by Laura Kaye
Last night, she’d ticked off all the things she was going to order when she won the bet. But the weirdness between them had chased away most of her appetite and now she wasn’t feeling particularly playful either. “I’m not hungry enough for all that,” she said, nodding toward the waitress. “But you should order whatever you want.”
“I’ll take three eggs scrambled with white toast and home fries on the side,” he said.
“You got it,” the waitress said in a chipper voice. And then she was gone and they were alone again. Colton’s gaze flickered from her to the tabletop to the window.
Hello, awkwardness.
How the heck did they get here after the awesomeness of yesterday? Kady was clueless. She sighed in relief when her fruit cup arrived in advance of everything else just because it gave her something to do. When the rest of the food came, they ate in silence.
Beckstein strolled in midway through their meal. He ordered at the counter, then did a double take when he saw them and headed their way.
Kady groaned. Bad enough to have to deal with Colton’s silent treatment. She had no patience for Albert Beckstein right now. And hell, was he going to want to sit with them? She looked at the fork and debated jamming it in her eye.
“This looks cozy,” he said.
Yeah, about as cozy as walking on crushed glass. His powers of perception were astounding. Truly. “And good morning to you, too, Al,” Kady said as civilly as she could.
“So, uh, do you want to sit or something?” Colton asked.
Kady glared at him. He must really not want to talk to her if he wanted Beckstein to join them. For God’s sake.
“Unlike some people, I have work to do. I’m getting takeout.” He glanced over his shoulder to the counter. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to interrupt.”
Refusing to dignify the innuendo, Kady took a big overly crunching bite of her toast.
Colton placed his coffee cup down with a hard clank. “It’s just breakfast between colleagues, Beckstein,” Colton said. “Don’t be an ass.”
And that right there was the highlight of Kady’s day so far and made her marginally less pissed at Colton for the way he was acting.
“Whatever,” Beckstein said, turning on his heel and parking himself at one of the stools at the counter.
Kady’s gaze stretched across the table. Maybe this would finally thaw him.
“Ass,” Colton muttered, then he took a big bite of scrambled eggs and focused on his food again.
Or maybe not. This morning was driving her batshit crazy. She peered up at Colton from under her lashes. The dark circles under his eyes did seem to support that he hadn’t slept. But why?
Beckstein left carrying a big brown paper bag protectively against his chest. He very specifically reminded her of Gollum. Kady sighed.
Colton’s phone buzzed and he fished it out of his pocket, making Kady realize she hadn’t grabbed hers off the charger before they’d left. She’d been too damn distracted by Colton. But now he had something else to concentrate on besides his breakfast companion, and that irritated her even more.
When they were done eating, Kady was done dealing with…whatever this was. She fished a ten-dollar bill out of her wallet, slid it under the edge of her plate, and scooted out of the booth. “I have some work to do,” she said.
Colton gaped up at her, and his gorgeous face just made her more angry. She didn’t want to find him attractive right now because she was pissed at him. So she didn’t give him time to respond before she turned on her heel, called a thank-you to the waitress, and pushed open the plate-glass door.
Please, God, let me not run into Beckstein again.
But as it turned out, she’d prayed for the wrong problem. The minute she laid eyes on the door to their room, she groaned out loud. Colton had the key. Perfect. Some dramatic exit this turned out to be. Maybe George had a spare. She’d made it almost all the way back down to the motel’s office when Colton rounded the corner in front of her. “Key,” he said, holding it up by the plastic tag.
“Yeah,” she said, “I realized.” She made an about-face on the sidewalk and swore she could feel Colton’s gaze boring into the back of her head.
At the door, he paused and looked at her. “Breakfast was supposed to be on me.”
Kady arched a brow. “Really? This is how you want to play this right now? You wanna talk about the bet?” It had been fun and playful and totally a them thing. But that was all over.
Colton stared down at her, his jaw ticking.
“Would you please let me in? I’d really like a shower and then I need to do some work.”
Finally, he relented, and Kady beelined for the bathroom and locked herself in. She dragged out the shower for as long as she possibly could, dread pressing down on her shoulders and making her feel heavy and sluggish. It was going to be a very long day if Colton didn’t snap out of whatever this was.
Soon, she was dressed in her blouse and skirt again, had put a little makeup on her face, and had blown her hair most of the way dry. At least she felt a little more human now.
Hand on the doorknob, Kady bolstered herself to deal with whatever was going on with Colton. She walked into the main room and found him sitting on the nearest corner of the bed, head down, elbows braced on his knees. He held something in his hands. A book, it looked like.
The walls sucked in on Kady and her pulse was an immediate roar in her ears.
Not just any book. Her book. Her absolute favorite erotic story.
…
“Promise me we can talk about this without things getting weird,” Colton said, echoing her words from the day before. He’d spent half the night and all morning debating what the hell he wanted to do—what he should do—and it had left him feeling torn right down the middle. He wanted her, of that he had no doubt. But that didn’t mean he was good for her. By the time she’d woken up this morning, he’d been exhausted and confused and pissed off. He’d just about reached the decision to sit tight and keep his mouth shut when she walked out on him at the diner—and paid for her own breakfast.
Both of those had stung hard and made him realize he was screwing up with her again. Big-time. And the only way to fix it was to lay it all on the line.
“You went through my stuff,” she said, her deer-in-the-headlights gaze slowly shifting to outrage. Her cheeks nearly glowed they were so red.
He shook his head. “I didn’t mean to. I tripped over the strap to your laptop bag last night and it spilled out.” He held the book up between them. “Can you tell me about this, Kady?”
“Um, it’s mine, and that’s pretty much all you need to know,” she said as she reached for it.
Colton yanked it away and rose to his feet. “I know that much—”
“You’re being an ass right now. Give me the book,” she said, marching up to him and planting her hands on her hips.
“I’m not trying to be. I’m trying to talk about something with you. Seriously.” He nailed her with a stare. “Like we did yesterday.”
Her eyes went wide and her whole face frowned. She hugged herself. “Colton, I’m not talking about my sex life with you.”
“Your sex life? So, you do this kind of stuff?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice even and to decide if he was thrilled at the possibility or terrified for her safety. It took so little to make this kind of kink go very wrong.
“What business of yours is it if I do?” she asked. “Let me answer that for you. None.”
The lifelong friend and dominant male personality inside him both disagreed. “This kind of edgeplay can be dangerous—”
“Oh my God,” she said, throwing up her hands. “Listen, Dad, thank you very much for the lecture on safe sex. It’s just maybe possible that sometime in the last eight years of being an adult I’ve learned how to take care of myself.” Her mouth dropped open. “Is this why you’ve been pissy all morning? It is, isn’t it?” She raked her hands into her hair and tugged the length of it into a p
onytail. “Because you don’t approve, or, what? It offends you? God.”
No, she had it all wrong. The irony. “Kady, that’s not—”
“I’m so mad at you right now I can barely see straight,” she said turning away and pacing toward the bathroom. “No matter what I do or don’t do, you don’t get to judge me.” She whirled on him. “And if you tell Tyler about this, I swear I will never talk to you again.”
As if he would. If he could just get a word in edgewise… “Kady—”
“Do you—”
“Kady!” he yelled, needing some way to get her attention, because now he was getting pissed off, too. She seriously thought he’d judge her? That he was some kind of judgmental asshole? He dropped the book to the bed, stalked up to her, and essentiallytrapped her against the closet doors. Heaving a deep breath, he muscled the anger back. That wasn’t going to help anything. Besides, weren’t her worries about his reaction similar to the ones he feared about hers?
Aw, hell.
“I’m not judging you and of course I won’t tell Tyler.” Skepticism filled her gaze. He shook his head and couldn’t help the humorless laugh he chuffed out.
“This isn’t funny,” she said, crossing her arms.
“No, it’s not. It’s serious. I’m trying to be serious.”
“Right. It’s dangerous. Message received.”
Goddamnit, she had a smart mouth on her. So many things he’d like to do to temporarily cure her of that. And now he knew she’d enjoy them, too. “Kady, I just meant—”
She huffed, stoking both the flames of his aggression and his arousal. “I got it.”
He fisted his hands. “No, you fucking don’t, because you won’t stop talking long enough for me to explain myself.”
She blanched. “Well, do it. What do you want to say?”
Here it was. Moment of truth time. Fucking finally. “Three years ago—”
“Colton, I don’t want to talk about ancient—”
He was on her in a flash. One hand over her mouth, the other cradling the back of her head so that he didn’t hurt her when he shoved her against the closet door. He held her there with the weight of his own body, his legs on the outsides of hers effectively boxing her in. “It’s not your turn to talk. Understand?”
Eyes wide, nostrils flaring, Kady searched his eyes and finally nodded. He could almost feel the questions rolling off of her.
“Three years ago,” he said again, arching a brow, “I pulled back from what we started for a couple of reasons. Same reasons why I pulled away again yesterday when I wanted to kiss you. But this book…this book makes me wonder if maybe one of those reasons isn’t as relevant as I originally thought.” He heaved a breath and leaned his forehead against hers, bringing them eye to eye. “The guy in your book? I’m that guy,” he said, putting it in terms he hoped she’d understand.
A shiver ran over her body. Against his chest, her nipples went hard.
Holy hell. Did his declaration just turn her on?
Her pupils were dilating. Right there was his answer. His cock went from hard to downright torture.
“You get what I’m saying?” he asked. A small nod. “I get off on being rough. Because I like and respect you, and because you’re my best friend’s little sister—”
Her brows furrowed.
He pressed his hand more firmly against her mouth and nailed her with a stare. “I get it. After our talk yesterday, that’s not how I see you. But it is how Tyler sees you. How he’ll always see you. Big brothers are genetically programmed to be protective of younger sisters no matter their age. Trust me. I know from firsthand experience. So I’ve backed off because I didn’t want to scare you or offend you with what I want, and I certainly didn’t want to piss Tyler off, either.”
Her fingers pulled softly at the hand covering her mouth, a gentle plea. He removed his hand immediately. “Can I say something now?” she asked quietly.
When had Kady Dresco ever asked for permission to speak around him? But he’d exerted a little dominance over her, and she’d responded with submissiveness. Probably wasn’t even aware she’d done it. A dark satisfaction heated his blood and further hardened his cock. “Go ahead.”
“I’ve never done any of the stuff in that book,” she said, her voice breathy. Colton’s gut dropped to the floor. Had he just read this thing all wrong? “But I want to. I’ve wanted to for a while. It’s just really awkward to ask a man to rough you up during sex. It either leads to them thinking you’re a wack job or it ends up feeling really cheesy.” Her cheeks pinkened as she spoke.
That was because she hadn’t been with a man for whom dominance was in his blood. “Why do you want to?”
“Um.” She ducked her face.
Colton caught her chin in his fingers and forced her to meet his gaze. He was so close to her truth he could almost taste it. “Why?”
She swallowed hard. “Because I, um, can’t…” She shook her head. “It’s the only thing that turns me on.”
Good answer. God, his mind was blown here, but she really did seem to have an interest in the same kinks he enjoyed. Which made her his absolute perfect match. They were like flip sides of the same coin. “I understand that completely,” he said. “Because I’m the same way. But what is it you can’t do? What were you about to say?”
She dropped her gaze.
“Kady,” he said in a stern voice.
Her eyes rose to his. “I can’t come. With a man.”
Colton frowned. “You came with me.” Of that he had no doubt, since he’d had his hands and mouth on her when it had happened both times.
“Yes,” she said, licking her lips.
“So…” Confusion gave way to clarity. “Wait, are you saying I’m the only man—”
“If you crack a joke right now I swear I will knee you in the junk.”
A dark, possessive satisfaction rose up within him. She’d only ever come for him? No other man? He probably shouldn’t like that as much as he did, but he fucking loved it. “No jokes, I promise. Can you come…on your own?” he asked, hearing the arousal coloring his voice.
She nodded. “Why do you want to know this stuff, though?”
Was that hope in her tone?
Time to make a leap of faith—and hope she leaped with him. “I want you, Kady. I’ve wanted you for years. I’ve gotta be honest and tell you, though, that the idea of long-term relationships freaks me out. The disaster of my parents’ marriage has made me gun-shy. But you’re the only person who’s ever made me want to try, and the fact that you like what I like? Every part of me is saying to grab on to you and hold you tight. I know this is sudden, but I can’t help it.”
Her mouth dropped open and her chest rose and fell faster. “Wow. Okay. I think…I can’t…I might be having an out-of-body experience right now. I feel like I have wanted you my entire life, but I always knew you didn’t want me. Hearing you say all this is kinda shaking the ground beneath my feet.”
Colton’s heart thundered in his chest. “In a good way, I hope?”
“In the best way,” she whispered.
“Then it all comes down to this. What do you want, Kady?”
Chapter Six
Kady’s heart was beating so hard and so fast that she was dizzy and breathless. Or maybe that was from Colton covering her mouth with his hand as he slammed her up against the wall. Holy crap, but she’d never gotten so wet so fast in her entire life.
Self-preservation kept trying to say this couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be finding out that the man of her dreams—literally—had finally decided he wanted her and he was ready to follow through and truly give them a chance and he was totally into the same kinky stuff she was. It was like the rarest alignment of the planets happening right when she needed it most.
“You,” she said, answering his question. “I want you. I’ve wanted you since I was old enough to have those kinds of feelings.”
He tilted his hips into her belly, grinding his cock aga
inst her. That her desire turned him on was just a freaking thrill. “The rough sex. You understand that’s not a game for me? It’s not something I turn on and off? It’s just how I am? You understand all that?”
Kady was shaking so hard she suspected the press of Colton’s body against hers was more responsible for holding her upright than her own legs. “Yes, I understand.”
“Anything you don’t want or don’t like?” he asked, his mouth nearly touching hers.
She needed to kiss him so bad. She tipped her mouth to his.
His hand caught her jaw in a steel grip, his fingers pressing into her cheek and neck, the pressure of his thumb forcing her mouth open. “Answer me, Kady. It’s important.”
Thank God, this moment wasn’t the first time she’d ever thought about his question. From so much reading and some occasional porn viewing, Kady felt like she had a pretty good handle on what turned her on and off. “I don’t want to be hit in the face. I don’t want anything that will leave a mark somewhere clothing couldn’t hide.” His lips caressed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, the soft spot in front of her ear. Kady shuddered. “I don’t want anything that could permanently damage my skin.”
“Good, good. Anything else?” he asked, his lips pressed right against her ear. His tongue snaked out to lick and tease her there.
“Not that I know of, but can I say if I don’t like something?”
He reared back and looked her in the eye, his expression serious. “Always. In fact, I have to demand it. Never let yourself be physically harmed or emotionally distressed.”
Kady nodded, reassured by the way he was trying to learn about her and absolutely amazed that this was Colton she was talking to. She’d always known he was bossy and sometimes controlling, but she never would’ve guessed in a million years that this man lay beneath the surface of the one she’d known all these years. Then again, he hadn’t known it about her, either.
“How about…hair pulling?” he asked, his hand sliding into her hair and loosely grabbing a fistful.
The spike in her pulse answered first. “Yes.”
