Chapter 8 #3
Matt climbed off the bike and took her by the hand. He fitted the key into the lock, but turned to her before opening the door.
“Just so we’re clear, the tour comes after.”
A sexy grin curled up the corners of Tamryn’s lips. “You took the words out of my mouth.”
Tamryn faintly registered the sleek stainless-steel appliances and ash-colored cabinetry as she entered the house through the kitchen door, but she scarcely had time for more than a passing glance.
The moment they got inside, Matt pinned her against the door and attacked her mouth, thrusting his tongue inside with a greediness that fueled her own passion. He gripped the hem of her sweater and pulled it up, his mouth leaving hers for only the briefest moment as he pulled the top over her head.
He gripped her backside, hoisting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist. She could feel his hardness through his jeans.
It hit her exactly where she wanted him, needed him, craved him.
She was awed by his strength as—her legs still wrapped around him—he carried her through the kitchen and up a large, winding staircase.
Tamryn tucked her head against his neck, inhaling his earthy, musky scent. She loved this side of him, the strong, cocky, self-assured biker who she just knew was seconds from rocking her world.
They entered a bedroom that was just off the landing at the top of the stairs. Tamryn lifted her face from his neck and looked around. Her head reared back.
The room was completely white, with a canopied bed draped with delicate eyelet bedding, a painted rocking chair in the corner, and a self-standing cheval mirror.
“This is your room?” Tamryn asked.
“Hell no. But it has a bed. That’s all we need.”
He deposited her on the bed and hastily removed his T-shirt, leaving him in nothing but low-riding jeans.
Tamryn’s breath quickened at the sight of the evenly spaced ripples that cascaded along his stomach.
On either side, just below his waist and above his hips, were sexy little indentations that just begged to be licked.
He reached down and captured her right foot, bringing it up to rest on his shoulder. His eyes closed, he ran his hands up and down her leather boot.
“I wish I could get those jeans off you while leaving the boots on.”
“You can’t,” she said.
He let out a sigh. “I know.” He caught the zipper pull just below the back of her knee and tugged it down, slipping the boot off and dropping it to the floor.
He repeated the process with her left leg.
Once her boots and socks were gone, he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer, unsnapping her jeans and tugging them down her hips.
“Can I put the boots back on you?” he asked.
“It’ll take too long. Hurry up and get undressed.”
“You’re right,” he said, shucking his jeans and underwear in one swift motion. “Dammit, give me a minute,” he said before leaving the room.
Tamryn lay back on the bed and stared up at the lace canopy. Her entire body hummed, to the point that it felt as if she would burst clear out of her skin. Moments later, Matt returned carrying three condom packets linked together. He tore one off and ripped the packet open.
Tamryn scooted up the bed as he rolled on a condom. He climbed in next to her and dove for her neck, pulling the skin between his teeth as his strong, muscled chest met her soft breasts.
“This is going to go fast,” he murmured against her skin. “Finesse will have to come later.”
“I don’t care about finesse,” Tamryn breathed. “Just get inside me.”
He swooped an arm under each of her knees and pushed her thighs up and back, entering her in one steady, sure thrust. Tamryn’s head fell back as every pleasurable feeling she’d ever experienced before seemed to converge.
She melted into a hazy puddle of sensation as Matt drove his hard length into her.
He knew exactly where to stroke, exactly how much pressure to apply.
He knew when to hold back and when to go deeper.
It was as if they had been making love to each other for years instead of only minutes.
Tamryn closed her eyes and concentrated on the feel of him.
His hot, silky flesh felt like heaven as it penetrated her.
It was intoxicating. The pleasure he delivered was something she knew her body would come to crave.
She already craved it. With every deep, seductive slide of his steely flesh, her body wanted more.
He shoved his hands underneath her, clutching her bottom and holding it steady as his hips surged and retreated.
Sensation began to build low in her belly, slowly fanning outward to all her extremities, until her limbs started to tremble with it. Matt’s open mouth clamped down on her shoulder and her entire being erupted as wave upon wave of pleasure soared through her bloodstream.
Tamryn cried out, her screams echoing off the walls. As she shivered, Matt continued to pump his hips with fevered abandon, thrusting in and out until, finally, he stiffened and growled his release.
He collapsed on top of her, his lips falling on that spot behind her ear.
Tamryn lay supine on the bed, staring up at the lacy canopy that stretched from the four ornately carved bedposts. It took effort just to pull air into her lungs.
“I don’t know why I fought this for so long,” she said.
Matt’s deep chuckle reverberated along her skin. He moved onto his side and pulled her naked body flush against his. He drew a lazy finger down her arm and along her side, over her hip and down to her thigh. He sucked on her bare shoulder, trailing his tongue over her moist skin.
“You are so sexy,” he murmured as his lips drifted to the curve of her throat. He peered at her. “I need you in those boots. Oh, wait, no. The reading glasses. I need to live out my sexy-history-professor fantasy.”
She laughed. “You are so warped.”
“I’m dead serious.”
She twisted around in the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll make sure to bring them next time,” she said, placing a quick kiss on his lips.
“I like that you’re already thinking of next time,” he said.
“Well, I still have two weeks left in Gauthier. I figure we can do this as often as possible. Now that I know what I’ve been missing, I’m sorry I held out for so long.”
Matt sobered. “Are you really down to just two weeks?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. “I know. It’s gone much quicker than I thought it would.”
“When do classes start up again?”
“The last week of August, but the faculty has to be there the week before.”
“That’s nearly six weeks away. You could stay in Gauthier for another month and still have time to get things ready for your next semester.”
Just the thought of extending her stay sent a flutter of pure elation through her stomach, but Tamryn swiftly suppressed it.
She shook her head. “I can’t stay here another month. Never mind the fact that I would go broke if I had to pay for four more weeks at Belle Maison—”
“Stay here,” he interrupted her.
“What?”
“Stay here. We could get your things tomorrow. Phil and Jamal have a waiting list of people wanting to stay at Belle Maison, and if they can’t rent out your room, I’ll pay for the remaining two weeks you have there.”
“Matthew,” she said.
“What? It’s not as if everybody in town hasn’t been betting on when we’re going to get together anyway. Why not stay here with me?”
“I can’t.”
“Tell me why not,” he persisted. “Give me one good reason why you can’t stay here. And it has to be a good reason.”
“So, ‘because’ won’t work?” she asked with a grin.
“No. ‘Because’ is not a good enough reason.”
She shrugged her bare shoulders. “I can’t think of one right now. I just… I don’t know. You’re the one who’s in the middle of a political campaign,” she pointed out, poking his solid pectoral muscle. “You’re the one who should be concerned about rumors.”
“I’m a grown man. Who I have staying in my house with me has nothing to do with my ability to serve the good citizens of District Twelve.
” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers.
“And if that’s the best excuse you can come up with, I say we head to Belle Maison right now and get your things. ”
“I can’t,” she said with a laugh. “Not because I don’t want to, but because I have too much work to do. And after what we just did, you’re now at least ten times the distraction you were before tonight.”
“I like being a distraction,” he whispered before he dipped his head and captured her lips in a slow, sweet kiss.
Tamryn closed her eyes and soaked in the intoxicating feeling of his mouth against hers, loving the patient care he employed as his tongue gently plunged in and out.
It would be so easy to take him up on his offer.
To spend the next two weeks—the next six weeks—nestled against him in this massive, historic home.
Heaven on Earth couldn’t begin to describe it.
But she couldn’t. Not when she was as far as ever from meeting the goal she’d set out to accomplish when she arrived in Gauthier. With a reluctance like none she’d ever experienced before, Tamryn managed to pull away from his drugging kiss.
“God, you’re good at that,” she said. “And that’s the main reason why I will be returning to Belle Maison. I would never get any work done if I stayed here with you.”
Matt let out a groan. “Work, work, work. You’re worse than an attorney,” he said with a playful wink.
Tamryn burst out laughing. She placed a swift kiss on his mouth before twisting around and, once again, settled her back against his chest.
“Remind me again why you’re making this big push to get your research done by the end of the summer? Didn’t you say that you’ve been researching your grandmother’s past for years?”
“Yes. And that’s part of the problem. I’ve been researching it for far too long. It’s time I stop lollygagging and get it done.”
“The fact that you just used the word lollygagging in a sentence makes me much happier than it probably should.”
Tamryn rolled her eyes.
“But there has to be more to it than you just crossing off an item on your to-do list, right?” Matt continued. “You want the career boost that you’re hoping the book will give you.”
“And now I need it more than ever,” Tamryn said.
She felt him stiffen. “Go on.”
“You don’t want to hear about this tonight, Matt.”
“Go on,” he encouraged her.
“Fine.” Tamryn sighed. “Remember when I mentioned that there were some issues at work?” She felt him nod against the crown of her head. “Well, that issue happens to be the new head of the History Department.”
“Sounds as if the history there is more than what you find in books.”
“Unfortunately, yes. He had been in the department for about five years when I first started at Brimley. He took me under his wing, helped me to work through all the bureaucratic stuff.”
“And?” Matt prompted her.
“And I fell in love with him.”
“But you’re not anymore?”
“Oh, no,” she said. “I am so far out of love with him that I can’t remember what loving him feels like.”
“The two of you had a falling-out?”
She huffed out a humorless laugh. “You can say that. This past fall, he was awarded a grant for a project that we worked on together. I put my research on the side for over a year so that I could concentrate on his research project. He’s been showered with accolades from all corners of academia.
” She paused. “My name isn’t anywhere on it.
We were supposed to be coauthors of the paper, but he took my name off before submitting the documentation. ”
“Son of a bitch,” Matt cursed. “Who does something like that?”
“Dr. Reid Hayes,” she answered. “When I confronted him about it, he told me that I should be grateful that he allowed me to work on the project at all. He also said that if it wasn’t for the fact that I was screwing him, I would be working at some junior college.”
“That’s bullshit,” Matt said. “I can tell you’re ten times better than half the professors who taught me just by observing your work ethic. Your dedication to your research continues to amaze me.”
“I know I’m damn good at my job, but I won’t deny that Reid’s words pummeled my confidence. He did help me to get my position at Brimley. It was before we started sleeping together, but did he recommend me just because he wanted to sleep with me? How will I ever know?”
“Don’t.” Matt captured her chin and tilted her face up to his. “Don’t allow him to do that to you.”
“You’re right,” she whispered. She took his hand and brought it around her torso so that his forearm rested just below her breasts.
Staring at the swath of moonlight that cut through the lace curtains, Tamryn said, “But I still want to prove to him that he did not make my career. Having this book published by a distinguished university press will mean a lot for me on a professional level, but the chance to rub it in Reid’s face—to prove that I can stand on my own merits in the academic world? That’s what really drives me.
“I just need to uncover that one piece of evidence that will bring all the research together. I know it’s there. I can feel myself getting closer. Everything points to my grandmother and Nicolette working together to start that school for slave children. I just need to find the proof.”
“You will,” he whispered against her temple.
Tamryn pulled his arms more firmly around her, relishing in the strength emanating from him. Those two words gave her hope that she would eventually uncover what she’d come to Gauthier to find.
As she rubbed her hand up and down his arm, a part of her realized she’d already found more than she’d ever expected.