The words are spoken so softly I almost miss them. “Come again.”
“That’s my handle. Filsbury Dough Boy. No one is going to trace it back to me. But if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.” He finishes rinsing the plates and silverware, bends down to put it all in the dishwasher, then straightens and reaches for the glasses. “Then I’ll kill you.”
“It’s fucking brilliant,” I whisper, and I mean it. It’s original and fun and unexpected—just like Felix. Almost as unexpected as how much I like being with him.
“For the record, I didn’t go out tonight,” he says quietly, “because I wanted to be here with you, Piper. Just the two of us.” He glances over to the monitor sitting on the island. “Well, the three of us, but you know what I mean.”
I know exactly what he means, and my heart is suddenly hammering against my ribs. “That’s…Felix…you know we can’t…”
“I know all the reasons weshouldn’t.” He steps close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his skin. “I know you’re my brother’s sister-in-law and we don’t even like each other most of the time. I know this whole situation is temporary and complicated.”
He has no ideahowcomplicated, but I don’t step away. “So why are you standing so close to me?”
“Because Tyler was right.” That massive chest rises and falls with an unsteady breath. “Iamwound too tight. But it’s not because I need to let off steam in a bar.” His hand comes up to cup my face, his thumb brushing across my cheekbone. “It’s because I can’t stop thinking about you and me. How wrong and right it feels at the exact same time.”
I should leave now. Retreat upstairs and stay in my room until tomorrow, when the morning light can burn off this irresistible connection holding us both in its sway.
But I don’t.
Instead, I lean into his touch and whisper, “I’m a sucker for bad ideas.”
10
PIPER
“Same.”That one word is a low rumble that seems to vibrate through Felix’s chest and into mine.
“We’re going to regret this.”
“Probably.”
“Felix—”
His name hangs in the air as he cuts me off with a kiss that’s nothing like yesterday’s tentative exploration. This is a full-on claiming that saysmineandnowandfuck the consequences.
And I agree completely.
His mouth is hot and demanding, and his tongue slides against mine in a slow glide that tastes both sweet and spicy, a dichotomy I’m getting used to when it comes to Felix.
When my knees threaten to buckle, one strong arm bands around my waist while the other hand tangles in my hair. He angles my head exactly where he wants it, and I answer with the same reckless heat, fingers spearing through his hair to yank him closer. Until there’s no space left between us, and the only thing I can feel is the heat rolling off him in waves, the scrape of his stubble, and the dark sound he makes when I bite his lower lip and soothe it with my tongue.
That soft moan shoots straight to my core, lighting me up like the scoreboard after an overtime touchdown. The way Felix Barlowe kisses me gives new meaning to the phrase “the crowd goes wild.”
His hands drop to my waist, fingers slipping under the hem of my shirt to find bare skin. The calloused pads of his thumbs sweep over my ribs and trace the curve of my waist. I arch into him without thinking, needing more of what he has to give me. All of it.
My shirt rides higher, and his palms flatten against my back to pull me flush against him so I can feel every hard inch of him through our clothes. His hips roll once, and the promise of his thick length makes me gasp into his mouth. The friction is at once too much and not nearly enough.
“Bedroom,” I manage when we break apart. “Now.”
“As you wish,” he says and scoops me up like I weigh nothing.
Even with need and desire muddying my mind, I breathe out a soft laugh. “Felix Barlowe, did you just quoteThe Princess Brideto me?”
He takes the stairs two at a time. “Fuck yeah, Buttercup,” he whispers, which might be the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.
Somehow, he’s able to walk at the same time he scrapes his teeth across a spot just below my ear that makes me shiver. “And I plan to make you scream my name,” he murmurs against my skin. “Until you forget every reason this is a bad idea, and the only thing you can think about is how good I feel inside you. How wet you’ve been since the second I touched you.”
Drenched, but I’m not admitting that quite yet.
