Too Wilde to Tame

inside.

Cameron nearly groaned right along with her as images filled his mind of her soft warm mouth sucking on him in the same erotic way-which he knew had been her intent all along. To deliberately arouse him when he couldn't do a damn thing about it, the minx.

With a soft sigh of satisfaction, she set the empty bottle down on the table and met his gaze. Her lashes fell half-mast, and she slowly licked the excess moisture from her lips. 'Mmmm, that tasted good.'

His blood rushed hot and molten through his veins. God, she was so brazen and bold!

She smiled at him, a heady, come-hither curve of her lips that told him she wasn't done teasing him just yet. 'So how about you, sugar?' she asked as she leaned in close and skimmed the tips of her fingers along his tensed jaw. 'Care to take your chances with me?'

She meant out on the dance floor, but there was a wealth of meaning and innuendo behind her words. It took every bit of strength Cameron possessed to pretend indifference to her, when all he could think about was wiping the table clear in one clean swipe of his arm and taking her right then and there, with those fuck-me lace-up boots wrapped tight against his hips.

'I'll pass,' he managed, just barely, in a bland tone of voice.

A disappointed sigh escaped her parted lips. 'I guess I'll just have to find someone who will.'

She turned to go, and something within Cameron snapped-mainly, his normal ability to keep a tight rein on his emotions. He understood that for Mia this was all a performance for her brother and his friends, even if she was enjoying herself a tad too much at his expense. But he'd had enough of her dancing with other men, and he wasn't about to watch her with yet another guy while he sat on the sidelines and stewed about it.

Abruptly, he stood up and started after Mia, with Kevin and Ben encouraging him on. Cameron glanced back at the trio and found Joel watching him quietly with an unsettling kind of speculation that made Cameron feel uneasy.

Dismissing the feeling for the time being, he caught up to Mia before she could find herself another dance partner, grabbed her hand, and led the way. Once they were up on the stage, he merged the two of them into the middle of the crowded dance floor, away from the prying eyes of Mia's brother, and then whirled around to face the woman who tempted him beyond reason. She was only a foot away, but he wanted her closer.

Much closer.

Wrapping the end of her chain belt around his fist, he pulled her to him until their bodies were touching intimately. Awareness sparked in her smoky gaze, as did a glimmer of heat he recognized as a direct challenge. She wanted this, and she was silently daring him to be bad, to throw every bit of caution to the wind and give in to some reckless, shameless kind of fun. With her.

He let a wolfish grin emerge, and her eyes widened with a bit of surprise and excitement. Grasping her hips in his hands, he wedged his leg between hers so the hem of her dress was hiked up and she was riding his thigh. From there, their eyes met and held as they moved to the beat of the music in a way that mimicked the act of hot, grinding, down-and-dirty sex. Cameron grew thick and hard as each seductive move was countered by another, in ways that would have gotten them arrested for public obscenity if anyone could have seen what they were doing.

Fortunately, they were surrounded by a crush of people who weren't paying any attention to them or their dirty dancing. They didn't care mat his hands were on Mia's ass, and they couldn't see the slow, provocative way she arched and rubbed against his erection again and again.

It was the most erotic form of foreplay Cameron ever had the pleasure of indulging in, and he planned to get even with Mia tonight, when they were alone. He had a score to settle with her-for tempting and teasing him earlier in front of her brother and his friends, and for driving him to the brink of sexual frustration now.

The song ended, and he and Mia agreed to part ways for a while: Cameron was grateful for the cooling-off period, because after that encounter, he had no idea how he was going to survive the evening.

But somehow, he managed. Before long Gina and Ray left for the night, followed by Mia's neighbor Will and his friends. Soon after that, Joel, Kevin, and Ben decided to head off to Nick's Sports Bar, which was their normal hangout.

Once Cameron was certain that Joel and his buddies were long gone, he made his way across the room to Mia and lowered his mouth to her ear.

'Let's get the hell out of here.'

'Your place or mine?' She grinned up at him, her face still flushed from their dancing.

That all depended on a key factor. 'Is Gina going to be home tonight?'

She shook her head. 'No. She'll be at Ray's.'

Perfect. 'Your place, then.' Because what he had in mind for Mia, he wanted her to be completely comfortable and relaxed, and being in her element would accomplish that.

'I'm parked two cars away from yours,' he told her, wanting to be careful about the way they left The Electric Blue, just in case they were being watched. 'I'll walk out first, and you follow about a minute after me so I can keep an eye on you.'

She nodded in agreement. He headed out of the bar and crossed the parking lot to their vehicles. As Mia's Celica came into his sights, a sick feeling of dread twisted through him, followed by a jolt of outrage at what someone had done to Mia's car. He swore a string of expletives as he tried to figure out a way to spare Mia from having to see this latest attack.

Unfortunately, he didn't think fast enough. Her audible gasp of shock had Cameron spinning around, and his stomach cramped when he saw her face. Mia's eyes were huge, her complexion drained of color, and her expression was etched with disbelief and horror as she stared at her vandalized car.

'Oh, my God!' she wailed.

Chapter Seven

SLUT. Tramp. Bitch. Whore.

A distinct chill slithered through Mia. The vile, cruel words someone had written all over her car's windows in a thick, white paste swam before her eyes. Her legs felt weak, as though they were going to give out on her if she tried to take a step in any direction. She folded her arms around her middle, but it was Cameron's strength that held her upright as he wrapped his arms around her in a secure embrace.

'You're trembling,' he said gruffly and rubbed his big hands up and down her bare back in an attempt to soothe her.

Closing her eyes, she leaned into him and buried her face against his neck, wishing she could make all this ugliness go away. She inhaled the scent of his cologne and the warmth of his skin, taking comfort in the fact that Cameron was there and she didn't have to deal with this latest assault alone.

She wasn't used to relying on anyone for anything and had spent years striving to prove to her family that she was an independent woman who didn't need protecting or sheltering.

Yet here she was, clinging to Cameron like a damsel in distress. Geez, she was so pathetic.

Inhaling a deep, calming breath, she pulled back, and he gradually let her go. 'Sorry about that,' she said, hating that he'd seen her in such a vulnerable state.

'You're entitled to be upset,' he said as he swept a hand angrily toward her car. 'This is bullshit.'

She couldn't bring herself to look at her car again, or the offensive phrases mocking her. 'I can't believe someone would do such a thing.'

He exhaled a disgusted breath and shoved his fingers through his hair. 'I'm sorry, Mia.'

She heard the apologetic tone of his voice and was stunned that he'd feel responsible for what had happened. 'Cameron, this isn't your fault.'

His expression was a glowering mask of barely suppressed fury. 'I'm just pissed that I didn't come out here in time to catch the creep who did this to you.'

Actually, that person was very lucky Cameron hadn't caught them in the act. Judging by the fierce look in his eyes, there was no doubt in Mia's mind he would have beat the living daylights out of them.

She shivered again and wondered if the culprit was watching them now, taking a sick delight in shaking her up