I hadn’t wanted him to claim me.
Okay, maybe I had hoped he would’ve said or done something when Blackwell made an advance, but I didn’t want to be treated like his personal piece of ass in front of a group of men.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You just compared me to their illicit affairs.”
He let out a sigh, dropping into a high-back leather chair. “What got you pissed off – again – that made you want to leave?”
I pressed my lips together and turned around, walking for the door.
“Tessa McAuliffe,” he called out, and I stopped in my tracks.
Spinning around, I glared at him. “I couldn’t care less,” I told him. “And I’m not angry.”
“No, but you’re a hell of a lot of trouble,” he retorted. “I think that’s what I like most about you. You’re worth every second of fucking frustration you give me.”
He relaxed into the chair, his head resting on the hand he’d laid on the armrest.
I inched closer, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Have you slept with her?”
“Yes.”
I let out a quiet breath. I didn’t like that.
“When was the last time?” I asked.
He kept his eyes on mine and spoke calmly. “A couple months ago.”
I got closer, hating everything I was hearing but unable to stop the conversation. Of course he’d slept with her. She was beautiful and sophisticated, and I was a hot mess.
I cleared my throat, my gaze faltering. “Were you exclusive with her?”
“No.”
I moved my lips, barely getting the words out. “How many are there at one time?”
“Many.”
I felt my chest shake, and I looked away, feeling my eyes burning.
So he didn’t do monogamous relationships. No one kept his attention for long.
But that’s what I wanted, right? I was the same. We were the same.
So why was what he told me so hard to hear?
“Jesus, you’re stupid.”
I shot my eyes up, seeing him shake his head and look down on me like I was pathetic.
He rose from the chair and walked toward me. “You’re young and naive.”
I breathed hard, pinching my eyebrows together and scowling.
“You ask the dumbest questions, and you’re having the tantrum of a child,” he charged. “It bores me.”
I growled low, ready to leave, but he took my face in his hands and spoke hard, his voice and the heat of his breath taking me over.
“Yeah, I’ve had women,” he admitted, baring his teeth. “Lots of women. I’m thirty-five fucking years old, for Christ’s sake.” He shook my head slightly. “Tessa McAuliffe is a beautiful woman, and we’ve enjoyed each other many times.”
I rammed my palm into his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Many times?” I raged.
He nodded, getting in my face. “Yeah, many times.”
But as I felt my eyes pool with tears, he came closer and grazed my lips with his. “All before you,” he whispered, making my breath stop. “There hasn’t been anyone since you.”
I stayed still, needing to pull away but wanting to stay.
“That’s why you’re stupid.” He grabbed the backs of my thighs and lifted me onto the pool table. “Why the hell would I want her or anyone else when I’ve got this?”
And he pulled up my dress, pulled my panties to the side, exposing my pussy, and dove down, capturing my clit in his mouth.
My eyes rolled and my head fell back as his hand pushed the top half of my body down to the table.
“Tyler,” I cried out. “You have to stop.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep the tornado low in my belly from building further, but he was going too damn hard.
His lips covered my clit, sucking it in between his teeth and warming me with his hot breath against my entrance. He was sucking so hard.
And then he began dragging his tongue up and down my length, switching between that and more sucking as I slowly fell backward on the table. Reaching behind my knees, he pushed them up to where they nearly touched my shoulders, opening me completely for him.
My thighs instantly tensed, wanting to close, because I felt so exposed, but he started kissing and biting and do everything that drove me mad.
“The door’s not locked,” I pleaded.
But then he plunged his tongue inside me, and I cried out.
“Oh, God,” I gasped, my pussy pulsing so hard I could barely think of anything except the need to fill it.
“Tyler, the lock,” I gasped, whimpering. “Please.”
I felt his mouth leave my skin, and I looked down to see his eyebrow cocked.
“I thought you liked standing in the middle of burning rooms,” he challenged.
Asshole.
He smirked and walked over, turning the lock on the door. Striding back to me in long steps, he slid his arms under my thighs and pulled me to the edge of the table. He then hooked his fingers in my panties and slid them down my legs, my heels having long since fallen off.
He dipped back down, lapping at my clit and swirling his tongue around the nub as he worked to unfasten his belt.
“When Tessa’s happy, she smiles,” he commented against my skin. “When she’s angry, she smiles.”
I threaded my fingers through his hair, listening.
He rose and pulled me up, reaching behind me and unzipping my dress. “You’re the complete opposite,” he said, staring into my eyes. “You say what you think and you refuse to indulge people you can’t stand. You’re like a ball of fire I can never hold for too long.”