NAUGHTY BUT NICE Read online

  Well, she'd wanted fast, she'd wanted reckless. She'd wanted it over so she could get on with her life.

  Only as she blinked the stars above her into focus, as she felt Tag's warm, strong arms surround her, as she felt his mouth nuzzle at the spot beneath her ear, she thought maybe the joke was on her.

  Because she didn't feel finished with him yet. The thought made her shiver.

  With a sigh, Tag got up.

  "What—" The words ended on a gasp as he scooped her into his arms.

  "I want a bed," he said, then looked down into her eyes. "With you in it."

  "Do I have a choice?"

  "Sure. Yours or mine."

  * * *

  She chose hers. It was a matter of control, and in her own space, she thought she had it.

  A mistake, a crucial one. Because she was beginning to understand that with Tag, control was up for grabs. She didn't like it, would strategize about it in depth.

  Later.

  God, he had a mouth. A beautiful, glorious mouth that she couldn't get enough of. It would be humiliating, if he didn't apparently feel the same way. The drive to her house was punctuated by fumbling hands trying to feel more flesh. Stolen kisses. By the time they got there, they stumbled out of the car and made it just inside before he backed her up against the front door.

  "Here?" she whispered breathlessly.

  "Maybe. Yes." He sucked her lower lip into his mouth. "I can't get enough of you." In the next instant he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue along hers as he rocked his hips to match her needy thrusts. "It's only been twenty minutes, how can I want you again like this?"

  "It's crazy," she agreed, her mouth busy taking tiny bites out of his neck. "We should just stop." Only half kidding, she pulled back. "Just walk away."

  "Hell, no." His voice was rough. So were his hands as he ran them up her arms, holding them over her head against the door. "You want me. Say it."

  "I never say it."

  His eyes glittered as he ran one hand down her body, skimming his fingers beneath the lace of her panties. And found her drenched. "You want me. Your body is saying it for you."

  Before she knew it he had her panties off and his pants open. Getting the last condom on was trickier, but he managed just fine. And then he was sinking into her wet heat, making the breath sob in her throat as he filled her as no one else ever had. "Tag…"

  "Wrap your legs around my waist. Yeah … there … there, like that." Using the door as leverage, he started to move inside her.

  Cassie could have sworn she saw stars again as he thrust into her. She couldn't understand the way she needed him more than her next breath, but she did. When he lifted his head to kiss her again, mating with her mouth the way he was with her body, she started to shudder. Within seconds he matched her, barely holding them upright as he found his own release.

  "Damn," he finally breathed, and put his mouth to her throat, nuzzling gently. "You okay?"

  She realized she was clinging to him, still humming, still pulsing, and not ready to let go. That horrified her enough to force herself to do exactly that.

  Slowly, almost reluctantly, she thought, he let her slide down his body until her feet touched the floor. "I guess there's no need to show you to my bed," she quipped, turning away.

  With a hand on her arm, he pulled her back, looked deep into her eyes, making her shiver, making her thighs quiver, making the knot tighten in her belly. "Guess again."

  * * *

  Much, much later, Tag opened his eyes and stared up at himself in the mirror above Cassie's bed. Flat on his back, he had Cassie facedown, sprawled over the top of him. He had a fistful of her very nice ass in one hand, the other stroking her hair.

  Next to the bed, on the floor, was the teddy bear he'd won for her at the carnival.

  She'd kept it. He wasn't sure what that meant or why it made him want her again.

  But moving seemed impossible. His bones had liquefied since they'd spent the past hour tasting every square inch of each other's bodies. "I consider myself pretty contemporary," he said, watching his hands dance over Cassie's gorgeous body. "But that mirror is rather … startling."

  She sat straight up and looked at him from sleepy eyes. "Yeah." She got out of the bed, pointedly looked at the clock, then strode naked across the room to the bathroom and shut the door.

  "Gee, Tag, think that was a hit?" he asked his reflection, who smirked.

  Oh, definitely, Cassie had gotten what she wanted out of him, and now she was ready for him to go. But was that because she truly was done with him? Or because she was uncomfortable with the intimacy that sleeping over entailed?

  With a sigh and a groan, he stood. His legs wobbled with the aftermath of great sex. Staggering a bit, he walked across the room and knocked on the bathroom door. "Cassie? You okay?"

  "Why wouldn't I be?"

  Well … good question. He himself was feeling pretty damn fine. He leaned against the dresser and pondered this, idly running his gaze over an open book. A diary, it seemed, and before he could stop himself, he read the entry.

  1. Drive a fancy car, preferably sunshine-yellow because that's a good color for me.

  2. Get the sheriff—somehow, some way, but make it good.

  3. Live in the biggest house on Lilac Hill.

  4. Open a porn shop—Kate's idea, but it's a good one.

  5. Become someone. Note: this should have been number one.

  A quick glance at the date explained most of the above—she'd written it ten years ago. Still, far more disturbed than he would have liked to admit, he closed his eyes.

  The sound of the book slamming shut had his eyes whipping open again.

  "Learn anything?" Cassie asked, still naked. As if she didn't have a care in the world, she strutted that mouthwatering body to the closet, from which she extracted a shocking-pink silk robe and covered herself.

  "You've just about got your list handled," he noted, casual as she. "And I've got to give it to you, the yellow car is most definitely a good color for you."

  "And let's not forget the house on Lilac Hill."

  "Let's not. Interesting goals. But it's the second one that intrigues me most."

  "Ah, yes," she said with a little smile. "'Get the sheriff.'"

  "Well, you did that, didn't you?"

  She was good, but he knew her now, or he was beginning to, and he imagined he saw a flinch in those eyes.

  "Oh, yes," she agreed, cool as she pleased. "I definitely did him."

  Wasn't she amusing? "So now what?"

  "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep pretty good."

  "Alone?"

  She turned away. "Always."

  Always. Didn't surprise him. What did was the hurt he felt. "Don't judge me by all the other men in your life, Cassie."

  She crossed her arms and arched a brow so high it vanished into her hair. "Meaning?"

  "Meaning we're not all scum."

  "I don't think you're scum."

  "But you don't think I'm good enough to share yourself with."

  "I shared."

  "Your body," he agreed. "There's more."

  "No."

  "You know, if you keep harboring your emotions like a miser, it's going to be a lonely life."

  "Good night, Sheriff."

  "That's it? No talking about it?" He heard his own anger and frustration but didn't care.

  "No talking about it."

  He nodded. Dressed. Walked to the bedroom door.

  "Lock up after me." When she didn't respond, he said, "Cassie."

  "Yeah, fine. I'll lock up after you."

  She waited until she heard the front door shut before she went down and bolted it. And only then did she let herself sink into a chair and cover her face.

  The damn list. He'd read it, believed she'd slept with him because of it, and the ironic thing was, she'd finally hurt him the way she'd wanted to in the beginning.

  But somehow, somewhere, things had changed. S