Outside, a chilly and damp evening reigned, but it did nothing to cool my overheated body. I strode down the road until I hit the pebble beach. A clatter and a rush of sound told me someone had left the pub behind me. Footsteps drummed, then a hand grabbed mine, yanking me to a stop.
“What just happened?” Rory demanded.
“Ye don’t want to know.”
She dropped her grip on me and took a step back, her expression morphing into concern. “Actually, I do.”
My gaze drifted down to her lips, then lower to where her chest rose on a fast breath, her long coat open.
“It was the tattoo thing, right?” Rory popped her hands on her hips. “Was that it? I told the dude in the bar that Max and I had matching tattoos and you jumped up and fled. I’m beginning to see you and your brother have more in common than I first thought. Flip out then run.”
I glared down at her, too worked up to reply.
Even if she’d got it in one.
Rory continued, “Not that I owe you an explanation, but at that festival when we met, we both got drunk, and I said I wanted a tattoo. One of the guys Max worked with was a tattoo artist. I always wanted my own robin logo somewhere on my skin.”
“Smith,” I muttered, suddenly insanely jealous yet again, now over the member of Gordain’s crew who had done my own tattoo.
He’d had his hands on Rory’s body and, like some sort of possessive caveman, I needed to know where.
She gave a short nod. “That’s him. Max was wasted and said he wanted the same design. At the time, influenced by tequila, it was hilarious. I bet he regrets it, but I make a point of never regretting the things I did that were fun. And I don’t like all the judgement coming my way from you.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, because she was right. Even if she didn’t know the source of my problem.
Rory took a deep breath and made another attempt. “Can I ask you something? You let me come on this trip, but are you delivering me to your brother? Like as a girlfriend? Is this some kind of reparation you’re making to him? Because if so, that sucks. And you have no right to make that kind of assumption.”
“It’s not that.” Then I relented. “It’s partially that.” I pointed at her then in the vague direction of the village. “There’s a connection between the two of you which I willnae come between.”
Rory made a noise of irritation. “I’m not interested in your brother. I already told you it would have been a mistake. He and I never had any chemistry.” She held my gaze. “Nothing like this.”
A shiver ran through me. “This doesn’t matter. I can’t hurt Max ever again.”
“I don’t belong to him, and you don’t get to make my decisions.”
For fuck’s sake. I rolled my shoulders. “Ye don’t know what I did to him.”
“It wasn’t anything to do with me.”
My breathing came hard. The draw to her was only getting stronger. She was two feet away from me, and we were dynamite. An explosion pending.
I gestured between us, the move almost desperate as an admittance fell from my lips. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.”
Rory’s eyes flashed with a combination of anger and need. “And I’m never again going to jump on a guy unless I’m sure he wants me.” Vulnerability rippled over her tightly held features. “You need to make the move, Maddock.”
Fuck it.
I was going to Hell, and in this second, I couldn’t give a shite.
I reached for her, sliding my hand around the back of her head to bring her mouth to mine. There was nothing easy about it, and the second our lips touched, the last shred of my doubt and control evaporated.
The press of her lips ignited my blood. I growled and angled my head to more thoroughly connect to her. Rory grasped my jacket collar and whimpered, her frustration pouring out in the force in which she pushed back.
In unison, we opened our mouths, and our tongues touched. Electricity zapped down my spine and lit me up.
Her taste. Her scent. I was more animal than man.
Our first kiss had been an accident. This one came hard, fast, and undoubtable.
I backed Rory to a low stone wall that divided the beach from a dark terrace below the road. We were hidden but still in a public place.
Somehow, that turned me on all the more.
Perching Rory on the wall, I forced my way between her thighs. She wound her legs around my waist, bringing me almost as close as I could get, then she moaned at the contact between our bodies.
In thirty seconds, I’d become harder than ever before. All from one sweet lass who wouldn’t let me sulk. Who told me to make my move because she wanted this as much as I did.
She pulled my face to hers and kissed me, her fingernails grazing the back of my scalp.
I didn’t slow. Cupping her jaw, I gave her all the passion that had been building in me. Slides of my tongue over hers, hard presses to show her just how much I needed this. Then I kissed her cheek and moved around to her neck, inhaling her fucking incredible scent.
“Maddock.” Desperation edged into her tone.
“I know,” I gave up.
“Just don’t stop,” she urged.
Parting her coat, I travelled my kiss down her throat to suck her collarbone then the swell of her tits. There were far too many clothes between us, too chilly a breeze coming off the sea.
Still, I so badly needed to be inside her. To make her as insane as I felt.
This was a one-time deal. A single blaze.
“Want ye,” I gritted out. “So fucking much.”
“Yeah? Right here and now?”
I paused and raised my gaze to hers, breathing hard.
“Rory. Dinna tempt me,” I warned.
“Why not? How about we take what we need from the other and don’t question this.”
I closed my eyes and pushed my forehead onto her shoulder.
“I’m serious,” she added. “I’ve never needed to come so badly in all my life. If you don’t touch me, I’ll explode.”
“Take what we need,” I echoed, my voice strained.
“Exactly.” She rolled her hips against me, hitting my dick square on. “I can feel how much you want me. I want this.”
I was many things—a thrill-seeker, probably the worst brother ever—but I was a goner for her words.
Forcing myself to slow, I brought my lips to her ear. “Listen to me. I have never been so up for sex in my life. Ye drive me crazy, and the thought of pounding into ye while anyone could walk by is making me so fucking hard I can barely see.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” She slipped her hand into her bag and brought out a box of condoms.
With haste, she tore away the cellophane and extracted one, placing it on my chest.
I had no idea what I was waiting for anymore. Or my name. Or where we were. I pocketed the condom and dropped to my knees, framing Rory’s waist with my hands.
Then I traced over the waistband of her leggings before drawing them down, taking her underwear with them. “I want to taste ye first.”
She glanced down the frosty beach, but I was done waiting. Grabbing her thigh, I brought her to the edge of the wall and opened her for my tongue. Then I licked straight between her legs.
Rory swore and fisted my hair, her other hand grasping the stone.
“So wet for me,” I growled, and I nudged in closer and found her clit, sucking lightly. With two fingers, I pushed inside her, loving her gasp of pleasure.
She was so tight, her pussy addictive, even after one taste.
I set about giving her that orgasm she wanted.
Behind me, the sea crashed onto the shore. Somewhere above us on the road, people laughed, leaving the bar. Rory stifled her moans to tiny whimpers.
Sliding into her, I dragged my knuckles out then crooked my fingers.
“Fuck,” she whispered.
I did it again, homing in on the spot that had her curving over me. With the flat of my tongue, I lapped at her before returning again to suck hard on her clit, all the while moving my hand.
Rory yelped then slapped her hand over her mouth, her pussy squeezing my hand so sweetly. She’d come, and fast. Christ.
Rough emotion dizzied me. I stood, and Rory hauled my mouth to hers for a bruising kiss. At the same moment, she tucked her hand into my coat pocket and found the condom, slamming it once more to my chest.
“Are ye sure?” I asked stupidly.
It would hurt to stop now, but I’d given her what she needed.
“Less talking, more doing,” she ordered.
Well, all right then.
“Unbuckle me,” I snapped back.
Rory grinned and flew to undo my belt then my jeans, freeing my dick. She stroked me, and I closed my eyes for a long minute until I’d gathered enough brain cells to allow me to open the condom packet. I rolled it on and crowded her to the wall.
“Turn around,” I ordered.
She obliged, supporting herself on the wall, and I yanked her hips back and got into position. Then I rubbed the head of my dick up and down her soft, wet folds.
“Dying here,” she told me. “I can’t believe how good that feels, and you haven’t even—”
With a thrust, I pushed inside her.
Rory cried out.
All I could feel was the tight squeeze around my dick. Anything could happen now, anyone could walk by, and I would only know this.
I gave her a second to adjust then jacked my hips until I was fully inside. Frantic energy filled me, the need to fuck her hard and good. To make her mine, as impossible as that was.
All we had was now.
Rory took it, adjusting her stance to stick her arse out farther. With the moonlight just enough to see by, I stared at the place we were joined. At my dick sliding out of her. Ah fuck, that was a pretty sight. Then I surged, driving home.
Need had me upping the pace. The faint sounds of people reached me once more, and I tore my gaze off Rory to check the beach. Clear so far. But we couldn’t linger.
I needed to get her off again before this was over.
Reaching around, I palmed her at the juncture of her thighs. “Widen your legs.”
She moaned and wriggled her boots out in the pebbles, giving me the access I needed. I slapped her once, right between the legs, then teased her with merciless swirls of my fingers over her clit. Rory’s pussy tightened around my dick, and I drove into her over and again.
If we had time, and a bed, I’d lay her out and do this right. Worship her body the way she deserved. But this had a time limit.
I slammed home, and Rory cried out once more, on the edge of coming.
It wasn’t enough. I needed to see her.
Whipping my hips back, I withdrew then spun her around. A dazed Rory peeked up at me, deep desire in her expression. I hoisted her into my arms. Her leggings restrained us, and though her ankles couldn’t go wide, her knees could. I got her into position and lined up my dick where it needed to be. Then once more, I jerked into her, this time face to face and supporting her weight. She was entirely at my mercy now, and I grinned, so close to insanity.
Now, my thrusts were slower, but raw and just as powerful.
Together, we drew out our pleasure. My entire body focused in on the points we touched, on how good she felt.
Rory kissed me. Breathless, drugging kisses, both of us trembling with the impact. She broke first, moving her mouth to my cheek to silently cry out as, simultaneously, her pussy throbbed around my dick.
Her second climax triggered mine, and I tucked my face into her neck and groaned, slowing my moves. A lightning bolt of chemicals flashed through me, the feeling all too good. I emptied into her, a rush of fucking bliss following.
For a long moment, I stood there, holding her. Then I staggered the couple of steps to the wall, sitting hard, still buried inside her. Her coat covered her bare arse, and she huddled into me, our position more innocent-looking now.
Rory brought her lips to mine for a soft kiss. The barest peck of her lips. Slowly, I opened my mouth to taste her again, not yet ready to give up our intimate moment.
Footsteps crunched the gravel down the beach.
Rory whipped her head around to face the sound. “Someone’s there,” she whispered.
I drifted my hands down her body again to check that she was covered. A faster scramble of feet came, then a dog darted from the shadows, a few yards down the beach. The animal barked then ran on through the surf.
A beat later, and a man followed. “Evening,” he said to us. “Bonny night.”
“Aye, enjoy your walk.” I gave him a grin.
The man continued on.
Rory buried her face in my chest, and her shoulders shook with a silent laugh. “Oh my God. Do you think he knew?”
I kissed her hairline. “Probably. Do ye care?”
Manoeuvring off me, she hopped to the ground. “Nope. I told you I don’t regret the fun things I do.”
She righted her clothes, and I pocketed the tied-off condom, then did up my jeans.
“Fun,” I repeated myself.
“Oh, sorry, was that not the right word?” She stood tall and tapped her lip. “How about fucking amazing, incredibly orgasmic, overdue.”
“Better.”
I reached for her and hauled her against me for another meeting of our lips. Now we’d started this, I didn’t want to stop. Regret filled me at the fact we had separate beds for the night. What had seemed a crazy prospect earlier, the shared bed and sleeping the night together, now felt a natural step.
Rory let me love on her mouth, then patted my chest. “We’ll be locked out if we hang around much longer. The guy at the backpacking place gave us a curfew.”
Reluctantly, I collected her bag. We left the beach and crossed the road, returning to the hostel. At the door, I kissed her one last time. Rory grinned, then took her bag from me and spun away.
I washed up then found my way to a vacant bed and silently stripped to my T-shirt and boxers, lying on top of the blanket with my hands behind my head. Around me, others already slept. But rest did not come so easily. From my jeans pocket at the base of my mattress, a vibration alerted me to a text.
I fished out the device, the brightness temporarily blinding. Then the message from my brother resolved.
Max: I’m up at Durness. Find me tomorrow after work.
