Chapter 14 #4
“What’d you tell him?” His nerves stretched like live wires on the verge of crossing.
He hated the doubt trying to infiltrate, the seeds his mom planted long ago—he didn’t want them to take root and grow.
Not with Rory. Not this time. No, this time, he wanted to let his heart guide him and not let his past stand in his way.
“Do you really need to ask me that?” Disappointment clouded her beautiful eyes, and he hated that he’d put it there.
“No,” he said with regret. “I’m sorry.” He peered back into the open doorway leading to the crowded ballroom. “You still need to go to the ladies’ room?” Or had Cutter blown their moment? Or did he screw it up? Shit.
She circled her hand around the material of his tie and pulled. “If you don’t kiss me, I might not survive the night.” Her long lashes lifted to reveal a swirl of green and brown finding his face.
Hand in hand, they walked to the hall off to the left that held the service elevator.
They were alone for the moment with only fluorescent bulbs overhead and burgundy carpet beneath their feet.
Rory backed up against the wall and beckoned him closer. “You sure?” he asked, his tone a bit rough. She reached for his tie, pulling him closer, so he’d take that as a yes.
He dipped in.
Touched her lips softly with his.
Applied a little pressure, wanting slow and sweet.
But when she reached around and squeezed his ass, slow and sweet was shot to hell. He pulled back to take a deep breath, and the saucy look in her eyes while she licked her full lips amped up his arousal. My God, you’re perfect. And delicious. And sexy.
With a growl, he took her mouth harder. Rory moaned and rocked herself against his cock, clearly not worried about anyone catching them, and that turned him on even more.
He lifted his hands from the wall to hold her face—to cradle her cheeks in his palms as he eased his tongue to part her lips.
He wasn’t sure if a person could replace bad memories with good ones. And he doubted anything would erase the horror and tragedy he’d seen in his life, but this woman was comfort and love, and everything good in this world all rolled into one.
And he couldn’t get enough of her.
Their tongues dueled in perfect harmony. No fight for control. Just a kiss founded in insatiable want and need.
He skimmed one hand down the length of her body before curving around her hip and to her ass as he reciprocated her squeeze with one of his own.
His shaft pushed and pressed, and she rolled her hips in response.
This woman.
Fuck.
When Chris palmed her ass with both hands, Rory lifted one leg to wrap herself around him, but the sound of material ripping made her freeze and drop her leg back to the floor.
“I forgot for a second where we were.” She peeked at the rip in her dress. The slit now traveled nearly all the way to her panties.
So did I. “Can we get out of here?”
“Yes, please.” But then she sucked on his bottom lip and ran her short nails over his chest, driving him out of his mind.
“I’d get a room here, but we can’t leave Bear alone.” He was impatient. Anxious. But she was worth the wait. So, so worth it.
“And you’d hate to waste eight hundred bucks on a hotel room,” she said when pulling back, a smile on her lips.
“Being with you—it’d never be a waste.”
“But Bear,” they said at the same time, then stole one more kiss. Then another.
He pulled her to his side and looped an arm around her waist as she clutched the material of her dress to shield her legs, and they started for the elevators in a hurry.
“Oh, good,” Harper said on approach with Roman. “We were thinking of getting out of here.” Harper jerked a thumb over her shoulder toward the ballroom. “Do you need to say goodbye to anyone?”
“No,” Rory said softly. “I already said my goodbyes.”
To Cutter. Chris peered at the “Out of Order” sign on the brass door of the second elevator. That sign hadn’t been there before. It was then he realized that the nagging feeling he’d had all night completely slipped his mind with Rory’s kiss.
But that sign . . . Rory’s unknown past and scars filled his focus, and concern broke through the flood of desire that drove them to the elevators to leave. “We should take the stairs.”
“What? Why?” Rory blinked in surprise. “Because one elevator is broken? I am sure the other is fine.” She clutched the material of her dress together, drawing his eyes.
Reminding him she’d have a difficult time walking, let alone going down the stairs, without her dress splitting even more to reveal her panties to Harper and Roman.
When Chris lifted his focus, he found Roman silently observing him. “You think something is wrong?”
I’m being irrational, he told himself as Rory pressed the call button for the elevator.
“You seem tense,” Rory announced when Chris didn’t answer Roman. “You need to relax.”
Right. Chris dragged a hand down the column of his throat.
“I plan on helping you relax tonight,” she said into his ear, and he did his best not to visibly show his desire to his friends standing in front of them.
When the elevator door slid to the left, Chris stepped inside. He looked around, taking in the space. The mirrored wall had him catching his reflection. They’d forgotten their suit jackets, and honestly, he didn’t even care. He wanted to get out of this place and fast.
Rory met his eyes in the mirror as Harper pressed the button for the lobby. Her tongue swept between the seam of her lips. Oh, the woman loved teasing him. And later tonight, that mouth of hers . . .
He had to look away, or he’d grow hard and be unable to hide it. He shifted around as the door closed. His eyes dipped to the floor, and he crouched to reach for a small screw he’d spotted. He held on to the thing, and that nagging feeling returned.
“What’s wrong?” Harper caught his eyes as he rose, still holding the screw.
“Something is—” Chris cut himself off when the elevator came to a jarring stop.
“Shit, we’re stuck, aren’t we?” Rory shook her head as if angry at herself for insisting the elevator over the stairs.
“I think it’s more than that,” Chris said when his eyes traveled to the silver square at the ceiling that began to slide to the left. He went for his gun, but it wasn’t fucking there. They’d come unarmed.
“What’s going on?” Rory asked as Chris pulled her tight to his side at the sight of a hose dropping through the ceiling overhead, but instead of water, out spewed a horrible noxious gas.
“Cover your mouth,” Chris urged as he cupped a hand to his mouth and hit the emergency call button.
Roman went to the door of the elevator as if he’d be able to pry the thing open with his bare hands. They weren’t thinking straight. Smoke filled the space too fast.
Chris brought Rory into his arms, bringing her face to his chest.
Helpless. He felt helpless.
Roman turned back toward them and pulled Harper into his arms as well. His eyes connected with Chris’s, and that nagging, gut-wrenching feeling Chris wished he hadn’t ignored was the last thing he thought about before they fell to their knees and passed out.