It sure beat the hell out of sitting around in the cabin, wanting to crawl out of my skin. “Sounds good. We’ll be there.”
Liam looked at Sabrina for her agreement as well. She nodded. “See you then.”
“I’ll call Bells. She’ll be thrilled.” On his way out the door, he stopped beside me. “Don’t worry about work. You held the fort down for months when I was training for the Olympics last year. It’s my turn to do the same.”
“Thanks, man.”
“See you guys later,” he said, stepping out and flashing me a knowing look as he smoothly shut the door behind him.
“Seriously, Alex!” Sabrina burst out, pinning me with a heated glare. “Ten minutes! You only gave me ten minutes of peace!”
A low rumble moved through my chest, making me sound like warning thunder before a storm. I stalked forward, moving with purpose and intent. Her cheeks were flushed with anger and her eyes bright with annoyance. As I moved, so did she. For every step I took toward her, she took one away.
I grinned, feeling wolfish and predatory. Her hesitation only made my perusal sweeter. When her back came up against the large window, her eyes rounded because there was nowhere else to go. I saw the idea form before she moved, reaching out a hand to stop her from stepping off to the side.
“Alex,” she said, breathless.
I took the paper cup out of her hand and set it behind us on Liam’s desk, feeling her nervous stare the entire time. My eyes bounced between hers for one brief moment before I surged forward and took her lips.
Sabrina
I melted against the glass like it was a flame and not at all the cold, unforgiving surface it really was. Suddenly, the only sensation that existed was the feel off his full, seductive mouth grinding against mine. Like a floodgate being forced open, desire I thought I’d felt the last of barreled out, saturating every single cell within my body.
His hands smoothed over my hips, then glided around to hold the small of my back, pulling so I would arch into him as he hunched in to surround me even farther.
God. I missed this. Him.
The thought penetrated the thick haze swallowing me, enough to make me pull back just slightly. Alex’s mouth followed, but I turned my cheek and whispered his name.
We can’t do this. We—
The tip of his nose brushed up the side of my jaw, his lips connecting with my skin.
“Shut up and kiss me, kitten,” he rasped.
And then we were kissing again. The way he owned my mouth took over all reason, and my knees buckled when his thick, capable tongue swept into my mouth.
I purred, living up to my nickname, and Alex gripped my waist, lifting me up his body. Instinctively, my legs wound around his waist, and he settled more firmly against me.
This man didn’t just kiss. He licked and stroked; he sucked and nibbled. He took everything inside me and bent it to his will until I was simply putty in his hands, living and dying for the next brush of his mouth.
My fingertips dug into his dense shoulders, clinging to him as if he might let me go. We kissed until my lungs absolutely burned for a breath of air. Finally, when my body forced me to, I unlatched our mouths and gasped, my head falling back against the glass.
Alex didn’t seem to need to breathe, instead latching onto my neck, licking and sucking deeply. I moaned and arched back farther, exposing my skin for his taking.
One of his hands slid up the side of my body, brushed back my hair, and then gripped the back of my head, holding me motionless while he continued to assault the delicate flesh beneath my ear.
My center throbbed and ached, making my thighs clench tighter around his body. A deep sound vibrated his chest, and I answered the call, lowering my head so our lips could lock together once more.
The phone on Liam’s desk went rang a few times, but neither of us lifted our heads. When it went off again a moment later, Alex pulled back just slightly, but not enough to break the hold he had on any part of me.
My chest heaved, and the rest of my body felt feverish. My fingers had long since stopped gripping his shoulders and rested on either side of his neck.
I enjoyed the way his muscles bunched and moved when he eased back even more. Before pulling completely away, Alex came back, pressing a final lingering kiss directly on my lips as if he wanted to seal in the savage way he’d just gone at me.
I collapsed against the window, my body completely boneless, my legs still around him but trembling with effort. The pad of his thumb dragged along the underside of my lower lip, and I watched through hazy eyes as he stuck it into his mouth and sucked.
The look in his startling blue eyes was still predatory, hungry, and held a scary yet delicious promise that he wasn’t done with me yet. “I like the way you taste, kitten.”
I swallowed thickly, unable to formulate any kind of response.
His dark brow arched, and amusement sparked deep in his unusual eyes. “Is that all I got to do to get you to shut up? Kiss you?”
Oh no. That was no kiss. That was a total attack on my senses, a complete reprogramming of my body. A simple kiss wouldn’t have stopped me from flinging back a blistering retort.
I pushed at his shoulder, telling him it was time to put me down. It was embarrassing just how easily I’d succumbed to him.
“One more thing.” He spoke softly. “Don’t even think about finding some ski loser around here to make out with.” He caressed the top of my cheekbone with the backs of his fingers. “Because there isn’t anyone on this earth who will ever kiss you like I do.”
He slid me down his body, setting me back on my own two feet. My legs were shaking. Hell, my entire body trembled. He seemed completely in control (the big jerk) but kept a steadying hand on my hip while reaching behind him for the coffee I’d completely forgotten about.
His eyes met and held mine as he lifted the paper cup and took a sip. How anyone could make taking a sip of coffee erotic I would never understand. “Not bad,” he mused after he swallowed.
Alex was completely amused at the way he’d wrecked me, completely arrogant about it, too. It was that arrogance that managed to blow away most of the fog I was lost in.
“If you want a coffee, go get your own,” I snipped.
He chuckled, the sound coating me like sticky, sweet honey. “Oh, kitten. I don’t want a coffee. I just want you to have to put your lips exactly where mine just were every time you take a sip.”
I stared at his broad back, completely dumbfounded again as he strolled away, looking mighty proud of himself.
At the door, he glanced over his shoulder. “C’mon. I’ll show you around before dinner.”
I snapped out of the trance he’d put me in. I went forward, angry about the moment we just shared, angry that it was so easy for him to brush off. It was a good reminder for me not to get caught up in him.
“Don’t touch me again,” I told him, skirting around his body on my way out the door.
His velvet laugh echoed behind me. “Drink your coffee, Sabrina.”
Damn him.
Alex
I was a damn fool.
Kissing her had not satiated any kind of craving I had for the woman sleeping on my couch. Instead, that damnable kiss has done the complete opposite.
I hungered for Sabrina in a way I never had before. I’d wanted her three years ago, but since that kiss in Liam’s office, I could barely think straight.
I showed her around the resort like I said I would, but damn if I remembered most of it. Her scent lingered beneath my nose, her taste on my tongue. Even my hands echoed with the memory of what it felt like to finally touch her.
I’d even traipsed around behind her like a puppy while she shopped for shit she said she needed.
What I needed was her under me and her bare thighs wrapped around my—
“I’m ready.” Her voice cut into the fantasy I’d had probably a thousand times since earlier in the day.
I didn’t turn from the window right aw
ay. Instead, I willed my hardening dick to chill the fuck out.
“Hel-loo?” she sang when I didn’t turn around immediately.
I spun, ready to say something I knew would piss her off, but the second my eyes landed on her, any words died on my lips.
She was dressed in a pair of jeans that hugged her body like a glove. One of the knees was ripped, exposing a small patch of skin that made my mouth run dry. Her wine-colored sweater was loose and fell off one shoulder, exposing yet even more golden-toned skin. Dark hair fell over her shoulders and down her back like a glistening waterfall begging for my touch. When she moved, a strand of it fell forward, stroking over her exposed collarbone with the movement.
I was staring, and she noticed, glancing down at her clothes and the tall brown boots on her feet. “Is something wrong?” she asked self-consciously. “I guess I went a little ham in the shops today. It’s nice to actually be somewhere I can dress for fall…”
My God, she was fucking sexy.
“Are you still a virgin?” I demanded, pissed off.
Her hands fell to her sides and her cheeks flushed. “What?!”
“Are you?” I pressed.
“That is none of your business.” She moved across the room toward the kitchen.
“That would be a no,” I said, sour.
She stopped, her shoulders stiffening. When she turned back, her hair floated around her. “What does it even matter, Alex?”
“How many have there been?” I asked, not bothering to acknowledge her question.
She laughed and started to turn away.
I lunged forward and grabbed her wrist, pulling her around. “How many?”
She yanked her arm free. “How many women have you been with?”
I blanched. “That doesn’t matter.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t care about any of them.”
She made a sound. “But you slept with them anyway? That’s just great, Alex. So upstanding.”
“I’m not an upstanding guy.”
She snorted. “You got that right.”
I gave her a shake. “Sabrina. Answer me.”
She lifted her chin. “Tell me why you want to know.”
“Because I’m going out of my mind thinking about how many men have touched you because I walked away.” I could have been her first. Her only.
Her eyes lifted, old pain shining through. “You just left.”
“Sabrina…” I made a sound and reached for her, but she pulled back, denying us both.
“Two,” she answered.
“Two?”
“Happy now?” she snapped and quickly put distance between us.
No. I wasn’t happy now. But I was relieved there hadn’t been more.
“Are we going to dinner or what?” she asked, her tone distant and hard.
I was a complete ass for forcing the answer out of her. I couldn’t help it. Kissing her before and seeing her dressed like this now… Jealousy and desire warred beneath my skin, making me irrational and explosive.
“Yeah,” I replied, grabbing my keys. “Let’s go.”
She was quiet the whole way to The Tavern. Yeah, it was a short trip, but the silence between us felt as if it lasted forever. The interior of the Hummer was dark, but it didn’t stop me from glancing at her every few seconds as I searched for the right words.
I parked right beside Liam’s orange Chevy Xtreme and shut off the engine.
“That’s a really nice truck. I’ve never seen one like that before,” she said, gazing out the window.
“It’s Liam’s. Thailand gave it to him.”
“Like the country?” she asked, dubious.
I laughed. “Yep, the country.”
“Wow,” she mused, still staring at it.
“Perks of being an Olympic god.”
“I never understood that.”
I shut off the engine and turned in my seat toward her. “What?”
In the darkness, her body rotated toward mine. My stomach fluttered a little with her movement. I didn’t know if it was the dark and the fact that it created a sense of intimacy or if I was just relieved that she was talking to me again.
Regardless, she was the only woman who ever had the power to make my stomach flutter.
“You know, that these big athletes get so much money and prestige and outrageous gifts just handed to them. It’s like you said. Their ability to throw a ball or ride a snowboard somehow makes them a god.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You don’t think it does?”
She shook her head. I could see the way her eyes shined even in the dark. I felt the passion beneath the words even before she spoke. “I think there are people in this world who do things a lot more important, a lot more life-altering, and never get any recognition at all. They put their life on the line every single day and go places even these godlike athletes wouldn’t dare, but no one will ever know.”
“People like your brother?”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded. “People like you, too,” she added quietly.
The center of my chest ached a little. “The stuff I’ve done is too gritty for most to ever consider it a good deed or to ever be cheered for like sports.”
“Maybe. But it should still be acknowledged.”
The way she was looking at me just then… like I was a hero or that I deserved a medal or something, it would have made me hard—hell, I would be eating it up—if it was true.
“I’m no hero,” I deadpanned and left the Hummer. When she didn’t get out, I went around and opened the passenger door.
Sabrina turned, facing me, hair falling around her face and a soft look in her eyes. “You’re too hard on yourself.”
I felt the bite of ice inside me. “If you knew the shit I’ve done, you wouldn’t say that.”
“You’re right. I don’t know, but I do know you’re a good guy, Alex, and whatever you’ve done, you did it all because you had no choice.”
And just like that, I was reminded why I wasn’t Sabrina’s first and why letting anything more happen between us would be wrong.
I reached into the cab and lifted, depositing her on the pavement, then slammed the door. I glanced back, trying not to notice how small she looked next to my monster ride and how the confusion she was feeling scrunched up her nose.
“C’mon,” I said, gruff. “Liam and Bellamy are waiting.” I started ahead, but when I didn’t feel her follow, I stopped and glanced back.
“What did I say?” she asked, still in the same spot, watching me.
“Nothing.”
She scoffed and folded her arms across her chest, glaring. That damn sweater dipped a little lower, exposing more of her shoulder, and a cool autumn breeze kicked up, blowing the hair back from her face.
I stomped forward, knowing my eyes flashed with the anger I felt. She didn’t move. She didn’t even flinch.
I leaned down so I could stare coldly into her eyes. “I’m not a good guy. I’ve killed people. Lots of people. Remember that.”
Our stares warred for long moments before she drew in a breath. I expected her to say something sassy, to let me have it for being a dick.
The second she expelled her breath, her eyes softened. When she reached up, I was the one who flinched. I recovered quickly, realizing she was going to touch me. An unsolicited touch that I suddenly wanted so fucking bad, despite the ugly words I’d just hurled to push her away.
Most girls probably would have let it go, but not Sabrina. Her hand hovered, waiting until I calmed, and then she laid her palm against my cheek. “Maybe you could do with a little forgetting.”
My eyes closed for a fraction of a second. “That’s not really an option.”
“Hey, Alex?”
“Yeah?”
Her lips curled upward, the smile putting a little twinkle in her eyes. “I like your Hummer better. Yellow is so much better than orange.”
A weight I didn’t even kno
w I had over me lifted, and I laughed. Casually, I draped an arm across her shoulders and led her toward the building. “Better not tell Liam that. His truck is almost as famous as he is around here.”
“It will be our secret.” She promised.
Just before I opened the door to usher her inside, I dropped my arm and faced her. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific because you have a lot of things to be sorry for.”
I scowled. “I do not.”
She gave me a yeah right look.
I sighed. “I mean about asking about your personal life. Technically, it’s not my business.”
“Technically?” She scoffed. “Try not at all.”
I stepped closer and dropped my voice. “I think we both know it’s my business, whether we want it to be or not.”
The soft openness of her gaze shuttered a bit. I hated that look. And right now, I had no clue why I was getting it. “That’s exactly why it is not your business. Because you don’t want it to be.”
Sabrina planted her hand on my chest and shoved, then stepped ahead into The Tavern without a single glance back.
Sabrina
I needed a drink. A stiff one.
Thank goodness we were at a bar. I left Alex in the dust and beelined inside, barely taking in the relaxed cabin feel of the interior. The air was scented with pizza, and my stomach grumbled appreciatively. The place was pretty busy, and I recalled that Alex said it was a popular spot, not just for the guests here, but for the locals.
The giant old-fashioned stained-glass light fixture centered over the bar drew my eye, and I nearly collided with a barstool right in front of me.
“Whoa there,” a deep voice said as a hand reached out to stop me.
“Crap,” I muttered, jerking to a stop. A sexy chuckle off to my side made me look up and flush instantly. “I think you might have prevented a collision.”
The man smiled, his white teeth flashing from beneath his dark beard. A lot of the guys up here had beards. Must be the cold.
Except Alex. Alex didn’t have a beard… Hell, when I knew him three years ago, he didn’t have any hair either. He did now, though. A whole dark head full of it. Sometimes I caught myself wondering what it would feel like to bury my hands in the thick mass of curls he kept super short on the sides but full on top.
Subzero (BearPaw Resort Book 4) Page 9
