Tangled Up In You (Rogue #1)

Chapter 9

9

SOPHIE

T o Sophie, being the center of Gavin’s attention was like feeling the sun on your skin on the first day of summer. It was a warmth that spread itself deep within you. When he took it away, you were left cold and wanting.

There was no way to predict when his mood would go dark and he’d retreat inside of himself. The first couple of times it happened, Sophie took it personally, but both Felicity and Conor assured her it was normal and temporary. They even had a code for it, calling it The Clash.

He was in one of these dark moods one day at school when he told her he was going to sneak out of early and wouldn’t see her later.

But she couldn’t just leave him be. After two and half months of being together, she wanted him to lean on her rather than retreat.

In all this time, he’d never had her come over to his house and as she neared his front door she began to suspect why. There was an argument going on. One voice was Gavin’s. The other was an older man’s.

Sophie cringed and debated turning around but something made her stay put by the window where she could see Gavin pacing back and forth in front of his father who was sitting in a worn armchair.

“Useless! Useless is what you are!”

“And what use have you ever been?” Gavin shouted back. “You sit there and pick everything apart. You condemn everything. What a miserable existence to see only the worst in everything in your life.”

“That’s the response I get from telling you to get a job? That’s the kind of help you want to be around here?”

“I’m going to school, and I’ve got my band?—”

“Stop that gobshite band talk. You know where you’ll get with that prancing around? Nowhere. Stop wasting your time.”

“It’s not a waste. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know you’ve got to be fucking joking yourself if you think you’re going to be some big music star! You fancy yourself something special, do you? Better than the rest of us doing an honest day’s work, is that it?”

Gavin opened his mouth to respond just as he noticed Sophie standing outside. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he muttered.

He’d never been angry at her before. The scowl on his face was a cruel blow.

She took several steps backward before turning around and walking away.

Gavin caught up with her just as the light rain turned heavier, seeming to mirror his dark mood. “Why’d you come, Sophie?”

Shaking her head, she crossed her arms against her chest and walked faster. She’d never been good and confrontation and her instinct was to avoid it any way she could.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her from that plan. “You shouldn’t have come. And you shouldn’t have fucking stayed and listened. It’s not your business.”

“I’m sorry.” She looked down, alarmed by his fury.

“Don’t come round uninvited, you hear me?”

She knew he was upset with his father and with her seeing how he’d been belittled, but taking it out on her was too much. He had to know that he was unfairly funneling his hurt onto her.

“Don’t turn this around on me,” she told him. “I just wanted to check on you. Because I care about you. Because I don’t just disappear when it gets hard.” She looked up at him, shivering both from the rain that had soaked through her clothes and from the raw emotion of standing up to him.

He stared at her but said nothing. His eyes lacked there usual brightness. The scowl hadn’t relented. There was no getting through to him and it made her profoundly sad that he wouldn’t let her in. The only thing she could do was remove herself from his seething presence. And the urge to do so was all she could cling to.

“Okay, great. Good talk,” she said and turned back toward her house. It wasn’t far but she couldn’t wait to get out of the rain. To get away from Gavin, the boy she loved with all her heart. The boy who had just lashed out at her.

She ran.

She ran even when Gavin called after her.

She ran even when she felt him following close behind her.

She only stopped to try to get the front door open, her hands shaking so hard that she couldn’t slot the key in. Not until Gavin reached around and put his hand on hers, guiding the key into the lock. The door swung open, but she didn’t move. She could feel the heat of his body grazing hers. She could hear him breathing. She could hear her own heartbeat as she willed him to make a move, to fix them.

“Oh, darlin’,” he said and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “What have I done? I’m so sorry. I was in a black mood and my da only made it worse. But that’s no excuse. I need you, Sophie. You’re all I need. Don’t let me push you away.”

His words weren’t everything. But they were enough because all she wanted was for them to be okay again. She grabbed his forearm with both of her hands and leaned back against him. “I’m here,” she said softly.

He kissed her temple. “You’ll catch your death. You need to get dry.”

“Come in with me.”

Once in her room, she kicked off her shoes and started peeling off her wet layers, tossing aside her sweater, letting her skirt drop, and pulling off her blouse so that she stood before him in only her panties and bra.

“Sophie—”

“Now you,” she said before sliding under her bed covers.

He didn’t hesitate and was soon only wearing his boxer shorts.

“Come here. Keep me warm.”

In the five seconds it took him to get into bed with her, he’d gotten hard. His erection pressed against her abdomen as he pulled her into his arms. But he didn’t acknowledge it or even try to kiss her.

Instead, he rubbed her back to warm her and said, “I don’t suppose you make a habit of getting into shouting arguments with your parents?”

“No, I don’t. But then again, they’d have to be around for that to even be a possibility.” She laughed, trying to disguise the sadness in her voice.

“Sounds like your parents have been missing out on knowing what an amazing daughter they have.”

She tried to look away, but he held her face to keep her gaze.

“I mean it, Sophie. You’re the sweetest, kindest soul I’ve ever known.”

Blinking back tears, she whispered, “Then kiss me like you mean it.”

He did as she asked, kissing her deeply, without restraint. And as she kissed him back, she wrapped her leg around his hip, bringing their bodies even closer so that the tip of his dick rubbed against her in a way that made her gasp. Her eyes were half closed as the sensation radiated throughout her core. She knew that was just a tiny taste of how good he could make her feel and she pressed against him once more.

This was a turning point, one where she wanted to be the aggressor for once. He’d been so patient with her up until now and she wanted to show him just how much she desired him. It was time to let go of her inhibitions and give in to the intense connection they'd found with each other. She rocked her hips against his once more.

“Keep doing that,” he murmured between kisses. “Let that feeling in you build up.”

When he’d asked her before if she had ever had an orgasm by her own hand, she’d admitted that despite some explorations, she hadn’t reached what she thought was the peak. He’d replied that he was ready to guide her to and over the top of that peak whenever she was ready.

He palmed her breast over her bra, toying with her rigid nipple through the thin material. She quickly released the clasp and helped him pull it off. She watched as his eyes devoured her, his own breathing quickening. He drew his fingers over the swell of one breast, then the other before rolling a nipple between his fingers and drawing another gasp from her. And then he leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth. The sucking and biting combination was foreign but felt so good that she was disappointed when he stopped.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said and grabbed her hip so he could push harder between her legs. They both still wore their underwear, but what he was doing made heat rush to her cheeks. He kissed her, his tongue moving with hers in a rhythm that matched the way he pressed his dick against her.

“Oh,” she said softly while digging her fingernails into his bicep. “Oh, Gavin.”

“That’s right, darlin’. Let go. Just look at me and let go.”

She met his eyes just as her body jolted with an orgasm so strong that it felt like it was going to turn her inside out. And then she went limp, dropping her head against his neck as she tried to recover herself.

At the same time, he held her tightly to him, running his hand through her hair over and over again. “I am the luckiest man alive to be the first to give you that pleasure.”

Her hair had fallen partially over her face and she peeked at him through it, smiling. “What do we do now?”

“Unless you have a condom, I think I’m out of options. I didn’t come prepared for this … magnificence.”

She laughed. “Can’t I help you?” She pulled at his boxers. “I mean, if you show me how to touch you?”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I want you to feel like I just did. I want to be the one to make you feel that good.”

With her kneeling braless beside him, eagerly working him with both of her hands, it didn’t take long for him to enjoy his own release.

“How was it?” she asked.

He opened his eyes and smiled deliriously. “Fucking fantastic.”

There were tissues on the nightstand, and she handed him several. Once he’d cleaned up, she straddled him and then pressed her naked torso to his. He grabbed her backside, now enjoying the freedom they had with each other.

“You know, before, when I said I was in a black mood?” he asked. “Well, now I’m in the lightest, brightest mood possible, thanks to you, darlin’.”

She smiled and wiggled her hips against him. “So this is all it takes?”

“It’s you. It’s having you in my life that makes all the difference.”

“Oh god,” she moaned and dropped her head.

“What?”

“I just wish I was eighteen, not sixteen.”

He stroked her hair. “Why?”

She looked at him. “Because then I could do whatever I please.”

Smiling and stroking her cheek, he said, “And what pleases you, Sophie?”

“Staying here with you forever. I never want to leave.”

“We won’t talk about that, will we? We won’t even allow the idea of you going back to America. All right?”

She’d already learned that he was exceptional at using denial to protect himself from what he didn’t want to confront. That much was clear from how he thought of his mother’s absence. But she wasn’t as adept at ignoring hard truths.

For him, though, she would pretend she could do as he wanted. Because all she wanted was every moment possible with him until their time ran out.

She kissed him slowly and when she pulled away, she teasingly bit his bottom lip. “I’m only focused on the here and now.”

He moaned. “Darlin’, you’ve got me hard all over again. If I run home lightning fast, like, and get a condom, will you have me?”

“ Yes . Hurry.”

He kissed her hard once more, then reluctantly pulled away and got dressed. Once he’d gone, Sophie replayed the way he’d touched her and anticipated how much better it would be when he came back.

How much better it would be when there was nothing left between them. And she absolutely ached for more.