Chunky But Funky (2 page)

“Every time you frequent that place, you come away thinking you need to starve yourself or work yourself down to nothingness. You’re perfect just the way you are.” When he said it like that, looking straight into her eyes, she could almost believe him. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem any more inclined to act on it now than he ever had.

“Easy for you to say. You have women falling all over you,” she replied flippantly. “Men aren’t exactly lining up at my door.”

“Damned straight,” he muttered. When she raised an eyebrow, he merely pulled her closer, giving her that charming smile he always did when he seemed on the verge of getting too intense. If the look on his face now was any indication, he was close to being
very
intense indeed.

Dalton was done playing this game. Amanda was his. Had been since the first night he’d seen her at that damned football game all those years ago. Having her in his arms now was so many kinds of right he couldn’t put it into words. Because he was a Marine and gone most of the time, he’d tried to keep his distance, thinking she deserved a man who was home, who was there for her on a daily basis. Then he’d come home—like tonight—and find her near another man and just about lose his goddamned mind.

The music was a little too fast for the way he held her close to him, but he wasn’t inclined to separate himself from her body at the moment. Amanda didn’t protest, simply melting into him, holding him as close as he held her. In the shadows along the edge of the large dance area, Dalton kept himself between her and any prying eyes, giving them as much privacy as the public place would allow.

“Um, shouldn’t we be moving a little quicker?” She asked the question with an amused
grin
. Sexual banter had always been something they did well. Only this time he planned on taking things up a notch.

“Oh, I’m sure we need to be moving quicker,” he answered with as smirk. “Much quicker. With a lot of friction.” She gasped, her face flushing prettily as the image he’d hoped to implant in her mind obviously took root. “What?”
He grinned
, pretending innocence.

“Dalton Colt, you know very well what!”

“I was just saying we should probably dance faster.”

“And what was all that friction nonsense?” She didn’t look nearly as outraged as she sounded. In fact, Amanda looked like a woman in terrible need of a good kissing.

“Well, I just thought our feet might scuff the dance floor. You know? All that stomping and twirling
…
and
grin
ding
…
”
He let his words trail off as he pulled her tighter to him, not letting her out of his personal space when she might have pulled back.

“What are you doing, Dalton?” She whispered the question, her eyes going all vulnerable. Oh, she was
so
his!

“Nothing at all, gorgeous.” He
chuckled
, moving her off the dance floor by crowding into her personal space. Once they were fully in the shadows, he let his hands slide down her body. One stopped at her waist, his arm looping around her body; the other one went straight to the luscious curve of her bottom, gripping the plump flesh there. His gaze locked on hers. As he watched her eyes widen and felt her body tremble against him, Dalton felt a possessive thrill. Why had he denied himself the pleasure of her soft body when it was obvious she was his to take?
How
had he done it?

“If you’re toying with me, I swear I’ll cut out your balls,” she whispered. “I’ll never forgive you, Dalton.”

“You of all people should know I don’t play around. I take what I want and to hell with everyone.”

“If this is what you wanted,” she ventured, the fact that she didn’t say “if you wanted me,” glaringly obvious, “why didn’t you make a move before?”

“I’m in the middle of terminal leave, Amanda. Leaving the military.”

She gasped, going very still. “But you love being a Marine! Why would you leave it?”

“I’ll always be a Marine, gorgeous,” he said with a
smile
. “Don’t ever think I’m not the badass everyone knows I am. I’m just coming home.”

“Home?”

Dalton couldn’t help his
grin
. She sounded so befuddled. How could she possibly think home was anywhere other than where she was? “Yeah. There’s this voluptuous tart I’m a little infatuated with who lives in a little town in Kentucky. She’s made it a little hard for me to stay gone so much when I could be spending that time with her.”

The look of abject terror on her face made Dalton laugh so hard he nearly fell over. He knew she wasn’t afraid of him, or worse, repulsed by the thought of being with him. If he knew his little Amanda—and he knew her very well—she was afraid she was reading too much into his statements.

“Kiss my whole entire, very big, very black ass, Dalton!” Jerking away, Amanda stomped toward the bar, throwing over her shoulder, “Bastard!”

A lesser man might have been, well, unmanned by her response. Dalton had been thrilled by it. If there was one thing he loved doing, it was rubbing Amanda the wrong way. The only thing about it was he really hadn't been trying to irritate her. No matter. The more fire in her now, the sweeter the surrender later.

He watched her storm away from him, his gaze glued squarely to that sweet ass. What was a man to do but follow? Kissing her ass wasn’t a bad idea at all. By the time he got to the bar, she had three shots of Jack lined up with one on the way to her glossy lips.

“You’re an ass, Dalton Colt,” she snapped as she swallowed the shot and reached for another. “A royal ass.” Second shot down. Just to piss her off more, he snatched the third shot and downed it
himself
, signaling the bartender for two more shots apiece for them.

“Not that I’m disagreeing, mind you, but what exactly did I do to make you think that this time?”

“Nothing,” she said, downing a third shot before sipping the fourth. “Nothing at all.” Dalton knew her well enough to know the explosion was about to come and he waited for it eagerly. After throwing back her last shot, she slammed the glass down on the bar. “How could you say that to me?”

“What? That I’d rather spend my time with you than be any other place in the world?”

“You implied—” She cut herself off, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as if for patience. “Look, I know I’m not exactly the type of woman you normally go for, but you, of all people, teasing me like that? How could you?” The longer she spoke, the more Dalton realized he might have overplayed this one. He honestly hadn’t thought she’d react like this. There were tears in those dark amber eyes.
Tears
! Caused by him.

Immediately, he slapped a bill on the bar to settle their tab, grabbed her arm, and practically dragged her from the bar and out into the night. It wasn’t private by any means, but he could talk to her without yelling.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Obviously, she couldn’t decide if she wanted to be hurt or pissed off. Pissed off he could deal with. Hurt? Well, that might rip his heart to pieces.

“Taking you someplace we can talk,” he growled. Talk. Right. Maybe
after
he showed her exactly how serious he was. “You can either come with me peacefully, or I can toss you over my shoulder and carry you out. Your choice, gorgeous.”

“Have you completely lost your—OH!”

He’d been hoping she’d resist. Carrying her out bodily was the only way he was going to get through to her. Without even a grunt, Dalton tossed Amanda over his shoulder, holding her in place with an arm over the backs of her thighs.

“Dalton!” Her shriek prompted him to swat her ass once. Just once, but he loved the way it jiggled under his palm. It was impossible to keep from rubbing the tempting globe as he stormed out the door.

“One more outburst and I’ll spank the other side. I’m taking you someplace I don’t have to shout to for you to hear me. We have some serious things to discuss, and I don’t plan on having an audience.”

“Goddamnit Dalton—
what the fuck
?” He slapped the other cheek, caressing it just afterward. God, he loved the feel of her ass under his hand! He might have to look for reasons to turn her over his knee just so he could watch the jiggling of her flesh as he swatted it. People gaped at them but Dalton just
laughed
. Amanda was bracing herself with her hands on his back, her fists bunched in his shirt, but she wasn’t struggling. He almost wished she would. He didn’t stop until they were half a block away and around the corner in a deserted alley.

When he finally set her on her feet, Amanda glared at him. “What the fuck was that all about?”

“What?” he asked innocently.

She slapped at his chest several times in frustrated anger. “You carrying me out of there like a damned Neanderthal!” After a pause she looked away, her face falling in a look of embarrassment and shame. “You could have hurt yourself.”

He hated that look. The first time he’d seen it, he’d kissed it right off her face. When he was in town, no one dared put that look on her face. He’d throttled more than one dumbass over the years for saying something to give her that look. Since she was getting it now because of her own misguided thoughts, he did the only thing he could. As before, he decided to kiss it from her.

 Backing her against the brick building, Dalton caged her in with his body. When she looked up at him questioningly—and no doubt to deliver a scathing remark—he leaned down and fastened his lips onto hers. Unlike before, this kiss wasn’t a hard pressing of his mouth to hers. Dalton nipped her bottom lip until she gasped, then he plunged his tongue inside to find hers. The little gasp of shock sent a current of satisfaction spiraling through him. With a little grunt of praise, he deepened the kiss, wanting her to know exactly how far he intended to take this. She caught at his shoulders, bunching her fingers into the material of his shirt, her little sigh of surrender soon following.

Wrapping his arms around her tightly, Dalton lifted her so she was closer to his eye level. He trapped her body between the wall and his equally hard frame, his cock settling between her thighs, insistently rubbing between them until Amanda whimpered and wiggled against him. He urged her legs around his waist,
grin
ding himself against her wantonly.

“Do you have any fucking idea how much I’ve wanted you, Amanda? Every fucking day I think about you. Every night I wonder what it would be like to hold you while you sleep. When I wake up, I ache to make love to you. God! I want you so bad I can’t think straight!”

“Dalton,” she whispered before finding his lips again. Was there anything sweeter in the whole damned world? Dalton couldn’t process all this. He knew he needed to get her home, in his bed. But for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why. All he could think about was finally taking what he’d longed for since that first day he’d kissed her.

The door to the bar opened, blaring music and the sounds of the crowd penetrating his lust-hazed mind even from down the block and around the corner. Somehow knowing Amanda would be humiliated if anyone saw them, he pulled away from her, letting her slide down his body. When he looked into those dark golden eyes, he fought to keep from saying to hell with it all and taking her right there. She was as affected as he was. Completely lost in a haze of need and want.

When one of the girls who’d come on to Dalton saw them standing there, they giggled, hands covering their mouth as they whispered loudly to each other. “If I’d known he was into the trashy kind of sex, I’d have humped his leg right there. It seems to work even if a girl’s a little
…
chunky.
”
They giggled and trotted off down the sidewalk. Dalton didn
’
t have to look at Amanda to know she was mortified.

“Ohmigod,” she croaked. Then she ducked out from under Dalton’s arm and sprinted away from him. Dalton was torn between going after her and giving her some space. He knew Amanda. If he pushed her too hard, she’d run like a scared rabbit. Kind of like she was doing now. But if he let her ponder this too long, she’d end up convincing herself there was something other than sincerity at work on his part.

He’d back off. Give her time to get home. Once she settled in for the night, he’d let himself in. Thank goodness she’d long ago given him a key to her house in case he got home at an odd hour and needed a place to crash. Though his parents were always glad to see him, he didn’t like the thought of coming in on them in the middle of the night and scaring them to death. Like a wife waiting for her husband, Amanda had always seemed to know it was him the second he’d opened the door. He’d use that advantage now. By tomorrow, any thoughts that he didn’t absolutely adore every single thing about her, every single inch of her body, would be long gone from her mind.