On his hands and knees, his beautiful, rugged face full of thick, black stubble was right there. Supple lips, Crayola Blue eyes and Uriel all greeted me.
If all that wasn't enough to grip my spine, he was shirtless. His smooth, sunkissed skin was taut over hard, carefully crafted muscles he worked on most of the week in his home gym. But then he loomed over me, without the rust of a new friendship like it'd been in Austin. Hell, it wasn’t the same from the week before after his niece’s birthday party…
Oh boy. Oh. Boy.
I’d seen him shirtless not too long ago and it didn’t matter at all because his upper body was one of those things that got better every time I saw it.
The first thing I noticed again were the small stainless steel hoops through his perfect, dark nipples. Little nipples on a muscular chest and above a flawlessly ridged six-pack. A six-pack that led to the sweet slabs of v-shaped muscles that disappeared beneath black boxers...that did nothing hide to the massive tent his groin was pitching.
And then I remembered he had his dick pierced.
How the hell I didn’t pass out would be an unsolved mystery. What wasn’t an unsolved mystery was why my mouth went dry. I’m sure that I stopped breathing. Any man or woman would have done the same.
Dex was… better than anything I'd ever seen on print or television. I could even say celestial if he didn't look like he'd work for the devil instead of the good guys. The dark and colorful lines that spanned nearly all of his upper body heightened his hauntingly ethereal beauty. Over the course of the last couple of months, I’d never seen him wearing anything less than jeans and a t-shirt at all times besides our stint in Houston and the other time we slept in bed together.
And in that moment I was thankful it had taken so long for me to see him so up-close. Each of the sleeves I’d seen day in and day out bled up and over his shoulders, traps, and pecs. Only his stomach was left without the thick black, blue, gray, and red ink that painted his skin. Uriel, his tattooed octopus, welcomed me in with his big, beautiful details and classic, striking red flesh.
I dragged my eyes from the sharp colors down to his crotch, and then back up again. I found him watching me with those heavy-lidded bright blue eyes.
“Goddamn.” His voice had taken on a husky tone that sounded like it was more than just sleep dragging it in. "In what fuckin’ universe did I think I could listen to your brother?"
Holy lord.
Apparently, even though I was able to keep from passing out at the glory caging me in, my voice had died a thousand deaths at the perfection that Dex Locke was. So I had to answer him with a shaky, nervous smile.
“Iris.”
Oh dear god.
“I'd never hurt you, baby,” Dex murmured.
Jesus. This was unreal.
I wanted him, which was bad, because I knew that I should walk away and act like a decent lady. Like a lady who had seen her mother crumble under the effects that a biker could have on a heart—on an existence. But the man above me wasn't a quitter. He was loyal and caring, and his protection wrapped me up in a cocoon that was all fire and feeling. I could live without it, sure. I could live without it and be perfectly fine, but...that sounded like hell.
I'd take it, damn it. I'd take this Dex with his awful temper that never made me doubt that he worried and cared though he didn't know how to handle himself most of the time. My body decided to compromise and accept the reality of the tattoos and the focus of the blue eyes that were hooking me in.
Dex watched me caught like a deer in the headlights, unmoving and scared. The lines of his body were my siren’s song, keeping me in his web as he stayed in place so still. His abs, his biceps, his muscular thighs—which I quickly appreciated in a sweeping gaze—all called to me.
He snagged my wrist with one hand, gripping the back of my neck with his other. The heat from his body radiated through my clothes, through the foot of distance between us. It didn’t help that I could smell that distinct Dex scent more closely than ever before.
“Knew the moment I saw you, standin' outside the shop, scared, that you were an innocent little thing. So sweet. So good." He lowered his head to take my chin between his teeth. "You got no idea what it's like for you to give me your trust, Ritz. If I was a good man I'd tell you to find somebody better, somebody that won't lose their shit over an asshole eye fuckin' you."
His tongue traced the oval shape of my chin. "But I'm not a good man, and I'm gonna take everythin' you want to give me and everythin' you don't."
Strike me dead. Dead, dead, dead.
His voice was so gruff and raw, the effect was like having a million Christmas tree lights lit along my nerves. And his words. Holy crap. My brain cells couldn’t even process what he was saying without making me lose my breath.
Dex’s forehead touched mine gently, as if he could sense the emotion bubbling inside of me. “I want it all, baby.”
My breath was shuddered on an exhale, looking up at the rugged beauty of Dex’s perfectly shaped mouth just centimeters away from me. “Why?” I had to remind him.
“Why?” he asked in that milky, warm tone.
“I don't get why you like me. I'm not your type.” Because that was my only defense. I’d never wanted anything, let alone anyone the way I wanted this tattooed, brusque man. But a huge part of me was really worried about why he’d latched onto me.
He chuckled deep. “Fishin' for compliments again?” His warm breath washed over my lips.
"No."
I could feel him smile against me. “'Course not," he murmured, biting my bottom lip. "Where do you want me to start, baby? You wanna know what I like about you besides that sweet ass? And those legs in your little white shorts?”
His lips touched the corner of my mouth in a brush. “You’ve got the prettiest face I’ve ever seen.” His lips skimmed my jawline, his breath was hot but it gave me goosebumps. “And that smile you give me when you’re givin’ me shit? A fuckin’ smile’s the last thing I’d ever give a shit about before I met you.“ There was a high possibility that he tapped the tip of his tongue against my jawline because I may have made some sort of weird noise in response. “But you crack me up like nobody else. I like that the most.” Dex made a noise in his throat. “Maybe."
I was flailing on the inside. Flailing and dying over and over again. I dropped my head back and looked at the headboard. “You’re too much.”
A soft laugh made its way out of his throat. “I kinda think you’re a treasure.”
That was the breaking point.
I didn’t care anymore. He was my boss, my brother's friend, a Widow, an ex-felon, and a man that I'd seen casually with other women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.
I hoped.
What did I have to lose besides continuing to live my life with carefully constructed walls?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I had to hoard all of my guts and resolve together before pressing my lips to his top one. It was a slow mold, easy. Nerves ate at the lining of my stomach anyway as I pulled my mouth just far back enough to kiss his bottom lip in the same way. Two of mine for each one of his.
I did it again. Kissing his first lip, then his bottom. Easy, chaste kisses that Dex waited patiently through. The kinds of kisses he’d probably outgrown in elementary school. I had just licked my lips with every intention of kissing him again when he pursed his in response, kissing me back with that soft puckered mouth. Soft, soft, soft. His mouth touched my top lip then my bottom. One corner of my mouth, then the other.