Page 27 of Wicked Bite
“This time I would say you picked right.”
“And yet . . . you were a no-show.” Facts were facts. I waited. I’d ended up in the hospital and obsessing over him for weeks. Weeks of wondering if I’d done something wrong. If he thought about me, too. If he didn’t feel the way I did. And if he had felt the way I had, then why didn’t he come? In my mind, the truth was a very black and white, simple thing. He didn’t want me the way I wanted him. Guys show up when they want a woman. Simply put, that was the reality of things. And no amount of flirting would change that.
He groaned. “Indeed, I did not. However, in my defense, the reason I did not show up was in the service of a friend. He fell ill and nearly died. I couldn’t very well leave him like that. The recovery has been long and difficult. I am a loyal person. And I can be loyal to you, too. But you should know, you must know, I was going to come for you that night.”
“How would I know that?” A rush of butterflies hit my stomach and I had to look away from his intense gaze.
“Because you can feel this thing between us just as I can.”
That unspoken sizzle that shot through my veins and went straight to my stomach. It was magnetic, and wild, and free, and I wanted more of it. I hated the war in my head. Hated it more than anything. Because doing this and still knowing all it was going to do was end up hurting me later sucked. Yet that silly hope of mine whispered through my mind. Maybe he is the one. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it is finally your turn for a happily ever after. No one was perfect, least of all me. Why should I expect perfect from him?
“Piper, look at me,” he purred in that sexy accent, drawing my gaze back to him. “This isn’t a mistake. I am not a mistake. And your picker isn’t broken.”
I took a sip of my wine and sighed. Because in that moment, Grayson got me hook, line, and sinker. I tried to steel my heart against him and kill the hope that would inevitably be there for my own happily ever after that wouldn’t come. And yet I knew what the next move was going to be. I knew when I walked through the door to the hotel.
“So, how are the rooms here?”
A wide smile spread across his face. “Full of pleasures to be had.”
I knew my own personal hell was coming. But if I was going down this road, it might as well be while riding him. I chugged down the rest of my wine. “Care to show me?”
He rose to his feet, leaving his drink behind, and offered me his hand. “Anything you desire.”
I am so screwed.
CHAPTER TEN
PIPER
My pulse raced in my veins and excitement filled my body. My hand fit perfectly with his, like our fingers were meant to be wrapped around each other. My skin tingled where we touched. He was so calm, so smooth as he walked us out of the tavern and toward the elevators, like he had every confidence in what was about to happen. When we got to the doors, he dropped my hand and pressed the button. I stood there on the edge of wanting to leap on him and wanting to run. Everything in me desired Grayson, and the only reason I wanted to run was to guard my heart from falling for him. He was too everything: too perfect, too hot, too suave, too sexy.
But I wasn’t about to miss the chance of a lifetime because I was afraid of the future heartbreak. He might not even break my heart. We stood in silence with the tension sizzling between us. I turned toward him, and he didn’t face me.
“Wait.”
That one word sent a thrill down my body. “For what?”
“Everything, Little Creature. Everything.” The elevators dinged and the doors slid open. Grayson motioned for me to go first, and I sauntered by him.
When I spun around to face him, he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button. Yet he never took his eyes off me as the door slid shut. The moment they did, he prowled toward me, backing me up against the wall. His body pressed into mine and he placed his knee between my legs. He placed his hands against the wall behind me, caging me in. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. He was so close yet so controlled. Heat rolled off his body into mine and he pressed in closer.
“Are you sure about this, Piper?”
I nodded up at him. “I’m sure.”
“And the broken picker?”
I threw my arms around his neck. “What picker?”
His lips crashed into mine, and my whole body went on fire. The burning flavor of bourbon filled my mouth as his tongue danced with mine. His hands wound around my body and pressed into my skin. I felt every bit of him as he pulled me closer to him. I needed him closer, wanted him closer, like I never wanted anyone before.
The elevator bell dinged and we came to a stop. He pulled away so quickly I wasn’t ready to stop. I had to have him . . . all of him. The door slid open, and he grabbed my hand, pulling me from the elevator and down the hall. He walked with such casual swagger, like he had all the time in the world, and I was burning from the inside out. How was it possible to want someone so much and yet know they’d be the end of me? But if I was going down, it’d be with flaming multiple orgasms that only a guy like Grayson could do.
He pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He threw it wide open, and I was tired of waiting. There was a point between black and white when you didn’t want to walk in shades of gray anymore. And my decision was made. I pulled him to face me, and without hesitation, I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his hips. I wrapped my hands in his hair and yanked him too me. Our mouths came together, and I groaned in pleasure. His lips were firm yet soft against mine, and his tongue was warm, wet perfection. When his fingers splayed over my ass, I tightened my legs around him.
He staggered back toward the bed, and we fell onto it, cushioned by the mattress and a mountain of pillows. When he pulled away from my lips just to kiss down my neck, I threw my head back, giving him more room. His lips left a wet trail over my skin. Suddenly, my boots were on the floor and his hand snaked up my thigh, covering every inch of my skin. He looped his finger to the band of my panties and tugged them down ever so slowly. I wriggled against them, wanting them off now, but he didn’t speed up, just kept the controlled, leisurely pace. A warm chuckle rumbled in his chest.
“I’m going to enjoy making you wait.”
