CHAPTER 11
“What? You don’t like cake?”
Randi looked at Evan with horror as he stared at the carrot cake on his plate like it was a venomous snake. First, he’d seemed unhappy that they were having spaghetti for dinner, mentioning it was loaded with carbs. But he’d eaten it like a man who was starving, and all of his complaints aside, Evan had managed to completely clean his plate. Now, he was eyeing the cake dubiously.
“I try to limit my sugar intake,” Evan replied indifferently.
Randi took a large bite of her own cake, closing her eyes for just a moment as the taste of the rich cream-cheese frosting hit her taste buds. As she opened her eyes again, she stared at Evan like he was speaking a different language. She’d cheated on the spaghetti, doctoring up a ready-made sauce. But she’d made the cake completely from scratch. “Are you diabetic?” She’d never met a man who was in such spectacular shape watch every single thing he put into his mouth.
“No. I was a chubby kid. I was put on a stringent diet, and I haven’t eaten much sugar since,” he grumbled hesitantly.
His parents put him on a diet with absolutely no sweets? There were ways to encourage healthy food for children, but an occasional sweet wasn’t going to make him overweight. “What did you eat?”
“Fish, lean meats, vegetables. The same things I eat now, for the most part.”
“Were you really overweight?” It was almost an impossible diet for a kid to stick with, and she couldn’t imagine being that drastic unless he had a very real problem.
Evan shrugged. “Not much. But I was getting chubby. In my father’s eyes, I was fat. I didn’t join the family for meals, and if I weighed in heavy, I didn’t eat.”
Randi’s heart broke at the longing look in his eyes as he stared at the piece of cake on the plate in front of him. He was stuck in his own fear of eating anything outside of his normal. She’d already realized he was obsessively regimented in his routine. “Evan, you obviously work out, and you don’t have an ounce of spare flesh on your body.” She could attest to that. “It isn’t going to kill you to live a little occasionally.”
Getting up from her place at the large dining-room table next to him, she picked up his fork and slowly speared him a large bite of the cake. “Open.”
He opened his mouth willingly, giving her the opportunity to feed him the cake. She watched as he chewed and swallowed, his eyes closed so he could savor the treat.
“Good?” she asked cautiously.
He chewed and swallowed before answering. “Fucking incredible.”
Randi knew what it was like to experience great food after being deprived of it for so long. Maybe Evan had never had to scramble for food like she had, but he had definitely been forced to give up eating anything just for pleasure.
Making him push his chair back from the table as she seated herself on his lap, Randi took a bite of the cake herself. “Joan’s recipe,” she told him after she swallowed.
She offered him another bite, sharing the piece of cake with him. His eyes were lit with blue flames; his intense gaze stayed fixed on her face as he accepted her offering without hesitation. Randi smiled at him, feeling victorious because he so obviously wanted the sweet but was too afraid to break his rigid routine.
They ate in silence for a few moments before Evan took the empty plate and utensil from her hands and carelessly tossed both onto the table.
“That was fantastic. But now I desperately have to taste you,” he snarled, his face contorting to a look of frenzied need.
An electric, piercing shiver ran down her spine as she felt herself hefted up into his arms as he stood. He didn’t hesitate as he took the stairs, carrying her weight like it was nothing.
She wasn’t going to pretend, not with Evan. She needed him right now just as fiercely as he needed her. Desire was growing hot in her belly, and her core was already tingling and saturated just from anticipating his touch.
“I need you,” Randi admitted shakily as he lowered her to her feet.
Evan might be opinionated on almost everything, but he also accepted her for exactly who she was, ugly past and all. He hadn’t batted an eyelash when she’d confessed that her mother had been a prostitute, and he hadn’t shied away. Gently, sweetly, he’d tried to comfort her, make her feel safe again after her nightmare, and she’d never seen one single sign that he thought any less of her after her confession.
“I know, sweetheart. I need you, too. I need to show you that you’re mine now,” he growled. “Undress for me, or I’ll end up ripping your pretty underwear to shreds.”
His possessive, dominant words ramped up her desire as nothing else possibly could. It should have been frightening, and it probably would have been if it had come from anyone other than Evan. But right now, his words were a vocal declaration of the same need that was reverberating deep inside her soul.
She wanted to be his; she wanted him to belong to her. The emotions were primal and predatory, strangely feeling as natural as breathing at the moment.
Randi usually went for the more delicate and pretty pastels in her underwear choices rather than the sultry, sexy lingerie made to actually inspire lust, but Evan didn’t seem to care. “They really aren’t all that sexy,” she answered, suddenly nervous.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Evan, but she’d never seen the wild look in his eyes that was now bared to her. He seemed . . . completely raw, and he was breathtaking when he was like this. She watched with her fingers on the zipper of her jeans as he steadily tore at his own clothing until he stood before her completely naked.
“Oh, God. You are beautiful,” she whispered breathlessly, taking in every rippling muscle and what seemed like an enormous amount of bare skin, touchable skin. In complete daylight, she could see several faded scars on his shoulders and chest. “Turn around,” she demanded as she shucked off her jeans, any self-consciousness she had experienced now gone.
“I’d rather not,” Evan commented around his clenched jaw, his blue eyes flashing with anger and intense arousal.
Maybe she should have been afraid of his ferocity, but she wasn’t. She knew his anger didn’t lie with her, and he was man enough that he wasn’t going to take it out on the wrong person. Evan was self-contained and cautious. What she was seeing right now wasn’t something he showed to anyone. He was baring himself to her because he trusted her, at least a little. That knowledge spurred Randi on.
“Please,” she begged, knowing that this was something Evan had to get through himself, another hurdle he needed to jump. Unfortunately, she suspected it would be much harder than eating sweets or wearing more casual clothing when he wasn’t working.
She pulled her sweater over her head as she waited and held her breath.
He eyed her hungrily before slowly starting to turn around, and Randi released her breath in a rush.
The scars weren’t horrible; they weren’t even that noticeable at first glance. But as Randi moved closer, she traced every faded line across his back and butt, and noticed they marked the backs of his thighs as well. His heavy muscles convulsed beneath her fingers as she touched every mark.
Why? I don’t understand why a parent has to beat a child. I know his father was a horrible man, but Hope never mentioned being beaten. I assumed he was just verbally abusive and treated them all like shit.
As the eldest male Sinclair, obviously the entire focus had been on Evan, and in some of the cruelest ways to a child.
Tears started to flow down her cheeks rapidly, but she ignored her own emotions. What had Evan’s life been like as a child? He’d been barely fed, and apparently beaten so badly that the faint marks were still present years later. What kind of monster did that to a child? His father had separated Evan from the rest of the family to use as a tool for his own brutality.
“Bastard!” Randi said aloud, her voice raspy because of her tears. “If your father wasn’t already dead, I’d cut his balls off and shove them down his throat.” The more scars she found, the angrier she got. Her growing up had been tough, but not like this.
“Are you actually . . . upset for me?” Evan asked in a low, hoarse voice.
Yeah. Maybe he didn’t know what it was like for someone to be outraged at what had happened to him, but she was absolutely standing up for the child he’d once been. “Yes.”
“It was a long time ago,” he replied calmly, strangely sounding like he wanted to comfort her.
Randi dropped to her knees and discovered every scar on his thighs and calves. “It doesn’t matter. He was a damn monster. Did he do this to all of the kids?”
“No. Not to the same extent. But the mental abuse he heaped on everyone was worse than the physical.”
Randi heard the hesitation in his voice as he answered, making her suspicious. “You did that on purpose. You let him beat the shit out of you so he didn’t do it to the other kids.” She knew she was right. Evan was a dedicated protector. He wouldn’t have done anything else.
“I can’t deny that it occurred to me that if I was his target of displeasure, he’d leave the others alone,” he agreed reluctantly.
Of course it did. “And did it work?”
“For the most part. He was an asshole, and after I left home for college, he started picking on Grady more than he ever did before. I noticed it when I was home for Christmas, and I was going to have a discussion with him, but then he died.”
She sensed relief in his tone, knowing that Evan had probably planned on more than just discussing his father’s treatment of his younger brother. It would have been nice if Evan had gotten the opportunity to beat the crap out of his father, but it was better that the asshole had died. A physical confrontation between Evan and his father would have been difficult for the entire family.
“It’s over now, Evan.” She didn’t want him to relive any of those memories again. “You’re strong and gorgeous.” Randi cupped his tight ass and brought her mouth to some of the faint lines at his lower back.
“Don’t!” Evan protested, turning around and glaring down at her. “Don’t feel sorry for me.”
“I don’t,” she told him honestly, looking up into his intense glare. “I just . . . care.” Evan would hate pity from anyone, which was probably why he’d never shared his past.
The expression on his face softened slightly. “Okay, then,” he finally answered, sounding somewhat perplexed.
She brought her mouth to his ripped abs, using her tongue to trace the delineated muscles there.
The taut flesh of his stomach became impossibly harder as it flexed under her touch. Leaning back, she traced the sexy, dark, happy trail that led to one enormously rigid cock.
It’s time.
This was a moment she couldn’t let pass to put to rest some of the ghosts of her past, and show Evan that he was the most desirable man she’d ever met.
Slowly, she opened her mouth, flicking the bead of moisture off the mushroomed head of his member, savoring the taste of Evan.
It wasn’t scary.
It wasn’t repugnant.
It was divine.
All thoughts of her traumatic childhood experience fled as she experienced the forceful essence of Evan Sinclair. There was no mistaking the feel of him, the taste of him. Opening her mouth, she slid her tongue along the underside of his enormous cock, and wrapped her right hand around the base. He felt like hard steel covered in a silky softness that was impossible not to touch.
“Randi,” Evan groaned. “Don’t. You don’t like it.”
Her heart clenched as she heard his tortured words, his willingness to give up something that obviously felt so good, because of her fear. It elevated her own arousal to a level she’d never experienced before. Letting him pop out of her mouth momentarily, she answered, looking him directly in the eyes. “Maybe with you I do. Let me, Evan. It’s pretty hot.”
She watched him as her mouth enveloped him again, deeper this time. His head fell back and he closed his eyes in what appeared to be carnal bliss.
“You’re killing me,” he rasped.
Randi gained confidence quickly at a skill with which she had very little experience. Following Evan’s vocal cues, she used her hand and mouth to taste him, mimic the act of sex by applying suction and using her tongue on the sensitive head of his cock.
His breathing was rough and ragged as she gently cupped his balls with one hand and splayed the other on his rock-hard ass to keep him close. The erotic, low, animalistic sounds escaping his mouth ravaged her senses and spoke to a portion of her soul that felt connected to him and the pain of his past.
She didn’t flinch when he speared his hands through her hair and guided her mouth where he wanted it, and at the pace he seemed to need.
“I. Can’t. Stop. It.” His words sounded desperate and husky with need.
Don’t stop it, Evan. For once in your life, let go.
Randi closed her eyes and savored the sensual connection she had with Evan at that moment, knowing he was about to find release.
“Fuck, baby! I’m going to come,” Evan warned her.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Randi was elated as she held on to him, even though he tried to push her away. His heated release flooded her throat, and she greedily accepted it, relishing the fact that she could bring this big, strong, proud man almost to his knees.
She took her time making sure she licked every drop of his orgasm from his cock, savoring his groans of approval.
Finally, he grasped her arms and pulled her to her feet.
“Why?” he asked hoarsely, his eyes as stormy as the sea right now.
She didn’t pretend she didn’t understand, because she did. “It felt right. You taste delicious.” She licked her lips just to watch what would happen.
She wasn’t disappointed. He picked her up bodily with a hungry look and dropped her on the bed.
“Did giving me head turn you on?” he asked seriously.
“More than I ever thought possible,” Randi admitted.
He climbed onto the bed. “I’ll fantasize about that beautiful mouth around my cock for the rest of my damn life,” Evan said, partly in awe, but with a trace of self-deprecation.
Randi knew she’d remember everything they’d done together, the closeness they were experiencing. No sexual experience in her past had even come anywhere near the ecstasy she’d found with Evan. Being with him was dangerous and highly addictive.
“I need you,” she whispered faintly, staring at Evan with a pleading look.
“You have me,” he answered immediately.
“Show me more of what it’s like to have mind-blowing sex?” she requested softly. “It’s never been like this for me before,” she revealed truthfully.
Evan let out a rusty chuckle. “And you think I’m an expert? It’s never been like this for me, either. But I will admit that I practiced a lot. I think I was just waiting for you.”
Her heart skittered as Evan reached for the front clasp of her lacy bra.
He stared at the garment as he gently removed it, pulling her arms from the straps before tossing it to the ground. “You’re wrong, you know,” he informed her. “The lingerie you wear is the sexiest I’ve ever seen. I love the soft colors and the delicacy of the lace. So sweet, but I know what’s hidden underneath is even sweeter.”
He laid her back on his pillow and knelt between her legs, his eyes devouring her. Leaning forward, he cupped her breasts. She wasn’t well-endowed, and he could hold one orb in each hand.
“Perfect,” he said gutturally.
She quivered as his thumbs traced her nipples, and she murmured his name as he slid into a position on top of her so he could take one of her nipples in his mouth. “Evan.” She said his name with an erotic sigh.
Randi sifted her hands into his hair, arching her back as Evan bit gently on her left nipple and took his time soothing it with his tongue. He moved back and forth, one breast to the other. Nipping. Soothing. Caressing.
“Evan, please,” Randi pleaded when she felt like she couldn’t take any more, loving the way he was making her feel, but needing more.
Gently, he put a finger to her lips and moved his big body to her side so he could touch her. “I have to watch you come,” he told her in a voice rough with emotion.
Her pussy flooded, and her skin began to flush all over as his hand moved down her belly and slid between her thighs. Randi opened to him immediately, needing his touch desperately.
Delving beneath the elastic of her panties, he teased her clit with expert fingers, circling around it before giving her what she needed, and then starting all over again. Before she could climax, he’d back off and tease her again into a state of pure arousal. His mouth continued to erotically torture her breasts.
Randi thrashed her head, feeling like she was in torment and desperate to come. She closed her eyes, seeing a kaleidoscope of color flash beneath her eyelids. “Yes. Please, yes. Don’t stop.”
Evan replaced his mouth with his fingers teasing her nipples, putting his lips beside her ear. “Come for me, Randi. You look so beautiful when you’re finding your release. I want to see it. I want to know it’s me who put that beautiful look on your face,” he said in a husky, seductive whisper, the heat of his breath wafting over her ear.
He was playing her body perfectly, superbly, sending an electric jolt right to her core. Her climax didn’t come in a rush, because Evan didn’t want it to. She tossed her head back and panted, feeling the slow approach of euphoria.
Her orgasm was different this time, her body tingling from her scalp to her toes as waves of sensual pleasure washed over her. It seemed to last forever; it wasn’t long enough. Randi moaned uncontrollably as she let go, undulating her hips against his fingers.
“Beautiful,” Evan said hoarsely. “You’re so damn beautiful.”
She felt like she was floating by the time her body recovered, Evan still stroking lightly between her saturated folds.
Her pussy convulsed in anticipation as he knelt between her legs. Wordlessly, he yanked her panties down her legs and tossed them on the floor. He flipped her onto her stomach, pulled her hips up, and buried his cock to the hilt.
Randi’s channel stretched to accept him, her muscles protesting at first at the abrupt invasion at a different angle.
“Mine!” Evan growled possessively, his hands at her hips firmly holding her in place.
She gasped and moved to her hands and knees to accommodate Evan, her heart lurching as she realized that he was claiming her like a caveman.
It was the biggest turn-on she’d ever experienced. She wanted to be taken just like this: hard, demanding, animalistic, and wild as hell.
He started to move, his thrusts growing stronger and harder, his breathing ragged with arousal.
“You’re mine. Say it,” Evan demanded as he thrust into her again and again.
Randi was mute, silent because she was unable to voice the words. Her body was so agitated, ready to incinerate at any moment, and all she could do was push her hips back against him, begging wordlessly for his ferocious possession.
“Say it,” he commanded again, this time slipping his hand between her thighs to tease her clit.
“Yes, dammit. Yes.” Randi knew she was screaming, but her body was reaching a pinnacle that she desperately needed. Evan’s feral, carnal claiming was driving her insane.
She needed to be closer. “Harder,” she insisted, slamming her hips back as he entered her. “More.”
He bent down and lightly bit the vulnerable nape of her neck where her hair had parted and fallen around her face.
Her climax came with blinding electricity that had her lowering her head and screaming into Evan’s pillow.
“Don’t,” he demanded, lifting his mouth from the love bite and pulling her hair gently. “I want to hear your pleasure.”
Her channel clamped down hard on his cock, which was pistoning into her at an almost impossible pace.
“Fuck. Randi.” Evan released a strangled sound between a yell and groan before he relaxed above her, supporting himself on his arms as she sank completely down on the bed.
She almost purred when he moved to her side and pulled her against his damp body, cuddling her against him.
“Shit! I didn’t use a condom.” Evan’s voice sounded uncharacteristically panicked.
Randi rolled slightly so she could see his face. Her heart sank when she saw the terrified look in his eyes. “I’m on birth control. You’re safe.” She’d started in college, and since it helped her periods, she’d stayed on the pill.
Noticing the look of relief on his face made her heart sink even further.
Of course he doesn’t want to get the hooker’s daughter knocked up. He’s a billionaire. Too much at stake for him.
“I’m clean,” he said in a rush. “I’ve been tested, and that’s the first time I’ve had sex with any woman without a condom.”
“You’re safe with me,” Randi replied flatly. “I’ve been checked out, too, and I haven’t been with anybody since.”
“I wasn’t as concerned about that as I was about you getting pregnant,” Evan shared blandly.
After what they had shared, hearing him say those words hurt. Logically, Randi understood his concern, but it slapped her back into reality.
This is nothing but a fling. Enjoy it, but don’t get emotionally involved. It’s sexual. You’re both scratching an itch.
She moved to the side of the bed and got up, headed for the bathroom.
“Where are you going?” Evan asked gruffly, sounding unhappy.
“I think I’ll take a bath in your enormous bathtub,” she replied, reminding herself that she’d wanted to use it before she left.
“Want company?” he asked suggestively, his tone hopeful.
“I think I can handle it alone,” she answered in a monotone voice, needing to hold it together until she made it out of the room.
He didn’t answer, and Randi didn’t expect him to.
Not a single tear leaked from her eyes until she closed and locked the bathroom door.