A Tangled Web - R.G. Alexander Page 0,14

she do without him?

Chapter Four

“And here’s the river.”

Jace flipped over the final cards to the sound of several good-natured groans, but Liam wasn’t really paying attention to the game. He was thinking about Dani again, which for him, wasn’t at all unusual. What was new were the images of her naked and wet from the shower, begging him to let her come.

Fuck.

He wasn’t sure whether to curse or thank that invisible spider for finally showing him how reality compared to his fantasies. Getting all that wet deliciously bare skin in his arms and letting him see the arousal in her eyes when he’d taken control.

There weren’t that many women that could pull off adorable and seductive at the same time, and Dani did it without trying. She was sweet to her soul with a body made to sate every wild, dark urge he’d ever had. The woman of his dreams. And since he’d met her, he’d had way more than his share of both.

She had no idea the effect she had on people. She never had, but then she hadn’t grown up with the positive reinforcement he’d been blessed with. She called her caramel curls high maintenance, and her deep blue eyes too small for her face. She hid her body at every opportunity, always worrying about her curves instead of celebrating them.

If she only knew what her body did to him. She was only five-three to his six-four, but the lush figure encased in that little package did it for him in the best and most inconvenient way.

Since they’d come here, he’d watched her regain some of her self-esteem. She’d been going out more with her girlfriends, showing more skin and moving in a way that made him sweat and glare at any other man who happened to notice. He’d done a lot of glaring lately, but only when she wasn’t looking.

Her orgasm had been so fucking glorious he’d nearly joined her. Nearly unzipped his jeans and taken her right there in the bathroom without a second thought. Maybe it was a good thing she’d come to her senses. The last thing he wanted her to have was regrets.

He’d still tortured himself by staying so close to her all day, especially after she’d told him her news.

He knew they couldn’t go on like this forever. That he couldn’t pretend to be fine with being her sexless, harmless roommate for the rest of their lives. He didn’t want that. He never had. If she hadn’t been so fragile after what that son of a bitch put her through, he would have staked his claim when she’d come to him.

And he would have lost her.

Not going after what he wanted went against his nature. But he more than wanted Dani. He needed her in a way he couldn’t put into words without sounding like a damn caveman. But all she’d needed at the time was a friend, so in a moment of insanity, he’d put them in this unsustainable situation. For him, there had been no alternative. No reality where he didn’t keep her safe and they didn’t end up together. And like an overconfident idiot, he’d believed all he needed was more time. For her to be as sure as he was. To see him as something more.

After this morning, he was rethinking his original plan. All his patience was gone, and all he wanted was to throw her over his shoulder and keep her in bed until she finally gave in to what he knew was between them. She felt it too. But was it enough to overcome her fears and give them a chance?

“Earth to Whipped. Come in, Pussy Whipped.” Jace covered his mouth as though talking through a muffled microphone. “Oh, this is sad. Gentlemen, I think he’s a goner.”

Liam saw Nick nod while the man beside him smile behind his hand. Stax. He was a weird bird, that one. And he kept looking at Liam as if he knew something. It was making him uncomfortable. Apparently, he’d been helping Nick decipher some cave drawings near a dig site, though he looked more like a homeless artist than a card-carrying member of academia.

There was something about his eyes. Too green. Too amused. Too strange.

Probably drugs.

“Yep.” Jace shook his head. “Worst case I’ve ever seen. Dani has him well and truly gelded.”

“Fuck you very much.” Liam wrapped his fingers around the neck of his beer bottle and lifted it to his lips with a sarcastic salute.

The three men