Plastering that fake smile back on her face, she said, “I’ve got it under control, Uncle Jared,” she reassured him as she tried not to think about all the work that she was going to have to do by herself today.
Granted, she really didn’t have to plaster all the damage to the walls by herself. All she had to do was ask and Uncle Jared would provide her with as many men as she needed, but thanks to the man outside putting Trevor in a headlock as they fought over only God knows what, she decided that she couldn’t risk asking for any help today.
She still wanted to know why that bastard was working for Uncle Jared today and not picking up an extra shift at the station. She’d been counting on having some time to clear her head today and figure out what she was going to do about this new dare of his, but he’d quickly put an end to her plans when he’d shown up a few hours ago, looking suspiciously smug. She’d been struggling to come up with a plan to end this since three o’clock this morning when she’d been forced to lay there, trying to ignore just how good it felt to have his body curled up against hers and how badly she wanted to shove him onto his back, straddle him and-
“I’m going to have Darrin and Trevor give you a hand after lunch,” Uncle Jared said, interrupting her thoughts and making her realize that her day was about to get a lot worse.
“I don’t need any help,” she stubbornly persisted as she struggled to come up with a reason to keep Darrin outside today.
Uncle Jared looked around, shaking his head slightly as he took in all the damage to the living room walls. “We need to start priming tomorrow, sweetheart.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but quickly shut it and reluctantly nodded in agreement, because he was right. They had a deadline to meet on this renovation and if they didn’t finish painting the walls on time she’d end up delaying everything.
“How about Danny and Trevor?” she suggested, hoping to buy herself a little more time before the bastard started trying to entice her again.
“Danny’s working at the new library today. The City Council decided that they wanted the ceiling molding after all,” he answered distractedly as he looked around the room, taking in the water damage to the ceilings.
“Okay,” she said, nodding even as she decided to leave the downstairs to Darrin and Trevor and work upstairs where she could work in relative peace.
For now though, she was going to take a lunch break, because she had a feeling that she was going to need the full hour to prepare herself for whatever hell Darrin had planned for her, and she damn well knew that he had something planned.
*-*-*-*
“A pleasure doing business with you,” Uncle Jared said with a satisfied sigh as he accepted the two large boxes of donuts from him.
“Bon appetite,” Darrin said with a nod and a satisfied sigh as he reached down and flipped open the box of donuts he’d bought for himself.
Grabbing a vanilla cream filled donut, he took a large bite and glanced over at Marybeth’s truck. He released a satisfied sigh as he noted his cousins’ trucks boxing her in and stopping her from escaping and he knew damn well that she would do anything to get away from him right now. He was winning and they both knew it.
He’d taken her by surprise last night with that dare and hadn’t allowed her a moment’s peace since to come up with some bullshit plan to delay his happily fucking ever after. He wasn’t stupid after all. He had her on the run and he was damn well going to give chase, teasing and enticing her until she begged for him to put her out of her misery and then…
Then she really would be his.
He couldn’t wait, he thought as he absently slapped his Uncle’s hand away when he made a move on his donuts. “Mine,” he simply said as he glanced over his shoulder and smiled as he watched Marybeth, looking incredibly pissed as she stormed past them on her way to the house they were working on, carrying two white grocery bags.
“But-” Uncle Jared started to argue, but unlike most of his cousins, Darrin didn’t let his uncle get away with touching his food.
“Mine,” he repeated firmly as he shifted his attention back to his Uncle to find him pouting.
“I’m hungry,” Uncle Jared muttered bitterly as he stared longingly at the box of donuts placed protectively by Darrin’s side.
“Then eat your donuts,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder to find Marybeth standing on the decrepit old porch that was scheduled to be torn down today, glaring at him.
Deciding to have a little more fun with her, he made a calculated decision and stepped away from his donuts, officially abandoning them. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he reached down and grabbed the hem of his grey tee shirt and slowly pulled it up. Even from this distance he was able to catch her muttered groan. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, revealing the well-defined torso that she loved running her greedy little hands over.
When she licked her lips hungrily, he knew that he had her and judging by the way that her eyes snapped up and narrowed on him, she knew it, too. It was just a matter of time and they both knew it. Unable to help himself, and he really wasn’t trying all that hard, he shot her a wink, which earned a round of muttered curses as she turned around and stormed off.
She was definitely his…
“Oh God, these are so good,” Uncle Jared groaned, drawing his attention back to the box of donuts that he’d abandoned only seconds earlier to find the box empty and his Uncle savoring the lemon filled donut that he’d planned on saving for last.
He’d really been looking forward to that donut, he thought, licking his lips as he watched his uncle finish off the last morsel. Shit! He glanced back at the house where he had Marybeth exactly where he wanted her and then back to the three boxes of donuts that his uncle was guarding and then back again. Definitely the girl, he decided with a nod, heading towards the house even as he decided that he’d celebrate Marybeth’s surrender with a box of donuts later.
*-*-*-*
Five Very Long Hours Later…
“This can’t be happening,” she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief while she watched as the bastard that she suddenly couldn’t get away from parked his car and climbed out.
She briefly considered climbing back in her truck and going somewhere else, but thanks to her association with the Bradford boys this was the only grocery store in a twenty-mile radius that she wasn’t banned from. Although she wouldn’t mind a long drive to clear her head, she was too exhausted to put in the extra effort tonight. All she wanted to do was get her shopping done, go home, make a couple of grilled cheese and ham sandwiches and eat them in front of the television while she tried to figure out how the bastard walking towards her had managed to drive her crazy without saying a single word to her all day.
“Doing a little grocery shopping?” he asked with that cocky grin that had her foot twitching to stomp the hell out of his instep.
“Yes,” she bit out, seething with rage as she moved past him and headed towards a carriage left abandoned two spots over.
“Want me to push that for you?” he asked, catching up to her as she shoved the carriage towards the store.
“No,” she said evenly while she ignored the jarring motion of the rickety old carriage as it bounced around on wobbly wheels that locked up every few seconds and forced her to shove it harder to get it moving again.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” she snapped as the wheels locked up again, forcing her to shove the carriage and when it didn’t move she pulled it back and shoved it again and again until it finally rolled forward.
“Ready to give in yet?” he asked, chuckling when the carriage jerked to another sudden stop.
“No,” she bit out, refusing to look at him as she prayed that she was able to get through the next hour without killing him for doing this to her.
She was on edge, frustrated and so desperate to feel him inside her that there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she was going through withdrawal. For the past six years she hadn�
�t gone a single day without experiencing an orgasm, usually three or more. Even those times when they were apart for a few nights he’d always called her, teasing and enticing her with his incredibly sexy voice, telling her exactly what he wanted to do her.
God, she loved phone sex….
“Just say the word, baby,” the sneaky bastard said in the same sexy drawl that he normally used when he whispered in her ear while he took her from behind just as she walked through the automatic doors and stepped inside the large grocery store, sending a delicious shiver down her spine.
Manipulative. Bastard.
“Go to hell, you bastard!” she bit out in a strangled whisper as she shoved the carriage and picked up her pace, desperate to put some much needed space between them before she did something foolish like rip off his clothes and demand that he bend her over the Charmin Toilet Paper display by the door and put her out of her misery.
Chapter 16
“I was thinking New Hampshire,” he said, reaching past Marybeth’s trembling hand and grabbed a box of Cinnamon Life Cereal and tossed it in the carriage. After a slight hesitation, he grabbed two more boxes and tossed them in as well.
With a heavy sigh, Marybeth reached into the carriage, grabbed the two extra boxes of cereal and placed them back on the shelf before she started pushing the carriage only to come to an abrupt halt near the boxes of Lucky Charms when the wheels locked up again. Muttering a vicious curse, she shoved her side into the carriage to get it moving again only to curse again when the stubborn thing remained locked in place.
Grinning, because he really couldn’t help himself, he closed the distance between them, picked her up and gently set her aside. As she stood there, glaring at him and trembling with unspent rage, he pulled the rickety old carriage back a few inches and then simply pushed it forward with one hand as he reached up and grabbed two boxes of Lucky Charms and tossed them in as well. Then just for the hell of it, he decided to whistle a jaunty tune as he continued to push the carriage down the aisle, pausing only long enough to toss a few boxes of granola bars in the carriage before he continued on his way, feeling oddly triumphant.
“What about New Hampshire?” Marybeth asked through clenched teeth a minute later when she reluctantly joined him in the snack aisle.
“Hmmm?” he murmured as he grabbed three packages of chocolate chunk cookies and tossed them in the carriage before continuing down the aisle, enjoying this probably more than he should.
Then again, after six long years it was nice to know that the wait was almost over. The days of pretending that she was only his best friend were at an end. He loved her more than anything and couldn’t wait until he could do all the things that his cousins and brothers took for granted. Just the thought of holding her hand or wrapping his arms around her as she sat on his lap in public made his cock twitch with anticipation.
“New Hampshire,” she reminded him, fumbling with a package of Oreos and tossed them in the carriage, looking incredibly sexy with her cheeks flushed, her bottom lip swollen from where she’d been nibbling on it and her large nipples hardened against her Bradford Construction tee shirt, giving anyone that saw her the impression that she’d just been thoroughly fucked.
He swallowed hard, thinking about the last time he’d taken her. Had it really been two days, he vaguely wondered, as he thought back to the way it felt to wake up with her mouth wrapped around his cock, gently suckling the tip as she teased the sensitive spot beneath the head of his cock with her teeth. He remembered laying there, fisting his hands in the sheets as she continued to torment him until he’d lost control. He’d shifted his hips and surged forward, sliding his cock inside her welcoming mouth.
She’d chuckled softly as she wrapped her hand around his cock as she slowly pulled her mouth back only to take him back in her mouth a split second later, stroking his cock as she moved her mouth up and down his shaft, gently suckling him as she reached down with her other hand and cupped his sensitive balls in her warm, soft hand.
She’d been relentless, denying his demands that she climb on top of him and fuck him. She’d kept sucking his cock until he’d threaded his fingers through her beautiful long hair and gave in with his back bowed and shouted her name as she swallowed him without mercy. He was still gasping for air when Marybeth released his cock as the last tremor of pleasure shot through the tip, crawled up his body and straddled his mouth.
Just thinking about the way that her wet slit had pressed down against his lips, parting easily as he opened his mouth and stroked the sensitive nub with his tongue had his cock hardening painfully. He’d licked and suckled her, loving the way that she’d moved against his mouth, moaning his name as she’d cupped her breasts, teasing her hard nipples as he’d watched her through heavily lids. Christ, she’d been beautiful.
He’d cupped her ass, encouraging her to take what she’d wanted as he slid his tongue inside her, stiffening it so that she could ride his mouth. She’d rode him with a sensual twist of her hips, grinding her pussy against his mouth, her movements coming faster and faster until she was throwing her head back and crying out his name.
Before the last tremor had left her body, he’d had her pressed up against the headboard and was fucking her, using his hold on the headboard to keep her where he needed her as he slammed into her, relishing in the way she moaned and groaned, muttering his name as her sheath clamped down around him, refusing to let him go and-
“Are you going to tell me what’s in New Hampshire or not?” Marybeth demanded, dragging him out of his thoughts and making him realize that he was standing in the middle of a grocery store, holding a box of Double Stuff Oreos and sporting a very large and very painful erection.
Shit!
He risked a quick glance down and silently cursed as he casually shifted in front of the carriage and out of her view since the last thing that he needed was Marybeth figuring out just how badly he wanted her. Christ, he couldn’t imagine what he’d do if she realized the power she had over him, which was why he wasn’t giving her a moment of peace. Right now he had the upper hand and he planned on keeping it that way.
“New Hampshire?” she said, looking up at him expectantly as he stood there, grinding his teeth and trying not to wince when his cock jerked eagerly at the sound of her voice.
Shit!
“I thought we’d go there for our honeymoon,” he said, clearing his throat as he turned around and made a show of examining the display of organic cookies while he tried to will his cock back under control.
“Honeymoon?” she repeated back slowly as though she’d never heard the word before.
“Mmmhmm,” he murmured absently as he tried to focus on all the paperwork waiting for him at work to get his mind off the woman behind him, who was probably contemplating running him over with the rickety old carriage.
“We’re not going on a honeymoon,” she bit out and then before he could stop her, the frustrating woman stole his carriage and stormed off, leaving him standing there, trying to get his cock to behave so that he could set the woman straight and calmly explain to her that she would damn well be giving him a fucking honeymoon to make up for brainwashing his poor, defenseless cock.
*-*-*-*
“We’re going.”
“We’re going where?” she asked with a frown as she continued to search the shelves for her favorite shampoo.
“On a honeymoon,” Darrin bit out in a strangled voice, making her wonder what he’d been doing for the last forty minutes.
Then she decided that she really didn’t care since it had given her a nice little break from his bullshit and a chance to clear her head and get her hormones back under control. Although she wouldn’t mind if he tackled her to the ground, yanked her pants down and tore off her panties so that he could have his wicked way with her, she was no longer desperate for his touch thanks to the last forty minutes that she’d spent strolling around the grocery store.
Okay, so she might have parked her carriage by the flora
l shop and spent the last thirty minutes at the small café in front of the store, sipping a tall glass of chocolate milk, or two, and nibbling on a large slice of chocolate fudge cake…a slice of apple pie…a large slice of carrot cake…and a brownie or two accompanied by ice cream to help settle her nerves of course. Now, after consuming more than five thousand calories in sugar, she had to admit that she was starting to feel a lot better.
She glanced over at the bastard that had been tormenting her since last night and felt her eyebrows arch, noting that he looked a lot worse than the last time that she saw him. His short dark hair was messy, looking as though he’d rammed his fingers through it a few dozen times, his jaw was clenched and he looked seriously pissed.
“Problem?” she asked, her gaze dropping to the large box of vegan butter cookies that he was holding.
“No,” he bit out.
“I see,” she said, studying him curiously now that she didn’t feel like she was going to die without sex.
“We’re going on a goddamn honeymoon,” he informed her as his eyes narrowed on her, daring her to argue with him.
And since she was feeling a lot better thanks to her sugar binge…
“We’re really not,” she said with a careless shrug that he didn’t seem to appreciate judging by the tick that he’d suddenly developed under his left eye as he glared down at her.
“Yes, we are,” he snarled, making her realize something very important.
He’d lost that cocky gleam in his eye.
Now that was interesting, she thought, cocking her head to the side as she studied him. Very interesting indeed, she mused as her gaze once again dropped to the box of cookies that no self-respecting Bradford would be caught with. She considered grabbing the box to prove her theory, but…
Ah, what the hell?
“Shit!” Darrin gasped as he made a mad grab for the box of cookies, but she’d already tossed it in the carriage as she shoved it away and out of his reach, forcing him to turn around and pretend to be studying the small bottles of shampoo that had no chance in hell of hiding that very large, and very noticeable bulge from curious eyes.
Double Dare (A Neighbor from Hell Book 6) Page 11