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  She took a step back, looking apprehensive. “Dex, I—”

  “Can we just go?” I was not going to let this shit ruin our evening, not when I had big plans to impress her. “Please?”

  She hesitated for a minute before she nodded, slipping her hand through mine. “Sure, let’s go.”

  ***

  The dinner flew by, with some of the best conversation I’d had in years. She filled me in on her family, her job, her plans for the restaurant and the apartment. But just as I was leaning in for a kiss while we waited for dessert, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face out of the corner of my eye. Her fucking dentist friend, and he was headed our way.

  She caught me glaring over her shoulder and turned her head just in time to catch his kiss on her cheek.

  “Oh, I thought I’d surprise you,” he said, smiling. “What are you doing here? I tried to call you earlier to ask if you’d like to join us for my brother’s birthday dinner.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate a boisterous crowd at a corner table. “But you didn’t call me back.”

  She gave me a tight smile before she said, “Um, I was going to. Later.”

  He glanced at me, as though noticing me for the first time. “You look familiar. Have we met?”

  “He was at Cheryl’s and Jared’s party last night,” Cora offered. “Iain, this is Dex.”

  He extended his hand and narrowed his gaze. “Dex. That’s an uncommon name.” His gaze swung back to Cora. “Didn’t you say your ex-husband’s name was Dex…the biker?”

  I shook his hand a little harder than necessary to get his attention. “That would be me.”

  He frowned at Cora. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. You said you and your ex-husband weren’t on good terms.”

  “We weren’t,” Cora said, blushing. “But, um, we talked last night—”

  “Tell him the truth, baby.” I winked at her, deepening the flush staining her cheeks. “We did a hell of a lot more than talk.” I knew I was crossing a line, but I didn’t give a shit. It may have been an asshole move, but I wanted this guy to know Cora was mine.

  Iain’s jaw dropped momentarily before his gaze swung back to Cora. “Is this true?”

  She closed her eyes, looking mortified. “Iain, it’s not like we were exclusive. We’d only been on a few dates.”

  “But you knew I wanted you to meet my family,” he said, between clenched teeth. “I thought that would have given you some indication that I was serious about taking things to the next level.”

  “Yeah, too bad about that,” I said, swirling the remaining wine in my glass before knocking it back. “I guess you win some, you lose some, huh buddy?”

  Cora narrowed her eyes at me and I knew she’d let me have it later, but in the meantime I was enjoying this. It meant one less threat for me to worry about.

  “Iain, I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” Cora said, shooting me a warning glare. “I honestly planned to call you when I got home tonight—”

  “If you got home tonight,” I said, grinning.

  No question about it, she was going to lower the boom later. But angry sex with Cora had always been a highlight of the week for me, so I really didn’t mind.

  “What is wrong with you?” she hissed, kicking me under the table.

  I rolled my tongue in my cheek. “What’s the problem?”

  “You’re the problem.” She threw her napkin down on the table before standing.

  Uh oh. Looks like I pushed her a little too far.

  I reached into my pocket and peeled a few hundreds off the top of my billfold. No way was I going to wait around for a bill and risk her getting away.

  “Cora, can I give you a ride home?” the dentist asked, gripping her wrist.

  “Take your fucking hands off her,” I warned. “She came with me. She’s leaving with me.”

  “I don’t believe this,” Cora said, slipping out of his grasp as she muttered, “I’m sorry, Iain. I have to go.”

  I followed her out of the restaurant, grabbing her arm when she tried to cross the street to hail a cab. “Don’t even think about it.” I steered her to the parking lot at the side of the building. “Get in,” I said, opening the passenger’s door of my car.

  “Fuck off, Dex!”

  “Okay, I admit maybe I crossed a line in there, but—”

  “Why do you have to act like such a fucking Neanderthal?”

  Wasn’t it obvious? Because she brought out the caveman in me. But I didn’t think she’d appreciate that response, so my tone was soft as I crowded her against the car, “You make me crazy, girl. You always have.”

  She closed her eyes when my hand grazed her cheek. “We are so messed up. I’m afraid we haven’t changed at all.”

  “Sure, we have.” I was ready to have babies with her now. I hadn’t been then. Nothing says stay the fuck away from my woman like a big pregnant belly. I’d just keep her pregnant for the next ten years. Problem solved. Ah, she was right. I was a fucking Neanderthal. What was wrong with me?

  “You want me to apologize?” I whispered, running my hand down her back to rest on her ass. “Fine, I’m sorry. But I’d much rather show you than tell you.”

  She let out a strangled scream, sounding cute and frustrated at the same time. “Sex is not the answer to everything. Haven’t you learned that by now?”

  I should have, but when it came to sex and Cora, I got easily distracted. “Teach me,” I whispered, nipping her bottom lip while pinning her against the doorframe with my body. “Tell me what you want from me.” My voice was low and husky, full of naughty innuendo. I swept my tongue inside her mouth and she responded without hesitation, putting my fears to rest.

  When we broke apart, she said, “I want you to recognize the fact that I’m my own person, that I’m free to talk to anyone I want without you getting all territorial.”

  She wasn’t being unreasonable. Logically, I knew that. But sex, jealousy, regret and love created a potent cocktail that made me irrational. “As long as we’re not talking about guys you’ve dated.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Have you noticed I’ve never made these demands on you?”

  “Wouldn’t bother me if you did,” I said, shrugging. “I’m only interested in one of my ex’s.” I leaned in to kiss her again. “The one I married… and never should have divorced.”

  She gasped. “Dex…”

  “It’s true.” I was done holding back. Divorcing her was the stupidest mistake I’d ever made and if I could rectify it I would. “I was an idiot to let you go.”

  Her smile was sad as she laid her hand on my chest. “It wasn’t right. The way we treated each other.” She shook her head. “All we did was hurt each other, Dex. It was too intense. The fights, the—”

  “I never learned how to fight fair,” I admitted. “In my world you just went for the jugular.” And that’s what I’d done with her, said the things I knew would hurt the most. I wasn’t proud of it. Hell, I was ashamed of it. But I was doing the best I could. Now I knew better and I could do better. If she’d let me.

  “Tell me what’s different now,” she challenged. “You’re still a hothead. How do I know we won’t get into more nasty fights and say things that wind up hurting each other all over again?”

  “Will we fight?’ I grinned. “I can pretty much guarantee that. We’re both stubborn, passionate people. But we’ve been around the block, Cor. We know what we’ve got is worth fighting for.”

  “I can’t believe I’m feeling like this again,” she said, lowering her head. “Especially about you. This is crazy.”

  I never thought we’d get another shot either, but I was glad we were. “Here’s the deal,” I said, linking my hands behind her neck. “I loved you.” Still do. “What we had, that was real. Was it perfect? Hell no. But show me a relationship that is.” I could tell I was wearing her down. “Answer one question for me.”

  “Sure.”

  “Did you accept that job in Paris believing I�
�d go with you or expecting me not to?” That question had been plaguing me for years.

  “I wanted you to come,” she said, holding on to my arms. “I really thought you would. Until we had that last blowout. That’s when I knew we’d reached the point of no return.”

  I remembered that fight like it was yesterday. Some guy in a bar grabbed her ass when she walked past and I laid him out. I thought I was justified. She thought I overreacted. In hindsight maybe I did, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it again.

  “Seeing you again was wild,” I said, preferring to think about the recent past. “I never expected to have those feelings after all this time.”

  “Neither did I.” Her expression was somber. “That really caught me off guard.”

  “You know what caught me off guard,” I whispered in her ear. “How hot it was, being back in your bed.”

  Her sigh was shaky, like she was trying to hold it together. “That was hot,” she agreed. “So hot.”

  “It’s something to build on,” I suggested, wanting so badly to believe it was true.

  “Is it?” She closed her eyes. “We tried building a relationship on sex once before, remember? That didn’t work out so well for us.”

  She’d always been the mature, responsible one. The plotter and planner. I wasn’t surprised she wanted a written guarantee that I wouldn’t break her heart again. “We may have rushed into it,” I conceded. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t right.”

  “You can honestly say that?” she asked. “Given how things turned out.”

  “Baby,” I said, kissing her. “That was just the first chapter of our story. It’s not over yet, not by a long shot.”

  Chapter Seven

  Cora

  No matter my mood, sex with him was always the answer. If I was sad it made me feel better. If I was angry it calmed me down. If I was stressed it relaxed me. Tonight it helped me to forget. I didn’t know if we were making a huge mistake or not, but when he took my clothes off I could suspend all thought and just feel.

  I could absorb his kiss, map his body with my hands and mouth, give and take pleasure, and believe there was nothing more important in the world in that moment that sharing myself with him.

  It was sensual and erotic. Intense and powerful. It scared me and made me feel alive. It made me remember and helped me forget.

  I closed my eyes and got lost in the sensations as he kissed and licked me all over. His tongue danced over my nipples before drawing them into his mouth and sucking hard enough to give me that bite of pain that always made me moan for more.

  I laced my hands through his hair, watching him feast on my breasts. That was the thing about Dex. He didn’t do sex half-assed like most of the guys I’d been with. He wasn’t in it for a quick release, his, before bailing before I could get mine. No. He made sure I got mine. First. Last. And in between.

  His smirk was cocky when he glanced to find me watching him. “Feel good, baby?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Then why don’t you show me.”

  He moved slowly down my body, killing me with anticipation as his lips brushed my stomach before trailing over my hips. He pressed one finger into me, followed by another as I arched my back, taking it deeper.

  “Hmmm, feels so good, doesn’t it?”

  My breath caught in my throat when he hooked his fingers, finding the spot that resulted in a hot rush every time. His tongue just grazed my clit before swiping at it when I begged for more. He loved to hear me beg, to know how much I needed him to get off.

  “I need to come,” I whispered, gasping as he blew on my clit. “Please, Dex.”

  “So fucking hot,” he muttered. “I could lick you all night.”

  Yes, please! If I had to choose between having him lick me and fill me, I couldn’t. Both ranked among the best experiences of my life.

  His tongue glided over the tight bud, back and forth, side to side, making me scream as I bucked, every muscle in my body clenching until I was shivering and trying to remember how to breathe.

  His blue eyes were darker and more intense as he inched up my body, all pretense of amusement long gone. He had his game face on and I knew that meant I was in trouble. He wasn’t going to stop until he’d drawn multiple orgasms from me… and made me forget the reason we were at odds. He was a master at this game and I was too weak to rewrite the rules, especially when the reward made playing by his rules so worth it.

  He didn’t just kiss me. He invaded my mouth, stealing my breath, while pinning my arms over my head. My tits were rubbing against his chest, making me hot all over again as I spread my legs wider to accommodate him.

  “My greedy little thing,” he said, nipping at my bottom lip. “You want to come again, don’t you.”

  God, yes. Preferably all over him this time. “What do you think?” I asked, refusing to beg for it the way he clearly wanted me to. He may think he held all the cards, but I still had a few tricks up my sleeve to challenge him. I rotated my hips, coating the tip of his shaft as it slipped between my folds.

  His grip tightened and I could tell he was fighting the urge to drive into me.

  “What are you waiting for?” I asked, tipping my hips up to meet him. “You don’t want this?”

  “You have no fucking idea how much I want this-you.”

  “Then take me.” He may have my arms pinned, but I wasn’t completely at his mercy. Not when I could still kiss him. When it came to kissing, this man could write a book. He didn’t just kiss. He explored. With a purpose. He was communicating without words. Arousing me without his hands. Turning the tables on me… Okay, maybe I was at his mercy and not above begging.

  “Please, Dex. I need you.”

  That statement was rewarded with a flash of white teeth. “Yeah?”

  “You know I do. Fuck me. Please.”

  Those few words transformed him from a cocky tease to a man on a mission. And his mission? To ruin me for all other men. To make him the only one I wanted for all time. It became obvious with the slow slide combined with his whispered words in my ear. “You need this, don’t you, baby? You crave it?”

  “Yes.” I was already writhing, seeking freedom so I could touch him.

  “Tell me. I want to hear you say it.”

  “I thought about it all the time.” I was past the point of caring whether I embarrassed myself. Words were tumbling out of my mouth faster than I could process them, but it was the unfiltered truth. “I’d go to bed at night and remember…”

  He rumbled with satisfaction while picking up the pace, pinning me with his deep, fast thrusts.

  “What it felt like to have you filling me like this. I’d touch myself and pretend you were between my legs licking me.”

  “Fuck….”

  I could tell my words were getting him closer, but I knew my man. He wouldn’t come until I had.

  He flipped me over and grabbed my hips, hoisting my ass in the air. “This,” he said, smoothing his rough palm over my tattoo. “You don’t know what this does to me.”

  I cried out when he rammed into me hard, without warning. But the pain morphed into pleasure when he shifted, hitting just the right spot. I curled my fists into the sheets, thinking about the last time we’d been in this bed together. It was the night I told him it was over and I’d cried myself to sleep when he stormed out.

  I closed my eyes, squeezing out the bad memories when his hand came down hard on my ass.

  “That’s for pretending you don’t belong to me.” He smoothed his hand over the sting. “When this says otherwise.” He curled his body over mine, making me gasp when he rolled my engorged clit between his thumb and forefinger.

  He’d always gotten off on hearing that word. Mine. And I felt like a hypocrite every time I said it because there was a part of me that wanted him to possess me like he was now. But there was also a part of me that was terrified of his jealous streak.

  His finger was stroking my swollen nub now, hard enough, fa
st enough to take me where I was dying to go. But I knew he was exerting his control now, reminding me what it would take to cross the finish line. “Dex, I…”

  “Let me hear it, baby.” He glided his tongue up my spine, making me shiver as I pushed back, seeking more. “Let me hear you say you’re mine.”

  It was a familiar dance. I give him what he wants. He gives me what I want. I stroke his ego. He strokes my clit. “What if I don’t?” We both knew I would, but I liked to make him sweat.

  He chuckled before sinking his teeth into my shoulder. “We both know my sexy, dirty girl wants to come again.”

  He was so hard, so deep, and I was so turned on. He was right. I’d never last. Still I rolled my hips before opening wider for him. I curled my lips into a satisfied smile when I tightened my hold on him, closing around him like a vise.

  “Fuck… Cor…”

  Damn. That shift of power felt good. I eased my hand between my legs, hoping he wouldn’t notice. No such luck.

  “Oh no, you don’t.” He grabbed my arms, pinning them behind my back. “I say when you come. Your orgasms are mine.”

  Everything he did turned me on. It wasn’t fair. I should be mad at him for standing between me and the release I so desperately needed, but I couldn’t because I knew when it came it would rock me.

  He grinded against my ass, using my hands to gain leverage as he picked up speed.

  He was rocking the huge bed with the force of his thrusts, making me wonder how it was possible he wasn’t splitting me in two. It should hurt. Instead it felt incredible as the anticipation built.

  My mouth was open and he slipped two digits inside, ordering me to lick them.

  Once I’d gotten his fingers wet, he rimmed my ass, making me push back against it without thinking. It had been a hell of a long time since I’d had anything in there. But I trusted Dex. I knew he would never hurt me.

  “I want to fill you up.” His voice was rough and hoarse, like he’d just smoked a pack. “I want you to take me. Everywhere.”