He should be stronger—the woman was all wrong for him—but he wasn’t. And maybe it was because he was running on empty, or maybe it was those damn tequila shots working their magic. Or the fact that his buddy Brett was dying. Maybe he needed some kind of connection to feel alive.
Hell, it could just be because Donovan James made him weak.
Whatever it was, right now, in this moment, he didn’t care. Besides, when had he ever done the smart thing when it came to this woman?
With a groan he slid his hands into her hair and pulled up until her mouth was right where he wanted it. He slid his lips over hers, and she opened beneath him, her taste and scent filling him.
God, she was so soft and feminine.
Jack kissed her long and hard, his tongue going deep and claiming her as he slid his hand down her back, over the bulky sweatshirt until he settled just above her butt. He held her there, felt his erection swell against her, and then pulled her in harder so that she could feel it too.
Her hands were up his shirt and when she grabbed hold of the hem and practically ripped it off him, he smiled, a dark smile that mirrored the emotions running through him. Because he was about as far away from happy as he could get. In fact, it was a different kind of danger that coursed through him.
Donovan should be scared. She should be very scared.
“You want it rough,” he said, stepping back and tossing his T-shirt. He nailed her with a dark look—liked the wariness that crept into her eyes.
“I want you.”
There was a time when those three words would have brought him to his knees. But right now? They sparked something dark and mean. “Why don’t we call this what it is? You want to fuck.”
Her eyes widened slightly. They wavered, and she lowered her lashes so that he couldn’t see her properly. That pissed him off even more. Yanking her head back, he smiled though it didn’t go anywhere near his eyes. It was hollowed out and empty.
“Do you want to fuck or not?” Why the hell was he doing this?
“Why do you have to be so…so…”
“So what? Crude? Truthful? Isn’t that what sex is between two people who don’t like each other all that much?”
That bottom lip trembled slightly, and he dipped low, dragging his mouth over hers in a brutal kiss that left them both breathing hard. Unsatisfied. Unfulfilled. It wasn’t a kiss meant to seduce. It was a kiss meant to punish.
“You still want this?” he asked, roughly, hands slipping between them into her panties. He slid his finger inside, swearing when he found her slick heat. “Do you want this,” he repeated and it wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“This?” He pressed two fingers inside her folds, while his thumb rolled over her clit. It was swollen with need and she cried out, gyrating against him. He began to work her over with his fingers, stroking until she gasped.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what Donnie?
“I want you,” she managed to say.
He curved his index finger and massaged her, watching as she began to buck against him.
“You don’t want us,” he said through gritted teeth, his thumb rolling over her in quick succession. He was being rough and he knew it.
“I want us.”
“There is no us,” he said, lowering his head so that he could bite her shoulder.
She gasped.
“There will never be an us.” He heard his words and the meaning took hold. With a curse, Jack pushed her away.
“We’re not doing this,” he bit out, shaking his head savagely.
Mouth bruised from his kiss, she whispered. “Why are you so angry?”