Chapter Eighteen
ROXY’S NERVES BUZZED as she and Louis stepped into his apartment.
Unbelievable. She was actually nervous. Only a couple of hours ago, she’d done things to him that should have wiped her clean of any anxiety, but somehow the time they’d spent together tonight had only heightened it.
She’d opened up to him, let him see a part of her she rarely exposed to anyone.
That was why she suddenly felt like bolting.
Now he knew exactly who he’d be touching, kissing.
Hiding didn’t appear to be an option anymore, and that scared the hell out of her.
What scared her even more? It seemed as if her opening up had only served to interest him more.
He hadn’t stopped touching her since they’d left their spots behind on the curb.
His touches hadn’t all been sexual, though.
A brush of his thumb across her bottom lip, a soft kiss at the nape of her neck .
.. those weren’t touches she was used to.
From Louis or anyone. She loved them a little too much, was starting to crave and expect them a little too soon.
Dammit, she hated this. Sex should be a spontaneous thing that doesn’t give either party time to stress out and overthink everything.
Courthouse sex against a file cabinet, that was more her style.
Not this perfect date bullshit followed by some preplanned lovemaking.
Too many high expectations. Right, as if sex with Louis would be anything less than amazing. Still. The ritual of it made her jumpy.
Louis threw the dead bolt on his apartment door and came up behind her. Before he’d even touched her, an insistent pounding started in her chest. Her skin started to tingle. Where would he touch her first? She didn’t have a preference, as long as she could feel his hands on her body.
Her eyes popped open to find him standing in front of her, looking half concerned, half amused. “What’s going on in that head?” he asked.
“You don’t want to know.”
“I disagree.”
Roxy blew out a breath. She’d already been honest with him once tonight, and it had gone okay, right?
Might as well go for broke. At least it would stall until she got her stupid nerves under control.
Or scare him off so she could go back to worrying only about herself.
Which suddenly sounded terrible. Still .
.. “Here’s my nightmare. You making some tired joke while opening a bottle of merlot.
Us both drinking a glass, pretending like we care what the other person is saying when really we’re just killing time until the main event.
You making some practiced move in order to kiss me.
Cut to five minutes later, we’re doing it in the missionary position. ”
Louis frowned. “Would you prefer a cabernet?”
A laugh escaped, sounding more like a groan. “That better be a joke.”
One of his eyebrows lifted. “I could say the same to you.”
He sounded ... mad? She hadn’t expected that.
At the end of her speech, she’d fully expected him to brush her hair back and say something reassuring.
Tell her they would never be those people she’d just described.
Instead, he looked as if he wanted to shake her. “I didn’t mean to offend you, I just—”
“You just what?” He closed the distance between them and kept right on coming, until she had to back up or get run over.
She’d only taken two backward steps, when her bottom hit the kitchen table.
Louis planted his fists on either side of her, forcing her to lean back.
“You thought I’d give you some shitty wine and a boring fuck? ”
“No, I—”
“No? That’s what it sounded like.” He removed one hand from the table to unbutton her jeans before yanking down the zipper.
Roxy’s breath started to race in and out, joining her quickening pulse.
Oh, God. What was going on here? She should be alarmed at his obvious anger, but her body was responding to his aggression like crazy.
More . “I don’t drink wine, I don’t need an excuse or some lame-ass move to kiss you.
” He shucked her shoes, ripped her jeans down her legs, and tossed them over his shoulder in one movement.
“And baby, I’d still get you off screaming in the missionary position.
Too bad that’s not what you’re going to get tonight, huh? ”
She started to say yes, or maybe it was no. The answer leaked out of her head when he picked her up by the waist and set her on the table. “Can you please repeat the question?”
Louis didn’t answer. His gaze swept her instead, traveling up her legs and ending between her thighs.
She now wore only her light blouse and a turquoise thong.
That perusal made her so anxiously hot that she found herself letting her knees fall further apart so he could see her better.
His fingers dragged down the sensitive inside of her thigh before tracing over the turquoise material gently.
“It’s only been one day since I was deep inside here, but it’s been too long.
” Unexpectedly, he gave her a rough squeeze through her panties. “I know ways to get it deeper.”
Roxy’s back arched on a moan. Ohmygodohmygod. “Louis ...”
“Louis, what?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer as he tugged the panties down her legs and dropped them onto the table. A hungry sound hummed in his throat as he looked her over. “You look like you’re going to be sweet, Rox.”
Heat rocked her, making her dizzy. That dizziness, that escape from reality, gave her the excuse to be a little wild.
To live in the now. She reached for the hem of her shirt and drew it over her head.
When she started to remove her bra, Louis stayed her hand and did it himself, leaving her completely naked.
And him still fully clothed. Knowing the gorgeous body he was hiding, that felt like sacrilege.
She reached out with the intention of unbuttoning his pants, but he caught her wrist. “Not yet. If you touch me, I’m going to need to get inside you.”
“Sounds good.”
Humor only momentarily eclipsed the hunger in his eyes, before it came back even stronger than before.
“You don’t like plans or traditional shit.
I get that.” He pushed her legs wide and licked, long and slow, down the inside of her right thigh.
“But I do like plans. I’ve been planning all week on going down on you. So lay back and deal with it.”
Roxy collapsed back onto the table at the first touch of his mouth.
His energy changed almost immediately. His tongue dragged over her flesh with devastating thoroughness, slow, slooooow .
Until something inside him seemed to break and cost him his discipline.
The hands holding her thighs apart grew rougher, his throaty growls vibrating her center sent shock waves through her body she swore would kill her.
His tongue curled around the part of her that needed the most attention, then worried it quickly.
“Faster, faster.” She plowed her fingers into his hair. He made an appreciative noise, letting her know he liked that, so she pulled on the strands harder. “ Oh, God. So good .”
Already her muscles had started to tighten, all the way up to her throat. Her breasts heaved, blocking her view of anything but Louis’s broad back and her spread thighs on either side of him. The sight pushed her a little closer, she just needed—
Louis slid two big fingers inside her, sucking her clitoris into his mouth at the same time.
A scream launched all the way from her midsection as she came.
It happened without warning, like being hit by a tidal wave, and all she could do was sink down, down.
Louis yanked her back to the surface, though, dragging her from the table before she could refill her lungs with oxygen.
She held on to the table and watched him through bleary eyes as he freed himself from his pants and rolled on a condom.
As it had earlier that night, seeing his hand wrapped around his length sent a bolt of electricity to her core.
Already her body wanted more. More of everything he could give.
She gasped when he spun her around to face the table.
A firm hand at the center of her back pressed her forward, bending her at the waist. Her pulse kicked back up into its earlier erratic rhythm at the realization he was going to take her this way.
Yes. This is what she wanted. What she’d been dying for.
The rush. The urgency. No planning or pretense required.
Louis jerked her hips higher, forcing her to bow her back. The confidence in his touch made everything inside her twist with need. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back at him, wanting to remember everything about this moment later.
“Fuck, Rox.” He slipped the head of his erection between her legs. “Do you have any idea how you’re looking at me right now?”
“How is that?” she asked, voice unrecognizable.
“Like you’d beg for it if I asked.”
Roxy felt drugged, hot. Outside of herself but still wildly attuned to her body. “Is that what you want?” She worked her hips in a slow circle. An answer wasn’t needed; his groan told her everything she needed to know. The power it gave her was heady. “ Please, Louis. Please?”
“ Jesus, stop. I can’t take any more,” he grated, before thrusting into her hard.
A harsh sob fell from her lips at the sudden, perfect fullness.
Relief at finally being joined faded quickly, and he started to move.
Tight, quick thrusts forced her to plant her hands more securely on the table.
“You think I need a reason to want you any more? When it’s already so goddamn much? ”
She moaned. “I don’t know, just don’t stop.”
He settled a hand at the small of her back and pushed down, creating a different angle, one that allowed him to hit the spot inside her that had never been reached before.
Every upward thrust of his hips drove her closer to release.
Too fast. Too fast . She wanted to hold on longer, but he only sped up until she was facedown and clinging to the table’s edge.
Was that her screaming at him to go harder?
She wasn’t entirely conscious of anything but the pressure building inside her, threatening to swallow her up.
Her belly was pressed against the table, her legs spread wide.
She had no way of relieving the unbelievable ache—she could only rely on him to do it for her.
“ Louis . I need it. Please.”
“You would come fast. Of course you would. Just another thing to drive me fucking crazy.” She felt his hand smooth over her thigh before slipping between her legs, circling his middle finger right where she needed it. “Go ahead, baby. I need you a little longer.”
Something about the gravel in his voice pushed her that final step to release.
She cried out as it rolled through her, but it was muffled by the table, her voice vibrating with the force of Louis’s drives.
He felt rock hard inside of her, unyielding.
All she could do was hold on as his rhythm grew erratic, then sped up.
Beneath her, the table scraped on the floor and wedged against the wall.
“Fuck, I’m coming, Rox. You good?”
“Yes,” she managed.
His fingers dug into the flesh of her hips, hard, as he started hammering into her, so fast it rattled her teeth.
An image of them together at the courthouse flashed through her mind.
Of his hips moving so fast they blurred .
.. she knew that’s what he looked like now even though she couldn’t see him.
Could envision the look of intensity on his face.
Louis McNally came like a fucking freight train, and she loved that.
Loved being the one to draw it out of him.
Behind her, he pushed deep one final time and fell forward onto her back, shaking against her.
“So good, feels so fucking good.” His mouth moved, hot and open, over her back. “No one else does this to me. I already want you again. Fuck .”
Roxy opened her mouth to beg for a break—there’s a first time for everything—but he pulled her upright, back against his chest. His lips traced the side of her neck and kissed her ear.
Her limbs felt weak and liquefied, like she would melt without his arms around her.
He chuckled into her hair, telling her he sensed what she was going through.
One of his arms looped under her knees and he lifted her, carrying her toward the back of the apartment.
“Come on.” He kissed her forehead. “You get into bed and I’ll get us both a nice glass of cabernet.”
“Smart-ass.”