Promise Me Once

  “Maybe I just want to know what’s behind that pretty face and perfect body,” he said in a whisper, leaning dangerous closer to me. “Or maybe I want to know why sometimes that beautiful mouth of yours is turned down in sadness.”

  I flinched, his words hitting too close to home, but Cash wasn’t done yet.

  “I won’t lie to you,” he said, putting his hand on my thigh. “I want to find out how you taste. How you sound when you come. But before we get to that stage, maybe all I want to know is if you’ll kiss me again.”

  I opened my mouth to respond. To say something smartass and sassy. But Cash’s fingers tightened on me, inches from the insatiable part of my anatomy.

  “Is that all you want?” I whispered, hoping he would say more but afraid he would.

  Cash seemed to think about it a second then he shook his head slowly. “No. What I really want to know is why I don’t load you in my truck and take you home. Leave you on your doorstep and say adios and good riddance. You’re not my type, sweetheart, and I’m not yours. You’re high maintenance and a brat and I shouldn’t even want to be around you.”

  Unexpected hurt filled me. It was a feeling I didn’t expect. One I refused to acknowledge.

  He ran his hand down the outside of my thigh, pulling me closer and putting his mouth near my ear.

  “But for some damn reason I’m here, Cat. I want to be around you. I want that and so much more,” he said in a hoarse whisper.

  The waiter cleared his throat, suddenly appearing at our table. I wanted to both curse him for interrupting and breathe a sigh of relief.

  Cash slid his hand from me and turned his attention to the man. He gave him a warm, friendly smile. I attempted to do the same but failed miserably.

  I stared down at the veal as the waiter placed it in front of me but I wasn’t really seeing the food. I was seeing the mistake I was about to make. The dare that I was about to take.

  I needed to put a stop to it immediately for my own sanity.

  When the waiter walked away, I looked at Cash. He was studying the artfully arranged food on his plate with a frown. It didn’t ruin his features. It just made him all that more irresistible. I wanted him. Not in a fuck-and-leave kind of way. Nope.

  And that made me mad.

  “You don’t belong here, Cash,” I said in my best mean girl voice. I had to protect myself, even if it meant being mean to him.

  He snapped his eyes up to mine, his food forgotten.

  “What?”

  I sighed and plowed ahead. “You’re right. I’m not your type and you’re not mine. You don’t belong with me and you don’t belong in a place like this.” I said it with conviction, growing angrier with myself by the second. It was damn better than feeling anything for him.

  I threw my napkin beside my plate and started to get up. Cash’s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist and keeping me in my seat.

  “Cat, listen—”

  I shook my head, trying my hardest to ignore the ache in my chest.

  “No, don’t,” I said as cool as I could. “I’m going to the restroom. When I come back, I don’t expect you to be here. It’s better this way.”

  Before he could argue, I pulled my arm away from him and grabbed my purse. As I walked away, I felt a rush of agony.

  But I knew it was for the best.

  Chapter Nine

  Cat

  My heels clicked across the black marble floor in the swanky bathroom. I headed straight to one of the square sinks that lined both sides of the restroom, almost running into a middle-aged woman walking out.

  “Shit!” I swore, slamming my Gucci purse on the counter. I planted both hands on the granite countertop and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

  My cheeks were tinged pink. My lips were parted slightly, my breathing erratic and quick. My dark hair fell over my shoulders, and my eyes flared with something akin to desire. I didn’t recognize myself and that freaked me out.

  I reached for my purse and pulled it toward me, cursing under my breath. I wasn’t some damn good girl. I would eat my dinner, pay the bill, and call a taxi. I needed to get away from Cash. He threatened me. I was used to backseats and one-night stands. Not cowboys and words that could break me.

  With my mind made up, I pulled out a tube of lipstick and applied some on my lips. After that, I combed my fingers through my hair quickly and forced myself to calm down.

  Two blondes entered the bathroom as I was shoving my lipstick back into my clutch. They chatted as they checked their makeup in the mirror, paying little attention to me. I adjusted the strap of my dress and kept an eye on them, wishing they would just leave. After a minute or two they did.

  I let out the breath I had been holding and relaxed. I just need to be alone.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was the first time since Luke that I had felt something for a man. Sure, I wasn’t a saint but other men were just a means to an end. An easy way to forget what I had done and lost. But Cash was different than the others and the effect he had on me was profound.

  I heard the bathroom door open but I kept my eyes shut. The stuck-up snobs here could gawk all they wanted at me. I needed just one more second…

  “Cat.”

  I snapped my eyes open, drawing in a breath. I found Cash staring at me in the mirror.

  “What are you doing?” I asked in a raspy whisper.

  He didn’t answer. Instead he reached up and flipped the lock on the bathroom door, his eyes never leaving mine.

  My heart started racing. I spun around, putting the counter at my back.

  He started toward me, taking his time. His gaze was scorching, sweeping over me with forced restraint. The muted lights in the bathroom made him look dangerous, an animal ready to strike. He was suddenly not the cowboy who smiled and said ‘yes, ma’am’ politely.

  He was the man who had kissed me with need. The man that wanted much, much more and I was at his mercy.

  He stopped a foot from me, his stance relaxed, so damn sure of himself. The smell of his aftershave wrapped around me, giving me the false sense of security. His eyes held the promise of things a good girl should fear.

  But I wasn’t a good girl.

  I jutted my chin up, refusing to cower. “What do you want, Cash?”

  He didn’t answer, just stood there and stared at me with a dark look that seemed to see my deepest, darkest desires.

  I felt a stirring of panic. To cover it up, I rolled my eyes and grabbed my purse. “Whatever.” I wasn’t in the mood for some kind of mind fuck.

  I started to go around him but his hand shot out and grabbed my arm, stopping me.

  “Cat,” he growled.

  “What?” I snapped, jerking my arm away from him.

  “You’ve got some nerve.”

  I frowned. “And you’ve got some nerve walking in the ladies restroom, Cash. You don’t belong in here. Just like you don’t belong out there. Leave.” I pointed to the locked door.

  Warning bells went off in my head when I saw the tick in his jaw but it was too late.

  “Screw it,” he hissed between clenched teeth.

  He shoved his hand under my hair and yanked my mouth to his.

  I inhaled sharply. His kiss was punishing. Bruising. He devoured me. I made a feeble attempt to push away from him but his fingers tangled into my hair, holding me tightly.

  His tongue dipped inside my mouth, hot as it urged mine to play. He grabbed my wrist and held me against the counter, grinding his hips into mine. I gasped and he took advantage of it, thrusting his tongue further into my mouth. The hardness under his jeans pushed into me, making parts of me grow damp and achy.

  He bit my lip brutally then sucked at it gently, making a small cry escape from me. Fuck, the man knew how to kiss. He was control. Heat. Desire. Passion. He was everything in one perfect package and more.

  Without warning, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up, sitting me on the cold granite counter. The coolness against my
thighs made me suck in a shuddering breath.

  Cash ran his hands along the outside of my thighs, grasping them tightly.

  “You were right, Cat. I don’t belong in this place,” he said in a low whisper. “I belong here instead.”

  He jerked my legs apart and stepped between them. The counter was low and he was tall. His crotch fit perfectly between my legs. Right where I needed him. Right where I had to have him.

  He shoved his hand under my hair again and grasped my nape, dragging my mouth back to his. Raw desire made the kiss hard and fast. There was no tenderness, no hesitation, and no mercy. That man was gone. There was only taking and giving. A man that knew what he wanted and was going after it.

  I grabbed a handful of his shirt and yanked him closer, moaning when his cock hit my crotch behind his jeans. It was just the hint he needed. He reached under my dress and hooked his fingers in my panties. Breaking the kiss, he yanked the little swath of material down my legs, his eyes staying on mine with intensity.

  I could come from his gaze alone, but I wanted something more. I wanted him in me. It might be wrong but it was who I was. Who I had to be.

  I reached out, pulling him back to me. He groaned and settled between my legs. I didn’t think about being in a public bathroom. I didn’t worry about someone unlocking the door and walking in on us. I only thought of him fucking me.

  With crazed frenzy, I reached for his belt buckle. In seconds I had it undone and his fly ripped down. I pushed his jeans aside and plunged my hand inside, wrapping my fingers around him.

  Holy fuck. He was big and long and for one unbelievably insane second I wondered how he would ever fit in me.

  “Second thoughts, princess?” Cash asked in whispered rumble, the side of his mouth quirking up.

  “Hell, no,” I breathed.

  He hissed and took my mouth again with his as I started to move my hand up and down on his cock. He was hardness draped with silk, so wide my fingers barely met around him. I ran my palm up, catching the drip of precum on his tip with my thumb. I smeared it over him before sliding back down. His fingers tightened on my hip, digging into me painfully.

  “Condom. Do you have a fucking condom?” he asked, tearing his mouth from mine. “God, please say yes.”

  “Yes.”

  I reached for my purse and dumped the contents on the counter, not caring if my lipstick rolled away or my wad of cash fell on the floor. I grabbed the little silver package I always carried with me. A girl had to be prepared nowadays.

  “Put it on me,” he demanded, thrusting his cock up into my hand.

  Willing to do anything he asked, I let go of him and tore the package open, letting the wrapping fall to the floor. He hissed when my fingers closed around him again, holding him tight before moving up and down. When he started breathing harder, I stopped and unrolled the condom on him, wondering if the damn thing would even fit.

  He held still but I could see fire in his eyes. His fingers on my thighs tightened, encouraging me to continue. I did, torturing slow, enjoying the feel of him in my hand.

  As soon as the condom was in place, his mouth captured mine again. He wrapped an arm around my waist and dragged me to the edge of the counter. The head of his shaft pushed against me, seeking entrance into my pussy. I trembled, the anticipation and need almost killing me.

  He groaned and gathered the hem of my dress in one strong fist. With a jerk, he shoved it up around my waist. It left me exposed to the air and to him, making the damp part of me all that more sensitive.

  “Where do I belong?” he growled, his dick nudging at me.

  I licked my dry lips. “In me.”

  With one hard thrust, he impaled himself into me.

  I cried out, throwing my head back. Oh, Jesus. He was big and wide… Oh, god. His cock was so long and thick that I felt torn in half. There was pain and there was pleasure. I knew what we were doing might have repercussions I may not be able to handle later, but I didn’t give a damn. He felt good inside me.

  He withdrew then thrust back into me hard. So fucking hard. It made me moan and whimper, hating the exquisite torture but suddenly addicted to it.

  My body clutched his as it pounded in and out of it. I cried out as he moved faster, biting my lip until I tasted blood.

  His hand snapped out and grabbed the back of my neck, yanking my mouth to his and silencing my cries. He started plunging into me, going harder and deeper. Picking up speed and destroying my pussy.

  I whimpered and gasped, holding onto him for dear life. He held me tightly, controlling my body and taking what he demanded. His hips jerked against me, driving his hardness into me roughly. He wasted no time and he wasn’t gentle. That cowboy was gone. The man that was fucking me was brutal, passionate, and fierce.

  And, god, he was killing me.

  As if he could read my mind, he suddenly slowed down. He tore his mouth from mine, sliding his cock into me. “Open your eyes.”

  I did, slowly lifting my eyelids. What I saw was the mirror behind him - the one on the opposite wall. I saw him between my legs, his jeans around his hips as he moved in and out of me.

  “You see us, sweetheart?” he asked, pulling out then sinking deep inside.

  I nodded, unable to talk. Unable to think straight.

  “Good. Keep your eyes open. I want you to remember who’s in you. Someone like me.”

  He slammed into me again, picking up speed. He took possession of my mouth once more. His kiss was hard and fast, matching his cock thrusting in and out me. He held me tight and drove into me faster and faster like he couldn’t get enough.

  I gasped against his mouth and rocked against his body, feeling the ecstasy build in me. He pumped harder and harder, sensing I was almost there. My orgasm built. When it hit me, I screamed.

  Cash swallowed the sound with his mouth, owning it and damn well taking it. His hands dropped down to my hips, holding them steady as he raced for the finish line too.

  His fingers dug into my skin as he slammed into me. Once. Twice. “Oh, fuck!” He growled against my mouth and thrust deep, going suddenly still.

  We stayed that way forever - him between my legs and his dick buried deep inside me. We breathed hard. Every inch of me pulsated, each nerve ending awake.

  Slowly, I became conscious of the coldness of the granite counter under my bottom and the muted sounds of the restaurant in the distance. I saw his backside nestled between my legs in the mirror. A stranger’s ass between my thighs. It was a harsh wakeup call. One I didn’t want to face.

  I pulled my arms from his shoulder, untangling myself from him. His eyes were gray pools of emotions as he looked at me, maybe seeing me for what I really was.

  A girl that had sex on the first date and in a public restroom.

  I had never felt shame before but I did just then. I avoided his eyes and pulled away from him. He let me go, easing out of me gently. I suddenly missed him in me. The thought was terrifying. It was something I had never thought of before when I was with a man. So why now and why him?

  He kept his gaze on me as he lifted me off the counter and pulled my dress down. I wanted to cry at his tenderness and beg for it to disappear. I couldn’t handle it. I could barely handle the man that had walked in here - controlling, domineering, and seductive as hell.

  I averted my eyes as he removed the condom and threw it in the trash then zipped up his jeans. I had never been embarrassed by such an intimate act but something about Cash doing it affected me. For the first time in my pitiful life, I was embarrassed for the girl I was.

  Cash picked my panties up from the floor and offered them to me. I reached for them, still refusing to look at him, but the domineering man wasn’t gone yet.

  He grasped my wrist, not allowing me to take the panties from him.

  I raised my eyes to his. He gritted his teeth and took a step toward me, trapping me between him and the counter again. His body brushed against mine, making the need he had just extinguish minutes ago flare to
life again.

  He slid his hand around my nape, drawing me toward him one more time.

  “Jesus, Cat,” he whispered, lowering his head and touching his lips to mine.

  I stood still as he kissed me, wondering what the hell he thought he was doing. We fucked. It was supposed to be over now. A wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of date. But I was afraid we were far from done.

  His mouth was gentle. Tender. I felt worshiped when minutes ago I felt claimed. He kissed me like he cared. Like I was his.

  Not just his for tonight.

  Too soon his lips left mine and he let go of me, taking one step back.

  “Come have dinner with me,” he said in a voice that oozed sex but promised he would be nice. “Please.”

  I should have said no. He was every woman’s dream with his boyish, flirty grin and drop dead perfect body. He had been a living, breathing sex god between my legs, unquenchable and demanding. Nothing like I expected. But I wasn’t a typical woman and I didn’t dream. Not anymore. He wasn’t the type of man I went for. Not since Luke at least. But for some stupid, insane, totally fucked-up reason, I nodded, agreeing to go back to dinner with him.

  He swept his eyes over me one more time. Desire mixed with possession threatened to destroy my will to behave. It made the parts of me that were tender and sore start to ache all over again.

  Without another word he turned and walked away. My body screamed for him to return to me even though I refused to let my heart unfreeze.

  I’m in trouble, I thought as I watched him unlock the door and walk out. I’m in so much fucking trouble.

  I was left standing alone in a public restroom, my body used, my pride wounded. I had always held the upper hand. Men bent to my will. I always called the shots. But Cash had just turned the tables on me.

  I wondered if I had made a big mistake. I had done a lot of things in my life but something about being with Cash had felt final, as if I had crossed a threshold I couldn’t return from.

  I had carefully constructed a cold, heartless wall around myself the day Luke died. But now Cash threatened to bring it crumbling down.

  Exposing the rawest part of me. My soul.