Page 34 of Rough Road

“Still doesn’t mean you should go off half-cocked and drive a truck through the building. It was stupid, and they could’ve killed you, Fiona.” His green eyes flashed to a smoky emerald and he grabbed her by the shoulders.

Fiona couldn’t help the flinch at his touch, and he dropped his hands, let go, and took a step back. Hurt replaced his anger, and she cleared her throat. She didn’t mean to cringe, hated that it happened, but if she let go of the anger now, she would break, probably shatter to a thousand pieces. And an apology would push the shame forward and the anger out.

“Well, my stupidity saved her life, because they sure as hell didn’t bring her there to tickle her with feathers.” The venom in her voice made it deeper, more powerful. Just what she needed to stay in control. “And I didn’t have anyone I could count on. I wanted her to know she did.” Her arrow hit the mark, and his mouth twitched.

“You think I didn’t care?” He spoke quietly, controlled, but there was an unmistakable disbelief.

She needed this fight, needed to build her anger until nothing he said or did would break it down. “Well, I was the one getting my ass beat every day. Didn’t see you anywhere around. I mean, you were here, right? Telling one of the Kats to get on her knees? Or bending one over the bar so you could—”

“Stop it!” He stalked closer, and she held every bit of her ground. Her pulse kicked up, not from fear, but from excitement. From need. “I would never fuck around on you, and you know it.” His breaths came in short labored puffs, and she closed the distance between them, crushed his mouth with hers. There was more than one way to work out her aggression.

Grier kissed her back, tried to slow it down, held onto her hand when she went for his shirt, but she wriggled free and yanked it up.

“Fiona.”

She pulled away, hating herself for the doubt that sneaked around her anger to come to the front. “Too damaged?”

He took her face between his hands. “Too angry.” Then he kissed her so soft, so slow, caressing her lips with his, inviting, enticing, so perfectly wrong for what she needed, and tears welled.

She ran her hands down his chest, over the lines of muscles in his stomach, to his belt. Again, he stopped her.

“Dammit, Grier. I want this.”

He grinned. “Me, too.” His fingers tangled in her hair, and he leaned his forehead against hers. “But today, I want to worship you.”

“I don’t want to be worshiped.” She wanted him to take control, to tell her what to do, to fuck her until her thoughts stopped rolling through her head.

“Oh yeah, you do.” He slipped his fingers under the tiny strap of her tank top and slid them down her arm. “We’ll do hard and fast, we’ll do sexy and hot, but first, we’re going to go slow, and I’m going to kiss every inch of your body, touch you in ways that make you hot and wet and sigh and moan. I’m going to make sure you know that your body is yours, but your soul is mine.” He ran his lips from her jaw to her collarbone, licking, sucking, nibbling. Every swipe of his tongue went straight to her core. Every soft murmur against her skin went to her heart. But she wanted more, needed the skin to skin contact, to lose herself in the frenzy. But when she sped up, he held her back. When she pressed forward, he pulled an imaginary brake until she surrendered the control of the moment.

He walked them toward the sofa, his mouth melded to hers, then laid her down. And just when she thought he meant to take the next step, to “worship” her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tucked her into his chest.

“Grier, please.” Maybe if she asked nicely, which she knew he liked, he would give in and let her have what she wanted. God, she hoped so, because her cells were about to explode with need.

“Shh.” He stroked her arm. “You’re so strong, I know that. And I love you so much, love being with you, love making love with you.” He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know what you need, or how to make you hurt less.”

She stared up at him, saw the desire in his eyes, felt it in the way he held his body against hers, and loved the way he wanted her. “Make me forget. Even if it’s just for a few minutes or hours. I don’t want to think about anything but you.”

For a second he didn’t speak. A slow smile curved his lips. “All right.”

It couldn’t fix what was wrong, but if she could just have one moment of peace, she could find her next later.

He kissed her, another agonizing touch, slow and gentle. She pushed her tongue into his mouth, ran her hands under his shirt, ground her hips against his.

Oh, God. She needed him. When he deepened the kiss and pulled her leg over his hip to push against her, she moaned and used her calf muscles to urge him closer.

Her heart pulsed with need. She sat up and pushed his shirt over his head then tossed her shirt onto the pile with his. “Fiona…” His head dipped to take one already pebbled nipple into his mouth. His tongue swirled, and she held his head, let him move to the other side.

Grier flipped her onto her back and held himself over her, lowering his hips to rub his cock against her. “Please.” She could only beg.

He kissed her again, no longer soft and gentle. Thank God. His tongue thrust into her mouth, dueled with hers. When he pulled away, he stood and shoved his jeans down. There was something beautiful about him all the time, but the shapes and contours of his body were a work of art. Naked and smiling, he knelt in front of the sofa and unfastened the button of her jeans then let his hands drag over her skin as he used his thumbs and the palms of his hands to slide them down until she could pull her feet out.

At the gentlest urging, she twisted to sit up and threw her head back at the first lick, cried out when his mouth moved over her clit and he slid a finger inside her. Normally, Fiona loved all the foreplay, but she wanted him inside her.

She sat forward. “Please, now.”

With a hand on her chest, he pushed her back and continued licking and sucking until her heart pounded and every breath came attached to a moan. The pressure built, and she probably would have died if he’d stopped. His moan vibrated against her clit, and she fell over the edge. Her body writhed and every inch, every cell in her body caught fire. She cried out a final time and collapsed against the back of the couch. She needed a minute to slow her heart. But just one.

Grier smiled as she tugged him up then down on top of her. “Oh, God, Fiona.” He moved with an urgency she needed. But oh, God, she wanted more.