“No, it’s not. It’s serious. I’m trying to be serious.”
“Right. It’s dangerous. Message received.”
Goddamnit, she had a smart mouth on her. So many things he’d like to do to temporarily cure her of that. And now he knew she’d enjoy them, too. “Kady, I just meant—”
She huffed, stoking both the flames of his aggression and his arousal. “I got it.”
He fisted his hands. “No, you fucking don’t, because you won’t stop talking long enough for me to explain myself.”
She blanched. “Well, do it. What do you want to say?”
Here it was. Moment of truth time. Fucking finally. “Three years ago—”
“Colton, I don’t want to talk about ancient—”
He was on her in a flash. One hand over her mouth, the other cradling the back of her head so that he didn’t hurt her when he shoved her against the closet door. He held her there with the weight of his own body, his legs on the outsides of hers effectively boxing her in. “It’s not your turn to talk. Understand?”
Eyes wide, nostrils flaring, Kady searched his eyes and finally nodded. He could almost feel the questions rolling off of her.
“Three years ago,” he said again, arching a brow, “I pulled back from what we started for a couple of reasons. Same reasons why I pulled away again yesterday when I wanted to kiss you. But this book…this book makes me wonder if maybe one of those reasons isn’t as relevant as I originally thought.” He heaved a breath and leaned his forehead against hers, bringing them eye to eye. “The guy in your book? I’m that guy,” he said, putting it in terms he hoped she’d understand.
A shiver ran over her body. Against his chest, her nipples went hard.
Holy hell. Did his declaration just turn her on?
Her pupils were dilating. Right there was his answer. His cock went from hard to downright torture.
“You get what I’m saying?” he asked. A small nod. “I get off on being rough. Because I like and respect you, and because you’re my best friend’s little sister—”
Her brows furrowed.
He pressed his hand more firmly against her mouth and nailed her with a stare. “I get it. After our talk yesterday, that’s not how I see you. But it is how Tyler sees you. How he’ll always see you. Big brothers are genetically programmed to be protective of younger sisters no matter their age. Trust me. I know from firsthand experience. So I’ve backed off because I didn’t want to scare you or offend you with what I want, and I certainly didn’t want to piss Tyler off, either.”
Her fingers pulled softly at the hand covering her mouth, a gentle plea. He removed his hand immediately. “Can I say something now?” she asked quietly.
When had Kady Dresco ever asked for permission to speak around him? But he’d exerted a little dominance over her, and she’d responded with submissiveness. Probably wasn’t even aware she’d done it. A dark satisfaction heated his blood and further hardened his cock. “Go ahead.”
“I’ve never done any of the stuff in that book,” she said, her voice breathy. Colton’s gut dropped to the floor. Had he just read this thing all wrong? “But I want to. I’ve wanted to for a while. It’s just really awkward to ask a man to rough you up during sex. It either leads to them thinking you’re a wack job or it ends up feeling really cheesy.” Her cheeks pinkened as she spoke.
That was because she hadn’t been with a man for whom dominance was in his blood. “Why do you want to?”
“Um.” She ducked her face.
Colton caught her chin in his fingers and forced her to meet his gaze. He was so close to her truth he could almost taste it. “Why?”
She swallowed hard. “Because I, um, can’t…” She shook her head. “It’s the only thing that turns me on.”
Good answer. God, his mind was blown here, but she really did seem to have an interest in the same kinks he enjoyed. Which made her his absolute perfect match. They were like flip sides of the same coin. “I understand that completely,” he said. “Because I’m the same way. But what is it you can’t do? What were you about to say?”
She dropped her gaze.
“Kady,” he said in a stern voice.
Her eyes rose to his. “I can’t come. With a man.”
Colton frowned. “You came with me.” Of that he had no doubt, since he’d had his hands and mouth on her when it had happened both times.
“Yes,” she said, licking her lips.
“So…” Confusion gave way to clarity. “Wait, are you saying I’m the only man—”
“If you crack a joke right now I swear I will knee you in the junk.”
A dark, possessive satisfaction rose up within him. She’d only ever come for him? No other man? He probably shouldn’t like that as much as he did, but he fucking loved it. “No jokes, I promise. Can you come…on your own?” he asked, hearing the arousal coloring his voice.
She nodded. “Why do you want to know this stuff, though?”
Was that hope in her tone?
Time to make a leap of faith—and hope she leaped with him. “I want you, Kady. I’ve wanted you for years. I’ve gotta be honest and tell you, though, that the idea of long-term relationships freaks me out. The disaster of my parents’ marriage has made me gun-shy. But you’re the only person who’s ever made me want to try, and the fact that you like what I like? Every part of me is saying to grab on to you and hold you tight. I know this is sudden, but I can’t help it.”
Her mouth dropped open and her chest rose and fell faster. “Wow. Okay. I think…I can’t…I might be having an out-of-body experience right now. I feel like I have wanted you my entire life, but I always knew you didn’t want me. Hearing you say all this is kinda shaking the ground beneath my feet.”
Colton’s heart thundered in his chest. “In a good way, I hope?”
“In the best way,” she whispered.
“Then it all comes down to this. What do you want, Kady?”
Chapter Six
Kady’s heart was beating so hard and so fast that she was dizzy and breathless. Or maybe that was from Colton covering her mouth with his hand as he slammed her up against the wall. Holy crap, but she’d never gotten so wet so fast in her entire life.
Self-preservation kept trying to say this couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be finding out that the man of her dreams—literally—had finally decided he wanted her and he was ready to follow through and truly give them a chance and he was totally into the same kinky stuff she was. It was like the rarest alignment of the planets happening right when she needed it most.
“You,” she said, answering his question. “I want you. I’ve wanted you since I was old enough to have those kinds of feelings.”
He tilted his hips into her belly, grinding his cock aga
inst her. That her desire turned him on was just a freaking thrill. “The rough sex. You understand that’s not a game for me? It’s not something I turn on and off? It’s just how I am? You understand all that?”
Kady was shaking so hard she suspected the press of Colton’s body against hers was more responsible for holding her upright than her own legs. “Yes, I understand.”
“Anything you don’t want or don’t like?” he asked, his mouth nearly touching hers.
She needed to kiss him so bad. She tipped her mouth to his.
His hand caught her jaw in a steel grip, his fingers pressing into her cheek and neck, the pressure of his thumb forcing her mouth open. “Answer me, Kady. It’s important.”
Thank God, this moment wasn’t the first time she’d ever thought about his question. From so much reading and some occasional porn viewing, Kady felt like she had a pretty good handle on what turned her on and off. “I don’t want to be hit in the face. I don’t want anything that will leave a mark somewhere clothing couldn’t hide.” His lips caressed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, the soft spot in front of her ear. Kady shuddered. “I don’t want anything that could permanently damage my skin.”
“Good, good. Anything else?” he asked, his lips pressed right against her ear. His tongue snaked out to lick and tease her there.
“Not that I know of, but can I say if I don’t like something?”
He reared back and looked her in the eye, his expression serious. “Always. In fact, I have to demand it. Never let yourself be physically harmed or emotionally distressed.”
Kady nodded, reassured by the way he was trying to learn about her and absolutely amazed that this was Colton she was talking to. She’d always known he was bossy and sometimes controlling, but she never would’ve guessed in a million years that this man lay beneath the surface of the one she’d known all these years. Then again, he hadn’t known it about her, either.
“How about…hair pulling?” he asked, his hand sliding into her hair and loosely grabbing a fistful.
The spike in her pulse answered first. “Yes.”