Cross-Checked (Boston Rebels #3)

Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

McCabe

S tanding in the door frame of my open front door, waiting for AJ to come over, gives me a minute to collect my thoughts after that unexpected little phone sexcapade we just had.

It was hot, but it would have been better in person. And the fact that she didn’t come over when I asked has me worried. I know that what’s happening between us is more than just sex, but still, she holds back.

What I’m wondering right now is if we can figure out a way to make this actually work—not just sneaking around and having sex whenever we can, but actually making a relationship work. She wavers between wanting that, and not, sometimes even within the same minute.

AJ opens her door a crack and slips out, turning and shutting it quietly behind her. She’s wearing super short sleep shorts that barely cover her ass, and a thin tank top with no bra beneath it.

“You look like you’re sneaking out.”

She gasps as she turns toward me, clutching her chest as she says, “Holy shit. I didn’t see you standing there.”

I cross my arms over my bare chest and lean against the door frame. “That’s because you were looking over your shoulder like you were afraid your parents might catch you.”

“I was trying to make sure my evil cat wasn’t going to attempt an escape.”

“Maybe she’s evil because you’re holding her captive?” I wink.

“When I rescued her, she’d been living on the streets. She had a horrible eye infection,” she says, stepping toward me, “and the vet had to remove it. She also had a terrible case of fleas and was so emaciated you could see every rib.”

“No wonder you wanted her,” I tease.

Secretly, I love that this tells me a little more about her. She collects strays, I think. She stepped up as her brother’s caregiver when she saw how their parents were neglecting him, and took in this cat no one else would have wanted. Under all that armor, there’s a soft heart, and I’m embracing the glimpses of her true self that she shares every once in a while.

“Yeah, well, she seems to hate me for it. Like, what does she want? To be back on the streets, starving and in pain? Plus, with only one eye, she’s not great at seeing things coming at her from her left side, so she could never be an outdoor cat.”

“Sometimes we want what we want, even if it’s not what’s best for us.”

Am I even still talking about her cat at this point?

She looks up at me, like she’s wondering the same thing. “I’m not going to turn her loose on the streets, so I guess I’ll have to endure her hissing at me every time I walk past. Kind of like I endure you growling at me when you don’t get your way.”

Reaching out, I grab her hip and pull her against me. “That wasn’t me not getting my way. That was you keeping literal walls between us when you didn’t have to.” I press my lips to the top of her head when her arms circle my waist. “And we’re going to talk about why you keep doing that.”

I walk us backward into my entryway and shut the front door behind her, before pushing her back against it. Her chest is heaving, and as I slide my hand up her neck, I can feel her pulse thrumming beneath my fingers.

“You like the excitement of this,” I say as I hold her in place with my fingertips anchored firmly on her jaw.

It’s not a question, but still, she responds with a breathy “Yes.”

I hook the thumb of my other hand into the waistband of her shorts. “You like the orgasms.”

“Yes.” The word is a whispered pant, and her pulse increases.

“You like spending time with me, and you tell me things you don’t tell anyone else.”

She steps out of her shorts after I use my free hand to slide them past her hips and drop them to her feet. “Yes.”

When she lifts one leg to step out of the shorts, I grab her knee and bring it up to my hip as I press myself against her. I’m not sure how, but I’m already growing hard again.

“And yet you hold me at a distance.”

Staring down at her, I wait for her to admit this, too. But she seems to have run out of “yeses.”

“If all you want from me is orgasms, that’s a very different conversation than the one I want to have about where this relationship is going.” My thumb strokes her knee where I’m holding her leg in place. “ Is that all you want?”

“I...” She licks her lips, and then closes her eyes as she rests her head against my door. “I don’t know what I want.”

Dropping to my knees in front of her, I hold her leg up and then loop it over my shoulder as I lean in and taste her. “Oh yeah?” I look up at her. “So what’s holding you back from knowing?”

“I can’t...” She lets out a shaky breath. “I can’t talk about this when you have me this turned on.”

“Why?” I ask, before using my tongue to circle her clit. “Afraid you’ll be too honest with me?”

Another labored breath, and she says, “Yes. No. I don’t know, I can’t think straight. Every time I’m with you, all I can think about is how much I want this. And then reality sets in and I realize it could jeopardize one, or both, of our careers.”

With another swirl around her clit, I apply more pressure as I run my thumb along her opening. “I bet we can find a way to work it out.”

She releases a sigh mixed with a groan as she pulls her tank top over her head. “How?”

“Well, first, you need to renew my contract. Because if I go to another team, I don’t see how this could work long distance.”

Her eyes flare, and I know she doesn’t want to have this conversation. “I can’t talk to you about this. Not without your agent.”

Hmmm . The murmur of acknowledgement rattles in the back of my throat as I clamp my lips onto her, and the vibrations against her clit make her entire body shake with need.

“If we can come to an agreement about me staying in Boston,” I say, gazing up at her and noting the conflicted look on her face, “are we making this work between us?”

It’s not that I’m desperate to put a label on this; it’s that I need to know she’s at least open to the idea.

“I...I think we need to talk about this later. I can’t make important decisions in the midst of...you know.” She closes her eyes as she rests a hand on my head and threads her fingers through my hair, tugging me closer.

Nodding, I slide two fingers up into her. “That’s fine, but we will be talking about it. Right after I punish you for that stunt you pulled in your closet.” I flick my tongue over her clit, pressing hard even though I know she’ll be sensitive after coming only a few minutes ago. She cries out in surprise, and then sighs with pleasure.

“If this is my punishment,” she says with a sly smile, “please continue.”

I can’t help but smirk as I curl my fingers inside her while I continue pushing her closer to her orgasm. She rocks her hips against my face, increasing the pace until she’s panting and telling me how close she is.

And that’s when I stop and peer up at her again. “You want to come?”

“Yes.”

Pulling my fingers out of her, I stick them between my lips, sucking them clean. Then I drop her leg from my shoulder as I stand and put one hand on either side of her head, boxing her against my front door.

“What . . . what are you doing?” she asks, her voice wavering.

“Delivering your punishment.”

“By withholding an orgasm from me?”

“No,” I say, wrapping one hand behind her neck and pulling her close to me. “By using you every way I want to before I let you come again.”

Her tongue darts out, licking her lower lip before she bites down on it like she’s trying to hold in a smile. “Sounds just terrible. Such a horrible punishment.”

Oh, this is going to be fun.

Gripping the back of her neck, I kiss her hard. She gives it right back to me, standing on her toes to meet me while she threads her fingers through my hair again. I don’t know why I like that edge of pain when she tugs on my hair, but I do. It pulls a sound of longing from my chest, and I half-groan, half-growl right into her mouth.

“So needy,” she teases, pulling back to smirk at me.

“Yes, I’m quite needy. In fact, right now, I need you on your knees.”

She drops immediately to her knees with that same smirk, showing me this isn’t a punishment at all.

“Take my pants off.”

“Yes, sir.” Her chest shakes with silent laughter.

“You’re going to think that’s a lot less funny when you’re gagging on my cock,” I say, just to see what her reaction will be. I’ve never talked to a woman this way, but I get the sense she’s enjoying it as much, or maybe even more, than I am.

In response, she slides my sweats and boxers down my legs. “We’ll see.”

After I kick my pants off, she stands up on her knees, so her face is right at my waist, and takes my cock in her hand. I’m not fully hard yet, so she strokes me with long, hard pulls as she trails her tongue around my head. The blood rushes to my dick so quickly I have to put my hand on the wall behind her because I feel lightheaded.

This woman will be the death of me. I’ve never been more confident about anything in my life. Now I’m just trying to figure out whether it’s going to be a slow, torturous death, or whether we’ll go down in an explosion together.

I’m throbbing and hard as steel in her hand in no time, and she hums her approval against the head of my cock, making my hips thrust forward as I slide into her mouth. The way her head bobs as she takes me to the back of her throat has me pulling out and pushing back into her, grabbing her hair and twisting my hand so it’s wrapped around my fist. Her eyes flick up to me with a brief flash of panic when I hit the back of her throat and she gags, so I take my other hand and brush the underside of her chin, telling her, “You’re doing so well.”

Her moan reverberates along my shaft and my mouth drops open with a quick exhale as my abs clench. Eyes still focused on me, she takes me deeper.

“Touch yourself,” I demand, and her splinted arm reaches down between her legs. “Show me how wet you are.” She holds her fingers up for me to see. “Now smear your cum on your nipples.”

Another moan around my cock, and I feel like I’m about to pass out. As I watch her circle each of her nipples before demanding she touch herself again, I’m not sure which of us is more aroused. Her hips are rocking to the same rhythm we’ve set as she takes my cock into her throat, and she starts making desperate sounds that are about to make me come.

“Now stop touching yourself.”

She whimpers in response, but does what I say, looking up at me as she pulls me out of her mouth, lightly dragging her teeth around the head of my cock and sending an electrical current across every cell in my body. Holy shit, I’ve never felt anything like that before.

“I didn’t tell you to stop.”

“We both get to feel good, or neither of us does,” she says with a little shrug, doing nothing to hide her sass. I know she’s just pushing me, trying to get to whatever punishment I’ve promised.

Game on.

I tug on her hair, pulling her up to standing, and then spin her around so I’m behind her. Taking her good hand, I place it low enough on the door that she’s bent forward a bit, and then I rest her injured hand on top of it, just like I did in the hotel bathroom the other night. Hovering over her, I trace the curve of her ear with my lips before sucking her lobe between my teeth. “Are you going to be a good girl for me, so you get to come?”

“We’ll see,” she hums.

I let go of her hair, bringing both my hands to her breasts, toying with her nipples until she’s pushing back into me and sliding along my cock. Straightening, I still roll her nipples between my fingers as I reposition myself, guiding my dick between her legs so that as she moves she can rub her clit along my shaft. Every time she gets to the head, she circles her hips before sliding back.

I can feel her coating me—a combination of her cum from when she pleasured herself in her closet, and new arousal from being here with me—as she grinds herself against me, seeking friction.

“Your greedy little pussy is soaking me,” I say, looking down at the view of the shiny pink skin between her legs. “Tell me what it needs.”

“Youuu,” she moans. “Please.”

“Please, what?”

“Please fill me,” she begs, and the sound of it has a new wave of longing coursing through me. “Please make me come.”

I grab my cock, holding it in place as I press the head of it against her clit, rubbing it back and forth over her as she moans again. “Please.”

Pulling back, I slide into her in one swift movement that takes her breath away and has me groaning in relief. I bring my hands back to her nipples, pinching them lightly as I roll them in my fingertips and slam into her over and over.

Her moans escape on exhales every time I bottom out, until she’s a frantic mess beneath me. “Touch me,” she begs.

“I am touching you.” I know what she wants, but I continue working her nipples.

“My clit. Please, I’m so close.”

“Oh, Sunshine,” I say, making a tisking sound with my tongue. “How’s it feel to be so close, and not get what you want?”

Her only reply is the sound of her panting as I work her closer to coming on my cock.

“Does it feel like a punishment?” I taunt.

“Please, Ronan,” she grunts out my name as I bury myself deeper inside her.

I lean forward so my lips are right next to her ear. “I like it when you beg, especially when you use my name. What I don’t like is when my body is craving yours, and you spread your legs and show me your pussy over a video call where I can’t touch or taste you.”

She turns her head slightly, rubbing her cheek along mine. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Chuckling darkly, I reach between her legs, sliding my finger over her clit until she’s chanting “Yes” over and over. And when I stop, pulling my hand away suddenly, she groans in frustration.

Holding her hips as I return to standing, I pull her back on me, hard. “How’s it feel to want something that’s just out of your reach?”

The way I’ve been edging her, I’m confident her orgasm is going to be earth-shattering as soon as I let her have it. But in the meantime, I’m enjoying holding her off, knowing that this “punishment” is going to be more than worth it in the end.

“I hate you.”

I trail my tongue up the side of her neck and enjoy the way her whole body shakes with a shiver before I press my lips to the space where her earlobe meets her jaw, and then whisper, “No, you don’t.”

“I want to hate you.”

“That’s not even close to the same thing,” I grit out as I bury myself in her again.

“Why do you have to be so damn perfect for me?” she mumbles, her voice barely audible.

“I could ask you the same thing.” I could ask her so many things, like why she’s letting her fear get in the way of this amazing thing that’s developing between us, or what she thinks is the worst thing that would happen if people found out about us? “Maybe instead, if you ask me very nicely, I’ll let you come.”

“Please, Ronan . . . please make me come.”

“Look at you begging,” I practically purr into her ear.

I trail my hand down her abdomen and press two fingers onto her clit. With my other hand, I pinch her nipple, rolling it between my fingers. In response, her hips move faster, taking me harder and deeper as she lets out soft moans and grunts of pleasure.

“Such a good girl.”

Pressing with more intent on her clit, I work her up into a frenzy until her legs are shaking and her movements are erratic. And as I tilt my hips to change the angle, I can tell I hit the perfect spot inside her, because the walls of her pussy are squeezing me, rhythmically moving along my shaft in a way that has the first feelings of my own orgasm snaking through my body.

She cries out as her climax rips through her, and my hand shoots up to her mouth, covering it. “Quiet, now,” I say through gritted teeth as I try to hold back from coming until she’s done. “Let’s not wake the baby.”

Turning her head, she looks over her shoulder at me as she bites into my palm while she rides out her pleasure. And that edge of pain as her teeth sink into my skin has me coming so hard my vision is blurry at the edges until all I see is her face, and those wide, dark eyes staring into mine. I think I could handle anything life threw at me if I got to end each day with her, like this.