“What’s wrong?”
Not even realizing he’d paused, Roman had been turning the questions over in his head. But he had no answers. So he diverted his attention back to her silken flesh.
Leaning closer, he kissed her knee before tightening his grip on her ankles and flipping her over. Damn, that was a beautiful ass. Heart-shaped and perfect, the globes of her backside were made to fill his hands.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this.” He cupped her lush derrière. “You’re beautiful, woman.”
“Roman, if you’ve changed your mind…” She pushed up to her elbows and turned her head to face him.
Oh, no. She wasn’t getting away. He moved in between her splayed legs, using his body to hold her down. Once he had her pinned, he bent to whisper in her ear. “The only thing I’ve changed my mind about is how this will go down. You know what I’ve decided, Gus? I don’t care what our sex life was like back then. We were horny kids who couldn’t wait for orgasm. Now I’m a man. I want more. I need it. I intend to have everything from you.”
She ducked her head, resting it against the bed. “It wasn’t so bad back then.”
“It was the best sex I’ve ever had,” he admitted. “It was the sex I’ve compared encounters with every other woman to. All of them came up lacking. But I think you and I can do even better this time. We’re stronger. We can go higher.”
She slid a seductive grin his way. “I like how you think. Why don’t you show me how much better this Roman is, because the younger version was pretty good.”
Faint praise, but he would prove that he was right.
He licked the shell of her ear. She’d always been sensitive there. Had any of her other lovers known that? How well had she been loved during the years they’d been apart? Had her other lovers been more tender? Had they taken the time to worship her properly?
Water under the bridge. Their sex in the past might have been hurried, but he’d definitely learned to please her in small ways. She liked a little nip. And when she was really hot, she could do some damage with teeth and claws. Roman hadn’t minded one bit. In fact, he hoped to feel that again. The fresh, raw scratches down his back used to fill him with confidence, make him feel like such a man.
“Now I need time with you. We’re not hiding from anyone anymore. We’ve got no reason for quickies. We have all night, Gus. I’m going to use every minute of it.”
“You’re going to kill me, Calder.” Her voice sounded throaty, rough. Aroused.
“Roman,” he corrected. “I’m Roman. And you’re my Augustine.”
She used last names to force distance, and he refused to allow that tonight. Inevitably, it would come, but not until later. For now, he wanted absolutely nothing between them. Not their past. Not the uncertain future. Just the glorious now.
“All right. You know Dax will likely find out,” she murmured.
Yes, he did, but she wasn’t fighting him. He considered that a win. He had no idea what his old pal would think. In fact, Roman wasn’t entirely sure Dax hadn’t known about them back then. He’d never said anything, but the odd tension he’d noticed between them had evaporated after Gus had taken the shark-in-training job in DC. At the time, Roman had thought it was a mistake, but she’d proven herself. Her stubborn choice to do exactly the opposite of what he had wanted was the reason they were together now. If she’d gone back to New Orleans all those years ago, she wouldn’t have been as versed in politics and wouldn’t have been qualified for the job that brought her close to him again.
Thank god she was so willful.
“I’ll handle your brother.” He wasn’t sure how, but he would. He hated strife between him and any of his remaining brothers, but in that moment he knew that even if being with Gus again cost him Dax’s friendship, he wouldn’t make any other choice.
Maybe being willing to lose a dear friend for a woman made him a selfish ass. She seemed willing to risk her relationships for the chance to touch him, too. Of course he could protect Gus without getting into her bed. But he was determined to have this time with her. Most likely, it would never come again.
And if Dax showed up with a shotgun…well, he wouldn’t have much choice, would he? He’d do what he had to.
Roman wrapped his hand around her hair, drew it away from her neck, then brushed his lips over the sensitive skin at her nape. “I’ll handle everyone. All you have to do is let me stroke you. Let me kiss you. Fuck you. Let me show you everything I should have before. Affection. Need.”
She shivered beneath him as he kissed his way down her spine. “You’re going to torture me, aren’t you?”
He loved the curve at the small of her back and the twin indentations there. “Think of it as anticipation. My dick is so hard right now and I can smell how ready you are for me, but that doesn’t mean we should throw down with no preliminaries. I’m sick of quick and empty. I want this to mean something.”
She stiffened. “It always meant something to me, Roman.”
He soothed her with kisses down the curve of her ass before shifting down her legs, licking the back of her knee and loving the way she squirmed. “Then that was my mistake, baby. I still don’t have anything to offer you except pleasure. I’ll give you all I can. I’ll make it so good for you.”
They weren’t fighting right now, but they would. For the moment, he needed this truce afforded by arousal, the blissful respite.
Why was it the only woman in the world who could bring him such peace was also the only one who could rev his temper and turn him into a blind hothead he swore he’d never be?
Roman forced the thoughts aside. There was only now. Only this. Only Gus.
Slowly, he wandered back to her feet and her perfectly kept toes, gratified to see her shiver under his touch. When was the last time he found a woman’s toes and ankles fascinating? Never. In fact, not once. But he wanted to inspect every inch of Augustine, like a man memorizing something precious, something he knew he would eventually lose so he needed a picture in his mind of its perfection.
He flipped her over again. She gasped up at him. Then a frown flattened her gorgeous lips, and she fisted her hands at her sides, as though she didn’t trust herself not to reach for him. Or because she was thinking of punching him. With Gus it could be either.
“When did you take to manhandling me?” she demanded.
He grinned. So she’d noticed that he could still lift her and carry her around. Daily workouts had kept him strong, but he might need to up his cardio if he was going to spend a few weeks in her bed.
He yanked her down the mattress so her backside perched on the edge—and her pussy was splayed wide open to him. Her skin had flushed a pretty pink, and her nipples were straining for attention. Already, Roman could tell she liked being aroused slowly, being kissed and caressed and adored as if he had all night long. She might not want to admit it, but her body didn’t lie.
He urged her to bend her legs and place her feet flat on the bed. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I like being in charge.”
Her eyes flashed. “You are so not in charge of me.”
Another challenge, but then he should have expected that.
He laid his right hand on the tiny curve of her belly. Frustratingly close to the flesh he wanted to touch…but he would get there soon. “Do you want to bet me? How about I won’t give you my cock until you admit I’m the boss in the bedroom?”
“You’ll give in before I will,” she vowed. “I’m in control, Roman. Always. I have to be. This is all nice, but I can handle you.”
So she could take him or leave him? That’s what she implied. That pretty mouth could BS him all day long if she needed to protect her ego. The old him would have been hurt by her tart words and started a fight. Now, he simply shut his mouth and vowed he wouldn’t give up until she’d surrendered everything to him.
He smiled down at her, satisfied when unease crept across her face. “I will take that deal, baby. Let’s see who gives in first.
”
* * * *
“We’ll see.” Gus dug her nails into her palms. If she didn’t, she might do exactly what she’d sworn not to. She would beg.
She wasn’t sure who the hell Roman had turned into, but this new version was infinitely more devastating than the previous one. This Roman was slowly driving her mad with his long caresses, deliberate kisses. If he’d missed an inch of her skin, she wasn’t sure where. Well, besides the one place she needed him most.