"We both know you would've ripped my fucking ear off and kicked my balls into my gut by now if you didn't want my hand on you."
"Oh really?" she scoffed. "So, what? I'masking for it?"
"You're asking for something, sweetheart."
I was right about that. She was asking for something. She was fishing.
And I was taking the bait.
I flicked a glance at her eyes, her lips. I hated how much I wanted to taste her. "Tell me what you're looking for."
Her eyes narrowed and her lip curled up in the way it always did when she was drowning in all the contempt and condescension she kept close. It wasn't meant to be hypnotic, but fuck me if I could convince my cock otherwise. "I don't need to tell you anything."
"Need? No. But you want to, Bam Bam." I shuffled closer to her, my lower body settling against hers. "Go ahead. Tell me what you want."
Her breath caught and that small proof she wasn't nearly as contemptuous as she pretended felt like a victory. But she wasn't letting me enjoy the win. Not even for a second.
"It's nothing you'd be able to manage."
I traced the neckline of her sweater, just barely brushing my fingertips over her pale skin as I went. Not a freckle or tan line to be seen. "Try me."
A beat of silence passed between us before I vaulted over a line I swore I'd never approach, much less cross. Not again. I shouldn't have done it. Shouldn't have dragged her back here to begin with—to this room scented with stale beer, and to the moment where everything between us changed—but I never should've bowed my head and closed my lips around the tender skin below her ear. It was a quick taste that turned into a kiss and then a scrape of my teeth less gentle than I'd intended.
But while I was tasting and kissing and biting her neck, Brooke was statue still. She didn't react, didn't move, didn't even breathe. She was dead silent until, "Do that again."
There it was, the single most important reason for staying far away from that line, and it was spoken with her special blend of entitlement and ice that burned the sense out of me.
I pulled back. "No."
Her lips flattened and her brow arched up. "Again."
"That's not how it works here, sweetheart."
She blinked, tipped her head to the side as if she hadn't heard me. "My universe isn't the one where I take orders, Jed."
"And my universe isn't the one where you get what you want simply because you want it." I kicked her ankles apart and pressed myself into the notch between her legs. Her body shuddered against mine in a violent, lingering jerk. A man who hadn't devoted entire years to observing this woman would've blown the whistle and called the game, but I knew we were just getting started. Brooke, the woman constructed from ice and salt and fire, was only warming up with sighs and shudders like these. "Go ahead. You don't like my rules, you're welcome to walk out of here."
She pouted. She whined. Then, "Again—please."
And I damn near died.
I pulled myself back from that free fall and brushed my beard over the curve of her neck. "That's it, that's right," I murmured.
She twisted her wrists out of my grip. I expected her to take that freedom and use it to pop me in the eye, but she dragged her palms down my back and curled her fingers around my belt. She used that leverage to pull me closer.Fucking closer.
I rocked my hips into the heat between her legs and dragged my lips up the slender column of her neck. She smelled like soap and flowery shampoo and her skin was softer than I'd imagined. Than I'd remembered. It was irritating as hell. I wanted to hate every second so I could discard this desire and move on with my life.
"If this is all you want, sweetheart, you went to an awful lot of trouble for a little necking."
"No one says necking, Jed. They haven't in fifty-seven years."
"Fifty-seven, huh?" She bobbed her head, humming in agreement. "What would you rather I say?"
"Say your mouth is auditioning for me."
I kissed down the line of her jaw, telling her, "I'm not auditioning for a fucking thing. Tell me what you want or go home."
"Mmhmm. Yes."
