Lies That Bind by Caitlyn Willows Page B

memory of all they’d been through.
    He replaced it with the image of her acquiescing to him in there, the way she lined up so fine against him, and the euphoria of knowing Nate was nothing more than a friend. He’d ignore the occasional fuck-buddy aspect of it. It threatened his control. Although there was nothing controlled about the way he felt now. He wanted her, plain and simple, and he wanted her now. He wanted Tessa to remember what it felt like when they were together. He sure as hell hadn’t forgotten. The memory gnawed at his gut day and night. Rex didn’t care that he was walking the road to heartache again. She’d leave just as soon as she was able. Nothing was going to stop her. But maybe, just maybe, they could give her one tie to the ranch she could never deny.
    I should wait for Tyler.
    “I locked up the house just in case.”
    Rex jumped at the sound of her voice behind him. There was no sense hiding his reaction or the unrelenting erection he’d had since he set eyes on her. She was like a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He’d loved her more than his heart could bear at times. The hell with Tyler. He could have his time alone with her later.
    Rex turned to face her. She stood with her hands clasped, blue eyes monitoring his every move and expression. “You do realize I am tempted to say screw foreplay.” He saw a barely perceptible gulp in her throat.
    “I do,” she said, her voice barely a notch above a whisper.
    Nipples thrust out from behind her bra and T-shirt as if begging for his touch. He knew she’d be as hard elsewhere, wet and wanting there too.
    Rex closed the distance between them and cupped his hand around her neck. Tessa’s lips parted, ready… expecting a kiss. It killed him not to give her one, but he knew one taste of her mouth and he’d have her splayed on the nearest flat surface and fucking her six ways to Sunday. This was about the buildup before the release. The dance before mating. Raw and untamed.
    He burrowed his face into her neck, just below her ear, and licked down the column while he breathed deep. She trembled and finger-crawled her way up his torso. He clamped his hand on her ass and hauled her close enough to feel what she did to him. Torture was pulling away when she plucked at his nipple.
    Tessa stared up at him, mouth open, lips moist. A silent battle of wills ensued between them. Rex nearly caved. God knew, his cock begged him to. Electricity crackled over his skin, urging his clothes to drop and his groin to tighten. Her long eyelashes swept downward, then up again, and those dark eyes peered at him.
    “I’ve missed you.”
    The acknowledgment stole his breath. Rex cupped her chin. “I’ve missed you too. We’ve missed you.” The three of them had something no one else would replace, and God knew he’d tried to replace her this last year.
    He felt her heartbeat thud in time with his. She hypnotized him with the glide of her tongue over her wet lips. He imagined it around his cock, her on her knees before him, his fingers tangled in her long dark hair. She ran her finger up his torso, then parked it at the base of his throat. Her gaze locked on that spot, her tongue swiping again over her lips.
    “I swear I don’t know whether to fuck you or spank you.”
    “Or both?” she asked. “Right here? Right now?”
    Oh yeah . “Is that what Nate did for you?” Rex cursed his impetuous tongue.
    Tessa shoved him away. “That was uncalled for.” She turned and headed for the pipe corral. “The hell with you. I can do this on my own.”
    Another image popped into his head. Rex forced it away and hurried to catch up with her. He snagged her around the waist before she vaulted the fence. “Would it help to say I’m sorry?”
    “It wouldn’t hurt.”
    Tessa tugged away from him and looped her hand over the top rail. He expected her to crawl over. Instead, she slipped between the fence openings, giving him a very fine and tempting view of her sweet