by Ava McKnight
And dripping wet. Oh God was he wet. Making me want to lick the beads of water from every luscious inch of him.
While the desire to drop to my knees and run my tongue along the grooves of his rigid abdomen rose within me, he said in a casual tone, “Hey there, Lace. I borrowed your shower.”
“What the fuck?” was all I managed to choke out, just as tactless as Elan’s Marketing guru had been earlier.
My eyes were glued to Mike’s smooth, wide chest, the well-defined ledge of his pectoral muscles too impressive to look away from, even though the angel on my shoulder shouted, “Uncouth!” and urged me to lift my gaze. Conversely, the little devil on the other one prodded me to take a peek south. I resisted the temptation, despite curiosity burning a hole in my head.
I’d never seen Mike without his clothes on and the image of his expansive and cut chest would forever be ingrained on my brain as it was—I didn’t need to add more fuel to the fire by knowing what crown jewels this man possessed.
In an amused tone, he said, “Babe, you’re gawking.”
Yeah, I knew that. But I’d yet to recover my breath or any semblance of common decency as I took in his solidly built torso and smooth skin. Nor could I stand the suspense a moment longer. I stole a glance downward. His cock was nestled against neatly trimmed black hair.
“Oh.” The word slipped unchecked from my lips as my pulse kicked up a notch or ten. His thick shaft wasn’t erect, but it hadn’t succumbed to the shower shrinkage-factor either. I got a very good idea of how satisfying this sexy man could be to my deprived libido.
No, no. All bad and wrong!
He was a guaranteed heartache, I had no doubt. But he sure got my juices flowing.
As he chuckled at my inability to curb my curiosity, my stomach took a wild tumble and a flickering flame teased my clit, creating a deliciously uncomfortable sensation. While I could have easily given into it, I chose, instead, to be up in arms over his presence in my bathroom. It really shouldn’t be such a big deal, since he popped by every other night or so for dinner and a movie. But he’d always been fully dressed…
“You know, I haven’t got a clue as to where you keep your towels.”
My gaze snapped to his ocean-blue eyes, framed by sooty lashes. He smirked at me, having every right to stand there with a smug expression on his ruggedly handsome face. Good Lord, he was magnificent.
I forced myself to speak. “Seriously? That’s all you have to say for yourself?”
“By the look on your face, I’m guessing I should either apologize for scaring the crap out of you or be embarrassed I’m standing here in the buff.”
“Both would be appropriate and acceptable,” I assured him. “Exactly what are you doing here?”
“Showering,” he repeated, slowly this time, as though I were dense. “I’m having a small plumbing problem next door.”
“So you came to my apartment?”
“Well, I do have a key,” he said in his defense.
“For emergencies,” I shot back, incredulous. The man’s audacity knew no bounds. “That key is for emergency purposes only.You know, like when no one’s seen me for a week and you need to come in here to determine if I’ve choked on takeout chow mein. Or if I’m about to burn the building down because I left the iron on and need you to turn it off. Those are the types of things the key is intended for.”
I was amped up, trying to be irritated with him in lieu of drowning in the sea of erotic thoughts encroaching on my sensibilities.
“Well, this was kind of an urgent situation,” he said, not looking the least bit contrite—or ashamed. “I have to work in the morning and won’t be able to use my shower until tomorrow night.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Just because you’re built like…all that…” I said as I narrowed my eyes on him, “doesn’t mean you can be so incorrigible. And just because you have a key to my apartment doesn’t mean you should feel free to use it.”
As I chewed him out, a large drop of water fell from his earlobe to his broad shoulder. I was back in lust mode in a heartbeat as the wet bead rolled slowly down his chest, coating his small, hard nipple before curling under the ledge of his pecs and continuing its path downward. I adamantly refused to follow the droplet farther. Been there, done that and I’d jump the man’s bones if I nabbed another full-on gander at what he had to offer.
“At the very least,” I huffed, “you could have called me to warn me you were here.”
“I was sort of working off the buddy system,” he told me, his grin a disarming one. “Besides, I wasn’t expecting you home so early.”
“Being naked in my bathroom pushes the boundaries of the buddy system, Mike.”
We’d been friends for three long, increasingly tense years. Had flirted with each other just about every day of those three years. Yet I’d managed to keep my hands off him, despite his best efforts to convince me otherwise. At the moment, however, his bad-to-the-bone grin and hotter-than-hell body had the potential to sway me, especially given the fireworks happening down there and the way my nipples puckered so tight, I could hardly stand the erotic torture. Yes, I wanted him. But I knew better.
Stay strong, girlfriend.
Unfortunately, the gorgeous bad boy currently dripping on my bathmat had assured me long ago he was more than capable of scratching any sexual itch I might have. An offer difficult to refuse, particularly given my heightened state of arousal. But I reminded myself the renowned womanizer standing before me in all his hunky nudity wasn’t the relationship type, which meant he had no place on my to do list. I’d rather be celibate than be played a fool again by his kind, thank you very much.
“Hey,” he said in a mocking voice as I ruminated over how tormenting it was to want someone I couldn’t have. “Mind looking me in the eye when you speak to me, dirty girl?”
My cheeks flamed. Tearing my gaze from his chest, I bent down and opened the cabinet beneath the marble vanity in the dressing room. Yanking a towel from the shelf, I snapped it open and tossed it at him.
“Where are your clothes?” The sooner he covered up, the better. Not that I wouldn’t fantasize about his chiseled-to-perfection body tonight. And the next night. And the night after that…
I groaned. I’d outrun a speeding train since the day I’d met him. Yet in one night, I was this close to whipping off my gown and begging him to take me right then and there.
He said, “I stripped down in the bedroom.”
“Wh-at?” My errant thoughts came to a screeching halt. Then slowly returned to me in a very disturbing manner.
Mike in my bedroom? Where I kept my…bed?
Holy hell.
How would I sleep in there tonight and not think about him peeling off his shirt and pushing his jeans and briefs over his hips to reveal a body worthy of the drool I felt pooling at the corner of my mouth? How would I not think of him sprawled across the large mattress with me, doing crazy-wicked things to my body as I pleaded for more?
“Seriously?” I asked in a breathy voice. “You were in my bedroom?”
It was a wonder I could get the words out, the way my mouth watered at the delicious feast before me and my mind reeled from sudden images of us singeing my sheets as we made wild, passionate love all night long.
“Bring it down a notch,” he said as he rubbed his obsidian-colored hair with the towel. “I wasn’t getting it on with Goldilocks in your bed, baby bear.”
Smartass. Although that particular notion wasn’t what I’d obsessed over, it was good to know. I’d be furious with him if he’d had sex with his latest fling in my bed. Though, if I recalled correctly, he was currently in-between sex goddesses.
A more alarming thought occurred to me. “You didn’t get nosy and open any drawers, did you?”
His grin was downright wicked. “Lacey’s got a goody drawer. Oh man.” He let out a low grunt as he narrowed the gap between us and leaned in close. So close I could feel the heat from his skin and smell a hint of Scotc
h on his breath. “That makes me even hotter for you, babe. And gives me more fantasy material.”
“Please don’t say things like that.”
“Come on,” he said in a voice meant to coax me over to his side. “I’m naked and getting hard just standing this close to you. You don’t think I fantasize about you on a regular basis?”
My pulse shot through the roof. I corralled every ounce of willpower I possessed into keeping my gaze from dropping to his cock to see if he had an erection.
“I’d never given it thought.”
He had the good grace not to call me a liar. The way my cheeks and neck continued to burn, I had no doubt he knew the thought had crossed my mind on numerous occasions. Hell, he’d likely deduced long ago that I fantasized about him on a regular basis.
“Gotta tell you,” he said as his gaze slid over me, “making you come in reality would be so much more exciting than doing it in my head. Ah, the things you demand I do to you when I’m thinking of the two of us together…” He let out a wistful sigh and wagged his brows.
I blocked his words—and his lascivious look—from my mind. I was certain he could make me come with very little effort on his part. Over and over again. I didn’t need any more visuals or stimulants to complicate my situation. I didn’t need him saying anything further to make me wonder what it would feel like to have his hands and mouth on my body. I wondered about those things all the time and they didn’t help my plight.
“Listen here,” I said in an edgy tone as I took a step backward, lifting a hand to warn him off. He was too tempting by far. “I’m not buying what you’re selling, so get your clothes and get out.”
He chuckled again. A sound that oozed through my body like warm honey, filling all the hollow cracks and crevices. Turning me molten inside. Threatening to crumble that fragile wall I’d erected around myself three years ago.
I had to suppress my own wistful—or lustful—sigh. The latter probably being more accurate.
His half-assed grin was a heart-stopper. “Relax, will you?”
Impossible. I could barely breathe and every fiber of my being wanted to get naked with him. But…
“I don’t want to cross any lines here.” Though the devil on my shoulder sure did.
Mike leaned toward me once more and whispered, “You’re wound way too tight, Lace.”
Moving past me, he headed out of the small room. He hadn’t bothered to wrap the towel around his waist. Damn it all to hell, I couldn’t keep my head from whipping around to see if the backside was as awesome as the front. It was. Unable to stop myself, I turned and gave him a pat on the butt. I really wasn’t good at ignoring the devil.
Mike glanced back at me with another crooked brow. “That was patronizing.”
“You deserved it.”
“Hmph. The next time you spank me, you’d better put some meaning behind it.”
My cunt clenched and my nipples tightened. Why oh why did I have to play with fire? I’d laid down the law from the onset of our friendship. Having been burned twice by bad boys like Mike Lucas, I refused to fall into his sexy trap. My heart couldn’t take it. Nor could my damaged ego.
Yet I wasn’t exactly stepping away from the rabbit hole, was I?
I remained rooted where I was as he ducked into my bedroom and dressed. Yes indeed, I’d probably have to camp out on the sofa tonight if I wanted to get any sleep. Otherwise, I’d stare into the darkness and imagine him strutting in, stripping down and climbing into bed with me.
When he returned from my room, his blazing blue gaze eased over me again, from head to toe. He took his time sizing me up, as though enjoying the view. It hardly compared to the one I’d had of him, but he let out a low whistle of appreciation anyway.
“You look sensational, by the way.”
His eyes dropped indiscreetly to my breasts, brazen man who he was. I wouldn’t be surprised if my hard nipples tented the silver satin, given the thin material of the gown and my bra. I didn’t spare a look to confirm my suspicion.
Seemingly reluctant to do so, he pulled his gaze from my ample chest and glanced up at my face. “How’d the shindig go at the Montlimiere?”
I’d forgotten about the crazy night I’d had. He distracted me beyond all belief. “Took a shocking turn no one expected.”
“Interesting.”
“Yes. Now if you’re done here…” I could use a reprieve from his overwhelming presence and all the riotous sensations he evoked.
He didn’t budge. He continued to stand close to me. Too close. I could smell his masculine scent along with a hint of my pomegranate shampoo, which he’d clearly used. I pressed my back against the molding of the archway, shrinking away from him. I also needed the support as my knees knocked together.
Mike didn’t back off, as he typically did when the flirting escalated to an uncomfortable level for me. In fact, he propped a forearm above my head. “You know, Lace,” he said in his deep, intimate tone, all traces of his earlier amusement over our awkward predicament vanishing. “You don’t always have to play the tough girl with me.” His blue irises glowed seductively as they held my gaze. His other hand rested on my hip. He bent his head to mine and my breath caught. “I’d never hurt you.”
“Not intentionally.” My chest rose and fell sharply as my breathing turned shallow. “But I’m all too familiar with your kind, remember?”
His jaw clenched briefly. “Don’t lump me in with Chase and Brandon. When it comes to you, I’m not looking for a quick fuck and an easy escape.”
My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. His words lingered between us, making me want to believe in them. I knew he wasn’t an asshole. We’d been friends from the moment we’d met. I trusted him with the key to my apartment, for God’s sake.
Trusting anyone with my heart, however, was an entirely different matter.
Releasing my lip, I said, “I’m not calling you a schmuck. I’m just not traveling a path outside of friendship with you.”
“And you’re never having sex or a relationship again?”
I stared at him, taken aback. His interrogation was much too personal. Not the subject matter, per se. We’d discussed this before. Many, many times before. It was the way he touched me while he spoke, his thumb skimming over the thin material of my dress where his large and oh so warm hand gripped my hip. It was the way he leaned in, his breath teasing my skin, his lips dangerously close to mine. It was the way he stared deep into my eyes, making it impossible to look away. All of these things caused my heart to hammer in my chest and my pussy to continue to throb with an intensity I’d not felt before.
In fact, it seemed as though a palpable shift had just occurred in the universe. Or at least in my small dressing room. He’d never pushed me this far and I’d never let him. He knew to keep his distance, physically. But even his eyes held a different emotion, one he’d not shared with me before. Curiosity mixed with…the inevitable. Like something profound and inescapable had just clicked in his mind.
I knew better than to ask what he was thinking. Instead, I finally said, “I’m not banning either one eternally. I’m just…taking a break.”
“Long break,” he mused. “Three years?”
“Safer this way.”
“Actually, it’s a damn shame.”
My eyes closed. He had no idea what a shame it was, but such was the bane of my existence.
“I’d give up the women, you know,” he said in a low voice as his hand moved slowly up my side, until the skimming thumb brushed the underside of my breast. Back and forth, it swept across the full swell of lightly covered flesh, making my nipples even tighter. “If you’d just give me the time of day.”
His admission was a shocking one. But it explained the look I’d seen in his eyes, the shifting of tides I’d felt a moment ago as he’d gazed so intently at me.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know if a man like him was capable of keeping his promise. Experience told me no, though I’d never
heard of Mike cheating on his past lovers. He moved on quickly, which was almost the same as being unfaithful in my book. No one held his interest for long. I’d always believed I had because I seemed to be the only single woman in Manhattan who hadn’t succumbed to his sexy grin and sinfully delicious body.
Until tonight. I was doing a piss-poor job walking the walk when it came to not crossing that critical line I’d drawn in the sand years ago.
I should have pushed his hand away. I should have moved from his reach. I should have kicked his ass out. I did none of those things. The physical contact and intimate connection with him was addictive and, admittedly, welcomed.
That realization, and his ability to make my desire climb the charts, caused alarm to skitter through me. Every second I stayed in his web of seduction made it more difficult to untangle myself from the sticky bonds.
Even knowing this, however, I couldn’t rally the strength to shove him away.
He said, “I keep trying to find a woman who will help to get you out of my head, but they all leave me wanting more. They leave me wanting you. That’s why it never lasts. I know you’re scared, so I don’t push. I try to find someone to counteract how I feel about you, but she’s just not out there, Lace.” This was all startling news to me. I’d thought all he’d ever wanted from me was sex. He added, “That’s a fact I’m willing to face, and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to prove I’m serious.”
“Don’t say that,” I whispered as my eyes opened. There wasn’t much protest in my voice. I’d about reached my resistance threshold with this man. And quite clearly, he’d reached the end of his rope as well, making the situation even more difficult.
“Not saying it won’t mean I’m not thinking it.” He paused, seemingly considering how much more to divulge, then added, “Come on, Lace. I know where you stand. But the way you look at me…” He let out a low groan that further stirred my senses. “You can’t hide your attraction to me. It’s always been there, in your eyes. There’s something between us. Something you fight every day. In turn, I try to get you out of my mind, because you insist we can’t be more than friends. But tonight—”
