No Saint (Wild Men 6)

“Buddy brought me there. I watched and was too scared to even call out to you in case you fell.”

“And now I did. Satisfied?”

“God, Ross, I’m only trying to understand you.”

“There’s nothing to understand. You couldn’t if you tried.”

“Really? Try me.” I’m getting worked up now, my neck warm. “Maybe I’m not as stupid as you think.”

“I don’t think... goddammit, woman. Why do you keep twisting my words? You don’t know a thing.”

“Oh, you...”

I stop myself. He’s always making those insulting, arrogant statements when he’s nervous or scared, I realize. Or both. Whatever it is he’s covering up with that T-shirt can’t be pretty.

I’m starting to learn his body language, his tells. What if I went along, instead of resisting, instead of getting mad and upset and falling back into the past? Move on, right? Get over the past. Be the new me.

Change.

Tease him back.

He’s glaring at me, a flush on his cheekbones, but his mouth is set in an uncertain line. He’s waiting for me to... what? Tell him what an asshole he is? Yell at him and then storm off home?

He has to be so used to people abandoning him when he’s been bad.

Such a bunch of weird thoughts going through my head. Still...

“Come on, let me have a little look. Just a peek.” I reach for the hem of his T-shirt and he steps back, blindly. “It won’t hurt.”

“How the fuck would you know?”

“I’ll be gentle.”

“I don’t like gentle.” Now his eyes are uncertain, too. “I don’t—”

“But I want to see. You saw the whole of me. It’s my turn. Is it a tattoo you’re embarrassed about? A naked girl, a mermaid? A pirate? Maybe it’s a man you’ve got inked on your back? A naked sailor? A—”

“God fuck, do you ever shut up?” He’s wild-eyed, panting, looking confused as heck.

“Make me,” I whisper, smiling.

He groans as if my words have snapped the last thread of his self-control, but instead of snarling or hitting me—not that I really expected him to hit me, he never has, not even during his bullying days—he pushes and crushes me against the tree trunk. The folded clothes and his boots fall from my hands, heedlessly scattering on the ground among the weeds.

And then his mouth lands on mine, hard and demanding and angry, kissing the hell out of me.

I gasp in shock and he takes ruthlessly advantage to shove his tongue between my lips and lick the inside of my mouth, drawing broken moans from my throat. My arms find their way around his neck, holding on tight as he molds his long, hard body against mine, lighting up every nerve ending I own, smothering my misgivings. Answering some more questions without speaking a word.

He kisses me until we’re both panting for breath, his hard-on digging painfully into my stomach, my boobs aching where they’re mashed to his chest, my nipples tight. I look up into blue eyes that have gone dark with desire and pain, and my heart gives a single sharp thud.

“Ross...” I’m trying to gather my thoughts, the feel of his strength and arousal leaning into me scattering them. “I just... I wanted...”

“Stay the night, Lu.”

I nod, bite into my lower lip, hoping the sting will wake me from the daze his kiss has put me into.

“Let’s go to the house. It’s getting dark.”

I sigh when he draws away, his warmth leaving me, and collects his stuff from the ground. I walk beside him, and when he reaches for my hand, I slip my fingers into his, finally working out what I wanted to say as the house appears among the trees.