by Sierra Hill
“Mmm…more.” She hadn’t realized she said it out loud until he growled in response.
Remy continued his sensual assault - rubbing, touching, nipping at her neck - all the while never making an attempt to divest her of her clothing or burrow underneath.
She grew frustrated, wanting more – to feel their skin-on-skin contact. His hard body pressed against her soft skin. Kenzie’s hands moved on their own accord, reaching under the hem of his T-shirt, to find the sweet curve of his lower back and his ass. His skin was so hot, so smooth. He felt so good. Their simultaneous groans of satisfaction at the contact told her he felt the same way.
She raked her hands up and down the slide of his back, feeling the muscles tighten and bunch at her touch. On the downward pull, she inched her hands underneath the waistband of his jeans and boxers, rejoicing at the feel of his smooth cheeks against her palms.
With or without clothes, it was the most intense sexual experience of her life, but she still wanted him naked. Up to that point, she’d never felt that level of intensity. She’d never wanted to lose control like she did with Remy. Every movement, every touch, every taste of him was ratcheting up her need, taking her closer to the jump off point.
“That’s it, Kenz,” he rasped, his hips moving in a slow, sensual rhythm above her. “I want to make you come just like this.”
Her body was so close to erupting already from the excruciatingly erotic grinding of his body into hers, but his words had her ready to let go off like a champagne cork. She let out a husky groan of pleasure.
“So close.”
“Ah, fuck, Kenz. Me, too.”
It was then, just as Remy’s hand nudged its way to the waistband of her shorts, that a knock on the door sent their world flying out of orbit.
Remy threw his head back in what appeared to be tortured pain, silently cursing the unwelcomed interruption.
From behind their front door came more pounding. Knock, knock, knock.
“Yo, Rem. You in there? Hey douchebag – open the fucking door!”
Kenzie’s eyes widened, looking at Remy in a plea for him to continue – to silently ignore the interruption – to pretend it wasn’t there. But already the height of their sexual haze was lost with another loud curse from behind the door.
Remy jumped up off the couch, looking back down at where Kenzie lay, her legs still parted, her clothes rumpled and her hair tousled and wild.
“Shit. What time is it? I forgot I invited Nick over. We’re going out tonight to Longhorn’s,” he said, both in apology and slight frustration, offering his hand to help Kenzie up from her supine position. He hesitated before saying anything further, possibly allowing for his own breath to get under control.
Shaking his head slightly, his eyes met Kenzie’s, expressing a plea of regret. “I’m sorry.”
He stepped over Kenzie’s legs and moved toward the front door, seemingly unaffected by their little interlude. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she righted her clothes that were askew and tried to find something to do with her hands, which were now shaking with indignation.
The fuck? What was he sorry for?
Was he sorry that he kissed her in the first place? For getting her so close to orgasm that she was still shaking with need? Or was he sorry that they were interrupted?
As calm as he appeared, their little make-out session sure didn’t seem to have the same intense impact on him as it did her, so maybe he was sorry he ever let it happen in the first place.
Before she could tiptoe her way down the hall to her room, Nick Carver came barreling into the living room, bigger than life, and encircled her in his broad, tattooed arms, spinning her around in a dizzying circle.
“Hey Kenzie, girl. How the hell ya doing?”
If she’d been having difficulty catching her breath before his entrance, she certainly fought for air now as Nick’s arms squeezed her tightly against his chest in a bear hug. The man was a big, friendly beast.
She had been introduced to Nick a few weeks back, one of Remy’s good friends and fellow musician, after one of the gigs he’d played. Remy was consistent with inviting Kenzie out to the local hot spots to listen to other talent and introducing her to musicians, helping to build her network and get involved in the local scene. She had found an easy friendship with Nick, who was a few years older and had a wife and kid on the way.
“Hi, Nick,” she giggled, trying to unpin her arms. “I’m good, but I would be better if you’d put me down so I could breathe.”
He gave her a mischievous smile before dropping her to the floor like a sack of flour. She straightened herself, smiling shyly and averting her eyes from Nick’s, suddenly feeling a tad uncomfortable, hoping he wouldn’t see it written all over her face exactly what she and Remy had been doing before he came along.
Kenzie glanced over at Remy, who was still standing in the kitchen behind the counter, probably trying to hide the effects of said encounter. Nick, for being a big lug of a guy, wasn’t stupid, nor was he a quiet mannered guy. Seeing the look exchanged between Kenzie and Remy, his eyebrows shot up and he cocked his head.
Busted.
“I didn’t interrupt anything just now, did I?” he asked, eying them suspiciously. A shifty smile edged across his broad face, his cheeks puffing up like doughy popovers. “’Cause I can take a hint and head back home to the wifey, ya know, if you two need some, ahem, privacy.”
He plopped himself down on the couch, swinging his booted-feet onto the coffee table. “Although, Amanda’s out at some baby shower thingee tonight and won’t be home for a while. And she gave me a free pass to get drunk tonight.” He looked at Kenzie, waggling his eyebrows and giving her a broad grin.
Kenzie choked out a laugh, hoping he didn’t see the truth etched across her flushed cheeks and waved her hand in dismissal. “Whatever. We were just working on some stuff.”
Nick bent over his legs, picking up the notepad on the coffee table next to his feet and snorted. “I bet you were working on it.”
Remy casually made his way back into the living room, plunking down ceremoniously on the overstuffed ottoman chair across from Nick. Planting his outstretched legs on the table mimicking Nick, Remy grabbed his guitar and began to strum the chords of one of the songs they had melded together that afternoon.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Carver. We’ve been writing all day and came up with some good shit.” He gave Kenzie a head nod, motioning her over to join them in their little pow-wow.
He gave Nick’s boot-clad feet a kick. “Kenzie’s a fucking awesome writing partner, dude. Better than your sorry ass.”
His blue-eyed stare and compliment had Kenzie’s cheeks flushing red, unfamiliar with accepting any sort of adulation about her writing ability, especially from a man she’d just been grinding against not five minutes before.
God, how embarrassing.
How did she ever let that happen? She had been purposely frank about remaining totally plutonic and not getting involved romantically. Yet the moment they were alone together for more than thirty minutes, they were playing tonsil-hockey and trying to get each other’s rocks off.
Perhaps it had something to do with the steamy topics they’d been putting down on paper. The lyrics that poured out all afternoon were riddled with images of unrequited love and longing, sex and lust. Dirty affairs and sweet entanglements.
Yeah, their song writing focus was definitely on the steamy side, which in turn created a lot of heat swirling between them. If it made her horny, it likely had the same effect on Remy.
Nick seemed unfazed by Remy’s comment, shrugging his shoulders at the remark. “It’s all good. Whatever’s going to get you back into writing that shit again, I’m all for it. So hey, Kenzie? You wanna come out and hang with us tonight?”
Kenzie hadn’t given Remy an answer when he’d mentioned his plans earlier and had forgotten all about it until Nick showed up. It was obvious that it was originally intended to be a guy’s only night
out, considering Nick would presumably be staying home most nights, after the baby arrived. She didn’t want to get in the way of their fun night out together.
“Nah, I don’t think so. You guys go out and have fun. I don’t want to be the third wheel.” She glanced over at Remy, who continued to absent-mindedly pluck at his guitar strings. His eyes flew up to meet her gaze, the intensity no less than she’d seen in them earlier. It made her tummy flip-flop and then do a little shimmy and then a how-do-you-do.
Remy looked like he was about to say something, but stopped as Nick responded to her refusal.
“I’m not taking no for an answer, young lady. You’re coming with us tonight. Plus, we might need a DD,” he smirked, swinging his elbow around her neck in a wrestler hold and ruffling the hair on top of her head. “And there’s no way I’m calling Amanda to come pick me up. She’d have my ass if I woke her up in the middle of the night.”
He was referring to his eight-months-pregnant wife, whom Kenzie had only met once before, but really liked. She and Nick seemed to be complete opposites, but Kenzie could tell they shared a deep and true connection.
Still feeling a little uncomfortable about intruding on their night, she looked at Remy again waiting for some signal or acknowledgment that he wanted her to tag along. After all, maybe he regretted what happened and wanted to keep his distance from her after their afternoon together. Maybe he’d really rather have an anonymous hook-up tonight – one that didn’t share the same address.
“I don’t know…”
Remy finally spoke up. “Come on, Kenz…we’ll have fun. I’ll even let you beat me at darts.” The smile he gave her held the right amount of challenge and a whole lot of sexy. How could she resist?
“Fine. Let me get changed. But I’m buying the first round.”
A “whoop whoop” came from Nick that had her laughing as she turned down the hallway toward her room. She wasn’t sure where the night would lead after their make-out session earlier, but she couldn’t fight the unexpected and overwhelming certainty that she wanted more of it, even if it meant leaving the friend-only-territory behind.
Chapter Nine
Longhorn’s was packed. Wall-to-wall rowdy, loud and drunken bar goers were found in every which direction of the stage. Their threesome had been there for several hours and had enjoyed several rounds of beers and shots of whiskey before a table finally opened up; Remy grabbing it before anyone else could take it.
Kenzie and Nick huddled in the corner by the dart board, arguing over their scores and who was truly in the lead. Remy chuckled watching the two of them debate, knowing Nick in his current state of inebriation couldn’t possibly piss standing upright, much less keep track of his score.
Nick could always be called on to be a happy drunk, and his bold and boisterous inside voice would ratchet up several levels when he’d been drinking. He could also be a notorious flirt, which never bothered Remy in the slightest, only because it didn’t affect the women he hooked-up with. Until tonight.
Although Kenzie seemed to be holding her own against Nick’s constant badgering and innuendos, Remy was finding it difficult to keep his jealousy tamped down and under control.
Remy wasn’t possessive, and had no claim over Kenzie, regardless of their little afternoon interlude. But it irritated the hell out of him when he’d catch Nick’s hand find its way down to the curve of Kenzie’s ass. If she found it anything but good natured, she didn’t show it. When Nick’s hand inadvertently landed on her butt, she simply shifted her body away ever-so-nonchalantly, leaving his hand dangling at his side.
He watched her now with renewed interest from his spot at the table, every once in a while catching her eyes, which glittered as she laughed or smiled at something Nick said or did.
Remy could barely keep his eyes off of her. She looked so beautiful, so bright. So goddamned fuckable.
The one constant with Kenzie’s wardrobe was that she always wore a skirt, and that night was no exception. She wore a pink and green plaid mini-skirt, a white ruffled blouse that exposed her neck and shoulders and a pair of cowboy boots. Her long blonde hair that had been in a bun earlier that day, had been shaken loose and was left carelessly flung down her back, the golden hue highlighted by the disco lights of the bar.
She was effortlessly sexy. Her smile was a beam of light cast in the direction of everyone in its path. His eyes grazed across the smooth silky skin of her shoulders, and his thoughts returned to their working session earlier in the day.
The heat that she generated while she sat next to him on the couch was all consuming and almost unbearable. Everything she did sent him off-kilter, even when she asked to borrow his pencil. His head spun from just the simple touch from her fingers when she reached out to grab it from his hand. It sent jolts of electrical currents rippling through his body.
And if that wasn’t enough, the jean shorts she wore displayed the sexiest legs he’d ever set eyes on. The way they’d been sitting on the couch together, their legs inches apart, led to several haphazard brushes against his thigh, the movement sending his dick jerking to attention in his pants.
And when she had to lean over her guitar to mark something on the notepad in front of her, the sight of her breasts straining against her T-shirt was enough to bring him to his knees.
It’s no wonder his patience had finally come to an end as he reached for her and kissed her satiny, pink lips. She’d tasted of spearmint and coffee, a sweet and flavorful bounty. The chemistry was undeniable, electric and so full of intensity it left his hands shaking in response. Make no mistake, it had catapulted them over the line she had insisted they erect, moving them into a foreign territory that he knew would disrupt their current living situation.
Now that he was familiar with the high her body and kiss evoked in him, Remy wasn’t about to turn his back on it. He’d found his drug of choice and would work to get his next fix as soon as possible.
Watching her now, his body felt the vibrating pull of her nearness and her magnetism. As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Kenzie turned her head and smiled – her green eyes gleaming like the Emerald City. Remy smiled back, unable to stop himself, and lifted his beer in an offer. She slapped Nick on the back and began to make her way across the room to the table where he sat.
Kenzie plunked down on the chair next to him, brushing her hair out of her eyes with a loud sigh of relief.
“Oh my God, I need a drink! But I think we should cut off our friend Nick; otherwise he might not see the light of day.” She laughed, her gaze still fixed on Nick, who was now dancing an odd, flailing jig surrounded by other drunken people in the middle of the dance floor.
“What do you want? I’ll get you one,” Remy offered, gripping the table edge to press his chair back slightly, ready to make his way to the bar.
Kenzie shook her head and smirked, grabbing his half-full beer glass instead and putting it to her mouth. He watched entranced as her lips curled around the rim of the glass, her graceful neck and throat exposed as she tipped her head back to drink. Placing the glass back down on the table, she smacked her lips with a satisfying sound, as her tongue flicked out to lick her bottom lip to wipe away any remnants of her drink. Remy’s hands balled tightly in a fist to stop himself from reaching out and taking those sweet lips to his and devouring them.
“Mmm. That was exactly what I needed.”
Shit, he needed more of her.
Remy was at a loss about how to proceed with his gorgeous roommate, friend and now writing partner. Every cell in his body screamed for her touch. He’d wanted her from the moment he saw her, but now he was precariously walking a tight rope, with one end a sure and steady friendship with this smart and beautiful woman, and the other a potential disaster if he proceeded down the road of sex.
Deciding to just bite the bullet and take his chances, damn the consequences, Remy placed his hand on the nape of her long, sleek neck, his fingers slipping through her long soft strands of hair. Pulling her
toward him, his mouth hovered an inch from her ear as he felt her stiffen slightly and then relax into him.
“You seemed to need a lot more earlier today when my mouth was on yours and your body was rubbing hard against mine,” he whispered, causing her to suck in a breath and her chest to heave against his shoulder. “You felt so good underneath me, Kenzie. I want to finish what we started.”
Had her body not been right against his, her nod would have been imperceptible. Not wanting to lose his chance at what she offered, Remy grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her up to a standing position.
“But first, let’s dance.”
Remy yanked her toward the dance floor, politely maneuvering between the dancing bodies. If there were two absolutes about Longhorn’s, it was that the crowd was always rowdy and the music was made for dancing. Loud, foot stomping music and bands that were eager to please. Tonight’s band was an up-tempo quartet, playing heavy drums and guitar-led aggression. They were probably more folk-alternative and indie-soul then country, but the crowd didn’t care. The movements of the throngs of bodies acted like a rocking boat on a tumultuous sea – shifting waves from side-to-side.
Remy stopped and pulled Kenzie to him, feeling how perfectly her soft and petite body fit against his hard, lean mass. The top of her head reached just under his chin. Her wavy hair tickled his nose, and the luscious smell of her peach shampoo sent shock waves down his spine. He breathed her in, the scent of her so intoxicating and erotic that his dick jumped to attention in a hopeful plea of yearning.
“God, Kenz. You smell so good,” he whispered in her ear, his tongue darting out to caress the shell of her ear, as they swayed to the rhythm. He felt her shiver against him. “It makes me want to eat you up.”
Kenzie’s arms clenched tighter around his waist, pressing his erection even further into her belly. She buried her nose into his chest, mumbling something about his cologne and wanting to lick him. He let out a low growl from the bottom of his chest.
