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  “What’s that supposed to mean?” He tightened his hold and pulled me closer still.

  “Mae.”

  “Mae?”

  “Yes, Mae, Mae French. The beautiful, award-winning country singer you dated for a whole year and who you brought here tonight.”

  His brows lifted and his poor swollen eye stretched.

  “Now let me go so you can get back to her,” I said. “She’s probably wondering where you’ve got to.” That had to be the hardest thing I’d ever said in my life. The words practically sliced my tongue as they grated out. Why couldn’t I just tell him I loved him? Why had I let this get so complicated?

  His face creased into a smile.

  “What?” I frowned, shoved again but still went nowhere. “What the hell was is so amusing?” My heart was breaking and he thought it was funny.

  “Carly.”

  “I mean it, Brick. I’m not interested. If you’re back with her then there’s nothing between us.”

  “Carly, listen. I’m not back with her. What you’re saying is all wrong.”

  “What?” I stilled. Wrong?

  His face fell serious. “Sure, we’re friends, she’s a great lady. But there’s nothing romantic going on between us. Hasn’t been for a long time.”

  “But” My mind whirred, trying to process what he had just said. There was nothing romantic between them?

  “Look over your shoulder.” He spun us ninety degrees and I gripped him all the tighter. “Look who she’s dancing with and look how she’s dancing with him.”

  Through the flashing lights and past several other couples, I spotted Mae. She was pressed up against Wolf. She had her head tucked neatly into his neck with her eyes closed. Her palms were spread out on his shoulder blades as if she couldn’t touch enough surface area of him at once.

  “But, I don’t understand, I thought…—”

  “You thought wrong. If you’d just asked you could have saved a lot of nonsense going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

  “I tried. You didn’t return my calls,” I said with a frown.

  We stared at each other. I could see just a hint of his pupil between the swollen lids on his right eye. His mouth was stern, his brows pulled low. Eventually he sighed and said, “I didn’t call back because I was mad at you.”

  “Why?” What did he have to be mad about?

  “You left when I was asleep.”

  “I untied you.”

  “Yeah, sure, one arm.”

  “You looked content enough.”

  “Hell, yeah, but I’d told you I wasn’t finished, that I would be good to go again in ten minutes.”

  “I was tired. I wanted to go to bed.”

  His head dipped so his lips were by my ear. “So you should have fucking slept with me and we could have picked up in the morning where we’d left off. Because I had every intention of returning the favor. Jesus, you were so hot, so…predatory, and quite honestly it was a huge turn-on.” He lowered his mouth to my bare shoulder and his breath washed over me, hot and soft. “I wanted you, Carly,” his tone turned gentler. “So I went along with your game. But I never agreed to waking up alone, trussed up and covered in damn lipstick.”

  I slid my hands up his lapels and rested them on either side of his thick neck.

  He looked into my face. His voice deepened and his eyes softened. “I wanted to do what we’d talked about on the phone. I wanted to feel you naked beneath me, writhing in pleasure as I made you come, over and over, until you could take no more. And then I would have given you more anyway. Made you squirm and squeal so you knew that I was the only one who’d ever make you so hot, so alive.”

  I already knew that. He didn’t have to tell me or prove it. I felt his pulse beat above his stiff white collar. It was as if we were the only people in the room. I could barely even hear the music anymore. “I’m sorry,” I said, desperately wanting to take away the hurt in his face. I pushed up and pressed my lips to his.

  For a second his lips were rigid. As if he wasn’t going to give. Then he kissed me back, softly, sweetly, and my heart dissolved into a puddle of longing. I pressed against him harder, pulled his face to mine and probed his mouth with my tongue. He let out a rumble of approval and flattened his palm into the base of my dress, squeezing me up against his rapidly hardening cock.

  It was as though a ten-ton weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Mae wasn’t back with Brick. She’d been at the game to watch Wolf. She was here with Wolf. Brick wasn’t in love with her. He wanted me. He wanted to make me come over and over and then make me take more. My whole body leaned heavily into his. I just needed a moment to revel in that wonderful new bit of information. Bask in it like I would a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.

  His fingers tickled down my neck, over my shoulder and smoothed into the channel of my back. “Carly,” he murmured into my ear. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Against his chest I nodded. The music had picked up, something fast and pounding, “strawberries and screams” seemed to be the predominant lyric. People bounced around us. Arms waved in the air.

  Brick kept an arm tight around my waist and steered me past Mary and Philip. They were gyrating their pelvises against one another as though they were naked. Mary’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes held the look of a woman planning on cramming ten years of fun into one hedonistic night.

  * * * * *

  “I haven’t got a room,” I said as Brick stabbed the elevator button.

  “Good, that means you’ll have to stay in mine all night.” He held me tighter and my whole body shuddered with desire. I loved this man and I needed him so badly. I’d wanted him inside me for what felt like an eternity and now it was only moments away. No more games, no more plans, just us.

  The elevator arrived and we stepped in. Just as I was wondering if he was going to jump me again like he had at The Waldorf, a big hand slotted between the doors and forced them back with a jolt.

  “Hey, guys,” Ramrod said, getting in.

  Brick stared at him, his mouth set hard.

  “Hey, come on, buddy.” Ramrod slapped him on the back. “No hard feelings, she’s a gorgeous girl, you can’t blame me for trying.”

  Brick huffed. “Yeah, sure.”

  “So are you two turning in for the night?” Ramrod asked with a meaningful look in his eyes.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Want some company?” He looked directly at me and gave a cheeky, hopeful grin. “You might like it, Carly.”

  “Fuck you,” Brick said, squeezing me closer.

  “Just checking,” Ramrod said on a laugh. The elevator door slid open and he half stepped out but then turned, his face serious. “Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to find someone to look at the way you two look at each other,” he said, catching the door with a fist.

  “And how do we look at each other?” I asked, resting a hand on Brick’s wide chest.

  “Like you could do it forever,” he said with a half-smile then released the door. I watched his face disappear from view. “Catch you in the morning, Brick,” he called through the last crack. “Early.”

  “Yep,” Brick said curtly as he stabbed the button for the next floor up.

  We were silent for a moment before Brick hooked his index finger beneath my chin and tilted my face to his.

  I swallowed and looked into his eyes.

  “I’m sensing something passed between you two when he asked if we wanted company,” he said quietly. “Do you want him?”

  “No, god, no, not at all, it’s just…”

  He frowned. “Go on.”

  “He told me about Mae, and when you, when you both, when you all…in Vegas.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “He told you about that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shit, that was never supposed to leave those four walls. Can you imagine what a field day the press would have? You’ve gotta keep that to yourself, Carly.”

  “Of course.” />
  He sighed. There was a dulled look in his eyes.

  “You didn’t have fun?” I sensed there was something he wasn’t telling me.

  “It was a total disaster.”

  “A disaster, why?”

  “Mae and I split up a few weeks afterward. I just couldn’t get my head around it.”

  “Around what?”

  “Watching her with him,” he said in a coarse voice. “It messed with my mind seeing another man buried deep inside my woman, making her come, making her cry out for more.” He stroked his hand down my neck and onto my shoulder. “It could have been anyone, it wasn’t Ramrod’s fault. How could it have been, we’d all been up for it. But afterward, within days, I knew it was over for Mae and me. I couldn’t look at her the same as I did before. I realized that when I’m with a woman I like her all to myself. I don’t do sharing.”

  I dragged in a deep breath. It seemed Mae had hammered the nails into the coffin on her relationship with Brick. For me it was a godsend, it took her out of the equation.

  We reached the room, stepped in and I dropped my purse on a long dressing table with an enormous mirror hanging over it. My hands trembled. My heart fluttered. Anticipation gripped my being like a real physical cloak of need.

  I watched Brick lock the door and walk slowly to me, his handsome face set determinedly.

  “I want to know if I’ve guessed right, Carly,” he murmured onto my lips.

  “About what?” I whispered. Has he guessed how in love with him I am?

  “About whether or not you’re wearing any underwear.”

  Ah, that.

  He lifted the straps of my dress, eased them over my shoulders and slid them down my arms. The dress dropped, revealing my collarbones, my breasts and my stomach.

  Cool air circled my upper body as he pressed his lips to my shoulder. I pulled in a slow, deep breath, wanting to rush but at the same time wanting to savor every second.

  “The no-bra rule, perfect,” he said, tugging the dress lower, over the slight curve of my hips. It fell to the floor with a quiet whoosh and I stood before Brick completely and utterly naked for the first time.

  “I knew you’d gone commando, you little minx.” He slid an arm around my waist, drawing me against his suited body. The steeliness of his cock poked through his pants into my stomach. “But then, why cover up such a delectable body?” He brought his big, hot hands slowly upward, over my waist, my ribs, until he cupped my breasts. “Beautiful,” he said onto my neck as he squeezed and massaged.

  My nipples tightened. A need, a hunger was growing rapidly between my legs. And the fact that my emotions were ballooning with joy was making every sensation all the more exquisite. All the more intense.

  His huge hands skimmed down my narrow hips. “Can we do this my way now?” he asked, looking down into my eyes.

  “Yes,” I said. “Yes, let’s do it your way.” I was so ready to hand myself over to him, completely. Whatever he wanted from me I wanted to give it. I knew it would be good, damn good and I was done with trying to hold back my needs, this is what I needed and I was going to take it.

  His mouth stretched into a smile and he stepped backward. “Follow me,” he said, twisting his fingers with mine.

  I stepped over my dress lying in a heap on the floor at my ankles, kicked off my sandals and followed him.

  He tugged me into the huge marble bathroom, jacked on the shower faucet and began to strip off his own clothes. Within seconds, the double cubicle was a fog of steam and the mirror had clouded over. I slipped my earrings out, rested them on the shelf and let my gaze trail up Brick’s gorgeous naked body. He was so utterly confident in his nakedness, his huge erection stuck forward and the ring glinted temptingly. I salivated. Oh how I want to taste him again.

  His lips tilted into a smile as his gaze lingered on my body. “You look good enough to eat,” he said, sweeping his tongue over his bottom lip. “I might in a minute.”

  “You too.” I giggled and stepped into the cubicle. Piping-hot water rained overhead and spurted from side jets. Instantly it soaked my hair flat and sent rivers sliding down my body. I turned as he stepped in behind me. Suddenly I realized just how desperate I’d been for this moment. He was everything I wanted and more.

  I slid my hands up his wide chest, tickling through his chest hair until I reached his collarbones. I traced them with my fingertips then pressed my lips to the right one. He fastened his arms around me and pulled me close, his erection pressing rigid onto my stomach and my nipples flattening against his chest. Being in his embrace was so utterly perfect. It was where I was meant to be. I stuck out my tongue and dipped into the groove at the bottom of his throat, tasting water but also his musky, male flesh beneath.

  “Turn around,” he said, applying pressure to my shoulders.

  I did as he asked. The scent of lemons swirled with the steam. He swept his slippery hands down my back. Rubbing and circling, easing over my buttocks. They came around my waist. Spread citrus suds up to my breasts where he lingered. Teasing and twirling my nipples to hard points.

  I sighed and rested my back on his chest.

  “You have the best tits ever,” he murmured into my hair. “Seriously, I can’t understand the fuss about big ones. Yours are so responsive, so damn cute.”

  I watched, fascinated as he tweaked and pulled. My nipples got harder and harder and the need in my pelvis turned into an ache—a demanding, desperate ache. I squeezed my legs together, gave my clit some pressure.

  “And this little strip of hair,” he said, sending one hand over my belly into my pubic hair. “It’s so pretty it makes me want to kiss it.”

  “Yes,” I said, suppressing a whimper of desire. “You should definitely do that.”

  A chuckle rumbled up his chest and vibrated into my back. “Don’t you worry, I will.” He moved his fingers farther between my legs and pressed on my clit. His touch was an electric shock and blood rushed to my pussy.

  “Oh god,” I said as my knees turned weak.

  “Open up,” he whispered. “Let me in.” I spread my legs and tipped my face up to the water. I could practically feel my clit swelling, searching him out, pulsating for more of his pressure.

  But I didn’t get any more pressure. Instead he slid his big finger farther into my folds. Squeezing my eyes shut, I dragged in a breath and reached for his corded forearms as one thick finger found my entrance.

  “You feel so hot, Carly,” he murmured. “So soft and so hot.”

  I whimpered a reply, pressing down on him for more. He groaned as his cock rubbed between our wet bodies.

  “I’ve been thinking about this day and night,” he said. “What your pussy’s going to feel like when I touch it with my fingers, my mouth, my cock. When you described it, it nearly made me come right there and then.”

  “Yes.” I sank a little, wanting to feel him push his finger into me more than anything else in the world. “Yes, Brick, please.”

  He pushed in, slowly, as if savoring every tiny section of my internal flesh. I clamped my muscles around him and moaned. The guttural sound filled the shower and hovered in the damp air surrounding us.

  “Ah, fuck, you’re snug, so snug and tight. Lord help me.” He pushed in farther, second knuckle-deep, and his palm caught my excited clit.

  “Please,” I whimpered pathetically. “Please, now.”

  He withdrew his hand. “Yes, now,” he said in a determined voice, practically lifting me from the shower cubicle. “I’ve had it with waiting.” He draped a huge fluffy towel over my shoulders then hastily dried himself off. I stared at his erection. Under the bright lights of the bathroom it looked such a deep red and was so engorged it actually appeared painful.

  He saw me looking and smiled. “Don’t panic,” he said. “We’ll fit perfectly.”

  “I know.” We were perfect in every other way, so why not this one too? I gave my hair a quick rub with the towel and then let him dab me all over to soak up the worst of the
drips.

  He led me back into the room but not over to the bed, to the dressing table where he turned me to the mirror and stood behind me.

  “Bend forward,” he said.

  “But”

  “Bend forward and look in the mirror.” He left me and I saw his reflection reach into his bag. He tucked back in behind me and pressed my shoulders until my elbows were on the dressing table and my nose only inches from the mirror. “It will feel great like this, Carly. I promise you.”

  It would feel great whatever way he wanted to do it. I jiggled my butt and spread my legs, pushed strands of wet hair over my shoulders. My breaths were coming in fast, impatient gasps.

  “Do you know why it will feel great like this?” he asked.

  Oh god. This is no time for conversation.

  “It will feel great because I can really hit your G-spot from this angle, Carly. Caress you deep inside with my ring. You’ll never forget it. It will be the most amazing sensation of your life.”

  I knew it would be. “So just get on with it.” I could smell latex, the condom must be on by now.

  He chuckled. “Patience. I just gotta make sure this is on right—bit trickier than your usual roll down.”

  I looked at his reflection, head bent, concentrating on what he was doing.

  He looked up. Saw me watching. “And the best thing about this.” He grinned and wrapped his hands around my hips. “Is that I can see your face when you orgasm.”

  “And I can see yours too…ah…ah…oh god, Brick.” He’d pushed into me with the head of his cock. So wide, so solid, so hard against my soft flesh, and I could make out the unyielding metal of the ring.

  “Shh, relax, honey. It’s so sweet, so damn sweet to feel you stretch around my dick.”

  I fisted my hands as he drove in a little farther. He was filling me more than I’d ever been filled. He was so much bigger than any man I’d ever been with.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “Remember I told you I’d take it slowly this first push in. So you have time to get used to me. Accommodate me.”

  I looked up into the mirror. His neck was bent, looking down at where we were joining. I could have orgasmed just with the erotic image of him concentrating so hard as he entered me.