“You’re not trouble.”
“You don’t know me well enough to say that yet. Give me time, and I’ll prove to you exactly how f**ked up I am. Trust me.” He took my hand in his, gave it a squeeze.
I glanced down at our joined hands then up into his eyes.
He genuinely believed what he was saying. He really did feel like he was f**ked up, trouble, heartache.
Jill would agree with him.
Me, I was torn. A part of me believed it too. That part of me was afraid to get too close because I didn’t want to be hurt. That part of me was looking for reasons to cut things off before they got too serious.
But another part of me wanted to understand this man, to break through the wall enclosing his heart, and find out what he was hiding.
What would it cost me to shatter his defenses?
Was I willing to pay the price?
“Goodnight, Bristol,” he said, tipping his head toward the door. “I’m going to leave now.”
I watched him grab the doorknob, twist it, pull. “Wait.”
He turned to look at me. His eyes were full of emotion. Dark emotion. The shadows terrified me. “Bristol. Let me walk out this door now.”
“But what you said, about yourself--“
“It’s true.” He sounded so beaten down. “Look at the way I acted tonight. Look at all the confusion and hurt I’ve caused you already.”
“You acted no worse than I have. I was jealous. I jumped to conclusions.”
“You didn’t follow me around town.”
“You followed me?”
He nodded. “I told you, I’m…” He closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t just want to touch you. I don’t just want to kiss you. I crave you. With every cell in my body.” As he was speaking, he was coming closer, and every cell in my body was responding to him.
He stopped within inches of me, looking down at my face, his expression intense. “The second you’re out of my sight, I miss you.” He reached for me, but before his fingertip made contact, he yanked it back and jerked away. “I am going to tear your heart apart, Bristol.”
I didn’t want to be hurt. I didn’t want to feel the way I did now, either. Confused and sad, longing to be in his arms. If I was thinking clearly, I would have let him leave.
If.
He grabbed the door again, and I whimpered.
Twisting around, he took another look at me and slammed it shut. Then he charged at me, hauled me off my feet, and slammed his mouth on mine. The kiss was wild. Lips and tongue crushing, possessing, staking a claim. I surrendered to his need willingly, kissing him back as he carried me to my bedroom. I fell onto the bed, and he went with me, catching himself on outstretched arms. He pulled my lower lip into his mouth, nipping it gently. He then groaned and angled upward so he was kneeling over me, spread knees straddling my legs.
“Bristol, say the word. Say red,” he commanded.
I shook my head. “No.”
He grabbed my shirt in his fists. “Please.”
“No.”
He ripped the material, and I gasped. A blaze swept through my body.
“Say the word,” he growled.
“Green.” I arched my back, pushing my aching br**sts up. “Green.”
He flattened his hands over them, kneading their softness through my bra, and I moaned as a ripple of pleasure pulsed between my legs.
More. I wanted more. Despite my fear. Despite my confusion.
He pulled my bra cup down and pinched one nipple between his finger and thumb.
“Yes,” I whispered as my body tensed. Arms. Legs. Stomach.
Shane had said he craved me. I had no doubt he was telling the truth. But what he didn’t know was that I craved him too. His kiss. His touch. His possession.
“Arms up,” he demanded.
I did what he said, lifting them over my head.
He reached under me, unhooked my bra and wrapped it around my wrists, binding them.
The sensation of being tied, trapped beneath him made me writhe with need. A burning ache pounded between my legs, and my tissues clenched, damp heat slicking the insides of my thighs.
He bent over me, nibbled my earlobe. He audibly inhaled. “I’m not going to let you make me lose control this time.” His hand glided down my stomach. I stared into his eyes and he reached lower, lower, between my thighs. “Say the word, Bristol.”
“Green.”
He kicked his leg over, kneeling beside me. “You’re so damn beautiful.” His jaw was tense as he shoved my skirt up. His gaze dropped. His eyes darkened. “Dammit.”
I parted my legs, bending my knees, spreading myself for him.
He gritted his teeth, ripped the scrap of material out from between my legs and cupped my ass, lifting it. With tongue and teeth, he tormented my sensitive tissues, my labia, my clit. I thrashed and moaned and cried and begged but he didn’t stop, he wouldn’t take me. Wouldn’t fill me.
I needed him inside me, needed his thick length stroking away the overwhelming burning.
His tongue dipped inside, but that small invasion wasn’t enough. It added to the torment instead of easing it. I could barely breathe. I was burning all over. Muscles trembling. Skin on fire.
I was about to combust when he yanked his pants down and thrust inside.
“Look at me,” he said, sounding as breathless as I was. He was seated deep inside me now. He was holding completely still, stretching my tissues, the tip of his c**k pushing at the entry of my womb.
I opened my eyes and stared up into his. They were hard, piercing.
If I could have, I would have touched his face, stroked his jaw.
“Shane,” I whispered as my insides tightened around him. I rocked my h*ps taking him as deeply as I could as he withdrew and then shoved inside again. His rhythm was fast and hard. And my body responded. This was what I’d needed. This was what I’d craved.
“My master,” I murmured as I surrendered to his claiming. “Do what you will.”
He held me in place with one hand, keeping me from sliding as he pounded into me. With the other, he caressed my clit. ‘Round and ‘round that fingertip went, and inside me a whirling blaze built, bigger, hotter. My senses amplified. Sounds louder, smells so intense I could taste them. The huff of our breaths and the sharp slap of skin meeting skin filled my ears. The scent of his skin and our blended need filled my nose. I was soaring, quaking, pulsing, writhing, on the verge. On the edge.
“Come, Bristol. Come now.” He pressed hard on my cl*t and the pressure sent a blade of erotic heat slicing through me. I exploded. My inner muscles spasmed around him, squeezing rhythmically. He halted, growled and then began thrusting harder, faster, driving his length into me until we were both shaking from exhaustion.