Page 158 of Forever Never
“What colors do you see?” Brick’s voice was low and rough in her ear. His lip grazed her lobe, and she shivered involuntarily at the contact.
“I see greens and blues billowing like smoke,” she whispered back. The desire to slide into his arms even after her revelation was intense.
She glanced back at him, but his gaze was on the screen. The strong jaw under the neatly trimmed beard, the crinkles around his eyes. The firm set of his mouth.
His grip tightened without warning, and she sensed him tensing next to her. Scanning the room for the threat, she spotted the photo on the screen.
Brick looking dapper and stalwart on his wedding day. Audrey, stunning in white lace, beaming at him. Darlene and Gil posed next to them like family at the altar.
She remembered then. The why this wouldn’t work. He’d made his choice, and it hadn’t been her.
40
She gave serious thought to ignoring the knock on her door but recalled the shower incident and changed her mind.
“You ran away,” Brick said, pushing past her, not waiting for an invitation. While she had changed into her oversized hoodie and knee socks, he was still dressed for the party in dark slacks and a tie.
“I did not. I walked home at a leisurely pace,” she lied. As soon as the party wrapped, as soon as she’d done enough to help with the clean-up, she’d ducked out and run like hell before slipping on a patch of ice and almost taking a header through a tidy picket fence.
“You ran away. And that was after you shut me out.”
“I would hardly call giving you a blow job shutting you—”
“Don’t,” he snapped. The icy fire of his temper was evident in his gaze, his stance. He was coiled and ready.
“Don’t what?” she challenged.
“Don’t try to reduce what’s going on between us to that.”
“Sorry,” she said, heavy on the sarcasm. “I didn’t realize sucking your dick—”
She found herself backed against the wall with a hard, angry man in front of her. His hands were gentle on her, but the rest of him vibrated with anger. For some reason, she found his restraint fucking hot.
“No. We’re talking about this. No deflecting or distracting. We’re having it out.”
When he looked at her like this, it made her feel like she was the center of his universe. Like nothing else mattered but what was happening between them. But that wasn’t the truth.
“Youwant to talk?”
He nodded slowly, his teeth bared.
“You never want to talk.” Her voice shook as he leaned in and took a deep, carnal breath at her neck.
“I talk all the fucking time,” he insisted.
“Fine. Then talk,” she said, trying to duck under his arm but finding herself going nowhere as he cupped her jaw, holding her lightly by the throat.
“Do you know what it does to me to be that close to you and not be able to touch you like I want to?” he asked, his voice soft and jagged.
Wordlessly she shook her head.
“It’s fucking torture. It’s a new ring of hell to know what your skin feels like, to know what you taste like, but I still can’t touch you unless we’re alone.”
The hand at her throat coasted down over her shoulder and chest to her breast.
She drew in a breath. Her body melted against him, succumbing, surrendering.
But then his touch was gone, and with a growl, he slapped his palm against the wall above her head.
