The Summer He Came Home Part 11

What was she doing? This road she was on was dangerous, she knew this, but Maggie felt unable to get off.

"I don't..." She shook her head, not knowing what to say. On one hand, she was mortified that he'd found her online, ogling pictures of him like a freaking teenager. On the other, his abrupt dismissal the other night stung more than she wanted to admit.

Then there was Michael.

She was confused and felt impotent with her inability to act. She'd kept her feelings locked away for so long now that it was foreign, this deluge of emotion. She was afraid to follow her wants and needs. Those kinds of things led to a dark place.

Her head shot up as a sliver of clarity cut through the fog. "What do you want?"

Cain remained silent, but something changed. She felt it. His pulse was faster, and his breaths fell in shorter, quicker spurts. Danger solidified and wrapped itself around her tight as she struggled to make sense of her emotions and get words out of her mouth.

"You said I could ask you anything," she started in a rush. "Why are you...?" She shook her head, felt the burn in her stomach surge as a wave of anger thrust through her. "Why are you doing this?"

"This?" he asked silkily, dangerously. His gaze swept along her arm from where his hand held her still and up to her chest, where he lingered a little too long. She felt her nipples harden, felt them strain against the tight confines of her T-shirt. A shiver rolled over her body, and she exhaled shakily as he slowly lifted his eyes and looked directly into hers.

He moved again and tugged on her gently until she was against him, tight between his legs with her hands upon his chest.

At that moment Maggie was aware of many things. The length of his lashes as he stared down at her. The golden flecks that shimmered behind the dark brown of his eyes. The accelerated beat of his heart beneath her fingers.

The thick bulge that filled his jeans and burned against her hip.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked once more, his voice husky as he lowered his head. His warm breath tickled across her flesh as ripples of desire rolled through her trembling form.

Maggie closed her eyes. She stopped breathing. And maybe the world stopped spinning, because it felt like the ground had shifted beneath her and she was falling.

His hands claimed her hips, and he turned her so that she was flush against him. So that every inch of her from the waist down was pressed into his body.

So that the place between her thighs, that hot, moist part of her, rubbed against him in a way that ached.

A groan fell from between his lips, and she shuddered as his mouth skated across her neck to settle beneath her earlobe. He nuzzled her there, and everything inside Maggie erupted in a red-hot wave of need that was so intense, her legs surely would have buckled if Cain's strong grip hadn't held her firm.

His hands slid upward until he cupped her head and fingers slid along her jaw in a smooth motion. He forced her to look up at him once more. "Ask me again what I want," he said hoa.r.s.ely.

Maggie closed her eyes. This was so wrong. To feel this way about a man like Cain Black. He was way out of her league. "What do you want?" she whispered.

His breath was on her face once more, caressing her skin like small whispers of magic. The ache inside was so intense it was painful.

"The answer's real simple, Maggie."

G.o.d, the way he said her name.

"I." He kissed her cheek and her legs did give out, but his hands were there, and she clung to him. "Want." His mouth slid to her temple, where his tongue darted out to taste her there. He nibbled his way down to her mouth and hovered above her lips, with only a whisper of heat between them.

She opened her mouth, felt the antic.i.p.ation that tingled inside her body and was weak from the weight of it. She was coming apart, and the man had barely touched her.

It had been so long since she felt this way. On the cusp of desire and rank with its effects.

"Open your eyes, Maggie." His voice was so low, she barely heard him. But the feel of his hands on her face was urgent, and his muscles bunched against her palms as he shifted beneath her.

She opened her eyes and ate the groan that sat at the back of her throat. Cain stared down at her as if he was starving. As if he needed her to breathe.

His right hand slid into her hair, and his lips brushed the softness of hers. His eyes never left hers as he whispered against her mouth.

"I want...you."

Chapter 12.

Cain stared down at Maggie and struggled to keep it together. She was killing him. He'd never had such a need, such an insane desire, for a woman before. Ever. And Lord knows, over the past ten years he'd seen a h.e.l.l of a lot of them in all shapes and sizes.

He swallowed thickly and nuzzled her neck, loving the warm scent of her, the soft feel of her.

He'd swung by the house to see his mother-had totally s.p.a.ced and forgotten she volunteered on Fridays-and at the last moment decided to come inside on the off chance that he'd find Maggie.

Find her he did.

Bent over the desk in cutoff jean shorts, her toned legs and round a.s.s shown off to perfection. He hadn't seen anything that hot in ages-Daisy Duke had nothing on Maggie O'Rourke-and it had awakened a truckload of fantasies that had immediately gone south. Way south. Way hard south.

She whimpered beneath him, and he groaned at the sensation left behind as she rubbed along the length of him. His already-straining c.o.c.k tightened until the exquisite pain threatened to erupt.

He cupped her chin and breathed into her mouth.

"I want...you."

His lips grazed the softness of hers, teasing and coaxing until she opened beneath him. His mouth moved over hers, and he claimed what he'd wanted for the last week. The fragrant silk of her hair surrounded them, and his fingers tangled in their folds as he deepened the kiss. His tongue invaded and stroked, and the taste of her was intoxicating. His hands traveled the length of her body until he rested upon her sweet round a.s.s.

She whimpered again, a soft feminine sound that went straight to his gut. He clenched everything and groaned into her mouth. Christ, he hadn't been this h.o.r.n.y since Sh.e.l.li Gouthro had pulled him from the Coach House all those years ago. Back then it had been all about getting laid, but this...this was so much more.

Maggie kissed him back, a full-on surrender, and for the longest time he held her, his mouth drinking from hers, tasting, suckling, as his hands roved as much of her as he could reach. He couldn't help himself. She felt way too d.a.m.n good between his legs.

Her hands crept up to his neck. The touch was hesitant, unsure, and that alone drove him crazy. When was the last time he'd been with a woman who wasn't the aggressor? He couldn't remember.

Cain lifted her into the air, coaxed her legs around him, and leaned back against the desk as her arms encircled him fully. Holy Christ, but she was every fantasy he'd ever had and more.

He groaned into her mouth. This was going way too fast. He wanted her. Badly. But he wasn't about to have s.e.x with Maggie on a desk in his mother's bas.e.m.e.nt. She deserved more than that. He wanted to give her more than that.

"Hey," he whispered against her lips. "Babe, we need to stop now, or I'm not gonna be able to."

Maggie pulled away slowly but lowered her eyes. She trembled against him, and something about how she looked tugged at his heart in a way he couldn't recall feeling before. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and rested his chin on her head as she tucked into his embrace just like she belonged there.

For several long minutes there was nothing but silence broken by their quick, jarring breaths and frantic beating hearts. Eventually she relaxed in his arms, and for the moment it was enough.

Cain exhaled a long, shuddering breath. "So," he said, "I need to apologize for the other night." Maggie squirmed in his arms, and reluctantly he let go, hissing softly as she slid along his body until she was standing.

Her long red hair had fallen loose from her ponytail and hung about her heart-shaped face like a curtain, the deep color a perfect foil for her creamy skin. Her eyes were luminous, like pools of liquid navy, but it was her full lips, bruised from his mouth, that drew his attention.

They were marked. By him. And there was something primal in that that he liked.

Her tongue slid along her lower lip, and he couldn't take his eyes off her. "You don't need to..." She shook her head and looked up at him. "Michael had an amazing day, and I'm grateful you were able to give him that. If you could just..." She glanced away.

"If I could..." His hand reached for her, but she took another step back so that she was out of his reach.

"If you could just call him or something before you leave, I think he'd really appreciate it." A small smile claimed her mouth. "He seems to think you're a big deal or something."

"Before I leave?" He looked confused and took a step toward her.

Maggie frowned and made a wild gesture with her hands. "To go home. Your stuff is gone. I thought you'd already left for LA, but obviously you're heading off soon."

h.e.l.l, no.

"Would you miss me?"

She looked surprised at his question. "I..." she stuttered and shook her head. "No, I just-"

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Cain interrupted and took a step forward until he was inches from her. She didn't move away this time. "I'm not going anywhere. Mac and I have rented a cottage not far from Jake's parents."

"Mackenzie Draper?"

He nodded. "He's the reason I bailed the other night. Some stuff happened, and Jake called. I don't want to go into detail, but..." He needed her to understand. "He's like family to me, and I had to leave."

"You don't owe me an explanation."

"Yeah, I do, and technically I owe you more."

"More?"

"I promised your son I'd show him how to clean the fish we caught, but since I had to do it right away, I'll get around to teaching him next time. But I still owe you a meal, and the fish is on ice, so..."

Her scent teased his nostrils as he gazed down at her. Maggie opened her mouth, but his finger was there before she could speak. For a split second, an image of her lips encircling him-and he wasn't thinking about his finger either-rushed through his mind. The bulge between his legs thickened even more, if that was possible.

Christ, but he had to be stronger.

"You can't say no."

She arched an eyebrow and removed his finger from her mouth. "If I want to say no, I will," she challenged.

Little minx. Cain smiled wickedly and leaned toward her, his mouth close to her ear. "Here's the thing, though, Maggie. You don't want to."

"How do you know what's in my head? What I want and don't want." She was annoyed now, but he was totally okay with that. He liked that she had s.p.u.n.k and didn't roll over onto her back for him.

"Woman, I just kissed you. Trust me. You don't want to say no any more than I want you to."

Maggie stared at him for a moment, and then her chin jutted out. "I don't make a habit of a.s.sociating with felons."

Okay, he hadn't seen that one coming.

"You think I'm a felon?"

"Raine told me you and your friends were arrested. I'm not sure I want that kind of influence around my son."

Cain swore under his breath. The woman was looking for an excuse to blow him off, and Raine had just handed her one.

"Are you saying Raine lied?"

"No."

"Oh." She looked surprised.

"We were arrested when we were seventeen." Cain moved closer to her, loving the way her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. Lips that he wanted to taste and kiss and do all sorts of things to. "Me and the boys: Jake, Jesse, and Mac. It was quite the crime."

"What did you do?" Her voice was hushed, her eyes wide.

He stared at her for several long moments until her eyes widened in trepidation and her breath held, waiting for his next words.

"You have to understand we didn't mean for it to happen." He shook his head, his expression serious, his tone somber. "h.e.l.l, we were just kids really."

"Seventeen isn't exactly a kid," she said carefully.

"No, it's not, and we should have known better." He sighed. "And I suppose we should have known it wouldn't have ended up any other way than it did." He shrugged. "Not with Jake involved. h.e.l.l, he even lured Jesse to the dark side, and Jesse was always the guy who said no."

She bit her lip and for a second, and he was mesmerized by an image of her tongue sliding along his skin.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"I can't lie or sugarcoat. It's a matter of public record that we kidnapped him in Indiana-"

"Kidnapped! You can't be serious."

He continued on as if she hadn't said a word. "Like I said, it wasn't my idea, but s.h.i.t happened, and we kidnapped the b.a.s.t.a.r.d in Indiana, which was our first mistake, because anyone who watches Law & Order knows you should never transport a body across state lines."

"A body?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Sure, you didn't think they called us the Bad Boys for kicks, did you?" He tried to look solemn, but it was hard because she looked so d.a.m.n cute. "He had one h.e.l.l of a trip, that's for sure. We showed him things...things he'd never have seen down there in Indiana. We showed him Michigan the way it's supposed to be done. We took him all over the county, out in the boat, and then, uh, attended a few parties where he met a lot of fine local girls. h.e.l.l, he was so d.a.m.n popular, Seth Daniels used up at least two disposable cameras, 'cause everyone wanted their picture taken with him. Of course, that was before we buried him."

"Buried." Her brow couldn't arch any higher.

He nodded.

"You buried him," she said again.

"Yeah, Ronald."