“Playing, huh?” His glare streaks past my sopping hair down to my mud-soaked feet. “Well, I can’t very well take you to my family’s table looking like that, can I?”
The dinner party.Shit!
So much had happened in the last few days that I’d forgotten all about it. I clear the mess from my face. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”
He huffs, then leans in closer. The wrinkle between his brows deepens. “What the fuck? What is happening with your eyes?”
My stomach twists. With that cat out of the bag, there’s no point in wearing my contacts around the house. I hadn’t planned on seeing anyone else besides Jace today. “Oh … um …” I stammer, trying to find a quick answer to his question, but his disgusted scowl only adds to my unease.
“Do something about that. And for God’s sake, clean yourself up.”
Tension drives off Jace so thick I can feel it. “You gonna tell her what she can and can’t do now?”
Troy’s nostrils flare. “This doesn’t concern you. Stay out of it if you know what’s good for you.”
“What’s good for me would be kicking your ass.”
Troy shoves his hands in his pockets, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I dare you to take a swing at me,” he warns with a smug grin. “And when I sue you for assault, I’ll bulldoze this dump and turn it into a parking lot.”
Jace’s jaw ticks. He and Troy stand nose to nose. This feud is a long time coming, but it isn’t going to end with me. I have tostop this before Jace does something I know he’ll regret. “Look. I’m fine. We’re all fine. Why don’t you just go wait in the car? I’ll get ready super quick and come out, okay?”
“Fifteen minutes,” Troy snaps, backing down.
“Fifteen minutes.” I link my arm with Jace’s and drag him back as I move toward the house. “Why does everything have to be a fight with you?”
He flips his sodden hair off his forehead. “Please. That asshole’s been beggin’ for it since we were kids.”
“Yeah, well, that asshole pays your mom’s bills, and I’m not going to be the reason he stops.” I rake the last shred of our battle from my hair and shake it onto the porch before going inside. “I’m taking a shower,” I announce, leaving him dripping onto the floorboards.
After turning on the shower, I strip off my filthy clothes and wrap myself in a towel, then take them to the backyard to dry in the sun. But when I scurry back to hop in, the bathroom door is locked.
I jiggle the knob thinking maybe it’s stuck, but Jace’s throaty sigh seeps in from under the crack. “Are you kidding me?” I slam my fist against the wood.
“Who is it?” A thread of innocence slivers through his infuriating question.
“C’mon, Jace. This isn’t funny!”
I cross my arms over my chest, stewing outside the bathroom door. My irritation grows with each passing minute. I tap my barefoot as the sound of the spray goes instantly quiet. The door whooshes open. A cloud of steam whirls around his naked chest. With nothing but a towel tucked around his waist, he grabs my wrist and pulls me in, then shoves me against the closed door on the other side.
His tongue slides across his bottom lip seconds before his lips fuse to mine. It ignites a spark. A brilliant flash that bursts into flames and engulfs me like wildfire.
Droplets roll down the muscular peaks and valleys of his torso. I follow their trail with my fingertips, the hard plane of his abs contracting under my touch. He handles me rough. Angry hands hoist me off the floor. He pins me to the wall with his hips and tears off my towel. “I’m all dirty,” I whimper as he runs his tongue over my nipple.
“I prefer you dirty.” He pulls my breast into his mouth, and my head falls back.
Hardness pushes against my core. Need is a tsunami coursing through me. I grind against him, hoping for a release, but all it does is build the ache threatening to tear me in two.
Calloused fingers slip between our bodies. The gentle way he took me before is a distant memory. He doesn’t play games, and he doesn’t go slow. He slides inside me knuckle deep. I gasp out a breathy moan. My hands dig into his shoulders. He fucks me with his fingers and doesn’t stop until the room spins around us in a drunken haze of lust.
“I want you to think about me while you’re sitting at that fuck’s table tonight,” he rumbles as his thumb circles my throbbing clit.
My only response is a pleasure-filled moan. I roll my hips, matching his rhythm. My body responds willingly, the sin of the forbidden tickling my tailbone with every rigid movement he makes. I lose myself in the moment. Yesterday is over, and tomorrow hasn’t happened yet. The second he comes, we’ll go back to hating each other, but all that matters is right now. I succumb to the pleasure he’s willing to give and let his love wash over my flesh until I’m whole.
A keening cry tears from my lungs. My body falls limp, but his strong arms catch me before I fall. With one swift move, he tearsaway his towel and impales me on his hard erection. Lightning flashes beneath my lids, the delicious bite of pain and brute force mixing with the thrill of being his if only for the moment. I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t crave this tainted touch the way I do, but he cast a spell the first time he laid claim to me, one that makes me want to submit to his every desire, no matter the cost.
When the fog begins to clear, I catch our reflection in the mirror. His ass taut, corded muscles flexing in his back as he drives into me fast and free. His body is a work of art. Every thrust of his hips pushes me harder, each husky breath sending shivers down my spine.
The sore stretch at the base of my thighs is nothing compared to the primal energy swimming around us. No words, no demands, just grunts and groans, the slapping sound of skin, and the doorframe rattling as he clamps me against it.