“No. But I do.”
She didn’t have it in her to question why he’d keep the place. She didn’t want to know. “Is that right?”
The wickedness that glittered in his eyes sent her body into melt mode. “Yep. And I’m thinking the old place needs an exorcism. Wipe away old memories with new ones.”
The breeze swirled around them, snaking up her legs and making her all too aware that her panties were no longer there. “Good plan.”
With that, he released her and she instantly missed the warmth. His gaze tracked down the length of her. “But first, lose the dress and anything beneath. All I want you wearing are those shoes.”
Her bottom lip dropped, and she peered out at the darkened woods. “Are you kidding? We’re outside.”
“And alone,” he said, clearly unmoved by her protest. “You agreed to let me be in charge tonight. I would like to see you wearing nothing but moonlight.”
“And if I say no?” she asked, both unnerved and completely intrigued by the sensual command in his voice, the utter confidence in his stance. He looked like some fallen angel intent on dragging her over to the dark side. That part of him had always been there. Even when he hadn’t had the confidence, he’d always represented everything that threatened her carefully taped together existence.
Kade tipped his head toward her as if to concede the point. “Yes, let’s talk about that. Do you know what a safe word is?”
“Uh, not really.” There was lingo involved in this? She was so very out of her league.
“Like I told you, I enjoy games of control. And I will push you, but you have the right to stop things. If something is too much, you tell me. You always have permission to say so. But if you need something to stop immediately or you’re truly frightened or hurting, you use your safe word. It’s the emergency parachute cord. Not to be used lightly.”
Oh yeah, she was totally in over her head. And maybe if this had only been the stranger Kade Vandergriff telling her this, she might have chickened out. Heck, she was alone in the woods with this powerful man with no one around to save her if she needed help. If she’d been watching this in a movie, she’d be screaming at the imbecilic woman to steal his keys and book it out of there. But knowing it was Kaden had her battered trust wanting to rise up and rally. He wouldn’t hurt her. He’d had the chance and good reason to do that back when everything went down in high school, and he’d kept her secrets anyway. “What word should I use?”
“The most common one is red. Like a stoplight.”
She nodded. “Okay. Red.”
“Take off your dress,” he said again, but this time the words had soft edges. “You’re safe with me.”
The promise smoothed the last ripples of worry moving through her. Safe. After pulling in a deep breath, she tugged off her cardigan and then reached behind her to unzip the dress and unhook her bra. The clothes fell to the leaves at her feet, and she stepped out of the puddle of fabric. The trees rustled around them and the soft song of night things filled the air, but all she could focus on was the sound of her own quickening breaths. She was naked. In the middle of the woods. The number of times she’d had sex with the lights on could be counted on two hands, and now she was standing bare in the moonlight.
Kade’s gaze moved over her like a physical touch. Anywhere his focus landed, her body tightened in response. But self-consciousness ate at her. Yes, he’d seen her naked already but it hadn’t been like this. And now she knew that he was very aware of what she used to look like. Her teenage body had been thin and athletic, firm. Standing here left her acutely aware of how much had softened and rounded. Doug had reminded her regularly of how her body had changed. Her arms instinctively moved to cover her chest.
“Don’t you dare,” Kade said, the words like bullets in the quiet. “Let me look at you.”
She lowered her hands to her side with marked effort, but her cheeks heated with embarrassment.
He took a step closer. “You are so goddamned beautiful, Tess. “
She deflected the comment with a shake of her head. “You’re good at flattery.”
His eyes narrowed with censure. “Is that what you think? You think I’m someone to feed you stories. Unzip my pants.”
“What?”
“I think you heard me.”
The shift in his demeanor had her springing into action. With fumbling fingers, she reached for the fly of his pants and unfastened them. Before she could pull away, he grabbed her wrist and tucked her hand inside. His erection pushed hot against her palm, making her fingers instinctively curl around it and her sex clench in response.
“Do you feel that?” he asked, wrapping his hand over hers. “You think I’m not enjoying the view, that I’m giving you empty words to make you feel better?”
The weight of him in her hand had her thoughts fragmenting. She closed her eyes. “We both know I’m not a sixteen-year-old, bounce-quarters-off-her-belly cheerleader anymore.”
“No, you’re not. And I thought you were pretty in high school, Tess, but the woman in front of me makes that girl pale in comparison.”
She huffed a sound of disbelief, unable to stop herself.
His hand tightened around hers. “From the moment you walked into my restaurant, I couldn’t stop watching you and imagining what you’d feel like against me. I’m not easy on a woman. Some size four twig would break under what I enjoy. Your body is built for the things I crave.”