I wanted him, which was bad, because I knew that I should walk away and act like a decent lady. Like a lady who had seen her mother crumble under the effects that a biker could have on a heart—on an existence. But the man above me wasn't a quitter. He was loyal and caring, and his protection wrapped me up in a cocoon that was all fire andfeeling.I could live without it, sure. I could live without it and be perfectly fine, but...that sounded like hell.
I'd take it, damn it. I'd take this Dex with his awful temper that never made me doubt that he worried and cared though he didn't know how to handle himself most of the time. My body decided to compromise and accept the reality of the tattoos and the focus of the blue eyes that were hooking me in.
Dex watched me caught like a deer in the headlights, unmoving and scared. The lines of his body were my siren’s song, keeping me in his web as he stayed in place so still. His abs, his biceps, his muscular thighs—which I quickly appreciated in a sweeping gaze—all called to me.
He snagged my wrist with one hand, gripping the back of my neck with his other. The heat from his body radiated through my clothes, through the foot of distance between us. It didn’t help that I could smell that distinct Dex scent more closely than ever before.
“Knew the moment I saw you, standin' outside the shop, scared, that you were an innocent little thing. So sweet. So good." He lowered his head to take my chin between his teeth. "You got no idea what it's like for you to give me your trust,Ritz. If I was a good man I'd tell you to find somebody better, somebody that won't lose their shit over an asshole eye fuckin' you."
His tongue traced the oval shape of my chin. "But I'm not a good man, and I'm gonna take everythin' you want to give me and everythin' you don't."
Strike me dead. Dead, dead, dead.
His voice was so gruff and raw, the effect was like having a million Christmas tree lights lit along my nerves. And his words. Holy crap. My brain cells couldn’t even process what he was saying without making me lose my breath.
Dex’s forehead touched mine gently, as if he could sense the emotion bubbling inside of me. “I want it all, baby.”
My breath was shuddered on an exhale, looking up at the rugged beauty of Dex’s perfectly shaped mouth just centimeters away from me. “Why?” I had to remind him.
“Why?” he asked in that milky, warm tone.
“I don't get why you like me. I'm not your type.” Because that was my only defense. I’d never wanted anything, let alone anyone the way I wanted this tattooed, brusque man. But a huge part of me was really worried about why he’d latched onto me.
He chuckled deep. “Fishin' for compliments again?” His warm breath washed over my lips.
"No."
I could feel him smile against me. “'Course not," he murmured, biting my bottom lip. "Where do you want me to start, baby? You wanna know what I like about you besides that sweet ass? And those legs in your little white shorts?”
His lips touched the corner of my mouth in a brush. “You’ve got the prettiest face I’ve ever seen.” His lips skimmed my jawline, his breath was hot but it gave me goosebumps. “And that smile you give me whenyou’re givin’ me shit? A fuckin’ smile’s the last thing I’d ever give a shit about before I met you.“ There was a high possibility that he tapped the tip of his tongue against my jawline because I may have made some sort of weird noise in response. “But you crack me up like nobody else. I like that the most.” Dex made a noise in his throat. “Maybe."
I was flailing on the inside. Flailing and dying over and over again. I dropped my head back and looked at the headboard.“You’re too much.”
A soft laugh made its way out of his throat. “I kinda think you’re a treasure.”
That was the breaking point.
I didn’t care anymore. He was my boss, my brother's friend, a Widow, an ex-felon, and a man that I'd seen casually withotherwomen. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.
I hoped.
What did I have to lose besides continuing to live my life with carefully constructed walls?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I had to hoard all of my guts and resolve together before pressing my lips to his top one. It was a slow mold, easy. Nerves ate at the lining of my stomach anyway as I pulled my mouth just far back enough to kiss his bottom lip in the same way. Two of mine for each one of his.
I did it again. Kissing his first lip, then his bottom. Easy, chaste kisses that Dex waited patiently through. The kinds of kisses he’d probably outgrown in elementary school. I had just licked my lips with every intention of kissing him again when he pursed his in response, kissing me back with that soft puckered mouth. Soft, soft, soft. His mouth touched my top lip then my bottom. One corner of my mouth, then the other.
Those kisses were everything that our other two weren’t. Exploratory in a way that made me feel breathless and restless. They were sweet and patient up until he started sucking one lip and then the other between his. Because after that, they got wet. Slow and sensual. Dex slanted his mouth, slipping his tongue in with so much stealth I didn’t realize it until it brushed against mine.
I whimpered as his arm slid around my back.Hedropped his weight until we were flush.My breasts to his chest, stomach to stomach, groin to groin. With only the barrier of my thermal shirt, our underwear, and the thin shorts I slept in, I could feel every inch of him. That included the hard nudge of one of his nipple rings against my bra-less breast.
Holy crap.
I’d been kissed before and in between those kisses, I’d put my hand and mouth on one of my two boyfriends. So out of those few times, those few kisses, the porn I'd watched, and the romance novels I'd read, I had a general idea what things were supposed to be like. But with Dex, and his hot insistent mouth, strong, possessive hands, and hard, tattooed, and angelically endowed body, I felt like I’d graduated from high school to college. Better yet, from high school straight to graduate school.
My hands had somehow managed to find their way to Dex’s waist as his controlling mouth took over. My fingers curled into the hard musclethat cushioned his hips.
