by Harper Sloan
No longer was I going to let a man intoxicate me with his allure. Not when I know I can give just as good as he can. And boy am I planning on giving it real good.
I crook my finger up at him, smoothing my face out until I just know I look fierce and in control, and I step back just enough to allow a small gap in front of me. He places his hands on a bar above his head and lifts his muscular bulk up then swings his legs back, getting the momentum he needs to launch his body off the polished wood and into the narrow space between me and it.
I step up to him right after he lands, so close that my boobs press against his sweaty, rock-hard chest. He doesn't move, letting me invade his space. Even with my four-inch heels, he's still a giant. I look up, meeting the eyes that are too hard to read in the dim lighting, and wing it. Trailing my fingers down each strap of his suspenders, I smile at him.
"You enjoy that, starboy?"
His jaw flexes. The spot near his ears that ripples with his clenching motion makes me shiver--I couldn't help it if I tried. Something is extremely sexy about that part of a man.
"I think you enjoy it a little too much. Turning women on while knowing you're just a big tease because of it."
"You think I'm a tease?" he grunts on a laugh of disbelief.
I step even closer at the same time I press my hands against his abs, the muscles flexing under my touch. The second I roll to my toes, my face is at his throat, and the scent of him fills my nostrils again. I close my eyes--thankful my new position doesn't afford him the knowledge that I'm becoming lust drunk on the scent of him. His hands clasp my hips tightly, his fingertips biting into the skin before he gives me some help by literally lifting my feet off the ground.
"Unless you plan on taking me right here, I think, by definition, you are a tease."
His hold on my hips gets tighter, the bite of pain making my eyes roll back in my head in pleasure.
"You couldn't handle me, cherie."
"Sherry?"
His chest moves with his silent laughter.
"Cherie," he repeats, this time his mouth at my ear, and I hear a subtle French accent to the word that I remember from my high school days. But I failed French so badly I can't even remember how to count to ten.
"Someone's cocky," I joke, curling my toes to keep my heels from falling off as he continues to hold me off the ground. "I could so handle you."
His head tips, and his nose trails from the base of my neck up to my ear before his lips are back against my skin. My hands, braced on the corded muscles of his shoulders, jolt, and I tighten my grip until my nails bite against his skin. His chest vibrates, and I wish I could see his face. "You couldn't. A man like me ... I would ruin you and have you begging to be ruined all over again once you'd recovered."
"Don't underestimate me, Shane Kingston."
He lifts his head until his face is just a breath away from mine. My heart speeds up so rapidly that I'm convinced he can feel it against our pressed chests. Praying he doesn't call my bluff, I raise a brow and dare him to turn me down.
"You still dating that idiot?" he questions in a deep, rasping tone.
"You still dating that bitch?" I return, shaking my head mirroring him, both of us silently confirming we're single.
"You want to play, Nicole, make sure you understand what you're asking for."
Lifting one of my hands off his shoulders, I look up at the thick hair mussed on top of his head, dark raven strands falling against his forehead. With a whisper touch of my pointer finger, I push them back before raking my fingers across the top of his head. The thick locks feeling like damp silk as they move through my fingers. His face is unyielding, until that moment, and I lift my other hand up to one shaved side of his head, my fingertips just kissing the thick upper part of his stylish cut. My other hand is placed against the other side of his head. I rub my palms against the short buzz until I'm framing his face with his ears resting on the webbing of my thumbs.
Then I tilt his head slightly with my hold and take his mouth in a deep kiss.
I feel, rather than see, him turning us until the bar top is biting against my back. His hands move at the same time he opens his lips and his tongue starts sliding against my own. His hands shove under my short skirt until my bare ass is in his hands. Those strong fingers flexing against their hold in a way that makes me think Shane Kingston is definitely an ass man. His hot breath fans on my cheek when he groans loudly, deepening the kiss and trying to take control.
Oh, no way.
My legs wrap around his hips, and I suck his bottom lip into my mouth before biting it. A raspy hiss escapes him before I swallow it in another dueling of our lips. I roll my hips, using the bar as leverage, and I mentally cheer when he shivers.
Wishing we weren't in the middle of a very crowded club, I break away from him and press my forehead against his to catch my breath. "Do not underestimate me," I repeat myself.
He nods, lust and need written all over his face. His eyes are leaden, betraying the unaffected nature he would like me to believe.
"How about you let me know when you're ready to pick this back up somewhere a little less ... crowded?"
He doesn't move. Still holding me against him silently between the bar and his hard body. That sexy tic back in the edge of his jaw.
"Let me down, Shane. Let me down and dig out your phone so you can grab my number. You want to show me just what you think I can't handle, you give me a call. If not, well ... your loss, not mine."
His hands release my ass, slowly trailing back out from under my skirt, and I unhook my legs--reluctantly. He doesn't release me until my feet are firmly on the ground. His face is so unreadable I kick my ass for assuming he was just as into that as I had been. Guess that's what I get for being out of the game for so long.
I shrug and try not to let the disappointment get the best of me. Well, at least the kiss was hot. He doesn't move, making me squeeze out from where he has me pinned. I smile awkwardly at a slack-jawed Ember, noting that she's still holding Shane's shirt. Good; I deserve it after the free show we just gave the bar.
"You ready?" I ask her, still breathless from that kiss.
Her mouth opens but snaps shut a moment later. At the same time, a firm hold against my arm stops me from moving. My eyes widen when I feel Shane press his front against my back, the thickness of his erection instantly clear against my body. His lips close around my earlobe, and he bites down. Thankfully, his arm snaked around my stomach at the same time because that alone took every bit of strength out of my legs. His free hand comes around my other side, and through one hell of an aroused haze, I see a phone dangling in front of my face.
His mouth releases the sensitive flesh, and in a tone deeper than I've ever heard from him, he commands, "Think real hard about taking this, Nicole. If you put your number in there, you're as good as mine for however long we decide to ... handle each other. I'm not the kind of man you want to be playing games with."
Ember's eyes are ping-ponging from the phone to my eyes to Shane's direction so rapidly I'm a little worried my best friend might get dizzy and pass out.
If I was smart, I would have taken heed of his warning. Lord knows there are other men I could be wild and free with, but I've always wondered what kind of man Shane would be in bed. Even when it was wrong to think those thoughts. He's just got that effortless thing about him that invades your mind with dirty images. But I don't want to find some other nameless man. I don't want easy. I want Shane. I'm sick of playing life safely, afraid to move on with my life. I'm over living like that. I want to be wild, free, and confident. Like I said, if I was smart, I would have done what the old, safe Nikki would have done. But that Nikki had been with the same cheating bastard for years and never felt an ounce of what I just experienced with Shane. That Nikki was gone, drunk on this man, and desperate to feel that high more and more.
So I snatched that phone from him and quickly plugged in my number and called my cell. Not only did I give myself his number--bu
With his shirt.
Holy moly.
What the heck did I do now?
FUCK.
Fucking fuck.
"What the fuck was that?" Nate, my best friend, hisses.
Yup, pretty much took the words outta my head.
I close my eyes and press my palms against the one-way glass lining the upper offices to get some control over myself before turning to look at Nate.
I can still smell her.
I can still fucking taste her on my lips, some mix of the drink she had been nursing and something that must be completely and uniquely Nikki.
"Do you hear me?" Nate says, frustration mingling in with the earlier shock I heard in his voice.
"Hear you," I confirm.
"And?" he continues, not backing down.
"What do you want me to say, Nate?"
"Well, shit, I don't know. How about give me a little hint to what the hell just went through your head. I've never seen you act like that. With years of practice, you've become a robot to the women throwing themselves at you like bitches in heat, and the one chick I would prefer you kept your dick away from makes you turn into some sort of live porno foreplay for our whole fucking club?"
"Shit," I say under my breath.
"Look, man, I love you like a brother, but that's my wife's best friend. I don't want you fucking with her and making things tense. Since I promised I would never let my lady lose her smile when she isn't happy, I'm definitely not happy."
"She was giving just as good as I was, Nate. Don't make me out to be the bad guy who is after corrupting the innocent. That was two very consenting adults, not a monster and his prey."
I hear him grumble under his breath, and I turn from the window to look at him. He's standing on the other side of the desk--my desk--gripping the back of the chair placed in front of it tightly. It's weird to see him on the other side of the desk, but ever since I became a partner here at Dirty--and we converted his office from one big as hell space into two private office suites--it's moments like this that finally let it start to sink in that Dirty is just as much mine as it is his.
"Don't start this shit unless you're going to treat her like more than just a piece of pussy you toss away when you're done," he finally says after a long stretch of silence.
"Not really your place to request that of me, Nate."
"I know it isn't, but she means something to Ember, and what's important to my wife is important to me. That girl's been through some shit with her ex, and she doesn't need to find herself with another man who's going to keep his options open, if you know what I mean."
I narrow my eyes. "You make me sound like a fuckin' chump."
"You've been fucking your way through Hope Town since you finally split with Lacey. I'm not making you sound like jack shit. I'm speaking the truth, and you know it."
"I enjoy my life, Nate. Nothing wrong with that. Something you used to do too before you settled down. Don't judge me because I enjoy casual sex."
"When casual sex occasionally turns into fucking a different woman every night, that's doing a lot more than just enjoying your life."
I take a sharp breath, trying not to get pissed at my closest friend. "It's been six fucking months since I stuck my dick inside any woman, Nate, so I'd appreciate you not assuming I'm turning into a whore." I narrow my eyes and add, "And don't fucking point fingers at me."
His head jerks, shocked by my words. "Jessa?"
Guess he's not going to believe my recent celibacy that easily. I roll my eyes as I remember carrying the drunk-out-of-her-mind woman from Dirty last night. "Gave her a ride home because I knew she would try to drive herself if I didn't. Cock stayed in my pants. Cock didn't even think about coming out of my pants."
"Could have called her an Uber, Shane."
"Could have, yeah, but she's friends with my sister, so I didn't."
"Claire?"
"Another of Libby's friends," I tell him through clenched teeth.
"Are all the women who you conveniently help friends of Liberty?"
"She's a popular girl." I shrug, moving to drop down in my chair and shift next month's work schedule around.
"Bethany?"
"You're going to keep this up, aren't you? Even when you run out of names, you'll just keep making shit up."
He doesn't move, waiting for me to answer and ignoring my aggravation.
Jesus Christ. "Yeah, that one I fucked," I admit.
"That was..." he trails off, thinking back.
"Almost nine months ago. Must have been harder than you thought to come up with some names."
"Well, shit, I could have sworn she was recent."
"You've built me up to be one hell of a slut in your head, Nate. It wasn't too long ago when I could have been standing in your shoes, 'cept my guessing game wouldn't have been such a struggle, seeing as you actually did fuck everyone before settling down with Ember."
"Jesus Christ, Shane. I don't mean to sound like a hypocritical bastard, but this is Nikki here. She's been around since we opened the doors here almost two years ago. Why now?"
"Did you ever think that maybe I haven't made a move on her because I wasn't ready to not be a fucking slut?"
Nate laughs, the sound not even close to humor. "You finally scraped Lacey off, Shane, but she's still barking after you. She's here every fucking night, still, after almost a year. If it weren't my worry that you're still fucking everything with a willing body, I would still be concerned about that bitch."
I get angry at just the mention of my ex. "I don't exactly invite or welcome her shit, and you know it."
"So you're telling me that you're going to start something serious with another woman while your ex is still coming around constantly?"
"Didn't say that either," I grumble, feeling more and more like a kid getting in trouble with Daddy for being out past curfew.
Nate tosses his hands in the air and makes a show of his exasperation.
"Look, I respect where you're coming from, but shut the fuck up, Nate. You're not my daddy, and you damn sure aren't hers. If she calls, I'll figure it out then, but right now, I'm not even sure what the fuck just happened. Honestly, all I know is that felt like some strong ass shit. A lot stronger than just getting my rocks off with easy pussy."
"Don't fucking hurt her," he says with a resigned sigh. "Just try not to make things awkward as hell when whatever all that is, ends. My wife likes you, for whatever reason, though if you fuck with her friend, I'm thinking that's going to change."
"Go home, Nate."
"Yeah, I'm going. I have a long night ahead of me."
"Quinnly still teething?" I ask about his daughter, hoping this means the subject of Nikki is closed. He's made a lot of noise about how much his tiny daughter has been keeping him on his toes for the past two weeks, so I'm thankful we're done talking about other things.
"Nah, gotta fuck my wife."
I laugh, feeling lighter than I have since Nikki rushed out of Dirty, not even fazed by his crass.
"Just think about what you're doing, okay?"
I nod. "I always do, Nate. Always."
He leaves even though he's still not convinced I'm not going to fuck up his perfect fucking life by sleeping with his wife's best friend. It's written all over his face, but thankfully, he's whipped by his desire for his wife more than he cares about who her friends are fucking because he doesn't argue anymore. When the door snicks shut, I rest my head against the seat and think back to the hot-as-fuck woman who just blew my mind with a simple kiss.
I would be opening a whole can of fucking worms if I gave in to what my body wants when it comes to Nikki. Especially with Lacey still trying to get her claws back in me. But maybe that's what she needs to finally get a hint that it's over between us and has been for a long damn time. I can look past a lot--her bitchy attitude and hankering for expensive handbags being some of them--but opening her legs for another woman damn sure isn't one of them.
"Fuck," I groan, running my hands through my hair.
I pick up my phone and send a text to Dent, our full-time manager, and let him know I'm taking off for the night. I send another to my sister to let her know if any of her friends end up drunk and stupid tonight, it's on her and not me. Then I grab my car keys and get the fuck out of here.
As I make the whole drive across town to my house, I still feel the heat of Nikki as if she's pressed against my body. My cock still throbs for release with each pull of air through my nose that continues to carry her scent. I'm not sure if I'm praying she calls or not, and for a man who prides himself on control, this isn't a position I care to be in.
Fucking hell.
My house is dark when I pull into the garage, which isn't a shock since there isn't anyone waiting for me anymore. I spend more time at Dirty than I do at home anyway, so I hardly notice the loneliness anymore, but tonight it is almost oppressing in its obviousness. The silence around me thickens when the deep purr of my engine cuts off. I trudge into the house, still shirtless from earlier, and walk through the darkness to my bedroom. My shoes are kicked into the corner, and my pants follow behind them. By the time I'm in the shower, with warm jets of water pounding my skin and my cock in hand, only one thing is on my mind ... release.
It isn't until later, the sun just hours from coming up, that I realize it was Nikki's name I barked loudly as my come shot from my cock.
Jesus Christ. Either I need to get her under me, or I need to find someone else to get over this shit with. My cock's been in hibernation for six fucking long-as-hell months--since the last time Lacey showed up at my house with another desperate attempt to worm her way back in my life on an unfortunate night when I had been drinking. I haven't had an issue with my cock being stuck in the on position in a long damn time, and now I can't get it to go fucking down.
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