“You know what I think?” I said, planting my hands on my hips. “I think that you care so much because you’re jealous. Because you want me, just like you wanted me the other day, and you can’t stand the idea of someone else making a play for me. Even though you have no! right! whatsoever! To have any claim on me!”
“Oh, is that so?” Parker’s voice dropped down, getting soft and growling and velvety. Dangerous. I shivered in spite of myself as heat dripped down my spine. He could still turn me on so very easily, even more so now that I’d had sex with him and remembered exactly how good he was at it. “I have a claim on you all right, Em, even if you don’t want to admit it.”
“And what’s that?” I demanded, my voice harsh to hide the way I wanted to shiver.
Parker grabbed me by the hips and yanked me into him. “Nobody can turn you on the way that I do.”
I grabbed onto the front of his shirt, tugging fiercely, glaring up at him. “In your dreams.”
“Tell me, were you tempted by that guy at all, huh? Even though he was your boss?” Parker smirked at me, his finger rubbing slow circles into my hips. “Were you thinking about maybe throwing caution to the wind? Did you enjoy it, even for just a moment?”
“No,” I spat at him.
“What if he hadn’t been your boss, huh?”
“I don’t go in for rich, spoiled brats who wouldn’t know a hard day’s work if it hit them in the face,” I retorted. “Kind of like you.”
Parker laughed. “You’re kind of like a cat yourself, Em. Just like your daughter. But she’s all sweetness, she’s a rambunctious kitten. You’re the real alley cat. You hiss and spit and show your claws.”
I was tempted to hiss and spit at him right now, even as my body betrayed me. “Then you should be careful. I might cut you.”
Parker scoffed. “I’m the only one that can handle you. As if that hoity-toity rich guy could’ve managed to deal with all that you are.”
“You’re a hoity-toity rich guy. Your father owns a castle apparently, remember?”
“But I’m nothing like your boss, am I?”
Dammit. “No, you’re not.”
“For one thing…” Parker’s smirk had returned. “I can actually turn you on.”
As if to prove the point, he darted in and kissed me.
I gasped into his mouth, not expecting it, and Parker’s tongue slid right in, teasing me. My hands moved from fists at his chest to grasp at his shoulders. The kiss was fierce, hungry, demanding. Like he was proving a point. And I didn’t mind at all giving back as good as I got. I pressed closer, kissing him with all the anger and savageness inside of me.
Part of me knew, and acknowledged, that I wasn’t really angry at Parker. I was angry at Nolan for taking up my evening, for being flirtatious and trying to cross professional boundaries. I was angry at his selfishness and how he had made me lose out on time with my daughter. But I couldn’t yell at my boss for any of those things. I had to be polite and gently side-step all of his advances and hope that he got the message.
I could yell at Parker, though. He could take it, and dish it back, too. I could be ferocious. I could scratch like, well, like a cat, and Parker would just push back with that sly smile of his and that stupid, infuriatingly knowing look in his eyes.
Honestly, I didn’t know whether to hit him or fuck him.
Looked like the latter was winning out.
I clawed at Parker, wrapping my arms around him completely, my fingers sliding into the soft hair at the back of his head, cradling it, as he grabbed me even more firmly and started to push me back down the hallway. We were stumbling around blind as we kissed, and it was a damn miracle that we didn’t smack into the wall at some point. We did stumble a little as we reached his bedroom door, groping blindly to get the door open.
Once again, I hardly knew what was happening. I felt like all of my common sense had flown out the window. Yes, I knew, I knew I shouldn’t be doing this. My daughter was sleeping in the other room. I didn’t know how I could even begin to explain this to her. But I couldn’t seem to make myself stop. It was like where Parker’s concerned, I was just addicted.
We kissed frantically, his tongue sliding in and out of my mouth, imitating what his cock will be doing to me soon. I should call this off here, now, but I couldn’t. I wanted him so badly. I felt like I was on fire. Being with Nolan and feeling so frustrated, it was like all of that frustration was now boiling over and this was the only way to get rid of it. To pour it into Parker, who was taking it and absorbing it and turning into this wild, hot lust.
His hands roamed all over me, practically tearing my clothes off. I thought I heard a button pop somewhere. I moaned shamelessly as he closed the door and locked it, his mouth still sealed over mine. Now nobody could interrupt us.
Parker walked me backwards towards the bed, our clothes being ripped off and thrown this way and that as we went. The backs of my knees hit the bedframe and I feel backwards, landing with a gasp, the wind slightly knocked out of me. Parker hovered over me, his hands on either side of my head, his eyes gleaming in the darkness. He was looking at me like he was starving for me, like he was ready to devour me.
I wasn’t about to let him turn this into something tender and sweet, oh no. That wasn’t why we were here. I pushed myself up, latching onto his neck, sucking at the tendons. I wanted to leave a mark, and I scraped my teeth over his skin, tugging, none too gentle. He wasn’t the only one who could be possessive.
Parker growled like an animal, grabbing me firmly by the hair and pushing me back down onto the bed. “Playing with fire, Em,” he warned me, and then he was kissing down my neck, a growl still caught in the back of his throat.
He ground his hips against mine, settling between my legs, and I could feel his hot, heavy cock right up against my soft skin. It smeared precome and I could already imagine it inside of me, getting a heady rush knowing how turned on I had made him. He wanted me, he wanted me so badly he was leaking for it. I had done that. And not even by being particularly sexy, just by arguing with him.
It was sexy as all get out.
I gasped as Parker bit down, then soothed the sting with his tongue. He was definitely marking me up. Nowhere that anyone else could see, I could easily cover these up with clothes, but I’d know they were there. I’d know, and that was what mattered. I shivered uncontrollably as he took his time, his teeth sinking into me again and again. I really did feel like I was being devoured by a wolf.
“Please,” I whispered, hating myself for letting the word slip out.
Parker looked up at me, his green eyes almost aglow. “Yes? Please what?”
His fingers ghosted down my body, sliding in between my legs, drifting along my inner thighs, and then moving back up again. He knew exactly what I was asking for, but he clearly wasn’t going to just give it to me. Not without hearing me beg for it.
I tilted my chin up stubbornly. “Come on and fuck me. Or are you just going to stick to foreplay all night?”
Parker chuckled darkly. “You think that you’re in control here, do you?”
“Yes.” I clearly wasn’t. Parker was the one calling the shots. But I wasn’t going to admit that to him. No way, no how. That would be giving up.
“It’s cute when you try to lie to me.” Parker bent down, his lips brushing against mine for the barest second before he pulled back again. “No, no, I want you to admit that I’m the one you want. Not that asshole. Not anyone else. Just me.”
Fuck. I hated how right he was, how there was only one man—had only ever been one man—that I wanted. The man that I had between my legs right now, kissing me like he owned me, the man who knew my body so well even after so many years apart.
“Go on,” Parker purred, nuzzling my neck. He sounded every inch the alpha male in that moment, full of confidence and possession. “Tell me, Emma. I know it’s the truth. You want me, don’t you? Even if that guy wasn’t your boss, you wouldn’t want him, would you? Just me.”
“Damn it,” I hissed, feeling my face, my whole body, heat up in arousal and embarrassment. “Yes. Yes, it’s just you, I only want you.”
“Good girl,” Parker growled, and oh God, the heat that sent through me was unreal.
Now things were really spiraling out of control.
19
Parker
I felt like I was in the grip of madness.
The jealousy that I felt towards this other guy, towards Emma’s boss, was unreal. I wanted him to know for certain that this woman was off-limits. Not just because she was his employee, although that was definitely bad enough and I didn’t trust a guy who dated his employees. No, not because of that, but because I wanted everyone to know that Emma was mine. She was off-limits for anyone. I wanted to be the only person that she turned to for her sexual needs. The only person that she really wanted.
Emma bit back, clawed me back, kissed me back with just as much savageness as I gave her. She was truly a hissing, spitting cat right now, and I loved it. She had to be restrained with that other guy, didn’t she? Couldn’t show him her true self. As if he’d be able to handle it. I could handle her, though. Even this new Emma with her sharp edges. I could handle her just fine.
It gave me such a thrill to know that I was right, to hear her say it—that I was the only one that made her feel like this, that she was mine and mine alone in this way, just as I was hers. No other woman had ever done this to me. It felt only fair that I was the only man could do this to her.
She wanted it rough, and okay, I could do rough. I slid two fingers inside of her at once, curling them and rubbing my thumb over her clit. Emma cried out in surprise and I chuckled as she clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide, a betrayed look on her face. I wasn’t sure if it was because she hadn’t intended to let me know that was so hot to her, or if it was because she wanted to keep quiet for the sake of Ally—but either way, I felt both amused and triumphant.
For all her scratching—literal (ow) and metaphorical—Emma opened right up to me as I stroked her. She spread her legs wide, gasping, riding down on my hand as I added a third finger. She was so fucking wet. It was so hot I could hardly stand it. Fuck. She still got wet so fucking easily for me. It went right to my head faster than the strongest alcohol.
The sound that Emma made as I slid into her was one that I almost wished I was recording so that I could hear it again and again. My cock jerked inside of her at the sound. It was intoxicating. Fuck. Everything about her was perfection.
“Fuck me,” Emma chanted, under her breath like she wasn’t sure she wanted me to hear. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me…”
Oh, I intended to do just that. She was so fucking tight and hot around me, I was losing my fucking mind. I gripped her hips to steady myself—and her—and thrust into her.
Emma moaned, and I echoed her noise, completely lost in her. I couldn’t have gone slow even if I’d wanted to, but Emma didn’t seem to want that, thank God. She was still yanking at me and tugging at me, urging me to get on with it.
I thrust hard into her, again and again, and if a part of me wanted it to be sweet and slow the way it used to be between us—that part was easily ignored in favor of fucking her deep as I could.
Emma arched up, gasping, rolling her hips into mine over and over, meeting each of my thrusts. I felt absolutely intoxicated with her. Pleasure shot through me again and again like fireworks, never ending, and I had to kiss her to keep the both of us quiet.
I moved my hand up under her thigh, lifting it and securing it around my waist, changing the angle, and Emma sobbed into my mouth in response. I kissed her even more fiercely, my tongue sliding in between her slick, parted lips, tasting her, teasing her. I stroked in and out of her mouth the same way I thrust my cock in and out of her, and that gave me a whole new and different thrill.
The rest of the world didn’t exist. I didn’t even know what goddamn planet I was on. There was only the delicious feel of Emma around me, the sensation of her, hot and soft, the way she bit my lips and pressed her noises into my mouth.
Fuck, I wasn’t going to last much longer. I slid my hand down between us, working her clit, wanting to feel her coming around me. That had always gotten me off like nothing else—that feeling of Emma clenching around me as she orgasmed. As she orgasmed because of me.
I rubbed at her clit and Emma moaned, tightening around me, clenching, her whole body shivering. That’s it, I thought. Good girl, c’mon, come for me.
She’d always enjoyed praise back in the day, a little dirty talk and all that, but I had a feeling she wasn’t going to appreciate that right now. She was still trying to act like she didn’t like me, and I would bet money that if I tried to talk to her like that, she’d get pissed at me and tell me to just shut up and kiss her.
So I swallowed all the things I wanted to say, and I kissed her instead, keeping it all buried in my chest. For all her prickliness, dammit, I still wanted Emma, and I was pretty damn sure my jealousy just there had shown it, but if she didn’t want gentleness then damn it, I could hold that inside. Keep it hidden.
Emma bit my lip hard as she came, her body shivering all over, and she got so tight around me I swore I could see stars. Fuck. I groaned, kissing her frantically, and lost all control, thrusting into her wildly over and over until I spilled inside of her.
Jesus Christ. She was still so fucking sexy. I felt like I’d been kicked in the chest by a horse.
With another, quieter groan, I rolled off her, panting. Emma looked like she was catching her breath too, her eyes dark and wide. Her hair was spread out on the bed behind her, her skin gleaming with sweat.
She was so fucking gorgeous. Holy shit. How had I really gone without her for so long? How had I spent five years without her?
I wanted to leave more than just a few hickeys on her. Although I had done a pretty damn good job of that, judging by the couple of small, darkening marks I could see on her breasts. But I wanted to leave my mark in every part of her, invisible but burning like a brand, so that she would never even think about being with another man again. I wanted her to tell her boss and anyone else that tried to make a move on her that she was taken, thanks. Not because she needed a boyfriend to use to keep perverts away, but because she would be so proud and happy to be with me that she’d tell someone immediately. Just like I’d be so fucking proud and happy to be with her than I’d tell anyone who would listen about her.
As if she’d read my mind, Emma shot straight up, her eyes going wide. “We shouldn’t have done that.”
She sounded horrified. I kind of wanted to protest that, well, hey, the sex had been pretty damn good, there was no reason for her to look like I had led her to the guillotine.
“Emma, we’re two consenting adults…”
Emma shook her head. “No. No, that was a mistake. A mistake that we’re not repeating.”
A bitter part of me supposed that I should feel grateful that we were talking about it this time, instead of the last time we’d fucked, in the hallway, when Emma had just fled from me and then refused to discuss it (or even fucking talk to me at all, which had been fun).
“I’m not like you,” Emma went on. Before I could ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, she added, “I have a daughter to think about.”
Ah. I… I wasn’t sure I could be angry with her for that. But how could she—I wasn’t thinking of this just as a fling. I was serious about her, just as I always had been. But I didn’t think telling her that would be the right thing at the moment. Emma would probably just get even colder feet.
And she did have a point in Ally. Entering a relationship with someone, especially someone she was living with… that had to be a lot for Ally to have to see.
But it hurt. Because if Emma was serious about me, I was sure she’d be more okay with the idea of Ally finding out. If Emma thought this was a mistake and she didn’t want her daughter to know about us, if she was worried about Ally… that meant she wasn’t considering bei
ng serious with me. And that fucking hurt, because—well.
Had she been serious about Ally’s father?
The thought came, unbidden, and I shoved it down. “We can—”
“No.” Emma got up and started to grab her clothes. “We’re roommates, Parker. That’s it. That’s all that we are. And that’s all that we’re ever going to be.”
“You—”
“I’m not looking for a relationship.” Emma threw her clothes back on, apparently uncaring for the mess between her legs. My heart and cock ached equally, seeing all that gorgeous skin hidden underneath clothes again. “I have Ally. She’s my top priority and she’s all that I need, okay?”
Without even waiting for an answer from me, she slipped out the door, closing it behind her. How Emma made closing a door quietly sound as final and emphatic as slamming it, I wasn’t sure, but she really fucking managed it.
And I was left alone.
How had Emma become so prickly, so closed off? So unwilling to even consider the possibility that we could be more than roommates, that this could be the start of something good together? You couldn’t deny the chemistry between us, the sparks that still flew even after all this time.
Was it Ally’s father? Had he been the one to make her like this? I found myself eaten up with jealousy and confusion as I stared at the closed bedroom door. Who had he been? What had he been like? Was he dead, like Emma’s parents? Or had he just up and abandoned them? Had there been some kind of messy divorce?
Five years was a long time. Longer than I had realized until I had seen Ally, a full-grown human being, a four-year-old with a whole damn personality.
It was more than enough time to meet someone, to be with them, and for them to then break your heart. Had that been what’d happened to Emma? Had she gotten her heart broken? Had she been serious about him, and then he hadn’t been serious about her? Or had he been in love with her, too, and fate had gotten in the way?
Roomies with Brother's Best Friend Page 11
