Her Last Wild Ride

He looked at me and said gruffly, “Next time we make it to a bed. I want you lying down with your legs spread so that I can fuck you with my mouth until you’re screaming for mercy, and more.”

Chapter Seven

When Johnny got to the bar the next day and parked outside he almost felt reluctant to go in, in spite of the lust that held him in a grip so tight his jaw ached.

One thing was for sure—what had happened between him and Ashling the previous evening had not been like any kind of sex he’d had before. It had blown him apart and left him feeling as if a layer of skin had been ripped from his body.

Already he could sense that the more he had of her, the more he’d want. His hands wrapped around his steering wheel. Knuckles white. He battled with the urge to just drive, escape again, get lost. Avoid dealing with stuff...like the past.

His modus operandi since coming to the States had been to avoid anything too deep at all costs, and this was already too deep for comfort.

But the pull to see Ashling again was stronger, drowning everything else out. For a second he hated her for it. But then he smiled to himself wryly, recalling last night. She certainly hadn’t been all over him in that postcoital way most women were. He’d had to insist on taking her home.

His smile faded. After the shower, she’d gone quiet, and she’d been tight-lipped and avoiding his eye when she’d said good night outside Candy’s apartment block.

Johnny gritted his jaw. Fuck his reservations. This was just amazing chemistry. No way was he going to let her run scared now. They weren’t done by a long shot.

In less than two weeks his past would be rushing headlong to meet him when his baby sister returned to New York. But in the meantime...the only way to get through this, remain sane and come out the other side to relative normality again was to go along for the ride, however long and wild it was.

* * *

I knew when Johnny walked in because the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and my insides turned to mush. Damn him. By the time he’d left me home last night I’d been facing the very unpalatable fact that sex with him was far too addictive and intense.

Those little flares of emotion that had gripped me? Not a good sign. Far too close to what had happened when Steve had ripped all my defenses apart. My little plan to confirm for myself that my judgment wasn’t totally skewed was taking a big hit.

I was smart enough to know that if I didn’t end it now I might get burned in a way I had never been before. Johnny was touching a part of me that shouldn’t be affected if this was just about down and dirty sex. One last wild ride.

I’d always enjoyed a healthy sex life and considered myself to be pretty experienced, but last night had shown me that on some level I’d always held something back, even with Steve.

With Johnny though, I’d had no sense of being able to hold anything back. With one touch he’d reached in and taken everything I was offering and more, and it scared the hell out of me. Even as I was honest enough to admit I wanted more.

I’d called Jenna that morning to fess up and try to get her to remind me of what was important but she’d squealed down the phone, “You did Hottie McHotness?”

And after being subjected to a very lengthy and intense questioning, she’d proved my own suspicions right and fessed up herself. She did have her eye on a surfer dude. And now all bets were off thanks to my pathetic inability to keep my pants on. Actually, I had kept my pants on, not that it had done me much good.

And that only reminded me of how Johnny had yanked them aside roughly to thrust inside me. Crap.

He came up behind me then, close, and pulled my hair aside so he could press a kiss to the back of my neck. I steeled myself and turned around to come face-to-face with a T-shirt-clad broad chest and fresh, sexy male smell.

I looked up and nearly forgot everything when I saw his clean-shaven jaw and those slumberous, dangerous blue eyes. I swallowed, and that only reminded me of swallowing his climax in the shower. Fuck.

I started speaking before he could scramble my brain completely. “Listen, I think it’s best if we just call this a day. You really don’t have to help out here. It’s not right, working for nothing. And what happened last night...let’s just leave it at a one-off.”

Those dark blue eyes snapped and narrowed on mine. I gulped. Candy had been playing Kings of Leon all day and “Your sex is on fire” blared out now, mocking me again.

As if reading my mind, Johnny only came closer and said, “Do you hear that? They’re playing our song.”

I put my hands to his chest and tried to push, but he was like steel, and his hands went to my waist. My clit pulsed, recognizing the presence of the magician who had brought it such pleasure. Traitor.

I tried again, but my voice sounded weak to my own ears. “You know this isn’t ideal. Especially not when our own brother and sister are going out together. Liam will probably try to rip you limb from limb.”

Something flashed in Johnny’s eyes, but he just smirked and said, “I’ve faced down overprotective brothers before. And anyway, who’s to say I won’t want to deck him for going out with my baby sister?”

It stung somewhere it shouldn’t at the mention of facing down overprotective brothers of his previous lovers. I said snarkily, “Well, it sounds to me like you haven’t much cared up to now.”

As soon as the thoughtless words were out I wanted to claw them back. Johnny abruptly let me go to step back, his body suddenly rigid with rejection. “I see. It’s like that, is it? The stories are already spreading about me and how I abandoned my family?”

I felt sick with remorse. I put out a hand and grabbed his T-shirt. “I’m sorry. I had no right to say that. I wasn’t even interested in listening to what Candy was saying.”