Rendezvous (Renegades 5)

“Shush.” She cut him off. “Now count to twenty slowly.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

She had to be the sweetest drill sergeant ever. So he did it. But somewhere around nine, her hands found their way under his tee, and her nails scored gentle patterns on his back, draining the stress from his body. And he lost count.

After another moment, she pulled back to look up at him. “Let me put something into perspective for you. We haven’t seen or spoken to each other in a year. After tonight, I won’t see you again for a long time. Neither of us knows how long. It could be another year. It could be longer. So the idea of not being together now to keep a vital friendship intact isn’t very realistic.”

He frowned, mulling that over.

“I think the reason you’re twisted over coming upstairs with me is because you’re a really good person and you don’t want to hurt me. But I’m a big girl, Keaton, and I’ve been navigating my way through hookups for years. I may be sweet, but I’m very open to being whatever you want or need for the night.”

Holy shit. Keaton’s mind strayed deeper into those sexual thoughts again—undressing her, getting his hands on her bare flesh, pushing his hips between her thighs, having her completely and totally wrapped around him…

His resistance slipped a notch.

He lifted one hand and rubbed his face, hoping to pull himself from this haze. “I can’t think.”

“That’s a good thing.” Her hand slid down his chest, his belly, rested on the waistband of his jeans. “You’ve been thinking too hard.”

And she flipped the button open.

Excitement stoked his blood, but Keaton’s hand dropped to cover hers. “Brooke, slow down—”

“Is that really what you want?” She tugged her hand from his. “I think the best thing for both of us would be to push this, see where it takes us so neither of us spends another year wondering.”

And she slipped her hand inside his jeans, beneath his boxers and covered his erection. Pressure, heat, contact—it all coalesced and flooded Keaton with lust. His eyes rolled back and closed.

And he and Brooke moaned at the same time.

The sound of her pleasure at the feel of him snapped Keaton’s control.

He released her hand, cupped the back of her head, and held her steady as he kissed her.

She felt even better than he remembered. Her lips were full and plush and velvety soft. As soon as he eased the pressure, she didn’t just open, she tilted her head back offering her mouth. And when he took her up on that offer, stroking his tongue into her warmth and circling it with hers, she instantly gave back with a purr so rich and so wanton, Keaton had to fight the need for instant gratification.

Just when he thought he had himself under control, she sucked on his tongue at the same time her hand made some sort of twist on his cock. The combination shot sparks off behind his lids and lit off warning signs in his brain.

He pulled out of the kiss and dragged her hand from his pants. But Brooke pushed up on her toes, leaned close, and rasped, “I’m hungry,” against his neck, kissing him there and sending shivers over his skin. “I need a midnight snack. And I don’t want to wait until we get inside.”

She did have Keaton’s dirty mind. How fucking dangerous was that?

“Jesus Christ.” He was out of breath. The man with nine percent body fat, who ran five miles a day, worked out fighting twelve out of a sixteen-hour day, six days a week, was out of breath, all because Brooke had been kissing him, what, sixty seconds?

And what had happened to his brain? He couldn’t find it in all the haze filling his head. The man who was always on, always focused, who could make split-second decisions on the fly couldn’t even figure out what to do with her now.

“Brooke—”

“I have been dreaming about getting my mouth on you for so…long…” The way she moaned the last words made Keaton’s cock surge. “Let’s go out on the dock where no one can see us.”

“No.” Finally, some decision-making skills had returned. This was too much. He needed her too badly to walk away. She was right—he didn’t want to go another year regretting not taking this chance with her. But he was going to do it right. “I need you in bed. Damn, I seriously need you somewhere private where I can focus on nothing but you.”

Brooke stepped back and held out her hand. “I can arrange that.” She smiled, a sultry, sexy smile he’d never seen on her gorgeous face before. One that showed him a whole different side of her. “And I will do my best to fulfill any other requests you have tonight, Mr. Holt. So, I hope you will make them, because it would absolutely thrill me to please you.”

He took her hand and followed her up the stairs, watching her short skirt bounce around toned, creamy thighs.

When they reached the landing, he paused and pulled from her grip. “I probably shouldn’t walk into the freaking Four Seasons with my pants tented and undone.”