“Are you okay, Elena?”
That was all he said.
“I’m sorry. My drink hit me wrong and I got overheated — hot all over. I had to cool down,” she said as she slinked up to him. His eyes widened when she put out a hand and caressed his chest. “I believe you told me to prove it.”
And then she leaned against him, circling her hand behind his head and pulling him down to her. She captured his lips and opened herself up, her hands splaying across his chest, her tongue tasting his excitement.
Tyler’s shock at her boldness lasted only a second, maybe less, and then he was pinning her against the wall as his mouth devoured hers.
Elena had been prepared for the kiss, or at least she’d thought she’d been prepared, but as his tongue traced the contours of her mouth, her stomach tightened and her core grew dangerously wet. And she knew that no amount of preparation in the world could have clued her in to how good it would feel to be in his arms again, even if she hated the man.
His body was hard and unyielding, and he was running his hands up and down her sides, drawing closer and closer to her breasts with each pass. What he was doing with his mouth — she’d never experienced anything like it before.
His touch was searing her, and when a low groan erupted from his throat, the sound traveled straight through her veins and pulsed deep inside. No, she hadn’t thought this revenge plot through. Not at all.
“Oh, Elena, are you as turned on as I am right now?” He leaned back only far enough to trail his lips across her jaw and trace the skin at her neck.
“I…uh…we… Too pubic…public!” she stuttered, her embarrassment quickly forgotten with her hunger so exposed. Her desperate fingers were clasping his shoulders, holding him to her. She was trying to stop, but her body was rebelling.
“No one is back here,” he said. He slipped his hand beneath her shirt and stroked her now quivering stomach.
When he reached the underside of her breasts, she held her breath. She should tell him to stop. This wasn’t part of her plan, but she waited, instead, for what was coming next. She was aching for this.
He didn’t disappoint her. His hand traced over the lacy fabric of her bra, and his palm cupped her jutting nipples, making her moan in pleasure.
“You like my touch, don’t you, Elena?” he said. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and bit down gently. “Yes, I can feel how much you do,” he answered for her. “Let’s go back to my place.”
She was trying to remember why she couldn’t do that, why she had to say no.
“Um, Elena… Hello!”
Elena heard her name, knew it wasn’t Tyler speaking, but for the life of her she couldn’t drag herself out of the sexual fog that was surrounding her.
“Go away. Elena’s busy,” she heard Tyler growl.
“I don’t think so,” Piper replied.
“Piper!” Her friend’s irritated voice brought Elena back to reality, and she managed to push, rather than pull, against Tyler’s chest.
That was all it took for him to take a step back.
“I’m ready to leave now,” Piper said, sending a meaningful look Elena’s way, reminding her that this was what she’d asked her to do five minutes ago.
Five minutes ago seemed liked eons.
“I’m sorry. Yes, it’s time to go,” Elena said. She hoped no one noticed that she was panting.
“Don’t,” Tyler said, almost a panic in his eyes. “I’ll take you home later.”
Elena was oh so tempted, but she needed to pull herself together. If she went home with this guy tonight, she would be the one losing. Yet again.
“Sorry, Tyler,” she said, the purr back in her voice. “I have to leave now.”
After walking a couple of steps away, she turned back around and pulled a piece of paper and pen from her purse, jotted down her number and moved back over to him. She slipped it right there into the front pocket of his trousers, and she let her hand linger there, so close to where she knew he was the hardest. Damn, how she wanted to touch him. Touch wasn’t the word she was really thinking, of course.
“You may call me,” she said with just enough sass that she watched a spark light his eyes.
She didn’t look back at him again. She took her friend’s arm and walked away, and she didn’t breathe again until they were outside in the fresh air.
“You are so spilling,” Piper growled as she hailed a cab and they slipped inside.
“I will. I promise,” Elena said, leaning her head back against the vinyl headrest. “Just not yet. For now, I’m going to close my eyes and try to get my body under control.”
“You’re in trouble, Elena, big trouble. If you carry through with this, I don’t think Tyler Knight is going to be the one who gets punished.”
“Yeah, I know that too,” Elena said.
And then she was done talking. Her friend was right. She was in trouble — big, huge, monstrous trouble.
Chapter Seven
The day was warm, exceptionally warm for May in Seattle. Elena had changed her mind several times in the hour before finally going to meet Tyler. How was she supposed to make him want her so badly that it would kill him to lose her if she kept refusing to see him?
He’d called her before she’d even made it home the night at the club, and then had continued calling her all week. She’d put him off long enough.
Now she found herself next to his car as he tugged on the tie he was wearing.
“I think I overdressed,” he told her, the knot slipping loose and the satin material sliding through his fingers.