He held his hands out in a placating gesture, taking a step closer and forcing me to move back to maintain the space between us. “I know, Del, I know. But I had to talk to you.”
“Why?” It was then that I noticed just how shitty he looked. Not only was his normally impeccably-styled hair a disheveled mess, but his clothes were wrinkled and there were dark circles under his eyes. After the breakup I had wondered how I’d react if I ever saw him again. For a while I imagined my heart would still hurt, but as I stared at Brant in the hallway, looking as miserable as he made me feel when he cheated on me, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Please just hear me out, Del. I made a huge mistake.”
I let out a loud bark of sarcastic laughter. “Oh yeah, and what would that have been?”
He reached out and grabbed my wrist before I could pull away. “I never should have let you go, babe. I’ve missed you so much.”
Yanking my arm back violently, I stepped closed enough to poke him in his chest. “You didn’t let me go, you idiot! You cheated on me, and I left your sorry ass. You had no say in the matter. Still don’t so you’re better off just leaving now.”
I turned my eyes off of him to reach into my purse and get my keys then moved passed him to the door. I’d just gotten the key in the lock when he spoke again.
“I want you back.”
AS I LOOKED DOWN at the little rat laying on my living room floor, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He hadn’t moved much at all since Delilah dropped him off earlier. I hadn’t even been able to get him to eat, but that might have been because I tried pawning the soy cheese Navie bought when she insisted on stocking my fridge off on him. Even he wouldn’t eat it, not that I blamed him. I tried explaining to my soon-to-be sister that the stuff tasted like shit, but she had been on a kick about how Rowan and I weren’t getting any younger and we needed to start being mindful of what we ate.
In response, I went out and bought the biggest cheeseburger I’d ever eaten. And devoured the entire thing. With her watching in displeasure the whole time. Poor Rowan had to stick with a grilled chicken salad, the pussy-whipped asshole. But she wasn’t my fiancé, and I wasn’t the one at risk of being kicked out of my own bed, so I didn’t have to listen to her.
The dog let out a loud, broken sigh. I was pretty sure he’d been recalling what it was like to still have his manhood.
“Poor nut-less bastard,” I commiserated as I made my way over to him and hunched down so I could give the little guy a pet. “You’re not really so bad, are you?” I asked as my fingers stroked his silky fur. He sighed again and I hoped that one was from pleasure, not sorrow. “Yeah, you’re a pretty decent little rat/dog, aren’t ya buddy? I’m sorry your momma went and chopped your balls off. I can understand your pain.”
He lifted his head and gave my wrist a lick, and I couldn’t help but view that as a bonding moment between the two of us. Who’d have thought that I would actually feel sorry for the little shit who’d ruined a four-hundred-dollar pair of Italian loafers?
I scooped him off the ground and held him up to my face as gently as possible. “You might never be able to get laid again, but you can still pee standing up, little man. What do you say we go outside and take a piss like real men, huh?” His little tail wagged in agreement. Moving to cradle him in my arm, I grabbed my keys and phone and stuffed them in my pocket. “Yeah, let’s go show those bitches you’ve still got some pride…” I looked at the cone surrounding his head and smiled, “…even though you’re impersonating a satellite dish right now.”
Before I took him to the park a couple blocks down, I shot a text off to Delilah so she’d know where we were in case she got home before we did. When my phone vibrated with a response, I felt a level of excitement I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager and got my first chance to feel up a chick’s boobs.
Christ, could I be anymore pathetic? I shook the adolescent thoughts out of my head and took the rat/dog to do his business. I even cheered the little guy on when he attempted to sniff a passing Chihuahua’s butt. The owner apparently had a stick up her ass because she didn’t see the humor in it that I did.
“Oh come on. It’s not like he can do anything, bastard lost his balls the other day. Cut him some slack and let him sniff your dog’s ass. What’s the harm?”
I’m pretty sure she was just seconds away from pepper spraying me so I decided the best course of action was to get us both upstairs unscathed.
By the time I stepped off the elevator onto my floor with Shady secured in my arms, I was eager to go knock on my adorable little neighbor’s door. That was, until I heard an unfamiliar voice speak up from a few doors down.
“I want you back.”
My head shot up at the same time Shady let out a small growl. When I caught sight of some blond shithead standing way too close to Delilah for my liking, I felt my blood run hot. “The fuck he just say?” I growled to myself as I got closer.
I watched as she spun around and I could see the fire in her eyes behind those glasses from a distance. Then she spoke and I couldn’t help but smile. “Then you’ve obviously lost your damn mind, Brant.”
Brant. Is that the name of her loser ex? The fuck stick who cheated on her? I picked up the pace when he stepped even closer. I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. Something about a man getting within touching distance of my Delilah made me want to punch something… or better yet, someone.
When the hell had that happened?
And when did I start thinking of her as my Delilah?
“Baby, please,” he muttered, reaching up to touch her face just as I sidled up to them. Instinct took over, a primal need to mark my territory that I’d never felt before, and I did the only thing I could think to do besides whip my dick out and pee on her.
“Hey baby, sorry it took me so long.” My free arm wrapped around her waist and I pulled her against my chest, shifting the dog out of the way so he wouldn’t be crushed.
Her eyes went wide as she looked up at me in shock. “Uh…”
Taking advantage of her stunned silence, I mumbled, “Missed you today,” and leaned in, pressing my lips against hers. They were soft, plump, and just the feel of them sent an electric shock through my system and straight to my dick. I never would have expected such a reaction from such a chaste kiss, but I felt it in every single cell in my body. Neither of us spoke when I pulled back, and I could tell she’d been just as affected as I had. All we could do was stare at each other, unable to form words after what had just happened.
“Who the hell is this?”
I’d been so focused on her beautiful face that I’d forgotten about the douchebag in front of us, or the reason for the spontaneous kiss to begin with.
Her eyes stayed on mine as she opened her mouth. “He’s my n—”
“New boyfriend,” I interrupted, cutting my eyes at the asshole standing far too close. “And you are?”
He ignored me and looked back at Delilah in bewilderment. “New boyfriend, Del? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re already seeing someone else?”
That seemed to yank her out of her dazed state. She moved to pull away from me, but I wasn’t having any of that. The feel of her body pressed against mine was something I liked way too much to let it end. My arm around her waist tightened as her head shot to the side.
“Yes, Brant, I’m already seeing someone else. And so freaking what? We’ve been broken up for months. And if I remember correctly, you didn’t have any problem ‘seeing other people’ while we were still together, so who the hell are you to judge me?”
Was it ridiculous that I was more than just a little proud of her in that moment? Not that I cared if it was. I smiled and gave her a little squeeze. “What can I say, man. Your loss is definitely my gain. She’s incredible.” I made sure to stress the word in such a way that the innuendo came through loud and clear. She blushed a bright red that only made her cuter.
“Bullshit,” the dick spit out. “I don’t b
elieve you. We were in love. There’s no way she’s already moved on. My Del isn’t like that.”
Delilah let out an outraged gasp and opened her mouth to lay into the guy, but I cut her off. “You lost your Del when you shoved your dick into someone else. Now she’s mine.” And to hit my point home, I lowered my head and pressed another kiss to her lips. However, there was nothing sweet, or chaste about this one.
When her lips parted on a surprised inhale, I took advantage, pushing my tongue into her mouth. Her taste flooded my senses, a taste I was all too familiar with. My arms tightened uncontrollably as she melted into me and I lost my mind. I couldn’t devour her quick enough, couldn’t get enough of those moans, those whimpers, all those throaty little noises I’d memorized that night months ago.
When I was forced to pull back in order to breathe I focused on her glazed over eyes, her lids half-mast with pleasure, and I knew. I fucking knew.
“Holy shit.”
“HOLY SHIT.” THE MOMENT those words escaped his mouth I realized that he knew exactly who I was. My eyes widened with panic as I watched two separate emotions flit across his features. Lust and anger.
Not good, my brain screamed. Abort! Abort!
But there was no hope for escape, not with his arm holding onto me like a steel band. Without taking his eyes off me, he spoke in a clipped tone, “Bye, Brick.”
“It’s Brant, not Brick.” Brant hissed back.
That got Richard’s full attention. He turned to glare at him, “I really don’t give a fuck. You can leave now.”
Without missing a beat, Richard deposited Shady into my arms, spun us around and reached for my keys that were still dangling from the lock. The door was unlocked and we were inside before I had a chance to blink. He kicked it closed, snatched Shady from my grasp and dropped him to the floor before rising to his full height and stalking toward me, a look that was purely predatory on his face.
I took a step back, my hands coming up in front of me. “Richard.”
“It was you,” he growled, moving closer. The backs of my legs bumped against the coffee table, forcing me to side-step in order to keep distance between us.
“Uh…” Think, Del. Think! “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied… badly.
“The woman from the club. The one in the red dress. It’s you. How you taste and sound when you kissed me is fucking burned into my goddamned brain.”
“Richard—”
“Did you know?” My back hit the wall and my palms hit his chest. I had nowhere else to go. He kept advancing until his entire body was pressed against mine from toes to nose. He lifted one hand up and removed my glasses. I had to blink to try and focus, but, even inches away, he was blurry. His other hand came up, the tips of his fingers brushing across my forehead as he moved my heavy bangs out of the way.
“Jesus. Fuck!”
I tried again, doing my best to sound placating. “Richard—”
“Did you know?!” he shouted, causing me to flinch.
“Please give me back my glasses,” I whispered in a wobbly voice. “I can’t see.”
He didn’t give me back my glasses. Instead, he leaned in close, running the tip of his nose along my neck. “Fuck, Delilah. I went crazy thinking about you after that night.” My entire body shivered as his warm breath washed over my skin. I felt his lips at my collarbone just before his tongue peeked out and tasted my skin, causing me to moan with pleasure. “Then I met you, the quirky, cute neighbor, and you started driving me insane all over again.” His teeth nipped at me, pulling a gasp from my chest. “You’ve been invading my dreams for months.”
And with that last confession I was lost, completely and absolutely lost. Logic flew out the window. The fact that this man had been living next door to me all this time without remembering no longer mattered. My brain shut down as my body took over. Squeezing my eyes closed, I let out a whimper as my fingers dug into his silky hair. His mouth on my neck was doing wicked things. Goosebumps broke out everywhere, and when I tugged the strands harder as he bit down again, something in Richard snapped. He lost all control.
With a growl, his hands skated down my sides, running along my ribs and hips as his mouth came back up in a fierce kiss. His fingers continued on his path until he reached the backs of my thighs beneath my skirt. Then, using strength I’d only read about in steamy romance novels, he lifted me up, forcing my legs around his waist.
I complied happily, my tongue battling with his as our mouths licked and nipped and fed from each other.
“Fuck, Del,” he groaned, rocking his massive erection against me. I whimpered into his mouth as the denim rubbed my aching clit through my panties. My skirt was bunched around my hips, the only barrier between us being his pants and my drenched underwear. I gave his hair a rough tug as his lips moved from mine along my jaw to that unbelievably sensitive place right under my ear. “Do you know how many times I’ve jacked off to the image of you?”
“Oh, God,” I panted, rolling my hips against his hard-on, chasing after the thing that was coiling tight inside of me.
“Jesus. You’re the best I’ve ever had.”
“Same for me,” I breathed, throwing my head back with a loud thunk against the wall. The pain didn’t even register as that fire in my belly grew more and more intense.
I’d have given anything at that moment to have my glasses just so I could see him clearly, see if the expression on his face was as lost as I was sure mine was, if he was as consumed with me as I was with him at that very moment.
“Have you thought about me?” he asked against my ear, making my body quake. “Have you thought about how good it felt when I was buried inside you? Fucking you like my life depended on it?”
“Yes. God, Richard. Yes.”
His hips moved faster, increasing the pressure between my thighs. “Have you touched yourself while thinking about me?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Fuck, you’re wet for me right now, aren’t you, Delilah?”
I was. I so fucking was. If I wasn’t so overcome with everything Richard, I might have been embarrassed at just how aroused I was. “I—I…” Could. Not. Form. Words.
His upper body moved away from mine as he continued to grind against me faster and faster. “Are you about to come, baby?”
I really, really was. “Richard,” I sighed as I got closer. “I can’t see you. I want to see you.” He was studying my face as my release built and I wanted to do the same. It seemed so unfair that he had an unobstructed view of me so close to shattering, but I was left with nothing but a fuzzy outline of him.
“You’re close. I can see it in your eyes. They’re all glassy and bright. Christ, Del. I want to be inside you when you come. I want to feel it all over my dick. I still remember the way you squeezed the shit out of me.”
Holy. Freaking. Buddha. That man had a gift for dirty talk, it was like he’d majored in it or something, made it his life’s mission to be so good at it he could get a woman off with just his words. I remembered he was a talker during sex. It wasn’t something I’d ever enjoyed with Brant. But Richard had been so gifted that I craved it. I never wanted him to stop talking.
“Close. So close.” I was so lost in him that I hadn’t even realized the front door had opened until I heard another voice.
“Holy balls!”
Richard instantly stopped moving and I jerked back with a start, hitting my head again, but this time, with the ice bucket that was Devon having broken through the lusty fog in my brain, the pain actually registered.
“Ow! Owowowow! That freaking hurt!”
I reached up and rubbed the sore spot, feeling a knot already forming underneath my hair.
“Oh God. Shit! I’m sorry! I just… I can… don’t mind me. I’ll just go…”
Shame and humiliation coursed through my veins, burning my cheeks as I began to blush furiously. I began pushing at Richard and I tried to wiggle out of his hold, but he refused to budge.
�
�Put me down.”
“No,” he growled, the tips of his fingers digging into my thighs so hard I was sure I’d have bruises the next day.
“Richard, put me down!” I gave him a hard shove and finally managed to break away enough to put my feet back on the ground. He reached for me again, but I jumped away from the wall, out of his reach. “That was…” intense, amazing, fuck-tastic, “…a mistake,” I managed, still somewhat out of breath.
“Uh…” Devon muttered from her place in the doorway, her thumb pointing over her shoulder. “I should—”
“No!” I shouted at her at the same time Richard snapped, “Yes.”
“No,” I repeated. “You don’t need to leave, Dev. I just… I’m going to…” I had no clue what I was going to say, where I was going to go, how I was possibly going to escape this epically screwed up situation.
“Delilah—” Richard move in my direction, reaching for me again. I couldn’t let him touch me. If he did, I’d lose all control, and I couldn’t afford that.
“Richard, please. Stop, okay?” I pleaded, moving away once more. “That was… that shouldn’t have happened.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“It’s not!” I cried out, ranking my hands through my disheveled hair. “Jeez! Where the hell are my glasses? I can’t see anything!”
They were suddenly hovering right before my face. I reached up and took them from Richard’s hand, mumbling a quiet, “Thank you,” as I slid them up my nose.
Once I was able to see everything around me clearly, I sucked in a lungful of air, praying that I appeared calmer than I felt. “Look, that was—”
“Exactly what should have happened the moment we discovered we lived right next door to each other,” Richard cut in. The hint of venom laced through his words caused my defenses to rise.
I straightened my shoulders, tilting my chin up. “No, it shouldn’t have. What we had three months ago was a one-night stand, Richard. That means it was only supposed to happen one time.”
Opposites Attract (The Locklaine Boys Book 2) Page 8
