by Lori Foster
Merissa already knew exactly how her brother would have reacted to that. “Cannon wanted you to fight back.”
Armie cut a hand through the air. “Cannon wants to defend everyone he cares about. But this wasn’t his fight! Hell, you guys had just lost your dad and he was trying to make things better for your mother, and for you.” He worked his neck, as if trying to ease the tightness. “Your brother didn’t need to take on my bullshit, too. Besides, I never thought it’d be an issue. Until Cannon got into the SBC, I figured I’d be a fry cook or something most of my life, just doing MMA for the fun of it. Nothing public about that.”
“No reason for Lea to ever encounter you again—unless she came looking.” But now he was in the SBC, already making headlines. There would be endorsements, interviews... Did Armie honestly think, after all this time, Mr. Baley was still willing to go after him? The man would have to be insane.
He crossed his arms. “Lea did try to get hold of me again.”
“That bitch!” Merissa gasped.
Armie’s smile twitched.
“What,” she demanded, “is funny about her trying to stir up more trouble?”
“Not a damn thing, and believe me, I wasn’t as nice when I told her to get lost.” He touched one fingertip to the corner of her lips, and his voice went deeper. “But curse words sound funny coming from this soft mouth.”
A rush of heat dipped into her belly and scattered her thoughts. “I...um...don’t curse often.”
“I know.” He dropped his hand and took a step away. “Don’t hate Lea. She was just a pampered kid who wanted to spread those wild oats you mentioned. Unfortunately, her dad is a ruthless prick and he’s never let it go. Over the years he’s sent me subtle reminders that he’s still aware of me, and still waiting for an excuse to shred me.”
“But you have proof!”
“You’ve seen the news, Stretch. Lead stories are all about sensational possibilities, not necessarily facts. Once rape is mentioned, it sticks in people’s minds. They think where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Even if I fought the lies, some would still believe them.”
“But...” He couldn’t be serious. “There’s no ‘if’ to it. You will fight them.”
Appearing curious over her reaction, he said softly, “I shouldn’t have to.”
Suspicions stirred, making her uneasy. “Armie?”
His gaze, suddenly heated, moved over her, head to toes and back again. “Hmm?”
“I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me all this, but...why now?” There had to be a reason that he’d brought it up now.
He smiled at her, his dark eyes scrutinizing her expression. “Because I expected you to be furious.”
The gentleness of his voice stirred the tension coiling inside her. “I am.”
“You misunderstand, Stretch. I expected you to be furious at me, not for me.”
She shook her head. She wanted to comfort him, to reassure him. She wanted to be with him.
His acute interest moved to her chest. “I thought you’d leave—”
“No.” The air between them thickened, and her knees trembled.
“—and be done...”
She snapped out of the daze. “Wanting you?” Suspicions confirmed! “That’s what you mean, isn’t it? You wanted to scare me off.”
He let his silence say it all.
And that made her furious. She got in his space, sharing her anger. “Is that what you want? For me to go?”
Both hands cupped her face, his thumbs brushing her cheeks. “No.” He stared at her mouth. “Not anymore.”
His ever-shifting moods kept her on a dizzying roller-coaster ride of emotion. But this mood, all dark and dreamy, she liked. She leaned in for a kiss.
And he said, “God, how you tempt me. But there’s one more thing we need to talk about first.”
“What?”
He brushed one very light kiss over her lips, then whispered, “The ink on my ass.”
Oh.
Demeanor stern, Armie said, “You want to explain about that?”
Merissa bit her lip and, despite the blush she felt flooding her face, fought a grin.
His brow went up. “You think it’s funny?”
Wow, he sounded so serious. “No?”
“I was in the locker room,” he said with emphasis. “So were Leese and Justice.”
More heat burst into her cheeks. “You didn’t wash it off before you went to the rec center?”
“No, because I left here unaware that you’d played word games on my ass.”
Was he really mad, or playing? She couldn’t tell, and now she was starting to feel guilty. “I thought you’d see it.”
“I don’t make a habit of checking out my own butt.” His touch, oh so tender, tucked back her hair. “Cannon called and I had to rush out of here. Imagine my surprise when I did finally see it—thanks to Leese holding a mirror for me in the shower.”
Picturing that caused a bubble of hilarity that she tried to suppress. This was a new mood for Armie and it left her very confused, too warm, and uncertain. Laughter, she was pretty sure, wouldn’t help the situation. “The, um, the guys pointed it out to you?”
“With a lot of mean mugging, yeah. Being they always have sex on the brain, they made the logical leap into some pretty big assumptions.”
The nervous snicker took her by surprise before she could stop it. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but too late; his eyes had already narrowed. “Sorry,” she whispered with her lips still twitching.
“You know what, Stretch? I don’t think you are.”
Her breath hitched when he traveled his hand down her back, past her waist, to her bottom where he clasped one cheek.
Oh Lord. He didn’t do anything else, just held her. His hand was big enough that he completely enclosed half her behind.
His dark eyes stared into hers. “You put me in an uncomfortable position—and for that, I think you deserve a spanking. Don’t you?”
Seriously, did she still have knees? Didn’t feel like it. Armie was being all macho sexy dominant seducer, and she almost couldn’t take it.
She gulped, snickered again and shook her head. “No?”
“You aren’t sure?”
He looked so incredibly hot in sensual mode; his body angled toward her, his expression warm and intimate, his voice husky. And finally, for the first time, it was all aimed at her.
Unable to speak, Merissa shook her head again.
Slowly leaning in, Armie caught her bottom lip in his teeth, gently teased, nuzzled against her mouth, slicked his tongue past her lips just once, and retreated. “Maybe you need to think about it while I go get my laundry. But make up your mind fast. I’ll only be five minutes.”
* * *
DAMN, SHE LOOKED HOT. Turned on and uncertain but willing. Despite her denials, was this her thing? Armie knew he’d find out. He’d played this game many times with many women, always successfully. Merissa had asked an awful lot of questions about spanking, so secretly, shyly, she might love the idea.
Keeping his smile at bay, he gently squeezed one soft, round cheek. She had a killer body, long and lean, with just the right amount of curves. Now that he’d made up his mind to have her, lust kept his blood singing. If he waited any longer, he’d never be able to keep control.
With that one hand on her ass he brought her into full-body contact, kissed the corner of her mouth and murmured, “Be right back.”
“O...okay.”
Soon as he walked away, the grin came. He knew women, and that small, quavering voice was the sound of excitement. Already he had lethal wood, so hopefully he wouldn’t run into anyone he knew.
Feeling more anticipation than he had in years, he jogged down the steps to the basement, folded the laundry into a basket and was back up to the apartment in the allotted five minutes. Silence greeted him when he stepped inside, but he sensed she hadn’t run off. He locked the door, peeked into the empty kitchen, then headed to the bedro
om.
With her socks gone, wearing only her jeans and the cute T-shirt that showed off her small waist and modest boobs, she sat on the side of his bed. Their gazes locked as soon as he stepped in and kicked the door shut.
He set the laundry on the floor and came to stand in front of her. Before he could say anything, she blurted, “I thought you weren’t particularly into spanking.”
He was into whatever pushed her buttons. Sitting beside her, their hips and shoulders touching, he took her hand and asked, “You don’t think you deserve a few swats?”
Embarrassed heat kept her face flushed, making her blue eyes even brighter. She giggled again, swallowed it down and blinked fast.
Gently, his heart pounding, Armie urged her to her feet and guided her to stand between his knees. Through her shirt and bra, he could see her tightened nipples—an irresistible lure. He cupped her breasts, let his thumbs play over her nipples, and relished her quick breaths.
“Armie?” She nervously licked her lips. “I like you like this.”
Ready to put her over his knee? To be sure, he asked, “This how?”
“All intent and sexy and focused on me.”
“Yeah?” He’d been focused on her for a very long time. Sliding his hands under her shirt, over her silky flesh, then up, he lifted the material. “Raise your arms, honey.”
She did, and he whisked the shirt away, then stared. The ice-blue lace of her bra almost exactly matched the color of her eyes. Breathing deeper, Armie said, “Pretty.” He wondered if the panties were the same and brought his hands around to the snap of her very low-riding jeans. No rush, he told himself, and took the time to look at her flat belly, the noticeable hip bones, the slight indent of her navel. Unable to resist, he leaned forward and took a soft love bite of her flesh.
Her hands sank into his hair, and she said, “Oh.”
He raised his face. “What?”
“I thought your hair would be gelled or something.”
Snorting, he went back to kissing her body. “You think I mess with hair products?”
“It...” Her breath caught when he dipped his tongue into her belly button. “It stands up, all crazy, so I assumed—”
“Grows that way, I guess.” Without her realizing it, he’d opened her jeans and now he teased the zipper down.
“I...um...”
Armie looked into her beautiful eyes. “What?”
“Are we going to have sex?”
Absolutely. But he said, “Let’s talk about that after.”
“After what?”
Without warning he shoved the jeans midway down her thighs, then guided her over his lap.
“Armie!”
Keeping one hand on the small of her back he held her steady and traced his fingers over the matching lace of her itty-bitty panties. He rested his palm flat against her.
And she started snickering again.
Hearing her made him smile, too. “You ready?”
“I thought you didn’t want to hurt me!”
He gave her one firm swat, waited for her gasp and giggles to end, then asked, “Did that hurt?”
She could barely get it said around her jittery laughter, but she nodded hard. “Yes!”
“Fibber.” He gave her another one, slightly harder, on the other cheek.
“Ow!” she said, then started cracking up while trying to scamper away.
Armie kept his hand against her so she couldn’t lurch free, and locked one leg around hers. “We’re not done, so settle down.”
She went still—and kept laughing.
“You think it’s funny?”
She nodded. “Yes, sorry.”
When he lifted his hand, she struggled. “No!” Putting both her hands over her bottom, she gave in to more laughter. “No, it’s not funny. I swear.”
“But you’re still laughing.” He caught both wrists in one hand and exposed her ass again.
“Can’t help it,” she quickly explained. She drew three breaths, blowing each one out slowly, and managed to muffle some of her glee. “I’m sorry I wrote on your butt, Armie. I swear.” Then she burst into another round of insane hilarity.
Armie started to chuckle, too. Clearly, while the idea tantalized her, she wasn’t getting into it. He pushed her jeans the rest of the way off, then pulled her up and flat to her back on the bed. Liking the sight of her there in that sexy underwear, he stood and stripped off his shirt, then shucked off his jeans, leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor.
Her grin fading, Merissa watched him with big fascinated eyes. He didn’t remove his boxers. It’d be safer, for now, to leave them on.
“You’re hard,” she pointed out needlessly.
“That surprises you?” He stretched out over her. Her long hair was now tangled and residual amusement left her eyes sparkling.
“Does it mean you liked swatting me?”
He liked knowing she’d be his tonight. “Did it make you contrite?”
“Yes.” She kept smiling while trying not to and, damn, it charmed him.
“You don’t sound all that sorry, Stretch.”
She bit her lips and blinked those mesmerizing eyes at him. “Was I supposed to moan?”
“Mmm.” He bent to kiss her. “And get wet.”
Her eyes widened. “Well...”
“Yeah?” Interesting. “So maybe I should check.” Watching her, he flattened a hand to her belly and slowly moved it down, over her panties and between her legs. “What do you think? You’re hot.” So damn hot. His voice went rough. “Bet you’re wet, too.”
Her eyes turned all smoky and heavy and her lips parted.
He loved seeing her this way. “You like that?”
“I like you.”
Armie wouldn’t let himself get too pumped over that. Aroused women said all kinds of stuff in bed, some of it true, some of it bullshit. Merissa had wanted this, sex with him, for a while. Now that she was getting her way, she might say anything to keep on track. “What else do you like?”
“Not spanking.”
He grinned with her. “You had that coming.”
“I really am sorry.” She cupped a hand to his jaw. “I honestly thought you’d shower and see it and just...maybe think of me.”
He thought of her all the time, even when he shouldn’t. “It’s permanent marker. How am I supposed to get it off there?”
“Do you have any rubbing alcohol?”
“Should.”
“Then I could use that to remove it.”
Which meant she’d be fiddling around on his ass again—and he’d have to have his pants off. “Only if we’re both naked.”
“Okay.”
That immediate answer shouldn’t have surprised him. Merissa had made her interest more than clear. But for a girl with the giggles, she’d gotten serious real quick.
So many times she’d come on to him, but he’d always had to put her off. No more. “You want to have sex with me, Rissy?”
“Yes.”
Another fast reply. He felt compelled to ask again. “You’re sure?” He didn’t want her to have any regrets.
She pushed against his shoulders and he willingly went to his back. Now she loomed over him, her long hair spilling across his chest and shoulders. “I want you, Armie. You can’t have any doubts at all.”
His dick rejoiced.
His heart tried to join in, too, but he ignored it. One step at a time, he told himself. “We need to come to a few understandings.”
“If you mean more spanking—”
God love the girl, she turned him on. “No. Not unless you want me to.”
She shook her head fast. “Nope.”
He couldn’t hide his smile. “You have a very sweet ass, Rissy.”
“Really?”
“And gorgeous legs.” He put his hands on her waist and eyed her cleavage. “Everything about you is sexy as hell.”
“I’m so glad you think so.” Fretting, she touched the bandage on his head. “You’
re okay?”
“You’re almost naked, talking about sex, stretched out on top of me. I’m better than okay.” He tangled a hand in her hair, drew her down so he could kiss her bruised jaw. “You?”
“I’m fine.”
“How was work today?” Hard to believe he’d just asked that. With any other woman, he’d be zeroed in on getting fucked. But this was Rissy, and she’d been important to him for a very long time.
She shrugged one narrow shoulder and didn’t meet his gaze. “I was antsy at the bank. Dumb as it is, I couldn’t stop thinking that the guys might return.” She released a big sigh. “Thank you for letting me be here with you.”
He needed her to know that she’d be spending the night. “Tomorrow,” he said, “if you wake before me, no more sneaking off. Understand?”
“I’m off tomorrow, so that should be okay. Anything else?”
“Yes.” He moved her to the side of him and came up on one elbow. “I’ve thought about this, about you, a million times. But the reasons I held off so long are still there.” With a hand at the back of her neck, he held her still for a gentle kiss. It was something he savored, being free to kiss Rissy whenever, however, he pleased. He wanted other, deeper, hotter kisses, but he didn’t mind building up to it. “I can take it if anyone attacks my character. I’m braced for it and I’ll deal with it. But I won’t let you get caught up in it.”
She narrowed her eyes, studied him, then said, “You don’t want Cannon to know.”
“I have a feeling your brother already does, but he’s being cagey about it.” Armie had no idea what Cannon was up to, but he wasn’t a mental slacker. He knew Armie better than anyone else, so no way would he think Rissy spent the night, twice, and nothing happened.
She looked momentarily nonplussed, then resigned. “You’re probably right. I never could keep anything from him.”
And everyone knew she had a thing for Armie. Maybe an infatuation, maybe curiosity because of his rep. At the moment Armie didn’t know and didn’t care.
He’d savor her nearness and take the rest day by day.
“What about the other guys? Their wives?” She rubbed her fingers over his bristly jaw. “I’m supposed to lie to them?”
Armie knew he had to be firm on this. “They know you stayed with me because of the bank robbery, but they respect you too much to outright ask you. Let them suppose whatever they want, just don’t confirm anything publicly.”
