Bad in Bed (5 page)

And shit. That sounded cold, brutal, but what
other option was there?

Ethan moved to the galley-style kitchen off the
hallway, aware that Amber followed him. The click of her heels echoed on the
tiled floor, her scent filled his nostrils, and even at a safe distance her
very presence seemed to unnerve him.

He busied himself making coffee, casting a
surreptitious glance or two over at Amber who stood with her arms folded across
her chest as she gazed out the patio window to his garden. Hell, she was
beautiful, even more so in the muted light of the wall sconces he’d inherited
when he’d bought the place. She had silky skin, soft and smooth, and as he
poured coffee into two china mugs his hands shook a little at the thought of
running his fingers over that softness again. And again.

He’d take his time learning all her favourite
spots, feeling her shiver and moan beneath him until— Damn. What happened to
fuck and dump?

She turned, as if she’d felt his appraisal,
smiling at him as he got his feet in gear and moved across to her.

“Thanks.” She took the coffee and returned to
her perusal of the view again. “You’ve got a great place. Lovely garden. The
way you’ve put the lights around the path, and by the shrubs… It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah. It suits me.” He kept her at arm’s
length, feeling disorientated and ill at ease. Long moments passed in silence
as they each sipped their coffee and stood almost at attention.

Eventually, Amber turned to him with a sigh.
“Look. You’re obviously uncomfortable and regretting this, so why don’t we just
call it a day. It was fun but I think—”

“I never bring women here.” The words spilled
out before he could think. She’d given him an out, an easier one than he
deserved, why the hell hadn’t he just gone along with it? Maybe because he felt
she deserved some sort of explanation for his circumspect behaviour, or because
the thought of her leaving gave him pause.

Ethan continued to look out the window. “You’re
the first woman I’ve invited to my home. For sex.”

He turned to face her, captivated by the slight
pout and the way her green eyes watched him carefully. Damn. He felt the
stirrings of desire rise inside him and his cock twitched. Horny as hell, he
thought mocking himself. That mouth, those eyes, they had him ready for round
two.

Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he took her
cup and placed it on the counter top next to his own. He slipped the strap of
her bag from her shoulder and placed that, too, on the counter.

Her throat worked as she swallowed, but she
didn’t break their gaze.

He reached for her hands and tugged gently
until she came right up against him

“What changed?” She looked hesitant, but her
question was firm. “A moment ago I had the distinct impression you wanted me
out of here, and to be honest I’m not sure I don’t feel the same.”

Hesitancy morphed into indignation, but the haughty
look and the way her chin shot up, served only to increase his libido. “I’m an
idiot.”

“Maybe so.” She drew away from him, brought her
hands down to her sides. Then she turned to retrieve her bag. “Like I said, it
was fun but I’m going home.”

Something akin to panic rushed through him and
he reached down to grip her hand before she could pick up her bag. “Stay.”

“No.” She pulled away from his hand and stepped
back.

Now, as he looked at her, he saw something else
in those green depths. Hurt. Embarrassment. Christ, he was a moron. “I don’t
know how to explain. It’s just that I don’t normally invite women back here.
I’m a jerk, okay?”

“Can’t argue with that.” Defiant, she stared
back at him. “And just so you know, I don’t
normally
go back to a guy’s house for sex. Especially one I hardly know.”

“I get that.”

“No. You don’t.”

It was his turn to be defensive. “Look, don’t
start with the blame game. You were up for what happened in that doorway as
much as I was.”

“I don’t deny it. But I’m not some charity fuck
who needs to be given the full ‘I don’t usually invite women up to my place’
crap just because you’ve had second thoughts and now want to call it a day.”

“Hold on here. What I said about this not being
my usual
modus operandi
was true. As
for you being a charity fuck, what the hell do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head as if trying
to remove a persistent and annoying bug. Which, he supposed, was how she viewed
him right then. “Perhaps I’m an idiot, too. Maybe my head’s still a mess from
the break up and I can’t think straight, let alone reason things out.” She took
in a long, slow breath. “And you’re right. I was up for what happened in the
doorway, because I needed to prove something to myself.”

“Like what?”

For a brief moment she hesitated. “Let’s just
say, my confidence isn’t on the ceiling right now.”

“And having sex in a shop doorway has raised it
some?”

Another hesitation, then her mouth slid into a
grin. “A few inches.”

As they shared a smile, something eased inside
him. “Well, glad to be of help.” He walked across to her, took her hands in his
again. “I’ve got ice cream in the refrigerator. Peace offering?”

Her shoulders visibly relaxed as she let out a
long breath. “That sounds good.”

* * * *

Thirty minutes later, Amber finished off her
second portion of chocolate chip and vanilla ice cream then licked her lips.
She watched Ethan track the movement of her tongue, and couldn’t deny that she
enjoyed the way his eyes darkened.

“You missed some,” he said, still looking at
her mouth. “Maybe you should lick the bowl to be sure nothing got away.”

“Anything with chocolate and I simply lose all
control.” She popped the spoon in the empty bowl. “It’s a curse.”

“Chocolate equals you losing control. I need to
remember that.” He tapped his temple, twice. “There. Safely stored away for
future use.”

Amber laughed, even as her insides fluttered.

He sat next to her on the two seater leather
sofa in his beautiful sitting room, with its exquisitely chandeliered high
ceiling and white wood paneling. With one arm stretched along the back of the
sofa near her shoulders, he lightly toyed with her hair. “So, what happened?
The break up.”

“I was engaged.” She reached out and put the
empty bowl on the side table next to Ethan’s. “It didn’t end well. We were
together almost four years, engaged for the last two.”

“What happened?”

No way could she tell him. She couldn’t confess
that, hey, not only did her fiance think she was some sort of freak show, but
that she was such a washout in the sack he slept with her best friend as a
consolation prize. She wanted to change the subject, but the way his cool blue
gaze held hers warned he’d hold out for an answer and wouldn’t be fobbed off.
“He couldn’t keep it in his pants.”

Ethan pursed his lips and nodded. “Sounds like
he didn’t deserve you.”

When her friends had told her pretty much the
same, she hadn’t really believed it. Now, with Ethan’s touch so gentle on her
neck and the warmth and understanding in his eyes, she found herself believing.
“No. He truly didn’t.”

Nerves danced as she smiled at him, enjoying
the little jump in her belly as he wrapped his fingers around her neck and drew
her gently toward him. She leaned in, warmth flooding her system as his arm
came around her shoulders, his fingers lightly stroking her throat.

He rested his free hand on her knee and when
his mouth lowered to hers she didn’t even try to resist. She wanted this so
bloody badly. His kiss. His touch.

Since her panties were still in his pocket,
he’d pretty much have easy access to her pussy should that hand on her knee
decide to roam, but his fingers remained firm and almost resolute on her knee
as he kissed her.

His mouth was gentle, his kiss soft and
coaxing. When his tongue slid against hers, she opened her mouth to invite him
in.

Her arms went around his neck and she was the
one to deepen the kiss. It went on and on until her whole body vibrated with
the need for him to touch her. Amber slipped one hand from around his neck and
ran her fingers down his shoulder, down his arm until she could cover the hand
that rested on her knee.

Before it went any further, she had to tell
him. Drawing back a little, she broke the kiss and looked up at him. “Ethan.
There’s something you should know before we do this again.”

“You already told me.” His voice was husky as
he reached out for her.

“No. Not what I said earlier about not being
very good at this.”

“Which is crap of the highest order, just so
you know.”

“Thanks.” Even if it was fabrication and
uttered in the heat of the moment, Amber let it go in the knowledge she had
even bigger fish to fry. “This is important, Ethan. I— I had an accident at the
end of last summer. I fell off the back of a colleague’s motorbike and was
badly injured.”

He eased back a little and his eyebrows drew
together. “How bad?”

“A few broken bones, they healed okay. I was
thrown along the road and into a gravel path. Thankfully, I was wearing a
helmet, but I had no protective clothing. I was only wearing a skirt and tee
shirt.” She swallowed, her throat tightening as she pushed the words out. “The
accident left me badly scarred.”

He remained still for a moment, then touched
her fingers lightly.

“I’ve had surgery, but it’s as good as it’s
going to get. I was lucky, considering. It could have been much worse.”

“Your arms?” he asked gently. “I notice how you
keep pulling your top together. Thought you were just nervous, but now I get
it.”

She raised her eyebrows at his perception. “My upper
right arm, my shoulder, and my back. A little on the top of my thigh.”

With his eyes fastened to hers, he raised his hands
and touched his fingers to the edge of her bolero. “Is this okay?”

Amber swallowed, then nodded.

Slowly, he slipped away the right side of her
bolero, revealing her scarred shoulder.

Amber’s breath caught. She wanted to squeeze
her eyes shut, to blot out the revulsion that would fill his eyes, but she made
herself watch his reaction. She hadn’t realized until that moment quite how
much she wanted it not to matter to him.

His face expressionless, he ran his gaze across
her shoulder, then drew the bolero down almost to her elbow, exposing the scars,
patchy red welts and pocketed flesh. Still he gave no reaction.

She wanted him to say something, anything, but
he kept looking at her scars. What if he tugged up her bolero, covered her
flesh, and gave her a bland smile accompanied by some platitude that it wasn’t
that bad before shoving her out the door? It was possible. On the rare
occasions, not long after the accident, that she’d revealed her damaged body to
anyone’s gaze, she’d received a similar response. After that she’d been careful
not to put herself in such a humiliating position and had taken care to cover
herself.

But with Ethan? God. She’d wanted him to touch
her, to accept her. She really wanted it not to matter to him.

It must only have been moments, but it seemed
that hours slipped by and still Ethan only looked at her. She was about to yank
at the bolero herself, cover her damaged flesh and get the hell out of there,
when Ethan stayed her hand.

“I’m sorry this happened to you, but you can’t
think this would change how damn beautiful you are.”

She felt her cheeks burn as her throat
squeezed. Of all the things she’d expected him to say, that wasn’t one of them.
“Some people—”

He cut her off with a kiss. Not gentle, not
reassuring, but a hard almost punishing fusing of mouths that left Amber’s head
spinning. He kissed along her jaw, down her throat. When his lips reached her
shoulder his kiss gentled. His warm mouth worked along the blistered, puckered
skin all the way from the first scarring at the outer edge of her collarbone to
the tip of her elbow. When he raised his head, he looked straight at her. “Did
you really think this would matter to me?”

She gave a slight shrug. “I thought you should know.
If we’d gotten naked you might have been shocked when you first saw me.”

“I should be pissed you think I’m that
shallow.”

“I didn’t think that, not for a moment. But
some men—”

“Are idiots if they think what happened to you
makes a difference.”

A huge inner sigh rippled through her body,
releasing all the tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

He slid his fingers down her arm, so gently she
wanted to weep, then across to her breast. His eyes were hooded, dark, and full
of desire.

Her heart tripped at the realization he still
wanted her,
really
wanted her. It
gave her courage to take the lead. Watching him, she ran her fingers to his
wrist, turned his hand palm up on her knee. She smiled a little as she began to
slowly circle his palm with her thumb, enjoying his sharp intake of breath.