Tara shrugged. “Well, there might not be anything on his end, but I can guarantee there’s something on hers.”
“I think you’re wrong. Liz is a great actress, and you just read her wrong. She plays up to Gavin’s weakness, which is a gorgeous woman with great legs.”
“If you say so.”
But Tara wasn’t buying it for a second. If there was one thing she could spot, it was a woman with warm gooey love yearnings for a man.
And Elizabeth Darnell had it bad for Gavin Riley.
TEN
MICK HAD HAD ENOUGH OF TOSSING AND TURNING IN the bed that was too damn small for his frame. And knowing Tara was at the end of the hall was driving him crazy.
Nathan had ended up going home with one of Mick’s aunts for a sleepover with her and her husband’s two teenage boys, since they’d pretty much hung out nonstop at the bar anyway talking football and some online video game that they were probably going to stay up all night and play. Tara was thrilled he’d found some friends, so she’d been fine with it.
But Mick had spent the entire night at the bar watching Tara, touching her but not really touching her, breathing her in and wishing he could do what he wanted to do with her. Instead, he’d had to be content with holding her hand and the occasional kiss, and that just wasn’t cutting it.
He finally threw on his shorts, grabbed a couple condoms, and as quietly as he could, opened the bedroom door. The house was quiet, no TV noise or movement from downstairs, which meant everyone had gone to bed. He crept down the hall to Tara’s room. He didn’t want to knock because he didn’t want to wake his parents, but he also didn’t want to scare the hell out of Tara by just walking into her bedroom, either.
He decided to risk it, turned the knob, and opened the door.
“Tara?” he whispered.
“I’m awake. Come in.”
Thank God. He slipped in and shut the door, locked it for good measure.
She was sitting up, the pillows propped up behind her. She had the shutters open, moonlight spilling in and shining on her as she sat there and watched him approach.
She wore his team T-shirt. It swallowed her up, but damn if she didn’t look sexy as hell in it. It was worn and threadbare, one he’d gotten when he first joined the team. She’d snatched it from him and said it was soft and comfortable and she intended to sleep in it. It made him hard just thinking about her breasts brushing against it, her skin against something he owned.
It made him feel possessive of her, and a rush of heat tightened his groin.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I was hoping you’d find a way to come in here.”
He dragged her into his arms. “I couldn’t stand not touching you for one more night.”
“Good, because I was only going to give you about another half hour, then I was coming to you.”
His mouth came down on hers with a hunger that he’d held in for too long. He was afraid he wasn’t going to be able to hold back, that he would hurt her, but she seemed as needy as he was. She climbed onto his lap and slid her fingers into his hair.
“It’s been a long, dry weekend,” she said, brushing her lips against his.
He kissed her, and it only made the heat explode inside him.
He lifted her T-shirt and saw she wasn’t wearing panties. His cock rocketed against his shorts, his need to fuck her driving him insane.
He lifted his gaze to hers, saw the heat flare in her eyes.
“I need you, Mick. No preliminaries. All I’ve been able to think about is you inside me. I’m wet and I’m hot and I need you. Fuck me now.”
He swept his hand over her back, over the front of his T-shirt, pressing his team logo over her breasts. He slid his thumbs over her nipples. They were hard pebbles, and he needed to fill his hands with her. He slid his hands under the shirt to massage her breasts, to feel her nipples, then grabbed her waist and flung her onto the bed, dropped his shorts, and grabbed a condom from the pocket. He put it on in record time and lifted her hips, bent over, and shoved his cock inside her.
She gasped, grabbed his arms, and held on while he fucked her, pouring everything he’d been holding back for all these days.
“I’ve needed you,” he whispered. “I’ve been thinking about fucking you, about kissing you. I’ve missed your mouth.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, needing her tongue alongside his while her * tightened around him.
She licked at his lips, her gaze so clear, so filled with emotion, it was almost hard to look at her. “I missed you, too, Mick. It’s hard to sleep without your body next to me at night, without your hands on me, without you inside me. It’s all I can think about.”
To know she felt the same desperate need he did calmed him down somehow, and he slowed the pace, wanting to make sure she came, that it was good for her. He’d been ready to go off the second he slid inside her. She was hot and tight, and this was all he’d been thinking about for days. It seemed like he couldn’t get enough of her.