And it worked. Then his mouth captured hers hard. His tongue tore through her defenses, laving her in a kiss of steamy fire, and anger turned to passion. Her stomach clenched in response, even as her mind warred with the different, startling emotions of anger and desire. He tasted good, and she didn’t want him to. His lips felt soft and sensual against hers, and she hated that even more. And when his kiss gentled and he softly took her lips over and again, she wilted against him like a flower, completely in his control.
He pulled back, his hand massaging her scalp in a way that sent chills down her neck and arms. “Go into my room, baby. The lock code is four, seven, two, nine. Can you do that for me?”
The protest started to erupt before she could quench it, but that was okay, because he did it for her. His mouth slanted across hers, their breaths mingling.
“Can you do that for me?”
She nodded, dazed. He stepped away from her and the room spun, but not from alcohol this time. She walked out of the room without feeling her limbs. She felt like a zombie, or a robot performing the programmed function necessary for the task. She found his door, entered a code on the pad next to it, something that’d escaped her attention before, then entered. The room was dark, very dark, but her eyes adjusted and landed on the dark coverlet of his bed sitting low to the floor.
She went to it, pulled back the cover and got inside. She suddenly felt exhausted. All the energy it’d taken today had sapped her. She pressed her nose into the pillow and sniffed his scent, Brayden’s scent. It made her feel warm and safe. With the heady masculine taste of Brayden on her tongue, her lips, she closed her eyes and fell asleep faster than ever before.
Chapter 11
A stirring of air. The slight compression of a foot on a wood floor. Something woke her up. Vanessa sat up, her back kissing the headboard as her eyes scanned the dark room around her. A figure stood then came for her. A scream erupted in her throat, then choked to a stop as the lamp next her was flicked on.
Her breaths came out in pants. “Brayden.”
The bed dipped as his strong body sat next to her. “Expecting someone else?”
“Hell, no,” she said quickly. “What time is it? Why’d you wake me?”
He looked away, the lamp lighting the half of his profile facing her. Crinkles formed around his eyes and his grim mouth casted his whole visage into a dark countenance.
“I thought you might want to take a shower before we head out.”
An excited flutter shot from between her legs to her chest like a butterfly. His deep voice coupled with the dark atmosphere in the room reminded her that she was on a bed and Brayden was sitting right next to her. What if he kissed her now or she kissed him? Would he come down with her on the bed and show her what other pleasure he was capable of evoking inside her?
“Head out where?” she asked, her voice a croak.
His gaze met hers, and damn if she couldn’t read the look in his eyes. “Don’t worry about that. I packed your things. Take a shower, then we’ll leave.”
He stood and her hand reached out to catch his wrist. His gaze came back to her, something darker in his eyes...or maybe that was just how the light played with his eyes now that he didn’t sit with the lamp near him.
She could have asked so many things. She could have asked about the time or insist he explain where they were going, but none of that mattered to her. All that mattered to her right then was the incredible energy wavering between them, that felt so taut and hard it’d take a chainsaw to break the tether.
So instead of asking any of those things, she tilted her chin up and asked what she really wanted to. “Will you come with me?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, then he shook his head. “I better not. Meet me downstairs when you’re done.”
He left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Vanessa tore the comfort off her and stormed to the shower. “What an asshole.” She flung her clothes off her with agitated movements. How could he be hot one second then distant the next? He was the one who said what they’d done before had changed everything. As she stepped under the spray and did her business, her mind scoured through their previous altercations. Had he changed his mind? Did he just not what her anymore?
Hell, what did it matter? What about what she wanted. She wanted a lot, and all of it involved her and Brayden naked with him buried so deep inside of her she couldn’t remember her own name. She wanted to feel that same white-hot, intense explosion of pleasure he’d given her before while he was pumping his fingers inside her.
“Whoa, get a hold of yourself, honey,” she muttered.
Too late; she couldn’t undo the mental reliving of what they’d shared in his kitchen. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push the images away, but instead, her breasts grew heavy and her sex wet and empty feeling.
“Damn you, Brayden.”
She shut off the shower with her elbow, then grabbed a towel hanging from the rack. Even while mad at him, she couldn’t help but feel a wisp of pleasure that she was probably using his towel. She entered the bedroom, found it empty, and her shoulders sagged. So maybe she’d hoped he’d be naked and lying on the bed waiting for her. But, nope. No way was she going to put her dirty clothes back on, so she walked barefoot with a towel wrapped around at the tops of her breasts to her room. Inside the drawers, she found he hadn’t packed everything. In fact, the only clothes he’d left were skirts, dresses, and a few of her more sexy tops she’d bought. A smile curled her lips at the thought of her flustering the big, bad Brayden. That had to be it, had to be why he’d purposely not packed these clothes.
With a soft laugh, she pulled on a blue-jean mini-skirt and a brown top that bared her shoulders and much of her breasts. This kind of shirt actually made her glad she had small breasts because it meant she didn’t have to wear a bra. The vee of the shirt fell way low to the bottom of her breasts and two strings tied in the middle to sort of ‘hold it all together’. She ran her fingers through her wet hair then checked herself out in the bathroom mirror.
The skirt showed off her legs and the shirt her arms and tits. Good, she hoped he’d drool, because she was wearing this on their little trip tonight. It’s the least he deserved for being a cock tease. A grin split her lips at the thought. Still barefoot, she treaded downstairs and peered into the kitchen and dining room. Empty. Heading right, she found him sitting on the leather couch. His gaze moved to her and she stopped at the doorframe to lean against it, hooking her ankle over the other and resting a hand at her hip.
“All ready,” she announced.
She wished he didn’t sit in the dark. She could barely make out his eyes. She found it difficult enough to read his expression when she could see his eyes, much less when she couldn’t. Goosebumps popped up over her arms then traveled down her legs making her shiver. Had his gaze just traveled over her?
“You shouldn’t wear that.” His deep voice was made for wooing women over the radio or speaking naughty things into a woman’s ears, things that’d make her drop her panties in a second. Vanessa knew she would.
So her clothes did bother him. She couldn’t help but smile. “Why not? It’s all I had left up there. I wasn’t about to shiver my way down here and go through the bag you packed me for a pair of jeans, ya know.”
“Come here.”
Her smile faltered as nerves jumped in her stomach. “What?” Maybe it was the way he’d said it, like an order she must obey, but she suddenly felt naked in front of him.