“I’m yours,” I sputtered, my skin burning from his palm.
“Of course you are.” He gripped my hip with one hand and knotted his fingers through my hair with the other. “How can you be this sexy?” he asked, his tone pure dominant satisfaction. “How do you make me this hard?”
“It comes naturally,” I whispered.
“I bet it does,” he said. “Like sucking and coming and all those other things you do so well.”
He slapped my ass again and the sound split the air. “Hey,” I said with a slight whine. “That one really hurt.”
“It’s what you get for being so tempting,” he said.
“A spanking?” He was thrusting hard now, stretching me to the limit with every stroke.
“You like it, don’t you? The way I hurt you feels good.”
I couldn’t lie. “Maybe it does,” I said, as he jolted the breath out of me.
“There’s no maybe about it. I know what turns you on.” He slapped me once more, leaving a raw sting that spread over my skin like flames.
I clutched the chair for dear life. “How do you know?”
“Because I know you. I know what my girl needs.”
Damn right, he did. Every thrust and kiss and slap made me hotter and wetter, and pushed me closer to coming again.
“Look at you,” he said. “You’re almost begging for more.”
“Almost? Or definitely?”
Pain and pleasure crashed into one burst of sensation. I couldn’t think or move. All I could do was let him take me, and slap me, and make me his devoted little slave.
“You’re trying to make me come, aren’t you?” he growled. “You want me to lose control.”
“Yes,” I said, panting the words. “That’s what I want.”
“And I’m gonna give it to you,” he said. “All of it. Right now.”
His body tensed and his hands held me in a bruising grip. “Fuck, yes,” he muttered. “You make me come so hard.”
His breathing was rough and erratic. Hand still gripping my hair, he pulled my head back against his shoulder. “God, you’re too much,” he said in my ear. “You feel that? You feel my come inside you?”
I could only moan and whimper in response. He flooded me with such heat that I felt it deep in my belly. He was giving me everything, all of him. It was raw, hard, and X-rated as it got, but underneath was something else. Intimacy, a connection so strong it felt like fate.
He groaned and wrapped both arms tightly around me, pulling me so close I felt myself melt into him. My legs shook underneath me as I rocked back against him, drawing out his orgasm as long as I could.
He gave me one last, possessive thrust. “God, woman,” he said, in a sex-roughened voice. “What a goddess you are.”
I smiled as he nuzzled my neck. “I didn’t know they made goddesses in Texas.”
“They made at least one,” he said. “I have proof.”
Holding me in a rib-crushing hug, he buried his face in my hair. If time had chosen that exact moment to stop, it would have been perfect.
Slowly, Drex turned me toward him and slipped his palms around my face. “Kiss me,” he said. “I won’t let you go to bed until you do.”
I touched my lips softly to his. “Is that good enough?”
“No,” he said.
I kissed him again. “Now?”
“Not even close. I want your tongue. I want you to kiss me like you mean it.”
Obediently, I gave him my tongue. He sucked it into his mouth and savored it, licking it, drawing it between his lips, and giving me his tongue in return. It was deep and hot, the world’s sexiest post-orgasm cuddle.
“All right,” he said, patting me gently on the ass. “Now you can go to bed.”
I gave him a little pout. “By myself?”
“Hell, no,” he said. “Not a chance. No way are you getting rid of me.”
Just as he was zipping his jeans, the buzzer rang. Diesel let out a piercing bark from across the apartment.
Drex frowned. “What the hell?” he said. “It’s the middle of the night. Why didn’t the doorman call up?”
“Good question,” I said, adjusting my dress. The buzzer blasted again. “I guess we should find out who it is.”
Diesel ran up beside him, her ears pointed forward and her chest heaving. “Oh, I know who it is,” Drex said, his eyes glittering. “And I’m fucking furious about it.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Buttoning his shirt, Drex went to the door and looked through the peephole. “Damnit,” he muttered. “How many times do I have to talk to the building manager?”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Drex turned back to me. “It’s my brother, Pierce. He has a friend who works downstairs. He probably let him in. I want the guy fired, tonight.”
“You don’t want to see your brother?”
His mouth ticked. “No. And I definitely don’t want to see him right now.”
“Because it’s late?”
Drex shook his head. “Let’s just say we’re different. But that’s a long, boring story for another time.”
The buzzer rang like a fire alarm. Diesel responded with a spit-spraying series of barks and growls. Her nails scratched the hardwood as she braced to attack the door.
“Go get in your kennel,” Drex said in a testy voice. “Immediately.” She circled him, brushing against his legs and whimpering.
“It doesn’t sound like your brother’s going away,” I said, slipping my sandals on. I smoothed the front of my dress and straightened my bra.
“Fuck,” Drex said. “If I don’t open the door, he’ll just make trouble until he gets thrown out. Last time he woke my neighbors up.”
“Maybe you should let him in and see what he wants.”
Drex ran a hand through his sexily tousled hair. “You sure? He’s one sarcastic bastard when he wants to be.”
“Sarcastic doesn’t scare me.”
Drex gave me a sexy half-smile. “It doesn’t seem like you’re scared of much. Except for Diesel.”
“As I should be. As you should be.”
“You’re probably right, but it’s too late for that.”
He took her by the collar and brought her to her kennel. “This is for your own good,” he said, locking her inside. “Otherwise you might attack my brother because I order you to.”
He went to the front door, muttered under his breath, and turned the knob. Light spilled in from the hallway. He exchanged a few indistinct words with his brother, then stood aside.
A moment later, Pierce strolled into the apartment as if he owned every inch of it. Shrugging out of his leather motorcycle jacket, he tossed it over the nearest chair. He was as tall as Drex, not quite as muscular, with very short dark hair and the smooth walk of a guy who knew exactly how good-looking he was. He wore a white t-shirt, jeans, and beat-up snakeskin cowboy boots like it was black tie.
“You’re not alone,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“No, I’m not,” Drex said. “We just got back into town.”
“That makes three of us. I’m fresh off a twelve-hour flight from – actually, don’t ask.” He looked around as if making sure nothing had changed in his absence. “Miss me?”
“Nope,” Drex said, legs apart and arms crossed. “Not a bit.”
“That’s okay, at least you let me in this time. How’ve you been?”
Drex gaped at him. “You dropped by at three in the morning to ask how I’ve been?”
Pierce frowned. “Gosh, is it that late? Time flies when you’re drinking vodka at 35,000 feet.” Slowly, he swiveled his sharp, black-eyed gaze to me. “And who is this young lady? One of your recent acquisitions, Drex?”
Drex’s fist flexed. “She’s not an acquisition, and her name is Jane. Say hello to her.”
“Hello, Jane,” Pierce said, his voice so sweet it grated. “Nice to meet you. My name is…well, I suspect you know my name.”
“Nice to meet you, too,”
I said. “And you suspect right.”
He smiled with one side of his mouth. “I usually do. I’m pretty perceptive.”
“Really?” Drex said. “Then why didn’t you get the message when I ignored the buzzer?”
“Because I’m perceptive and persistent,” Pierce said, “but not always at the same time.” He clapped Drex on the shoulder. “How about a beverage now that I’m here? One shot of tequila and I’ll be out of your hair. As I remember, you always keep a good bottle of extra añejo in the freezer.”
Drex shook off his brother’s hand. “Tequila, Pierce? Jesus.”
“What? Where I just flew in from, it’s happy hour. I think.”
“You’re in Houston now, and we’re going to bed.”
Pierce gave him a theatrical wince. “Come on, man, I haven’t seen you for a while. How about a little hospitality? One drink and I’m gone. I promise.”
Drex practically tore him apart with a glance. When he looked at me, I nodded. “I give you a shot and you leave,” Drex said. “Clear?”
Pierce smiled innocently at him. “Am I a man of my word, or not?”
“That’s always been the question, hasn’t it?” Drex said, and strode down the hallway toward the kitchen.
As soon as his brother was out of sight, Pierce sat on the sofa and slung his arm across the back. “Who’s the Cujo in the kennel?” he asked.
“A dog your brother rescued,” I said, taking the leather chair across from him.
“At least this one’s got four legs.” He drummed the back of the sofa impatiently with his palm. “So, Jane, huh?”
“You got it.”
“All right, then, tell me. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
I lifted an eyebrow. Pretty damn blunt, wasn’t he? “Well, I can answer one of those questions. Your brother invited me to come.”
“Invited you? You don’t live in Houston?”
“As far as I know, I don’t.”
He gave me a look of exaggerated sympathy. “He just got back from Chimayo, didn’t he? I recall a text to that effect. Don’t tell me you met in that horror show where we were born.”
“As a matter of fact, we did,” I said brightly. “Five days ago, outside a bar called The Dead End.” If Pierce thought he was the only one who could get straight to the point, he was wrong.
“The Dead End, huh?” he said, nodding. “Nice to know Drex hasn’t totally lost his edge.”
“Oh, I can assure you, he hasn’t.”
Pierce studied me in silence for a minute. I studied him right back, a slight smile on my lips. “So, now I know why you’re here,” he said, “but I still don’t know who you are.”
“Does it matter?”
He raised his broad shoulders. “Doesn’t it?”
Hard as I tried to rally my better judgment, my urge to shock him won out. “To tell the truth, I don’t have a clue who I am. Neither does Drex.”
“Sorry?”
“When he found me, I didn’t know where I was or what to do. I was completely broke and starving. Oh – I’d lost my clothes, too.”
“All right,” Pierce said slowly. “This is getting a little hard to follow.”
“Is it, really? You’ve never heard of amnesia?”
“Amnesia. Like, a character in a movie who can’t remember anything? You’re kidding, right?”
I gave him a long, even gaze. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Nope. I gotta say you don’t.”
“Okay,” I said. “Now that I’ve told you who I am, who are you?”
Clearly pleased to be asked, he shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Man-about-town, nomad, rebel with many causes – what did my brother tell you? That I’m a fuck-up? The spitting image of not-so-dear old dad?”
“He said you show up a lot without calling.”
One brow arched. “Charitable. That’s not like Drex.”
“Isn’t it? It’s exactly like the Drex I know.”
Pierce gave me a skeptical squint. “Come now, he must have told you that I’m wasting my potential. How does he phrase it? Once a promising prep-school scholarship student, now an entitled loser involved in shady shit. That sound about right?”
I shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
Pierce propped his boots up on the coffee table and crossed his ankles. “Well, I have to tell you, I didn’t expect to find somebody like you here.”
“What do you mean, somebody like me?”
“I thought Drex had changed how he operated. That’s what he told me, anyway. From now on, no bailing anybody out anymore. Even me.” Pierce pushed out his lower lip in mock disappointment.
“Now you’ve lost me,” I said, shifting uncomfortably in my chair.
“I don’t know much about you, honey, but I know my brother. Ever since he was a little kid he’s always had a soft spot for lost kids and wounded birds. He’s never read a sob story he didn’t want to read again. And again.”
Though I knew I should get up and leave, I felt nailed in place. “I don’t understand.”
“Hey, me neither. The hard luck cases he’s brought home…and it’s not just Fang over there in the kennel. He met one girl who’d been a prostitute and helped her get her degree. Wasn’t that sweet? Another one had a boyfriend who beat the crap out of her and Drex was her safe harbor. Hold on – I’m about to make myself cry here.”
He turned down his mouth corners, then grinned. I gripped the arms of the chair so hard my fingers went numb.
“And that’s not all,” Pierce went on. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about Brooke – his big love, right? Beautiful girl but she can’t tie her shoes. Why should she? She’s got Drex and her rich father to do it for her. Drex even gave her a job she’s not qualified for. Nice guy, huh?”
My cheeks burned. “I’m not sure what this has to do with me.”
Pierce gave me a crooked smile that had probably seduced more girls than he could count. “You take a good hard look at yourself, and tell me, Jane.”
“Tell you what?” Drex asked from the doorway.
Pierce raised his hand in insolent greeting. “Hey, bro. Where’d you go to get my tequila, Pine State Prison where we used to visit Dad?” Leaning toward me, he said in a stage whisper, “He did tell you about our father, didn’t he? A lot of Cougan family history takes place either in bars or behind them.”
“I called reception,” Drex said.
“Uh oh,” Pierce said. “I’m banned for life.”
Drex walked over and handed him a shot glass. “You’re wearing out your welcome faster than usual, and that’s saying something.”
Pierce drained his drink in one swallow. “Drex thinks I can’t mingle in polite company,” he said to me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Too outspoken, I guess. Too honest.”
“Honest?” Drex said. “I didn’t think you knew the meaning of that word.” Lifting his brother’s ankles off the coffee table, Drex dropped his legs to the floor with a loud thud. “Isn’t it time for you to move on?”
Pierce put down the glass and stood up. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for years,” he said, straightening the sleeves of his suit jacket. “I thought you knew that, buddy.”
They glared at each other, an old-school, saloon-fight stare-down that set my heart racing and put my teeth on edge. “All I know is that it’s late,” Drex said. “You remember where the door is.”
“Yup. You’ve thrown me out so often I could find it blind.” He nodded at his brother and then at me. “Enjoy your night, lovebirds. The part of it I haven’t ruined, that is.”
He turned and walked out at a leisurely pace. Drex hardly seemed to breathe until he heard the front door shut.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning to me. “I should have known that would happen.”
I stood up. “It’s okay,” I said. My hands were shaky and I felt weak.
“It’s not okay. What did he say to you?”
“Nothing, really.�
��
Drex gave me a skeptical look. “My brother never says nothing. He always says way too much.”
Maybe that was true, but he’d said something I needed to know.
I wasn’t unique, and I wasn’t special.
I was just another in a long line of projects, somebody Drex could fix and make better. He’d been doing it all his life. It was second nature. That’s why he’d gotten out of his truck a few days ago, and why he’d asked me to stay.
“He’s not the only one who can’t keep his mouth shut,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well…the way I met you…”
Drex’s shoulders sagged. “You told him?”
“I couldn’t help it,” I said. “He pissed me off. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. He has a way of pissing off a lot of people. I know the feeling.”
I shrugged. Drex squinted, and peered into my face. “Is there something else going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“You look like you have something to say.”
I pursed my lips. It was late, and I was so tired I could hardly think. But If I didn’t ask him now, I might never have the courage again.
“Actually, I do,” I said. “Tell me about Brooke.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I rolled my eyes. Fucking Pierce. Everything he touched turned to chaos in under five minutes.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Jane asked in a razor-sharp voice.
It was better than “Is she your fucking girlfriend?” but not much. “Was, three years ago. Now she just works for me.”
“Just? Your brother said you take care of her.”
My heart was a fist in my chest. “Not exactly.”
“Well, maybe you could explain it to me. Exactly.”
How many times, in how many gut-twisting ways, would I have to keep paying Scott back? “She’s the daughter of my biggest investor,” I said. “There was an unspoken quid pro quo when I first started my company. He’d take a chance on me and I’d give his daughter an important position when the business got off the ground.”
“I guess that’s fair. Is she good at it?” Jane asked. She twisted her pretty mouth. “The job, I mean.”
Descended (The Red Blindfold Book 3) Page 11
