A man came up to the bar to my right. “Mind if I grab a drink here?”
“No, not at all, go…” I trailed off when I saw his face. “You!”
“Me,” he agreed, nodding. The bartender came to take his order. “Pint of Sam Adams. You want anything?”
I froze. The man I saw on the street the night before actually stood right beside me and was offering to buy me a drink. He still looked like trouble, a man I shouldn’t let anywhere near me.
He also made my pulse race and gave me a twinge between my legs I couldn’t ignore.
“I’ll take the same,” I told both the man and the bartender.
“You come here for the pool, or the dancing?” he asked.
There were even more people on the dance floor than before, if such a thing were possible. The DJ was better than I expected, threading the latest hits from the big names together and mixing them up in a way I hadn’t heard before. The pool side of the bar was emptying as the night wore on and more people hit the floor.
“Neither, specifically,” I replied. “I haven’t been out for a while and apparently this bar is the hottest spot on Thursday nights around here. My friends dragged me out to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?” Were his eyes a touch darker than they were before?
Of course. His friend died just last night. He can’t be in the mood for celebrating. What an inconsiderate thing to say.
“Being single. I walked in on my boyfriend and best friend going at it last night after I saw you.”
He winced. “Ouch. That’s rough. Where are your friends now?”
“Well, Tyra is right over—huh.” The bright blonde curls had disappeared from where she’d been making her moves on the hunk she’d been talking to. The table where the rest of the girls had been sitting was now occupied by a group that couldn’t have been anywhere near legal drinking age. “I’m not sure. They aren’t there anymore.”
It would be just like Tyra to see me talking with a guy and shoo everyone away so I had no choice but to keep talking to him.
“Looks like you’re stuck with me.” He passed me my beer and tossed a bill across the bar. “I’m Chris.”
“Leah.”
“It sounds like you need something to get your mind off of things, don’t you, Leah?”
His eyes burned into me as they did last night. My mouth dried under the sudden intensity of his regard. A gulp of beer helped to wet my throat.
“Um, what do you mean?”
“Well, you had a serious jolt, and I had one of my own. It stands to reason that we’d both want something to get our minds off it for a little while.”
Oh my God. As much as Tyra kept joking about a rebound bang, I hadn’t seriously considered it. At least not until Chris looked at and talked to me like that. He can’t seriously be propositioning me this quickly.
“What, uh, what did you have in mind?”
“There are a number of things we could do. You could wrap your hands around some smooth wood and I could show you how good I am at getting it into the hole.”
He’s just going right for it? It was a bold move, and it got me hot just thinking about it, but there was no way I could let myself be taken home by a man who asked for sex within seconds of hearing I was single. Not to mention how dangerous he was—the complete opposite of the type of guy I knew I should look for.
“Look, I’m flattered, but I’m not going home with you.”
“I’m not asking you to.” His eyes held mine and the corner of his mouth tugged upward a little.
“But you said…”
“I was asking if you wanted to play pool.”
“Pool?” My mind fogged over. I blamed the alcohol, although I couldn’t deny his effect on my ability to think straight.
“If you’re up for it,” he said, “I usually like to bet something on the game. I wouldn’t want to take advantage of such a hot young thing like yourself, though.”
“Hey, now. You’re kidding yourself if you think you can beat me. I’ve been handling hard rods for years.” I gave him a wink. He wasn’t the only one who could sling innuendo around.
His eyes narrowed and he smirked. “In that case, how about we play for a kiss?”
4
~ Chris ~
“A kiss? Isn’t that a little… innocent?”
The way her face scrunched up as she asked was beyond cute. Something told me I’d never met a girl like Leah before.
“There will be nothing innocent about the way I kiss you,” I said. “But if it’s not enough for you, I can think of a lot of things I would like to do besides kiss you.”
The way her blush started in her cheeks and crept to her hairline was distracting. And distracting was what I needed.
“No, it’s just that I expected something different.” She bit her lip a little, an unconscious gesture that drove me crazy. “What do I get if I win?”
“That’s up for you to decide. I can’t make both sides of the bet. I will say though that the price of entry for this game is your number.”
“Oh, really?” she asked. “You just get my number for free?”
“Not for free,” I corrected. “I’ll pay for the pool, you give me your number. It’s a fair trade.”
She tilted her head to the side for a second, like a bird. “Fine. And as for my bet…” She held up her pint glass. “How about you have to buy me another one of these?”
“Done.”
Thanks to the DJ there were several free pool tables, and I racked a set of balls for us as the music pulsed through the air. Leah danced in place, her body moving sinuously to the sound.
So she likes electronic music, does she? That was promising. I wonder how she’ll move to my music.
“Did you want to break, or should I?” I asked Leah.
She smiled and pointed at me as she kept on dancing at the side of the table.
“You know, if you’re trying to distract me, you’re doing a good job of it. It looks like you really know how to move.”
“Thank you.” I’d hoped she would blush again, but she took my compliment in stride. “Maybe I’ll get to see how you move later on.”
The balls rocketed around the table as I broke, careening off the green felt bumpers and crashing against each other, the sounds lost amidst the beat of the music.
We settled into the game and Leah grew more comfortable. She gave as good as she got and I let myself get swept up in the moment, purposefully forgetting what had happened the night before, or even earlier that night.
She was better than I’d expected. Pool wasn’t a big part of my life, but I knew how to shoot a ball around the table. I maintained a lead—barely.
Finally on the eight ball, I was one tricky but makeable shot from victory. Leah still had two stripes left to sink, and one of them almost completely blocked my shot.
“Ready for a kiss?” I asked. “I think I’ll enjoy this one.”
“You know, I’m not sure I lose out either way on this bet,” Leah said. She sashayed over and sat on the edge of the table. She whispered in my ear, “I can’t help thinking of your lips all over me.”
Damn.
The thought of running my lips and tongue over her body was all I could focus on. I shot the cue ball, and it wasn’t until Leah erupted in laughter I saw I’d scratched against her ball.
I lost?
“Hell, yeah!” Leah shouted. “In your face, Chris!” She turned around and pointed at her ass. “Kiss this!”
I signaled to the waitress watching over the pool section.
“Okay, fine, you win. I’ll get us another round. That means you don’t get a kiss, though.”
“Oh, something tells me I can get a kiss any time I want one.” Her eyes sparkled, still high off her win. “But you will just have to wait and suffer.”
Sipping on new beers, I racked the balls again.
“New game, new bet,” I told her. “What’s it going to be?”
She mulled it over, lookin
g around as her hips swayed in time with the beat. She had never stopped dancing the entire time we played.
Is she going to dance like this with my music pulsing through her body? I had to find out.
“How about if I win this one, you owe me a song on the dance floor?”
Another easy win-win for both of us. What could I ask for that she wouldn’t be able to refuse?
“If I win,” I said, “then you have to come back to my place for a dance.”
She stopped dancing. I waited as she stared at me.
She took a deep drink from the pint in her hand as she considered. I broke eye contact to run my gaze along her body, taking my time and enjoying the journey. By the time I got back up to her face, she had flushed a delicate pink once more.
“You’re on.”
The air between us was electric as she stepped up to break. Her dancing was back, but this time it was even sexier, sultrier than before. I missed more shots this game because I couldn’t keep my eyes off the way she rolled her hips.
Neither of us sank more than two balls in a row as we fought hard for the win. Conversation didn’t exist except for straight-up innuendo.
“You know, technically you shouldn’t really be stuffing your balls into my holes,” she said as she passed by me. “That’s not how it works.”
I slammed a ball into the pocket right beside her and she jumped a little.
“Looks like it works fine.”
I missed the next one when Leah bent over the pocket I aimed for, giving my best view yet of her cleavage.
“Now that’s a dirty play!”
“Playing dirty is so much more fun,” she said with another wink. “Especially when it gets me what I want.”
She lined up her next shot and I came up beside her as she prepared. I let my hand come to a rest on the small of her back, then drift lower.
It was the first time we had touched, despite all the flirting and innuendo and tension.
Leah’s shot went wild.
She looked back at me, eyes wide. I took my hand away.
“I believe that was a scratch?”
It was nearing the end of the game, and tactics got dirtier as the finish drew close. The music throbbed between us and the alcohol pumped in our blood as we taunted and teased each other as much as we could get away with in public.
My turn. Eight ball left, and Leah had one solid left to go before she could shoot to win.
“Are you going to scratch again?” she asked as she stood right beside me. “Can you handle the pressure? I don’t think you can. I don’t think you’d know what to do with me if you got me home. How about we have a nice dance on the floor and then each go our separate ways. I promise you’ll still enjoy it.”
I let her whispers wash over me as I lined up. With a quick stroke, I shot.
5
~ Leah ~
I didn’t look at the table. I didn’t want to see whether Chris had sunk the eight ball; the game had gotten too real. It had been a flirty, fun, outrageous game up to this point, but if he sank the ball then I had to go back to his place. When he took his shot, I kept watching his face.
There was no change.
He looked into my eyes and winked.
I whirled. The eight ball was nowhere to be seen.
“No…” Even though I knew going in he was a little better than me, I hadn’t planned on losing the game. I’d barely even said yes to his bet, but as much as I was the good girl, I couldn’t resist the way he looked at me.
He was bad for me, and a part of me loved it.
“Shall we?” Chris asked, holding his hand out for mine.
I wavered. I wanted to bolt, run away, find Tyra and the others and get out of there. He didn’t really expect me to follow through on my end of the bargain, did he?
It was only for a dance at his place, Leah.
Yeah, right. As if it wouldn’t lead to more with all the flirting during the game.
But I also wanted this. Chris was hot. Not in the way Tyra's target earlier had been, but in a much more visceral sense. The tattoos, the muscles, the realness of him. He had gotten me hot and turned on with a skillful slow build, and I needed to see it through.
I took his hand.
Leaving the bar was a blur. My friends had disappeared.
The worst thing about going was leaving behind the music that had been an integral part of the experience. I’d been dancing and moving constantly, and it felt wrong to have nothing to sway to.
It also let me regain some of my senses.
“Chris,” I said, intending to tell him that maybe this wasn’t the best idea.
I didn’t have a chance. He pushed me back against a brick wall just outside the bar and buried his hand in my hair, pulling us together but stopping just short of kissing me.
A flush swept through my body and my knees grew weak. If he hadn’t pinned me there, I wouldn’t have been able to keep on my feet.
I moaned and closed the gap between our lips, capturing and tasting him for the first time. With urgent hands I pulled him against me, the pressure of his body on mine adding to the sensations that threatened to overwhelm me.
His hand in my hair tightened and pulled my head to the side, exposing my neck to his hungry mouth. My blood pumped fast and hot underneath his lips.
“Chris, stop.” I gasped. “We need to make it back to your place.”
My body had decided for me, and my mind wasn’t able to come up with good enough arguments to deny it.
He groaned agreement but crushed his lips against mine once more before pulling away.
“I don’t live far,” he said.
The walk flew by, my aroused state leaving me incapable of thinking of anything other than what I knew was coming. Soon we entered his building and made our way up to his apartment. It was small, but I was in no mind to analyze it.
I’ll never see it or him again, anyway. It was a secret, sexy thought that gave me such a thrill. I’d done nothing like this before.
As soon as the door opened we enveloped each other once more, hands and lips everywhere as we danced to silent music.
“One second,” Chris said. “You like electronic music?”
“Yes.” I stood there, flustered as he played with speakers and a device.
A slow intro started, the bass deep and sensual. The music snaked through my body and my hips moved of their own accord.
This is really good stuff. I wonder if I’ll be able to find this music again later.
He came back, shoulders moving as he gyrated to the beat. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close. Our bodies molded together, pressed tight as we moved.
“I promised you a dance,” he said into my ear. “I always deliver on my promises.”
We danced, the music weaving its magic around us as the world disappeared except for his hard body held tight to my own. Our lips met again, and hands drifted.
I lifted his shirt, pulling it off him to reveal the powerful build underneath. I glided my hands over the muscles of his chest, reveling in the sensory experience.
As if I had broken the ice, clothes disappeared until we were stark naked.
It should have felt ridiculous to dance in the nude, but the alcohol, music, and the strange hold Chris had over me worked to draw the experience together as my body ground against his. I drifted on a cloud of sensation, doing what felt right and good.
I pressed my breasts against his body, holding onto his shoulders even as his hands slid down my back and cupped my buttocks, pulling me harder against him. I could feel his hardness against my leg, but before I could reach down and grab hold of it he was on the move.
He let his fingers trail over my body up to my breasts, lifting and squeezing them as he leaned down to capture a nipple between his teeth.
I gasped as the hot wetness of his mouth enveloped me, and the smooth silkiness of his tongue laved the sensitive skin. My pulse throbbed in time with the beat, speeding up as the music grew more intense a
nd the things Chris did brought me more fully into the moment.
He kept dropping lower until he knelt on the ground in front of me. His hands steadied and lifted me as he pulled my right leg around to rest on his back, opening me to him.
I ran my hands through his hair as I felt his hot breath wash over my pussy. There was no way to prepare for the blast of pleasure that rippled through me when his tongue took a long, languid lick up my wet slit.
“Ah, fuck yes, Chris.” I didn’t know if he heard me over the music, and I didn’t care. The man was on his knees at my feet, and I never wanted him to stop what he was doing. It was empowering.
After tasting me, Chris locked onto my clit and my leg convulsed against his back as the sensations ratcheted up another notch. His hands on my ass were grabbing and lifting; they felt good, but were also the only things keeping me from toppling over.
Close. I’d already gotten near the peak of my orgasm. The music thudded in my ears, in my body as I chased the release I knew was coming.
I tightened my hands in Chris’ hair, pulling his face harder against me as I used him for my pleasure, riding his tongue as he gave me what I needed.
“Yes! Fuck, yes!” I screamed as I toppled over the edge, my left leg shaking as it struggled to keep me on my feet through the blast of pleasure that rocketed through my body, starting at the little nub of nerves at my core and flooding out through my limbs.
Too sensitive! I pulled Chris away and brought my right leg back down. Hands still in his hair, I pulled him up toward me.
The taste of me was heavy on his lips, but I didn’t care, lost in passion as our tongues slid against each other in a deep kiss.
Coming hadn’t diminished my need, especially when I could feel him between my legs, pressing against my lips and still sensitive clit.
Not breaking the kiss, he lifted me into his arms and carried me. I didn’t bother looking to see where we went, but soon he set me down on a soft, comfortable surface. A bed. I’d forgotten we had still been standing in his living room, so enraptured I’d been.
Bad Boy Boxed Set Page 30