Chapter 18 Regan #4
She stood and shut the washer, not looking at me as she wiped down the sink.
“I had a hard time getting the flour out of the couch. I don’t know how it got over there.
But I got it. I cleaned everything up.” Regan threw down a dish towel and grabbed her purse off the stool at the island.
“I’ll see you Monday.” Finally, she looked at me as I refused to move from her path.
Her eyes widened at whatever she read in my expression. “Are the kids okay? You were up there awhile.”
Seething, I licked my lips and took my time so I didn’t lash out at her. “You cannot give me the cold shoulder in front of the children.”
Regan narrowed her pretty eyes. “I didn’t.”
“You did. Lewis picked up on it.”
Guilt flickered across her features. “Is he okay?”
“No.” I took a step toward her and another as she retreated. “He’s worried about you leaving.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yet. He needs to be prepared that you’ll eventually leave. But until then,” I said, bowing my head toward her as the island forced her to stop, “I expect a civil tongue.” My gaze dipped to her mouth, and my hands clenched at my sides. “In a civil mouth … from now on. At least in front of them.”
She jutted her chin stubbornly. “Does that mean you’re going to stop acting like a crazy person?”
“Excuse me?” I bit out.
“You … did we or did we not have a discussion this morning that cleared the air, only for you to act like a jealous ass over Jared McCulloch?”
“Just like you were jealous over the idea of me sleeping with Keelie.”
She grimaced. “And round we go again. Just admit that Keelie was a ploy. You were never going to sleep with her. You’re too much of a gentleman.”
The damn woman had a way of pushing me to the boiling point with very little effort. And for some reason, it pricked my damn male pride that Regan saw me as some buttoned-up, controlled, gentlemanly figure. If only she knew.
I leaned into her, our mouths almost touching, and she inhaled sharply. “How do you know I didn’t sleep with her? A man has needs.”
Hurt flickered in her eyes, but she buried it beneath fire. That I could deal with. She pushed against my chest to move me, but I pressed deeper into her personal space.
“Did you sleep with her?” she demanded.
“No,” I immediately admitted.
Satisfaction lit her expression, and then something more dangerous. “No, because sleeping with any woman would just be an attempt to screw away your problem.”
“And what problem is that?” I asked gruffly, heat pooling in my groin.
“That you can’t stop thinking about me,” Regan whispered, lowering her hand from my chest but only so she could move her body into mine.
I swallowed hard at the feel of her soft curves.
Her breathing hitched. “We can go around and around in circles for days, weeks … but it won’t chase this away, Thane.
You want me. It isn’t convenient. It’s complicated … but it’s unavoidable.”
“You’re my children’s twenty-five-year-old nanny,” I argued, even though the fight had left me.
“You keep saying that like I’m eighteen.” She reached up to cup my cheek, her fingernails scraping along my beard. “I’m not a child, Thane. I’m a woman. For Christ’s sake, there’s ten years between Robyn and Lachlan, and no one bats an eyelash.”
“It’s different. She’s older,” I said, even as my head bent toward hers. “This is madness.”
“Then let’s just be mad,” she whispered back before pulling my head that last inch down to her mouth.
She kissed me like I was water and she had been thirsty for weeks. Ravenous, deep, wild kisses that ignited my blood. Her hands were just as hungry, searching beneath my sweater. My stomach contracted as her cool fingers caressed my bare skin, and I groaned, losing all control.
I took over the kiss as I wrapped a hand tight around her nape and devoured her, while my other slid down her slender back and under her dress to cup her tight arse. I kissed her harder, reveling in the way she took as good as I gave, her thumbs rubbing my nipples.
Pleasure pain radiated from where my dick strained against my jeans zipper.
Irritated by the tights in my way, I pushed down into them so I could cup one of her supple, round cheeks in my hand.
I bent my knees ever so slightly as I pulled her into my erection, wanting inside her so badly I was about to come like a callow youth.
“Fuck.” I broke the kiss and released her.
Her hands were still under my top as she stared up at me, flushed, aroused. Confused.
Her fingers moved over my chest and just that simple touch sent a lightning bolt through my groin.
I squeezed my eyes closed as I reluctantly reached under my sweater to remove her hands.
“Thane?” Regan whispered.
I wanted to hear her scream my name as she came, not whisper it in confusion and worry.
She was right. We could go around and around, denying what we wanted and having multiple jealous fights over the course of the next few months. Or … I could have of her what I could before she left me.
My eyes flew open, anticipation thrumming through my blood as I made up my mind.
Regan stared unblinkingly at me, waiting for my next move.
“Just sex,” I said gruffly. “No promises, and no one can know.”
Surprise slackened her features. She hesitated so long, I could barely hear anything over the blood rushing in my ears. Then to my relief, Regan nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Satisfaction slammed through me, and it took every ounce of willpower within me to not pick her up and throw her down on my sofa to have my way with her.
Instead, I thought of her misconceptions about me as a gentleman.
Best to disprove her of that now. “Go wait for me in the annex,” I demanded.
Her eyes widened slightly. “Clothes off. Keep your underwear on because I want to take it off. And lights on so I can see you. When I get there, I expect you on the bed with your legs spread.”
Her chest heaved with surprise; her nostrils flared with arousal.
I leaned down to brush my mouth over hers.
“I need to make sure the house is secure.” My hand slipped under her dress, and I touched the damp heat between her legs, making her bow into me with a moan.
I licked at her lips, and she tried to chase me with her mouth, but I retreated, taunting her.
Then I rubbed her through her tights and underwear, and she gasped.
“Don’t touch yourself until I get there. Your orgasms are mine now.”
Before I lost my mind and just took her against the island, I strode quietly upstairs to check on the kids once more.
Doubts niggled at the back of my mind.
What people would think if they knew the gossip was now reality …
How we desperately needed to keep this from the kids …
What a selfish bastard I was letting my desire dictate my actions.
But I ignored the doubts … especially the one that whispered how, if it was just about physical attraction, I’d never jeopardize my reputation, my honor. If it was just about screwing some hot young thing, I could do that anytime.
It was about her.
Regan.
About burying everything inside her and watching her shatter around me with the immensity of it.
And doing it for as long as I had her.
No matter what it cost.