Read Blackwater 2 - Vance's rules for Free Online Page A

a riot within his hormones, then and now. More than once, he’d imagined taking hold of the little elastic band holding her hair back and yanking it free so he could watch as all her rich, red hair cascaded down her back.
    When they’d started dating, Shayla had spoiled him with her sweet, giving nature, Vance admitted to himself. He hadn’t been forced to do much chasing because she’d been so enamored of him. The first time they’d made love, in the front seat of his pickup truck, no less, Vance had been thrown for a loop by the fact she’d been a virgin. Guilt had assailed him. Hell, she’d been innocent until he’d gotten hold of her. The next morning in class, she’d looked at him and smiled. The combination of sweet innocence and naughty vixen had done him in. He’d been toast after that. Vance hadn’t been able to keep his hands off Shayla. If he remembered correctly, she’d been every bit as greedy for him.
    Vance knew now what they’d had was puppy love. Shayla was more confident now. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to be quite so malleable this time around. She’d all but tossed a wrench into his well-ordered world with her sudden appearance as it was. He grinned in spite of himself. If she had any clue how intent he could be when he wanted something, she never would’ve stepped foot into his house.
    When she sat on the couch in front of the fire and smiled up at him, Vance wasn’t sure whether he wanted to lick her from head to toe or push her out the door.
    With resignation, Vance went to the kitchen cupboard and took out a bottle of wine. “Merlot, okay?” he called out.
    “Perfect, thank you. So,” she said, “have you always lived here alone?”
    It didn’t surprise him she would fish around to see if he’d ever had a woman living with him. Shayla was curious by nature. As he headed back into the living room, Vance hid a grin and decided to tease her a little.
    “Actually, Elizabeth lives here with me.”
    Shayla squinted. “Elizabeth? But you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
    “Elizabeth isn’t just anyone. She’s upstairs,” he said as he poured them each a glass of wine, “sprawled out on my bed.”
    The look she shot him was downright lethal. “I see. Well, I hope I didn’t interrupt…anything.”
    Yep, the woman was definitely jealous. Vance sat down next to her and took a sip of his wine. “Eh, Elizabeth doesn’t mind, but don’t expect her to come down and visit. She’s shy.”
    Shayla tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, then started drumming her fingers on her thigh. Vance knew Shayla well. The twelve years she’d been gone hadn’t changed the fact that she only performed that little ritual whenever she was agitated—and without a doubt, right now she was agitated. “How long have you two been together?”
    He swirled the wine around in his glass. “Ten years, give or take.” When her eyes grew wide, Vance added, “Shayla, Elizabeth is a cat.”
    Her gaze narrowed. “A cat?”
    Vance winked. “Yep. A pretty, slightly obese, gray-and-black-striped cat that I found at the animal shelter.”
    She placed her glass on the coffee table and crossed her arms over her chest. “You were putting me on.”
    Vance’s gaze zeroed in on Shayla’s breasts. She wore a high-necked, peach-colored blouse, and he could just barely make out the outline of her bra. God, how he wanted to see her strip. He imagined licking her nipples, and his cock stiffened. When an image of her naked and beneath him sprang to mind, he quickly pushed it away. “Yeah,” he said as he cleared his throat, “I was. Sorry.”
    She chuckled. “You really don’t sound sorry.”
    Vance had to tamp down the need to reach over and simply take what he so badly wanted. He needed to do something and quick, or Shayla was going to find herself sprawled out on the couch. To hell with crazy things like logic and good sense. “I’m really not.”
    Vance put his wine next to hers on the