Page 33 of Magpies & Mayhem
A knock sounded at the door with Jordan’s brisk, “Food’s here,” so I cut the shower and wrung the water from my hair. There were no towels in here. Nothing on the towel racks and nothing under the sink. I jerked the door open. “Where are the towels?”
Jordan turned to look at me and stared for far too long without answering, his eyes trailing up and down my dripping wet body. I raised an eyebrow, causing his mouth to twitch. He stepped sideways to the cabinet, opening it without breaking eye contact and pulling a folded towel from one of the shelves, moving as slowly as a turtle. Instead of immediately handing me the towel, he held it aloft, a haughty smirk on his face, clearly enjoying himself.
I rolled my eyes. “I told you if you want to stare at my boobs, you can just ask. Can we play this game when I’m not soaking wet and cold?”
Jordan’s cheekbones flushed pink, and his amusement crumpled instantly. “I’m sorry, Sid,” he murmured. “Are you cold?” He wrapped his hands around the towel as he eyed my goose-bumped skin. Then he shook the towel out and stepped into my space, wrapping it around my shoulders and dragging it down my arms. The towel was toasty warm, as if it had just been pulled from a dryer. He was instantly forgiven, because this was lovely, but he stepped even closer, his body several degrees warmer than it usually was as he worked to warm me up. He dragged the towel up my sides and back, using it to grip my hair gently and squeeze the water from it, working his way up to my scalp, massaging the whole way.
I think my eyes rolled back in my head, but I know I slumped forward against his chest. His chuckle was deep and rumbly, and it made butterflies swirl in my stomach. I pressed my face against his chest and huffed his scent as he draped the towel over my shoulders and rubbed a hand down my back. “How do you smell so good after laying in the dirt for a day and a half?”
His laughter grew a little incredulous. “I don’t, you little weirdo.”
I raised my chin until my mouth was a few inches from his own and narrowed my eyes at him playfully, daring him to kiss me again. He was the one in my space, the one who’d approached me, who’d wrapped me up in his towel and his own warmth. “I say you do,” I whispered, the words coming out breathier than I intended.
He didn’t pull away like I half expected, his eyes locked on my mouth as he considered me, something that looked like hot need passing behind them. I stood stock still, barely breathing, knowing he would have to be the one to come the rest of the way. The menace of his presence wasn’tforgotten, exactly, but I still had to restrain myself from wanting to seize control and take what I wanted the way I usually did. The heat of him radiated over my skin as he leaned closer, brushing his lips against mine and retreating, possibly still unsure of himself. I watched him through slitted eyelids, my heart thundering in my chest, full of empathy for his fears and his struggles as his breathing increased. I could be patient for him. If I had to be.
He reached up with both hands, achingly slowly, placing one on my shoulder and wrapping the other under my jaw. Locking me in place again. Waiting for my reaction. I gave him none, simply continuing to watch him in return. Willing him to act. His gaze shifted restlessly between my eyes. I wished I knew what he was so desperately searching for so I could give it to him. It occurred to me that I would probably give this man anything he asked for, and I couldn’t even tell you why. Why did I care so much? What was it about him that took me out at the knees so thoroughly?
His lips finally met mine, and I decided it didn’t matterwhyI cared. I justdid. With the smell of him rampaging through my brain and the taste of him on my tongue, I felt voracious. I kissed him hungrily, daring him to return my passion, my want, my need. His lips were satin pillows that I delighted in. I wanted them all over my body. His breaths were ragged gasps as I trailed my fingertips down the bumps of his abs. The pressure of his hand on my jawline felt like something I needed, and I didn’t care if that was wrong. It felt strangely comforting to be trapped, to be held so securely like this. I liked it and I grinned against his mouth to let him know it.
He met every kiss with just as much hunger as I gave him, gripping me tightly, hauling my body against his. My skin flushed warmer everywhere we touched, but whether from him purposely trying to warm me or from arousal, I couldn’t tell. His hand was scorching as it slid from my shoulder down my arm, then his knuckles dragged up my stomach to caress the underside of my breast. I arched my back, pressing myself into his hand. He took full advantage, turning his hand to palm my breast, kneading it gently until my nipple was a hard point against his palm. Warmth spiked in my core, twisting and growing with each kiss and caress until I was moaning deliriously against his lips.
Jordan broke our kiss and, before I was even aware we’d moved, spun me around so that my back was pressed against his front and his arms were locked around me, trapping the towel between us. He had the side of his face pressed against my shoulder as he heaved for breath behind me, and I couldn’t help but arch my back into him like a cat seeking contact. “Fuck, Sidney, you’re so dangerous right now.”
Chapter 21
Thepositionchangemademe practically quiver with need. His heat against my back, the pressure of him wrapped around me, the vulnerable feeling of being underneath him all wound me up so tight I was already panting.
“Ah, Sid,” he breathed against the back of my neck. “I somehow forgot how much you liked being pinned.” He sounded slightly pained. I ignored his muttering, still focused on the last thing he said.
“Jordan, you know by now I would never hurt you.” I still was trying to squirm closer to him, but he just lifted me so my feet dangled a few inches off the ground, and I couldn’t push off anything. He only managed to press his swollen excitement against my rump. I bit my lip and smiled, trying to stifle my amusement.
He laughed against my back, but there was no humor in it. “I said you were dangerous, sweetheart, but I didn’t mean tome.”
I was loving being pinned against his body, but the lack of friction was starting to annoy me. “That doesn’t explain why you think I’m dangerousright now.” I didn’t even have any weapons on me. He might have had my body pinned under him, but my arms were still loose. I shifted just enough to be able to place my hands on his thighs behind me. Sliding them inwards, I dragged them up between his legs until I was palming his hard bulge behind my ass.
Hot breath gusted out of him across my back as he reacted. He had me bent over the bed with my legs dangling off the side and my arms trapped over my head in an instant.Dang, he’s fast. He wasn’t even that much bigger than me, but with his chest against my back and his hands holding my wrists, I was as solidly pinned as I’d ever been. Those loose screws rattled around in my brain, and I kind of wanted to hate how much I loved this, but I couldn’t.
“You’re dangerous because if anyone comes in here and gets a whiff of you smelling like this, I’m liable to rip their throat out,” he growled.
I couldn’t help the delighted laughter that bubbled out of me. “I didn’t take you for the jealous type,Darling.” I had to turn my face out of the blankets to be able to take a full breath, but I could reach the floor with my toes now. When I arched up against him, the feeling of his hard length against my sex was so delicious it made me even more needy.Oh yes, I want more of that.
“I guess you read me wrong,” he said darkly as he pressed me down, his hot breath ghosting over my temple.
The sweet image of him eyeing me guardedly with a stick clutched between his fingers, wanting to know if it was something that would please me, made me feel warmly possessive of Jordan. But the juxtaposition of him being possessive of me in return made my brain light up like a bonfire.Tap, tap, tap, right on those happy little loose screws.
He trailed his silken lips over the shell of my ear. “Let’s play a game,” he whispered, echoing my words from all those nights ago. I ceased my wriggling and stilled, trying to soften my excited panting so I could hear his quiet words. “The rules are, this time, we’llonlybe using my hands.” His voice was the soft rasp of a knife being pulled from its sheath. He transferred both of my wrists into one hand, and I could already feel him pushing heat into his palm as he leaned up just enough to run his other hand down my back, tugging the towel down to hold me more firmly against the mattress.
Yes, please,I thought with a shiver.
“Your hands stay where I’ve got them,” he stated imperiously. Well, turnabout was fair play, I supposed. The memory of him cracking his headboard while he orgasmed onto my skin sent a shiver down my spine and made my core throb. He left his hand on my lower back and released my wrists, trusting me to do as he said, and then gripped my hips to drag me a few inches off the bed so he could get his lower arm around me. He paused with his fingers on my stomach. “Do you remember your safe word?”
I nodded into the blankets, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it between my legs. Why was I so turned on by this?
“Sidney.” He still hadn’t moved. I could see him looming over me in my peripheral vision, but more than that, I couldfeelhim. He was everywhere. “I need words.”
“What kind ofwords, Jordan?” Was that my voice? I wasn’t interested in words right now, so I started wriggling again, aiming to get that pressure back on my cleft, but he pulled his hips away just enough that I couldn’t reach him.
“Yes? Or no?” he breathed.
