Relentless Liberation: Serano Brothers Novel, Book1

by L. J. Fine

  Its bizarreness was only compounded when he abruptly stopped and said, “You wanna do this the hard way? Fine.” With no further warning he ducked down, tossed her over his shoulder, and then continued to make his way out of the club.

  “Tyler!” she squealed. An actual honest-to-God squeal. If she weren’t so furious at the moment, she would have been mortified by the sound. “Put me down!”

  He ignored her until they were out in the parking lot and had reached his car. He opened the passenger door, and then set her on her feet.

  “Get in the car,” he rumbled as his big body crowded her space. Instinctually, she went to back up but was too close to the car and tripped. Right into the passenger seat.

  Bending down, he swung her legs out of the way, slammed the door shut and was on his way around the car before she could even process what happened. It was too out of the ordinary to be able to process with any sort of immediate fluency.

  As soon as he got in the car and started the engine, she glared at him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you do that?”

  “What’s wrong with me? What the fuck’s wrong with you?” he bit out, maintaining a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. “You ducked out of the fight without so much as a hi-how-are-ya. I thought you were supposed to be little Miss Shy and Introverted. But instead, when I finally catch up to you, I find you at some skeezy club all but having sex on the dance floor with some fucking prick. And don’t even get me started on what you’re wearing.”

  Shocked, she could only gape at him for a moment before gathering her thoughts to respond. “Okay, first of all I was not having sex with him. We were just dancing. You’re acting insane. I didn’t realize I owed you a play-by-play of my night or that I answered to you. And what’s wrong with what I’m wearing? I never see you complaining when you’re flirting with all those skanks who come to the fights. What they wear isn’t much different.”

  “Good to see you’re admitting you look like a skank. And no, I don’t complain because they aren’t you. This isn’t you. Why the hell are you dressed like that?”

  An unnamed emotion swept over her in that moment. It had been running parallel to her anger and it now threatened to eclipse her fury altogether. Not only had he said she looked like a skank but apparently she couldn’t pull the look off like those other women. Like it made them sexy but she just looked like a fool.

  Now that she thought about it, maybe the emotion did have a name. Maybe even a few names. Dejection, humiliation and unrequited torment. What was wrong with her? Why had she let Chloe talk her into this? And more importantly, after all this time was she still that much of a doormat?

  “Maybe I was feeling confined and unvaried,” she said, softly answering his spoken question as much as she answered her silent ones. “Mabe I was tired of being invisible and undesired. I really don’t see why you care one way or another that I went out tonight, regardless of how I’m dressed.”

  They pulled up to a red light and when she finally got the courage, she risked a glance at him. Apparently it was his turn to stare at her incredulously with an open-mouthed expression. It might have been comical if he didn’t then snap his jaw shut and expel a harsh breath through his nose, once again reminding her of an enraged bull. Was it masochistic to think that he looked hot as hell when he was pissed off?

  “You really feel like that? Invisible and undesired?”

  “Yes, all the time,” she answered immediately, without even having to think about it.

  The turn signal that had been clicking to the right to go toward her apartment suddenly shifted left to go who-knew-where.

  Her eyes flicked to his face. “You’re not taking me home?”

  “No,” came his clipped reply.

  “Then where are we going?”

  This time he didn’t even bother with a response, just pressed on the accelerator and made the left turn when the light turned green.

  Okay, so obviously he was still pissed off. But how was she supposed to know he would react like this? Why he was even entitled to such a violent reaction was still beyond her. She felt like a recalcitrant child about to be scolded. Then something occurred to her.

  “How’d you know where we were anyway? That I hadn’t just gone home?”

  “Brian.” Again with the one-word answers. But she supposed in this instance he didn’t need to elaborate. So much for Brian’s promise to keep their location on the down-low.

  The rest of the car ride passed in tense silence. He so steadfastly ignored her that she found it pointless to open her mouth again. And if he clenched his jaw any tighter she was sure it would shatter.

  Eventually they turned onto a quiet, well-lit street. About halfway down the block, he pulled into a driveway, clicked a button inside the car and the garage door opened. Into the garage they went, the sound of the heavy door closing behind them ominous.

  “Um, Tyler,” she bit her lip, nervous all of a sudden, “where are we?” She had been too hurt, angry and preoccupied to give much thought to what they were going to do once they reached their mysterious destination. Now myriad possibilities raced through her mind. None of them good.

  But this was Tyler she was talking about here. He wouldn’t hurt her, so why was she suddenly so apprehensive?

  “My house.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, and then barked, “Get out of the car.”

  So maybe his tone wasn’t helping at all with the aforementioned apprehension.

  He got out of the car and slammed the door behind him before pacing over to the door to the house. Opening it, he flicked the hall light on, and then turned to wait for her, his muscular arms folded across his chest.

  For one stubborn moment she debated the merits of defying him by staying in the car. He was acting so strangely that she didn’t know how to act. When he arched his eyebrow at her hesitancy, she figured that if she sat there any longer he would probably just stalk over to her and yank her out of the car himself. So really, her ass was getting out of this car one way or another and she preferred to do it on her own.

  Tentatively, she got out and stood before him, raising her own eyebrow. That slow, sensuous smile of his was all the warning she got before he pulled her inside the house, slammed the door behind her, and then pinned her against its hard surface. He crowded into her, bracketing his arms on either side of her against the door.

  “Tyler, wha—”

  “Shhh,” he whispered, shaking his head and pressing his hard body into hers. “I don’t want you to talk anymore. Nothing you’ve said tonight makes any goddamn sense. So I want you to just listen.”

  His hands landed on her hips, then began to travel south until they hooked around her thighs. Then he was lifting her up and, unbelievably, wrapping her legs around his waist. She couldn’t have been more shocked if he had slapped her.

  “I want you to just feel, baby.”

  She whimpered at the term of endearment that just rolled off his tongue, as though he addressed her that way all the time. He had never called her anything other than Mina and she wanted to bask in his husky voice throwing out words like baby.

  Wait though. Hadn’t there been that one time, outside of her fantasies, that he had called her that? The night of his birthday maybe? Memories of that night were so fuzzy she couldn’t be sure that it hadn’t been a dream. Just like this probably was. She fully expected to wake up in the break room at work with drool on her mouth and an ache in her pussy from having had that dream again.

  Those warm, strong hands on her thighs pushing her skirt up felt very real, though, and she had a moment of panic. What was he doing? Surely this wasn’t how he would treat his sister—if he had one—was it? No, she knew he didn’t feel this way about her, so there had to be something else going on. Then a horrible thought occurred to her and something akin to dread coursed through her system.

  “Are you drunk?” Never mind that he had just driven the whole way from the club to his house and he seemed perfectly sober. There had
to be something making him act this way and he had admitted himself that alcohol affected him differently than other people. He wouldn’t just do this.

  He flashed her that beautiful, lazy smile. “No baby, I’m not drunk.”

  Wow, there was that word again.

  “High then? Temporarily insane?”

  The smile slipped from his face and he growled, the sound predatory.

  “What I am is hard.” Bending his knees, he pushed up until the rigid length of his impressive erection was pressed tight up against her core. Holy shit. He wasn’t lying. “Every fucking inch of my cock is so damn hard.”

  He punctuated his statement by rocking into her, letting her feel the truth of his words sliding against her now-drenched pussy.

  “Do you feel it, Mina?” Oh God, she did. Even through the thick layer of his jeans and the thin barrier of her panties she could feel how hot he was.

  Hooking her ankles behind his back to hold her still, he freed one of his hands and brought it to her chin, positioning it to meet her gaze. “I’ve been like this since I stepped into the ring. I took one look at you and almost got my ass handed to me. You’re so fucking sexy it’s distracting.”

  Gasping, she tried to wrench her chin away from his hold. That couldn’t be true. He wouldn’t let her go so she lowered her eyes. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Tyler.”

  “Does this feel, what was that word you liked? Ah yeah, disingenuous.” He rocked his hips into her harder. “Look at me.” His tone brooked no argument, so she forced her eyes to meet his. “I want you to feel it, baby, because it’s all for you. All your fault I’m feeling like this.”

  She had no response as his gaze continued to hold hers, refusing to let go. Tyler had never lied to her before. Why would he lie now? To what end? Surely he wouldn’t throw their friendship away just because he was horny and she seemed like a willing outlet.

  Cautiously, as though not to scare her, he dipped his head until their lips touched softly, just a mere brush of flesh against flesh. Her eyes remained open and trained on his. She still couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.

  “Trust me, Mina,” he whispered before he pressed another light kiss onto her lips. “I swear I won’t hurt you.”

  This time his tongue swept across the seam of her lips, begging entrance. On an unintelligible whimper, she opened for him and closed her eyes, granting him the trust he asked for. The moment she capitulated, he swept in and dominated her mouth. He ground his lower body into hers as their tongues played a wicked game, causing her to squirm and moisture to run down her crease.

  Wondering and guessing what Tyler would taste like paled in comparison to reality. He was like heaven in her mouth, all cinnamon and dark spices, which played havoc with her senses and had her instantly addicted.

  Freeing her arms from the prison he created, she lifted her hands to run her fingers through his hair to pull him closer.

  The hand that had been cupping her jaw trailed down her neck, then lower as his fingers played with the neckline of her tank. Those devious fingers continued downward, running light circles around her budding nipple, arousing it into a hard peak before he took it between his thumb and forefinger and pinched. The sting sent a hard jolt straight to her clit, leaving warm tingles in its wake. She gasped into his mouth and he swallowed the sound as that hand moved lower to where his body was grinding deliciously into hers. The tips of his fingers skated over her lower belly and up under her skirt to draw a firm line down her slit through her panties.

  “Damn, baby.” He broke the kiss and dragged his finger up to center on her clit, rubbing in slow, intoxicating circles. “You’re already so wet for me. But I’m gonna make it worse.” Moving the crotch of her drenched panties out of the way, his seeking digit found and rimmed her entrance.

  Slowly, that thick finger slid inside her, making her groan and cling to him tighter. “I’m gonna make you come a couple of times, get this tight little pussy wet and open enough to take my cock. Because, Mina,” he caught her gaze with his, the intensity of the stare unbreakable, “I am going to fuck you.”

  God, the words that came out of his mouth. Usually when he spoke to her, the words he chose were cultured and sweet. So much so that she knew he did it on purpose, to prove to her that he wasn’t that illiterate Neanderthal she had first feared him to be. She never would have guessed how explicit he could be, or that he would ever share this side of himself with her.

  The finger inside her began to move back out just as slowly as he pushed it in. Adding a second, he slid them home and Mina cried out as her body arched off the door. It had been so long for her that even this much of him filling her up stretched and burned. But it was so good when he curled his fingers and pumped steadily in and out, brushing her clit with his palm and never once taking his gaze from hers. She moaned and rocked her hips, meeting him thrust for thrust.

  “That’s right,” he whispered, kissing and nipping at her lips. “Work yourself on my fingers.” Thumb finding her clit, he rubbed in tight circles in time to the frantic rhythm they had created. “Come for me.”

  It was as if she had waited forever for this to happen, never in a million years thinking that it actually would. She had brought herself off so many times—more than she could count—just thinking about his strength, the way she wished he would look at her, the way she longed to hear him say her name.

  The sound of his sinfully deep voice in her ear commanding her to do something so illicit and naughty was enough. Let alone the fact that it was really Tyler who pressed her up against this door, touched her like this. She had never stood a chance of denying him anything he wanted.

  The orgasm broke hard inside her, starting at her pussy and stretching out like vines throughout the rest of her body. Her head fell back against the door on a whimpering moan as her inner muscles pulsed around his thrusting fingers.

  All throughout the storm, his dark eyes never left hers and she wouldn’t have been able to look away if her life had depended on it. There was a longing there that she had never seen before and couldn’t place.

  As the tremors of her body slowed he kissed her, wet and drugging. When he sucked on her tongue, her inner muscles twitched around his fingers in an aftershock, making him smile against her lips.

  “You’re so sweet.” He slowly pulled his fingers free, making her groan. “If your mouth tastes this good,” he kissed her lips, then her jaw, then her neck, “then I really need to get you naked and find out what the rest of your body tastes like.”

  With one last thrust of his hips against hers—as though he were reluctant to leave her—he unwrapped her legs from around his waist and set her feet on the floor. Her thighs shook and her knees almost gave out until she grabbed his arm for balance.

  He steadied her with what she strongly suspected was a smug smile. “Can you walk or should I carry you?”

  Shaking her head, she said, “I can wa—” Before she could finish, he scooped her up into his arms. Thankfully, this time there was no squeal to accompany the gesture, just a questioning stare.

  “I like holding you,” he answered with a shrug and a kiss to her lips. She didn’t know if she would ever get used to his casual kisses and touches. It all just seemed too surreal.

  Floating on a post-orgasmic cloud of wonder and awe, she didn’t notice or care where he was taking her. All her brain seemed to register was the feeling of his strong arms around her, the slow rise and fall of his chest as he carried her, not even remotely straining or out of breath—as though she weighed less than a feather. All she could think about was what he had done to her up against that door and what he had promised was coming once he set her back down on her feet.

  But the moment he deposited her on his bed and stood back to pull his t-shirt over his head, her pleasure-fogged brain had a moment of clarity. What was he doing? What was she doing? She had no business being here with him at all, let alone like this. She watched the muscles play in his upper body
as he tugged the shirt off, rustling his already deliciously tousled hair. Its disarray could probably be blamed on her fingers tunneling through it when she’d come.

  Oh God, she had climaxed all over him. How was she ever going to be able to innocently hang out with him again and look at those hands without vivid memories flooding her brain? Because she knew that this was more than likely a one-off. She still hadn’t figured out what was wrong with him that was making him act this way.

  The Tyler she had come to know—hell, even the Tyler that his closest friends knew, if Brian’s information was to be believed—didn’t want her like this. Maybe he had been body-snatched.

  Shit, what if he’s been body-snatched? Okay, stop.

  Obviously, she had read one too many sci-fi novels and she needed to put a leash on her wayward thoughts before they could run away with her. But seriously, how was any of this within the realm of possibility?

  The wicked look in his eyes as his gaze trailed her body and the way he licked those perfect lips had her scooting up the bed to get away from him.

  “Oh no. Where you going?” He grabbed her ankles and dragged her back down the bed until her ass rested on the edge. He stood between her spread thighs. “I’m not even close to being done with you yet.”

  “Tyler, we need to talk about this.” She placed her hands on his chest in a fruitless effort to halt his forward momentum. Also fruitless was her attempt to ignore how amazing all that hard muscle encased in such soft skin felt moving under her fingers. He was so unbelievably gorgeous and she was so undoubtedly not. She felt it was her duty, especially as his friend, to stop him from doing something he would definitely regret when he regained his full mental faculties.

  “See—” He kissed her lips softly. “The problem with that is—” He angled his head differently and kissed her again. “I would talk to you about this, baby, really—” This time when he kissed her, his tongue swept through her mouth and darted around hers playfully before he drew back again. “But you won’t believe a thing that comes out of my mouth.” Fisting the material of her tank top, he dragged it up over her head. “So I’m just gonna have to show you.”