Brazen

by Cathryn Fox

  Better judgment told her to remain silent, but she wasn’t one to follow her own advice. “Kyle?” she croaked.

  A warm palm slid across her back and grasped an ass cheek, squeezing, and something stirred beneath her.

  The action sent her hormones screaming. This was not a dream. It was real. Kyle was real. That something growing larger beneath her was real. Really. Really. Real. Gauging by the way his hips shifted and that something sinfully wedged itself between her thighs—her bare thighs to be exact—she was in trouble. In fact, she wore not a stitch of clothes and neither did he.

  “Who’d you think it was?” His familiar chuckle sent a sense of dread slamming into the excitement her wayward body was hell-bent on experiencing.

  With lightning speed, her pulse jumped and raced. Sam swallowed, but the cottony taste lingered, refusing to get past the golf ball-size knot in her throat. Afraid to open her eyes, she fought desperately to dismiss the obvious.

  She did not sleep with Kyle last night. Her body was not warring with her mind to widen her legs. And the throb in her nipples was not a sign that she wanted him.

  Scattered snippets of the night floated aimlessly in her head, but try as she might portions of the night remained missing, like how she got to her room. Then her dance, her conversation with Troy popped into her head.

  Sam groaned aloud.

  “You okay, Sam?” His large hand smoothed up her back, brushing away her hair as his fingertips danced across her skin. “Can I get you anything? A drink?”

  Nooo… No more to drink.

  A gun might be a better choice, because she couldn’t bear to open her eyes and face the mess she’d created. A shiver slithered across her skin. Was this how Kyle had felt that night? Had he really been too intoxicated to recognize the difference between her and Cathy? Her stomach rolled.

  “Baby?”

  “Please don’t call me that.” Inhaling a shaky breath, she opened her eyes, turned and stared directly into his crystal blue ones. His tousled hair, the sly, seductive smirk on his face, made her pause, but not for long. “This was a mistake.” She should have spoken to Cathy last night. Should have discovered the truth, before she let anything like this happen.

  His hand tensed against her skin. His grin died a quick death. “The hell it was.” Several worry lines furrowed his forehead. “I wanted you. You wanted me.”

  “I was drunk.” It was a poor excuse and she knew it the minute the stupid words left her mouth.

  Kyle’s brows shot up so quickly they almost touched his hairline. “So drunk you don’t remember what happened? What? You have five, six, maybe seven glasses of champagne?”

  Sam stopped counting after five.

  He flashed her one of those how’s-it-feel-to-be-in-my-shoes looks. “You know, Sam, I had a hell of a lot more to drink that night.”

  Both of them knew exactly what night he spoke of. And yes, she wanted to believe him, but first she had to speak with her sister.

  Careful not to touch him any more than she had to, she climbed off his decadent body and the bed, dragging a pillow along with her. Using it like a shield before her, she inched her chin higher.

  “You should leave, Kyle.”

  “No. Please.” Muscles bunched, rippled beneath his sun-kissed skin as he moved across the bed and stood before her. “Sam, don’t push me away. Forget the past. Look at what we could have together.”

  We would be married. Maybe even have a child.

  His words rang in her ears. Of all the things for her to remember from their night together. The sob building in her throat nearly undid her. It didn’t help that the room smelled musky of sex, their coupling. Squeezing her lips together, an attempt to keep her emotions at bay, she shook her head.

  “I can’t. Every time I close my eyes I see you with her,” she admitted. “I don’t want to live with that memory in my head each time I look at you.”

  “Please, baby. Don’t do this to us.”

  “You hurt me.” She couldn’t mask the trembling in her voice. Then the truth tumbled out. “I don’t know if I could ever trust you again.”

  “But—”

  Sam held up a hand, silencing him. “Don’t.” Couldn’t he see her heart was breaking? The weight inside her chest was suffocating. What happened last night only made things worse. This had been her fault. She had no one to blame but herself. “I can’t go through this again.”

  Kyle reached for her. Before she could dodge his grasp, he jerked her to him. She slammed into his chest, knocking the pillow out of her hands. It dropped between them. Skin to skin, Sam stood on rubbery legs. He lowered his head. His lips were a breath away from hers and she almost melted. Almost.

  “Please don’t kiss me.” It was a plea. Blinking back tears, she knew she wasn’t strong enough to resist him.

  “Is that all it would take for you to be mine again?” The ruthlessness in his tone sent another shiver down her spine. He held her a little tighter, a little closer.

  “Yes.” Even as she made the confession, something inside her died. Pride. What little she had left oozed out of her. There was no need to deny it. She still loved and hated him.

  “I want you, Sam.” His abrupt release left her staggering. “But not at the price of your dignity.” Jaws clenching, he made a see-saw motion, before he spoke again. “When you come back to me it will be because you want to. I can’t apologize any longer for something I can’t remember. And I won’t live here anymore pretending like my life is okay.”

  Backbone rigid, he stepped away from her and began to gather his clothes. The bed moaned beneath his weight as he sat, pushing one leg and then another into his pants before he fastened them. Not bothering with donning a shirt, he marched to the door and jerked it open. He took one more long look at her before slamming the door behind him.

  Sam startled. Her pulse raced even faster.

  The change in his demeanor left her speechless and cold, a chill that went bone deep.

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