Pure Lust Vol. 4 (13 page)

“Mama would be too busy laughing at him to fuss at us. Look at all the baby oil on him,” Catherine said. Her dark eyes gleamed in a way that told me I’d better keep an eye on her or I’d end up having to get her out of the stripper’s bed tomorrow.

His muscles gleamed with it, but I found myself thinking of another man’s muscles. A body that was just as hard although long and lean. Defined muscles, but not somebody who pumped and flexed in front of a mirror. Not naturally muscular like Cody either, but still strong...

“I don’t mind that baby oil.” Suzanne giggled and waved some dollars at him.

I could have smacked her.

Sure enough, the stripper came back our way and after he’d teased every last bill from Suzanne, he focused his attention back on me. “How’s the bride to be?” he asked with a wide smile. “You want one last dance?” He thrust his pelvis at me suggestively as he held out a hand, but I shook my head.

I was already overheated and tired, and for some reason, this bachelorette party wasn’t as much fun as I’d imagined. Tipping my drink at the gleaming man in front of me, I shouted, “I’ll enjoy the show from down here.”

Bad idea.

I ended up having two of them on either side of the chair, one grinding against the back while the other straddled my legs and gave me a good idea of his body hygiene practices. He waxed.

The thought popped through my head and I had to bite the inside my cheek to keep from giggling.

“Here!”

Kendra appeared at my side and shoved a couple of bills down the G-string. He nodded at her and both he and his partner disappeared. I wilted in the seat and stared up at the ceiling, almost lost in the bright lights that flashed through the place. Strippers had always been fun before…when they were pestering the bride, but tonight…tonight
I
was the bride.

“I need some air,” I shouted to nobody in particular and stood up, fighting my way through the chairs while still managing to hold on to my margarita. Miraculously, very little spilled and I was able to disappear out the back door onto a patio that was choked with smoke.

This was not better.

Waving a hand in front of my face, I stumbled a little farther off into the dark and took a long, deep drink from the margarita. The cool, tart liquid offered some relief from the late summer heat, but my head was already spinning. I’d eaten at the rehearsal dinner, but I’d drank a decent amount there too.

Sighing, I lifted it to my lips and took another, slow deep drink before I tilted my face up to the sky. I could only see a narrow slice of it overhead, thanks to all the skyscrapers and stars were nothing but a memory here, but I could pretend. Pretend I was back home, standing in the back yard, watching the stars come out.

I knew I needed to get back inside, but I needed just a few more minutes by myself.

Caught up in an internal tug of war, I never heard the footsteps and when I turned, the shadowy form in front of me caught me off guard. I dropped my margarita and the glass shattered, liquid splashing all over my feet and lower legs.

I started to scream and a hand covered my mouth.

Surprise spiraled into full blown terror.

“You lost, Tennessee?”

The sound of Flynn’s voice had my heart speeding up. Over the hand he’d used to muffle my scream, I could see his eyes now, glittering in the dim light.

“What…” My lips moved against his palm and I fought a groan as it gave me the smallest taste of him.

He lowered his hand, but not completely. It slid down to my neck and he moved in closer, standing so close that when I inhaled, the tips of my breasts brushed against his chest.

I so didn’t need this right now.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, taking deep breathes to slow my pounding heart.

His eyes darkened. “We need to talk.”

Chapter 14

His breath washed over my face and I caught the scent of whiskey.

Shit, he was drunk.

As much as I wanted to move in closer, I made myself back up. “No.”

His fingers curled more tightly around the back of my neck, the possessiveness of the gesture freezing me to the spot. Need grew inside me as he crowded my frozen body, my breasts pressing to his chest, nipples chafing against my bra. He caught my hip in his free hand, the other still gripping my neck. His touch burned my skin and it was all I could do not to whimper.

“Let me go, Flynn.”

“I can’t,” he whispered, leaning in so the words were whispered against my cheek. “I’ve been trying and trying and I can’t. I want you, Gabriella. I don’t care that you’re marrying Edward. I want you—I want you more than he ever could.”

I’m in trouble,
I thought helplessly. Wedging my hands between us, I tried to push him back, but all it did was drive my lower body closer against him. My nipples were hard and aching, and when he rocked against me, I could feel myself weakening.

It infuriated me and the anger gave me the strength to resist.

“Flynn, let me go,” I snapped, trying again to twist away. “You’re drunk, dammit. Again. Have the club call you a cab and go home before you make an even bigger ass of yourself than usual.”

“No.” He worked his arm around my waist, keeping me locked against him. Face buried in my air, he said, “Please, Tennessee. I need you.”

I needed him to move. Having him this close was making it impossible to think. I was going to do something terribly wrong if he didn’t let me go, and still my body begged me to stay. I clenched my thighs together to keep from rocking against the ridge that nudged my belly and tried to find the words I needed.

The memory of him with the dark-haired woman flashed in front of me and I knew what I had to say. I made my voice as hard and cold as I could, feeding off of the hurt I’d felt when I’d caught him with that other woman. Hurt I didn’t have any right to feel.

“You don’t need me, Flynn. You just want me. Until you don’t anymore and you find some other model to fuck. Now let me go.”

He said nothing for a beat of five seconds, then he shrugged. “Okay.” The hand he’d had on my neck slid down my spine to cup my ass and he pulled me flush against him, our bodies easily lining up. “How’s that?”

I stiffened. His cock was hard, prodding against my belly and I sucked in a breath. My gaze flew to his. I told myself I had to remember what he’d done. All the times he’d hurt me. Pushed me away. Walked away.

His mouth hovered over mine and he whispered against my lips, “Talk to me, Tennessee.”

I could almost feel the kiss, taste it. I remembered the feel of his mouth on mine. I could have it again…

“No!” In desperation, I looked toward the patio where all the smokers were gathered. No one was looking our way. Yet. “Flynn, Kendra and my sisters are in there. They’ll come looking for me.”

“Then you shouldn’t keep interrupting me,” he said, his mouth sliding up my cheekbone, warming my flesh everywhere he touched.

I moaned despite myself and he laughed softly. “You want me too. Say it.”

I wouldn’t, though. I wouldn’t grab for his shoulders. I wouldn’t kiss him…

“You can’t marry him, Tennessee. Not when we’ve got this thing between us.” He moved against me again and for a few brief, burning moments, the heated pleasure of his body pressing against mine made me forget anything and everything.

Then I remembered.

“There is no us, Flynn.” I had to force myself to say it.

His hand squeezed my ass as he ground his hips against me. When I moaned again, he said, “No? I want you. You want me. Why are you denying it?”

He dipped his head to kiss my collarbone and the skin there was thin. I felt every brush of his lips in exquisite, excruciating detail.

“Say it, Tennessee.” His breath was hot against my skin and he pressed his lips to the side of my throat. “Say you want me.”

Yes…
My body sighed it. My mind denied it. Out loud, I said, “No.”

“Your body can’t lie.” Flynn raked his teeth along the curve of my shoulder and I shivered. “Your body doesn’t care that you’re supposed to be Edward’s, that you’re getting married. It wants me. You want me.”

I sucked in a breath. I had to contradict him. Had to tell him that this wasn’t going to happen.

He lifted his head and kissed me.

For a few, brief seconds, I stood there, helpless against him, against the heat…against us.

Then I tore away, finally managing to break free of his embrace. My face was flushed and I could only hope it wasn’t visible in the dim light. If it was, I hoped he’d take it for anger, because that was there too.

When he reached for me again, I took a step back. “No!”

“I felt that. You can’t tell me you didn’t. You can’t expect me to believe you don’t want me!” His eyes glittered, the shadows making them look almost black.

I stared at him, mesmerized.
Not want him
? Of course I wanted him, but I couldn’t say it. I opened my mouth, something twisting in my chest as I prepared to deny it again.

Flynn jerked his chin. “If you’re not honest, I’m going to show Edward the pictures. All of them. And I’ll tell him you slept with me.”

“You asshole!” I lifted my hand and slapped him. He caught my wrist and jerked me against his chest.

I struggled, hitting his chest with my free hand until he grabbed that wrist too. “Let me go.”

“No. You want me. You want me more than him, but you won’t admit it. Why?” The word came out broken and Flynn looked away. He sounded more like a lost child than the belligerent adult I’d seen just seconds before. “Why is it always Edward who gets what he wants, what he needs?”

I stared at him, miserable and scared. Not scared of Flynn, but scared of how badly I wanted to comfort him. “Let me go,” I whispered again.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

The new voice intruded and I flinched as Cody strode into view. How much had he heard?

Flynn shot him a dark look. “This doesn’t concern you, big brother,” he said through clenched teeth.

“She told you to let her go,” Cody said, his voice firm. “Now do it, before I have to make you.”

Cody’s arrival had thrown Flynn off-guard and I was able to twist away. When Flynn tried to grab for me, I evaded, half-stumbling. I cursed my heels as I caught myself and then continued to back away, staring at him.

Flynn’s eyes locked on me, the pain in them cutting through me.

“Flynn,” Cody said quietly. “Come on, man. Let’s get out of here. I’ll take you home.”

“No.” A reckless look entered Flynn’s eyes as he glanced over at his brother. “You can go, though. You can get out of here and go straight to hell, Cody.”

I flinched at the sheer rage I heard in his voice, but Cody didn’t even blink.

“You’re drunk.” The bigger man took a step toward Flynn. Shaking his head, he gestured toward me. “You don’t want to do this. You’re upsetting her, scaring her…”

“She wants me!” Flynn shouted the words again, almost as if he had to convince himself. “Not him! She belongs with me!”

I wrapped my arms around my middle as his gaze slid toward me. “I’m…” Licking my lips, I forced the words out. “I’m marrying Edward, Flynn. I love him. He loves me. He doesn’t hurt me. I can trust him.”

He flinched at the last statement. Teeth bared, he spun toward me. “You’re going to marry a guy who doesn’t even understand you—” He broke off when Cody grabbed his arm. “Fuck off!”

Cody didn’t budge. “You need to leave.”

Flynn shoved him. “I told you to fuck off!” He turned back to me. “I can’t let you do this. You have to know—you
son of a bitch
!”

I didn’t even see how it happened, but in the span of seconds, Cody and Flynn were grappling on the ground. Glass crunched and I remembered the margarita glass. They twisted and swore and grunted, fists flying. I wanted to yell at them to stop, to shout for someone to intervene, but I couldn’t. I just stood there and watched the brothers fight. And then Cody was the only one making any noise.

Flynn lay unconscious, blood trickling from his mouth.

Cody groaned as he stood, pressing a hand to his side. “He hits damn hard considering how drunk he is.”

I took a step toward Flynn, then another.

He was so still—

Cody caught my arm. “He’s fine,” he said gently. “He’s just drunk and pissed. He needs to sleep it off.”

“I…” Uncertain what I even wanted to say, I shook my head and backed away.

Cody shook his right hand and I looked down, saw his torn and bloody knuckles. Guilt swept through me. This was all my fault.

“Cody, shit. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said. Heaving out a sigh, he looked back over at his unconscious brother. “I saw him leave the bachelor party and had a bad feeling about where he was going. So I followed him. I got hung up in traffic though and…hell, Gabs. I should have been here sooner.”

“Not your fault,” I parroted his words back to him. Swallowing the knot in my throat, I closed my eyes. “Some party, huh?”

Chapter 15

A hand brushed my cheek and I sniffled. I was sure my make-up was all smeared across my face

Cody sighed and hugged me to him. “Go on back inside, Gabby. I’ll take care of Flynn.”

“No.” I shook my head. Everything was spinning from the alcohol, and Flynn, and the party... “I think...I think I’m just going to go home. I don’t feel that great.”

Cody studied me for a long moment and then nodded. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll go let Kendra know and have a bouncer come out here to watch Flynn. Our dad can come get him and I’ll drive you home. Okay?”

“You shouldn’t have to…”

“Stop.” His voice brooked no argument and he patted my shoulder. “Just give me two minutes.”

I spent those whole two minutes staring at Flynn.

I need you…

He didn’t, of course. He just wanted me. Probably because Edward had me, nothing more, but I was going to hear those words echoing inside my head for a long time.

I wasn’t sure which was worse, remembering what he said or how, not long after he’d said something similar, I’d walked in on him fucking some random woman. How long would it be this time, I wondered. Would he even remember this conversation when he woke up? Did I want him to?