Layer by Layer (Riggings Brothers 1)

“Kiss me.”

Fucking finally! “My pleasure.” Moving in closer, I can feel her breath as it brushes across my face. Making eye contact, I give her the chance to take it back. I wait for one, two, three heartbeats before pressing my lips to hers. Soft. So fucking soft and sweeter than anything I’ve ever tasted. Moving my hand from her face, I brace myself on the bed and hover over her, and our bodies are now aligned without ever breaking the kiss.

When a soft moan filters from her lips, I swallow it down. I could do this for hours. I’ve never reveled in the act of just kissing a woman. Not because it was going to lead to sex, but because I felt like I couldn’t breathe without doing so.

Her hands grip my shirt, and I’m cursing the fact that it’s in our way. I need to be closer to her, to feel the soft press of her body against mine. I settle for deepening the kiss. She meets me stroke for stroke as our tongues taste one another for the first time.

“Off,” she mumbles against my lip while pulling at my shirt. “Take it off,” she insists, sliding her hands under the hem. She rakes them over my abs, and I feel her touch everywhere. My cock that’s already more than on board with the direction of our night twitches against the zipper in my cargo shorts.

I refuse to stop kissing her. Her lips against mine is the equivalent to taking what feels like my first deep breath in months. Years. Ever. When she gets the shirt to my neck, I brace all of my weight on one arm, letting her pull it out, and repeat the process with the other. The seconds our lips are separated induces panic inside me like I’ve never known.

I need her.

I crave her.

With my shirt out of the way, she places her hands on my cheeks and pulls me back to her. This time she takes control, and I’m willing to concede happily as long as she doesn’t stop kissing me. She nibbles on my bottom lip before soothing the ache with her tongue and forging her mouth to mine yet again.

Heaven.

“More” is her breathy plea.

“Sawyer,” I murmur her name, letting my lips trail across her cheek and down her neck. “Tell me what you want,” I whisper in her ear.

“Y-You,” she pants, her back arching off the bed.

“I’m right here,” I assure her, kissing my way to the swell of her breasts not concealed by my shirt.

“I-Is this another—layer?”

I can’t stop my chuckle. “The one that shows that I’m insanely attracted to you? Sure,” I concede.

“No. The teasing. You’re a tease, Royce Riggins,” she says, her green eyes dark and wild with need. With pleasure.

“This is going to complicate things.”

“I don’t care. Let’s complicate them. Make the water muddy, mix oil and vinegar, however the hell you want to state it. All I care about is that you find your way inside me. Sooner rather than later.”

Fuck.

“Saying no is the right thing to do.” I don’t know if I’m trying to convince her or myself.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” She runs her hands over my shoulders. “The right thing to do is to take care of this ache. The one that you’ve created inside me. Only you can take it away.”

“We can’t go back from this.”

“Who says that I want to?” Her hands slide behind my head, and she pulls me back into a kiss.

Soft lips.

Hot breath.

“I need you naked,” I say just as my phone rings from its spot on the nightstand. I ignore it and continue to kiss her. If there is exposed skin, my lips are there, exploring her. Tasting her.

“You should probably get that,” she says when my phone stops ringing only to begin again.

Resting my forehead against hers, I take a minute to catch my breath. That’s the effect she has on me. My phone stops ringing, only to ring again. “Damn it,” I curse, rolling off her and reaching for my phone. “Hello,” I snap.

“Royce. We have a problem,” Grant says.

“What’s wrong?” I’m instantly on alert.

“Tony. We have him on video going through the lot and slashing the tires on all of the rigs. He took a baseball bat to the building windows. Security was able to detain him. I don’t know what the hell took them so long to allow him to do so much damage. Scott called and said that he just got there and the place is a disaster. News crews are there, and Tony is screaming wrongful termination.”

“He wasn’t terminated. He still fucking works for us,” I seethe.

“I’ll call Sawyer and have her arrange the company jet. Shit,” Grant murmurs. “Does she even know how to do that yet? Maybe I should call Gail.”