by Madison Faye
“Sorry, what?”
She grins. “I said, and you are…?”
“Reece,” I manage to mutter out. “Reece Jackman.”
Her face suddenly goes bright red, and I frown as she pulls a step away from me.
“Oh,” she says quietly.
I frown deeper. “Oh?”
“You’re one of Martin’s’ friends.” She chews on her lip, looking away. “Lynn mentioned he was bringing two friends to dinner tomor—”
“We’re pitching his company an algorithm,” I growl. “My friend Gavin and me. That’s it.”
Silence falls over the both of us, and I clear my throat, trying to figure out how to tell her that her idiot stepbrother is definitely not a friend of mine, without crossing a line.
“It was real nice for him and your mom to—”
“Stepmom.”
I nod. “Right, stepmom. Well, Martin wanted to keep talking about the pitch, and it’s not like Gavin and I had anywhere else to go for Thanksgiving.”
She smiles wryly. “Great minds think alike,” she sighs.
“You too, huh?”
She nods. “Nowhere else to go, so why not?”
“And here we are,” I murmur. “Cheers.”
I raise the flask, taking another sip before passing it her way.
“So that guy was, what, your ex?”
She makes a face. “Regrettably.”
“Real prick?”
“Well, he cheated on me, with the girl he’s here with tonight. Who’s also his fiancée now.”
“Wow, douche,” I growl. “Sounds like they deserve each other.”
She laughs dryly. “Yeah, he was a real piece of work. Trust me, not a big loss. I mean especially after that time he—”
Sam stops herself, but I frown, leaning closer. “That time he what?”
She sighs. “It was a while ago. He was out late drinking and came by pissed about a work thing. We got into a fight about something, and he…”
She shrugs, and my brow narrows.
“And he what?”
“Nothing,” she mutters. “Just hit me a few times. Knocked me around.”
I freeze, my muscles rippling as the blind rage sinks through me like black ink. I growl, my jaw clenched, and I turn towards the door to the house as a red mist clouds my vision.
“Whoa, hang on,” she says quickly, tugging me back by the sleeve. “What? Where’d you go just now, caveman?”
I arch a brow and she grins. “You went all tough and caveman on me.”
“I was planning on going back in there and punching his teeth down his throat, actually.”
She grins as she twists her lip between her teeth.
“You my knight in shining armor?”
I laugh darkly. “Not so shining or white armor, but yeah.”
“Well, I’ve never had a knight before.”
“That’s a damn shame,” I murmur.
My hands slide to her on autopilot, before I can even stop myself. I pull her close, even with the voice in my head roaring that I shouldn’t be doing this, that I’m jeopardizing everything that Gavin and I have worked hard for with every millimeter closer I pull her.
I shouldn’t be doing this, but I don’t care. I can’t stop myself, and I can’t hold back from her another fucking second.
My hand slides into her hair, tightening as she gasps. And suddenly, I’m kissing her all over again.
She moans, melting into me, whimpering as she opens her mouth for me. Her lips taste like bourbon and something sweet, and when that soft little tongue teases over mine, I groan as I tug her hard against me. The scent of her blazes through me like wildfire, and the way that soft, petite little body melts against my big, hard one has my cock throbbing and pulsing and twitching to get free. It has my balls aching, and my precum dripping from my swollen cock.
And I know she can feel how hard I am. I know because she whimpers so sweetly, and her hips rock against me ever so gently. I groan, my hand tightening in her hair and the other grabbing her hips as I turn us. She gasps into my mouth, panting and kissing me harder as I push her back until her ass comes up against the hood of the car parked in the garage.
And just like that, we’re attacking each other.
She kisses me fiercely, her legs spreading to either side of my hips as I growl into her. I suck her tongue into my mouth, teasing her and gripping her tightly as I grind my thick bulge into her. My hand in her long red hair tugs, making her whimper and gasp as she breaks the kiss, her head tilting back. My mouth drops to her porcelain neck, biting and nipping the skin there as we grind into each other.
“Fuck,” she moans, kissing me harder. Her hands slide down my chest, pushing over my abs as they move towards my belt and the thick bulge of my cock beneath that.
My hand tightens on her hip, sliding back over her until I’m cupping that ass as I grind into her. My other hand moves to her chest, tugging at one button of her blouse as she whimpers and pushes her hand lower…
The knob on the door back into the house squeaks horribly as it turns, and the both of us are suddenly bolting apart like we’ve been struck by lightning.
She gasps, her face red and her eyes wild as she smooths her skirt down, back away from me as I groan and try and will the huge, rock-hard erection away.
The door swings open, and I groan on the inside.
Shit.
It’s Martin.
His eyes narrow as he spots us, his nose wrinkling. “What are you two doing out here?”
“Oh,” I smile one of my easy-going smiles, hoping it covers the raw need and primal urge on my face.
“Just looking for the beer, man.”
Martin scowls.
“There’s no beer in here.” He glares at Samantha. “And you fuckin’ know it, Sam. Look, Reece, I told you—”
His eyes land on my flask, which is just sitting there on the hood of the parked car I was very much just about to fuck Samantha across, and his eyes narrow again, his lips curling.
“Goddamnit, Reece,” he hisses, talking down to me like he’s scolding a child. And goddamn, if this pitch wasn’t so important, I’d already be kicking his douchebag ass right here and now for talking to me like this.
“I told you, no booze in my mom’s house!”
“Right, right,” I shake my head, still smiling. “Totally forgot about that.”
He sighs, shaking his head.
“This sort of ignoring the guidelines really wouldn’t look good for Prism Capital.” He makes a tsking sound at me as he shakes his head.
What a prick. He’s been doing this for almost a month now—lording the possible job over our heads, dangling it and making us kiss his ass. Because unfortunately, Martin knows how important this gig is for Gavin and me, and he enjoys the power it brings him over us. And we fucking let him get away with it, because this job is the do or do-not for us. We’ve put everything into our company, and there is no fallback. No option B. No parents with money. Nothing.
...And I’m putting all of that at risk with not being able to control myself around Samantha.
“Come on,” Martin snaps at the both of us. “Let’s go. Mom wants to do her slideshow of her trip to Athens.”
“Sounds awesome,” Samantha mutters dryly under her breath as both of us glance at each other and follow Martin.
This is a problem.
Well, no. It was a problem before I kissed her. It’s a really fucking big problem now that I have. Because now, I’ve had a taste.
Now, I just want more, and I’ll be damned if I let anything stand in the way of me getting my hands on her again.
Chapter 3
Samantha
So hot guy kisses me, twice. Hot guy makes me lose myself completely and get wilder than I’ve ever been with someone I just met before. And one tiny little hiccup of my douchey stepbrother interrupting so we can all go watch my grouchy stepmother’s slide show of her vacation, and what do I do?
I run away and
hide, of course.
One minute I’m standing there, half behind Reece as Lynn drawls on about how rude the hotel staff were to her in Athens, and the next, I’m slipping away up to my old bedroom.
Poof, just like that.
I close the door behind me, somehow both brimming with energy and exhausted at the same time. I glance around the room and roll my eyes, shaking my head as I smile. I’d almost have thought Lynn would’ve demolished my room by now, or turned it into storage or something. But instead, it’s still here, exactly how it was when I moved out at eighteen. There are still embarrassing posters of boy bands, bad “artsy” black and white photographs I took of leaves and gravestones and stuff. An old swimming medal hanging off the post of my bed.
I smile as I step back in time and sink back onto the bed.
So, yeah. Things got crazy. I mean, I just almost screwed a guy I’d just met in the garage, on the hood of Lynn’s Mercedes.
…And I should have.
Part of me wonders what would have happened if Martin hadn’t barged in. Would I have? Would I have let it go there, and gone completely crazy? Or would I have chickened out and run away? I want to say I’d have been bold and done the first, but I know me. There’s a good chance I’d have run.
I close my eyes, thinking about his hands on me, and the way he growled into my lips as he kissed me with more passion than I’ve ever felt. I think about the way he smelled, and how his voice makes my core tighten in anticipation. I think about those eyes, and those lips.
…I think about the thick bulge in his pants, throbbing against my pussy through my panties as he ground into me.
My breath catches as I slide my hands down my body. My teeth rake across my lip, as I tug the skirt up high. God, I’m so wet. Still. I can see the slickness of my arousal soaking into my panties, making them cling to my lips as I moan softly. I drag a finger up my slit, and when it bumps over my achingly hard clit, I whimper.
“And oh my GOD, not a single one of ‘em spoke English!”
Lynn’s voice from downstairs is like cold water being poured over my head. Instantly, the mood is soured. The fire fizzles, and I groan, rolling onto my side as I yank my skirt back down.
Fuck.
I mutter to myself, still so turned on even if I know it’s not happening right now. Not with a house full of people, or with my stepmother prattling on about people in other countries having the nerve to speak a language other than hers.
My eyes close, and I bury my face in my pillow.
And it’s dark when I open them.
I blink, looking around before I yank out my phone. Yikes. I’ve been napping for five hours. I sit up, rubbing sleep from my eyes, and realize the house is totally silent. I poke my head out into the hall, and it’s mostly dark too. The light’s off in Lynn’s room, and in Martin’s down the hall. I listen again for anything, but I don’t hear a thing.
Slowly, I close the door. I stretch, my body aching from sleeping in a weird position. And suddenly, a thought hits me, and I grin.
Oh hell yes.
It’s hot tub time.
Lynn had one installed on the back deck around the side of the house a few years back. And it just might be the one thing I enjoy about coming back here. I whip my bikini out of my bag and slip out of my clothes, tying it on and grabbing a towel to wrap around myself. I skip downstairs, pulse racing like I’m a teenager again about to sneak out of the house or something. I slip my feet into my boots, open the back door, and gasp at the blast of cold air.
This hot tub better turn on quick.
My breath catches on every step as I stomp through the snowy backyard around the side of the house. It’s gorgeous out here, everything white and crystalline, the big almost full moon turning everything to a soft white glow. I hug the towel around myself, gasping at the wintry winds that blow up under it.
I catch a glimpse of steam rising from around the corner of the house, and my heart jumps.
Perfect. Someone was using it earlier and didn’t turn it off. Which means no waiting around in the freezing fucking cold waiting for it to—
Suddenly, I freeze. Because suddenly, I realize no one forgot to turn it off.
Because they’re still in it.
I’m about to swear and turn around and head back, when I stop. I squint, moving a few steps closer before my core tightens and my pulse quickens.
…I know those shoulders. I know those thick arms spread across the lip of the steamy hot tub. I know that dark hair. The tub lights themselves are off, so the whole scene is just under the glow of moonlight. And his back is turned to me, but when I realize it's Reece in the hot tub, something hot sparks inside of me.
This time, I’m not chickening out. This time, I’m not running away. And this time, I’m going to let myself get wild.
This time, I’m going to fuck his brains out.
I slip forward, traipsing quietly through the snowdrifts as I get closer. I step up onto the deck silently, his back still to me, and I drop the towel as the grin spreads across my face and the heat blooms between my thighs.
I’m going to rock his world.
I move quickly, stepping right over to him, and my hand slide into his hair as I just step right into the water, sinking in and onto his lap. Fuck, that body—he’s hard all over, muscles ripping as he growls in surprise at me sitting down with my legs spread around his hips.
“Ready for round two,” I murmur, my voice thick with lust as I slide my hands up his rock hard chest.
I crush my lips to his, and—
And I freeze before I suddenly almost scream.
…Reece didn’t have a beard before.
“Oh fuck!” I panic, lurching from the man’s lap, but his hands are faster, sliding over me and grabbing my hips, holding me fast as the reality sinks in.
This isn’t Reece. This is an entirely different guy.
“Whoa, whoa!” he growls, his voice deep and rumbling as I gasp and try to scramble away from him. But his hands just keep holding me firmly, keeping me right there perched on his lap. I blink my eyes adjusting as I look him right in the eyes, my pulse racing.
Dark eyes, not blue. Sexy dark eyes, but again, not blue. Not Reece.
I feel him stir beneath me, and I shiver, something wicked blazing through me as I feel my body react to the rippling of his abs against my skin, the tightening of his thighs under mine.
“That’s quite the welcome,” he purrs. His lips pull back, white teeth flashing in this gorgeous smile.
“Who—” I pant. “Who are you?” I breathe. I move to stand, but he just keeps holding me, and really, I don’t even try very hard.
Because really, as wrong and as crazy as I know it is, I like it here on his lap. I like the feel of him against me.
“Gavin,” he says in that deep, resonating voice.
I close my eyes, groaning inside.
Of course he is.
Of course the second strange man I kiss today like a crazy girl in heat is the other guy Martin invited up here. The guy who works with Reece.
…What the hell is wrong with me?
“You’re pulling away again,” he growls quietly.
I shiver at that deep voice, swallowing thickly.
“I— I’m sorry, I thought…”
I trail off, looking away. His body ripples under me, and I swear I feel something pulse between my legs.
“You thought what?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly.
“C’mere,” he growls. One of his hands tightens on my hip, and I gasp. The other slides up my back, pushing up into my hair, until I whimper as I feel it tighten there. He tugs me towards him, and I know I should—and if I really wanted to, I know I could—just get out of the tub, apologize, and run off to hide somewhere until I can leave.
But I don’t. And when he pulls me into him, I know the feeling that comes blazing through me.
Want.
Lust.
Need. I don’t want to pull away, b
ecause I want this.
“That kiss,” he growls quietly, his mouth an inch or two from mine. “I think we should try that again.”
I gasp, my eyes going wide as they lock with his dark ones.
“I don’t know if this a good idea.”
Yes, I do…
“I do,” he growls. He pulls me right in, and this time, I don’t fight it. This time, I melt right into it.
And fuck is it good. Really, really good.
His lips melt against mine, the kiss demanding and yet gentle, bruising and yet soft. He groans against me, and when I whimper into his lips, I know damn well what I feel pulse thickly against me under the water. It only spurs me on, making me moan into him as I kiss him deeper. My hands slide up his chest, cupping his face as his tongue swirls with mine, until I’m gasping for air and only wanting more.
I feel wild, and dirty. I feel slutty, too, but in this exciting, powerful way. He groans, his body arching into me as he tightens his grip on me. His hips roll, letting me feel his hard cock throbbing right against my bikini-covered pussy. His hand slides over my hip, teasing down before he pushes it boldly under the edge of my bikini bottom. I moan as he grabs my ass, pulling me back and forth against him as that bulge grinds against my slit.
His other hand slides down out of my hair, also moving boldly to cup one of my breasts. He slips his fingers under the black material, and when they tease over one aching hard nipple, I cry out into his mouth.
Oh fuck.
He growls into my mouth as his hand slides further into the back of my bikini bottoms. He pushes it lower, and I moan wildly as I feel one thick finger push deep between my legs, brushing against my pussy from behind. I suck at his tongue, moaning into him and feeling his groans vibrate through me. His cock pulses, his fingers roll over my nipple, and his other hand—
“I see you two have met.”
I almost jump out of my fucking skin. I shriek, and my face falls as I realize who’s standing on the deck behind me.
Reece.
Chapter 4
Samantha
My cheeks burn bright red, and there’s this horrible sensation of guilt and wrongness that just explodes through me. I’m not a little girl, and I don’t think that making out with Reece earlier means we’re getting married or anything, but still. This is his…what, his coworker? Friend? And what the hell does this make me look like?