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"Shy doesn't suit you, gorgeous,"
watch as she rolls her lips, almost as if the voice in her head is telling her the same thing as mine. Calm the fuck down. It’s an impossible task on most days, but as I fall from a boxing induced adrenaline high with Sierra knelt in front of me, her concentration so focused on fixing me up and making sure I’m okay, impossible has taken on a whole new meaning.
"Does it sound like one?" she breathes, wiggling her ass on my thighs. My eyes darken, heat flaring in my groin as she rubs against my hardening cock with a knowing smirk. "You’re playing a very dangerous game, my little fighter.” My gaze is hungry, straight primitive as I become transfixed on the way her chest rises and falls so quickly, her attraction to me so obvious. It’s like looking in a Goddamn mirror.
My pulse is fast and thumping like a kick drum. Fuck. It feels like I’ve just run a marathon. Suddenly my hand on her neck isn’t enough, and I’m gripping her hip with a splayed palm, kneading it and using it to pull her closer. A groan slips between us when her leather-clad center slides against my cock, our clothes the only thing keeping me from taking her right here.
I wish that I didn’t love the sound of my name on her lips as much as I do. It only fuels my need to hear it fall from those pretty lips that much more.
With a pinch to Sierra’s waist, I kiss the top of her head and pull her back flush to my front, wrapping my arms around her as my light laughter brushes her hair.
I stare at the woman leaning back against my chest and smile, feeling completely at ease. With a sigh I slide my thumb under Sierra’s shirt and rub the smooth skin above her pants. “You jumped away from me pretty quickly back there. You don't happen to be embarrassed by me, do you, baby?"
"No." I shrug. "But it would make what I have planned for you later a bit more interesting."
The thought of taking her home and hearing her scream my name while I fuck her against every surface in my apartment has my cook hardening, pressing into her back.
"Who said I was coming home with you?" she croaks, pushing back against me just enough to let me know she can feel exactly what she does to me. "Me." The word is harsh, dominant. My tone leaves no room for argument, taking me by surprise.
With a helpless grin that has me feeling like a little boy, I push myself off the bench and collect my shit. Pulling open the locker room door, I wait for Sierra to walk past me before letting my right palm connect with her ass. Her
In the past two weeks since my first ever boxing match, Braden’s only managed to slither farther under my skin. When I’m not at the office, I’m with him. And in the moments that we’re not together, the thoughts of him consume me. I let them consume me. I should be more frustrated with how far inside my chest he’s managed to bury himself, and I hate that I ache for him to stay there forever.
“Well if it isn’t my favourite girl. What do I owe the honour?”
“Baby,” he whispers, and I hear something like protectiveness in his voice. It settles down on me like a weighted blanket, comforting me in a small way I didn’t think was possible. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”
I hear him shout something to someone and then the slamming of a door before he speaks again. “I’m on my way, sweetheart, and I’m going to stay on the phone with you until I get there. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, but there’s no way I’m hanging up this phone knowing how upset you are. Got it?”
“What happened, sweetheart?” Braden’s finger’s tighten in my hair and his nails scratch at my scalp, the sensation making me whimper.
“What do you mean by that, Sierra?” His words ache in the worst way, settling deep in my gut. I swallow thickly while touching his scruffy jaw, overwhelmed with the need to relax him before he does something stupid. Suddenly his cold brown eyes move from the wall to me, pinning me with a look tainted with the desire to punish. “Did somebody say something to you? Fuck. Did somebody touch you? I’ll kill them.” He spits the words like he’s disgusted by them. I flinch, and his eyes soften slightly, his grip on my hair loosening.
“He can’t have you. Tell me what you need me to do and I’ll do it. That pompous prick won’t know what hit him.”
“We’ll figure it out. I promise. That bastard won’t be getting anything from you.” Braden pushes me further against the wall while moving impossibly closer to me, like he needs to reassure himself I’m really here. The possessiveness he’s showing sags in my stomach before settling between my legs. I tense around him, my thighs beginning to shake.
Braden’s face falls in my neck again and he shutters a breath against my skin, thrusting up slowly between my legs. “We need to go home, baby.” I nod quickly, anxiously, unable to pretend like that’s not exactly what I want. “Then take me home.”
“That never gets old.” I smirk and push my hair back and out of my face as the water falls directly on top of me. Gripping her waist, I take a step back, pulling her under the water, savoring the moment her eyes flutter shut when the warmth runs over her goosebump covered skin. The way her features relax makes me smile,
“I like looking at you.” Her gaze falls to the water beneath our feet and I raise my brow. “That surprises you?” It shouldn’t, and if it does, I’ve clearly been doing a shit job of making her feel as good about herself as I thought I was. The thought of her doubting how phenomenal she is has anger bleeding into my veins.
“Look at me,” I plead. She swallows quickly but does as I say. “You’re stunning. I don’t know how you don’t already know that. I’m sure you hear it all the time. And I have no idea how you ended up with me.”
I continue to drag my nails up and down Sierra’s back as she rests her head on my chest and a flat palm near my collarbone. Her body curves into mine like it belongs there, like it was made to fit mine. It’s a ridiculous thought, but one I think about anyway as the silence wraps around us. She’s much calmer than she was a few hours prior, and I find myself finally able to relax.
knew I would have done anything she asked me to right then. There wasn’t a single unforgivable crime I wouldn’t have committed for her.
Running away from our problems isn't going to work for me. Not anymore.
"Hello to you too, fighter."
I ramble before Sierra cuts me off with an adorable giggle that sends snaring heat straight to my cock. I feel that giggle from my toes to my Goddamn ears.
She’s finally looking at me again, her beautiful face beaming with mischief. "But you have to promise me something." "Anything." "You have to dance with me." I throw my head back and laugh. "It's funny that you think I'll be doing anything but."
I don’t know whether to get down on my knees for this man right here in my apartment hallway or throw myself at him, knowing that he’ll catch me without hesitation. The way my heart thumps so rapidly against my chest bone is terrifying, but I revel in it. Heated amber eyes burn into my skin as he looks me up and down, striking a match to the arousal in my blood and setting my insides on fire. My stare carries the same intensity as his, if the groan that rumbles in his chest is anything to go by.
An array of simple black rings are placed neatly on three of his five knuckles. It’s a different look for Braden than I’m used to,
His hips push against me and for the first time tonight, I meet his stare. My lips part at how softly he’s looking at me, like he wasn’t just eye-fucking me a second ago. It brings a chill to my skin, and I shiver against his chest. If there wasn’t a familiar hardness pressing against my stomach, I would have assumed that I imagined the past few minutes. “Maybe we don’t have to go to this wedding after all.” His words are gruff, raspy and thick with need. My eyes widen briefly before I smile, cheeks stained pink.
backs away too soon, and a finger is placed under my chin, tilting it upward until our eyes meet again. Braden softly mumbles his next words as if he isn’t sure of them. As if he doesn’t understand them himself. “The dress is perfect. You look perfect.”
I find myself lost in the way he looks at me—like I’m his. Like he’d tear apart anyone who tried to come between us.
He licks his bottom lip and tilts his head to the side. “I just don’t know if I want anybody else to see you like this. I want this to be for me and only me.” “It is all for you.” My breath catches in my throat when his hand moves up my side, cupping the side of my breast and squeezing.
Braden shifts the hand massaging the side of my breast to grip the full weight of it. “Tell me, baby. Did you skip the bra on purpose? Were you hoping that I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of your perfect tits?” He squeezes the heavy breast in his hand before dragging his thumb across the nipple. “That I would have to have a taste before I paraded you around, letting other men see how fucking amazing you look in this dress?”
The grin that spreads across his face is evil, maniacal even. “No, my little fighter. From now until the end of the night, I’m going to be a perfect gentleman, and you’re going to keep those soaked panties on so that you remember exactly who you’re coming home with tonight. I can’t have you forgetting who it was that made that pussy so wet, now can I?” He clicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth and winks.
“My, my, Sierra. Are you trying to trick me into breaking my own rules and having my way with you in this hallway? Who knew you were so naughty.”
“It couldn’t be farther from a bad thing, sweetheart,” he says while I grab my clutch from inside and lock the door. When I return, Braden extends his elbow towards me and I take it, letting him guide us outside and into his car.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to one. I’m glad you’re here with me.” Braden presses his lips softly to my forehead and I lean towards him, closing my eyes.
reach over and place my hand on her thigh, squeezing the bare skin over her knee where the dress has ridden up. Toying with the hem, I smile, happy to have her with me. Fuck, she’s a sight for sore eyes. All warm, pink cheeks and bright eyes that hold the power to consume me with a single look.
register her compliment and smirk. So, she thinks I have timeless cheek bones, eh? Can’t wait to tease her about that later.
like her,” Mom whispers and walks away, leaving my chest filled with pride. Me too, Mom. I really fucking like her.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look yet?" Braden asks, the words kissing the skin of my shoulder seconds before his lips do. I tighten my arms around his neck and hide my growing smile in his shirt, welcoming the familiar smell of his cologne.
There's an unmissable playfulness in his eyes, one that always sparks when he's happy. Really happy. The thought alone of him feeling so lighthearted and giddy while in my presence makes me feel prouder than I probably should. "Well, I'm going to tell you again," he murmurs, kissing my hair tenderly. "You look stunning."
"Give me one more dance. Then I can show you what I mean."
Braden’s hands move from my hips to my sides before his finger’s are digging into them. I shove away from him, squealing and swatting at him. “You think it’s funny that I nearly threw up all over the table? Wait until I get you home, little fighter. You won’t be laughing then.”
A portrait of pure joy is staring right at me in the form of a truly beautiful man. One with bushy, scarred eyebrows, eyes the same shade as expensive whiskey, and a smile that could turn even the most ruthless of people into a puddle of goo at his feet. Braden is protective in the best ways and also playful enough that in those few moments where you find yourself stuck in the realities of being a grown-up, he can make you feel like a kid again. He’s everything that I’ve been needing and begging for.
His mouth falls, and he lets out a wavering exhale. “I will never hold a flame to your beauty, my little fighter. I promise you that.”
"I'm way too horny to be driving right now," he groans and I watch him palm the thick bulge in his slacks.
