Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2)

by Jenika Snow

  Shit, why did he tell her that? Why was she telling her any of this? Yeah, she knew his reputation, but actually saying aloud made it seem … real.

  When the silence stretched between them he started to grow uncomfortable, thinking he may have really fucked up good by confirming what she most likely gathered from rumors.

  “Although I had heard all about your exploits, I think you’re a pretty great guy, bad boy reputation and all.”

  Her saying that meant more to him than she would ever know. Alex hung his head and actually felt his fucking cheeks heat from her compliment. Clearing his throat and forcing himself to look at her again, he was struck for the millionth time by how beautiful she was. The light right above her was muted and cast a warm glow over her, like it was a halo and she was this fallen angel. “Enough about me. Who are you really, Mary? What’s your favorite color? Do you have a favorite animal, food, or scent? I just want to know something, anything about you, Mary.”

  “I hate the color red; my favorite food is lasagna, and I love the scent of Christmas trees. I’ve even stockpiled the aerosol cans of that scent when they are on sale during the holidays so I can smell it year-round.”

  He couldn’t hold back the chuckle that left him, and was pleased when she smiled. He reached across the table and gave her hand a light squeeze to urge her to continue. He wanted to know every minute thing about her.

  “You really want to know the boring stuff?”

  “It isn’t boring stuff to me, Mary.”

  She twisted her fingers together, and before he could ask if he was making her nervous and uncomfortable she started talking. “I won’t eat seafood unless it’s in the form of a tuna fish sandwich. I also eat all of the toppings off my pizza first.”

  He felt his skin stretch as his smile grew wider. This was what he wanted to know, the little quirks that made her up, the little things that no one else knew unless they were really paying attention to Mary Trellis.

  She took a deep breath. “I feel out of my element.” That took him off guard.

  “Really? Why? Do I make you nervous?” She nodded slowly. “Well that’s a relief because I feel like a total wreck over here.” She started laughing, and the sound speared right through his chest.

  “It’s just, I haven’t gone out with someone in over two years, not since I left home.” He lifted a brow because he was surprised as hell that she had been able to keep the guys from beating her door down. “My ex, Lance, cheated on me actually, and for a long time I didn’t see myself as anything special. He was all I knew, and I let him make me feel like I wouldn’t be anyone without him.” He didn’t speak, just let her continue, although he felt like ripping her ex-boyfriend’s balls off. “I found him in bed with one of my good friends at a party.”

  She took her hand away, and he let it go. She needed her space, and that was fine, as long as she didn’t hide herself from him. Alex realized he didn’t want that, not now or ever.

  “She wasn’t upset over the fact, and although he apologized for it and acted like he was in the wrong, I knew him well enough to see he didn’t think he betrayed me.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I haven’t told anyone how I felt about that, just blocked it out and pretended it went away after I started going to OSU. But I’ll be honest, I deserved what he did to me in a sense.”

  How in the hell did she think she deserved to be betrayed?

  “I let him walk all over me, talk to me any way he felt like, and what he did was kind of like karma slapping me in the face, waking me up, and showing me that letting someone do what he did to me would only ruin me in the end. So, although I was crushed, now I can look back and appreciate that things happened the way they did.”

  “I’m sorry he hurt you, Mary. It’s a shitty thing to do to someone.” His rage was a boil inside of him, growing hotter and hotter until he thought he would burn alive from it. God, what he wouldn’t give for that asshole to be in front of him right now.

  “Everyone knew what he was doing at that party with Brittany, but no one said a damn thing to me. They all knew they were screwing around behind my back, and not one damn person stopped me from going into that room and finding them fucking. It really showed me what kind of people they were, and how I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself. They weren’t really my friends, and I’m glad I found that out.”

  He had watched her face when she spoke, saw the pain she felt, but didn’t know how to comfort her. Hell, he didn’t even know what to say to make her smile again. Alex wanted to hurt those people for her, beat their asses until they were sobbing, crying out their apologies, and groveling at her feet. He could feel himself start to shake from the force of his anger, and his jaw ached from how hard as he was grinding his teeth.

  “You want to know the real me, Alex?”

  “Yes, Mary, I really do.”

  She held his eyes for a moment before speaking. “I am the kind of girl that let her alcoholic boyfriend verbally abuse her for far too long, and it was all because I was too afraid of what I would be, and how I would feel when I was alone.” He opened his mouth, but she smiled sadly and shook her head, stopping what he would have said. “I’m not saying this to make you feel bad, or to gain anything. You wanted to know something about me that no one else knows, and I just told you my deepest secret, because I want you to know who the real Mary Trellis is, Alex. I used to be very weak, not sure of myself, and afraid of the unknown. I let people walk all over me growing up, and never held my head high because I thought I wasn’t worth anything.”

  “Mary.” Alex was once again at a loss for words.

  “I have moved past all of that, and am now stronger because of it. Even though it took a lot of tears, I did it on my own.” The waiter came by to check on them, breaking up the melancholy that filled the space between them. When he left them alone once again she said, “So, have I scared you off yet?” He loved that she was looking for humor in a situation that clearly cut her deep.

  “No.” He shook his head and reached out for her hand again. “You could never scare me off.” Being with Mary was so different from anything he had ever done, and what he felt for her was like nothing that he had ever experienced before. There was no doubt he would not be the same with her in his life, not anymore. His pulse increased, beads of sweat dotted his temples, and he knew that there was no walking away. He wanted her now, and he would always want her, no matter what. He was falling hard for this girl, and he wasn’t about to stop it from happening.

  For a moment a plethora of emotion passed across her face, and he wondered if she had seen how much he wanted her, but it was gone as quickly as it had become visible. “I’m adopted, and growing up with Margo was hell in itself.”

  “Margo?” He liked that she was sharing all of this with him, and liked that she trusted him.

  “My sister. The one getting married next weekend. She’s two years older than me, and even though I was adopted as an infant and we grew up together, I never felt like I belonged. I’m not the stuffy, rich type like my family and the people they associate with.”

  Alex had never wanted to hit a girl, but hearing that Mary’s sister had made her feel like that had a new kind of anger surfacing. In his mind, he’d just beat the shit out her ex twice. She placed her hand on her chest and stared directly into his eyes.

  “I don’t mean to dump so much information on you, or make you look at me any differently, because I like the way you look at me, like I’m the only girl you’ve ever seen.”

  God, she was tearing him up inside, and he didn’t know what to say to wash that almost hopeless expression off her face, the one that had been brought up as she gave a piece of herself to him.

  “Mary.” She had once again averted her gaze from his, but he wanted those beautiful blue eyes looking right at him. When she did just that he said, “When it comes to you, there isn’t any other female that I want.” His expression was hard, serious. “You’re it for me, Mary.”

  Chapter Fifteen


  Alex couldn’t keep his hands off of her, but that was okay, because she couldn’t keep her hands off of him. After they left the restaurant all Mary could think about was being with him in the most elemental of senses. To hear Alex Sheppard tell her there was no other for him had everything else fading away, had her heart pounding like a drum in her chest, and had a sense of euphoria washing through her all at the same time. He must have seen what she wanted in her eyes because all other conversation ceased, he paid the bill, took her hand, and got back to his place faster than she knew was legal.

  She had told him so much about herself, things she had never uttered to another person. Her fears when she was younger, the way Lance made her feel, hell, what he had done, all of it had been something she kept deep down inside of her, afraid to reveal it to another living person. He had let her talk, didn’t judge her with looks or words, and never made her feel embarrassed or regretful opening up to him.

  “You smell so good, Mary. Taste so fucking good.” He took possession of her mouth again, dragging his tongue along hers, and causing so many sensations to pass through her body that left her confused. Here they were, in the cab of his truck in his driveway making out like high school teenagers. It was exhilarating. The lights were off in his house, and the fact he told her no one would be home for hours had her wanting out of this truck and in his bed now.

  “Alex.”

  He continued to kiss her, and then moved his mouth down her neck to lick at her pulse that beat frantically right below her ear.

  “Can we possibly finish this inside, on your bed?” He groaned, and she grinned. She had already sent Darcy a text saying she wouldn’t be home tonight, and the response she got back was two crude designs made from numbers and symbols of a penis and vagina.

  “Say that again.” He cupped her breast, and she let her head fall back against the headrest.

  “Say what?” Her words were short and breathy because what he was doing to her body should have been illegal.

  He was doing wicked things to her nipple with his forefinger and thumb. He tweaked the tip, rubbed it between his fingers, and had the blood rushing to the surface.

  “Tell me you want to be on my bed.” He gently bit her neck, and a sigh of pleasure left her. It felt so good, he felt so good, and he knew just the right place to touch her that lit her up faster than pouring gasoline on an open fire.

  “I want to take this upstairs to your room, where we can lie on your bed … naked.” She added the last part as a little tease, because if he could torture her with his hands and mouth, then she would do it with words.

  “What you do to me.” He didn’t phrase it as a question, but at least he moved away from her so she could suck in a much needed lungful of air. In quick moves he was out of the truck, moved around the front and had her out and in his arms on seconds later. After a prolonged kiss, one where he had pressed her against the truck, cupped her pussy, had had her so wet she had actually ground herself on his hand to relieve the ache, they had quickly made their way inside an up to his room. A streetlight across the street came through the single window in his room and washed the room in a muted yellowish glow. They looked at each other for only a suspended moment before they clashed together, hands tearing at each other’s clothes, mouths pressing together in bruising force, and sexual sounds emitting from both of them.

  Once both of them were nude Alex stepped fully against her, his hardness to her softness. There wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t tone, ripped, and defined. He was wholly male, and she had never felt more controlled than she did when he touched her. A low rumble left him, and he flattened his tongue at the base of her throat and dragged it up slowly. She let her head fall back, closed her eyes, and didn’t focus on anything except how he made her feel.

  “I’m going to take my time with you, Mary. This isn’t a quick fuck against the lockers at Frost.” His voice was scratchy and vibrated against her neck. He cupped one bared breast, rolled the nipple between thumb and index finger, and moved to the next. He did this repeatedly while continuing to drag his tongue up and down her throat, like he was some kind of animal and marking her so there was no mistaking who she belonged to. It was a heady sensation, one that made her feel owned in the best kind of way.

  He wrapped his huge arms around her, ground his erection into her belly, and then turned them so the bed hit the back of her legs. He used his upper body to push her back, and when the mattress greeted her he claimed her mouth once more. Spreading her legs so he could settle his lean hips between them, she felt the air leave her when all of his weight pressed her into the bed. After he kissed the shit out of her he placed his hands on either side of her head, and pushed himself up so his upper body no longer touched hers. Mary felt caged by him, by his strength and muscles, and by the sheer determination that she saw on his face. He reminded her of some wild animal, about to claim his prey … and she was that prey. He stared down her, and with a touch far gentler than she thought he could give her at this moment, moved his finger between her breasts. Up and down he did this, causing her flesh to pucker from the sensation. He never took his eyes from her, not even when her chest rose with so much force she grew lightheaded form lack of oxygen.. He trailed his finger lower, and as he held her gaze with his own, all she could do was wait with bated breath until he touched the part of her body that ached the most for him. When he reached her belly button Alex moved the digit around it in a slow circle, and then continued lower until he reached the top of her mound.

  “I want to taste you here, Mary.” He twisted his hand so he could cup her pussy, and a startled gasp left her when he pushed his middle finger into her body. “Will you let me?” Lowering his head so their faces were nearly touching he said, “I need to lick your pussy, Mary. I want to drag my tongue through your cunt until you come all over my face.” Alex was vulgar in his description, but instead of turning her off it made her want him more. He slowly started to pump his finger in and out of her pussy, and pressed the heel of his hand on her clit at the same time. The dual sensations were explosive, and she gripped his bulging biceps and dug her nails into his arms. He hissed out, “That’s it, baby. Fucking dig your nails into me, make me realize I’m not dreaming this up.”

  “God, Alex.” No man had ever eaten her out before, and the thought of Alex sucking and licking at her had moisture seeping out of her, making Alex’s finger thrusting slick with her need. She was burning alive, and there was no escape. “I want you to.”

  He didn’t respond, just trailed his lips down her body and stopped when he got between her thighs. His warm breath brushed along her cleft, and even though she should have felt some semblance of self-consciousness that his face was so close to that part of her, the only thing that consumed her was unrestrained desire.

  “Ohhh.” Neck arching, nails digging even further into his strong arms, and her breath leaving her violently, Mary stared at the ceiling when Alex ran the tip of his tongue along the opening of her body. He then moved it up her slit, circled her clit until she was thrashing her head back and forth, and dragged it back down to her opening where he slowly penetrated her.

  “Fuck, I knew you’d taste like this.” He took his thumbs, pulled her lips apart and started to devour her pussy with rapid, long licks, and powerful suctioning to her clit. His grunts fuelled her desire and sent shocks of vibrations to her core. She was close to coming, and he hadn’t penetrated her, not really, not with the part of his body that she absolutely craved. Tensing and holding off because she didn’t want this to end, Mary let of a string of short pants in the process. “Don’t fight it, Mary. I want you to come so fucking badly.”

  It was those erotic, dirty words that were her undoing. Grabbing a handful of his hair, she tugged on the short, silky strands as her climax tore through her. Alex never once stopped licking her, and in fact added another thick finger inside of her right at the peak of her pleasure. It was intense, mind numbing, and something that she had certainly been missing.


  When the tremors left her and she lay there sucking in air, Alex slipped his fingers from her still clenching pussy, moved up her body, and kissed her. His tongue tangled with hers, and the flavor of her, mixed with everything that was Alex invaded her taste buds. “You’ll let me do that again sometime, baby?”

  “God, yes.” He chuckled and kissed her soundly, and she wasn’t quite so bashful at the fact she had all but purred those two words. His erection was a living entity between her thighs, hot and hard. They looked at each other for a moment before he moved away from her, grabbed a condom from his bedside table, and rolled it down his shaft. She looked at his nightstand, hating the fact she was thinking the thoughts that were going through her head at the moment. Firm fingers gripped her chin, and Alex turned her head so she was looking at him.

  “I have never had another girl in my room. You are the first and only female on my bed, and I plan on keeping it that way.” Of course he would know what she was thinking, because Mary was quickly realizing that she couldn’t hide anything form Alex. Whether that was a good or bad thing was still left to be decided. “Yeah, Mary?” She trusted him more than she trusted anyone before, and that comforted her but scared her all at the same time.