Which was why she pushed against his chest and pulled her head back. “Don’t start that again. ”
“Why do you go to Stilettos, Rubi?”
She heaved a breath and blurted out the truth, “Because it’s easy to pick men up there. ”
“Baby, it’s easy for you to pick up men anywhere. ”
“Not the kind who only want what I want. ”
His eyes narrowed. “Sex. ”
A lead fist sat in the middle of her chest. She didn’t respond. She didn’t have to. They both knew he was right. He eased one thigh deeper between her legs until the thick muscle pressed her sex and his heat tore through his jeans. The rigid line of his cock rode her hip, making her throat dry. Completely against her will, her eyes closed on an exhale of pleasure. Want tightened a strap around her chest. Need stretched a fiery rope from her shoulders through her hips.
Wes’s growl brought her eyes open. His face was taut, his jaw jumping, his eyes fiery with lust. She desperately wanted to look into his face with this wicked expression as he fucked her. Drove deep and hard. Hammered her until she shattered.
“You’ll go pick up a stranger for a one-night hookup,” he said, “but you won’t say yes to me?”
She couldn’t think, caught between needing to push back and needing to sink in. “You aren’t interested in one night. And I’m not interested in more. Can’t
you see the problems that would cause?”
He didn’t answer, but he was thinking. The determination and cunning was back in his eyes. “So why hasn’t the waiter seen you in a while? How long has it been since you were there?”
“I don’t know,” she snapped, irritated. Turned on. Frustrated. “I don’t keep it on my calendar. ”
“A week? Two?” He pressed his thigh higher and rocked against her. Currents of pleasure shot from her sex to her chest and expanded in hot pressure. Rubi fisted his T-shirt. “A month? More? How long?”
“More…I think. I don’t know. ” She was using all her concentration not to rock against the thickly muscled thigh between her legs. “It doesn’t matter how long it’s been. I’ve been busy. And I don’t need it. I haven’t wanted it. ”
A knowing hot look crept into his eyes just before he moved his thigh. His heat and pressure rubbed her clit in a long, slow rocking slide. Fire leapt through her sex, across hips and climbed into her lower belly. She clutched his shirt tighter. “Wes…”
His name came as more of a plea than a warning and Rubi’s eyes closed as she bit her lip against a moan.
“I think you both need it and want it,” he murmured, his lips close to her ear. “But I think you need it and want it with me. And I’m not at the club. I’m hanging with Lexi and Jax, so that’s where you are. ”
She huffed a disgusted sound. “The arrogance is not attractive. ”
“It’s not arrogance. It’s obvious. And ridiculous to risk yourself with strangers when I’m right here. Ready, willing, and plenty able. ” He pulled his head back and looked into her eyes. “Let’s make an arrangement so you can get on with your day. If you need or want sex, you come to me. ”
She pulled in a breath. “Dream on, Lawson. You are not—”
He lowered her head and pulled her bottom lip between his. His tongue slipped over the flesh before he let go and murmured, “And I’ll give it to you any way you want it, any way you need it. ”
She lifted her head and gazed up at him. His skin was pulled tight in a serious expression, his eyes shadowed with lust. A delicious shiver traveled over her shoulders, into her chest, and tightened her nipples. She rarely appreciated men telling her what to do. Even in bed, she was generally the aggressor. She maintained control that way. And she could definitely see how control was slipping from her now, which was a very dangerous thing, because she knew this man.
His success hadn’t been a whim. He was relentlessly driven. Intelligent. Clever. Even a little devious. A perfectionist when it came to his work. And, according to Jax, all his girlfriends had been solid, monogamous, serious relationships. She knew what he wanted, and she knew what he’d do to reach his goals.
She narrowed her eyes and considered him, trying to pretend he wasn’t pushing her far too close to climax in an alley with nothing but the pressure of his thigh. “You want a sex-only arrangement? Is that what you’re saying?”
A shadow of doubt passed through his eyes. She hardened her shell before opening herself up to his judgment and rejection. She didn’t see any other way at the moment.
“Because they get far less of me than you have now,” she said. “They get one round of mindless sex. Nothing more. We aren’t friends. We don’t talk. We don’t hang out. We don’t do things for each other. We rarely even meet again unless it’s at a club in passing. And I don’t sleep with them again. ” She paused, reading the gradual decline of his expression. “Is that really what you want, Wes?”
The pressure of his body eased. And when his thigh pulled from between hers, she was left cold and frustrated, her sex throbbing. He stepped back, leaving Rubi’s stomach churning uncomfortably with mingled disappointment and relief. Her body aching with unfulfilled need.
But he didn’t let her go. He kept one arm wrapped tightly around her waist; the other held her jaw.
“Why?” was all he asked.