Down and Dirty_A Bad Boy Romantic Suspense_Shameless Southern Nights

by J. H. Croix

  Cupping his hands under my bottom, he lifted me against the door, holding me firmly in place with his body. I could feel the hot length of him through his pants and my lacy panties, hard as steel as he ground into me. We were both breathing fast, clawing at each other as we fought to get closer. I didn’t know who was more desperate, but I didn’t care. I needed this, needed to tumble into nothing but sensation.

  Maybe I was half-crazy to let this happen. Actually, I was definitely crazy. But I figured I had a chance to see this through, so I might as well. It could be one wild night. Whether I got him out of my system or not didn’t really matter. All I knew was I wanted him with such ferocity, I couldn’t ignore it.

  Jeremy broke our kiss to trail his lips along the underside of my jaw and down my neck, dusting hot kisses everywhere as he made his way to my breasts. Sucking a sensitive nipple into his mouth, he growled against me as my legs tightened around his hips and my head fell back against the door with a thump.

  My hips flexed into him, searching out friction where I needed it most. I was frenzied, needing him like I couldn’t remember needing anyone before. Jeremy let me take what I needed, holding his delicious body steady between my legs as I rocked against him.

  He hadn’t even lost his pants yet and already I was climbing toward that blissful peak. It had been too long since I’d been with someone, and I’d never been with someone like him. He read me perfectly, adjusting and moving exactly as I needed without a word. He kissed and nipped and finally let go of my thighs to set me down and drop to his knees in front of me.

  Dark, hungry eyes met mine as he peered up at me, his hands on my hips with his thumbs tucked into the waistband of my panties, silently asking, or perhaps waiting for permission. I nodded, my teeth sinking into my lower lip.

  My panties were gone in a flash, leaving me completely bare to him with only heels on my feet. I hadn’t ever been exposed that way before, not even with Wesley. Perhaps I should’ve felt exposed, but I didn’t. With need thrumming through me, desire coiling tightly inside and my body nearly on fire for Jeremy, all I could focus on was what I wanted. More. Him. Now.

  Jeremy’s gaze was intent, honed to me as if I was every dream come true, his breathing labored and his hands trembling slightly. Then his mouth was on me, and I forgot how to think, much less breathe. A gasp bled into a low moan at the feel of the sure, smooth strokes of his tongue through my folds. My hands wound into his hair, holding him to me as I cried out, murmuring his name, swearing and pleading. But I was too far gone to care. All I cared about was that he didn’t stop. Ever.

  Jeremy’s tongue was magic, working me over and over until my muscles were trembling and I was teetering on the delicious edge, about to fly over. His hands tightened on my thighs and then two of his fingers slid inside me just as his tongue flicked at my clit. In a flash, I was there, my head arching back and my nails digging into him as pleasure fractured through me.

  “Jeremy!” I gasped, chanting his name again and again as I flew apart. He licked me all the way through my orgasm, until my knees were threatening to buckle, and I almost melted to the floor.

  He braced his hands on my hips and pushed up, kissing me deeply as he collected me in his arms and tucked me against his chest, carrying me further into his house.

  “You okay?” he asked me, shifting his hold on me to flip on a light. We were in a bedroom, his bedroom from the looks of things. Setting me down gently on his bed, he started to move away from me, but I caught his wrist and reeled him back to me.

  “More than okay,” I told him, meeting his gaze and holding it. Though I could see the concern there, his eyes were also dark and wanting, tiny beads of sweat dotting his forehead. “You?”

  Flashing me a tight smile, he nodded and let his eyes flutter closed. “Fine. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  “Nope,” I answered. Tugging him onto the bed, I scooted closer and clambered onto his lap. Cupping his face in both hands, I kissed him, letting the wildness spurring me pour into his mouth. I was nowhere near done and intended to soak up every drop of this madness.

  On a gasp, Jeremy broke free, his dark gaze locking with mine. A slow smile curled his lips, sending flutters spinning in my belly and my channel clenching. Gripping my hips, he held me tight against him as he rolled us over, his weight pressing me into the mattress. He kept most of it on his elbows, but he was all muscle and all man, so I felt surrounded by him and breathed him in, the scent of him intoxicating and enveloping.

  Lowering his mouth to mine, he started kissing me again. Long, slow sweeps of his tongue, nips on my lips, his kiss drove me mad. I wrapped my legs around him, rocking my hips into him and savoring his low groan when I shivered against him.

  He appeared to have far more restraint than I did, but I couldn’t wait any longer. My hands dropped to his pants and I tore at the buttons on his fly, pushing his jeans down along with his briefs. He kicked them off, and I gasped at the feel of his cock sliding through my folds, positioned right at my entrance. I lifted my hips, flexing into him, my body urging him on.

  Lightning fast, his weight disappeared from me. I nearly moaned out loud at the sudden loss when I heard the telltale sound of foil being torn and then he was back. He kissed me once more before whispering against my lips, “You’re sure about this?”

  “I’m sure.”

  No more words were necessary as he sank inside of me—a long, slow slide, both of us moaning when he finally hit home. Jeremy felt incredible inside me, filling me completely, the delicious stretch so good, a hot shiver raced through me.

  When he finally started moving, I lost all sense of everything beyond him, us, and the sensations he was causing in my body. I surrendered to the storm, to the pleasure that was welling deep inside of me. I met each of his thrusts eagerly, wantonly.

  All too soon, I was there again, tumbling headfirst into possibly the most powerful orgasm I’d ever had, my channel pulsing and clenching him so hard that he had no choice but to follow right along with me.

  “Fuck, Marie,” he bit out, sinking in deeply as his own pleasure overtook him and his muscles quivered with his release. “Fuck. Fuuuuuuck.”

  Lying there afterwards as I tried to catch my breath, I took my first proper look around Jeremy’s bedroom. I’d been so driven to get into his pants that I hadn’t taken in any detail earlier other than to confirm that he had a bed in here. It was the only important thing at the moment.

  I pulled the crumpled sheets up to cover my bare body, but Jeremy cracked open an eye at the same time and groaned, “Don’t. I’m not done looking at you yet.”

  A soft giggle fell from my lips as he pushed the sheets down to my hips, his eyes already darkening as his eyes tracked up and down my bare body. I’d never been with a guy other than Wesley, and he’d definitely needed a longer recovery time than it seemed Jeremy did.

  “I’m just going to grab us some water,” he told me. “Then get ready for round two.”

  Rolling over, he planted a quick kiss on my shoulders and then walked his buck-naked ass out of his room. His body was so damn hot, it should’ve been illegal. He was every athlete and every male model I’d ever admired in a magazine all rolled into one. His muscles rolled and bunched as he moved, firm and powerful.

  Being underneath him, seeing that carefully wound power unleashed and focused on me and me alone was intoxicating. I wouldn’t have thought my body could want more, but the immediate memory of what he’d made me feel and the raw ecstasy on his face as he came undone above me had me wanting him all over again.

  My legs shifted restlessly, and I squeezed them together, trying to distract myself by looking around instead. His bedroom was lit only by the soft light of his bedside lamp.

  The room was furnished with utilitarian furniture, basic, clean lines, and not even a bit of clutter. Aside from his bed, with a square dark wooden headboard, there was a desk, a couch, a sound system and a small television, but that was just about it.

  Th
e room smelled like him, masculine and almost woodsy. His scent, along with his piercing eyes and easy smile, had done me in. I’d had no intention of giving into my need for him, but about halfway through the night, I realized that beating back my desire was a lost cause.

  I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone, and apparently, I’d accurately read the signs that he wanted me too. I shouldn’t have let lust get the best of me, and I didn’t know why I had. By all rights, I should’ve been at home in my own bed. At most, I should’ve been drifting off after a mediocre self-provided orgasm to release the pent-up frustration being around him had brought to a simmer in me.

  But I wasn’t. I was in his room, recovering from not one, but two spectacular orgasms and looking forward to more. The longer he was gone though, the more guilt and regret started replacing the afterglow of desire and anticipation.

  Jeremy didn’t want to be a father. Or so I’d surmised. I hadn’t pressed him for information when he’d talked about Sarah’s son, who was actually mine, but I hadn’t the nerve to correct him. His comment about not wanting the worry of a child, well, that had been crystal clear. While I felt I should’ve clarified that Austin was my son who just happened to be with Sarah, I hadn’t been able to find the words. Knowing Jeremy wasn’t interested in children only reinforced my resolve this had to be a one-time thing.

  I was being selfish by not telling him the truth. I knew it and the regret over it was already chewing at me. I simply hadn’t been ready to tell him the truth and risk having him walk away already. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that what he and I had wasn’t going to go past tonight. Jeremy had never really done relationships as far as I knew. I had no doubt that he wasn’t about to start now, especially not with a woman who had heaps of baggage and a child.

  For that reason, I’d convinced myself to just let it go. I had the rest of tonight and that would be it. I’d make it count.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jeremy

  “Where do you think you’re going?” My voice was hoarse from sleep, gravelly as I cracked open an eye to find Marie tugging her dress into place.

  I stretched out, grinning as a pink tinge spread across her cheeks and a shy smile touch her lips.

  “I have to go,” she murmured.

  Sitting up, I reached for her hands. After a beat of hesitation, her hands curled into mine. That simple point of contact, and my body vividly remembered last night, sending a shot of blood straight to my groin.

  Last night had been too damn good. Marie was something else—sensual, responsive and so damn hot. There was no way I was letting her go just yet. In more ways than one, last night had been far more intense than I’d expected.

  “You sure about that?”

  With a gentle tug on her hands, she came to me willingly, her cheeks flushing a deeper shade of pink as her lips parted and her pupils widened.

  She paused and for a flash I thought she was going to leave, but then a smile tilted the corners of her mouth, and she shifted to face me fully. “Let’s say I’m not sure about that. What happens then?”

  A sleepy smile stretched across my face as I slid my hands up her arms to her shoulders, then down her sides to settle on her hips. Shifting forward so I was sitting on the edge of the bed, I tugged her onto my lap. She gasped when she felt how hard I was. Despite the sheet draped across my hips, I could tell she hadn’t put her panties back on yet. She was so fucking hot, and the memory of what it felt like to be inside her clenching, wet heat pushed me to the edge of my control. That was how bad I had it for her—nothing more than a thought of what it felt like to be tangled up with her, and I was scrambling to maintain control.

  Holding back with her, making sure it was good for her, was the hardest fucking thing I’d ever had to do. But it had been worth every single second.

  “Then I think I could convince you to stay a little longer, how’s that sound?”

  Raising my hips slightly, I heard her sharp intake of breath as I arched into her. The sheet might as well not have been there.

  “That sounds...” Her words faded, her hands reaching for my shoulders before they started trailing to my chest, down my stomach. She didn’t stop until she’d pulled the sheet away, revealing my rock hard and ready cock. Her touch trailed across me and down along my thighs.

  I hung onto my control by a thin thread. Her breath quickened right along with mine, her eyes glued to my cock before she tore them away to meet mine. “That sounds like a plan.”

  “Good,” I murmured.

  I’d have let her go if that was what she wanted, but I’d have been left seriously wanting.

  I leaned back, keeping my hands on her hips so she was straddling me. My cock sprang up between us.

  Marie’s gaze broke away from mine, mapping down my body with her light touch following. I held still. She was hesitant, but not timid. She was assertive when it came to what she wanted, but not aggressive. And hell, every touch was like a flame licking through me.

  As much as it took all of my discipline, I didn’t take over, even though every part of me wanted to flip her over and sink into her—hard, deep and repeatedly.

  She lazily mapped my body, her light touch pushing me to the edge of my control. My restraint nearly snapped under the slow, sensual torture. I knew I was being selfish for wanting her to rush, but I was aching for more.

  My eyes fluttered closed. Watching her touch me, along with feeling her heat on my lap and her eyes on every inch of me was going to make me lose it.

  When her small hand finally closed in a tight fist around my cock, the frayed thread of my control almost broke. A low groan escaped as I arched my neck and pressed my head into the pillow. Her eyes snapped to mine at the sound and she flushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a tease.”

  Remorse flashed in her eyes and it looked like she was about to jump up and make a dash for the door. Jesus. Someone had done a number on this woman. If I didn’t have her on top of me in that second, I would’ve demanded to know who it was so I could beat the fuck out of him.

  “You’re not being a tease. You couldn’t be, because I don’t expect anything from you,” I managed to reply. Bringing one hand to her chin, I held it between my thumb and index finger, looking into her eyes. “If all you want to do is touch me like this, then I’m still the luckiest guy in Cypress this morning.”

  The tension eased in her body as she held my gaze. After a few beats, the worried look faded from her eyes, and a sly smile curled the corners of her mouth. “What if I want more?”

  “I’m all yours.” I lay back on the bed again, keeping my eyes on hers.

  “All mine, huh?” she murmured, her eyes darkening as they held mine. Taking a deep breath, she shed her dress and tossed it away, her bra following in quick succession.

  “All yours,” I rasped, unable to tear my eyes away from the lush curves of breasts, her dusky pink nipples. Her sex was neatly shaved, already glistening and swollen again. My cock twitched at the sight.

  Marie noticed, a gleam entering her eyes and a slow smile following. “Looks like we’re on the same page about what that might be. Condoms?”

  “In the drawer.” Jerking my head to it, I was transfixed as I watched her. She managed to locate a condom quickly, ripping it open with shaky hands and then handing it to me. Rolling it on in record time, I reached for her and she straddled me again.

  She sank onto me seconds later—inch by agonizing inch, her slick core sheathed me. Thought fled and raw desire took over. Sliding a palm down her spine, I caught her lips in a kiss as she leaned forward. With every rock of her hips, I surged into her, savoring the throb of her drenched channel around me.

  I felt her release building as her breath came in ragged gasps and moans. Gripping her hip with one hand, I pressed my thumb against her clit, relishing when she cried out, her pussy clamping down over my cock. Seeing her come undone pushed me over the edge. Her second orgasm ripped my own from me. Try as I might to fight it, I didn’t st
and a chance.

  We showered together afterwards and one look at her had need building inside of me again. With soap bubbles sliding over her skin, my cock swelled. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her, wondering if I could convince her to stay again, but she pulled away and answered my unasked question.

  “I really have to get going.” She gave me a rueful smile, stepping out of the shower and reaching for a towel before I could try to change her mind.

  “You have somewhere to be? I could always make us breakfast.” Shutting down the water, I followed her out of the shower.

  “I… uh. I can’t, I do…” She rushed out of the bathroom without looking back, calling from the bedroom. “I do have somewhere to be, I mean.”

  Well that’s vague. But she didn’t explain any further, and I didn’t question her. “Okay, I want to see you again. Can I?”

  Securing my towel around my waist, I walked into my bedroom and grabbed some clothes from my closet. She’d already gotten her dress back on and looked like she was ready to leave. A hint of sadness crept into her eyes as she nodded, doubt clouding her tone. “I’d like that too.”

  I tried talking her into letting me drive her home, but she refused a ride and told me she’d called for a cab already. There weren’t many in Cypress, but Sunday mornings there always seemed to be some available.

  She gave a sleepy Arcadian a few pets and then left moments later. Within minutes of her departure, a knock sounded at my door, and an irrational part of me hoped that it was her, that she’d come back. I opened the door to find not Marie, but my brothers on my doorstep.

  All four of them. Tyson and Beau wore suits, though Beau’s was light and less stuffy than Tyson’s. District attorney versus architect. Figured Beau would look less stiff and formal. Sonny and Evan were dressed more similarly to me, jeans and button-ups were the order of the day for us.

  “You ready to go, Jeremy?” Sonny asked, dark sunglasses over his eyes.