Chapter 15
My skin was on fire. Scratch that. Everything was on fire.
I barely remembered any of the comedy act.
A shame because the guy had been killing it.
The room had been in fits of laughter for most of the evening.
But I couldn’t focus on anything with George’s hand on my thigh.
He slowly drew circles on my leg as if he was turning over soil in a pot.
And right now, I was close to burning up.
He held onto my hand as we headed out of the darkened club. He tucked me close to his side as we walked past a group of people with cigarettes dangling between pinched fingers. God, I could use a smoke right now.
Anything to calm the raging arousal thrumming through my body.
I could lie to myself and say it was simply because of the lack of action I’d been getting lately.
That I would have this reaction to anyone I found attractive.
The truth was, I’d never felt this way. Never had this intense attraction to another person that felt like lava replaced my blood, and all rationality fizzled away at the faintest touch.
Never had I wanted someone so much that I could barely grasp hold of why it could never happen. Why we could never happen.
George opened the passenger side door—I still couldn’t get used to his chivalry—and I didn’t look at him as I got in. I needed to find that thin tether to my sanity that conveniently left me whenever this man was around.
If I needed any more concrete evidence that it would never work, I mentally slapped myself over the head with the major one.
George was a relationship-type person. He was a hot soup when you’re sick, cuddle you for hours type of guy.
And that might sound like a dream to some people.
To those who didn’t know what they were letting into their lives.
It’s easy to fall into bed with someone and let the endorphins and adrenaline of talking to a stranger blind you.
Once the light starts filtering in through the curtains, all the things you thought were sexy and mysterious under the haze of liquor and lust fades.
What I really needed was a long session with my vibrator. A night where I could block everything out and give myself three or four screaming orgasms. That was all I needed.
Could you do that without picturing a six-foot-four hunk of a man who happens to be staring at you?
Fuck. George was staring at me. Like he could read exactly where my thoughts had gone. I shifted in my seat, feeling my underwear grow uncomfortably wet.
One glance at him, I could see that dark desire on his face. All the air in my lungs seized as I found myself caught in his gaze.
I’d been so distracted for the entire drive that I hadn’t noticed him pulling up outside my flat.
Dark eyes fell to my chest and coasted down my body.
He let out a pained groan as he pulled his gaze away with effort and hopped out of the car.
The seconds it took him to round the car to my door gave me a much-needed breather.
Get your shit under control, Rosie. He’s a man. Just a man. Nothing special.
Something about that sentence didn’t feel right. The words rattled around my head, ill-fitting to the man currently clouding my judgement with his masculinity.
George opened my door and held out his calloused hand.
Long fingers curled around mine, not giving me a chance to avoid his touch, and helped me out of the car. The icy wind didn’t even register, the flickering street lights above us casting a shadow over the lines of his face.
He didn’t back up when I got out of the car. He closed the door and pressed my body against the cold metal. Two hands came to rest on my hips. The move had my lips parting with a surprised exhale.
‘What are you doing?’ And can you never stop? I asked, ignoring the latter, unhelpful thought. That was Horny Rosie talking, and she had a habit of letting her vagina speak for her. Not tonight. I needed to keep my head and not let myself tumble into this man.
A hard task when he made my body practically vibrate with need.
‘I think a better question is, why did you keep shifting so much on the drive?’ His face dipped down to whisper in my ear.
One arm reached up, resting on the top of the car, as the other dug into my waist, keeping me gloriously pinned between the car door and his huge body.
He shielded me from the wind, cocooning me in his warmth.
‘I, uh…’ Think, Rosie. Make something up. Anything that isn’t the truth. Because that line of conversation ended with us in my flat, barely making it through the front door before we had each other naked. ‘I was—’
He pulled back to look me in the eye and pressed a finger to my lips.
‘That was a rhetorical question, sweetheart. I know why you couldn’t sit still.
’ The soft bristles of his beard brushed my cheek as he sealed a whisper-soft kiss to my cheek, trailing his lips to my ear.
The feel of his beard had my head tilting back, eyes fluttering closed.
‘Just like I know your pussy is soaking wet right now.’
‘Fuck.’ The straight-laced, stoic version of George he presented to the world slowly melted away. Leaving behind a dirty-mouthed, passionate man who could have a girl coming using just his words.
His hand on my waist slipped down to my butt, molding the shape of it to his grip.
‘Tell me I’m wrong.’ The blatant challenge evident in his tone.
If there was one thing I never backed away from, it was a challenge. That unfortunate character trait was the reason I was even in this position in the first place. I took a deep breath to clear some of the fog from my brain. ‘Y-you’re wrong.’
A sly grin curled at his lips. Yeah, that hadn’t sounded the least bit convincing.
‘What are you going to do when you get upstairs, Rosie?’ His eyes traced my lips, a hint of desperation showing through the lust, as if he wanted this almost as much as I did.
‘Is that a trick question?’ I arched a brow, meeting his challenge.
‘No. I want to hear it.’ His voice was pure gravel at this point.
Not willing to give up control that easily, I pressed my body against his.
Chest to chest, close enough that I heard his tiny, sharp intake of breath.
Lifting a finger to his neck, he was so bloody tall that I couldn’t reach the shell of his ear.
I let my nail drag down the exposed skin of his collar.
‘I’m going to go to bed,’ I murmured. ‘Take this dress off and my soaked underwear…’ He growled and never had a sound made me feel more powerful.
‘And…’ He leaned forward, hanging on my words. ‘Sleep.’
I elongated the word, letting it slip past my lips in a long hiss, popping the P.
A husky laugh shook his chest. He lifted a hand off the car and threaded it around my neck. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from showing how much that simple gesture had my body shuddering in pleasure.
‘Make sure when you do, your pretty head thinks about me.’
His lips brushed gently over mine, teasing me with barely a whisper of his breath. As quickly as it started, it ended.
He backed up, letting the cold air nip at my skin. Fuck that. If he was going to spend the entire night teasing me so much that my body was seconds away from combusting, I wasn’t going to be the only one in pain.
With strength I didn’t know I possessed, my hand darted out to stop him walking away.
Using the fact that I’d caught him off guard to my advantage, I took two fistfuls of his coat and hauled him back towards me.
Standing on my tip toes, I captured his lips with mine.
His rough beard scraped over my chin, sending shivers down my spine at the thought of that beard scraping somewhere else.
It only took a few stunned seconds for him to take control of the kiss.
His tongue pried open my lips, letting out a soft moan when I put up no resistance.
A warm hand trailed down my arm, holding the curve of my waist. His other cupped my cheek, thumb stroking the soft skin of my chin before his hand lowered.
And the kiss that had been supposed to be a way to one up him, show him I wasn’t the only one affected by this attraction between us, turned into something else.
Thick fingers wrapped around my throat, tilting my head back to give him more access.
He squeezed the hand at my neck ever so gently.
I nearly came right on the spot. Oddly, it was that instantaneous desire that had my back stiffening.
As quickly as I started the kiss, my hands that were buried deep in his coat unfurled and I put my palms flat on his chest. Pushing.
His lips slowed against mine, pressing delicate kisses to the outside of my mouth until he pulled back, releasing my throat.
If it hadn’t been for the car behind me and the mammoth man before me, I’d have melted into a puddle of desire right there on the concrete.
That arousal was laced with a sharp edge of panic that stemmed from something deep within.
George read whatever it was on my face and lifted his lips in a half smile.
He placed a kiss on my forehead, sliding his hand into my own and leading me to the front door of my building. Waiting until I had the door open before relinquishing his hold.
‘Goodnight, Rosie.’ His voice dipped low. An edge of something foreign clinging to those words.
I stepped into the foyer of my building, holding the door open. Any other time, I would be inviting him upstairs, getting high off the anticipation of what was to come.
But even if I asked. George wouldn’t accept. I didn’t have the luxury of alcohol to blame for the disappointment that took root inside.
‘Goodnight, George.’
The door shut, and I climbed the stairs to my flat alone. Fighting the rising panic that threatened to take hold.