Chapter Eight
Clay
We stop at a quaint café for a late lunch, and Pepper moves swiftly to the other side of the table, planting herself between Morgyn and Axsel. You can run, my secret vixen, but you can’t hide . I sit directly across from her, and while everyone talks at once about the places we’ve been and the places we have yet to see, I take out my phone and thumb out a text.
Me: I miss you.
Pepper pulls her phone from her back pocket and glances at the screen. Her hazel eyes flick briefly to mine, and then she lowers her phone to her lap, responding to the text.
Pepper: I’m right across the table from you!
Me: You’re too far away.
I stretch my leg beneath the table, brushing my foot along her calf. I’m rewarded with a sexy blush as she thumbs out another text.
Pepper: Stop it. Someone’s going to notice.
Me: Does that mean this isn’t a good time to lean across the table and kiss you?
She presses her lips together, giving me that pointed look again, but betraying that disapproving facade is desire shimmering in her eyes.
Me: I can’t wait to get my mouth on you again .
Her cheeks flame.
Me: Rendezvous at the bathrooms?
As she reads the text, that shimmer turns to flames.
Me: Come on, baby. Be reckless with me.
She bites her lower lip as she reads the text, and I know she’s considering it.
Me: Come on, Reckless, you know you want to.
“Pepper, are you working again?” Morgyn asks, trying to glance at Pepper’s phone.
Pepper startles and turns her phone over. “Yes. Sorry.” She shoves her phone into her back pocket, shooting me a narrow-eyed glare.
“Pepper,” Brindle chides like she’s the responsible one.
“Look how tense you are from work texts,” Morgyn says.
“Luckily Pepper has a friend who’s good with his hands,” I say with a smirk. “I’d be happy to work out that tension for you.”
“Now we’re talking. A little”—Brindle waggles her brows—“goes a long way in loosening me up.”
Pepper glowers at me. “Thanks for that .”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “Don’t look at me. I was talking about giving you a neck rub or a back massage.”
“A back massage is how we got Emma Lou,” Trace says, referencing their adorable toddler and sparking jokes from the others.
Pepper spends the rest of lunch doing whatever she can to avoid looking at me. Every time I touch her leg with my foot, she tries to stop herself from smiling. Little does she realize, knowing she likes it makes me do it more.
We continue sightseeing after lunch. I’m having a good time chatting with Pepper and her family, and I’m discreet with my flirting. I don’t want Pepper to have to endure teasing from her siblings, but man , I’m ready to get her alone.
“There’s a gift shop!” Morgyn points to one of the shops.
I hold the door for everyone, but Axsel doesn’t follow them in. “You coming, Ax?”
“Nah. I’m going to hang out here.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’ve just had my fill of touristy stuff.”
I let the door close and head over to him. “You want company?”
“Sure.” He eyes me with a serious expression, which is rare for him. “You and Pepper really hit it off, huh?”
“Your sister’s a trip when she’s not running away from me.”
“She’s good at keeping to herself, but from what I hear, she books it out of town every time you’re around. I’ve never seen her do that before.”
Interesting. “Damn, I was hoping it was just a coincidence. I guess you don’t believe her work emergency excuses?”
“If I believed it of anyone, it would be her, but they’re a little too coincidental the way all her ‘work emergencies’ coincide with your visits. Then again, what do I know? It’s nice to see her loosening up this weekend. But you should probably get in there before the girls pry the truth about last night out of her.”
I try to play it off like I have no idea what he’s talking about. “Last night?”
“Dude, don’t even try,” he says with a smile. “The girls might have bought that bullshit this morning, but I saw the way you two were looking at each other at the buffet.”
I glance through the shop window and see the girls huddled around Pepper. Shit . “You want to read me the riot act or something before I go in there? Tell me not to hurt her? Because I can tell you that I don’t intend to.”
“That’s not my business or my style, and I don’t worry about Pepper. She’s not just the smartest of all of us. In a lot of ways, she’s also the strongest.”
I’m getting that sense, although I also think she might be the most sensitive, even though she hides it well. “Yeah? How so?”
“She’s not known for making mistakes with her personal life. Whatever’s going on with you two is happening because she wants it to.”
I have no doubt about that. She is definitely not a pushover. “Thanks, man.”
When I head inside, the girls scatter away from Pepper like pretty little roaches. The guys are checking something out on the other side of the shop. I debate heading over to them now that Pepper’s not under scrutiny, but I take a moment to admire her as she looks through a display of scarves. I can feel restraint billowing off her like she’s struggling not to look my way. The same way the other girls are trying too hard to appear as though they weren’t just interrogating her.
“Look how cute this sweater is,” Brindle says animatedly, holding up a child’s sweater. “I think I’ll get it for Emma Lou.”
“She’ll look adorable in that,” Morgyn says.
“Emma Lou looks adorable in everything,” Amber says.
Pepper holds up a colorful scarf. “Do you guys like this? It’s silk. I think Mom would like it.”
“Where is she going to wear silk?” Brindle asks. “I wouldn’t waste your money, but you should get one for yourself.”
Pepper sets the scarf down, and her shoulders droop in disappointment.
Fuck the girls’ scrutiny. I am not going to let them steal her smile.
“Pep, you should get one of these magnets with the Eiffel Tower on it since you didn’t go up in it with us,” Amber says. “A reminder for the next time you come here.”
“I don’t need a frivolous magnet to remember that,” Pepper says flatly.
“I can’t believe the top floor was closed,” Brindle says.
“I told you before we came that they close it every January for maintenance,” Amber says.
I walk up behind Pepper as her sisters lament the closing of the top floor of the Eiffel Tower, and my chest brushes her back. She inhales sharply, her fingers stilling on the scarf she’d held up. “Are you afraid of heights, Reckless?”
“No.” I hear the smile in her voice. “I was on a work call. Eavesdrop much?”
“I didn’t want to miss out on the juicy gossip about your hot new hookup.”
Her fingers curl around the silk scarf.
“I must’ve missed the good stuff.” I lower my voice to a whisper. “Did you tell them you had the best sex of your life last night?”
“ No , I did not ,” she whispers.
“We can show them. How about it, beautiful? One scorching kiss, right here.”
“Don’t you dare.”
The lust in her voice tells me how much she wants it. I let that desire simmer and trail my fingers over hers on the silk scarf. “I think your mother would love this scarf.”
“No, they’re right,” she says, sounding deflated. “She has no place to wear it.”
“Gifts aren’t about that. I think she’d like knowing you saw that scarf and thought of her.” I pick up a gorgeous emerald-green and gold scarf and brush it over her hand. “How about this one for you? It’ll bring out your eyes.”
She is quiet for a beat. “I don’t have anywhere to wear silk either.”
“My little fibber. I’ve seen your sexy silk panties,” I rasp in her ear, and she shudders against me. I skim my hand up her hip on the side her sisters can’t see. “I think the scarf would look nice wrapped around your wrists.”
She turns, her wide eyes gazing up at me with the enticing mix of lust and restraint that has been warring in them all day. “I… um …”
“Like that idea?” I offer.
“I’m going to look over there” tumbles from her lips fast and breathy, and she scurries away.
I fight the urge to follow her.
I carry our purchases from that shop and others, and we spend the afternoon taking in more sights. I talk sports and joke with her brother and brothers-in-law, and she and the girls take pictures, chatting about who knows what. I love the way Pepper handles them, joining in with their jokes and rolling her eyes when they get silly. But when she looks at me, her smile heats up the brisk winter air.
As the hours pass, she and I dance around the sparks threatening to ignite between us. She does her best to give our mounting desires a wide berth, as if she can escape them, but our every interaction reels her back in. Hell, my every taunt, touch, and tease, meant to fray her restraint, eat away at mine, and I’m powerless to stop.
By the time we reach the last landmark on Amber’s itinerary, the Musée de Cluny, a museum of medieval art housed in a palatial Gothic-style hotel, I want Pepper so badly, I can practically taste her. We’re taking a guided tour with a large group of people. As usual, Pepper and I hover near the back of the group. As we move from room to room, pretending to listen to the history of sculptures, tapestries, paintings, and other artifacts, Pepper and I whisper among ourselves.
“We could make good use of the baths,” I say as the guide talks about the second-century Roman baths and the frigidarium we’ll be visiting during the tour. “I’ll wash your back, you wash mine.”
She laughs softly.
“We could make our own history. Give you something to brag about when you pick up the shot glass the next time you play Never Have I Ever.”
“That would be a no ,” she says as we follow the group into another stone room with several massive archways leading to dimly lit corridors.
The group stops to admire ivory carvings, and as the guide gives a history lesson, I whisper, “That sly grin tells me you’re thinking of all the places we could sneak into.”
“Do you ever behave?” she asks with a playful smile I want to see more of.
“Yes, often . But apparently it’s impossible when I’m with you.”
She gives me a yeah, right look.
I scoff. “You know you’re taunting me with that high-necked sweater.”
“How is this sweater taunting you?” she whispers with amusement. “It covers everything.”
“Exactly. You know how much I like your neck.”
“Why do you think I had to wear it? You gave me a hickey last night,” she whispers harshly.
Some kind of primal satisfaction takes hold, and I want to howl at the moon.
“Get that look off your face,” she says as we move around the periphery of the group. “You left your mark on my thighs, my breast, and my neck. It’s ridiculous.”
“If my memory serves me correctly, I marked your ass cheek, too.”
Her eyes widen.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t like it.”
She clamps her mouth shut but thinks better of it and leans into me, whispering, “I told you you’re a bad influence.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“I didn’t say that ,” she says quickly, and we both laugh.
We meander around the room exchanging heated glances. There’s so much want in her eyes, when the tour guide starts leading the group out of the room, I slip my finger through one of Pepper’s belt loops, keeping her from following them, and rasp in her ear, “I want to kiss you so badly right now.”
“Not here.” Gone is the adamancy she started the day with, replaced with a breathy, needy plea for me to find someplace safe from the eyes of others.
My reckless girl is back.
I take her hand, and we rush like horny college kids through one of the archways, into a dark corridor, and I pull her behind some sort of large storage cabinet. I drop our gift bags and haul her against me. As her arms dart around my neck, our mouths crash together in a feast of desires. There’s no melting, no slowing down. She’s grinding against my cock, and I’m pushing my hands under her sweater, groping and teasing her magnificent breasts. She arches into my hands, moaning hungrily. I’ll probably go straight to hell for this, but I push my fingers into the waist of her jeans. She draws back, breathing hard, her eyes searching mine.
“Tell me to stop, or give me that mouth.”
She pulls my mouth back to hers. So fucking hot . I tug open her jeans and push my hand into her panties. She inhales sharply as my fingers dip into her slick heat. I groan into our kiss, pumping my fingers, using my thumb on her most sensitive nerves as we eat at each other’s mouths. She palms me through my jeans, and I grit out, “ Fuck ,” working her faster. She strokes me through the denim, driving me out of my mind. “Keep doing that, and I’ll fuck you right here.”
Her eyes gleam with lust, but she releases my cock and pulls my mouth back to hers, riding my fingers. I fist my other hand in her hair, holding her mouth tight against mine, fucking it with my tongue as I stroke the spot that takes her up onto her toes. “I can’t wait to get my mouth on you again,” I grit out, and crush my lips to hers. It doesn’t take long before she’s spiraling out of control, moans sailing from her lungs into mine as her climax ravages her. The feel of her pussy clamping around my fingers makes my cock weep.
When she finally goes soft against me, she buries her face in my shirt, and I imagine sweet Pepper wondering how she could have let Reckless take over. I keep my fingers buried deep and lift her chin with my other hand, so she can see the man who made her feel so good.
Gazing into her blissed-out eyes, I tell her what she needs to hear. “No one will know.”
I kiss her slowly, sweetly, and reassuringly and vow in that moment that I will do everything within my power to keep my word. Just as the thought hits, a voice comes from the room we just vacated.
“Where could they have gone?” Brindle asks.
Pepper’s eyes fly open, and she jerks back, but I keep her close as I pull my hand out of her jeans and quickly button them. She watches me suck my fingers clean, her eyes flaming anew, despite the worry in them.
“Maybe Clay walked her to the bathroom,” Morgyn says.
Pepper squeezes her eyes shut, and I embrace her, putting one hand on the back of her head, wishing I could take her embarrassment away, and at the same time, finding it incredibly appealing.
“I’m sure they’ll catch up,” Brindle says. “As long as they’re together, we know she’s okay.”
Her sisters’ voices fade as they walk away, and Pepper lets out a relieved breath. Her heart hammers against mine. I lean back to see her face, and when our eyes connect, we both laugh.
“What is it about you that makes me lose my good sense?” she asks, smoothing her hair.
“I think you mean thank you .”
She swats me and steps out of our hideaway, but I pull her back in for one more kiss.