Tell Me You Crave Me Read online

  “I want to feel all of it,” he said. His voice was husky with desire and a hint of warning. She didn’t exactly know what he meant. But when he brought his free hand to her opening, she got a pretty good idea what he intended.

  He wanted to feel all of her.

  “And I want to feel you buck and squirm while you come. Don’t you dare try to stay still.” He circled her entrance and every muscle in her body tightened. She was desperate to be filled, had never felt the need for anything so much in her life. She thought she would die from the wanting. In fact, she was certain. Death. That was the only thing that awaited her unless East let her come.

  “I want to hear you say my name. Can’t have you forgetting who’s making you feel this way,” he reminded her.

  He slid his finger ever so slightly inside her, and just like he said she would, she squirmed and groaned.

  “Trust me,” she breathed. She tried to scoot her hips toward his finger, but he held her firm. “I know who makes me feel this way.”

  She looked down and saw his intense eyes gazing up at her.

  “Good,” he said. She watched his mouth settle over her clit just as he thrust his finger to the hilt.

  “Easton!” She cried out his name, which only made him latch on and suck her harder. He thrust in and out, hitting deep and curling his finger to touch the spot inside that drove her wild.

  She held on to his head like it was her lifeline, and her skin pricked with flashes of white heat so intense it felt like ice cubes shattering through her veins.

  She came apart.

  Her whole body shook so much she thought she’d fall off the counter, but East was right there to hold her. His insistent mouth just kept going, drawing out every last ounce of pleasure until she couldn’t see anything but a flash of light, or hear anything but her heartbeat in her ears.

  Shuddering and aching and desperate for more, for less, for everything, her mind was gone and so was her sense of anything around her. Anything but East. She cupped his face and yanked him to his feet and kissed him hard.

  She clawed at him and pulled on his belt so hard she almost whipped it clean off. She had to taste him. Had to have more of him while he was hers to have. Because he’d go back out into the world, and so would she, and neither of them belonged to the other. But right then, he was there for the taking, and she had to ride this feeling out for as long as she could.

  She wanted to make him feel how he’d just made her feel.

  She was frantic, ripping at his jeans as she scooted off the counter. Then it was her turn to hit her knees.

  “Whoa, baby, you don’t have to—”

  “Will you shut up?” she said. She unzipped his jeans and tugged them low on his hips, forcing his hard cock to spring free. “Stop assuming that I don’t want to do this… Because I do.”

  She leaned in and licked him from base to tip.

  “Oh…fuck…yes,” he said with a satisfied moan. He slowly traced his fingers along her face as she took the head into her mouth. But he didn’t force, didn’t move, just held her, as if he simply wanted to feel her mouth working him over at her own pace.

  And she liked that idea. It was a small act that once again made her feel cherished. Like she wasn’t just some random woman, she was herself. And she was giving East pleasure—awkward Natalie could make him melt. He’d made such a point of reminding her and himself what they were doing. And despite all the reasons it could and would never work, in that moment she just wanted to enjoy him.

  She sank down on him, taking as much of his impressive cock as she could into her throat, then slowly came back up.

  On her way down again, she glanced up to gauge his reaction. His eyes were heavy and watching her, and once again she felt seen. So damn seen, in fact, that she almost shook from the intensity of his gaze. And it gave her confidence.

  She moved her tongue along the crown of his cock as she watched his face.

  He liked that.

  Then she sucked hard at the tip, while moving her tongue…

  He really liked that.

  Then she sucked and sank down again, faster and faster, sucking harder each time and pushing herself to go just a fraction deeper. His chest heaved, and she watched him grit his teeth. His hands stayed gentle on her face, but his whole body was wrought with tension.

  She wondered if he was feeling what she had just felt. That painful need for more. Deeper, harder, more. But he was staying gentle, not pushing or even moving, as if he was concerned, maybe.

  Maybe he didn’t see her as lover material and was trying to spare her? Because only a few nights ago, he’d smacked her ass and fucked her hard against a wall, and now he was holding back?

  Oh hell no.

  East had never once let her hold back. And she wouldn’t be “Little Natalie” or his buddy’s baby sister. Not now. She would show him exactly what she was capable of. Because that way he made her feel? Like she was seen? She wasn’t ready to give that up. Not just yet.

  He didn’t want to move? To reach out? Fine.

  With a small smile, she let her lips come to the crown of his cock and linger for just a second. She took a deep breath, reached out, and gripped his ass with both hands.

  With her nails digging into his muscled flesh, she yanked hard and made him fuck her mouth. She moved her head and pulled him deep on every thrust, urging his hips forward to pump into her throat.

  “Holy, shit, Natalie…I’m gonna come. Oh God, you have to let me come.”

  Oh, she’d let him come. And she was ready for him. Easton wasn’t going to hold out on her, not this time. He tried to pull out, but she didn’t let him, just grabbed him harder and held him close.

  With him deep in her mouth, she felt his release hit her tongue, and she drank him down and continued to take him over and over until his groans turned into a yell and his body was shaking. Just like he’d made hers shake.

  Serves him right.

  When she could tell that he was humming and his pleasure was coming down from the high, she slowed her attention and finally let him fall from her mouth. He looked almost in pain from the intensity. And she knew exactly how that felt.

  She rose to stand, faced him and adjusted her clothing. East looked stunned, half asleep and half confused, but one hundred percent blissful.

  I put that look on his face…

  And she felt pretty proud of that.

  “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my cupcakes.” She moved past him and headed toward the back, right as the ding of her oven timer went off for the final batch of cupcakes. The last thing she’d seen was East with his jeans around his knees and a look of shock on his face.

  She couldn’t help but feel exceedingly powerful and utterly stupid.

  Stupid.

  Natalie was going with the feeling of “stupid.”

  A few hours ago she’d gone all tasty time with East, and she was pretty sure she’d gotten in deeper than she’d meant to. Which was why she’d nearly burned the last batch of cupcakes and hadn’t realized she was almost out of cocoa for the frosting, so she’d had to run out to the store—perfect, another delay. In addition to the chocolate cupcakes, she still had thirty un-frosted vanilla cupcakes waiting to be frosted because once again, East had distracted her. And after that little sexy session of “Let Me Taste Yours” she had a hard time even looking at frosting and not getting hot and bothered.

  It was going to be a long night. She juggled the grocery bags of cocoa and cream as she opened the door to her shop. And then she gasped.

  “What the hell…” She set the bags down and looked at the large cart full of cupcakes.

  Frosted vanilla cupcakes.

  All of them were done.

  She took out the tray and examined one, then another.

  “My God, they’re damn near perfect.”

  They didn’t have any of the flair she usually added, but the lines were smooth, neat and well done. Just like she’d shown…

&nb
sp; Easton.

  This was his doing. He must have snuck back in to “help.” And as she looked at all the completed cupcakes, she smiled.

  Easton Ambrose cared.

  Chapter Six

  “You look like a pile of ass,” Dex said as East walked through the door of the S and R office.

  “How are you still dating Michelle with compliments like those?” East shot back. Yesterday had been a hell of a day. It had started with him attempting to help Natalie, which led to him helping himself to her delectable body, and ended in the best blow job of his life. And then he’d been dismissed by said baker. But he’d gone back, like the glutton for punishment he was, to frost her cupcakes for her.

  Because he’d gone to help, damn it. And if it made her life easier, then he’d follow through at least once.

  “First of all, Michelle is my fiancée. I’m not dating her,” Dex said. “And second, Michelle never looks like a pile of ass. You’re…” His buddy looked him over. “You just look like you haven’t slept.”

  Honestly, he hadn’t much. And it had little to do with the fact that he’d spent a couple hours cursing himself and trying to frost mini cakes the way Natalie would, hoping to hell he was doing an okay job and wondering if she’d hand his ass to him at some point for fucking up.

  Because ironically, he really didn’t want to fuck up. Not the cupcakes. Not the way he’d been fucking up lately in a lot of other ways.

  At this point, though, sleep was a luxury because every damn time he tried, he saw Natalie’s face and felt her mouth and Jesus…it was a nightmare.

  That woman really was a pain in his ass. And he just kept getting in deeper with his lie to his friend. Which was why he’d shifted his goal of staying away from Natalie to staying away from Matt. Maybe if he didn’t have to look him in the eye to lie about sleeping with his sister it’d make it easier. Sure, it didn’t make him less of a prick. But easier. Maybe.

  So why did he still feel like…what had Dex just said? A pile of ass?

  “You excited for tomorrow? I hear the party is going to be awesome,” Dex said.

  Ah yes, the joint bachelor-bachelorette party. Something East hadn’t really helped with at all since it had been taken out of his hands. And apparently Dex had drunk the Kool-Aid, too, about it being “awesome.”

  Whatever. Matt could have the party Bridget wanted. At this point, the only part that bummed out East was the fact that he couldn’t seem to get away from either St. Clair sibling. And tomorrow at the party? Avoiding either one of them would be plain impossible.

  “So you like this idea of it being joint, too, huh?” East asked Dex. He set his bag down and took a seat behind his desk. Normally, they were both in the field, but things had been slow lately, since it was turning into fall. Which was nice that people weren’t going missing, but it made for some slow days at the office.

  “Yeah, I’m really excited about it. Now I get to bring Michelle, and she’s wearing this sexy little dress that has no straps and—”

  East held up his hand. “I do not need to know about dresses.” He still couldn’t figure out how his best friends were this smitten. Yeah, the women they were with were awesome, but how did that translate? Was East incapable of that level of monogamy and just didn’t get it? Maybe he never would.

  “Jesus,” East muttered.

  “What?” Dex said.

  “I just think I’ll puke if one more of my friends talks about how this joint thing is a good idea.”

  “You’re just pissed because you don’t have a bestie.”

  “What the hell is a bestie?”

  “You know, a best friend.”

  “I have friends!” East said defensively. “My friends are you and Matt and—hell, even Gage was climbing the ladder.”

  “No, man, this is on a different level. Being best friends with your partner in life.”

  “I don’t get it. Don’t you wanna have guy time?” East asked.

  “For what? To drink beer and bullshit and count the hours until I get to go home to my hot fiancée?”

  “Ah, yeah!” East argued. “Because drinking and bullshitting is fun.”

  “It can be,” Dex said. “But I guess I just like being around Michelle. I’d always rather have her as a part of my world than not.”

  “What about couples needing space?” East shot back.

  “We have space. I’m not with her now, and it sucks. But it makes it good for when I see her in the evenings.”

  “I just don’t get it,” East mumbled.

  “That’s because you haven’t found a woman you enjoy. A woman you’d go back to twice. A woman that has stuck around for you.”

  That made East’s head snap up. Mostly the last part. Women never stuck around for him, either. He always made damn sure of that. If you got them to leave first, then they couldn’t leave you by surprise, like his mother had. She’d had something better to chase—a drug high.

  Ironic, since right now the only time East felt high was when he was near Natalie. But if anything, he was her closeted secret. And she was his quick fix. But for a brief moment, he understood chasing the high. Then he realized that maybe it was all he was. He was good enough for a woman to chase, but not good enough to stick around and make a claim. Just like he’d never, ever, trust a woman with his heart.

  That got broken a long time when his mom had cared less about him, and her own health, than getting that fix.

  And now I’m into mommy issues overload.

  Which was why he didn’t think about this shit.

  He just wanted to protect Natalie and make sure she was all right. And based on this affinity she had for dating losers who didn’t see what was right in-fucking-front of them, he had his work cut out for him.

  Or…he just wanted to interfere before she went home with anyone else.

  No, no, he cared. Natalie was the one girl he cared about despite her pain-in-the-ass tendencies, because she was better than everyone else. Better than him. But she was also his best friend’s little sister. Talk about “bestie” problems.

  Anger rose, and he tried to tamp it down, tried to focus on something else, but Dex’s earlier words only ran on repeat in his mind. East never went back to the same woman more than once. Not that he was trying to be a dick, he just didn’t really enjoy their company on that level.

  Okay, so maybe he was a dick.

  Sure, he knew he was a tad closed off when it came to relationships and whatever, but that was because he didn’t like anything serious. Just casual. And he was always honest about that.

  But he’d gone back to Natalie…

  “You look like you’re going to barf. Did you get sushi from that truck stop again on your way in today?” Dex asked, frowning.

  “No,” East said. “I just thought of something.” Like the fact that he was thinking about Natalie way more than he’d ever thought of anyone else. Or that he was lying to his best friend. Or that the one family that had taken him in was hers, not his. How she was better than him. Or the fact that he’d literally chased after her three times now, and was getting nowhere except deeper into this secret affair. They were fucking with the dynamic of things. And he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

  But he didn’t want to hang out with Natalie, and he didn’t want her to be his “bestie”… He just wanted to be around her. Totally different.

  “Well, whatever your problem is, I hope you get it figured out, because tomorrow is happening, and you’re the best man so you better smile and bring your A game.”

  That was the thing—East always brought his A game, but lately Natalie had been handing him his ass in that department. He was supposed to be the pro at casual, and she was beating him at this game of “not dating.”

  She was also the best he’d ever had. Not just in the “not dating” department. But the sex. All of it. She was just…the best. Not something he was admitting out loud even to himself. But damn…he needed to get a grip.

  “You’re lecturin
g me about my game?” East said to Dex. “Where’d your game go, buddy? You used to be famous for it.”

  Dex just shrugged, not fazed at all. “Game gets old. And when you have a good woman, you don’t need to play it.”

  East instantly wanted to strangle his friend. What the hell was up with the world this week? Was everyone conspiring to piss him off? Shove in his face all their love and domestic bliss?

  Just then he caught the faint smell of chocolate, vanilla and…

  Natalie!

  “What the hell is that?” he asked, sniffing the air.

  Dex looked at him liked he’d lost his damn mind, and maybe he had. But he was sniffing the air like a basset hound, following the scent to a white box on Dex’s desk.

  “Cupcakes,” Dex said, opening the box and pulling one out. “Natalie dropped them by earlier. I guess these are the castoffs.”

  East frowned and came up to the box, then stopped. The castoffs. Ones he’d frosted, probably. Fuck, he had messed up. He should have known his efforts wouldn’t have been good enough for Natalie. Easton Ambrose, class A fuck-up, can’t even frost a batch of cupcakes. Yep, that sounded about right.

  “Here, have one.” Dex held open the box top, and East was almost scared to look. “You look like you could use it.”

  This was ridiculous. East was scared of a box of cupcakes. No. He was a strong, tough search and rescue medic for Christ’s sake. But it wasn’t just the box…it was the woman behind the box.

  Not that he’d been trying to prove anything…but seeing the “castoff” cupcakes cracked something in his chest he didn’t know he had.

  “Fuck it,” he finally said, doing his best to get back to the “casual East” of not caring. So what if Natalie didn’t like his help or his frosting job? She was a professional, and he wasn’t, and what the hell ever.

  She could just go—

  He glanced down and saw six perfect mini cakes. All chocolate and red velvet. Not a single vanilla.

  Vanilla were the only ones he’d frosted, which meant she’d kept them.

  “These are the castoffs?” East asked. They looked pristine. The woman was stubborn and a perfectionist. She was also talented as hell, because if these were her “worst work,” he could barely handle her best.