“Oh yeah?” He pushes out of the chair and saunters over. Jesus, he’s still not wearing a shirt, becauseof course he isn’t.The dim light glints off the silver chain hanging from his neck. I swallow, my chest suddenly feeling way too tight.
“You love country music so much? Then name one artist,” he says.
My brain scrambles, throwing a thousand wrong names at me.Sheila? Garth? Reba?
“Reba McEntire!” I blurt out. I’m about 80 percent sure that name is right.
Ryan raises a brow, and for a second I think he might actually be impressed. Then he leans in toward me, his nose just inches from mine.
“What’s one song she sings?”
Fuck.
My lips part and I suck in a breath. Song names flash through my mind, but I can’t seem to grasp on to any of them. I can’t think with Ryan so close, taunting me with his dark eyes and his full lips curled into a smirk. No man should get to have lips like that—it’s not fucking fair.
Ryan smacks his lips, pure satisfaction pooling in his eyes. “That’s what I thought. Maybe say something like you might likethe boots and hats, Pips, but you’ll never be a country girl and you know it. You’re rock and roll, through and through. Always have been. Always will be.”
My blood feels like it’s vibrating through my veins. Putting my hands on his chest, I shove him away. “You don’t know anything about me, asshole.”
His hands circle my wrists, grabbing them tight and yanking me forward. My hands land on his hard, leanly muscled chest. His bare skin feels hot under my fingers, his body like an inferno inches away from me. I can’t breathe as he glowers down at me.
“Yes, I fucking do,” he growls.
He buries a hand in my hair, yanking so hard that my scalp stings and I can’t hold back my whimper of pain. He swallows the sound as he shoves his lips against mine.
My whole body freezes. I can’t move, can’t speak, can’tthink.It’s like I’ve forgotten how to use my arms to push him away. I’d fall if Ryan wasn’t holding me tight against him.
Is this really fucking happening?
Ryan’s tongue presses into my mouth, sure and demanding. He tastes like whiskey and bad decisions, and I can’t get enough. Dark heat rushes through me like wildfire, starting low in my belly and spreading relentlessly through my veins. I’m dizzy with how fucking good it feels to have his hard body pressed against mine, his warm musky scent surrounding me.
My traitorous body responds instinctively, fingers digging into his skin as I arch my back, pressing myself against him. I push up on my toes, trying to eliminate every micron of space between us.
Ryan’s mouth moves expertly over mine, hot and rough and furious. He uses the hand still tight in my hair to angle my head just the way he wants, plundering my mouth with his tongue. There’s nothing sweet or gentle about it, but that’s the point.
I like a man to be rough with me, and somehow he fuckingknows.
Well, I give as good as I get.
I scratch my nails hard against his side, leaving marks as I trace from his ribs to his spine. He hisses at the pain, shoving me back against the kitchen counter. It knocks the breath out of me for a second. When Ryan’s hard body presses back against me, it makes me gasp at the sensation.
It’s my last breath before his lips are back on mine. Every brush of his lips is furious, all-consuming, and fucking devastating.
My body melts under the molten heat of his touch. Our bodies mold against each other, my breasts against his bare chest, our hips grinding hard against each other. A sharp ache spreads between my thighs, my clit already swollen and begging for relief. I whimper against Ryan’s mouth, wanting?—
Meow!
Waffle cries out insistently, piercing the silence. Ryan and I break apart at the sound, hands, lips, and tongues to ourselves.
Pleased, Waffle purrs and winds around my ankles. I take a shuddering breath, still incapable of processing what just happened. At least it’s dark enough that Ryan can’t see my face. I don’t want to know what my expression is saying.
I crouch to pick up Waffle and push past Ryan to walk back to my room. I need to get away from him and justthink. I practically run down the hallway back to my bedroom, Waffle wiggling in my arms.
Once I’m inside the door, I close it and slump against the back of it. Waffle eagerly jumps to the floor, off to find some toy to kick around.
I’m left to sag to the floor and confront reality. Ryan kissed me, and I didn’t stop him. Worse, I kissed him back.
I knew living with Ryan was going to be a disaster, but I never guessed this would be the fallout.
