiled. “I have some errands to run today. Just felt like looking nice.”

Heat filled his eyes as he reached out and slid her hair back over her shoulder. “You succeeded.”

“I’m on a tight schedule, so I’ll see you.”

Before he could make her nerves any worse and have her convinced to get back in her car and leave, she turned toward the door and went inside. At the front desk was the owner who was staring straight out the door. Obviously she was admiring the scenery of Dylan…not that Corinne could blame the woman.