Page 16 of Cody (Maine Silver Foxes)

A lina

A loud pounding noise and the sound of something being destroyed woke me up early the next morning.

I lay there for a minute, listening to the racket and blinking with confusion, until I realized the Dobson brothers had shown up.

Mom had hired them to rebuild the porch, and they’d promised her it would be done in a week.

I pulled back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.

I’d promised Crissy and Sarah that I’d meet them at eleven o’clock to paint.

The paint and supplies were in the trunk of my car, and I was anxious to get started.

I could tell by the angle of the sun that it was still early and that I still had hours before I had to meet them.

I started to lay down again when a slight noise coming from the kitchen told me that someone was in the house.

I knew it wasn’t Mom. She’d made plans with friends to meet for breakfast and then to get their hair done, and if I knew Mom she would also be getting a mani-pedi while she was there. A second noise gave me concern, and I got up and walked to the kitchen without thinking.

I rounded the corner and came to an abrupt stop. Cody was leaning against the counter, casually sipping a cup of what I assumed was coffee. Our eyes met, and barely a second went by before he growled, “Put some fucking clothes on, Alina.”

My brows shot up in surprise at his arrogant demand.

I glanced down at the clinging tank top I slept in, and further down to the boxer-style shorts.

They were old, thin, and comfortable, and covered more skin than a bathing suit would have.

A laugh of amusement escaped me when my gaze returned to his.

He had to be kidding. “This is what I sleep in.”

He grunted. “It doesn’t leave much to the imagination.” His gaze dropped to my breasts.

I shrugged. “Nothing you haven’t seen before,” I said flippantly, ignoring the way my nipples tightened. Why did I have to be so interested in a man who didn’t want commitments, ever? I sauntered toward him to get a cup of coffee.

“The Dobson brothers haven’t seen you.”

I automatically glanced toward the patio door.

The curtains had been pulled back, and all three brothers were concentrating on demolishing the old porch.

They were young, and I couldn’t help but laugh softly as I turned back to Cody.

“I’m almost old enough to be their mother.

” I stopped directly in front of him and crooked my head to look up at him.

“You think that matters? They’re men, aren’t they? They’re gonna look when a sexy woman walks around in front of them.”

He thought I was sexy? That made me bat my eyelashes up at him like a coquettish virgin. “You think I’m sexy, Marine?”

A sound between a snort and a grunt escaped him. “You know what I think.”

I thought he was the sexy one in casual attire of old, faded jeans that conformed to his thick thighs, well-worn boots, and an opened, red-checkered flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned, vein-riddled forearms. Beneath it he was wearing a red T-shirt that covered his muscular chest and abs.

Not a six-pack, but I recalled the four-pack that rippled down his wide torso.

I remembered how it had felt beneath my hands.

The woodsy, spicy scent of his aftershave reached me, and I shamelessly turned my head slightly to inhale more of the tantalizing smell into my lungs.

I could have sworn that as I reached to open the cupboard door next to him, Cody turned his head to do the same thing to me.

I wasn’t wearing perfume, but I had put on some body lotion before going to bed the night before.

I paused in mid-air from reaching for a cup and stared into his eyes. “Are you sniffing me?” I confronted him with amusement.

“Are you gonna deny you didn’t sniff me first?” Cody countered back with a cocky grin.

My jaw dropped with surprise. “I didn’t—”

He raised a brow at the lie that was about to come out of my mouth.

“Okay, I did,” I admitted reluctantly. “I like your aftershave.” I pulled a cup down and poured a cup of coffee.

Once I took the first sip, I leaned against the counter next to him, trying to be casual when my insides were churning with his nearness.

“So, um, how did your date go last night?” Had I really just asked him that?

“As expected,” he responded with a heavy sigh, topping off his cup with more coffee before returning his gaze to me. “Yours?” He brought the cup to his mouth, studying me over the rim as he took a cautious sip.

“As expected. It was a productive date.” After Max and I had finished eating, we’d continued to discuss plans for the store. He was going to send me the figures for materials and labor later today.

Cody’s eyes narrowed on me. He set his cup down and crossed his arms. I got the feeling that he was irritated by my answer, and he looked ready to attack. I wondered why. “Productive? Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

Was he fishing? His jaw had hardened until a tic appeared. I knew exactly where his mind had gone.

“By productive, do you mean sex?” I couldn’t read the look that flashed briefly in his eyes, and for some reason I didn’t want him thinking that I’d slept with Max. “Relax, Marine, we didn’t have sex.”

His expression relaxed somewhat, and it was then that I realized that the thought of me with another man actually bothered Cody.

Interesting.

“Feeling a little possessive, are we?” I wanted to ask if he’d fucked Tina, but I didn’t want to know the answer. I didn’t want to even think about him with another woman.

I took another sip of coffee, smiling inside.

I wondered if he was going to respond with a lie.

A woman knew when a man was interested in her for more than just sex.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

If he tried to convince me I was imagining things, I would pour my lukewarm coffee over his head.

There was always the possibility that Cody didn’t realize what he was feeling for me, because it was unfamiliar to him.

He cleared his throat. “Maybe a little, and I don’t like the feeling.”

Huh. He did know, and I liked that he was being truthful. “So it would bother you if I had sex with another man?”

He glanced toward the floor, clearly not wanting to acknowledge it. I watched his jaw work, wondering if he’d have any back teeth left by the time he was done grinding. “You know that works both ways, Cody.”

His gaze shot up to mine. “Yeah, if two people are in a committed relationship, and that ain’t going to happen,” he said with conviction. “I may not like the idea of you with another man, but I’m not going to stop it.”

As if you could, I refrained from saying aloud.

“I’m not going to change my ways.”

It felt as if he meant that statement for me and me alone. Was that his way of reminding me that he didn’t want a permanent woman in his life? That he wasn’t monogamous? He was so stubborn, and I had half a feeling that he was in a little denial too.

He was suddenly agitated, and he took several steps away from me, ran his hand through his thick hair, turned, and then walked back to me. I straightened against the counter when he stopped directly in front of me.

“Maybe I should have slept with Max,” I said brazenly, hoping to get a reaction out of Cody that would prove to him that he was just like anyone else, that he felt jealousy when someone he wanted was as casual about the way they treated sex as he was.

I couldn’t do that. The feelings going through me had caught me by surprise, but I didn’t want anyone else but Cody.

It hadn’t been that long since I’d broken up with Eddie, and I’d been prepared to date around for a while and keep my options open, not fall instantly for the first man I’d come in contact with after returning home.

I hated that my attraction to him was so strong.

An animalistic sound erupted from Cody, and I suddenly found myself boxed in against the counter with his body against mine.

His expression was almost frightening. Dark.

Pupils dilated as if in anger or arousal.

His prolonged stare was intense, his mouth grew tight.

I held myself stiffly, unsure of what he was going to do.

I knew he wouldn’t hurt me though, not physically.

I finally broke the intense silence between us by putting my hands against his chest and teasing, “Do you want to hurt me Cody, or kiss me?”

An unnamed emotion flickered in his eyes. “I’d never hurt you,” he snarled, right before slamming his mouth down on mine.

It was the match that ignited the fire, and I was going to combust from the potency.

His kiss was rough, hard, almost brutal, like the man, and I wondered if he realized how telling it was.

Cody’s kiss was claiming ownership. He was putting his mark on me, whether he understood what he was doing or not.

The flavor of coffee exploded in my mouth as his tongue tasted and explored, causing my core to clench with arousal. I felt my shorts getting wet from the tingle between my thighs. My clit began to throb. I moaned loudly, hearing it echo through the kitchen around us.

As I wrapped my arms around his neck, he picked me up and set me on the counter.

I wanted him up against me and parted my legs to make room for him.

Our kiss combined in a pleasurable frenzy that would have been painful if he’d been anyone else.

A hand gripped the hair at the back of my neck as Cody pulled away to suck in air.

Almost instantly he began to run his mouth along the side of my bowed neck, leaving a trail of liquid fire.

I whimpered and shuddered beneath his mouth, and then a sharp cry escaped me when his hand glided beneath my top to curl around my breast. Touching it awakened a beast inside Cody.

He growled impatiently, and then his hand glided up my body, taking my shirt with it as he bared my breast so he could put his mouth on me.

“Cody!” I cried, arching my body eagerly. His hand squeezed my flesh roughly as he sucked and grazed his teeth over my nipple.

“Fuck, baby, “he growled low as he moved over to my other breast.

I wanted to feel the scrape of his whiskers between my legs.

Someone knocked on the glass patio door.

I was thankful that Cody’s body was protecting mine from being exposed to whoever it was that had knocked.

Our eyes met, and I watched as realization slowly filled his.

Arousal dimmed with condemnation of himself for losing control.

A second knock caused Cody to turn his head and snarl over his shoulder, “Be right there!”

I forced a small smile on my face in place of saying to him that it was okay, that I understood what he was feeling, and that he didn’t need to worry that I’d expect him to give me something that he couldn’t.

If he was afraid that he felt more for me than he was comfortable with, that was his problem.

He set me on the floor. “Fuck...Alina...”

Was he sorry that we’d been interrupted, or was he afraid that he’d exposed too much? There was another knock on the glass door.

“You better go see what he wants.”

I moved around him and went to my room.