Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (22 page)

I took a quick sip as I stood. "No,
we're just dreamers who sometimes lose our sense of reality."

"Aren't you getting deep?" She
walked with me to the trashcan and stiffened as I tossed the trash and turned,
pulling her into a tight hug before leaning down and brushing my lips past
hers.

"I wanna get deeper. You up for an
afternoon romp in the sheets, Miss Non-committal?" I kissed her again,
just a peck, but I could tell she wanted more. So much more.

Funny enough, I couldn't imagine her
wanting as much as I wanted. Maybe I was wrong. I could only hope I would find
out soon. Two weeks would be over before I could blink twice.

"There's the guy I was starting to
like." She laughed and pushed at my chest. "Come on, let's go see
what everyone else is up to."

"And then we can get deeper?"
She popped me in the chest, and I laughed. "Alright. Shit. I had to try.
I'm
that
guy, remember?"

"No, I don't think you are." She
took my hand, most likely not realizing that her comment was one of the nicest
things she could have said to me.

Chapter 23

Cora

Holding hands with Brody shouldn't have
been that big of a deal, but I just couldn't shake the idea that he really
wasn't the kind of guy who held hands with just anyone. It made it
special...made me feel special, which was dangerous, but I was done fighting for
a little while. We would part ways after we slept together, I had no doubt. I
wanted to hang on until then and enjoy the intensity of the physical attraction
that sat between us.

"Why are we going to hang out with
everyone else?" He glanced over at me, pulling me back as we stopped at
the red light.

I glanced down the road to see a bus
flying toward us and backed up. "What's with me lately?"

"You're just relaxed. Enjoy it. I'll
be your knight in shining armor and keep you from getting hit by the next bus
coming toward us."

"Yeah, and you'll expect something in
return." I smiled over at him before we moved across the road.

"Just a kiss, and from the way things
have been going the last day or so, I'm thinking you might enjoy it more than
me." He wagged his eyebrows.

"So cocky." I pulled my hand
from his and slipped my hands back into my pockets. "How much longer are
you out here at the lake?"

"Probably another month or so?"
He moved a little to his right, away from me, before cupping his hand over his
eyes. "Really? Shit."

"What?" I jogged behind him as
he took off across the street and raced toward the water. A kayak sat just off
the shoreline upside down. I couldn't help but wonder what he was up to.
Whatever it was, it seemed serious. Surely, there wasn't someone in the kayak.
I stopped short of reaching the water as horror rushed over me. Brody's frantic
movements said that he believed someone to be in it.

He flipped it over and worked to get the
small boy out of the thing before wading through the water. "Come here and
help me."

I ran toward him, dropping on my knees and
tugging at the little guy’s life vest and t-shirt as Brody laid him down. His
skin was pasty, and he wasn't breathing.

"Holy shit." I glanced up at
Brody.

"You know CPR?" He tilted the
little guy’s head up. "Just get ready to breathe in his mouth. Long puffs
of air. Ready?"

"Yeah, I know it." I bent over
and worked alongside him, listening to his commands. The fact that he was so
incredibly calm left me a nervous wreck. The little boy started to cough a few
long seconds later, and I moved back and watched Brody pick him up and turn him
over.

"That's it. You got it, buddy. Get it
all out." He rubbed the little boy's back, completely attentive to the
child.

A warmth rushed through me that left my
eyes filling with tears. My tough facade in front of my friends was no
different than him pretending to be the alpha asshole. I needed to run fast and
hard away from him because I wasn't the kind of girl that fell for someone
easily, but once I did...I wanted forever. It had only happened once in my
life, and I was still recovering from the mess Brandon made of things. Would
Brody be any different? Could he?

It's
been a week or so. Slow your roll.

But thanks to Emily needing me to stay
behind a few weeks, and my mom and dad wanting me to leave a few weeks early, I
only had a short time left.

A short time to relax and have fun. To
meet new people. Not to fall for some random guy.

Definitely
not this guy.

"Oh my God," a girl yelled from
across the street as she jogged toward us. It was the blonde from the day
before that Brody had in his lap in the boat. "Is he..."

"He's okay. He was in the kayak
again." Brody turned the boy over to the blonde and moved over toward me.
I rose to my feet and reached out, wrapping him in a hug from the side before I
could think too much about it.

"Shit. Thank you so much, Brody. I
shouldn't have left him." The poor girl was shaking, but we all were.

"It's no problem, but I wouldn't
leave him alone in the lake again. He doesn't weigh enough to keep that thing
upright when the wind blows as hard as it does out here." He wrapped his
arms around me, but continued to focus on her.

"Okay. Thanks." She didn't
comment on the two of us or really even look my way, which was a little
strange, but the trauma of almost losing her brother was most likely too much
as it were.

"You okay?" He rubbed my back
and pressed his lips to the top of my head.

"Yeah. Damn, that was scary." I
pulled back a little to look up at him. "You totally saved that kid's
life."

"For the second time in a weekend,
actually." He rolled his eyes. "That's why Veronica was with me on
the boat. I saved the kid yesterday morning and she wanted a ride out to the
island after that."

"What kind of ride?" I gave him
a cheeky grin, trying my best to pull us from thinking about the horror of the
kid almost dying.

"On the boat. I already told you that
you've fucked up my curiosity for other women." He touched the side of my
face and smiled. "Come on; we just had a horrible experience. We should
make out all afternoon to burn it from our minds."

I laughed. "I've ruined your
curiosity? So, now what? You steal my heart by working my body and then move
onto the next victim?"

Some part of me was only teasing him, but
there was validity to my question, as well. I'd not be the needy, clingy girl
that wanted more of him should he walk away from whatever was starting between
us, but I wasn't climbing in bed with him just yet—or I hoped I wasn't.

"I wish it worked like that." He
leaned down and kissed me hard, opening his mouth and sliding his hands down my
back slowly.

He tasted like mango. I licked at his
mouth as he deepened the kiss, causing the world to fade and my mind to wander
into dark corners filled with lusty expectations.

"See?" He pulled back, breathing
hard. "I'm feeling better already."

"Me, too." I glanced across the
street. "No sex. I'm not ready for that yet."

"What are you, a virgin?" He
smirked and took my hand, tugging at it as we jogged across the road and headed
for his cabin.

"You wish." I moved up beside
him as he opened the door and we walked in.

Daniel and Derek were laid out on the
couch asleep, and Clay was standing in the kitchen with his back to the
counter, laughing as he spoke to someone on the phone.

I had one guess for who it might be.

He glanced over at me. "Yeah. She's
here. She's still alive and actually looks happy."

"Come on. Show me your room." I
looked back at Brody and smiled.

"Yeah?" He moved past me and
pulled me down the hall with him.

Clay walked up behind us and stopped at
the door, pressing his hand to it. "What are you guys doing?"

"Making out." Brody pushed at
the door as I sat down on the edge of his bed, breathing in the smell of him.
Every cell in my body lit on fire. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to lay in his
bed and hope that all we were going to do was make out. I already wanted more
and we'd yet to start.

"No." He shook his head and
walked into the room. "Emily said no."

"Get out." Brody moved up and
pushed at Clay as I got up.

"I'm good." I put a hand on
Clay's chest. "Tell her that I'm good and get out."

Brody moved back as I pushed Clay one last
time and closed the door.

"What the fuck was that?" He
locked the door before pressing me to it. "Are your friends always so
protective?"

"Yeah. Sort of." I reached up
and pulled him against me, tugging at his shirt so I could feel his skin
underneath my fingers.

He pulled it off and pressed himself
against me, grinding slowly as his tongue brushed by my neck. I groaned and
arched my back.

"Take your shirt off. I wanna see
you, Cora." He moved back and tugged at it.

I pulled it over my head and pushed at his
chest, backing him up toward the bed.

"So beautiful." He sat down and
reached for me as I crawled into his lap, straddling him. He went straight for
my breasts, his tongue and lips working to move across my sensitive skin.

I rolled against him, wanting to tear at
my shorts and force him to do all the things I promised myself we would do.
"Go slow. I'm not sleeping with you."

He chuckled and turned us, pinning me to
the bed as he rocked against me. He ran his hands up my thighs, tugging my
shorts with him as his breathing got off. "What's the deal with you and
taking a nap? All you've talking about lately is sleeping together."

"Shut up." I smiled and pulled
at the waistband of his pants.

He fell over, catching himself and rolling
his hips to rub against me before pressing himself on top of me and brushing my
hair back.

"I've not wanted a woman in a long
time the way I want you. Fuck...not ever." He pressed his lips to mine,
and though I was sure he'd said the same thing to a million girls, I wanted to
hear it again and again. His hands ran down my sides, over my hips and slipped
between me and the bed to squeeze my ass softly. "Let me make love to you.
We both want it. It's stupid to deny ourselves anything."

"No," I whispered roughly,
arching my back to intensify the pressure of him between my thighs. "I'm
not ready for the fling to end."

He growled and nipped at my chin before
moving down my body and pressing his mouth to my nipple over my clothes. He
sucked hard, and I cried out, losing myself in the moment. I'd had a few
make-out sessions that left me considering sex, but this one was off the
charts. Maybe it was about me not letting anyone touch me for two months, or
maybe it had very little to do with me and everything to do with the sexy man
working me into a needy mess.

He stopped all of a sudden and glanced up.
"Wait. Did you just say you weren't ready for our fling to end?"

"Yeah." I reached up and touched
the side of his face, running my fingers down his cheek and over his mouth to
feel the softness of his lips. "I don't want it to end yet."

"Why the hell would sleeping together
end it? I would think that's just the beginning, right? Unless I suck
completely and you think another man would please you more." He rolled his
eyes, causing me to laugh. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Another man pleasing you better than I could? That's not possible."

"God, you're cocky." I gripped
his shoulders as he turned us over and forced me on top of him. I sat up and
rolled my hips, working myself over the thick press of his arousal. I dug my
fingers into his chest and closed my eyes, knowing that I needed to slow down
or I'd come. It didn't take much for me, thank God, but seeing that we were
just in the middle of a hot make out session and not dancing along the lines of
foreplay, I needed to calm down a little.

"You're close." He reached up
and squeezed my breasts over my bra before dragging his hand down my tummy and
smiling. "I can almost smell you."

"Fuck. I should go." I started
to get up as he gripped my thighs.

"Hell, no. Don't you leave before
letting me see you lose yourself. Don't do that to me." He licked at his
lips as his eyes widened. "Don't stop. Please."

I watched him intently for a minute,
finding myself enamored with need for the man beneath me. The decision to stay
wasn't a hard one seeing that the pulse beating against my center had taken
over my thoughts.

He lifted his hips and rocked against me
as his fingers slid up my thighs and rolled to my center, moving into my
panties from both sides and opening me up.

"Brody." I groaned and reclined
against his knees as he lifted them and pressed them into my back.
"Don't."

"You’re so wet, Cora." He licked
at his lips. "Let me taste you."

"No. No!" I started to move, but
he brushed his thumb over my clit and electricity raced through me.

"Alright. Soon then." He pulled
one hand from my shorts and ran it up my chest to cup my face softly.
"Stop being shy and fuck me."

I cried out as he pressed a finger deep
into me and moved the pad of his thumb around in circles until my hips bucked.

"Oh God," I groaned and let my
head drop back as I rode his fingers and listened to the soft grunts he let out
as he rubbed himself against my ass.

"Shit. I'm gonna come if you don't
stop." He released his grip on my face and tugged at my bra, freeing one
of my breasts. The warmth of his hand combined with the strong press of his
fingers into my flesh left me tumbling over the edge again.

"Don't stop," I groaned and
pressed my hands to his chest, rocking against him and letting myself go for
the moment. I didn't care what I looked like. He had the ability to light me on
fire, and for the first time in a long time, I wasn't moving away from that
warmth.