“When it involves me, it’s mine too. You may be okay with settling for a lonely life, but I am not. And since the universe decided you’re the one my heart wants, then I have a say in the matter.” He heard the tiny gasp that slipped free and smiled. “It’s true. This is bigger than you or me now.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“I’m a stubborn motherfucker when I want something,” he went on.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“And I want you, Lori.”
Crash.
Down came the rest of my wall, and as he lowered his mouth over mine, I knew nothing could stop what was about to happen between us. His truth was out, and it had managed to bring my truth bubbling to the surface.
It’d be impossible to tuck it away, comparable to pushing lava back into a volcano. He’d just incinerated every pathetic excuse I clung to like a life preserver. And similar to what would happen when the flimsy rubber met with the molten rock, my heart would have no chance surviving the heat that came with his love.
“You don’t have to say anything in return, Red…” He gathered me in his arms, drawing me closer. “Just accept the truth.”
The shadows cast over his face from the flickering lantern did little to hide the conviction behind his words. The still-damp material I felt against my skin did nothing to defuse the warmth of his body. His nearness made it impossible to think logically. He managed to settle the tremors, calm the aftershocks that he himself was responsible for. Pure desire flared in his eyes, and I was pretty sure mine matched their intensity.
I was entirely caught up in Cannon Davis. The pull was undeniable, like a tether holding my heart to his.
Meanwhile, Cannon hovered over my lips, allowing his warm breath to mingle with my own. “Let this happen, Red. Stop fighting me.”
And it was gone.
My fight.
The reality of the situation hit us at the same time as our mouths crashed together.
I gripped his shirt with desperate fingers. My lips parted, and he immediately slipped his tongue in to stroke mine. The sexiest moan I ever heard drew my body closer. Reaching up, I linked my hands behind his head as his hands slipped under my shirt onto my lower back.
My enthusiasm was embarrassing. You would think I’d never been kissed by a man before. His hands moved around to the sides of my waist and skimmed upward until they stopped beside my breasts. The lack of oxygen had me panting, and I regretfully pulled away to catch my breath. Cannon held me immobile with his gaze, continuing his challenge to stop him as his thumbs slowly grazed across the lace and over my nipples.
Another groan escaped my lips as I threw my head back, trying to further push myself into his hands. The feel of his bulge against my thigh spurred me to press against him, and it was now his turn to groan. I shamelessly pressed into the hold he had on my breasts while he began sucking on my neck.
“Red. Tell me you don’t want me to stop,” he gritted out through clenched teeth before nipping on my flesh. “I need you to say the words.”
“You don’t play fair,” I said, breathless.
“I’m not playing.” He lowered his head to latch his mouth on a fabric-covered nipple. “Say it,” he mouthed around its pert peak and then lightly bit. Christ, I couldn’t think straight.
Going lax, I whimpered, “I don’t want you to stop.” The admission came from a place beyond logic, beyond reason, beyond any denial I held on to.
He took my mouth again, thrusting his tongue with purpose. Each stroke was meant to alter my resolve, and it worked. All the fight in me dissipated. I felt like a hypocrite, like the farce he accused me of being. Yet I couldn’t stop. I was on fire and he held the water source to put me out.
The sensations his kiss caused traveled across every inch of my body. They managed to kill all the warnings that prickled over what we were doing. He managed to build me up to the point where I didn’t care.
I was coiled so tightly I could come at any moment, and it only worsened when his hands moved down to grip my ass, manipulating my hips to our advantage. Subtle pelvic thrusts that afforded a glimpse of his impressive length continued to tease me. My entire body became a needy mess as my desire climbed.
“Best birthday ever,” he said with that half smirk I couldn’t resist. While watching me closely, he moved his hands to the button of my jeans. The anticipation of what he planned shot a surge of pleasure straight to the apex of my thighs. As he lowered the zipper and slipped his hand inside my panties, the moment his fingertips touched my clit I knew I’d never recover from this night.
But whether I’d gain lucidity to nourish our relationship, or to destroy it, was anyone’s guess. Clearly I held no chance of fighting his advances.
I was doing it again.
I was fucking up.
Chapter 25
Cannon
She froze as if she’d seen a ghost before gently pushing on my chest.
I stilled my fingers and stared at her with purpose. “Red, stay with me.” Waiting just a blip of time, when she still hadn’t pushed me away, I resumed touching her intimately. Soon enough, she came back into the moment. Wherever she had gone, she’d returned.
The way she slowly resumed moving her hips to follow my rhythm, releasing tiny gasps as she did, caused the ache in my cock to throb like a motherfucker. With each skim of my fingertips, she gripped the wet fabric of my T-shirt tighter between clenched fists. She was already so very wet, and my mouth watered at what she would taste like. A wild hunger burned in a way I’d never experienced before her.
“I’ve dreamt of tasting you,” I admitted out loud, peppering kisses on her neck, behind her ear. Our eyes locked when I dragged her jeans and panties down to her ankles and added, “I’m finally about to.”
She gasped when I picked her up to place her on the room’s only dresser instead of the bed. I hated that a dirty hotel room marred our long-overdue intimacy. But allowing this moment to pass us by meant allowing her to come to her senses. I had no trust that she’d turned a corner in regard to us, and fuck if I wouldn’t use everything in my power to help her do so.
Beside her, the lantern flickered shadows on her bare thighs as I pulled her legs free from everything she wore below the waist. When another flash of hesitancy crossed over her features, I cupped her intimately, feeling her wet heat on my palm. “You want this, Red. We both want it.” I knew that I was a selfish bastard for pushing this, and the only reason I did was because I knew she felt the same.
She may have buried it deep enough that it had created a sense of security. In her mind, she’d probably banked on the fact she’d never cross this line, but as far as I was concerned, it was a false sense of security. It was a lie. What would come after this night was worth the risk. The way I saw it, the stage was mine… my chance to rip her open to face her denials once and for all.
I wordlessly gripped each of her ankles and pushed them up until her heels rested on the edge of the wood. Easing her back to rest on the wall, I stepped closer, leaning forward to keep my mouth hovering over hers.
Her gorgeous lips parted when I caressed her clit with a whisper of a touch. Well aware I was playing dirty as her conscience warred with her heart, I watched her eyes slide shut and remain closed when I increased the pressure.
“Don’t hide from me.” Waiting until our eyes fixed, I slid in a finger, groaning out loud over the way she instantly tightened around it. The sensation felt amazing, and I could only imagine the pleasure my cock would feel when I buried myself inside of her. But I couldn’t think that far ahead. I needed to take one minute at a time with Lori.
A sexy moan and her hips moving faster meant she was getting closer. And damn if I would have her coming the first time anywhere other than on my tongue. At first her mouth fell open in a silent protest when I pulled my hand away and dropped to my knees—yet another sign that she needed what I wanted to give her. And then she stared down at me between her legs, unable to hide or mask the raw desire coursing through he
r.
The single kiss I placed on her caused a sharp inhale. Covering her sweet pussy with my mouth caused her to buck on impact. She was so smooth, so soft, so sweet. Part of me wanted to consume her savagely, while another wanted to savor her. Hearing her heavy panting, and feeling her fingers tangle in my hair, forced my decision to move my tongue over her in slow, long drags. I didn’t want this moment between us to end.
She was riding my mouth, working my efforts to her satisfaction. Her hips rose and fell with each lap I made, and fuck if that wasn’t hot as all hell. I palmed my imprisoned cock to placate him for a few more minutes. He wasn’t having it. He wanted her and not my poor substitution of a hand.
Lick after lick I quickened my pace before sucking hard on her clit. Her fingers moved away to grip the dresser’s edge while her legs quivered on each side of my head. I abandoned my denim-encased rigid flesh to put a firm hold on each thigh. A few moments were all it took to bring her to the edge. One hand slid back into my hair, holding my head against her during her climax. As her muscles flexed, and her back arched, she came all over my mouth.
Slowly she relaxed, her hand falling away as I stood with the evidence of her orgasm coating my lips.
A veil of uncertainty crossing over her features meant she was about to come back to earth ready to fight me.
“I need to do that again,” I rasped, my voice thick with desire, intending to extinguish her doubt.
“No. That shouldn’t have happened at all,” she predictably whispered.
“Yes… it should have…” Skimming my hands up the back of her thighs, I didn’t stop until they were sandwiched between her ass and the wood. I kissed her passionately, giving her a small taste of what I had the pleasure of having. My tongue coaxed hers into a dance, allowing our kiss to run its course. First to pull away, I ran my nose down hers and smiled. “Did you taste yourself on me? Addicting. Every touch between us is addicting, Red. And what I just did to you, well, that was just the beginning.” Pushing against her warmth only tricked my cock into thinking it was his turn. Ignoring the painful ache, I brushed my lips across hers once more before admitting, “But a disgusting hotel room will not be where we will fuck for the first time.”
“We won’t be fucking,” she said with snark, but the slight lift of her lips meant I hadn’t lost her entirely yet. The fact she didn’t push me away, unleash fury on my ass for eating her out as I had, was a fucking miracle. That didn’t mean with each second that ticked by, regret wasn’t slithering its way through her conscience.
“True… because fucking is too common a term for what I plan to do to you. But it will happen, just not tonight.” As much as I didn’t want to push her away, I wanted to be sure the memory of my mouth on her pussy would be in her thoughts until the next time. “The night is still young, though. I can go down on you again.” Tapping her clit, I slid two fingers into her eliciting a sexy moan. “It sounds like you’re ready for more. Maybe instead of using my tongue, I can fuck you like this,” I boasted, pumping into her slowly, further torturing my cock in the process.
She cleared her throat, pretending not to be affected, but her clenching pussy, the way her breathing picked up, all said otherwise. So I kept going… I fucked her with my fingers until a second orgasm ripped through her. I took extreme pleasure through each quick intake of air, through her steely, unwavering gaze, until she finally went slack.
I pulled out of her, and she watched me suck her arousal off my fingers, causing her continued excitement to reveal itself through a slight shift of her thighs.
After a chaste kiss, I turned away to retrieve her clothes as she hopped off the dresser. Ignoring her outstretched hands, I redressed her myself, except for her boots.
Once dressed, I removed the towel from where it still laid across her shoulders before tossing it on the floor. She stared at me awkwardly, her eyes sliding down my body and seeing the evidence of what she had done to me. When she lifted her focus back to my face, the unspoken words—hovering in her expression as if to say, What about you?—were the hardest thing to ignore.
“The weather hasn’t let up,” I said, heading off her intentions. This was about her letting go. I could wait. “But we should get some sleep.” We both glanced at the bed and then at each other. “Don’t move.” I disappeared into the bathroom to get the last remaining towel.
When she saw me spreading it in front of the short wall by the door, she asked, “What’s that for?”
“We’re not sleeping on that bed.” I lowered myself with my back to the wall, spread my legs, ignoring the ache in my dick, and patted the towel between them. “Sit.”
Her expression was unreadable. Either she thought my act of chivalry was ridiculous, or it surprised her. But when she sat and scooted her butt back until it nestled against my crotch, she leaned into me and said quietly, “You make it impossible to be angry at you for too long. Now I’m just angry at myself.” She rested her hands on my thighs, contradicting her claim. She was clearly conflicted, beating herself up over what she had just let happen. The part of her that wanted me was putting up a great fight, and I loved that it was.
“Would I sound like a dick if I admitted how much I enjoy when you’re mad at me?” I teased to lighten her mood.
“Be serious.”
“I am,” I said, betting a grin had spread over her face. She shook her head yet remained silent. “To be honest, my motive is purely selfish, Red.” Wrapping my arms around her warm body, I kissed the side of her head and added, “This way I can hold you all night without worrying about catching a disease.”
The sound of a car honking right outside the window caused us both to jolt. I knew where I was, having watched her sleep against me for most of the night. But the way she frantically searched the room meant she’d forgotten. In the harsh daylight, it looked even filthier than it had last night.
I tightened my grip when she tried to escape. “Relax, Red. You’re going to be stiff.” Stiff… was that a fucking understatement.
Between having to pee, which I didn’t dare do because that meant moving, and the normal morning wood most men were afflicted with upon waking, I was sure I’d find bruising on my cock when I inspected it later.
All worth it, though.
Because there she was, actually listening to me, as she relaxed back into my hold. “What time do you think it is?”
“If I had to guess, like six.”
She twisted her head enough to glance out the window. “Storm is over.”
“Yeah. I think we should try to find somewhere to eat before we hit the road. It could take a while to get home.”
“Definitely need coffee.” The horn outside sounded again, this time followed by a woman yelling for someone named Joey to hurry up. When Lori pried my arms from around her, I wanted to beat the shit out of Joey. “I really need to pee.”
Allowing her to escape, I watched her stand on shaky legs. I lifted my aching body off the hard floor while continuing to stare at her expectantly.
“What? I look a mess, right?” she asked a bit shyly, something Lori most definitely wasn’t… shy. I liked it. I liked every side of this complicated woman.
“Definitely not.” Her hair a mess of auburn waves from the rain, her cheeks flushed a rosy hue, forced a renewed hunger to have her again. She’d never looked so beautiful.
Our eyes held for an extended amount of time. So much needed to be said, but neither of us dared to start. There was no fucking way I’d open that can of worms, not yet. I’d made my move, and now I needed to see how she’d play her own hand. Based on her fidgetiness, now wouldn’t be the time. Once I got her home, though, there would be no escaping me.
Waving my hand toward the bathroom, I instead said, “Ladies first.”
It took all of fifteen minutes to do what we needed before heading out the door. She had pulled her hair up in a ponytail. My eyes took notice of her pebbled nipples as she shrugged into her leather jacket.
Last night, so a
fraid to snap her into reality, I’d never even removed her top or bra. Although the part of her I had become intimate with was arguably the best part, something told me the rest of her body was even more spectacular. My mouth watered as I pictured the swell of her breasts, the color of her nipples, or even the slight slope of her belly.
Because my cock continued to remind me that he wanted her so fucking badly, disgusting conditions be damned, I grumbled out of necessity, “Let’s get out of here.”
The balmy air that hit as we crossed the lot to my truck forced us to remove our jackets. She helped me pick off all the broken twigs and tree debris on the windshield. The rest of the pavement had been littered with trash from tossed-about garbage cans. The place was a mess. But as that storm had ravaged the landscape outside our door, I had to appreciate it unexpectedly blowing into our lives and what it had gifted us last night.
Flashing lights and a police barricade meant the road toward home was still out. Having no choice, I turned left out of the motel parking lot in search of civilization. A few miles up the road, we stumbled upon a diner that had seen better days.
The joint was empty when I pulled in and cut the engine. “Happening place.” I slid out of my door and met her at the front of my truck. “Come on, Red. Breakfast is on me.” Throwing my arm over her shoulders, I led her inside.
“You may regret offering. I’m starving.” As she looked up at me with a teasing grin, I loved the subtle change in her.
We ordered the works, and as we sipped our mediocre coffees, waiting for our food, we each avoided the elephant in the room. We did talk about practically everything else. She popped question after question, spanning my childhood until the day I arrived in California. I showed her a picture of my mom, sisters, and me when I was about seven, and a warm smile spread.
“You were so cute.”
“I know.” She laughed while rolling her eyes. “I want to see you as a little girl.”
The humor turned into sadness. “I don’t really have any. I guess my parents were too busy fighting to take pictures of me.” Thankfully the sadness didn’t last long when she tapped her phone and flipped it. “But here’s Leila and me at our junior prom.”
Liner Notes Page 18