Brazen (B-Squad #1) (15 page)

It.

May.

Not.

Be.

Fair.

But.

It.

Can.

Be.

Good.

More warmth. It wound around him, extending from his toes to his chest and drawing him out of the darkness into the bright fluorescent light.

Aches and soreness registered along with a pounding in his head, but he barely noticed because Bianca lay asleep next to him. Her arm lay across his stomach, the hand tucked so her fingers were underneath him. Her body was curled around his on the narrow twin hospital bed.

He pulled the oxygen mask from his face and her eyes fluttered open.

Confusion twisted her beautiful face before realization made her gasp. “Taz!”

She was it. She was the warmth and the light. Bianca was what made it good. “You brought me back.”

She sniffled. “You promised you wouldn’t leave.”

“And I never will again.” He brushed one of her tears away with his thumb. “I came back for you.”

She took his face between her hands and brushed a series of quick kisses across his forehead, cheeks and lips.

“How long have you been here?” he asked when she stopped for a breath.

“A few hours. Vivi’s standing guard outside the door,” she said, wiping away the last of her tears with the back of her hand. “Can you believe they tried to make me leave when I crawled into bed with you?”

He could imagine just how well that went over. “I hope you told them to fuck off.”

“Something to that effect,” she said, her tone light but her expression serious. “God, Taz, I was so scared that I’d killed you. I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” He caressed her face, loving the feel of her soft skin against his palm. This was what he’d been looking for in the dark.

“No, I do. You have a right to a part of you that you don’t share with me. It was an overreaction on my part to demand you pour your soul out to me. That’s not love. That was fear.” She let out a shaky breath. “I want to be a part of your life, I want you to let me in and share what your thoughts and dreams and hopes are, not because you think you
have
to but because you
want
to.”

As if that could ever be in doubt.

“Believe me,” he said, bringing his face close to hers and kissing her softly. “I do.”

B
ianca couldn’t hide
her smirk. Taz was about to lose, and lose big, because he thought he could bullshit his way into a win.

The gameboard lay between them on the bed and victory in this round of strip Scrabble was within reach. Taz was already down to just his jeans while she still had on her skirt, T-shirt, bra and panties. She loved having him naked, but smoking him in Scrabble in the final game of the strip Scrabble tournament took precedence. That’s what happened when two competitive people spent fourteen days following doctors’ orders and laying off any gym work. They’d finally been cleared to put on the gloves tomorrow, which meant this game was all about permanent bragging rights—and they were going to be hers.

“There is no way that qat is a word. Take that Q off the triple-word square and get ready to go down because I have the perfect word to go there.”

“Get ready to eat some crow.” He held out an extra-thick paperback dictionary. “Look for yourself.”

She rolled her eyes and whipped out her phone. “It’s okay, I have the Miriam-Webster app on my phone.”

He snatched the phone away and replaced it with the dictionary. “Look it up.”

“You are so bossy.” She cracked the book only enough to see the letters on the top right corner. “Ah ha! Q.” She opened the dictionary fully. “If by some chance it is in here, I’m still going to want Miriam-Webster confirma—”

The rest of the word died on her tongue.

A square had been cut several inches deep into the middle of the pages and a small blue box with a white bow had been placed inside.

Her pulse went into overdrive and she forgot how to breathe. She glanced up at Taz and her heart hiccupped. With the exception of his new buzz cut, he looked exactly like the man who’d strutted into Bisu Manor and changed her world, but his totally confident fighter vibe was a skinny tread of nervousness.

She pulled the ribbon and took off the lid, inside was a black-velvet ring box. “Taz—”

He shoved the Scrabble board and pieces off to the floor and closed the distance between them. “Open it.”

She did, revealing a diamond ring almost as big as the box itself. Her entire body felt as if it was fluttering. “Oh my God.”

He took out the ring and slid it onto her left ring finger. “I only want to hear one thing from you.”

Looking up from the ginormous ring, she managed to fight back the tears of joy welling up. “Yes.”

“Damn.” He gave her that cocky grin she loved. “I was hoping you’d say you conceded the Scrabble tournament.”

She gave him a playful shove, pushing him onto his back on the bed and positioned herself over him. “Never.”

“Then I’ll take yes.”

And so would she. God knew she’d fought against it for so long because she’d been afraid, but not anymore. Life with Taz may not always be easy, it certainly wouldn’t always be perfect, but it would be forever and it started now.

Well, almost now. She needed something first.

“You have to ask it. I want the words.”

The teasing glimmer vanished from his mossy-green eyes and he looked at her with such love that she caught her breath.

“Bianca Sutherland, will you marry me?”

There was only one answer in her heart. “Yes.”

* * *

Taz cupped the back of her head as she leaned over him on the bed and pulled her down for a kiss. Not just any brush of the lips, but one that would show Bianca just how much he loved her. As stupid as it sounded, this was the happily ever after neither of them ever expected.

The baby-blue ring box tumbled out of her grasp and she wound her arms around his neck, the tips of her fingers brushing against his new buzz cut. She moaned against him and Taz, seizing the win, slipped his tongue between her lips.

His hands found her hips and he trailed his fingers over her skirt, tracing the curve of her thighs. The soft cotton of her skirt barred him from feeling the soft flesh of her curves. The thick material frustrated him while at the same time the can’t-touch-me factor heightened his need. The contact, even with layers of clothes between them, made his cock grow thick and heavy against his thigh. Knees planted on either side of his hips, she undulated against him, bunching up her skirt in the process so that it was halfway up her lean thighs, leaving only the silk of her panties and the denim of his jeans between them.

Needing to taste more of her, Taz rolled her over so she was on her back and broke the kiss. He trailed his lips across her jaw, stopping only once he reached her earlobe, eliciting another moan from her as she rocked her hips as if unable to stop herself.

He could relate. He couldn’t feel enough of her, taste enough of her, have enough of her. It was doubtful that he ever would and he was totally good with that.

“That’s it, Kitten.” He sat back on his heels, enjoying the view from between her spread legs. “God, I love watching you move.”

“Really?” She sat up so they were facing each other and wrapped her long legs around his waist. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

She rocked against his dick, pre-cum already moistening the tip. The things this woman did to him. Most of them should probably be illegal, considering how good she made him feel, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to report her.

The emerald-cut engagement ring sparkled in the soft light coming in from the skylight as she scraped her red fingernails down his chest. He swallowed a groan of pleasure. When she brought her head close and her pink tongue darted out to flick at his flat nipple before sucking on it, though, there was no way he could keep quiet. Electricity sparked across his skin, the normally sedate nub coming to life under her wicked mouth.

“You better watch it,” he said, his voice husky with need as he kissed his way down the creamy flesh of her neck. “Too much more of that and I’m not going to be able to wait any longer.”

Impatience vibrated off her flushed skin. “Who said I wanted to take it slow?” She nipped at his collarbone then kissed the stinging spot better before pushing him over onto his side.

“Oh, is that how you think this is going to go?” he asked, loving the view of her legs and the flash of red silk the lower vantage point gave him.

She whipped off her T-shirt, revealing her full breasts with their puckered nipples pressing hard against the see-through lace of her red bra. “It’s how I
know
it will.”

“Such a smart mouth.” It wasn’t the greatest comeback but it was all he could manage as she dangled her full tits inches from his suddenly dry mouth.

“And talented too.” She gave him a saucy wink then leaned down and opened the top button. “Let me show you.” The zipper went down next.

His cock sprang free, more than willing to act as Exhibit A. She wrapped her hand around his girth and then lowered her mouth until her red lips closed over his prick and the world lost focus. He arched against her even as his brain tried to resist her siren’s lure. He hadn’t even gotten to taste her yet and he needed to feel her come on his tongue.

It took every last bit of sanity still in his grasp to step back and keep from crossing over the edge. “Kitten, I’m not done playing with you yet.”

Staring up at him with her big brown eyes that had darkened to nearly ebony, Bianca took him in deep, not stopping until his swollen head hit the back of her throat before letting his cock slip from her glistening lips. Fuck. She was going to kill him and he was going to die a happy man.

But, of course, two could play this game, and he knew exactly how to make her purr.

Focusing on how her hard nipples fought against the sheer red of her bra, he reached inside one cup and freed a full breast. The porcelain of her skin contrasted starkly with the scarlet lace. He rolled one pink nipple between his thumb and finger. Fuck, she looked delicious.

With his free hand, he reached out and captured her chin, his thumb raking across her bottom lip and dipping inside. Never losing eye contact, she sucked and curled her tongue around the thick digit with a power that made his balls ache.

“That’s just how I’m going to suck on that hard clit of yours. I’m going to spread you out on this bed and taste every inch of you.”

Her gaze got hazy and she let out a soft moan.

That was it—the sound of hers that made him lose control. He released her nipple and withdrew his thumb from between her divine lips, then flipped her onto her back. His hands shook with the intensity of his wanting, so he didn’t bother to strip the skirt off. He left it bunched up around her hips and slipped the red silk of her panties down her long legs.

“God you’re beautiful.”

“It’s the ring,” she joked, her voice husky and heavy with desire.

“No.” He lifted her left leg into the air, putting her ankle at his mouth’s level. A perfect place to begin. “It’s the woman.”

His kissed his way from her ankle to the apex of her thighs, reveling in the smooth skin and strong muscle that twitched under his caress. When his tongue slid along her slick folds, she arched her back and called out his name.

“Oh this is just the beginning,” he said against her soft pink flesh.

Tension tightened her body underneath him and he circled her opening with his thumb before plunging it in and out in slow repetition. He sucked on her clit in an unrelenting rhythm and relished her mewls of pleasure that grew in strength when he added his tongue back into play. She grabbed his head, pushing him deeper. He complied and her body went rigid underneath him with orgasm.

Taz raised his head and rolled onto his side, propping his head up on one hand, he took in the wanton sight of her, tousled and clad in her scrunched-up skirt and bra only half on as her chest heaved. Ferocious. Brazen. Smart. Beautiful. Everything he ever needed.

“I think you’ve ruined me.” She smirked. “I might be out for a while.”

But the intensity of the kiss she delivered contradicted her words. Their hands and mouths were everywhere at once, stroking heated flesh and pushing the desire to higher peaks. Somehow in the process, her bra disappeared and his jeans got tossed to the other side of the room.

Her fingers curled around his stiff cock and she stroked, her thumb sweeping over the head and spreading the moisture on the tip and he forgot he could even speak. His body did the talking for him and he grasped her legs again, bringing her ankles to his shoulders. He clutched her hips in his hands and in one bold push, buried himself to the hilt in her wet pussy.

Her honeyed walls squeezed him, and withdrawing, even a few inches, bordered on torture. Bianca dug her heels into his shoulders and used it to leverage herself as she undulated against him. Pleasure began to build at the base of his spine.

Bianca widened her legs and slid them down his sides until she wrapped them around his waist. Seizing the opportunity to bring her closer, Taz slipped his hands underneath to her back and flicked her upward. Face-to-face, she gripped his shoulders, her nails digging crescents into his skin. Her ass jiggled in his hands as she rode him hard.

Picking her up, he stepped back onto the floor, then pivoted and crossed to the wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom. He pressed her against it as she gripped his waist tighter with her legs and took him deep, wrapping him inside her warmth. Needing to touch more of her, he reached down, squeezing his hand between their sweating bodies, and rubbed his thumb against her sensitive clit. She arched into his touch; little whimpering moans that sounded halfway between heaven and hell escaped her lips as he circled her clit.

Taz matched the increasing rotation of her hips with his fingers on her clit. As her body turned rigid, he grasped her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, pulling it taut. She screamed her climax around them, her pussy clenching his cock, putting him in exquisite agony.

He wanted to take it slow, but she felt so fucking good. Holding on to her hips, he brought her back onto his cock with forceful strokes, sliding into her as if he was finally coming home. The heady scent of sex filled the air around them and the sound of skin slapping against skin and heavy breathing echoed throughout the loft.

The tingle in his spine spiraled out to his limbs and his balls tightened. His release immobilized him and his entire body went stiff.

It took a minute for his vision to return. The sight that greeted him was Bianca looking coyly at him though her thick eyelashes, her brown hair tossed helter-skelter around her head and a tired but satisfied smile curling her lips. Gathering her tight in his arms, he carried her back to the bed.

“I think I’m going to enjoy being an engaged woman,” she said, tucking in close against him, her every curve fitting perfectly with his hard planes.

He brushed a kiss across her temple and gave in to the overwhelming urge to close his eyes. “Just wait until we’re married.”