Page 39 of Craving Her
“How am I supposed to trust this, Torin? Do you have any idea how you’ve hurt me the last three years? What’s to say that I give in and then you just walk away? There’s such a thing as self-preservation. You know?”
“You’re forgetting that there’s a difference now. In the past, I’ve fought like hell to stay completely away from you.”
“Yeah, because I’m too young, blah, blah, fucking blah. Here’s a newsflash for you, Torin. The age difference between us is still the same and I’m not yet, twenty-one.” He surprises meby laughing. It irritates the hell out of me because I see nothing funny about any of this. I slap his shoulder in response, but he just leans down and kisses me on my forehead. “What the hell is so funny?”
“You sounded like Dragon’s old lady, Nicole. She’s always giving him what she calls ‘newsflashes’,” he mutters, his eyes twinkling in humor.
“I like Nicole,” I mutter. I don’t add that she’s the kind of old lady that I always wanted to be. The other women in the club look up to her and when a twinkie or one of the other club women disrespect her, she doesn’t back down. My mom can hold her own, but she’s never been one to hang around much at the club and Dad doesn’t stick around for parties much either. They much prefer to be at home with us or by themselves. I’ve always wanted to be a part of the club life and embrace it fully. So, I guess, Nicole has always been a role model for me. It sounds silly. I doubt Dragon ever walked away from her either, so I guess I’m failing.
I’m looking down, avoiding eye contact with Torin, so I’m not prepared when he puts his rough, calloused fingers under my chin and lifts my face. I don’t even get the chance to question him because his lips are on mine. I give into his kiss completely. His tongue slides into my mouth, seeking mine out and I swallow down his groan. Torin’s hand moves to my hair, tangling into it with a brute force that excites and stimulates me so much that I feel the evidence of it sliding against my inner thighs. Everything fades away. Nothing matters but Torin’s hands on my body and his tongue owning my mouth. I lose all rational thought. I’m too filled with hunger to pay attention to anything but the pleasure he’s giving me. I think Torin must feel the same. His hand moves in the deep V-neck of my dress as his fingers caress the cup of my bra.
I’m about to beg him to take it off me—to strip me down and take me. Those words never see the light of day when someone loudly clears their throat. I stiffen at once.
“Peaches,” Torin growls.
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asks.
Torin exhales, not bothering to hide that he’s annoyed. He looks at me and our gazes lock together. I couldn’t look away from him now if I wanted to.And I don’t.“Do I look like I’m ready?” he snaps but doesn’t look away from me. The pad of his thumb brushes against my cheek and slowly his lips stretch into a small smile. “We’ll each have the New York strip—both medium well. Also, two loaded baked potatoes, only, on one of those don’t add butter. She prefers sour cream only,” he responds, only he doesn’t take his eyes away from me. He’s ordering for both of us. If it was anyone else, I’d throw a fit. Chad tried to do it once and I refused to eat anything. Heck, Mattie has done it before, and I kicked him in the balls. The only thing on my mind when Torin does it, however, is that he somehow knows exactly how I like my baked potatoes. Knowing that makes me feel warm all over.
“You have one more side,” the man replies, while writing on his notepad.
“House salads, no cucumbers on them. She’ll take French dressing. I’ll take Blue Cheese.”
“Got it,” the waiter says with a nod, before walking away.
“What?” Torin asks when I keep staring at him.
“You know how I order?”
“You’d be surprised all I do know about you, Peaches. I may have had to be an asshole to you the last few years, but that didn’t mean I didn’t watch everything you did and wished I could be the man at your side.”
“You could have been,” I counter, trying to break away from him enough to get some air that isn’t swimming in his cologne.
“You’re too young and I honestly didn’t see any way that your father or the others would have allowed me to claim you.”
“So, you were afraid of my family?” I scoff, shaking my head.
“You laugh, but you know how many people are terrified of your family?—”
“So, you’re saying Chad was braver than you are? At least that asshole let me know he wanted me.”
“That just bought you three spankings, Peaches. Keep it up and we’ll see just how prepared you are to have me as your man.”
“If you were afraid of my dad before, go ahead and try to spank me. I’ll make sure Mattie and Dad know every fucking thing you do to me.”
“Going to let you in on a secret, Peaches. My brothers know exactly how I like my women. Once they know I’ve claimed you, they’re going to know exactly what we do in our bedroom. They’ll also know how much you enjoy it, because I’m going to make sure you scream so loud while begging me for more, that there will be no way they can question it. The whole fucking club will hear you getting off on my dick. Shit, I’ll leave the door open so they can hear it even better.”
“When you fantasize, you go all out. What you just described isnevergoing to happen. Sorry, I’m not a twinkie. The whole public sex thing is just not for me.”
“Is that why you let me get you off at Swank? Don’t bother trying to deny it either, Skylar. You were so fucking wet, if I had been eating out that sweet cunt of yours, I would have drowned.”
“You really are an asshole,” I huff.
“I am, but I’m yours and you’re just going to have to accept that at this point.”
“Torin—”
“I’m not going anywhere, Peaches. I’ve already claimed you in front of Wheeler and the boys. You’re fooling yourself if you don’t think he’s going to give us maybe two days out of respectbefore he calls your dad or Dragon. The die has already been cast, baby. I told you last night there was no going back. You should have listened.”