“You what, baby?” His cock throbbed behind his zipper, hard enough he could barely think straight, because he knew what she was going to say. And he needed to hear her say it more than he needed his next breath.
“I slid my hand down the front of my panties and…got myself off.”
“Yeah?” He swallowed hard. “You play with your clit?”
“Yes.”
“Did you come from just that, or did you push your fingers inside, imagine my cock moving inside you?”
“Yes.”
“Which is it, Foxy?”
“I used my fingers. I imagined you were inside me.”
Jesus fucking Christ. A groan slid past his lips, and he reached down to adjust his aching dick. “How many times you done that? Thinking about me?”
“A few,” she whispered.
“I love that, baby. I love that you told me that.”
He had to be a goddamned saint, because as much as he wanted her, he would not fuck her their first time while she was drunk….and he wanted her in a way that he had never wanted any other woman in his life.
But he didn’t get a chance to tell her, because when he turned her way again, she was out cold.
Chapter Eight
A loud, incessant buzzing sound came from down the hall. Rusty rolled to her back, letting out a groan when the movement had her stomach rolling. The buzz was cut off abruptly by a crash and a string of curses.
Piper was awake.
God, Rusty wished she weren’t.
Head thumping, she glanced down at herself. I managed to change into a T-shirt. That had to be some kind of miracle considering the state she’d been in.
How had they gotten so drunk? Then she remembered her and Piper’s never-ending rounds of tequila shots. “Idiots.”
The fuzzy feeling in her mouth was at an all-time high. Gross. Like a small rodent had crawled into her mouth during the night and died. She needed water, and she needed it now.
Her phone started ringing on her bedside table, she fumbled for it and put it to her ear. “Yeah?”
“You sound like shit.” Her brother’s voice echoed down the line, far too damn loudly.
“Thanks.”
He chuckled. “Just making sure you got home okay.”
“Looks that way…”
There was a bang on her door. “Get up,” Piper moaned.
“As much as I’d love to chat, I gotta go.”
“Rusty…”
“Talk to you later.” She hung up on Deacon before he started one of his annoying “why we should respect alcohol” lectures, and flung her phone aside. Though in this instance, he was probably right.
Why had they done this when they knew they had work today? Dragging her sorry ass out of bed, she hung onto her head to fight the pounding dizziness and shuffled to the door, wrenching it open. Light streamed in from the living room window, and she winced.
Piper stood by her door, leaning against the wall, still in the clothes she’d been wearing at the club. Her blond hair was sticking up on one side and lipstick was smeared across her right cheek. “What the hell was I thinking?” she whispered.
Rusty shook her head. “No idea, but let’s not do that again.”
Piper nodded, then gripped her head as well. “Agreed.”
They shuffled side by side down the hall, the smell of fresh coffee a siren song leading them toward the kitchen. “You made coffee? Have I told you lately that I love you?”
Piper stopped suddenly, eyes widening. “Um…it wasn’t me.”
Rusty followed her sister’s gaze, and her mouth fell open. Reid stood in her kitchen, as if he owned the place, that overlong hair tied back, leaning against the bench, mug in hand. “Want one?” He lifted his mug and gave it a little shake.
A flash of memory broke through her fuzzy brain: Reid calling her, coming to the club. “You’re here?” She stared down at herself. “Did you…”
He grinned. “I wasn’t going to, but you decided to give me a strip tease.”
“I what?” Noooo. No. No. No.
“I managed to get that shirt on you before the panties and bra came off. Then I took the couch.”
“I stripped?”
“Did a little dance and everything.” His grin turned wicked. “I didn’t peek. Promise.”
Heat started climbing up her neck. She couldn’t meet his eyes and instead focused on the ink covering one side of his throat. It was some kind of swirly design, and she wondered how far down it went. Damn, even his neck was sexy. Could necks be sexy?
Stop it!
Her face was so damn hot now that her eyes actually started to water. “I stripped…and danced?”
“Yeah, you were good, too. Still managed to strip down while you swayed all over the room. That takes some serious skills, babe.”
That’s it. She was never drinking again.
Piper turned to her, mouth gaping, then a smile spread across her face. “Oh my God, Rusty. You didn’t?” Then clutching her head, she doubled over and busted a gut laughing.
Reid was still smiling as he poured them both coffee. He handed the mugs over, along with the bottle of painkillers they kept in the bathroom cabinet. “Maybe you should check your phone, Piper. It was glued to your ear at the club.” After dropping that bombshell, he carried on, sipping his drink.
Her sister turned green and all but ran from the room. Her scream followed shortly after. Wasn’t hard to guess who Piper had been drunk dialing.
Rusty crossed her arms and took in the sexy, smirking pain in the ass in front of her. His beard was thicker this morning, and she had the sudden urge to cup his face in her hands, feel his whiskers on her palms, learn how coarse or soft it was. “You stayed?”
“I wanted to make sure you were both okay.”
Ah hell. “That was nice.”
“I can do nice.” His gaze moved over her, making her suddenly self-conscious. “How you feeling?”
His voice was gentle, and she swallowed hard. “Like shit.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “It was good of you to stay.”
God, the way he affected her.
Before she could catch her breath, he’d put his drink down and was moving across the room, not stopping until he was right up in her personal space.
His hands landed on her hips. “I stayed because I wanted to. Would’ve rather been in your bed.” He shrugged. “But that wasn’t happening last night.” His gaze turned intense. “You were pretty smashed when I picked you up. In a club full of fuckin’ horny guys just waiting to take their shot. You gotta know how stupid and careless that was?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “I don’t want you doing that shit again, not unless I’m with you.”
She stiffened. “Stupid?” He said nothing, just held her gaze. Like hell. “First, I don’t take orders, from anyone. So if you think I’ll just roll over and do what you tell me, you’re going to be seriously disappointed. And second, my brother was with us. We were fine. I sure as hell don’t need your permission…”
“He had enough on his hands with his own woman, add in you and your sister…” He grunted. “Not sure how he would’ve handled all three of you if I hadn’t showed to take you home.” He stroked her jaw with his thumb, his gaze following the movement. “Don’t go getting all pissed. I’m just looking out for you.”
He kept stroking her face, her neck, the sensation making her shiver. Suddenly staying angry at him seemed too much effort.
“You tell him about me, Rusty?”
“What?”
“Your brother, you told him we’re talking.”
Jesus. “Does it matter?”
“Yeah. He knew who I was and why I was there.” He gave her hip a squeeze. “I liked that.”
She gave his shoulders a light shove. “Arrogant.”
He chuckled. “You love it.”
Dammit, he was right. She did. “Look, thanks for getting me home, and yes, my brother knows about you. I
also get that you were worried, but none of that gives you the right to issue orders and expect me to follow them like a good girl. That’s never going to happen.”
His gaze sharpened, that square jaw going hard. “I don’t love the thought of you in a room full of drunks. It’s not me ordering you about. It’s me taking care of what’s mine. End of story.”
His? Holy shit. Her heart picked up pace.
He curled his fingers around the side of her neck, thumb brushing just below her ear. “And yeah, I like that you told your brother about me…means you’ve been thinking about me, and not just when I call. So you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” Then he grinned, and it was hot as hell, all straight white teeth and sexy beard. “Gotta say, despite being shit-faced, you were entertaining as hell. Cute, too.”
Her face heated again. “Do not say another word.”
His smile got bigger. “Found out besides stripping, you get chatty when you’ve been drinking.”
She cringed. “What did I—” She cut herself off abruptly as more hazy flashes of memory broke through.
“You remember our chat in the car?” he said, smug as hell.
It all came back, and she covered her face with her hands. “Shoot me now.”
“Fuck no.” He pulled her hands down, holding them both in one of his, and slid a finger under her chin with the other. He tipped her head up so she was looking at him. “Not after you told me what you’ve been doing when you think of me.”
She groaned, and he chuckled darkly, the low sound making her shiver. “Well, at least I’ve finally worked out what the I in R.I.P. stands for…”
“Irresistible?” More goddamn smirking.
She rolled her eyes. “No. Irritating.”
He stared at her for a long time, until that wicked smile slowly disappeared and something else replaced it, something that made her suck in a shaky breath. “I don’t think you get it, Foxy. That you’ve been thinking about me, while you get yourself off? That’s hot as fuck. I’ve been hard ever since you told me. You’re killing me, you know that, right?”
“You’re lucky, then,” she mumbled, lifting her hand to her pounding head. He laughed suddenly, pulling her into him and kissing the top of her head. She scowled against his hard, warm chest, trying to ignore how much she liked being there. “I don’t see how any of this is funny.”
“You’re right. There’s nothing funny about blue balls. But if I don’t laugh, I’ll fucking weep.”
“I’m sure you’ll survive.”
He gave her ass a squeeze. “No thanks to you.” He kissed her hair again. “I gotta go. I wanted to see you later, but I’m thinking you’re gonna need a day. Yeah?”
She nodded against his shirt. “Yeah.”
He leaned back and looked down at her. “You wanna do dinner tomorrow?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He made a rough sound and stared at her with so much heat she was surprised he didn’t pick her up and carry her back to her bedroom. “Seven thirty?”
Her lips tipped up at the corners. She couldn’t help it. She was looking forward to it, looking forward to spending time with him. “Sounds good.”
His fingers slid into her hair, and he leaned in, brushing his lips over hers. “I’ll catch you tomorrow.” Then he let her go, and those long, powerful legs carried him out the door.
What was she getting herself into? He overwhelmed her, excited her, scared the crap out of her. There was more between them than just lust, she felt it, saw it in the way he looked at her, heard it in the things he said. The man was a force to be reckoned with. She had no hope of stopping the freight train that was Reid Parker.
And the funny thing was, despite the risks, she didn’t want to.
Not yet, anyway.
Chapter Nine
Reid pulled back his damp hair, tying it in a knot at the base of his skull, and grabbed his black shirt from the closet.
It’s me taking care of what’s mine.
Mine.
He still couldn’t believe he’d said those words to her. But yesterday morning, standing in her kitchen, shit, it was as if someone else had taken control over his vocal cords. That one small sentence—it was not him. Those words should not be coming from a man like him, and went completely against the way he chose to live his life, the way he had been living his life for as long as he could remember.
But he couldn’t walk away, not yet. Staying at her place, surrounded by her things, her scent, knowing she was in the next room, had driven him bat-shit crazy. The need to stake some kind of claim over her was not something he could ignore. He realized that now. Just what that was, what it meant, he had no clue. Something had changed, though. Rusty had dropped her guard a fraction more, let him see another piece of her. And he liked it. Liked everything she showed him.
Both women had been out cold when he got them home, and neither had batted an eyelid when he’d carried them to the porch seat, not until the alarm went off when he’d used Rusty’s key to get in. Thankfully, Piper had roused herself long enough to punch in the code, then stumbled to bed.
That left him and Rusty. After he’d carried her to her room, woken her so he could get her to drink a glass of water, dodged her cute yet sexy attempt at a striptease, he’d watched her curl up under the covers and pass out.
Leaving her had not been easy.
He’d never, not once, had the urge to just sleep with a woman, without fucking, but he’d wanted to get into bed beside Rusty, pull her into his arms, and hold her. Which was messed up.
Instead, he’d taken the couch, the foreign urge enough of a kick in the pants to get him out of her room. Still, he hadn’t left her place, couldn’t.
Then in the kitchen the next morning, even hungover, she was gorgeous. And when he’d pulled her into his arms…shit. He didn’t know how she did it, went from redhead vixen to sweet and shy, totally innocent, but she did, and just that glimpse of vulnerability nearly did him in.
But when she smiled, giving it to him without any barriers, full-on happy…Christ, he loved it. She hadn’t been hiding from him, she’d let him see what she was feeling, and it had taken all his strength not to lead her down the hall to her bedroom and show her exactly how much that pleased him.
Shit was getting complicated. His feelings for her were getting complicated. He’d never wanted another woman the way he wanted Rusty. Hell, he’d never put in this much effort for any woman in his life, never had to. He’d tried to fight it, but seeing that soft side and holding her in his arms had made it impossible.
Then all of it, everything he’d been dwelling on during the night while he lay on her couch—the being out drunk, the risks she’d taken—had come flooding back. It had sent his possessive instincts goddamned haywire, and he’d staked his claim the only way he could: he’d called her his.
It was a mistake. That wasn’t where this was heading.
His course was set, wasn’t it? He wanted West Restoration, wanted to cash in on what the West girls could bring to the table, take R.I.P. to the next level.
He should give her up. But he couldn’t, not yet. He wanted Rusty as well, for however long that might be.
But whatever happened between them, it had a use-by date. It had to.
So yeah, he’d bathe in her light, because he was a selfish prick, then he’d move on when they’d both had their fill. The last thing he wanted to do was extinguish that fire in her eyes, and he would if he stuck around. The dark, toxic crap in his veins would see to that. At least this way they could part on good terms, start their business relationship without any hard feelings.
Focusing on work, making sure his businesses were successful, that was what he had to concentrate on. In the end, that was all he had, all he could ever have.
Shoving his feet in his boots, he laced them up, tagged his leather jacket, and grabbed his keys.
For now, though, he planned on enjoying every moment he had with her.
A short time later,
he was pulling up outside Rusty’s tiny mauve and yellow cottage. Shutting off the engine, he climbed out and jogged up the steps to the front door. Music played inside, so he put a bit of muscle behind his knock. A few minutes later the door swung open and Piper stood there smiling up at him.
“Hey! You’re here.”
He grinned, guessing the curvy blonde had that effect on most people. “Looks like it.”
“Rusty won’t be long.” She winked conspiratorially. “She wasn’t sure what to wear, she doesn’t date, so…”
Piper was shoved out of the way, and Rusty stepped in front of her sister. “Thanks, Pipe. I can take it from here.” He took her in from head to toe and damn near bit off his tongue.
Rusty stared at her sister and jerked her head toward the kitchen, eyes going wide, and said to Piper, who was still standing there watching them, “I’ll see you later.”
Piper offered up another smile and a little wave, then as far as he was concerned, vanished. He didn’t say good-bye, didn’t know if she went to the kitchen, or if she was beamed up to the goddamn Starship Enterprise, because he couldn’t take his eyes off the woman in front of him.
The green dress she wore sat mid-thigh, showing off her killer legs, hugging all the right places. She had on black heels, sexiest shoes he’d ever seen, and her arms were bare, all that colorful ink on display. Her hair hung down her back, sleek and shiny, and the color of her dress made her eyes more vibrant than he’d ever seen them. Exquisite didn’t cover the way she looked.
“Jesus,” he rasped. She bit her lower lip, and her cheeks turned pink. Fucking gorgeous. “Come here.”
“Is this too much? I didn’t know where we were going…maybe I’ll get changed?” She took a step back. “Yeah, I should get changed…”
“I said come here, Foxy.” She stilled, then obviously realizing his reaction was not a bad thing, moved toward him, biting her lip all the way. “Hey,” he said when she stopped in front of him.
“Hey,” she whispered back.
He slid a hand over her hip, because he had to touch her, and smiled to himself when he felt her shiver. “You’re not getting changed.”
Revved (Axle Alley Vipers) Page 7