I was about ten feet away when Tomas called out, “Don’t think you want to do that, sugar plum.”
I turned to face him. “And why’s that?”
With an evil smile and a point toward the door, he replied, “Because this is gonna be too much fun.” One second later Dex pushed through the door, followed closely by Griffin. It was the first time I’d been around my brother and him together since we started sleeping together, and if the devilish smirk on Griffin’s face was any indication, he was blatantly aware of my sudden discomfort.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself as I shuffled back behind the counter next to Tomas, trying my best to school my features and appear unaffected. “Hey guys. What brings you by?” That sounded casual. I can totally pull this off.
“Well, I wanted to stop by to check on you since I wasn’t able to get to the station last night,” my brother answered. “I’ll spare you the lecture since I already know Rowan tore into you guys last night…” That wasn’t even half of my punishment from the night before. But he didn’t need to know that.
I ignored the choked laughter that came from Tomas. “Oh, well… thanks. As you can see, I’m all good.”
Griffin’s smirk grew into a brilliant smile as he thrust the paper coffee cup in his hand in my direction. “I brought you a little pick-me-up. I figured you’d be exhausted this morning. You know, from being ripped into last night,” he added suggestively.
I didn’t ignore Tomas’s choked snort that time. Oh no. Instead, I stomped on his foot with the four inch heel of my black, patent leather Mary-Janes as I tried to melt Griffin’s face off with my eyes.
“Thanks,” I ground out, not sounding at all thankful. The jerk lived to push my buttons, whether we were sleeping together or not. Taking the coffee from him, I took a much needed sip, my earlier agitation quickly melting away when I realized he’d gotten me the very same coffee I order every time. Damn it. I hated when he did something sweet while I wanted to be pissed at him.
“How are Wendy and Ivy feeling?” I asked Dex in an attempt to ignore the way my body was beginning to react to being so near Griffin. Even when I was annoyed, his presence did something to me. Heat pooled low in my belly, a tingle began to build between my thighs, my breathing grew labored, and I swear, I could feel his eyes trailing along my skin like a gentle caress. All he was doing was standing still and grinning and it was almost too much.
“They’re getting better,” my brother answered, pulling me out of the hazy of lust I’d been momentarily tangled in. “Speaking of, I should probably call to check up on them. Gimme just a sec.” Stepping away, my brother tapped on his phone screen and held it to his ear. Using Dex’s distraction to his advantage, Griffin discreetly took hold of my elbow and guided me away from the register toward the dressing rooms at the back.
“What are you doing?” I whispered as he pulled me into a vacant room and shut the door. “He could have seen us.”
Griffin’s deep, rich voice rolled over me like a warm blanket. “Just relax. He didn’t see us. You know how your brother gets when he’s on the phone with Wendy. The man’s still got tunnel vision for that woman. Besides…” he leaned in close, the scent of his cologne going straight to my head. “I need a quick taste of you. It’ll get me through the day.”
I didn’t have time to respond before his mouth came down on mine in an intensely erotic kiss. His tongue forced its way past my lips to tangle with mine in a show of dominance that had my panties growing wetter with every passing second. His own deep growl mingled with the moan that travelled up my throat as we devoured each other. His rapid heartbeat pounded against my chest, matching my own. In just seconds I was lost to everything except Griffin. His touch, his taste, the delicious sounds building up from his chest. It was sensory overload.
“Hey, Pep!” The sound of my brother yelling my name yanked us both out of the moment so quickly I felt myself physically stumble against him as he pulled his mouth from mine.
“Fuck,” he breathed. “Sorry, sweetness. Got a little carried away.” He gently ran his fingers through my hair, smoothing down the disarray he caused in the heat of passion while I wiped at my lips, making sure the long-wear red hadn’t smudged. “I’ll go first,” I spoke softly as I reached up to caress his stubbly jaw. I just couldn’t help but to touch him. “I’ll tell him I was showing you where the bathroom was. Wait a couple minutes before you come out.” I planted one last kiss on his slightly swollen lips and ducked out of the dressing room.
“You bellowed?” I asked sarcastically once I made it back to Dex.
“Where’d you disappear to? And where’s Griff? You didn’t finally kill him did you?”
“Ha ha,” I glared. “I was just showing him where the bathroom was.”
One of Dex’s eyebrows went up. “Promise you didn’t drown him?”
I raised my own brow, mirroring my big brother’s expression. Just as I opened my mouth to issue a smartass response I felt Griffin’s presence return to the room and looked over my shoulder to see him sauntering our way. “See? Alive and well.”
“Hey,” Dex raised his hands in a placating gesture, “just had to make sure my boy was safe. Can you blame me?”
Griffin chuckled from behind me and I was seconds away from punching the both of them in the throat when Tomas’s excited voice cut in.
“Oh, Pepper,” he sing-songed. All three of our heads turned in his direction to find him waving my cellphone in the air. “Your phone just pinged with a text from Chance Hoffman.” Suddenly, the air around me grew dangerously thick. I could practically feel the negative vibe burning into my back as it radiated off of Griffin. I watched in fascinated horror as Tomas brought my phone down, flicked his thumb across the screen, and began the process of invading my privacy. I was going to murder the little flamer!
“He wants you to know he’s sorry for taking so long to reach out, but the case he’d been working on was a time suck. He also wants you to know that he’d be more than happy to grovel if it would get him a date with you on Friday.” Yep, Tomas was so dead. After I killed him I’d probably take the time to resurrect him just to kill him a second time.
That text couldn’t have come at a more inopportune moment. Honestly, I’d forgotten all about Chance until that very moment. Things with Griffin had been such a whirlwind that I’d concentrated on little else.
“Who’s Chance Hoffman?” Dex asked in a tone I’d been hearing since I turned thirteen, that over-protective-big-brother tone that made me roll my eye every time. That moment was no exception. With Griffin behind me and Dex in front, I was suddenly drowning in testosterone. And Tomas was determined to make the situation worse.
“He’s the gorgeous attorney who came in a while back. You should have seen how hot he was for our little Pepper here.” As he spoke—every fucking word an exaggeration of what had actually happened—his gaze bounced to Griffin. The little shit wasn’t just poking the bear. He was jabbing it with a goddamned tree trunk. And I was going to be the one dealing with the consequences.
“Are you gonna go out with this guy, sis?” Dex asked, completely ignorant to the fact that it felt like a bomb was about to go off any second.
“Uh…” I muttered uncomfortably. I had no intention of going on a date with Chance, but my tongue refused to cooperate and wouldn’t form actual words.
When Tomas chimed in with, “She already said yes,” I started planning my eulogy. Just in case I got away with his murder, I needed to put on an act that I was grieving the loss.
“Is that right?” Griffin’s menacing voice sent a shiver down my spine, and not in a good way.
“No! That’s not right,” I shot daggers at my soon-to-be-ex employee. “How could I have said yes to a date? I haven’t even heard from the guy until now!”
“What do you even know about this guy?” Dex cut in. “What kind of lawyer is he? How old is he? How do you know he’s not a serial killer?”
“Oh my God!” I shouted. “Just st
op! I’m not going out with the guy, okay?”
My brother didn’t look convinced, but it wasn’t him I was worried about convincing. “Well, if you do decide to go out with him, tell me his last name so I can run a background check.”
“Yeah… I’m so not doing that,” I bit out.
He opened his mouth to respond just as his phone rang. Looking down at the screen, he muttered, “Shit,” before connecting the call. As he mumbled a few yeahs and uh huhs, I looked over my shoulder to try and gauge Griffin’s mood. Sure, he was smiling, but that smile did not promise good things. I swallowed audibly as Dex ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
“We gotta go, but this conversation isn’t over, sis.”
“It really, really is,” I replied as they headed for the door.
“Is not,” he argued over his shoulder.
“Is to or I’m gonna tell Wendy and Mom you’re nosing in my business!”
The two men left Fire & Ice with Dex grumbling how lucky Griffin was that he didn’t have a little sister.
Turning my attention to Tomas, I narrowed my eyes on him. “If I were you, I’d try my hardest not to fall asleep tonight,” I threatened in a quiet voice.
I snatched my phone away from him and stomped back to my sewing room, slamming the door shut just as my phone pinged with an incoming message.
Griffin: Be at my place by the time I get home. And don’t even think of bailing. I’ll hunt ur ass down and make last night look like nothing.
For the first time since he gave it to me a few days ago, I was expected to use the key to Griffin’s house. A key that, despite my nonchalant demeanor when he’d handed it over, made me jump and squeal inside like a teenage girl.
Another shiver trickled down my spine. This one much more enjoyable than the last. As I reread the message I couldn’t decide which would feel better, following the rules or breaking them.
I’D BEEN DEAD ON my feet for the last four hours, but walking in the door of my house to the sounds of Pepper was like a shot of adrenaline to my system. I’d half expected my stubborn girl to disobey. She was nothing if not hard-headed, and I’d seen the way her eyes flashed whenever challenged. She got off on it. I had no doubt my earlier text had her head spinning around all the scenarios that could have possibly played out had she not followed my demand.
I was more than a little shocked to arrive home and find she’d actually listened to me… for once. The image of her using the key I’d given her just days before, for instances just like this, being in my space, in my home, just felt right. It was then that I realized just how much I wanted her to fit into every single aspect of my life. All thoughts of my shitty day and the knowledge of this Chance douche were blown away at the sound of her sweet, melodic voice as it talked to that goddamned devil cat.
“Who’s a good kitty?” Pepper cooed at PJ, who was curled up on her lap, purring contentedly. “That’s right, you’re a good kitty. Mean ‘ole Griffin doesn’t know what he’s talking about, does he? No, he doesn’t.”
I didn’t even want to think about how twisted it was that Pepper baby-talking to a cat made my dick hard as steel.
I tossed my keys onto the granite top of the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, the loud clatter alerting Pepper to my arrival. I made sure to wipe my expression blank as I watched her give a little jump in surprise before spinning to look in my direction. “Hi,” she offered somewhat timidly as she placed PJ on the ground and stood from the couch.
That bashfulness was something I’d never seen on my fiery redhead before. I thought there wasn’t anything in the world sexier than my girl when she was fired up… I was wrong. Seeing that shy expression on her face was enough to make me lose control completely. I felt like an animal that had been caged for far too long before finally being set free as I stalked toward her. With every step I took she countered with one away from me. “I wasn’t going to answer him,” she sputtered nervously. “I swear, Griffin. I’d completely forgotten about Chance until he texted me today.” I didn’t say a word in response as I grew closer. “You have to believe me, I didn’t—” She let out a startled yelp as her foot caught on the coffee table behind her. Before she had a chance to hit the floor, I grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her into me, sealing our lips together in a hard, wet kiss that mimicked the desperation that coursed through my blood every time she was around.
My fingers clenched and pressed to almost a bruising level, but I couldn’t stop. I pulled her impossibly closer. It was as though I was trying to absorb her into me. I wanted to consume her, mark every square inch of her body as mine forever. I wanted to make her scream and moan and cry out my name as I made her mine over and over again. How could I have ever thought I’d get her out of my system? She’d burrowed under my skin in a way no one had before. I never wanted to dig her out.
I just needed to find a way to make her feel the same.
I’D NEVER BEEN KISSED by Griffin like this before… and considering the level of intensity I felt with him on a regular basis, that was really saying something. This wasn’t passionate or hungry. It wasn’t brutal. It felt like he was trying to… own me. My nails dug into the fabric on his shoulders, holding on for dear life as he fed from my mouth, never once breaking our kiss. Not even when my knees grew so weak I could no longer stand on my own.
On instinct, I wrapped my legs around him as he lifted me from the ground, so lost in the taste of Griffin that I hadn’t realized we were moving until my back hit the smooth, cool wall, the force of which, expelled what little breath I had left from my lungs.
“Never,” Griffin growled as his lips pulled away from mine, blazing a trail down my neck to my collarbone. “You’re never gonna talk to that guy again.” If I hadn’t been too busy sucking in air to respond to his caveman demands, the feel of his hard cock pressing against me in just the right way, sending sparks of electricity throughout my body would have rendered me speechless. “That guy isn’t going to fucking touch you, let alone take you on a date. Is that clear?”
“Griffin,” I pleaded, rocking my hips against his urgently, chasing after the climax building inside of me, just out of reach.
“Answer me,” he commanded, his voice, although low, contained so much power it sent tremors through my body. His normally crystal clear eyes were dark with desire and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The ferocity in his face as he moved against me caused my heart to beat even fast than it already was. Everything about the way he was touching me, speaking to me, looking at me, spoke to the tectonic shift that had just taken place between us. The intensity rolling off of him in waves stole my voice, leaving me capable of only a nod.
One of his hands drifted from where he was holding me up along my thigh, pushing my skirt up with it as he went higher and higher. “No one else can make you feel like I do,” he breathed against my lips as his fingertips trailed along the edge of my panties until he was between my thighs. The pressure of his touch grew more determined with each swipe of his fingers against the damp material, driving me crazy with need. “No one can make you as wet as I can.” He bared his teeth and bit down on my bottom lip just as he pushed at the barrier between us, plunging two long, thick fingers inside of me.
“Griffin!” I cried out as I began riding his hand. He pumped in and out at a relentless pace, his eyes locked firmly on mine.
“No one can make you come as hard as I can, Pepper.” As though to prove his point, his thumb began rubbing tight, hard circles against my swollen clit, pushing me further and further into oblivion. “This is mine,” he grunted, moving harder, faster. “Every fucking thing about you is mine.”
“Oh, God. Griffin, baby, don’t stop,” I begged. “I’m so close.” I rode his hand harder, scratching and digging at his back as my climax began to peak.
“No one else can make you feel like this, Pepper. Admit it. Only me.”
“Only you,” I said as a wave of pleasure pulled me under an
d I came all over his hand with a long moan. My orgasm hadn’t even begun to abate when his hand suddenly disappeared. Before I could utter a single sound of displeasure at the loss, my feet were being placed on the hardwood floor just long enough for my dress to be whipped over my head and my underwear unceremoniously ripped from my body.
Griffin had us both naked and on the living room rug in a matter of seconds, his rock hard cock stretching me full in one quick snap of his hips as his massive body loomed over mine. And just like that, my waning release began to build once again.
“Whose body is this?” he demanded to know as he fucked me mercilessly.
“Yours,” I breathed as my eyes grew wide.
His movements grew faster and I found myself lifting my hips to meet his, thrust for thrust. “Who’s this pussy belong to?”
“You!” I shouted as a second orgasm washed over me, this one so much stronger than the last that all I could do was cry out nonsensically.
“Fuck! Fuck me! That’s right, baby. This pussy’s all mine.” Griffin shouted as he plunged into me over and over. I couldn’t think about anything other than how good, how fucking perfect he felt inside of me.
Pushing to his haunches, Griffin wrapped his hands behind my knees and spread my legs even wider as he stared down at me, naked and completely bared to him. “You’re tight, wet cunt’s mine to fuck whenever I want, sweetness.” His words alone were going to kill me. I didn’t know how much more I could handle.
“Griffin, please,” I panted. “It’s too much. I can’t…”
“You can, Pepper. I can feel you getting tight again.” Releasing one of my legs, his thumb came back to my sensitive clit as his thrusts threatened to drive me through the floor. “Want to feel you come on my dick again. Give it to me, Pepper. One more time.”
The pressure was so severe, so extreme, that I felt tears begin to prick the backs of my eyes as I felt it build for the third time. “I can’t. It’s too much,” I whimpered, unable to differentiate pleasure from pain. I’d never come twice during sex before him; I’d always thought it was a myth until Griffin showed me the beauty of multiple orgasms. But three was just too much. My entire body was overstimulated, the sensation between my legs too heightened. I was afraid of just how powerful coming for a third time would be.
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