Only once I’ve released her she doesn’t lean back. She stays close, because she likes to fucking torture me. Because for all her brain power, the damn girl doesn’t have a lick of sense when it comes to keeping her distance from dangerous assholes. “So I keep hearing. What are you actually gonna do about it though, Sin?” she asks, lifting a dark eyebrow. “Not a damn thing, that’s what.”
Motherfucker.
I’ve been reluctant to move, not wanting to wake the baby, but I can’t just let this fucking girl sit here and call me out like that.
Well, I guess I could. I definitely should.
Instead, I rise up off the couch, shifting Skylar on my chest, and walk over to the bassinet. I put her down gently, but she still shifts. Her little arm shoots up in the air briefly, then settles on her tummy. The ache in my chest as I look down at her almost makes me forget why I stood up in the first place. This whole night is part fantasy, part nightmare, and it doesn’t get any easier when I turn around and see Laurel sitting on the couch, her long legs curled up behind her, watching me with undisguised interest. There she sits, looking like everything I’ve ever wanted and belonging to someone else.
The thing I should do is turn and walk right out the door. The baby is settled, the mess is cleaned up, and Laurel is fed; my work here is done. I shouldn’t respond to such obvious bait, but it’s different now. It’s different because she’s not taunting me with what might happen, she’s taunting me with what did happen. There’s no way in hell that after seeing me out with Marlena last night, she didn’t fuck Rafe when they went home, even if only to spite me.
The night at the club she floored me, telling me she hadn’t slept with him yet. The greedy, possessive side of me wanted that to mean she wouldn’t, but I knew that couldn’t last forever. Deep in my selfish heart, I was relieved that she wasn’t ready. When I showed up at the doctor’s house, I was all too happy to threaten his ass into lying. Anything that kept Rafe’s hands off Laurel longer was a plan I could get behind.
I knew it ran counter to getting them together, but it was a nice fucking fantasy. Women have flung committed relationships out the door for the chance to screw around with Rafe, and here’s this one who—by all rights—should be his, but I’m the one she wants. That she was telling him no even when I told her we couldn’t be together was seductive as hell. I like that kind of single-minded devotion. I like it a whole hell of a lot.
I don’t hold it against her that she finally fucked him, but I sure as hell don’t want to hear about it. It was bad enough when Rafe baited me at the restaurant, telling me what she looked like kneeling for him, but to hear it from Laurel’s lips really pisses me off. Even if she should want to hurt me, even if I deserve it, I don’t like her saying shit like that to me.
Even if it makes both our lives harder than they need to be, I like Laurel wanting me. It’s selfish as hell, but I don’t want her to stop.
I walk slowly to stand in front of the couch, my eyes trained on her the whole way. When I get there, I reach back and grab my T-shirt by the neck, tugging it off
and tossing it on the floor. Laurel’s blue eyes widen as they drop to rake a glance over my bare chest, then dart back to my face. She swallows, looking up at me with a sort of fascinated unease—like I’m the big bad wolf, but she wants me to eat her whole.
“This what you want?” I ask her, putting a hand on her chest and shoving her down on the couch. I don’t know why I expect a little struggle; I don’t get one. She lets me push her on her back, then watches me climb on top of her. Her big blue eyes never move away from mine.
Once I have her body pinned beneath me, the breath rushes out of her and she swallows, but doesn’t speak. Like she didn’t expect that to work, and she’s afraid to trust it. Smart girl.
Well, not that smart, because she thinks it’s a good idea to antagonize me into fucking her, and it isn’t. That is a bad fucking idea, and the damn girl needs to get that through her head.
Now that I’m on top of her, I twine my fingers together with hers like I’m gonna hold her hands, but instead I push them over her head. Her godforsaken robe falls open so I can see her belly button, so I can see the pretty bra and panties she put on to come down here and tempt me with.
“You want me to fuck you, Laurel?” I ask, leaning in to press my lips against her neck.
She sighs with pleasure, her head drifting to the side to make room for me. “Yes.”
“Right here? We’re on Rafe’s couch. That doesn’t bother you?”
“You can fuck me on his bed, if you really want to,” she tells me.
Damn, that’s fucking brutal. I can’t help smiling a little, my tongue darting out to taste her skin. “I don’t know, you didn’t ask very nicely,” I tell her.
“Please,” she whispers, holding me closer. “Please fuck me.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking for, pretty girl,” I murmur, dragging my lips across her jaw.
“I don’t care,” she says, eyes closed, her chest already working. She is so fucking hot for me. God, it’s impossible not to want this woman. “I’m not fragile, Sin. You can be as rough as you want. I love when you’re rough with me. I want all your violence.”
Jesus Christ, this woman is going to be the death of me.
I growl, releasing one of her hands so I can grab a fistful of her hair and tug her head back. I lean in and kiss her jawline, then kiss her neck more roughly, nipping and sucking before I realize I can’t do that. I can’t leave a mark on her, because Rafe will see it.
Fuck. I pull back before I get too lost in this moment to remember to pull myself out of it. Laurel damn sure doesn’t help, spreading her legs for me, hooking one around my hip so I can fit myself right up against her barely covered pussy.
“Sin,” she says on a sigh, wrapping the arm she has free around my neck and pulling me into her.
“Is this what you want, Laurel?”
“Yes. Yes, please,” she adds, remembering her manners. “Please give it to me, Sin. I want this. I want it so much.”