Shade poured himself another whiskey, his hand shaking as he picked up his glass.
* * *
Lily was dressed and ready to leave for work when Shade entered the room. She wrinkled her nose as he crossed the bedroom floor.
“You’ve been drinking!” she said accusingly.
“Don’t worry; I’m not drunk.”
She paled at his words, flinching away as he brushed by her.
“Aren’t you going to work?”
“I’m taking the morning off. Rider is managing the factory until this afternoon.”
Shade went to the side of the bed, taking his shoes and T-shirt off. He started to take his pants off yet stopped when she didn’t leave as he had expected. He stared at her with bloodshot eyes as she stood, unmoving.
“Um … you must have started drinking after I went to sleep.”
Shade cocked an eyebrow at her question. “Yes, I went upstairs for another beer, and Cash and Rider were having a card game, so I joined in. I wasn’t ready for bed as early as you.”
If he had climbed into that bed with her, he wouldn’t have gotten out until he had fucked her. He had drunk two bottles of whiskey to keep from coming downstairs and waking her up. He told himself he wouldn’t have taken her unless she wanted him, but Shade was smart enough not to put his control to a test because he wasn’t sure he would be happy with the outcome.
Lily fiddled with the rubber band on her wrist. “I didn’t expect you to be. I guess I’ll see you this afternoon.”
She started out the doorway yet turned back when he spoke.
“It was just us; none of the women were there.” He didn’t want her spending the day flicking that fucking rubber band, wondering where his dick had been the night before.
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t have to,” Shade mocked, seeing her relief.
She fled the bedroom, leaving him staring after her.
He stood up, pulling off his jeans and kicking them across the floor viciously. His spending the night drinking hadn’t touched the fire in his dick she had started.
Going into the shower, he turned on the music, letting himself picture her in his mind as his hand stroked his cock, sliding back and forth as he imagined her lying naked on his bed, begging for him. His hand was no replacement for her body, but his cock didn’t care. It had been at a fever pitch since her lips had touched his. He groaned as he climaxed.
When he finished showering, he returned to the bedroom, finding it as empty as he had left it. Somewhere in the part of him that he didn’t allow himself to acknowledge, he felt the brief hope die that Lily had come back and would be there waiting for him.
Chapter 55
“They lay down the hardwood floors today. The men want to install the cabinets tomorrow,” Rider told him.
Shade, Rider, and Bliss were standing in the basement talking as Bliss did the laundry. He and Lily had finished their workout, and she had left to take a shower.
Shade used his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his chest.
“When are you going to tell Lily you’re building the house for her?” Bliss asked, and Shade could see the hurt in her face.
He was about to answer when Lily came back through after showering. Still not speaking to him, she went upstairs without a word. She was giving him the cold shoulder after she had come to his office earlier in the day, asking for Georgia’s brother to be given her job. He had refused, telling her they didn’t want the brother and sister working together.
She had turned the conversation into an attempt to get him to see he didn’t need her, that he only wanted her, saying she wouldn’t be able to be with him then watch him be with another woman and remain friends. She was placing herself on the same level as the women members when Shade had been trying to show her he wanted more from her than he did the other women. It was frustrating that everyone else could see what was right before her eyes.
“I’ll tell her when she’s ready to hear it.” Shade pulled a beer out of the mini-fridge and sat on the couch.
Raci and Cash came downstairs to hang out. He never went upstairs to eat, relaxing with the others. He didn’t go upstairs to check on Lily, either, sensing she needed time to herself in order to come to grips with the emotions she was battling. It couldn’t be easy having your body betray you with a sexual attraction to a person you disliked. Hated. Lily didn’t dislike him; she hated him. However, her body wanted him, and with her past, it had to be terrifying.
He had to get her to the point where her body’s demands outweighed her fears. He was going to have to use his years of experience to build her desire until she couldn’t think of anything except him. He planned to get her so needy that, when she walked and her thighs rubbed her pussy, she would think of him.
Bliss turned on the music after she had folded the last load of clothes. Then Raci and Cash slid the workout mats out of the way and began dancing.
When Lily came back downstairs, she paused, watching Raci and Cash.
Rider and Bliss were kissing on the couch after playfully tossing the clothes back and forth, and he was sitting next to them on the couch, watching Raci and Cash dance.
Raci was dancing seductively, grinding her butt back into Cash’s pelvis. His arms were on the pole, trapping her between them.
Lily tried to rush past but as she did, Shade reached out, snagging her wrist and pulling her down on the couch next to him. She started to protest, but he cut her off mercilessly.
“You can sit out here with me or you can run and hide in the bedroom, wondering what I’m doing out here with them.”
“I don’t care what you’re doing,” Lily snapped.
Shade straightened away from her. “Then run away.” He lifted his beer to his mouth, leaning back against the couch. Expecting her to run from the room, he was surprised when she didn’t.
Rider was sitting with Bliss on his lap with his hand under her T-shirt, the tanned expanse of her stomach showing. Then Rider started sucking on the flesh of Bliss’s neck while his hand slid farther up her top.
Cash’s hand went to the waistband of Raci’s short skirt, his fingers sliding underneath.
Shade watched Lily tense, her eyes going back and forth between the two couples, ready to fly off the couch.
“Look at their faces, Lily.”
Shade’s words had her eyes flying up to his.
He leaned closer to her, his chest just brushing against hers. He felt her nipples tauten against him, and she began to breathe faster. Shade dropped all pretenses with her, letting her see the desire he had kept carefully hidden. Since the first time he had seen her, he had been swimming in an ocean of longing for her. But right then, he was dragging her into the ocean with him, letting her see for herself how it felt to want someone until you felt like you were drowning.
Lily turned her head, her eyes going to Raci as Cash’s hand completely disappeared under her shirt.
“Does she look frightened?” Shade asked her.
Lily’s eyes lifted to Raci’s face. There was no way Lily could mistake fear for the excitement Raci expressed as her hips wiggled back against Cash, her head falling back against his shoulder.
Lily’s eyes moved away, going to Bliss whose breasts were uncovered with Rider twisting her nipple. Her eyes dropped to Bliss’s tattoo with four daisies and a date in the middle. Her face paled and then she turned, glaring at him.
Lily tried to get up, but Shade used his body to stop her. She sank farther back into the couch cushions, trying not to come into contact with his body. Shade allowed her to keep that space so she would still be able to see Rider and Bliss. The two were erotic as hell to watch. The only thing hotter was when Rider wanted to play Dom.
“You understand that tattoo, don’t you?” Shade asked, staring down into her eyes.
“You disgust me,” Lily spat.
“You’re not even going to ask me if one of those daisies is me?” Shade mocked.
“I don’t h
ave to.” Lily tried to turn away, but he kept her pinned in place as her hand covered the flesh over her heart. Shade saw the tell-tale sign yet didn’t back off. He had to be cruel to be kind. He wasn’t going to let her discover any secrets which would drive her away from him once he had her. And he was close to having her.
Shade moved her hand away, letting his replace it. “I was, and Winter wasn’t any happier to find out Viper was, too. Evie and Cash were the other two.” His hand rubbed against her flesh, seeing the stabbing pain of betrayal his words elicited as if it was his own. “Bliss likes to show off, so it was only a matter of time before you saw it now that you’re living here.”
“For now.”
Shade almost snapped “Forever,” but Raci’s moans drew their attention.
Cash picked the woman up, throwing her over his shoulder before carrying her up the steps.
“I’m not stopping you. You can leave anytime, Lily. I’m sure Beth won’t be heartbroken for long. On the other hand, you could start enjoying living here. Look at Bliss. I don’t think there’s any place else she wants to be.” His seductive comments had her focusing on the lone couple as they became bolder in front of her.
Rider’s hand was no longer under her shirt but beneath her skirt, which had ridden up to show Bliss was naked underneath. He was rubbing her between her splayed thighs, and her hand had gone into his jeans as she unzipped them.
Shade placed his mouth against Lily’s throat and saw her eyes begin to roll back. He wasn’t going to let her escape into her mind this time.
Using the tip of his tongue, he barely touched the flesh of her throat. Her attention was so focused on Rider and Bliss he didn’t think she even noticed as he traced a path to her ear.
“See how wet she is? She isn’t afraid to let him touch her. She’s enjoying every minute of it.” One of Rider’s fingers slipped inside of Bliss, and her moan had Lily shuddering. “She loves to fuck,” he whispered into her ear before rising up to stare down at her flushed face.
“Give her another finger, Rider,” Shade ordered, hearing Lily’s soft gasp as she watched, entranced.
Bliss moaned louder when Rider’s two fingers slid in and out of her pussy.
“See? She’s enjoying his fingers in her pussy,” he said, lowering his mouth to her ear once again before he pulled back and directed Rider once more. “Rub her clit harder, Rider. She enjoys a little pain.”