“I, uh…” He made a helpless motion toward the bedside table. “I came straight to campus.”
His eagerness pleased her. Stepping into his space, she pressed against his arm and craned her neck to look up at him. “Do not pass ‘Go,’ do not dust the bedroom?”
He wound his arms around her and pulled her closer still, fitting her to his long, lean frame like they were pieces of a puzzle.
“Something like that.” He lowered his head and brushed the barest of kisses across her lips. “Do you mind, or should I go get one of those mop-cloth things from the kitchen?”
She smiled, tickled by his terminology. “I’m not afraid of a little dust, but I am a teensy bit worried about rust.”
His brow puckered. “Rust?”
She stared straight ahead, focusing on the tantalizingly smooth skin revealed by the open collar of his shirt. “Been a while since we talked. Even longer since you left me high and dry in a limo.”
He raised one perfectly shaped brow. “Dry?”
“Don’t even start with the innuendo.” A thirst for revenge gave her the leeway to indulge her impulses. She pressed a soft, open-mouthed kiss to the hollow of his throat. His skin was warm, his aftershave cool and citrusy. “You wouldn’t even talk to me on the phone.” She smiled when he swallowed hard. She was getting to him. Like his silent treatment got to her. “What were you so scared of, big guy?”
“You,” he said without hesitation or apology. “Besides, you were the one who started playing the not-talking game. I only saw it through to the end.”
Ty gripped her hips, his thumbs pressing into the dip of her pelvis to emphasize his point. He tipped his chin up even though she’d have to shimmy up him to risk bumping into his jaw. His luscious mouth curved into a smile. Amber eyes glimmered with deviltry. He was enjoying every second of this torture.
The sadist.
Millie opened her mouth to zing him, but once again, he was too fast for her. She yelped as those big hands clamped around her waist and her feet left the ground. Grabbing hold of his arms, she proved she wasn’t above copping a feel when his biceps bulged and flexed. She’d give herself points for holding her own later. When it came to putting a cocky man in his place, she might have come up a bit short, but she had an unerring sense of where to put her hands.
When they were finally face-to-face, she closed her eyes and leaned in for his kiss. A kiss that didn’t happen. Her eyes snapped open, and she pulled back as far as she could, desperate for some distance and the ability to actually focus on him. “What?”
His expression sobered. “I wasn’t kidding. You terrify me.”
“Well, if you don’t shut up and start kissing me in the next three seconds, I’m going to become your worst damn nightmare.”
In a flash, his pirate’s smile was back. She scarcely had time to draw her next breath before her back hit the mattress. A low, throaty moan escaped her when he covered her body with his. The laws of physics said she should have felt crushed or smothered by his weight, but those paltry theories didn’t hold up against the red-hot reality of him. Vertically, they were as mismatched as a gym sock and a thigh-high stocking. Horizontally, they were a perfect fit.
Ty peppered her face and throat with fervent kisses, letting her feel every ounce of his desire with each maddening little peck. He found the sensitive spot behind her ear, and she arched beneath him. “Kiss me,” she whispered urgently.
“I am.”
“My lips.” Cradling the curve of his skull in her palm, she tried to steer him back to her mouth, but the man had an agenda of his own. “Kiss me.”
“I can’t yet.” The ragged edge in his voice was supremely satisfying. He ran one of those big hands down her body, the spread of his fingers teasing her breasts and tickling her ribs. His fingers closed around the side zip of her skirt with an accuracy she might have found disturbing if she didn’t want him so badly. “You wanna know why I didn’t call?” His breathing was nearly as rough as his voice. “Because of your mouth.”
Taken aback, she gave a wiggle. The movement did nothing to dislodge him but did help inch the pesky zip down a centimeter or so. “My mouth? What’s that mean?”
He chuckled against her ear. “I’m obsessed with your mouth, Millie. The things I want to hear from you. The places I want you to put those lips. What I want to do to your mouth.”
This time, her squirm had nothing to do with protest. She had wants of her own, and it was high time the man started filling them. “Tell me.”
“Oh, I’m gonna.”
A threat. A promise. The best possible harbinger of things to come. He’d drawled the words, infusing each one with a deep, dark menace that made her want to giggle with maniacal glee.
“Tell me,” she urged again. As added incentive, she ran her hands down his back, her fingertips trailing along the crevice of his spine. His ass rose up out of the small of his back, tight mounds of pure muscle. He was big and broad and long and lean, but damn, if the sweet curve of his ass didn’t fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. “Tell me everything you thought, every place you wanted me, every way.”
At last, he pulled the zipper down. “I can’t right now.”
“Why not?” She smiled when he lifted his weight enough to start working the fabric down over her hips. “Chicken?”
“Plenty of time for finesse later.” He plucked open the first two buttons on her blouse, then ducked his head to nuzzle the top
