I ALMOST KILLED HER.
She jumped onto the street out of nowhere, running mere inches from the hood of my car. I stopped, stamping the brake and simultaneously slamming my hand on the horn, making her jump.
Her hood fell off, revealing a mass of wet, blonde hair and the side of a pretty face that made me realize who this careless girl was.
She didn’t stop, just waved her hand and ran into the darkness. Into the pouring rain, cutting across lawns and between buildings. I followed, driving around until I found her at the beach, kicking off her shoes.
“What the hell are you up to?” I mutter, watching her run toward a lifeguard tower. “Fucking reckless,” I groan, killing the engine.
The rain hammers the windscreen hard enough that the wipers can’t keep up. According to the weather forecast, it’s supposed to get worse. A red weather warning has been issued in OC with projected winds reaching eighty miles an hour. And she’s out on the beach like it’s an eighty-five-degree sunny day.
I slam the door shut, shuddering under the pouring rain. I’m drenched within a minute as I cross the pavement onto the sand, jogging toward the tower.
“What the hell are you doing?” I boom, rounding the corner. “It’s pouring it down, Mia.”
She watches me climb the ramp. “You know, once every now and then, you could start a conversation with hey instead of yelling. How did you know where I was?”
“Hey. You jumped out in front of my car. I almost hit you. Why are you here?”
She gestures to the angry ocean. “I’m enjoying the show.”
“Get up. I’m taking you home.”
“Thank you, but—”
“I said get up. You’ll catch pneumonia if you stay here any longer. You’re soaking wet, and this will get worse fast.”
“I’ll be fine. I always sit here when it rains.”
I crouch before her, growing more annoyed when I realize the hoodie she’s wearing is a men’s size large at least. “Whose hoodie is this?”
She glances down like she has to check which fucker’s hoodie she put on today before she answers.
“Um, it’s James’s. Why?”
“And who’s James? Your boyfriend?”
Lighting crashes into one of the lamps on the pier, and we watch the rest flicker out one by one.
“No, he’s a friend. The best driver my dad ever had in his team if you want to believe his word.”
I clench my teeth, reining the urge to tear that hoodie off and give her mine. “I’ll fling you over my shoulder if I have to. Don’t fucking test me, Mia. Be a good girl and get up.”
“I know this is uncomfortable, wet, and cold… Please don’t feel you have to stay. I know my way home.” An adorable frown twists her pretty face before she quietly adds, “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Watch me.” I lunge forward, grip her waist and—as promised—haul her up, then over my shoulder, not breaking a sweat. She weighs a quarter of what I bench at the gym. I wrap my hand around her thighs so she doesn’t slide down my back and face-plant the ground. “We’re leaving.”
“Let me go!” she squeals, bombarding my back with tiny fists. “Oh God! What are you doing?! Put me down!”
She’s soaked through and so cold. “If you end up sick, we’ll have a problem.”
“Nico!” Mia whacks my back again, the blow barely noticeable against the raindrops. “Put me down! This isn’t funny.”
“Am I laughing? You’re not staying here in the rain.”
She wiggles a little bit, arching further down my back as her hip butts against my head, and then—
“Fuck!” My grip tightens around her legs. “You did not just do that. Open your mouth.”
She clamps her teeth harder into the flesh around my ribs, then eases off enough to speak. “You lied! You said hands go where it hurts! Put me down!”
“No.” I quicken my pace, stepping onto the pavement. My back straightens like a metal rod when she bites again. “Stop it, Mia.” I open the passenger door, nudging her butt. “Let go.” She shakes her head, still buried in my flesh like a vampire, her teeth digging deeper. Without thinking twice, I lift her skirt and slap her ass. The sound of my palm connecting with her damp, cold skin makes my cock twitch. “I said let go.”
That does it. She gasps, twisting back enough to hold herself straight and brace against me, her cheeks scarlet, a tiny river of rain trickling down her chin.
“You spanked me,” she mutters, doll-like shock painting her gorgeous face.
“Only once. You bit me twice.” I arrange her arms and legs until she’s safely tucked in the passenger seat.
“You spanked me,” she says again when I take the wheel.
A gleam of puzzled delight shines through her surprise, and my cock stirs hell.
Jesus, baby… you liked that?
“Next time you pull a stunt like this, I’ll put you over my knee. You won’t sit for days.” I’m not sure if it’s a promise or a threat at this point.
“You’re insane…”
I readjust myself in the seat, filling my mind with toads, cauliflower, and rats to counteract the anxious prickling of desire coursing through my veins.
It works. My cock settles, and I shift into reverse but don’t release the brake. “Put your seatbelt on, Mia.”
She stares me down, all adorable defiance, but folds quickly, buckling up.
“Good girl. You better hope you didn’t catch a cold out there.” I reverse onto the road, taking the shortest way to her house so she can take a hot bath.
“I’ve got Tylenol and a huge backlist of books to get through. I won’t mind a few days in bed.”
“You also have a Ball to attend this weekend.”
◆◆◆
Forty minutes later, I slam the door to my house, stomp up the stairs, and get straight under the showerhead, stripping off the wet clothes as a stream of hot water patters my back. You wouldn’t think my dick could be hard again while my teeth clatter, but it is.
Painfully hard.
Fuck…
Mia all wet, angry, and turned on by the slap. I have that aroused, surprised gleam of her eyes saved in my memory bank, the delete button grayed out, unavailable.
I palm the base of my cock, squeezing hard, and let my mind off the short leash. I need to live out the fantasy. I’ve imagined fucking her, but those clips were short, second-long bursts of me thrusting into Mia… I can’t live on scraps anymore. I need the whole thing, or I won’t move forward.
Once.
Just this once, I’ll give in…
I’ve not done this since the night I met her, refusing to jerk off to the thought of my brother’s girl, but it’s either that or popping pills.
The door to my bedroom closes with a click, and my head snaps in that direction. She’s there. Soaking wet, trembling from the cold rain saturating her dress and that hoodie she better never wear again, or I won’t be held accountable for my actions.
She steps forward, holding my gaze. “I’m so cold,” she utters softly, chin trembling as she stops by the pane of glass separating the bedroom from the showcase shower.
Gorgeous. So fucking gorgeous.
Every tense, knotted muscle in my body relaxes. The buzz littering my head fades; nothing but soul-soothing quiet blanketing my thoughts. That’s what she does. She cages my demons, introducing a kind of stuffed-inside, tranquil feeling.
“Come here.” I hold my hand out, waiting for her to take it.
Waiting for her to trust me. To lose herself, obey, and submit to the pull between us.
Instead of a step forward, she steps back, pulling the gray hoodie off before reaching behind her to unzip the dress. It falls down her smooth thighs, every inch of her petite body as perfect as I’d memorized.
I stroke myself. Slowly. So fucking slowly, savoring every second, prolonging the moment.
Mia steps out of her dress, nothing but lacey, beige lingerie covering her body. Lord, you created perfection. Shy, cute, unreasonably titillating. She steps forward, one small foot after the other, and takes my hand, giving up control.
I yank her to me, the urgency of my touch like the kickback of a gun. She’s close. As close as I’ve wanted for weeks. Her back to my chest, my arms around her, one under her ribs, the other clasped over her collarbones. I hold her, soothe her… protect her.
“You’re trembling.” I drop my head, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to the dip in her shoulder. “Your pretty butt will sting for days if you ever do that again.”
She sighs, leaning into me. “I like the rain.”
“And I like knowing you’re safe, warm, and comfortable.”
She spins around, tracing the muscles on my arms with the tips of her fingers as she looks into my eyes. “I’m here now. You’ve got me, Nico. What will you do with me?”
I tilt my head back, letting the hot water patter my face, and squeeze my cock at the base, stroking faster.
“I’ll take care of you, baby.” I haul her up. She wraps her legs around my waist. “Warmer?” I ask, standing in a spot where the water cascades down Mia’s back.
“Not yet. Hold me closer.”
My lips are level with hers. The feverish need to taste her spreads through my veins, giving me second-degree burns.
“You have me where you want me,” she reminds me, resting her forehead against mine, her small hands cupping my face. “Why aren’t you taking? Take, Nico.”
I bury my face in her neck, breathing her in. Honeysuckle. Sweet… so fucking sweet. I peck her skin lightly, slowly… letting her feel the heat of my breath.
The pace of my hand pumping the length of my cock turns unforgiving.
I look up, our lips, our kiss a whisper away…
And I still just as the release detonates at the base of my spine, and the load splatters the tiles. A low, pained growl flies past my lips.
“I can’t have you, baby,” I grunt into the empty room, my eyes closed, the orgasm stripping me of the firewall. “You’re not mine to take, no matter how much I want you.”
This is messed up. I can’t even fuck her inside my head because my brain is a cockblocker.
