Chapter Seven
Tentative hope still blooming in her chest, Kelli allowed him to dress her and followed meekly while he gently tucked her into the front seat of his large, black SUV. She didn’t speak except to direct Remi to her house on the outside of the art district.
The big vehicle pulled to a stop in the long, secluded driveway. The two-storey house was softly lit, a beacon of safety in the shaky instability of the night.
“This is not necessary,” she protested, digging into her purse for her keys, thankful Remi had remembered to grab the bag from the drawer in her desk.
“My mother would be horrified if I didn’t act like a gentleman,” he told her with a wink and a seductive smile. Familiar heat built in the air between them. Kelli sucked in a breath and jerked the door open.
“And you’re always a gentleman, right?” She couldn’t stop the taunt from leaving her lips, even though she’d already forgiven him. She’d be a nitpicky bitch if she held a grudge when he’d done everything but bend over backwards to gain her forgiveness.
“Maybe not always, but I do try. Am I forgiven yet, Kelli,
chèrie
?” he asked. “Are you willing to forgive a stupid man for a stupid mistake?”
How could anyone stay mad when his Cajun voice dripped with sincerity? When those deep, midnight-black eyes burnt with genuine emotion? It was impossible. She needed to go. To hide from him and her traitorous emotions.
Get inside, Kelli
, she told herself.
Take an ice cold shower and have that bottle of wine waiting chilled in your fridge
. Yep, she’d wash him out of her system and freeze her rampaging hormones.
“No, Remi, I’m not mad at you anymore. I believe you regret what happened and, in the broad scheme of things, it’s not a huge deal. You can go home and sleep with a clear conscience.”
“You don’t want me coming in?” he asked.
“You asked a question, I answered.”
”And now I should crawl away with my tail tucked between my legs, like a good trained dog?” He moved closer with each word until he completely invaded her space.
“No one said anything about crawling, much less comparing you to a dog.” She struggled to ignore the electricity and heat in the air between them.
She turned her back on him, doing her best to dismiss him from her mind but failing miserably. But a little time and distance between them would help them both find a solid footing on where they stood.
“The only place I’m crawling is into your bed. Now open the door, Kelli. We’re both tired and it’s been a hell of a night. All I want right now is to fall asleep with you tucked safely in my arms.”
Aim, shoot and fire
, she thought as Remi made a direct hit on her secret desire.
“Remi, maybe w—”
Then he was right there, reaching behind her to clutch the doorknob and enclose her in his strong, tanned arms. She opened her mouth to protest, but it was too late.
He brought his hot mouth down on hers, easy as an angel’s kiss, his sweet breath burning against her tender skin. Any thought of stopping or protesting died under the persistent tug of his lips.
She froze in place, drugged by his scent, by the sheer of power of him and the irresistible sense of male sexuality. So Kelli just stood there, unable to move and torn between desire and fear while he teased his skilled tongue over her lips, tracing the seam, licking and nibbling at the soft corner.
Oh, this man knew exactly how to melt a female’s resistance. If he’d come at her with the alpha dominance so much a part of his makeup, Kelli would have found the willpower to resist. Instead, his touch brushed, whispered and generally reeled her in with a soft yet sinuous seduction.
Teasing, tasting, Remi worked his spell on her. He nipped her lower lip with sharp teeth before moving on to nibble the soft edge. Under the magic of his touch, Kelli’s eyes drifted closed and she opened her mouth automatically as his tongue pushed for entrance. The feel of his heat shocked her system all over again, sliding through her veins like lava. Intimate nerves hummed and sparked as the scent and flavour of Remi flooded her system. Beneath her hastily thrown-on shirt, nipples turned pebble hard while desire-based moisture trickled between her thighs.
Lust, passion, need—everything exploded inside her when Remi’s denim-covered cock rubbed the pulsing nub of her need. Every inch of her skin tingled with awareness of the man touching her, taking her over, even as her nerves burnt too close to the surface. Her breasts were heavy and achy with the need to feel the rough calluses of his hands or the wet strike of his tongue against her heated flesh. All her erogenous zones ached insistently and Kelli pressed herself closer to the hard power of his body, knowing only Remi could tame the fire burning her alive. Need, crude and commanding, swamped her, destroying everything except the man in her arms and his touch.
With a quick jerk, Remi pulled his mouth away. “In or out, Kelli?”
Kelli’s muddled mind struggled to comprehend his words.
In, of course—she wanted him inside her
. “In,” she whispered in a strangled tone before latching on to his lips once more.
His mouth never leaving hers, Remi backed them inside the softly lit house. Only the tick of a large grandfather clock could be heard over the sound of their pounding heartbeats. A swift kick from his foot and the door closed behind them while his tongue still worked its magic on her mind and body. He circled her waist with one powerful arm to pull her close to him. In this new, more intimate position, she felt everything, including his ripped stomach, strong thighs and the swelling perfection of his cock. Too many feelings flooded her and Kelli knew her trembling knees would have given out if he hadn’t held on to her so tightly.
When she finally managed to pry her eyes open, Kelli found herself looking into a wickedly black gaze filled with heat, temptation and sin.
Fuck me, Remi.
The desperate cry was voiced only in her mind as her lips were once again captured with a passion she couldn’t seem to resist.
How had she let this happen? She’d accepted her weakness for the Cajun heartthrob. Kelli had even managed to make peace with the out-of-this-world sex in her office, but this…this was something she didn’t understand. He was kissing her like she was his only source of air. And she was letting him, feeding him her tongue just as eagerly.
Naked
, she thought, with a growing sense of desperation. She needed to feel his skin pressed hot and hard against her own. Still Kelli struggled to pull the scattered pieces of her brain together. A little warning bell told her to pull back, to push him away, to kick Remi out of the house, but her body refused to follow her instincts. Instead, it demanded Remi, naked, hard and deep inside her
.
Kelli scrambled desperately for a piece of sanity in a situation where nothing existed but desire and need. Remi’s callused hand stroking her heated flesh, his mouth wet and hot, sucking strongly on her nipples, his huge cock powering in and out of her eager, soaked body.
She couldn’t think; breathing became almost impossible the deeper she sank into desire.
Sweeping her up in his arms, he headed for the stairs.
“Where’s your bedroom?” he demanded, his face flushed with hectic colour, so close she could drown in his black eyes.
“Remi…” she tried to protest, but her voice came out weak and husky.
He dropped his mouth to right above hers, so every word he spoke brushed against her lips. “There’s no way I’m going to take you on a couch again. Not when there’s a bed somewhere in this fucking house. I want to have you spread out underneath me. To look, taste, touch and fuck you until both of us pass out from exhaustion. And trust me on this, Kelli. I’m going to fuck you so deep and hard you won’t be able to remember what it’s like not to be filled with my cock. Now where the hell is your bedroom?”
“Up the stairs, last door on the right.” She nearly whimpered at his erotic promises while her body trembled with a surge of greedy need.
Then, somehow, they were in her bedroom and Remi was sliding her down the long, hard length of his body to stand on her feet.
“A different man would ask if you’re sure. A gentleman would promise to keep his hands to himself.” He stroked his touch up and down her back as he verbally challenged her. “By now,
chère
, you should know I’m not much of a gentleman and I’d rather have my balls cut off than walk away from you.”
Words… She needed to find some and speak them, to explain…something to the man making her melt in his arms. But she came up with nothing as he gently stroked her.
He slipped his hands under the worn material of her shirt, then slid them up her sides until he cupped her breasts, taking their weight in his palms. She was grateful for the moment she had ditched the bra before Remi had even shown up. The fewer barriers between their bodies, the better. He took her mouth with his again, sparking their attraction into a raging forest fire that burnt out of control. He brushed his thumbs over her bare nipples. Lightning shot through her veins, soaking her underwear with arousal. Kelli wouldn’t have thought it was possible to come again, but with one touch Remi had her at the edge of control.
“The moment I saw you, I knew my carefree, lone wolf existence was over,” he hoarsely explained while his talented lips trailed soft kisses over her neck and face. “You had me with one look. And,
chère
, I’ll do anything to make you mine, because I plan to play for keeps.”
His eyes as he warned her of his intentions, were those of an alpha, a dominant male, claiming her everywhere his gaze touched. Her head span at his possessive words, disengaged from the rest of her, leaving Kelli surrounded by a blaze of need. Sharp bolts of electricity shot through her at his oh-so-gentle touch, streaking straight to her sopping core.
Maybe she should give this predatory male a few warnings, too. Warn him that Kelli intended to play for keeps as well, and that once he gave his word she intended to see him keep it. The possession, passion and proprietary attitude flowed both ways.
Gently, Remi pulled the old T-shirt up and over Kelli’s head. His eyes focused on the pale skin he’d exposed. Almost reverently, he ran one fingertip across the upper swell of her breast and up to touch the hollow of her throat, where her pulse beat wildly. He’d touched and tasted her before, pushed his swollen length into the wet depths of her grasping body, but still this ache persisted. Demanding he claim her in a way she could never deny. The fierce throbbing of her pulse revealed she was as turned on as he was. When she took in a shuddering breath, Remi couldn’t stop his head from dipping down to close his lips around one tight, puckered nipple. Her flavour exploded in his senses, honey and sugar.
Perfection
!
He drew her sensitive nipple into his hungry mouth, pulling, licking and nibbling the sweetest flesh he’d ever tasted. Remi loved the feel of the hard bud on his tongue, revelled in the heat of the silken swelling filling his palm. As he moved to the neglected orb, a low, breathy moan whimpered out of her throat, sending echoes of her passion through his own body. Sparks of frustrated desire drew his balls up tight. He pushed images of his tax audit and his grandmother’s false teeth through his mind as he did his best to think of anything else. Anything but the pounding needed to slam himself deep and hard into her wet pussy.
Shit
. She owned him, lock, stock and cock.
Slowly, he forced himself to let her go. The rest of her clothes had to go and, with a few swipes of his hands, he laid Kelli naked on the bed before him. She glowed like a perfect pearl in the low light. He caressed the silken shape of her curvy thighs and shapely calves. He kissed, licked and nipped his way across her fragrant skin.
No longer able to stop himself, Remi knelt between her spread thighs and stroked his fingers over the narrow stripe of curls hiding the pink folds of her sex. With a gentle and reverent touch, he opened the flushed lips of her cunt with shaking fingers. Inhaling, he leant down to fill his lungs with her fresh scent, then touched her clit with the tip of his tongue. Her taste slammed straight to his cock.
Kelli jumped at the contact and grabbed his head with her fingers, thrusting and whimpering his name, the trembling sound reverberating through him. Sliding his hands under her ass, Remi lifted her from the bed to spread her legs wider. The delicate, flushed, plump skin glistened between her thighs, catching his attention and stealing his control. No longer able or willing to fight such a temptation Remi buried his face in the valley of her honey. Low light from the bedside lamp showed glossy, swollen, soft skin, drenched with her thick cream. He dipped his tongue down to the centre bundle of erotic nerves, nipping the sensitive flesh with his teeth, almost coming in his jeans as Kelli used her hands to shove his face harder against her clit.
Deliberately, Remi set out to tease her, to drive her need higher until she burned as hot and bright as he did. With long, slow, firm strokes, he licked the plump flesh, happily drowning in her sweet taste. She jerked underneath him, hoarsely screaming out. He sucked on her with his lips, nipped her with the flat edge of his teeth, wallowing in the sexy sounds she made and the way her hips thrust up to meet him.
When he slid two fingers inside her, the tight muscles of her pussy clamped down on them. Lust pounded deep, hard and desperate in his stomach as he bit her clit. He’d never been with a woman so responsive to his every stroke or touch. She was close—he could feel her trembling on the very edge. An almost primitive sense of desperation took over—he wanted to watch her come so badly, but more than that he wanted to be shoved deep inside her when she came.