Chapter Seventeen
Matt glanced across the breakfast bar at Iris.
She looked good sitting there wearing one of his large T-shirts and nothing else.
She had selected a pair of Deena’s leggings to wear beneath the shirt, but he had talked her into not putting them on yet.
Since the T-shirt reached mid-thigh, he liked looking at her gorgeous legs.
He was enjoying her company more than he had with any other woman and he wasn’t looking forward to taking her home. He liked having her here in his house. It looked so natural for her to move around and open the curtains in his living room and kitchen when they’d finally come downstairs.
Now she sat there watching him prepare something for them to eat. She was witty, fun and a great conversationalist. And in the bedroom… OMG… He was still aroused just thinking about their sexual marathon. And then there was the shower they had shared. Oh, what a time that had been.
Honestly, until last night, he had been oblivious to the depth and strength of his desire for her. He’d known he had wanted her in a bad way, he just hadn’t known how bad until they’d shared a bed. To say he had been shocked to find out just how much he wanted her was an understatement.
Iris had admitted it was the same for her. She hadn’t known multiple orgasms were something she would ever experience. But she had. Now it was close to three in the afternoon, and he was preparing a meal they should have eaten for breakfast. Namely, chicken and waffles.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, he crossed the floor in his bare feet and slid the plate in front of her.
“My goodness, Matt. Do you honestly think I can eat all of this?”
He chuckled as he placed his plate opposite hers. “I don’t know why not. My plate is just as full as yours.”
“But you’re a man. You can eat more than I. You’re built differently.”
That made him smile. “Yes, I am built differently, and you’re a woman who makes me appreciate being a man,” he said, sliding onto the barstool across from her.
“That’s such a sweet thing to say, Matt.”
“And I couldn’t have said it to a more deserving female.”
Their gazes held for a moment longer than necessary before he broke eye contact so they could start eating. Otherwise, he knew their food would be forgotten if he were to sweep her into his arms and head for the stairs that led to his bedroom.
When they both grabbed for the bottle of syrup, they paused. Instead of pulling their hands back, they stayed there. Hers felt warm beneath his, and his already hard body got harder. Knowing they needed to eat, he released his hold.
“Do you want me to pour syrup over your waffles?” she asked him.
“Yes, please,” he said, taking a sip of his orange juice.
They began eating, and the kitchen became silent and stayed that way for a while. Then she said, “Maybe my actions last night in coming here were an error in judgment on my part.”
That was the last thing he wanted her to assume. “I hope you don’t really think that, and why should you? We’re mature enough to admit we were attracted to each other from the first, so sharing a bed was bound to happen eventually.”
“Yes, but usually I don’t sleep with a man until we’ve had the talk.”
He lifted a brow. “The talk?”
“Yes.”
He bit into a piece of chicken and washed it down with orange juice. “And what is the talk?”
“Where I explain why I don’t sleep with a guy until we’re in an exclusive relationship. I don’t like sharing. Especially when it comes to the bedroom. It’s too dangerous.”
He would agree with that and had always been selective about his bed partners. “Then let’s have that talk now. And before you get started, I just want you to know that you’re the first woman I’ve slept with in nearly two years.”
She looked at him strangely, then asked, “Why haven’t you dated?”
Obviously, she equated sleeping with a woman to dating her. There was a time it hadn’t meant the same to him—especially during his late twenties and early thirties. Those were the times when he’d only engaged in one-night stands.
Matt could confess that since meeting Iris, he hadn’t desired anyone else, but he didn’t think now was the time to admit such a thing, so he said, “There are a lot of reasons I haven’t been dating. The main one is needing time to myself after finding out the identity of my father.”
“Time to yourself without female companionship?”
“Yes.” Of course, he would not have had a problem engaging in an affair with her if she hadn’t been involved with Warren Forsythe.
“It was important for me to spend time with my triplet cousins and Chester to learn everything I could about Sid Roberts. I also spent a lot of time getting to know those Westmoreland men who always seemed to find a reason for a get-together to play poker, go fishing or spend a weekend at Stern Westmoreland’s hunting lodge or Cash Outlaw’s dude ranch.
Last, but not least, were the court cases I had to prepare for. ”
“Those are all good reasons,” she said.
“I happen to think so. However, what I don’t want you to think is that my lack of sex over the past two years was the reason for my horniness last night.”
“It’s not?” she asked, pushing her finished plate aside.
“No, the reason I couldn’t get enough of you was because I desired you that much.”
He then pushed his plate aside, as well. “I don’t like sharing either, Iris, so I have no problem being in an exclusive relationship with you. And unlike the last guy you were with, who reneged on the agreement you made, I have no intention of cheating. I’m not a fool.”
Holding his gaze, she didn’t say anything for a moment. “I think I need to tell you what exclusivity with me doesn’t entail.”
“I’m listening.”
“Exclusivity for me doesn’t mean permanency. It’s over when either one of us decides it’s over. No questions asked.”
He continued to hold her gaze. “Could I assume that although it doesn’t mean permanency, it could perhaps lead to it, right?”
* * *
Iris broke eye contact with him. Neither Karlton nor Warren had asked her that. During “the talk” they had taken what she’d said as the gospel. At least she’d assumed they had.
“I dated Karlton for nearly eight months when he decided that since things were so good between us, we should get married.”
“What happened with that?”
“I ended things immediately. No discussion, compromises or consideration of his suggestion. He went back on our agreement.” Then, because she felt it should be said, she added, “And then, like I told you, although Warren agreed, he betrayed me. I’d prefer that he’d have ended things rather than cheat on me. ”
“I promise not to cheat on you, Iris. And as far as wanting things to possibly become permanent one day, I can’t say I won’t want more, but if I do, I’ve been duly warned.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing. He stood, and she watched as he took both their plates to the sink, rinsed them off, and loaded them and the juice glasses into the dishwasher.
She stood, too, and began pacing. After a few minutes, she stopped and said, “There’s a reason I can’t do anything permanent with anyone, Matt.”
He looked over at her. “Can’t or won’t?”
“Either would be correct. I can’t and I won’t marry again.”
He didn’t say anything as he wiped off the breakfast bar countertop. Then he asked, “Is it because of the loss of your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Then you were blessed.”
She shrugged. “I probably should feel that way. Instead, I feel cheated. I thought we would grow old together, be a part of each other’s lives forever. But it didn’t happen that way. We were only married for ten months. Not even a year. That was cruel.”
“I still say it was a blessing. I told you about the hell Rhonda put me through. I’d take your ten months of happiness to that.”
“And after that?” she asked softly.
He moved to stand in front of her. “Then I would have a lot of beautiful memories stored, which I’m sure you do.”
“Yes, I do,” she agreed.
“Well, I don’t,” he said. “Out of my marriage, the best thing I can claim is Deena. Not only did you have a loving marriage, Iris, but you also have a son. I see that as a bonus.”
Although she was sure it wasn’t his intent, she felt ungrateful. He was showing her that she really had been blessed. Deciding to get back to the business at hand, she said, “I’m glad we agree on my position, and you won’t expect more from me than I’d be willing to give.”
“Let’s not get it twisted, Iris. I said I was forewarned. I never said I agreed with it. However, you have the right to take whatever position you want,” he said in a voice that rumbled with the sexiness she had heard during most of the night as he’d made love to her.
She lifted a brow. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, I have my own agenda.”
She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “What kind of agenda?”
“To get you to change your mind.”
She chuckled. “It won’t be happening.”
“I will try.”
“Why, Matt? Why would you entertain the thought of marrying again when your first marriage didn’t work out?”
“Because now that I’m older, I have no problem believing in second chances, and I believe that second chance can be with you.”
Well, she had news for him. It wouldn’t be with her.
She refused to be any man’s second chance and refused to let any man be hers.
A part of Iris felt she shouldn’t put up with any pushback from Matt when she had stated her position, but she was curious how he thought he could pull off such an unlikely thing.
So, she asked, “And how do you plan to accomplish that?”
He flashed her a smile that was just as sexy as the timbre of his voice. “I intend to use every weapon at my disposal.” He took a step closer, allowing their bodies to touch.
Iris knew of one such weapon he had used last night, and again early this morning, that she’d found hard to resist. A weapon of seduction, and it was pressing hard against her middle now.
She swallowed deeply. The way he looked at her, with those mesmerizing eyes of his…
And why did he look even sexier this morning with that beard covering his jaw?
It tempted her to reach up and outline it with the tip of her finger.
It made him look roguish with a captivating charm.
What she should do was take a step back and suggest he take her home. She had enjoyed her time with Matt and would eventually see him again since they had agreed to become an exclusive couple. But for the life of her, she couldn’t move her feet.
Yet she could move her hands, and they automatically reached up and wrapped around his neck.
“I should ask you to take me home now,” she said, softly.
“Why?” he asked, holding tight to her gaze. “What’s at your house that I don’t have here? I’ve clothed you and fed you. Now…”
She licked her lips when she felt that part of him pressing against her get larger. “Now what?” she asked, inching her mouth even closer to his.
“Now I want to make love to you again.”
She wanted to make love to him again, too, but refused to seem too eager. “And what am I going to get out of it?”
He leaned in closer, and what he whispered in her ear immediately had the area between her legs throbbing. “Oh, my.” She knew from last night it wasn’t a threat but a fact.
“So, what do you think?” he asked, straightening and placing his hands at her waist.
At that moment, she really couldn’t think at all, and it was all his fault.
She opened her mouth to tell him that, and he took advantage, swooping his mouth down to hers while sweeping her into his arms. The last thing she needed, but what she didn’t mind getting, was a Matt Caulder kiss. Her entire body reacted accordingly.
Iris got so caught up in the kiss that she hadn’t realized he wasn’t headed toward the stairs until he plopped her bottom on top of his dining room table.
She watched as Matt yanked his T-shirt over his head, shed his jeans and pulled out a condom to sheath himself. He quickly divested her of her T-shirt, and then his hands were gliding over her breasts, smiling at how her nipples hardened as they responded to his touch.
“Matt…”
“I got you, baby,” he said, spreading her legs. She felt the throb of his erection the moment he entered her. Easing her closer to the edge of the table, he thrust in and out of her hard.
Without changing his rhythm or breaking his stride, he lifted her hips and gently instructed, “Wrap your legs around my neck, baby. I need to go deeper.”
When she did so, he held tight to her hips.
It was as if he’d become insatiable, but then so had she.
Using her inner muscles, she tried milking every single thing out of him that she could.
Last night, when she had done that, he’d said it nearly drove him insane, and she wanted him to experience some of that craziness now. Right along with her.
“Matt!”
She screamed his name when an orgasm hit her hard. Right before he was pushed over the edge as well, he stared at her, his facial features strong and handsome, seeming to convey all kinds of emotions she couldn’t read as he thrust into her.
Then he leaned in and captured her mouth. As their tongues mated with a desperation, greed and urgency that she felt all the way to her bones, she knew it would be hard to one day walk away from this. From him.
But when the time came, she would.