by BJ Harvey
“It’s scary how you can know all of this.”
“I’ve known you your entire life, Co,” he says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “I’ve been where you are, and in many ways, you and I are a lot more alike now than we’ve ever been. Just do what’s right for you—screw what anyone else thinks.” I nod, and he steps away, a slow-growing grin curving his mouth.
“C’mon, ladies. Are you done with your heart-to-heart, or should we all start plaiting each other’s hair and painting our nails?” Jax calls out. “Ow! Shit, Barbie. What was that for?” He looks down at his wife, rubbing his arm.
“Quit giving Cohen crap, and go get your unborn child some fries. The baby really feels like some fries,” Ronnie says, rubbing her rounded tummy.
Jax’s eyes go soft. “Anything you want, Barbie.”
Damn, the joker has gone soft. Screw that for a laugh.
Ezra snorts. “Now, go take all that frustration out on the golf balls and kick everyone’s ass like you always do.”
I match his smile. “Now that I can do.”
In the end, I wipe the floor with all of them.
The problem is I also send Skye a text, asking how her night is going.
A text she never answers.
Maybe because she’s not coming home.
That is confirmed the next morning when I’m standing in my kitchen, waiting for the coffee machine to work its magic, and I watch Skye walk up the front path, wearing what can only be the same clubbing clothes she had on the night before.
They’re tight, they’re skimpy, and they’re sexy as hell.
And finally, something snaps inside of me.
12
Skye
When the cab pulls up at my building, I’m already in a bad mood. My phone died hours ago, and as I walk up the stairs and let myself into my apartment, the only thing I want to do is sleep for a week. I walk into my room, drop my heels onto the floor, and pull my dress over my head. Once my bra is off, I let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully I had a shower before coming home. That means I only need to get dressed and then put my plan into action. Today is going to be all about comfy clothes, making the couch my home, and a cable show binge with a side of takeout delivery. Maybe pizza. Maybe Chinese. Just thinking about food has my stomach growling.
I rummage through my closet and pull on a pair of black leggings with thick chunky grey socks, a tank, and a red Chicago Fire soccer team hoodie. I quickly whip my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head, and with my phone in hand, I walk out of my bedroom, making a beeline for my couch, which is calling my name.
Then I realize my furniture can’t talk, and the knocking—almost thumping—at my door is not a figment of my imagination.
“Skye, I know you’re home. Open up,” Cohen yells from the outside.
What on earth?
Moving toward the entryway, I grab hold of the handle and swing it wide, coming face-to-face with my scowling best friend.
With a hand on my stomach, he gently moves me back, shutting the door behind him, apparently not needing an invitation to enter. Looking down, his eyes narrow at the phone in my hand. He keeps moving, crowding me backward until I touch the wall.
“You didn’t come home,” he rumbles, gritting his teeth, his angry gaze pinned to mine.
My head jerks back, my brows drawn tight. “Excuse me?”
“I saw you walking in.”
“Co, what’s going on?”
“Did your phone break too?”
I lift my hands and try to push him back to put some space between us, but he doesn’t budge. “Cohen, move back.”
“Was it good?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The sex. The one-night stand you came home from just hours after propositioning me in my own damn living room.”
Realization dawns, but it doesn’t stop me from being pissed off. “Why? Are you jealous?”
Now it’s his turn to be surprised. “Are you really asking me that?”
“Why else would you come storming up here, acting like a dick, judging me for something you have absolutely no idea about?”
“You were wearing the same clothes you went out in.”
“And?”
“And that was a walk of shame if ever I saw one.”
“Move back, and I’ll enlighten you as to the ways of the world, Cohen Cook.”
“Or I can stay right here where I want to be while you tell me.” He presses his hips against mine, wedging his thigh between my legs. If I wasn’t so annoyed, I’d probably take the opportunity to rub all up against him.
I poke him hard in the chest, my own anger rising. “Did you ever take a moment to stop thinking with whatever the hell you’re thinking with right now and consider the possibility my phone died, my sister drank too much, and I’ve spent the night sleeping on her couch to keep an eye on her?” I ask, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Or did you just jump to the conclusion that since I didn’t get lucky with you, I must’ve gone out and jumped the first guy who caught my eye at the club?”
His eyes go wide, and he steps back, a pained sigh escaping his lips. Looking down at the ground, he runs a hand through his hair before lifting his head again. “I’m sorry. I saw you come home and jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
“You skipped jumping and leapt the damn lake, Co.”
“Shit. I saw red.”
“What makes you think I’d proposition you then go out to find someone else?”
He stares at me, regret written all over his face. “I’m not good with this shit,” he says, waving his hand between us.
“You were doing fine until a few minutes ago. Although I will say, the caveman routine is kind of hot when you’re not slut-shaming me.”
“Skye, I don’t think that. I’m just an idiot.”
I’m losing him and not wanting to have him retreat again—in any way—I need to take action. I reach out, fist my hand in his tee, and gently pull him back toward me. His wary eyes flash with heat as I bring his body against mine.
“Why did you see red, Co?” I ask softly, looking up at him.
“Because I wanted it to be me.”
“You want a one-night stand with me, Cass?”
“No. ’Cause once won’t be enough. Not to do everything I want to do to you,” he says roughly.
My breath catches, and his darkening gaze says he doesn’t miss it.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I whisper. His leg finds its place between mine as he dips his face closer.
“This has complication written all over it.”
“It’s only complicated if you let it be,” I say, hoping I sound surer of that statement than I am. I’m rubbing up against him like a cat in heat, but when you’re this close to a man you’ve wanted in your bed for more than a year, restraint goes out the window. After yesterday’s near miss—or near shower sex—this moment right here, right now, was inevitable.
“Sex always complicates everything,” he says.
“Only if you let it.”
“We work together.”
I roll my eyes with a sigh. “Well, duh.”
“We almost live together.”
“Don’t worry, Co. I’ll always go home afterward,” I say with a small grin.
His gaze roams over my face as he brings his hand to rest on my neck. “People get attached.”
I lean in, so he’s all I can see. “Not me, Co,” I whisper. “I want you naked, I want you over, on and in me, but that’s all it will be. Just sex.”
“We can’t screw this up. I don’t want to lose what we have now.”
“We won’t, as long as we remember what this is, respect each other, and don’t catch feelings. Everyone stays happy, sane, and friendly.”
He stops what he’s doing, his hands going still on my sides as he lifts his head, his intense gaze boring into mine. “I mean it, Skye. If we do this—”
I flex my fingers against his ass. “Oh, we’re do
ing this, Cass. I’ve waited far too long for you to give in.”
“Three weeks?”
My lips curve into a smirk. “I’ve wanted to tap this ass…” I snake my arm around his hip and give him a short, sharp smack on said butt, “… since the first day we met.”
He lifts one single brow, and I squeeze my legs together, trapping his thigh tight against me. His eyes narrow, but that just makes him look hotter, his attention dropping to my mouth as I slowly lick my bottom lip.
“Fuck,” he groans. Finally, feeling like I’m regaining the upper hand, I run my hands up his body and grab hold of his biceps, needing to anchor myself to him as much as I need the support to stay upright.
Arching my back, I press into him, his answering growl reaching inside me and stoking the flames, snapping my restraint. His grip tightens, his chest pressing me against the living room wall as he drags his thigh up to wedge it hard and hot against my sex.
Tearing my lips from his, I drop my head back as a low, keening moan escapes me. “Co…”
He rakes his teeth against my jaw, nipping and sucking before soothing the sting with a wet, open-mouthed kiss.
He rubs his thigh against me. “Do we have a deal, brat?”
“Name it so we can get on to much more enjoyable things to do against a wall.”
He pulls his face back, his expression serious. “If anything changes, we stop. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone, but I don’t want to hurt you. I’d rather throw myself at the mercy of your brothers than do that.”
“Right now, I’d agree to anything. Take my first-born, all of my worldly belongings—whatever you want, Co, it’s yours. Just don’t mention family members when I’m this close to riding your leg to take the edge off.”
He growls and presses all of him against all of me. The hard wall at my back and his even harder body at my front almost has my eyes rolling back into my head, it feels that good.
“I’ve been waiting forever to have you like this,” he rasps, his hips pinning me in place, his large hands wandering over my body.
“So now you’ve got me where you want me, are you going to do something about it?” I drag my nails down his back, scraping over his skin through the thin jersey fabric of his tee until I reach his ass and squeeze.
“So… you… agree,” he says, punctuating every word with a thrust of his pelvis against my hip.
“Yes, Co. Please,” I say breathlessly, not caring how wanton I sound. There’s only so much teasing a girl can take before she’s ready to blow.
He runs his hand up my side, the barely-there sweep of his thumb across my nipple causing goosebumps to cover my skin.
“Co…” I whisper, my voice rough, thick, full of unspoken need. Lifting his hand, he glides his fingers into my hair, his grip firm but not painful. It’s unyielding but gentle, and my heart rate spikes in anticipation.
He dips his head and presses his lips to the corner of mine, flexing his fingers against my scalp when I turn to follow his mouth.
“Say it again,” he rasps, tracing his tongue along my jaw and bringing his mouth to my ear. “I love the way you say my name.” He sucks the sensitive skin of my neck between his teeth. “I can’t wait to hear you scream it.”
His words send a shot of heat straight to my core.
“Cohen, Goddammit. Keep your mouth on me. Fingers. Tongue, cock, anything.”
“Okay, babe. I’ll look after you,” he says. My heart jumps, and my vagina makes plans for a welcome parade in his honor.
I tangle my fingers in his hair just as he cups my jaw, and we crash together, our lips colliding in the middle. I drive my tongue inside his mouth on a scouting mission, needing to kiss and consume him for as long and as hard and as deep as possible. After meeting me stroke for stroke, grope for grope, and grind for grind. Cohen takes control, wrestling it back and pushing me against the wall, overwhelming my senses with the smell, feel, and taste of him.
He tears his lips from mine. “Bed. Now. I want time and space with you.”
“Wait,” I say, my entire body threatening to spontaneously combust, all previous exhaustion vanishing at the first thrust of his body against mine and the taste of him on my tongue.
I bite my lip to stop myself from jumping him all over again. Instead, I grab his hand, lace my fingers with his, and move toward the door.
A frown mars his features. “What’s wrong?”
I lock the door, putting the safety chain across for extra measure. I then turn back. “Your family has this annoying habit of cock-blocking each other, and that is not going to happen today. So power off your phone, shut off whatever homing beacon they have on you, and get ready to be MIA.”
His brows lift as his lips twitch, his eyes full of amused heat. “Homing beacon?”
I nod. “Yep,” I say while dragging him toward my room.
“The entire day?”
“You better believe it, Cass. You’re going to be unreachable to everyone except me,” I say, moving to the bed.
He picks me up and throws me on the mattress. Landing with a shriek, I look up to find his hands on his tee, lifting it up to give me a mini-orgasm-inducing tease of his abs and the V lines of his hips. “Not a hardship,” he murmurs, his eyes raking up my body from my toes to my mouth and back down again. The wave of heat his gaze leaves in its wake is enough to burn me alive. He guarantees I’ll do anything and everything he wants when he drops his voice to a rough growl. “Now strip, and do it quickly. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
Mini-orgasm be damned. If he keeps talking dirty like that, I’ll be coming before he’s even touched me. If that’s the case, heaven forbid what will happen when he does.
And as I watch him strip off, I champ at the bit to find out.
13
Cohen
I rip my T-shirt over my head and chuck it on the ground. Skye hasn’t moved except to prop herself up on her elbows, her gaze unapologetic in its appreciative roaming over my skin.
She nods to my shorts. “Keep going. I think you need to make this pre-show entertainment worth my while.”
“I will if you will,” I say with a smirk. I quirk a brow, looking her up and down as I toy with my waistband. “You won’t get more of anything until you get naked too, brat.”
She licks her lips before sinking her teeth in. Lifting both of her legs up, she yanks off one sock, then the other, all the while my eyes drop to the mouthwatering profile of the tight leggings clinging to her hips, ass, and the tempting seam straight between her thighs.
I consider the merits of grabbing the spandex and ripping it apart just so I can bury my face there. It would be worth the price to replace them just to have the taste of Skye on my tongue sooner rather than later.
“It would be so much better if you were palming your cock without those horrible shorts in the way,” she says, grabbing my attention.
I look down, smirking as I rake my gaze up her body again. “Quid pro quo.”
A sexy smile plays on her lips as she leaves her legs in the air and makes quick work of her pants and underwear, throwing them away. She pushes herself up to a sitting position and spreads her legs, pulling off her hoodie and tank, so she’s gloriously naked in front of me.
“Fuck.” I follow suit, kicking away my shorts and wrapping my fist around my cock, stroking hard and slow from base to tip.
“Now what are you going to do?” she challenges.
“Now…” I say, getting onto the bed and positioning myself on my knees between her legs. I move up her body, holding myself over her while dragging my hand along her side, skimming her breast and gripping behind her neck. I dip my face until we’re almost touching. “This finally begins.”
She lifts her head, but I stay out of reach, teasing her and torturing myself. Her arms slide up my back, raking her nails against my skin. When she lifts her hips against my hard-on, my self-control vanishes.
I tilt my head and slam my lips down on hers, our tongues tangling t
ogether in a kiss hotter than any we’ve shared before.
Her hands grab hold of my hair, making me growl into her mouth and delve deeper. Losing all restraint, I drop my weight onto her, pressing her into the bed. Her whimpers and moans drive me crazy. My body seems to have a mind of its own, my pelvis rocking down and around, dragging my cock back and forth against her clit. She’s so damn responsive. So bold and out there with everything she’s giving me. There’s no holding back with Skye, which is fucking fantastic since that’s exactly the kind of woman I like to have in my bed—or hers. Mine can be next.
I tear my mouth away, moving down her neck, trailing my tongue between the valley of her breasts.
“God. I knew you’d be good at sex. I knew it the first time I saw you and those hips…” she says.
I tilt my chin and lock eyes with hers. I wedge those hips she likes so much between her thighs. I cup one of her breasts.
“Those big hands…” She sounds breathy now, her eyes half-mast and glazed. Fuck, that’s a good look on her.
I grin, not looking away as I lean down and run the tip of my tongue around her nipple before drawing it between my lips.
“That mouth, God!” I smile against her skin, resting my weight against her hips, paying her other breast the attention it deserves at the same time. She closes her eyes, her head driving back into her pillow, pushing her body up into my hands. I drag my teeth against the stiff peak before continuing my descent to her stomach, pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses on the way until I’m right where I want to be.
I flatten my hands over her hips and smooth my palms inside her thighs, spreading them wider, holding her hostage. Except, true to form, Skye braces herself on her arms, looking down at me. Her mouth quirks up into a lazy smile. Her muscles twitch as if she’s fighting not to wrestle control from me and take over. A wicked grin transforms her flushed face, a pink blush that I trace down over the curves of her breasts and continue following until I’m licking my lips and inhaling deep, the smell of her overwhelming me, making my cock so hard I fear I might end this before we’ve even begun. She trembles, her muscles tensing as I dip my head, taking a languid, leisurely swipe from her ass to the swollen and begging bundle of nerves my mouth is dying to taste, tease and torment until she’s screaming my name.