by Cindi Madsen
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Brooklyn
I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but I had, and I panicked that it’d freak Shane out that I didn’t leave, like I was already some clingy girlfriend when we were so undefined. Only when I tried to get out of bed to find my phone and see what time it was, his arm circled my waist and then he hauled me back to him.
“Where do you think you’re sneaking off to?”
I twisted to face him, our noses a couple inches from touching. “Oh, you know. The bar, the casino, or the strip club. I haven’t quite decided yet.”
“I’ll save you a trip and strip for you.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“But you don’t have any clothes on.” I lifted the covers, not for confirmation but because I knew he was naked and I needed another look. Damn.
He trailed his fingers over my hip bone, the callused pads sending zips of electricity over my skin. “That’s why I’m sorta offended you haven’t thrown any dollars at me yet.”
I laughed. “Where would I even tuck them?” He opened his mouth, and I covered it with my hand to stop whatever highly-inappropriate comment he was about to make. “Forget I asked. When I go to find my clothes, I’ll check my pockets and see how many bills I can toss your way.”
“You can toss them at me in the morning. We should stay in bed. As you pointed out, we’re already naked”—this time he lifted the covers and looked me up and down, making a low sound of approval—“and now that I’ve gotten my hands and lips on you, I’m in no hurry to let you go.” He moved his lips to my neck, his argument compelling enough I momentarily forgot why I thought I should leave.
He’d called himself my boyfriend when I showed up, so maybe he wasn’t worried about clingy, and maybe this was fast, especially after my breakup, but it’d been building for weeks. Not to mention we didn’t have a lot of time together, what with his training and—
“Oh, crap,” I said. “What time is it?”
Keeping one arm around me, Shane fumbled around for his phone on the nightstand. He squinted at the bright light. “One thirty.”
“Oh jeez. I bet Finn’s texted or called to check in, and if I don’t answer he’ll freak out and call Liam, and Liam’ll loop in Dad, and then suddenly they’re all charging into a party, barking threats to dismember people if they don’t point them to me.”
“That seems very precise.”
“Because it’s burned into my brain. Halfway through junior year, the night I was going to take things to the next level with my first boyfriend. After they busted up the party he never so much as looked at me again. In fact, all of the guys gave me a wide berth from then on.”
“Good. I’m glad they scared them off. I guarantee those guys didn’t deserve you, anyway.”
I shot him a look. “Well, now you’re the guy.” Earlier I’d counted my brothers and Dad as one complication, but they were more like three giant, obtrusive obstacles. “My dad and brothers can’t find out about this—it’d be a disaster. You know that, right?”
It was going to be a disaster either way in the long run, a fact I wished I could forget for a little while. It wasn’t healthy to pretend that things would magically work out just because I really, really, really liked this guy who drove me crazy in every possible way. As if the universe would be all Well, since you threw in that extra “really” your relationship will go smoothly, despite your family, and his career, and your impending move to a whole other city. And oh, the fact that you also want different things out of life.
“Even Finn?” Shane asked.
“Especially Finn. For the most part he’s the carefree, casual-cool guy, but in some ways, he’s more protective than the other two.” While we’d always been close, those nights we’d hidden in each others’ rooms to escape our parents’ relentless arguing brought us even closer. That was the first time Dad had cheated on Mom—not that we knew the why until later.
Shane gave me a doubtful look, like I didn’t know my family as well as he did. He’d seen my brothers calmly solve the confrontation with Conrad at the bar, but he hadn’t been there when Finn found out the guy had cheated on me and it took three other massive fighters from our team to hold him back. The finger got pointed at me when it came to Conrad’s departure from Team Domination, and I’d willingly take the blame, but Finn’s threat to dismember him probably didn’t leave my ex with a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings. Hard to work with a coach who wanted you to get your ass kicked.
Shane folded my hand into his. “What if I explain that you’re on my team as the girl who helps me relieve stress?”
“I guess that’s fine if you don’t want to keep on doing frivolous things like breathing.”
A crooked grin spread across his face, so he clearly didn’t understand the situation. “Look, I just had killer sex with this incredible woman that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about for weeks, so nothing you say is going to bother me right now. In fact, seeing that you’re worried about me makes me even happier.”
“You’re impossible.” The sex had been amazing. More intense and satisfying and better than anything I’d ever experienced before. I might tell him if he weren’t already too damn cocky for his own good. The gleam in his eye made me suspect he already knew, and my heart went to fluttering on me. I’d told myself not to let him affect me for so long that it took me a second to remember that I was giving in to it.
I reached up and trailed my fingertips along his whiskered jaw, another thing I couldn’t stop doing. There was something so sexy about his whiskers and his Adam’s apple, and how big and masculine he was in general, and just mmm.
And here I was getting distracted again. The feel of his erection jutting into my hip wasn’t helping. I gave him a quick peck on the lips, and he groaned as I got out of bed. “Let me at least check my phone,” I said. “I’ll never be able to do any kind of relaxing until I do.”
I picked up a T-shirt of his off the floor, resisting the urge to sniff it, since it smelled like him, and then padded to the living room, where we’d left a trail of my clothes leading from the front door.
When I dug my phone out of the pocket of my jeans, I saw that Finn had texted, and for once, luck was on our side.
Finn: Hey. I’m staying with Liam tonight so you and your boyfriend can have the place to yourself. This means you automatically agree to dishes all week. Sucka!
I smiled and shook my head. I almost texted him about the breakup, but it made a good cover, so I sent a quick “Thanks and good night” reply. I’d come clean about Trey later.
Still, I hated not saying anything. Finn and I didn’t keep secrets from each other, and I wished I could tell him I’d had a phenomenal night and why, but the risk of it going wrong was too high.
Strong arms came around my waist and soft lips hit my neck. “How long do we have until the search party arrives? I have an idea for my last dying wish.”
I melted against him as he worked his magic with his mouth. “He’s actually staying with Liam tonight, so we’ve got the night.”
“Perfect.” His hard cock pressed against my ass as he pulled me tighter to him, and all the places that were pleasantly sore from our earlier session reawakened.
He reached around and over my hip, his fingers dipping lower and lower. I moaned when he stroked me, automatically arching into his fingers. He moved his lips right next to my ear, his hot breath hitting my neck. “Still in a rush to leave?”
“I think I can spare twenty—”
Shane pushed a finger inside me, and I shuddered, my knees nearly buckling from the extraordinary sensations twisting through me.
“Make that thirty minutes,” I said on a shaky breath. “We do have some lost time to make up for.” He added another finger and pumped into me. I reached back and gripped the back of his neck, draping myself over him, wanting to hold on to him as he drove me higher and higher.
The pad of his thumb pressed against my clit, the pressure combined with the pumping of his finger
s sending shivers of electricity through my entire body, stronger and stronger, until they consumed me. He drew out my pleasure as long as possible, leaving me a heap of blissful, limp limbs that would’ve collapsed right to the floor without his support.
Then I was in his arms, and with a few large strides, we were back in his bed. I looked up at him and he looked down at me, and everything felt familiar yet new and my heart expanded, getting way ahead of itself.
We’d agreed to let ourselves want this for a night, and I’d had the genius idea to see where that took us. Right into screwed territory, where this thing between us deepened and impossible attachments formed, that’s where it took us.
He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me long and slow, like we had all the time in the world. Then we were falling into each other again, and I wished for reality to stay far away, or for the night to never end, because once you’ve had a taste of heaven, how could you ever go back?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Brooklyn
Just don’t think about the kissing, or the sex, or the kissing during sex.
That was Tuesday morning’s mantra for getting through the day without broadcasting the fact that Shane and I had crossed into more over the weekend. With a sharp nod to assure my resolve I had it under control, I pulled open the door and stepped into the gym. Over the past few days I’d taken Liam up on his advice to take some time off to paint, and after my night with Shane, my spark was back. Figuring there were enough spare people in the gym over the weekend, I started my project Saturday afternoon, worked on it most of Sunday, and nearly finished it last night. A few finishing touches and it’d be done. It’d been a long time since I’d gone start to finish on a painting that quickly.
Immersing myself in my art, from the big picture to the small details, had been exactly what I needed. Minutes turned into hours and then I would suddenly look up, bleary eyed, to find it dark outside. The next day I’d wake up eager to hit it again. I’d been tempted to take off one more day because I’d been in the zone, but the work I’d put off was growing by the day and my time to do it was shrinking just as quickly.
While I’d been recharging my creative batteries, the guys had been hard at work doing hours of grueling training. I received occasional texts during Shane’s mini breaks, and while I felt bad he wouldn’t really get a day off until after his fight, I couldn’t argue with the results. Not the ridiculously ripped body or his endurance—he most definitely hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d claimed it wasn’t something he had a problem with.
My gaze snagged on the very guy I’d been thinking about. He was shirtless, sweaty, and running on a treadmill, every muscle working and moving in tandem with the other. My eyes revolted against moving on, and then my brain went and did exactly what I’d told it not to. I relived the feel of his lips claiming mine, his callused fingertips dragging across my skin, his powerful body moving over me. Suddenly I felt like I was running those miles right along with him.
He glanced up, and I did a crappy job of holding back my smile. I bit my lip, and he stumbled. He gripped the handles and recovered, and I smothered my laugh.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Liam and quickly forced my attention to my desk, trying to fake my way into making myself excited to get back to balancing books and all the invoicing fun awaiting me.
After a few days of painting, my body protested at the thought of sitting in front of a computer all day instead of working magic on a canvas. My family should be in favor of my getting closer to Shane, because right now, he was my main motivation to show up at work.
Since I couldn’t admit it, I settled in.
Liam slowed near my desk, and I was sure I was busted for checking out Shane. “How was your long weekend?” he asked, and my hello, I’m not a robot, so yeah, I sometimes slip and check out fighters comment died on my lips.
He probably thought I’d spent the majority of it with my boyfriend. I’d meant to come clean, but letting them assume I was still with Trey would help shift suspicion away from Shane and me being more than friends-ish. “I spent most of it painting, and it was glorious. Taking time off to do that was probably the best advice you’ve ever given me, so thanks.” All true, too, so bonus!
The genuine grin that didn’t show up as often these days curved his lips. “Good. I’m glad it helped. And Trey? He seemed pretty upset when you guys left here on Friday.”
I gave a non-committal head wobble. “It didn’t exactly win me any points.” There. Now it wouldn’t be a huge surprise when I eventually admitted we weren’t together anymore.
Liam glanced at Shane, still sprinting away on the treadmill. “Knox orchestrated that whole mess, egging him on like that. I figured you’d be mad at him.”
“I was.” But then he gave me multiple mind-blowing orgasms and all was forgiven. “I’m over it.”
“Can you hold on to it? I need him to focus on something besides you.”
Talk about exaggeration—we hadn’t seen each other for days. “And you think me giving him dirty looks will help him focus?”
“I think…” He exhaled. “We really need him to win his fight.”
Shit. Guilt bubbled up inside of me, and just when I thought I’d finally parted ways with the sucky emotion. Pressure mixed in to add another layer to the heaviness pressing against my chest. If I chase one more guy off the team, they’ll be begging me to leave instead of the other way around. I’ll become the Yoko Ono of Team Domination.
While a month ago I could’ve mostly not cared, now it would hurt if they celebrated my departure. I wouldn’t blame them, either. They worked so hard, putting in long hours for meager pay, and they had a lot riding on each fighter and bout. “I want him to win, I swear. And if there’s anything I can do…”
Liam ran a hand through his hair, but it was getting long enough that it fell right back around his eyes. “How do you feel about wearing a Mumu?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask that,” I said, fighting back a smile so he didn’t go thinking he was hilarious.
“What? You and Finn are the only people in this family who get to make jokes?”
I tossed a mechanical pencil at his head, and he dodged and laughed. Then his expression turned serious, the way he wore it too often these days.
“How far are you on the books?” he asked.
“I’m about to start combing through last month’s ledger instead of dwelling in two-or-three-months-ago territory. Another week, week and a half, and I should at least be starting the current month.”
“Have you found any outstanding invoices from people who owe us money? Preferably large sums of it.”
I grimaced. “Like one or two tiny ones, but there are a lot more outstanding invoices on our end.” There were also those figures that didn’t add up, which reminded me that I needed to see if any of those vendors had answered the emails I’d sent last week from the accounting address. I didn’t want to bring it up before I had solid information, since that would only stress Liam out more.
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
“Do you want me to cut some checks for the invoices? Or I can pay them online since it’s easi—”
“We’ll worry about that once we’re caught up. I’m dealing with the bills for all the things that we can’t train without.” He tapped the desk. “I better get back to work.”
“You know your advice to me about taking some time off to do what you love? You might want to take it and apply it to yourself.”
His return smile was way too forced. “This gym, training, and fighting is what I love. Why would I need time off from that?”
Apparently he’d meant it rhetorically, because he walked away before I could give him an answer. Finn had told me they needed my help to dig out of a mess, but the deeper I went, the messier things looked. Add in the stress constantly coming off Liam, and I worried that I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.
…
Thursday evening, I wa
ndered into Dad’s office and opened the mini-fridge he kept chock-full of electrolyte- and protein-heavy drinks. I’d recently taken to sticking a couple of Mountain Dews inside so when my caffeine drip ran low, I could come recharge my supply and eke out another hour or so of work before crashing.
My palm had just wrapped around a cool can, my mouth already anticipating the syrupy goodness awaiting me, when I heard someone step inside the room.
I glanced over my shoulder to find a freshly-showered Shane, and a whole different kind of anticipation took control of my body. A jolt traveled down my core, much stronger than any buzz I could get from caffeine.
He gave me the same look a hungry cougar would give a deer, and my heart screeched into action. When it came to fight or flight with this guy, I was all about the fight—preferably while naked.
“Are we alone?” I asked. The past few days it’d been impossible to find time to see each other. We’d exchanged texts and a few stolen kisses that only left me sexually frustrated and wanting more.
Without a word, he stalked toward me.
A few long strides and his mouth was on mine, his firm body pinning me against the wall. I wadded his T-shirt in my hands, ensuring he wouldn’t get away. “Plot twist”—I sucked his bottom lip between mine and lightly bit it—“the predator becomes the prey.”
Shane dipped his head and licked a trail across my collarbone. “You won’t be saying that after I devour you.”
“Bring it.”
He gripped a fistful of my hair and jerked my head aside. Then he placed rough kisses on my neck and jaw before thrusting his tongue into my mouth and stroking it in a savage rhythm that awoke my carnal side and lured it to come out and play. “Tap out if it gets to be too much.”
I reached around, slipped my hands down the back of his shorts and squeezed his ass as I brought him tighter against me. “Right back at you.”
Shane boosted me into his arms, and I automatically wrapped my legs around his waist. He spun and placed me on the desk, then wedged himself between my thighs and reclaimed my mouth. His hands dragged up my sides and then moved to cup my breasts over a bra that so needed to go.