Lipstick on His Collar (8 page)

Bent and begging, her breath caught when his touch slid higher, parting her ass and stroking her tightest opening. She went still for a dozen frantic heartbeats.
Oh fuck
. So erotic, so teasing, so naughty, he caressed the tiny passage with a languid reverence. If she flamed before, now she burned. The slightest pressure spun tendrils of wanton temptation racing along her bones.

Gruff, with a seductive timbre, his voice rumbled with the same need gripping her. “How bad are you, lady?”

“How bad do you want me to be?”

He paused, his fingers lazily circling the tight barrier, seeming to consider the ultimate taboo. The coarse denim of his jeans scraped the back of her thighs and the frosty glass under her palms channeled sensation through her like a current, crackling and sparking. A few seconds stretched to an eternity.

Slick with her cream, his thumb sank deep into her ass in a slow press. A frigid sucked-in breath sent searing cold whipping through her lungs as erotic heat swelled from her behind. Leisurely thrusts coiled tension through her, hot fevered lust that pinpointed on the delicious penetration. His thumb left her and her body sagged, although she didn’t examine if it was in relief or disappointment.

The blunt head of his cock slicked up her cleft, gathering moisture, taunting her, then rose higher, poised firmly against her ass.
Oh God.
Sweet pressure squeezed her eyes shut and she braced for his entrance. She wanted him to, suddenly wanted him to take her savagely, part pleasure and part pain. No man had breached this most private spot but she wanted the deepest of intimacies with Bram. The breath trapped in her lungs, she pushed back, giving him permission to take her where he wanted, how he wanted.

“Do it.” Every nerve in her body quivered with need, tiny electric currents crackling in intensity. “I want you in my ass.”

“No,” he said softly. “Not like this. For this, I take my time. I’m too hot to be gentle right now. I’m going to fuck your ass but not here, not now. Later, when I can have you begging me to make it burn so deep. And it will, lady, it will.”

There was no time for regrets. His cock swept down her slit, the wide tip parting her swollen pussy lips, then slammed deep in one swift stroke. Her knees buckled and her head snapped back. Here was her pleasure-pain, his forceful entry delivering an almost sacred rapture. If Bram hadn’t been holding her, she’d have fallen to the floor. A tiny sound escaped her, a moan or a whimper, maybe a sigh, she wasn’t sure. She was too lost in self-indulgent delight to care.

Under her tattered shorts, his hands clamped on her hips, fingers biting into her flesh. She needed that small bruising force, that centering, those half-moon impressions steadying her as she stretched around him, was filled by him, possessed by him.

“Sweet Christ,” he muttered. “It’s too good, lady. I—I can’t hold back. It’s going to be fast.”

“Good.” She bucked back to him. “Make it hard. Fuck me, Bram.”

For one long second, he did nothing. He stroked up her thighs, palmed her ass and across her back. The dryers clicked off and his ragged breath was the only sound besides the blood rushing in her ears. Slowly, he pulled back, nearly out of her. Greedy, her greedy flesh sucked at him, not wanting to let him go, but then he plunged deep and she screamed. He did it again and again until she thought her cleft would split wide with orgasmic tremors.

Wet friction fed the fire. A sizzle in the room electrified her sweat-damp skin, heightened the bite of his fingers into her hips, the skim of his thumb against bone. One hand ripped from the pulled shade to dive between her legs. Her clit thrummed under her quick strokes. Unbound, her hair slid off her shoulders. It provided a silken curtain, shielding her tight-tipped breasts from the chill seeping through the glass and vinyl slats. The soft strands grazed her nipples with each sway in erotic tickles.

He thrust deep, and her hand fisted, cracking another vertical piece, letting the dark night through a sliver. Her panting breath condensed on the glass and a fog bloomed. Sucking in a shallow, cold breath, she moaned, “Yes, Bram, more.”

Bram ran one hand up her spine, gripping her shoulder, pulling her into his thrusts. He’d tilted his hips, altering the angle and each push drove her to her tiptoes. He hit every sweet, twanging nerve in her wet pussy. Off balance, she tore her hand from her clit, planting it back on the rickety blinds. Her wet fingers splayed wide as she rocked back into his punishing strokes, desperate to climax again. The thick length of his cock, the slap of his body to hers, the mingling scents of fresh laundry and raging passion assaulted her senses. The low fire that simmered in her belly roared and her pussy tightened around him. His furious rhythm faltered.

“Oh fuck, yeah, honey, like that, squeeze me.” Curving his chest to her back, he cupped her breasts, pinching the aching tips and sending flames to her core. She tightened and released, clenching around him. His frayed breath sailed over her damp nape followed by his tongue. Low, chanting naughty words, strings of murmured eroticisms without cohesion, whispered along her skin. His body started to shake and a raspy moan tore from his mouth. “Oh, fuck, gonna come.”

One hard pulse of his cock pushed her over the fragile edge. White heat flared and jerked every muscle in her body rigid. Her flattened hands curled into fists and stars exploded behind her pinched-closed eyes. Bram exhaled a wild, vibrating roar and surged hard one last time. The ripples in her pussy pulled at him as she cried his name. Time did not exist in their cocoon of throbbing release.

The squeal of angry tires on the frozen pavement opened her unfocused eyes. She peeked out the slotted, broken blind. It took two swallows of a dry throat before she could speak. “He left.”

“Who cares?” Bram pressed his forehead to her shoulder blade and his soft chuckle danced down her spine. “I can’t believe we did this…here, like this.”

His laughter spurred her own and a breathless giggle erupted. “Want to do it again?”

“Can we find a bed first?”

“You’ll have to let go of me.”

“I’ll let go of you.” He dropped a hard kiss to her back and circled her waist. “But I’m not letting you go.”

Silence echoed and the click of the light switch rang loud in the dim Laundromat. Bram exited the restroom and slung the duffle strap over his shoulder. Folding his laundry had been a memorable experience, filled with stolen kisses and longing caresses. Her mangled tank top and bra had been thrown away but she kept the split shorts around her hips. He’d sheepishly offered her a tee shirt warm from the dryer to cover the damage he’d done but she’d refused. Instead, she tugged his brown sweatshirt on, saying it smelled like him. That stroked some primordial masculine instinct.

A few early flurries blew in the open side door and he smiled. She’d taken the trash out and was waiting for him. Only the first tread of the narrow stairs leading up to her apartment was visible but it beckoned to him like a promise. He took two steps before a string of profanities tightened his chest. The crack of a fist meeting flesh spurred him to a run.

Jason had her pinned against the pale yellow siding of the neighboring building. Dark red streamed from her nose, over her chin and dripped to the gravel below. Her loose hair fisted in his hand, Jason screamed into her face. Bram couldn’t make out the words over the pounding of angry blood in his head. Possession swelled and decades-old memories of football practices leapt forward. He tucked the pack like a ball and burst through the doorway with a howl, taking Jason down in a brutal tackle.

The gravel bit into his elbows and knees but he didn’t let go, rolling Jason belly-down onto the wintry ground. Planting one knee in the small of his back, Bram gripped the short blond hair and, despite knowing better, allowed rage to overcome him. He rubbed that smug face into the gravel until blood dotted the cold stones. “Back off!”

“She’s mine,” Jason spat, bucking at his hold. “You had no right to touch her.”

“You had no right to hit her, asshole.”

Battling the palpable urge to redecorate Jason’s pretty face with broken skin and bruises, Bram shoved to a stand. Whistling blustery weather tossed his hair and shivered down the neck of his shirt. A white vapor streamed from his lips as he pointed to the man on the ground. “You stay the hell away from her.”

“You don’t mean anything.” Jason’s livid eyes glistened with fury. “You’re just a fuck buddy, a one-night stand. I’m the one she loves.”

“Oh, go to hell, Jason.” She wiped the sleeve of Bram’s sweatshirt across her lip and glared at her ex. “I left your sorry ass and don’t want you now. Do yourself a favor and get some help.”

“You screwed him in the Laundromat and I’m the one who needs help? You are such a fucking whore! The blinds were shaking like an earthquake in there.”

“Yeah, Jason, the earth moved, a few times actually.” She shot back, her wrist pressed to her bleeding nose. “I realize you are not familiar with the concept.”

“I know a fucking slut when I see one.”

Bram clamped down on his immediate and violent reaction. Priority training kicked in whether he wanted it to or not. She was his concern, not some wimp-ass abusive prick. He’d let the cops deal with him. He needed to get her out of the cold and into a warm police station so she could have this bastard arrested.

After one hard glower, he turned his back on Jason and touched her cheek with gentle fingers. “Are you okay?”

Nodding, she wiped at her nose again. “I’m all right.”

“You’re a goddamned tramp!” Once on his feet, Jason didn’t seem as eager to approach her now that Bram stood beside her. The grazes on his cheek welled in tiny blood drops. His tie hung crooked over an opened collar and he shook like a cat wrapped in barbed wire. Snowflakes swirled around his red flushed face, his lips curling into an angry snarl. “Where’d you pick him up? It wasn’t some bar. He’s never called you. What’d you do, place an ad on Craigslist for a fuck toy?”

“Let’s go, ignore him,” Bram murmured, reaching for her elbow but she didn’t budge. Shock paled her cheeks, darkening the slowing trek of blood over her lip. Wide green eyes glittered like sea glass.

“How in the hell do you know whether he’s called me or not?”

“I know everything about you, baby. I know he’s never called you or emailed or anything. He’s never sent you those yellow roses you like or even taken you out. You don’t mean anything to him except a piece of ass.” The softening in Jason’s voice turned Bram’s stomach. He sounded smooth, polished and nowhere near the asshole who’d just busted her nose. “So you needed to sow some wild oats or whatever, I can understand that. But you’re worth more than a quick screw. You don’t need him. We can forget it and go back to how things used to be.”

Her eyes flickered side to side and a bewildered slant grooved her forehead.
Oh hell no, she isn’t going to buy this bullshit, is she?
Bram squeezed his duffle strap until his knuckles ached, ached to shut the fucker up for good.

Jason took
a timid step forward and held his hand out. “I just want to take care of you, baby.”

“Take care of me?” She trembled, the long front of her hair bouncing against her cheek. Bram wondered if it was from the cold or something else. He didn’t have to turn to see Jason’s smile, it was clear in his voice.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted. We belong together.”

“You belong in jail.” The frost in her words was far colder than the air whipping past them. “You’re crazy if you think I’d go back to you now.”

“Damn it, I love you!”

“You don’t love me, you want to own me,” she snapped.

Bram fought the grin that suddenly ached in his cheeks. He ducked his head to avoid laughing in abrupt hot joy when she lunged. Only his fast reach caught her around the waist, holding her back. If she hit Jason, no matter how provoked, he could charge her with domestic battery as well. Bram wasn’t going to let that happen.

Restraining her wasn’t easy. She flailed her arms and kicked out. “You twisted son of a bitch. It wasn’t enough for you to watch me, was it? You’ve been in my apartment, haven’t you? You pathetic excuse for a man. Did it make you feel big to hit me? Let’s see how you like it.” Jason stood stone-still, shock blanking across his face as she pulled at Bram’s hands, clawed at his wrists. “Bram, let me go!”

“Calm down,” he muttered, ducking her wide-flung elbow. “Don’t hit him. File charges.”

“I’m not going to hit him. I’m going to kick him in the balls.” Fire shot from her gaze with enough sting to make Bram wince. She was beyond pissed and still struggling to get free. “If I can even find the marble-sized things. You piece of shit!”

Jason took a step back and swallowed. He stared at her in horror. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Gotten into me? Gotten into—? Okay, know what? Fuck you. No, on second thought, don’t fuck you because you suck in bed. You couldn’t make a dog come with a leash and a Milk-Bone.”

Bram kept one arm around her waist, but leaned sideways, grabbed the Laundromat door and yanked it closed. Her keys still hung in the lock. He gave them a vicious twist until he heard the bolt slide home, then bent low. Scooping her up, he hefted her into a one-shoulder fireman’s carry and climbed the stairs. His duffle banged along the railing, and he had to tighten his hold on her knees to prevent them tumbling back down the staircase. He had more trouble climbing from her struggles than her weight.

“Put me down, Bram.”

“No, now stop fighting me.”

“I’m not leaving,” Jason called to their back. “And you’re not leaving me.”

The split shorts crept up, exposing the bottom curve of her ass and Bram tried to pull them down, but she kicked out and kept screaming at Jason. “You couldn’t find a clitoris with a GPS system!”

There were only three keys on the Cancer ring. One had come out of the Laundromat door, one said Ford, so Bram shoved the third one in the lock and turned. Warmth rushed them when he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Locking the door behind him, he got the vaguest impression of pale walls and an open living space as he lowered her to her feet.