Rocked in the Dark (9 page)

“I’m not.”

“You
are
.”

“You didn’t seem to mind yesterday.”

“This again. Okay, fine. Since we’re being honest here, yeah. You turn me on. And it was fun kissing you, even under the circumstances. But it can’t happen again.”

“Why not, because Becca hates me?”

“No, because I do.”

“You don’t.”

“Well, maybe hate is too strong a word. Rick, when I look at you, god, I just want to do unspeakable things. But when you talk…I kind of want to punch you in the nose. I don’t know if there’s a name for that, but I have it. Bad.”

SEVEN

Rick laughed. It was a full, deep, open sound, and it lit up his face even in the sickly glow of the dim lights. “Fuck, you are an honest one.”

I shrugged. “We’re stuck here, might as well put my cards on the table.”

“Fine. Here are mine. I can’t stop thinking about you, Julia. Can’t stop looking at you. I’m itching to get my hands on you again.”

“Why? Because I’m turning you down? You’re that guy?”

“No. Shit, no. I can’t explain it. You’re not even my type.”

“Of course not. You like tiny little things you can show off to your friends and forget about just as quick.”

“Well, sure. But that’s not what I mean. Hell, I like girls of all shapes and sizes. Hot is hot.”

“Uh-huh.”

“God, what is it with you? Is this about Becca again? Did I call her fat or something? Maybe. I don’t know. But I just say shit. Throw whatever dart is going to hurt the worst.”

“And this is your sales pitch? Not exactly a panty-dropper, pal.”

He shook his head. “You’re never gonna let me get away with anything, are you?”

“Not ever.”

“Well fuck me for being stupid, but that makes me want you even more.”

“You want me to punish you for being such a jerk? Not my kink.”

“No.” His voice lowered and he prowled over to me. “I want you to put your hands on me. I want to feel your legs wrapped around me. I want to pull your hair while I ride you until we both pass out. I want to watch your face when I make you come.”

That little speech was not one I had a witty retort to. I might have, but all the blood was leaving my brain and I swayed on my feet a little. I tried to chalk it up to fear of being trapped, but in truth, I barely remembered we were in an elevator at all.

Rick’s words echoed through my brain and around my body. And the look in his eyes set me on fire.

“I give up,” I said breathlessly. “Let’s do this.”

He grinned. “That’s romantic.”

“Shut up and kiss me, you asshole.”

He did. Crushing his mouth against mine, hard and probing. His tongue drove deep inside and his whole body enveloped me. Rick’s passion was as brash and unapologetic as his personality, but in this case, it worked.

But I didn’t let him just take me. I met him, kiss for kiss and touch for touch. When his teeth caught my tongue I dug my nails into the skin of his neck. When he pressed me hard against the wall of the elevator, I bit down on his lower lip.

It was exactly how I wanted him. Rough and hard. Uninhibited. Raw and delicious. Letting go and taking what I wanted felt amazing. Freeing.

Rick kissed his way down to my neck and buried his face there. Stubble stung my skin as he sucked and licked at the spot he’d marked before. It almost hurt in the most wonderful way.

He straightened up long enough to speak. “I did that?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll give you a hundred more from head to toe.”

I think I actually swooned a little. This was insane. And perfect.

His hand slid down over my breasts and my back arched. He found the zipper and tugged, releasing my round flesh barely contained in a black satin bra.

In the back of my mind I thought about the fact that we were in a public place. The car could start moving again, the doors open to let anyone see us. Let alone the strong likelihood that there was a security camera trained on us.

But when Rick’s fingernail scraped over the pebbled tip of one breast, I resolved to not care one tiny bit. There was no room in my brain for logic or concern. It was flooded with desire and I wanted it. Needed it. Escape. Recklessness.

I moaned and hitched one leg up around his body, pulling him closer. I could feel the length of him, pressing against his jeans, straining the fabric.

Suddenly, I was like a thing possessed. Scratching and clawing, shoving clothes aside to get to his bare skin. The velvet softness with steel core of muscles below. Heavenly.

Rick lifted me up higher against the wall, bracing my legs around his hips. My mouth found his ear and I nipped and then tugged at it. He cupped my breasts, kneading them before slipping one hand down to the seam of my jeans, over my heated core, tight with desire for him.

He paused and looked into my eyes, whether for permission or not, I didn’t care.

To make my intentions clear, I reached down and flicked open the button on my pants before curling my hands over his broad shoulders.

Rick chuckled low and pushed his hand down between my panties and my skin. I shuddered at the first touch as his fingers raked through my damp curls to the center of my body. I was so ready. It took a few tries for him to find the angle he wanted, but each attempt sent his thick fingers across my crease and the tiny bud above, driving me closer and closer to losing control completely.

And then, he managed it. Slid one digit inside me. I let out a sound more like a wail than a moan and my head fell back against the wall. Hanging there, supported by it and his body, all I could do was hold on tight.

He pressed in and then retreated only to start all over again. Teasing and maddening. My core tightened around his finger, my moisture easing the way, drawing him back again and again.

With another finger he circled my clit and I lost it. Screaming and clawing at his arms I exploded. The climax was razor sharp and my eyes squeezed shut as I rode out the peak before collapsing against him, my cheek on his chest, feeling the thundering of his heart.

“We have to get out of here,” Rick muttered.

I smiled, but didn’t raise my head. “Why?”

“Because I need to be inside you and I don’t have a condom.”

The idea, that if he did, he planned to use it right there thrilled me. It was ridiculous and incredibly stupid, but that made it even more erotic.

I licked my dry lips and looked up at him. His fingers were still poised over my entrance, stroking gently. “That is a shame.”

His eyes were hooded with desire. “You would let me, wouldn’t you. Fuck you right here, right now. Against this wall?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No.” I pulled his hand away from me and lowered myself to the floor so I was standing, but still pressed tightly against him. “I wouldn’t
let
you. I’d make you. And it wouldn’t be against the wall. I’d lay you down on the floor and climb on top.”

He shuddered against me, hips flexing. “Give me your phone,” he said through gritted teeth.

I feigned innocence. “Why?”

“Because if they don’t get us out of here in the next thirty seconds I’m opening those doors with my teeth.”

I gave him the phone and turned away to get my clothes back in order. As my excitement faded a little, doubts crept in. This was a mistake. Again. And worse this time. But, casting a look over at Rick, I knew it didn’t matter. My brain wasn’t in charge when he was close to me. My body craved him. Needed him. And now that I’d had another taste, I wasn’t going to be able to fight it much longer.

Sure, I could have played the game. Kept avoiding him, ignoring the heated looks and sexual charge. But, the truth was, I didn’t want to. I knew I should, but I couldn’t be bothered. This wasn’t going to be some epic love affair.

The whole point of this new phase in my career was living life on my terms. Doing things the way I wanted. And what I wanted more than anything right now was Rick. And I meant to have him, damn the consequences.

Sadly, it took a lot longer than thirty seconds for us to get out of the elevator. I was too busy trying to control my libido to check the time, but it was either ten minutes or a thousand years. Without having to discuss it, Rick and I stayed on opposite sides of the car, keeping as much distance between us as possible. But now that we’d opened the door to desire, there was no way to fully contain it.

The sensation was like nothing I’d felt before. With five feet of space between us it felt like electrical current arced between our bodies. The closest I’d ever felt to this was onstage. When the crowd was mine, hanging on every note and I was in the zone, just letting it happen, giving everything I had. Magical.

By the time the elevator lights turned back on and we rode up to my floor, I was gone. On the outside I managed to thank the technician waiting for us there and walk calmly towards my door, but inside I was a tightly coiled spring of need.

Likewise, Rick went with me wordlessly, but I noted he was careful not to touch me until I’d unlocked the door. Then, like a rocket taking off, he pushed me ahead of him into the room so fast he stumbled.

I giggled, high on the weirdness and rush of hormones.

We tumbled into the room together, hurrying to remove clothes and shoes and get to the bed as quickly as possible. Rick turned away as he threw his shirt onto the floor and my mouth watered at the intricate tattoos that covered the wide expanse of his back.

Throwing all caution to the wind I shoved him down onto the bed on his stomach.

He laughed. “What the hell?”

I didn’t say anything, just slid my jeans off and climbed up, straddling his narrow waist. I bent down and kissed along the line of his spine, my fingers dancing over his ink. One day I would ask about each one. The stylized web. The tightly wound knot. The sharp barbed wire.

But with his skin on mine, talk was the last thing I wanted to do.

Sitting back, I traced the lines of muscles up to his shoulders and down his arms.

“That feels great, Julia, but if you let me up I could be a little more involved in this party.”

“If you want something, take it.”

He growled and flipped us both over, managing to catch me at the waist so I didn’t fall to the floor. In a second he was above me, braced on his arms to look into my eyes. “I want everything.”

I smiled and bit down on my lower lip. “So what are you waiting for?”

Rick kissed me hard once and then slid lower, unhooking my bra and freeing my breasts. He held each in one hand and settled in between my spread thighs. He licked each tip slowly, rolling his tongue around the sensitive skin over and over again.

“Hurry,” I hissed.

He chuckled. “Won’t argue with you on that one. Have you got…?”

“In the nightstand.”

He reached over, grabbed what he needed and then gave me his full attention again, kissing a line of heat down between my breasts to my belly. The pads of his fingers slid lightly around the soft swell and then out to my hips. He hooked into the sides of my panties and slid them down and off.

Now completely naked, I was bared to him completely. His gaze raked over my body like a caress, and then he used his hands to take the tour again. Lightly, gently, but quickly, he touched me everywhere, leaving tingling desire in his wake.

“Rick,” I said impatiently.

“Mmm. Greedy. I like it.” He got up long enough to remove his jeans and I wasn’t at all surprised to discover he didn’t have anything on under them. Like the rest of his body, his shaft was long and thick and hard. He fisted it in one hand and smiled at the hungry look in my eyes.

Cocky bastard
. But, considering what I was looking at, he had reason to be.