Page 37 of Johny B

“Shit, Scarlett. This is nice,” I compliment. There’s a spiral staircase that, from what I can only assume, leads up to the bedroom and bathroom facilities, although we did walk past a door in the hallway which might be the John. Sure, from the outside it looks like one hell of a place, but inside, it’s more than I expected. Everything is to a high standard and must have cost a lot of bucks.

“Stop with the pleasantries, JB. Tell me what it is that you’re so desperately wanting to get off your chest, then fuck off and let me get back to my bed.”

“I’m sorry,” I blurt out, because, well, how else am I meant to start?

“Yeah, sure…” she interrupts. “If that’s it, then you can go now.” She turns to go back towards the door, but I grab a hold of her arm to stop her.

“Scarlett, please.” She stops, but sharply pulls her arm free. She moves over to the counter, putting space between us, and rests her back against it. Her arms tightly crossed over her body. For a split second, her eyes meet mine, and I see the defiance in them, but quickly she looks away, as if it hurts too much to keep eye contact.

“Go on then,” she sneers. “Speak.”

I take the footsteps needed to bring me closer to her, leaving not much space between us. My girl’s not stupid by any means, but I’m sure she’s now realizing that she’s made a rookie mistake. Standing here with her back against the counter, she’s giving me the perfect opportunity to crowd her, cage her in and giving her little room to run. At least not before I’ve had my say.

“I’m sorry.” I say again because when it comes to her, despite my reputation at being able to talk the pants off any woman, I find myself almost tongue tied.

“You keep saying that, but what for?” She fires back at me. Her arms are still tightly crossed over her body, a barrier against my closeness. Her eyes still refusing to meet mine.

“I’m sorry,” I say once more.

“You keep saying that, but I’m not even sure you know exactly you’re sorry for,” she fires back.

“For leaving. For being a fucking fool. A total asshole.” I drop my eyes to the floor for a moment, because seeing the hurt on her face pains me more than I can bear. But I deserve it. I should suffer for the lack of respect I’ve shown her. So, I lift my head and focus back on the beauty of her face. I needn’t have worried, because she can barely look at me.

“I should have contacted you as soon as I got to Florida. But instead, I immersed myself into club life, took on every run, every task. Anything that would keep me busy and my mind occupied. Otherwise, my head would’ve been consumed by you.”

Tentatively, I take a lock of her hair between my finger and caress the silky red strands between my fingertips. My other hand falls gently to her hip. The urge to grab hold of her, bring her body to mine, is real strong, but I keep my palm light, grazing the cotton fabric, my fingers itching to slide up to touch the slither of flesh showing above the waistband of her shorts. Fuck knows what that would do to me, because these simple touches have electricity surging through me like a lightning strike.

“The nights were the worst.” I confess. “Constantly fighting the urge to make those thousands of miles journey to get to you. But I knew if I did, Smoke would trip out, ruining any chance I had of ever getting back to you.”

“If that’s truly how you feel, why didn’t you at least call? Instead, you ghosted me. Not a word. Nothing.” Her eyes look glassy with unshed tears. A stab of pain sears my heart.

“I wanted to call you, but to hear your sweet voice would have been hellish.” I give in and pull her closer into my arms. “I’m not good with words, Scarlett…”

“Liar,” she hurls back at me as she wiggles to try and escape my hold “I know all about you, and your history with women. The way you sweet-talk them into your bed and have them falling to their knees. You’re a player, Johny B, and I’m just another mark on your tally.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I growl at her, tightening my hold on her. I’m pissed that she thinks that’s how it is with her, when it couldn’t be any further from the truth. “I don’t deny that I have a shady reputation, but hell, Scarlett, what do you expect from a hot-blooded man when sex is obtainable with no ties and little consequence?”

“With you, it’s different.”

“Meeting you… Damn woman, you make me feel things that I didn’t even think I was capable of.” I let out a deep sigh. “It’s hard to explain, because when it comes to love talk, you make me tongue tied.”

I bring my hand to her face, cupping her chin, tilting her head until her eyes meet mine. “Fuck, Scarlett. I’ve missed you so much. Not one hour of the day or night has gone by without my thoughts turning to you.”

“I’m sure you managed to fill your bed at night with women more than willing to keep you company,” she snaps back at me, turning her head away in an attempt to free herself from my hold. I let her, but I don’t give her space to move away from me.

“You jealous?” I tease.

“Don’t be absurd.” Tilting her head back, she looks to the ceiling, as if searching for God’s intervention, before dropping her head back down, focusing on anything but me. “I don’t care one iota what you get up to. What you do is of no concern to me.”

“I think the lady protests too much.” I crouch down a little, bringing me down to her eye level. I weave my head from side to side as she tries her absolute best to avoid my gaze. “Look at me, Scarlett.” With an air of reluctance, her eyes meet mine. “There’s been no women since the day I left you with the promise that we weren’t over, by any means.” She blinks rapidly. “I confess that the muscle in my right arm is a bigger than my left now,” I smirk, flexing my arm to prove it before placing it firmly back around her. “My thoughts were of you only, when I was jerking off.” A slight upturn at the corner of her mouth encourages me to go on. “Not sure I should be telling you this, but every time I had time to myself, whether it be in my room at the club, or a motel while out on a run, I needed to ease my permanently blue balls because you never left my thoughts. Fuck, right after seeing you with Smoke at the club, I had to whack off in the downstairs John at the clubhouse. Even though you shot me down. Do you realize how fucking sexy you are when you’re all riled up?” Her eyes go wide and when her mouth opens to say something, I lay the palm of my hand against her cheek, my thumb grazing her bottom lip. She stills.

“Do you know what my favorite is? When I’m in the shower, water hammering against my skin. The memory that has me losing all control, coming so hard that I can barely see?” I can tell by the dark arousal in her eyes, the pout of her open mouth, the way her tongue peeks through and wets her lips that she knows exactly what I’m referring to. “That was so fucking hot. Knowing that you were watching me. Do you know what I was thinking while I was getting myself off?” She shakes her head, her breathing now short sharp breaths. “I was imaging how your clit would feel against my tongue. How fucking good you’d taste, and how tight your sweet pussy would be when I slipped my cock inside you.”

“Oh fuck,” Scarlett exhales against my lips when I bring them close to hers.

“I need to kiss you, Scarlett.” The seconds feel like hours as I wait for her to agree to my request. “Let me kiss you.”

She doesn’t reply. Not with words, anyway. Her hands fly around my neck, pulling me against her and her sweet, soft lips. But the kiss is anything but soft. It’s hard, passionate and as needy as fuck, and I meet it with the same uncontrollable need.

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