Every Which Way (Sloan Brothers) (34 page)

Her eyes looked at his body with greed. Her cool fingers touched the skin of his stomach; it was hot to the touch. Slowly, she drifted her fingers down the ridges of his stomach and toward the edge of his boxers. Thayer sharply inhaled, and Severine smiled.

The laughter was sucked out of her the minute she felt his hands push her dress up and away from her skin, and over her head. She stood in front of him in only her panties and bra. There wasn’t a thought to cover herself. She wanted Thayer to see every part of her. If she was going to be altered by this, she wanted to make sure he was too.

So much was being manipulated and warped in this moment. Her legs wrapped around him before she could think twice. He reeled backwards, and his shoulders slammed against the door loudly. He craned his head up to keep their lips in place. And with her hands placed on the door above his head, she moved higher. Severine moved against his dick, and he groaned harshly. It sounded painful.

Thayer abruptly dislodged their lips and placed his forehead against her chest. “Shit, Severine.” His words came out rough. She leaned her forehead atop his head.

“What the hell are you doing to me?”

She breathed as heavily as him, and it scared her. She never felt this wild, this free. “I need control of this.”

“You want to control me? Then do it.” His words came out instantly. “No other girl can say that. Only you, Severine.”

She looked at him blankly. His hands reached up to grab her face, but all she felt were his words. They cradled her closely.

The two of them held each other’s stare. Severine moved her hands away from the door and linked her fingers at the back of his neck. He lowered her slightly, and their faces were level.

No one wanted to feel weak. Right now, Severine felt completely broken. She shifted, and Thayer let her slide down his body.

He was challenging her. All Thayer wanted from her right now was to admit that she wasn’t in control of anything between them. Part of her realized it.

She barely nodded her head, and Thayer pushed her toward the bed. She fell back and watched as he took off his belt and jeans. It was only for a moment, but he paused and stared down at her body. Goosebumps broke out across her skin, and the process followed wherever his gaze went.

He finally lowered himself and hooked an arm around her waist before his skin connected with her own. Her fingers inspected his arms and back. He inhaled a sharp breath but kept his face above her body, watching her every reaction. When his fingers moved toward the clasp of her bra, Severine abruptly shifted positions and straddled his waist.

“Severine,” Thayer heaved out her name. It made her lose control.

Her fingers moved to the clasp of her bra, and slowly she parted the material. He watched the action without blinking. Severine held her finger out to the side and dropped the piece of lace to the floor.

When she settled her arms next to his shoulders, Thayer reached a hand out to touch her. Severine moved backed. “Thayer,” Severine cooed. “Do you want this to go slowly?”

He lifted his hips in the air as he spoke. “With you? Yes.”

Severine settled her fingers on the edge on his boxers and lowered them enough for her to touch the one part of him that was guaranteed to make him lose his control. “I’m not patient,” Severine breathed out.

The two of them stared at each other. She wasn’t walking away from this now. Nothing was going to stop her. She lowered her face, and her hair curtained around them, closing them off from everything. When she looked at him, she knew he couldn’t see her expression, or the truth in her eyes. “With you, I want to be.”

Thayer said nothing back. He nodded his head, moved them across the bed and covered her. His head drifted to her chest. Severine glanced down and watched him lick her nipple. The contact was dangerous. When she moaned loudly, she didn’t care. Everything right now felt within her reach, and control. A part of her brain warned her that she was close to losing the power that she always held tight.

For now, she’d relish the feel of having him close.

Thayer pushed down her underwear and looked up at her from underneath his eyelashes. She swore he did it deliberately. There was nothing blocking them from touching. Barriers of clothing that normally hid everything back were shed. His skin touched hers at the same time his lips devoured her own. Severine groaned harshly and gripped the muscles in his back.

When Thayer pulled away, his actions demanded attention. Severine complied. He hovered above her, close to losing himself as much as Severine. Nothing else would give her relief—except him.

“Do I have all your thoughts tonight, Severine?” Thayer asked.

Severine wasn’t given the time to answer the question. He entered her before she had the chance.

Delirium was setting in. He paused completely inside her. Severine glanced up wildly and realized he was waiting for her to answer. She didn’t have the willpower to sit still.

Shouldn’t her body answer how much she wanted this? How much she wanted him? A frenzy was building; she wanted this moment with him. They hadn’t even started, and her body was already losing its mind.

“Yes! You do!” Severine finally screamed.

When he moved, the abatement she needed placated through her body. Her eyes clenched tightly together, and Severine relied on feelings. Everything was by touch.

Her legs wrapped around his hips. His fingers wrapped behind her neck.

Everything built quickly around them, as Severine moved her hips. Thayer went further, and she moaned. Their movement drifted far away from her as she screamed and dug her fingers into his back.

“Fuck! Severine,” Thayer hollered. His words touched her skin as he collapsed on her.

Severine’s eyes stayed rooted on the ceiling. Her body felt at peace, but her mind was already running, already in a panic.

Thayer moved his body and covered their bodies with the blankets at the end of the bed.

His large hand branded her hip and tugged her close. She didn’t have the option of moving away.

The sun slowly started to rise. It gave enough light for Severine to see the light gray eyes in front of her, staring at her with possession. “I’m not leaving.”

Severine moved her hair away from her face and stared back. “I didn’t ask you to.”

He nodded, and Severine laid her head on the pillow. The warmth the two of them created lulled Severine close to the brink of sleep. “Maybe you should know this now.” Severine’s eyes blinked open, and she felt his words vibrate from his chest. “I want you for more than a day.”

Chapter Thirty-seven

Not even emotions could remain loyal. At one point, they’d betray you and leave your soul open to all harm. Severine left her feelings to roam alone. She stepped away from them like a coward and took no claim to them. It made her heart ache to think that sooner rather than later, she’d have to come to terms with Thayer’s words.

“
I want you for more than a day
.” Severine shuddered at what those eight words did to her.

Her eyes drifted from the crisp sheets underneath her body and traveled to Thayer.

He lay on his side, with his head buried next to his left arm. His right arm still clung to her hip.

Severine didn’t want this moment to vanish. She wanted to keep it safe from the outside world, from everything that was waiting for them back at campus. If she did move closer to him, it wouldn’t be by choice.

Quietly, she shifted away and lifted her naked body out of bed and toward her suitcase. Her fingers rifled through her clothes until she found a baggy t-shirt.

Her skin was already forming icicles. She turned back to look at Thayer and stared longingly at the open space next to him.

Connected to her bedroom was a guest bathroom. Severine brushed her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look forever changed. No. Staring back at her wasn’t a girl with a glow to her cheeks, with happiness painted in her eyes. Severine looked afraid, anxious and alone.

She switched off the bathroom light and opened the door. Thayer hadn’t moved from his spot, and Severine hurried across the room, ducking underneath the covers to bury herself next to him.

Her body was pressed tight to him. With her mind screaming to get away as far as she could, and her heart pounding in her ears, it became impossible to think clearly.

But this feeling with him...Severine closed her eyes and drank the moment in.

Some things didn’t come naturally for Severine. Yet, right now, it all flowed perfectly. This moment was written before it had ever begun. It was meant for her.

He groaned in his sleep, and Severine kissed the side of his pec. From last night, she knew his body by heart. Her hands could tell you what his muscles felt like, and how warm his skin was. And laying next to him the next morning, wrapped against him, Severine knew she was giving him a piece of her heart, just by not leaving.

With her lips still touching his skin, she glanced up and found him looking at her. “Sleep well?”

“Best sleep I’ve had in a long time,” Thayer said in a deep voice. A morning voice had never sounded sexier.

He scratched the side of his head and placed his hands behind his head. His arms flexed, and Severine wanted to have him again. If there weren’t scratches on his back now, she’d put some there immediately.

“I’m surprised you’re here.”

“You thought I was going to run on you?”

“I counted on it.”

Severine raised a brow and turned to lie on her back. “I’m still here, Thayer.” I have no idea why. Her head moved against the soft pillow to look at his profile.

“The rules don’t apply to me?”

Severine nodded, “Apparently not.”

His laugh was brutal to her already tender soul. Thayer needed to give her time. Her wound was still fresh. He was close to ripping her thoughts apart. “I want today to be fun. Without thoughts of anything else.”

“I want that, too,” Severine confessed.

He sat up, and Severine saw the scratches from her nails clearly on his back. Her stomach clenched at the brand she’d left.

“Get dressed in a few minutes. I have something fun planned.”

“Fun?”

Thayer smirked in that teasing way that came so naturally to him. “I mean it. Meet me outside.”

*    *    *    *    *

“Umph!”

Severine was hit hard in the back. She looked over her shoulder at Thayer’s borrowed ski jacket, and at the big, wet spot on it. “Really? That was a cheap shot.”

Thayer tossed another snowball in the air and grabbed it in the other hand. “Put your game face on, Blake.”

Severine adjusted the ski cap on her head. Her cheeks felt raw from the cold air, and her eyes watered from the strong winds. “I don’t do outdoors,” she admitted.

“That’s because you’ve never done it with me,” Thayer winked in her direction.

His words brought the vision of him strained above her last night, shouting out her name. It was her fault for still wanting him. “I think I proved that wrong last night.”

He nodded and kneeled next to her. “So, are we going to pretend that we didn’t fu-...have sex last night?”

Severine kept her head down and firmly patted the snow in front of her. “I planned on it.” Her head slowly lifted to look at him. “I don’t think it should be a big deal, do you?”

Thayer’s eyes flared angrily, “Shit, Severine!” he said heatedly. “You’re my brother’s ex-girlfriend, not another fucking girl!”

“So do you regret what we did because of Macsen?” Severine asked slowly.

He leaned closer and if Severine really inhaled him, she’d be able to smell his scent. Her mouth was inches from his neck, and all she wanted to do was lean forward and bite him there. “I regret nothing, you know that,” Thayer said darkly.

Severine’s hands paused above the mountain of snow she was forming. “But are you going to later?”

Thayer moved his face closer. His warm breath felt like a caress against her freezing cheeks. “No, I’m not going to.”

Her eyes traveled to the scenery in front of her. “I don’t think people plan on regretting something. It just kind of happens and before you know it, you’re in too deep.”

“I’m not thinking those things. None of them,” Thayer said with firm resolve. His gray eyes held hers. “Are you?”

“No.” And honestly, she wasn’t. Her fear was that she would later on.

“You need to tell me what you’re thinking. I’m not a mind reader.”

Severine’s eyes flashed to his. “I have only been broken up from your brother, who cheated, for a few weeks. Call me crazy, but I think I’m going to tread lightly in the romance department.”

“Because of which? Macsen? Or him cheating?” he asked seriously.

Her jaw clenched, and she looked at him directly. “Both.”

“So you need time to think.”

His comment sounded flippant, but Severine felt his eyes. “No, I don’t.”

“Then what is it?”