Hot & Humid (9 page)

Josh had loved impulsive moves with giant waves rippling back. She smiled. He would’ve approved of the ones she’d made lately. He probably would’ve approved of her sleeping with Thane, too.

Her body ached with longing as she thought about having sex with Thane. It wouldn’t happen ever again. Her nipples brushed provocatively against the abrasive texture of his robe. Moisture wet her pussy lips. Brine reached between her legs and rubbed her fingers around her clit, trying to ease the tension. She thrummed it faster but it only frustrated her more. She wanted Thane touching her.

She had no choice but to take a cold shower.

She turned on the water, dropped the robe on the hook on the wall. Soft, hot water worked through the tangles in her hair. Thin streams of soap washed away his scent from her skin. Brine found the shampoo and washed her hair twice. She rinsed quickly and reluctantly stepped from the hot water.

She toweled off and knotted up her long hair in frustration, tucking the mass into a knot at the back of her head. She pushed her nose into Thane’s robe and inhaled deeply. He smelled so good. She tied it tight. She jumped when she heard the knock on the door.

“You okay?”

“I’ll be right out.”

She couldn’t face him. Regret was truly eating away at her. She totally messed this up. How could she fuck him like some common whore? She was better than that. She even managed to ruin his evening by being in the same room with him. Another knock sounded at the door.

“Brine?”

He opened the door. Thane had only jeans on. The dark denims rode low on his hips. He was pure erotic danger. Any woman would want what he had to offer willingly.

Brine couldn’t get past how they were like two atoms that exploded apart every time they hit.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

She smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, I should go. I’ve already ruined enough of your night.”

“My night’s not ruined.”

Thane didn’t move from the doorway. Actually, from the looks of things, he got more comfortable by leaning one of his shapely, broad shoulders onto the frame. He didn’t say anything. Nor did he move out of her way. She put a hand on her hip, feeling exposed in his oversized robe. Thane studied her intently.

“I should go.”

“Stay.”

Brine was desperate to get out of there. His body was a seduction she couldn’t indulge again. The handcuffs clinked as she bumped against the counter.

“What was that?” he asked.

“What?”

Thane crossed the tile in three quick strides. His hand dove into the robe pocket. His eyes widened when he pulled out the handcuffs. The jostling of the pocket made the shoulder slip on the robe.

“Brine?”

“Uh…” She took back the cuffs he held between them. “They
are
mine.”

“What were you planning on doing with them?”

She lifted a shoulder and let it drop. “I hadn’t planned on anything. I just thought I’d take them back.”

“It might be fun.”

He came in close, using his size to back her against the counter. He cupped her face with his palms. Brine brought her hand to his wrist. He tilted her chin up, kissing her passionately. Brine’s body was shocked into submission. She gasped and his tongue swept inside. She couldn’t do this. She knew if she had sex with Thane again it would ruin her. It could break her heart and she wouldn’t do anything in life to hurt her second chance fate gave her.

Men like Thane didn’t stick for the long haul. Not when the going got complicated.

Brine snapped the cuff around his right wrist and went to hook the other side to the towel rack. Thane startled as his arm was pulled away from her face, causing her to miss the hook. He growled her name.

“Why are you fighting this?”

She pushed away from him but didn’t make it far into the bedroom. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about the sex they were now having. She couldn’t do this now. She had to get out of there. She ran out of the bathroom, liking the chase. He pursued, hot on her heels. Thane slipped on the edge of her robe, taking them both to the floor. They tangled, with Thane fighting for dominance and Brine pretending to struggle to get away.

She twisted around and her hair unwound from the knot. With her hair in her face, she couldn’t see. She wiggled out of the robe, trying to get away, but she didn’t make it far. She screamed in surprise as he tugged her ankle toward him. He cuffed the other side of the handcuff to her ankle. She jerked away, and his cuffed hand came along.

“We’re locked together. Where you gonna go?”

They were both breathing wrongly. “Oh, for the love…uncuff me!”

“Okay, where’s the key?” he asked.

Brine groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know where it is. Don’t you have it?”

“Not on me.”

“Can you pick the lock?”

He looked at her as though she was crazy. There was no way he was going to pick the lock and let her go. He had her right where he wanted her to be. This was not going to end well for her, she was sure of that. He smiled, and she liked the lazy look in his eye.

“Hold on here. Let’s step back and think a minute,” he said.

Brine pushed her back against the wall and reached for the robe to cover her scars. “Okay, think away.”

He ran his thumb over the bottom of her foot and she squirmed away. “You’re cute when you’re being a smartass.”

She grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Thane pulled his hand to his pocket, bringing her foot to the inside of his thigh. “I thought I had the key in here. Guess not.” His hot hand held her ankle tightly. “I suppose we’re stuck this way for a while.”

“I don’t think so. We can call a locksmith if you’re not up for picking the lock.”

He laughed. “Not going to happen. I kind of like this.”

In one swift move, he pulled her onto his lap. She sidesaddled him.

“I know you want me. I know you want this. Why else would you have the handcuffs, babe?” he asked.

Brine’s heart was hammering for all the right reasons, and it frightened her. She wanted to do this again. “No. I don’t. It was a mistake.”

“I love it when you play hard to get. It turns me on something fierce.”

It turned her on, too. “Thane!”

Thane wrapped his hand behind her neck and forced her lips to meet him halfway. He groaned when her lips parted out of her own desire. Brine threaded the tips of her fingers through Thane’s chest hair. Brine’s pussy was primed wet with desire. Through the thick fabric of his jeans, Thane’s cock was rock hard as he thrust it up against her ass. He kissed his way down her neck and licked the sensitive curve of her ear.

“We shouldn’t,” Brine moaned. “I can’t.”

“Yes,” he countered. “You can.”

“I
can’t
.”

“I think you can.” His voice was a low, seductive growl. “I know you will. You want my cock again.”

She moaned at the idea of having him again. She wanted him.

Thane rolled her to the floor, his broad chest edging between her thighs. He was an erotic animal ready to have his way with her again. Brine gasped as her breasts pressed against the searing heat of his chest. Button-fly jeans were the only thing that separated them. He edged her leg up to give himself more movement with his hand.

The only pain was the aching throb of her thatch. She bit her lower lip. She needed it again. She wanted the orgasm he was willing to give. She was desperate to be released from the intense sexual binds that held her captive. “Thane…”

His grin broadened. He leaned in close. “When was the last time you had sex?”

She giggled when his teeth nipped.

She didn’t want to tell him. She couldn’t. What was she supposed to say? Sorry, she just wasn’t going to go there ever.

“Tell me, Brine. I want to know who the last man licking into you was.”

The warning was on the tip of his tongue, threatening to lash every inch of her hot body. “Does twenty minutes ago count?”

His gaze dropped to the scars on her chest and the unasked question hung in the air. “No. Tell me when.”

“It’s been a while. I’ve been waiting for the right time. You know? Before…the fire. Almost five years ago.”

Thane cursed. “Five long years. That’s a lot of time we need to make up for.”

His gaze turned possessive as he worked himself over her body in an animal type prowl. It’d been so long since she felt the hungry touch of a man that wanted her body. She could see that the knowledge that she’d been untouched for so long got him off.

“How many lovers?”

He kissed her belly, twirling his tongue into her navel as he moved. She couldn’t think to remember her ex. It’d been so long ago. She’d been young and inexperienced in college. “One. No, wait two…”

“Did you love them?”

“No…not like…” She fumbled for words. She almost said “you.”

“Not like what?”

“Not in that way.” She couldn’t tell him the truth of how she was suddenly feeling.

“Good.”

Thane pinned her arms above her head, silencing her with a deep kiss. The button of his fly rubbed her clit. He rocked his hips. The friction sent spasms through her vulva, causing her pussy to wet more. Her pussy was wet with her honey and now wetting Thane’s hard, flexing abs. The slippery sensation caused her pussy to contract for more.

“Your body is lush. I want to lick every inch of you twice.” He groaned. “Unbutton me. I want out to feel you.”

Brine’s hands were steady as she flipped each button from its hold. She opened his jeans and his sex sprang out, hitting her in the belly. She wrapped her hand tightly around his cock, stroking his thick, heated flesh up and down. She twisted her hand as she stroked down and cupped his balls between her fingers. Thane’s muscled thighs were strained to the point of steel. She stroked him until her body vibrated with need.

She tipped his cock head to her pussy and he entered in one powerful stroke. His cuffed hand brought her cuffed ankle up high, deepening his penetration. They groaned in perfect sexual unison as he tilted his hilt up into her deeper. He bounced his cock, slapping his balls against her ass. Short, erotic thrusts made her breasts sway.

He stared at her breasts as he took her fast and hard. Brine felt her orgasms slam into each other. She lost count of the number of times his cock sent her vibrating sex into pulsating meltdown. She was losing herself to this man, and she didn’t care where that left her as long as it was with him. He pulled out his glistening cock and hovered over her belly. He slid his cock up to her breasts. Brine grabbed the sword he was offering her and cranked down on his thick, hot cock with both hands. She licked out, tasting him. She sucked and sampled until he was groaning her name. He came hard, shooting arrows of cream over her breast. It was then Brine realized it was the breast over her heart.

Thane was breathing hard as he fell with his back onto the floor. “You’re killing me, woman.”

He kissed her temple, drawing her in close. Brine rested her head on his shoulder, with her leg bent up over his legs. He stroked her back and she sighed. It was time for her to come back down to reality. This was nothing more than a one-night fling that wouldn’t be happening again anytime soon. She didn’t want to leave the warmth of his arms, but she had to go before he thought this was anything more than it was.

“Let’s find that key,” she said.

A few minutes later, Thane went to work on the cuffs with a pin he found in his bureau drawer. The cuff on her ankle snapped open. She was free of him. She dressed in the borrowed clothes. Thane was on the bed with his arms crooked behind his head as she came out of the bathroom. He sat up on his side.

“I don’t think we should see each other anymore,” Brine said.

Several beats of silence exploded like landmines between them. “Is that really what you want, or are you just running from me?”

“Yes. I do. I think we both know what tonight was.”

Pain slashed through Thane’s eyes before he shifted them away. “Then let me take you to get your car.”

The drive was the longest of Brine’s life. Thane wouldn’t look at or talk to her. She was sure she’d hurt him in the most ruthless way. He pulled up next to her car in the empty museum parking lot.

“I’m sorry, Thane. I never meant for any of this to happen. I mean that. I hadn’t intended on having sex with you or hurting you.”

“Just get out of my truck, Brine. I’m really tired of hearing how sorry you are for what happened tonight.”

Tears misted her eyes as she shut the truck door. She got into her car just as he drove away. It was several minutes before Brine started the car and drove home, determined to put Thane out of her mind and out of her life.

Chapter Eight

Two days later, Brine couldn’t stop thinking about how she had sex with Thane. Sexual frustration twisted through her body, making it impossible to think straight. Morning sunshine crept through the gap in the blinds. Dawn was bursting on the horizon. Brine felt as though her body were on fire. She dreamt of him last night. It was as though she wanted him more because she knew she couldn’t have him.