Page 45 of Roughing
He nodded, but his eyes told a different story.
“Are you regretting telling me about Alice?”
“A little.”
I appreciated his honesty. “I won’t use that information to hurt you, Briggs, only to understand you better.”
“It’s not that. Talking about her dredges up memories, good and bad, along with a shit ton of guilt.” His gaze was haunted. I took his hand and held it. The gesture was inadequate, but I didn’t know what else to do.
I couldn’t leave Briggs like this. I should, but I couldn’t. When the elevator swooshed open on his floor, I stepped out with him. He cast a puzzled glance my way.
“How about a nightcap?” I heard myself suggest.
“A nightcap?”
“Yes, why not? But it has to be in your apartment. Heidi’s in mine, and I don’t have any booze.”
“Okay.” Briggs hedged, but I knew what I was doing. I decided at that moment to finish what I’d started in the car. Suddenly, keeping my distance had lost its importance. Briggs needed me, and in a way, I needed him. This time would be different. Our relationship had grown, even if only at a turtle’s pace. This wasn’t one of our typical hookups. This was something more.
“Are you sure? I mean, neither of us will end this night with just a drink.”
“I’m fully aware of that, but I think you could use a distraction.”
His smile was slow and dangerous. Why I was attracted to men with a dark side, I’d never know, but I’d always been this way. Only Briggs wasn’t as dark as I’d initially thought. He’d been through some dark times, and he was finding his way back. I had faith in him.
Briggs swiped his key card and pushed open the door and pulled me inside. He had me against the wall as soon as he kicked his door shut.
He’d always been voracious in his enthusiasm, and I welcomed him letting go emotionally. Sex seemed to be the only time he was able to do that.
His mouth was all over mine, and his hands roamed freely over my upper body. I kissed him back with all the fervor I could muster. Writhing against him, I reveled in the hard length of him, torturing the man as much as he was torturing me.
We panted and groaned like two feral animals driven by lust and need and unmindful of anything else. This was always the way it was with us. We had this insatiable craving for each other based completely on sex, or it had been. Something else had started to develop, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Why don’t you step into something more comfortable?” Briggs growled and nipped at my earlobe.
“Like you?” I quipped. My heavy breathing would’ve rivaled any obscene caller. This guy got me so fucking hot.
“Yeah.” Briggs’s adventurous mouth journeyed from my earlobes to my neck and downward to where the collar of my shirt prevented him from further exploration. His mouth crushed mine, and I didn’t back off. When it came to rough, we were equally matched and majorly turned on. I grabbed handfuls of his ass and ground into him, frustrated by the fabric between us but too fired up to take the time to do anything about it.
Briggs reluctantly tore his mouth from mine and backed up a few steps. I locked my knees to keep them from buckling and leaned against the wall. We eyed each other like two animals, ready to mate, which is exactly what we were.
“Strip,” he ordered. The blue flame in his eyes singed the corners of my heart and left me whimpering for more.
He grabbed my hand and led me to the living room area. Plopping down on the couch, he waited expectantly. I took my time because I was evil like that.
“Strip,” he said again with a wolfish grin.
Normally I’d have resisted such high-handedness, but when it came to fucking, his take-charge alpha male attitude laid waste to any such equality issues.
I stood a few feet from him and asked Alexa to play “Simply the Best.” I’d watched one scene on a sitcom where this song was used for a sexy dance, and I decided to duplicate it.
I began to dance, swiveling my hips, dipping low, undulating forward and back in time to the music. I lifted my blouse over my head and tossed it toward Briggs, scoring a bull’s-eye when it landed on his head, obscuring his eyes. He batted it away and refocused the full power of his gaze on me.
Briggs’s crooked smile and dilated eyes told me he liked my style.
His gaze slid down my body and rested on my breasts, covered by a lacy black bra. After kicking off my shoes, I shimmied out of my jeans and tossed them toward Briggs. He was ready this time, snagging them out of midair and throwing them aside as if he didn’t want to miss one second of my show.
Now came the real stuff. I teased that man unmercifully with my body. His breath hitched, and he looked almost ready to pass out from holding himself back.
