Love Hate Relationship (a Colors novel)

by Jessica Prince

  “It’s bottle service, party crasher,” Pepper bit before shoving him out of the way. “Move. I need a damn drink.”

  As Pepper stormed toward Rowan and her brother, I caught a brief glance of Griffin watching her ass as she walked. Harlow’s elbow nudged my side, drawing my attention to her. From the grin on her face, I knew she’d seen it, too.

  “Tonight’s certainly going to be interesting,” she whispered.

  “That’s one word for it,” I responded as we slowly made our way over to the table.

  “So, that’s him, huh?” she asked with a tilt of her chin in Rowan’s direction. “Jesus H, he’s even hotter in person. And there’s two of them?” Her voice was laced with bewilderment as her focus bounced back and forth between Griffin and Rowan.

  “They’re cousins,” I answered.

  “Can I have one?”

  I tried to sound as casual as possible, even though I was feeling anything but. “Go for it, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be the only one either of them ended up with tonight. Hope you don’t mind sloppy seconds… or thirds.”

  “You’re no fun,” she pouted. “What about the other guy?”

  “Never met him before, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Pepper mention his wife and kid before.”

  “Damn. Well, looks like I’ll have to broaden my search.”

  I looked at her and shook my head, a smile on my face. “Go forth and conquer,” I teased. “But I need a drink.”

  “Me, too. Drink then dance?”

  “You’re on.”

  Pepper was still pouting by the time we made it to the table, taking a seat on the couch across from Rowan and the guy whose name I still didn’t know. The moment Rowan’s eyes landed on me, I felt them like a physical touch. His icy blue gaze raked over me, sending a chill across my skin. The starkness of the black button-down shirt and slacks he was wearing, combined with his black hair, made his eyes even more prominent. My lungs constricted as I averted my eyes, unable to hold his stare. A myriad of emotions rioted inside me at that very moment—first and foremost, confusion as to why he affected me so greatly, followed by lust as a very close second.

  “Wendy let you go to a club opening without her?” Pepper asked her brother before taking a large gulp of the drink in her hand.

  “She thinks I’m at poker night,” he responded with a pleased chuckle.

  “Not when I call her, Dexter.”

  Huh. Dexter and Pepper. They must have really interesting parents.

  “Aw, don’t be like that, sis. I didn’t know these two assholes were set on crashing your night. I just wanted to get out of the house for a little while.”

  “So, you did crash girls’ night out,” I said, looking back to my boss. The man was too good looking for his own good. Damn it! Rowan hardly ever smiled—at least from what I’d seen—but when he did, it was like a punch right to the gut. And the lazy grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he sat back casually, one arm thrown along the back of the couch, his other hand gripping a glass, was too disarming. I quickly looked away, my palms beginning to sweat as I scanned the table in front of me for something to drink. Spotting a bottle of tonic next to a bottle of vodka, I quickly went about making Harlow and myself a vodka tonic.

  “Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?” Rowan asked in a low voice I hadn’t heard before. When I looked up, the way he was staring back at me had goose bumps breaking out across my skin. Was he… flirting with me? Surely not.

  Deciding to let it go and act as normal as possible, I handed Harlow her drink and took a sip of my own. “Nope. Not one damn bit.” Thankfully, Pepper decided to chime in, cutting off our awkward exchange by starting introductions for everyone.

  “Navie, huh?” Dex said. “And I thought our mom and dad were thinking outside of the box. How did your parents come up with that?”

  My smile felt flat as I looked back at Dex. It was a question I was used to getting, but answering it never got any easier. Suddenly, Harlow’s hand touched my back, offering up encouragement when I needed it without drawing attention. Other than my self-made family at Willow Ranch, Harlow was the only one I ever talked to about my upbringing. I never hid the fact that I grew up in foster care, but I didn’t go around advertising it, either. And I certainly never talked about my mother with anyone I wasn’t extremely close to.

  Relaxing a bit with Harlow’s touch, I answered, “My mom gave me that name because of my eyes. She said they were the same color as my dad’s.”

  That was the truth. And also the extent to which I ever spoke about my mother. I breathed a sigh of relief and took a large gulp of my drink when my answer didn’t spur on any further questions.

  Pepper downed her drink and shot to her feet.

  “Let’s dance!”

  Gladly.

  I was losing my fucking mind. The wrought iron railing groaned under the force of my white-knuckled grip.

  “Dude, you look like you’re about to have an aneurysm. Just step away from the damn railing already.” Griffin’s voice held far too much amusement as he gave me shit for the millionth time in the past three hours. Feeling a sense of guilt at being out without his wife, Dex had bailed about an hour before, so I was stuck with my asshole cousin as my only company while the women took to the dance floor.

  “Shut the fuck up,” I ground out between clenched teeth, my eyes remaining stuck on Navie’s writhing form as she and her friends danced below us. I’d gotten a semi the moment she walked up in that tiny piece of fabric she was wearing as a dress. But the moment she turned around and I saw the damn thing had no back… whatsoever, I about lost my shit completely. I bounced between wanting to bend her over the closest available surface to wanting to gouge the eyes out of every fucking man who looked her way. Which was just about every motherfucker in the club.

  It was official. I was going insane.

  From my peripheral vision, I saw Griffin come up to me, resting his hip on the railing next to my hand as he joined me in staring down at the girls. The only reason I didn’t wring his neck for looking was because I knew damn good and well who his focus was on. And it wasn’t Navie.

  “Then do us both a favor and make a move already, cuz. You’re a serious buzzkill tonight, you know that?”

  I didn’t bother with a response as I trailed Navie’s every movement from below. Everything about the way she moved made me crave her. The sway of her hips, the move of her perfect legs, and good Lord, when she reached up to lift her heavy mass of hair from her neck, revealing that glistening skin… I wanted to mark every inch of her body. Watching her was so addictive I physically ached to touch her. My cock throbbed from behind the zipper of my pants.

  I was so enthralled by her that I barely noticed the waitress sauntering up to me. It wasn’t until she pressed her big, fake tits against my arm that I pulled my attention away from Navie to look at the woman beside me.

  “Can I get you anything?” she asked in a seductive voice that, in the past, would have had me laying on the charm in order to get her to go home with me. But looking at the waitress just then, with her overdone hair and caked-on makeup, for some reason I just felt… empty. And the only reason I could think of that would turn me off of meaningless sex with nameless women was currently shaking her ass with every man who approached her.

  Pushing down the ball of fury that rose from the pit of my stomach at that thought, I offered up a smile to the woman giving me her best come fuck me eyes. “No, thanks.” Her smile fell just slightly before she turned and walked away.

  Laughter bellowed from Griffin as he punched me in the arm good-naturedly. “Jesus, man, you’re whipped!”

  Ah, hell. He wasn’t wrong, and that realization scared the shit out of me. Navie made me feel things I never wanted to feel for another woman, things I swore I’d never feel again.

  “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I grumbled, but it sounded weak even to my own ears.

  “Y
ou just turned down free pussy. That chick offered it up to you on a silver platter and you flat-out rejected her. You want my advice—?”

  “I don’t,” I interrupted, but it was pointless.

  “I say fuck the girl out of your system and move on.”

  I couldn’t deny that he had a point. He’d also planted a bug in my head that there was no ignoring. Maybe that was exactly what I needed to do. Lord knew my body wanted her like crazy. Maybe one night would get my brain on board as well and I could get over this screwed up obsession that had been plaguing me.

  When I didn’t immediately respond, he continued. “Whatever, man. You want to sit up here all night pining away for your personal assistant, go for it. I’m gonna find me someone to warm my bed for the night.”

  Before he had a chance to walk away, I turned from the railing and looked at him. “Banging some random chick isn’t going to make you want her any less.”

  I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew exactly what I was talking about, even if we’d never discussed the screwed up relationship between him and Pepper.

  Despite his casual shrug, I knew I’d struck a nerve. “That’s the difference between me and you. I already know you don’t always get everything you want.”

  With that, Griffin turned and left, undoubtedly on the hunt for another one-night stand. I, on the other hand, already knew who was going home with me. It was just a matter of convincing her.

  I cast my gaze back to the dance floor and had to clench my fists at the onslaught of fury that invaded my body at the sight of another douchebag approaching Navie. I took the stairs at a quick pace, dead set on breaking the bastard’s hands for touching what was mine. What the fuck? I gave my head a brisk shake. She wasn’t mine. I didn’t want her to be mine. I just needed one night, that’s all. One fucking night and I could get her out of my head. The moment my feet hit the dance floor, the song changed. I didn’t recognize it, but the beat was slower, the music more seductive. It couldn’t have been a more perfect song if I’d requested it myself.

  The crowd parted just slightly, giving me the perfect line of sight to the middle of the floor, just in time to see Navie smile sweetly at the guy with the soon to be broken hands. A possessive growl rumbled up in my chest at the sight of that smile and I had to swallow it down, biting the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood to keep myself in check.

  I was only a few feet away when I saw her shake her head at the guy, the mass of blonde hair swishing across her shoulders. She was giving him the brush-off. I wanted to throw my hands up in victory as she turned and began walking away from him. Before she could get too far away, I snaked my arm around her slender waist, pulling her back to my chest. Just the feel of her body against mine had me groaning with need.

  Leaning down, I brushed my nose against the shell of her ear, inhaling her mesmerizing scent, peaches and cream. God, I wanted to take a bite out of her more than I wanted my next breath. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Her tiny frame went stiff against me, her chest rising on a sharp inhale. “Rowan?”

  I slid one hand up, my fingers teasing the underside of her breast. I smiled triumphantly when she quivered against me. I had her.

  “I’ve watched you dancing with every asshole in here all fucking night long,” I growled. “Now, it’s my turn.”

  “Rowan, stop.” My argument sounded weak even to my own ears. Tingles shot from the top of my head to the tips of my toes as Rowan pulled me harder against him. Warning bells were going off inside my head, but my body rebelled against the idea of moving away. My breathing stuttered on a sharp inhalation at the feel of his lips trailing against the sensitive flesh of my neck.

  This is so wrong. But God, it feels so, so, so good.

  “Rowan, please. This is a bad idea,” I panted.

  Ignoring my lackluster pleas, he continued caressing me, his nose skimming across my shoulder and neck as he breathed me in. “Christ, Navie,” he hissed in my ear, causing my entire body to tremble. “You look so fucking sexy.” His hands slid to my hips, the pressure from his fingertips burning through my dress and singeing my skin as his grip tightened. His hold was so strong I had no choice but to move with him as his hips started a slow, seductive sway against mine. His presence surrounded me to the point where there was no one on that dance floor, no one in the entire club, but us. He was hypnotic.

  “I’ve wanted to put my hands on you all night long. I got hard the moment you came up those stairs.”

  My inner feminist should have been ranting at that. His words should have bothered me, made me feel objectified, used. But to my dismay, I found myself leaning back farther, a needy moan escaping my lips.

  “Do you have any idea how much I want you?” he asked. From the way his hardness pressed into my back as he ground against me, I had a pretty good idea. All I could do was shake my head in response. My mouth grew dry, what remaining brain cells the alcohol hadn’t affected fried the moment Rowan put his hands on me. Forming a coherent sentence was hopeless just then. I didn’t even have it in me to utter anymore halfhearted refusals.

  My buzz, combined with the lust I was feeling for Rowan, was a toxic combination. Even though my brain was screaming at me to move away, to put some necessary distance between us, all I could think as his hands skated down my thighs to the hem of my dress was how badly I wanted to feel them on my bare skin. As if he could hear my thoughts, he began to pull the skirt up oh so slowly, the rough pads of his fingertips creating goose bumps as they brushed the insides of thighs.

  “All I’ve thought about for weeks is fucking you. It’s all I can think about.” I whimpered when his teeth sank into my ear lobe. “Come home with me.”

  I shook my head, still unable to form words.

  “Yes,” he insisted. “One night, Navie. That’s all I’m asking. I just need to fuck you out of my system.”

  And that was all it took to yank me out of my stupor and straight back into reality. The fog lifted, the loud music beat against my eardrums and the throng of people continued to gyrate around us like nothing had happened. All the while, my world had shifted on its axis.

  What the hell was I thinking? I mentally berated myself as I pulled from Rowan’s grasp, stepping out of the way when he reached for me again. I couldn’t let him touch me. His hands on me short-circuited my brain, and I couldn’t allow that to happen again.

  “Navie.” He didn’t say my name with confusion or curiosity. It was more like a warning. When I looked into his blue eyes, my heart stalled at the way the icy color had darkened. He looked ready to pounce if I dared to take another step away from him. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the lion and I was his prey, but I couldn’t risk staying in place. I had too much self-respect, too much pride to allow myself to get wrapped up in a man who wanted nothing more than to use then toss me aside like all the other women in his life.

  I didn’t say a word as I spun on my heels and pushed through the crowd. I didn’t register anything going on around me as I was bumped and jostled during my escape. My sole focus was on getting as far away from Rowan as possible. As soon as the last few people moved and my path cleared, I sucked in a much needed breath. I kept going, my body on autopilot, leading me down a dark hallway. I could have cried in relief when I hit a door marked ‘ladies room’.

  Pushing through, I was shocked to see it was fairly empty, just two other women giggling as they reapplied their lipstick in the mirrors above the sinks. Once they’d finished and left the restroom, I rested my palms on the cool, granite countertop and dropped my head as I tried to level out my erratic heartbeats. After I’d managed to pull myself together, I looked up into the mirror. “What the fuck just happened?” I asked the wide-eyed reflection staring back at me. I’d just let my boss—an infamous man-whore—practically feel me up on a crowded dance floor as he tried to convince me to let him fuck me.

  “Shit!” I hissed. The lingering effects of all those vodka tonics weren’t ma
king it any easier for me to wrap my brain around the cluster-fuck that was my girls’ night out. I needed to formulate a plan. Preferably one that included a time machine and/or some serum that could wipe a person’s memory.

  Also, I might need to stop watching sci-fi shows, since they gave me ridiculous ideas.

  Brushing the hair back from my face, I wiped at the mascara that had smudged beneath my eyes and straightened my appearance as best I could, determined to act as though nothing had happened once I walked out of the bathroom. But then the door opened and my plans went straight to hell in a hand basket.

  “What the hell? You can’t be in here!” I proclaimed as Rowan turned the lock on the door and stalked toward me. The determination etched into his features sent a combination of panic and desire coursing through my blood. My backside bumped into the edge of the countertop as I attempted to move away from him. In just a few steps, he had me trapped between his large frame and the sink. “Rowan, no,” I pleaded, my hands shoving at the hard wall that was his chest. He wouldn’t budge.

  “Stop running,” he growled just before his mouth came crashing down on mine. And just like that, all thoughts of self-preservation fled from my mind and Rowan’s tongue prodded my lips, demanding entry. Of its own volition, a moan rumbled up from deep in my chest at the first taste of his mouth. The combination of mint and alcohol was as intoxicating as taking an actual drink, and I found myself diving in for more.

  The second my body went pliant in his arms, Rowan unleashed an intensity I hadn’t known he was capable of. He gripped the cheeks of my ass roughly, jerking me even closer to him. I lost track of everything as his teeth sank into my bottom lip. Sparks shot through me and gathered between my legs as I whimpered, desperate for more. He kept our mouths melded together as he lifted me, planting me on the countertop and pushing his way between my thighs, letting me feel exactly how hard he was for me as he pressed impossibly closer.