Chapter Six
Blaine’s revelation shocked Cassie. He hadn’t been with anyone else in all this time?
The man was pretty damn attractive. He had Justin Trudeau’s hair. And seriously, didn’t women love Justin Trudeau’s hair? Okay, he didn’t seem as friendly and charming as the Prime Minister, but she would have thought there’d have been at least one or two women.
“I only wanted you,” he said.
“And yet it took you sixteen months to come for me.” Not that she was counting.
Okay, yes, she was counting.
“Can we talk about that later?”
She nodded. She would get answers out of him, but they had all weekend. She reached for her T-shirt, which was lying on the floor by the closet, but Blaine shook his head.
“I thought we were having wine?” she said.
“Yes. You will be naked while we drink it.”
“And you’ll be fully clothed?”
“Precisely.”
“That hardly seems fair.”
“Nothing in life is fair,” he said. “As I told you before.”
She ground her teeth. “We should at least strive for fairness, don’t you think?”
“Not when it comes to this.”
She pouted for a moment before standing up.
“I have blueberry wine.” He walked into the kitchen, and she followed. “My mother went to Vermont recently, and she brought some back for me.”
“Blueberry wine is sweet, isn’t it? I’ve already had more than my share of sugar today.”
“Chocolate dip donuts at Tim Hortons?”
“No. Candy at the Halloween party.”
He smiled as though her comment was quite amusing, then pulled the bottle out of the cupboard. “The label says it’s dry wine. I have to confess, I rarely drink wine, and this is the only bottle I have. Is it okay? We could drink scotch, if you prefer.”
“The wine sounds good.”
He pulled out two wineglasses as she looked around the kitchen. The house was older, but the kitchen had been redone. There was a large island in the center with a black countertop.
He brought the bottle over to the island and started pouring. Seeing the direction of her gaze, he said, “The contractor called it black granite, which made me cringe. So-called black granite is usually gabbro.”
She laughed. “Did you tell him that?”
“Of course. He was not interested in my professional opinion.”
He handed her a glass, and she had a sip. It was fruity but not sweet.
“Mmm. I like this,” she said.
He clinked his glass against hers. “Cheers to us.”
She had no idea how to respond. She didn’t want to be with him, not anymore. She was only here for the weekend.
It had been such an odd day. Six hours ago, she’d gotten off work. Then she’d gone to a Halloween party dressed as a beaver and kissed Johnny. And now she was standing in the kitchen of a man she’d thought she’d never see again, naked and drinking blueberry wine.
Suddenly very conscious of her nudity, she covered her breasts with one arm.
“Oh no. We can’t have that,” Blaine murmured. He stepped toward her and moved her arm down to her side. “I’ve never had a naked woman in this house before. I need to get the full experience.”
She clenched her thighs together, need pooling between her legs once more. “You are welcome to take advantage of that naked woman whenever you like.”
“I’ll make her wait. Just a little. I’m still recovering from a most excellent blowjob.” He slipped his hand between her legs and ran his finger once over her slit. But nothing more.
“You’re a jerk,” she said.
“I thought you already knew that.”
“I did. I just felt the need to remind you.”
“I’m not really a jerk. Most of the time. Which I hope to show you this weekend.”
He pressed his lips to hers, the taste of him mingling with the blueberry wine. It was intoxicating.
Of course, he drew away a moment later. Because he was an ass.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
“Only three months. I still have a little unpacking to do. Would you like a tour?”
“I feel rather uncomfortable walking around your house without any clothes on.”
“I’m sure you’ll manage. Don’t worry. All the curtains are closed.”
He led her into the living room, where there was a fireplace, a couch, a couple of chairs, a TV, and several bookcases. It was surprisingly warm and homey. She wandered over to the bookshelves, glass of wine in hand. One bookshelf was fiction. The second was non-fiction. The third had a few more rows of non-fiction—mostly science—as well as one shelf of fossils and one of vibrant green rocks.
“What do you collect?” she asked.
“The green mineral is malachite. It’s my favorite mineral.”
“You have a favorite mineral?”
“Don’t you?” He chuckled before handing her a piece of polished malachite. It had concentric bands of different shades of green. “It’s very distinctive. I think it’s quite pretty. It makes me think of a rainforest.”
After she put the stone back, he dipped his head and swirled his tongue over her nipple. It tightened to a stiff peak. Once again, one of his hands dropped between her legs, and he ran his finger around her entrance.
“The other shelf,” he said, still touching her casually, although he’d lifted his head from her breast, “contains ammonites. They’re an extinct mollusc with a spiral shell.”
She studied the largest specimen, but he drew her attention back between her legs when his finger pressed inside her, just barely.
“They’re a type of cephalopod,” he continued, “and—”
“Blaine. Shut up.”
“Language, darling.”
“Are you more interested in fossils than my pussy? That’s what it feels like.”
“Then I gave you the wrong impression. I am most interested in pissing you off and then fucking your brains out. I thought you liked playing by my rules?”
Oh, she did like it, this dance of theirs. And she knew it would be worth it in the end, even if she was annoyed with him at the moment. The thing about Blaine was that he somehow made her both submissive and insubordinate at the same time.
“I seem to have rendered you speechless,” he said. “How interesting. I should conduct a scientific study to determine what led to this miraculous event.”
When she flipped him the middle finger, he took the wineglass from her hands and set both of their glasses on a side table.
“I’m normally a quiet person,” she said. “But when I’m with you…”
She trailed off as he cupped her ass and pressed her against him.
“With you,” he whispered, “everything is exponentially better. I can still scarcely believe you’re here.”
He swept her off her feet and into his arms, and he carried her across the room to the couch. He knelt before her and parted her thighs.
“Is this what you were looking for?” He slipped two fingers inside her.
She arched back and moaned.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
He thrust his fingers in and out, and then he added his mouth.
Oh God.
When he circled his tongue over her clit, she clutched his hair. She’d been ready for this moment for hours, since he’d fondled her in a bedroom at Jenna’s house.
His dark head bobbed between her legs. She tilted her hips toward him, wanting everything he could possibly give her. It had been far too long, and it was him, the man who’d haunted her erotic dreams, even though she didn’t want to think of him at all.
He removed his fingers and slid his tongue over her entrance, making her even wetter. He explored her with his tongue for a minute, and although his attention was all on that single part of her body, she felt it everywhere, zinging up and down.
“Blaine,” she murmured.
The two times she’d been with Leo, she’d feared she would say the wrong name. But now she could relax. There was no danger of her saying the wrong name with this man.
He looked up, his expression wicked.
“There are still cephalopods alive today. Such as…” He tilted his head. “Shall I continue?”
“With making me come? Yes, you should. Most definitely.”
He raised himself up and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love you.”
She shut her eyes.
She’d told him that, once before. The day she’d begged him to give them a chance.
He hadn’t said it back, not then.
But now…
I love you.
She didn’t love him. Not anymore. But damn, she really needed him to get her off.
He slipped his fingers inside her again, curving them slightly as he flicked his tongue over her clit, and pleasure exploded through her body like fireworks. She made unintelligible sounds as she came apart in a way she hadn’t in a very long time, wiping away those thoughts of love.
She still hadn’t finished shattering when he slipped his hands under her ass and picked her up again.
“Now I’m going to fuck you,” he said.