Page 25 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“Well, I do. Go tell your father that you’re leaving the car here, but that I will get you home.”
She let out a loud huff as she relented. She hated the idea, but he was right—it made sense. There was the concern that she was blocking her mom’s car in the drive, but her dad might be able to move it without getting it started come the morning.
After running back into the house to tell her Dad about the clicking noise and how she was still blocking their car, she came back outside to see Cullen standing on the curb, flipping through his phone. He looked so normal, standing on the sidewalk scrolling through an app like he was just a regular guy waiting on a taxi. She would have given anything right now for him to have just been some guy, and not one of the most famous athletes in the world. That would make this whole episode significantly less embarrassing. However, she was not that lucky.
“You said you called Saul?” she asked, walking up
to stand next to him on the sidewalk.
“He’s on his way,” he assured her. They stood there in silence for a moment, both a little unsure of how to proceed. Finally, he broke the silence. “So, how old is that thing?”
“My car? It’s a ninety-nine.”
“Oh, so it’s older than you are,” he remarked, with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.
“Look here, asshat, I know we’ve already determined that math isn’t your best subject, but I’m twenty-seven.” There was so much more that she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue. He was driving her back to the resort; she didn’t need to push her luck.
Saul pulled up and to Leona’s surprise, Cullen opened the door for her. Closing it as soon as she was in, he jogged behind the back of the town car and got in from the driver’s side. She smiled to herself, thinking how chivalrous it was of him to do such a thing.
“What’s the look for?” he asked, turning toward her.
“Nothing. That was just awfully gentlemanly of you,” she remarked.
He reached over her and pushed a button on her door, causing the partition to go up. His arm grazed across her breasts as he did so, causing a shiver to rise up her spine and her nipples to pebble from the brief contact. She told herself it was just cold in the car and that it wasn’t her body reacting to his touch. Just because she was still thinking about all the things she felt the other night when he kissed her didn’t mean that she wanted a repeat performance—although her body sure seemed to disagree with her head about that.
Leaning down until his mouth was all but touching her ear, he whispered, “Believe it or not, Menina, I can be quite the gentleman. You, it just so happens, make me want to do things to you that are anything but gentleman-like.”
That shiver ran back down her spine and this time other parts of her body started to betray her as well. The feel of his breath on her neck excited her and made her mind start to wonder just what he meant by un-gentleman-like things. It also made her wonder if that divider he just put up was soundproof. Shaking her head to rid herself of thinking like this, she forced her eyes open, not even realizing she had shut them.
“Well, Mr. Cruz, I’m not entirely sure how I am expected to respond to that,” she said, trying to be professional.
“Really,” he whispered against her ear, before nipping at it lightly. “I figured you’d have some smart response locked and loaded for me.”
His hand settled on her bare knee, his fingers lightly caressing the skin. Her breath caught and her eyelids slid closed as he started to move that hand north a bit, sliding it underneath the hem of her dress. Her nipples contracted again, but this time she knew she couldn’t use the excuse of it being cold inside the car. Because now, it was hot—so hot, she felt like she might just catch fire.
Chapter Twelve
Cullen had no intention of seducing Leona in the car. In fact, it had been the furthest thing from his mind when he offered to give her a ride home. In that moment, his biggest concern was making a clean escape from a house where he was very obviously persona non grata.
But the smile on her face when he slid into the car after holding the door open for her sparked something in him. He wasn’t sure where it came from, but in that moment his brain went from thinking about escaping to thinking about having her mouth on his. Maybe it was because it was a genuine smile, one that he had not seen on her face since that first visit to the Indigo Royal a decade ago.
Her breath caught slightly when his hand breached the barrier that was the hem of her sundress. The sound was ever so slight, and he wasn’t sure he would have heard it if he hadn’t had his face so close to hers. Her skin was soft underneath his hand, and he could feel her go still as he continued to graze his fingers lightly across the inside of her thigh. Normally she had so much cheek and gusto that seeing her like this, totally overcome by the sensation, was a serious turn-on. Even more so knowing that it was him causing this reaction. The hard-on forming in his pants didn’t have a chance if she continued to react to his touch like this.
“Still nothing to say, huh, Menina?” he whispered again. This time, instead of nipping at her ear, he placed a light kiss just behind it. She visibly shivered as he did so, which prodded him to continue to lightly kiss all the way down her neck to just where it met her shoulder.
“I…I…” she started, unable to concentrate as he kissed her neck.
“Admit it, you enjoyed our kiss the other night.”
Leona let out a sigh, her eyes still closed. Cullen could see that she wanted to give in but, just like the other night, a large part of her was still fighting. Even if she couldn’t stand him as a person, there was no denying that physically, he got to her. And he loved knowing that.
“You want an encore, don’t you, Menina,” he growled softly. His hand slid up her thigh again, coming to rest at the apex so his finger brushed up against the crotch of her cotton panties. She gasped slightly at the touch, sending a bolt of lust straight through him. He was fully hard now, growing harder with each one of her ragged breaths.
“Maybe,” she breathed.
“Maybe? Well, let’s see what I can do to convince you.”
Slowly, he moved his hand from her thigh, moving it to her panty-covered center. With his middle finger, he casually grazed up and down, eliciting a slight moan to escape from her lips. That moan was music to his ears, and he wanted to hear it again. She shifted in the seat, spreading her legs wider for him and tilting her head back a bit. With this newfound access to her neck, he leaned in and kissed her there, placing long, slow, openmouthed kisses all the way up her neck. Still stroking her down below, he started to play with the elastic on the side, toying with the idea of breaking the barrier. He was enjoying this tease more than he probably should be, feeling the fire inside him ignite with every inhale of breath she took. Her panties were damp to the touch now and he could only imagine how wet she must be underneath there.
