Unforgiven (8 page)

She was plenty lucid to see Darren watching her as she stumbled her way around the dance floor with Jess. She was also plenty lucid to be embarrassed when she managed to dance right into a guy, spilling her drink on his thong-clad feet. Shit, she was one of the drink spillers now too. She was also more than lucid enough to catch Darren laughing at her when she cringed as she peered up to the guy standing in front of her. Did she miss the way Darren’s face fell when said strange man pulled her into his arms and started moving her around the dance floor? Of course not. She was lucid after all. Painfully and obnoxiously lucid.

She also still had her Silo cup full of something. What was she drinking? She didn’t much care. It was tropical, and though weak, she was certain it had at least a marginal amount of alcohol in it. Might as well keep drinking.

The guy was handsome. He was also quite drunk. He’d said his name; she was certain of it, but she’d managed to forget already, and when his body closed in on hers, she could feel his arousal against her stomach. He was clutching her lower back, pulling and pinning her body to his. His other hand held hers as he spun her and moved her across the floor. Bailey was just barely managing to keep her drink from spilling as she held it in her free hand. Jess was already dancing with someone else, and so Bailey’s attention returned to the handsome man and his arousal held tight to her body.

Bailey wasn’t the one-night stand sorta gal, but it was seeming like a fine idea at the moment. For whatever reason, she needed this. She needed to beat Darren at his own game. He made her feel inept and juvenile, and she needed to be something other than that. Were she a bit more sober, she’d easily realize her behavior was proving just how juvenile she really was, but her lucid self was perhaps not quite as lucid as she thought.

“Take a walk with me.” The strange man spoke against her ear, and her breath left in a rush as she looked toward the bar.

Trinity was sitting next to Darren, stroking the inside of his thigh with her palm, but while her attention might be solely on him, his was not on her. He was glaring at Bailey, and she shuddered at the anger in his eyes. Anger wasn’t how he ever regarded her—not ever, but she’d be damned if he didn’t look two seconds from ripping into her. When he cocked his head to the side, he was warning her, but when Trinity’s hand moved up toward his groin and Bailey watched as he sucked in a quick breath at the touch, she made up her mind.

“Sure.” The guy pulled her toward the open patio, and she walked with him down the patio steps to the sea wall and the sidewalk that ran along it.

They moved slowly; the guy was staggering just slightly, and Bailey wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t too. When he pushed her up against the wall, she gasped. He was pinning her to the wall with his groin. He trailed his hand out to her own, taking her drink from her and setting it behind her on the top of the wall just behind her shoulder level.

“You don’t need that now, do you?” He was speaking seductively as he ground his pelvis against her.

“What she doesn’t need is you touching her, asshole. Get your fucking hands off her.” Darren’s voice was seething with hatred, and when she turned to look up the sidewalk from the direction they’d come, he was standing there alone, glaring at the guy who still pinned her to the wall with his erection.

“Fuck you. Who the fuck are you?” The guy spoke with all the surety his drunkenness afforded him.

“I’m her brother. Get lost.” Darren was still seething, and he’d not even bothered looking at her yet.

“You are not!” She burst out laughing, but it was more condemning than humorous.

“Bailey, shut up! You’ve already shown just how stupid you can be on your own.” His eyes flashed to hers as he spoke, and it stopped the laugh in her throat in an instant. He was furious. When his attention moved back to the guy who had finally pulled his body away from her to face Darren, it was only to threaten him. “You’re going to leave her alone, or I’m going to make you. Your choice. But keep this in mind. My only concern is her—not getting laid, not getting loaded, not looking like the stud you obviously think you are. There’s no possible way for you to come out of this ahead without looking like a douche bag . . . unless of course you walk away and go find some other drunk chick to fuck around with. Either way, I’m not leaving until you’re gone.”

Bailey knew her mouth was hanging open. It was two parts embarrassment, one part complete and utter arousal. She’d wanted to show him up. She’d wanted to make him jealous, and whatever he was, it wasn’t pretty. It was anger, it was irritation, and it was a glaring reminder that she couldn’t and shouldn’t have even tried to play this game. She’d done it for her dignity’s sake, but it had been a complete and utter fail.

The guy started shuffling his feet a bit, eyeing Darren as he contemplated, but it was obvious he’d lost his edge. “Oh yeah? Well, you’re a pussy-fucking bitch-boy with a hard-on for his sister.” The guy was trying hard to maintain his cool, not realizing in the least he was falling prey to Darren’s own brand of calm, cool control; he was also proving Darren’s point perfectly, though he was likely too arrogant and stupid to realize it, and his inability to stand his ground without looking like a knob was almost embarrassing.

“You can call me whatever you like so long as you move on.”

“Bitch.” He spit the words at Darren, and Darren’s only reaction was to roll his eyes as though he couldn’t believe he was being forced to stoop so low.

The guy started off down the sidewalk, walking out and around Darren in a wide arc. Darren’s arms were crossed on his chest, and he was studying Bailey as the guy moved away from them, taking Darren’s advice, though the occasional pathetic curse he let loose said it was a struggle to keep his dignity as he scampered away.

“You’re competitive, Bay, but I’d say this is taking it just a bit too far. How ’bout you fuck my girlfriend while I watch, and we’ll call it even.” His glare was calm, too calm. He was boiling under the surface of his sarcastic remark.

“Oh, I’d say I’ve already won this one. No need for the vapid slut girlfriend.” Bailey didn’t normally find it so easy to hold her own with him, but a good dose of alcohol and a bit of humiliation, and she was ready to go her round with Darren. She walked by him, knowing he’d stop her, and he did. He pushed her up against the wall, holding her elbows as he glared down at her. He said nothing. His chest was rising and falling as he struggled against some inner turmoil she wasn’t privy to, and she took her opportunity to get one last shot. “Did you know I was watching?”

His brow flinched, and his eyes shifted from hers for a moment. “Don’t do this.” His voice was warning.

“Did you?”

“Dammit, Bay! You don’t—”

“Did you know I—” She was practically yelling.

“Yes!” His breath left him in a huff. “Fucking hell, Bailey!” He wasn’t practically yelling; he was just plain yelling. “I fucking knew!”

“Why?” She’d lost her own edge, and it came out a whisper as he stood panting and staring down at her.

When he spoke again, it was just as quiet, and his hands gripping her elbows squeezed gently, almost reassuringly—as though he knew what he was saying was wrong, and he needed her to understand that it was still just him. “I wanted you to see me.” He let go of her elbows, and he backed away from her, crossing his arms. It wasn’t aggressive; it wasn’t even angry. It was as if he didn’t trust what his hands might do if he didn’t clamp them to his body with his arms. She could see and understand his every physical reaction to her like they were words coming from his mouth. “Fuck! I just wanted . . . I don’t know what I wanted.”

His eyes dropped to her feet, and she stared at his chest as it rose and fell. Her body was coursing and vibrating with electric need that pulsed through her in warm waves. She knew she wanted him. She wasn’t immune or naive to want and desire, and he was better than any other man at inciting it in her. She usually ignored it with him. She had to because that just wasn’t who they were. But now? She felt the need to console him, to reassure him, and as much as that, she felt the same need emanating from him. He wanted her. She usually questioned if he ever possibly could, though she suspected there were certainly times he must. Right now, she knew with no doubt in her mind that he did—just as much as she did for that matter.

When she reached out to his arms, he flinched and then he sighed. She was studying his face, wondering where the nerve came from. He was still looking down, but she was closing the space between them slowly, and his focus was shifting gradually up her body as she neared him. His eyes stalled over her lips, and he licked his as he studied her mouth. She didn’t mean to suck in a quick and shocked gasp at the sight of his tongue passing over his lips, but she couldn’t stop the reaction, and the moment he heard the quick inhalation of her breath, he lunged at her mouth.

His tongue pushed past her lips as he backed her body up to the wall. His hand gripped her neck, holding her mouth to his as his other hand squeezed gently at her waist. His fingers tightened and caressed her through her dress, and she moaned into his mouth when his fingers worked their way down to her hip, stroking over her hip bone. His moan was lower and set her blood on fire as he licked her tongue, tormenting her entire body with nothing more than their kiss.

Bailey gripped his upper arms as he pushed his body against her, pinning her to the wall with his erect and hard arousal that strained against the front of his pants. For the second time this night, she was held firmly against this wall, allowing a man to show her just how much he wanted to fuck her. She welcomed this man far more than the other, and could she unwrite what she’d almost been willing to do with the other just to make herself feel better about herself, she’d do so in an instant. This was what she wanted. This was what she always wanted. She trusted his touch, his force, his power, his intent, his everything. This was what she always wanted. Always.

She melted when she felt his fingers brush up past the hem of her dress. His fingers trailed lightly up her thigh—so lightly they tickled and innervated her desire until her knees were shaking, and she was whimpering between the smacking of their lips. His mouth was still ravenously assaulting her lips, but his fingers were gentle—gentle and trembling slightly against her skin as they moved. His lips paused as did his fingers when he hit the top of her thigh just as his fingers brushed the lace of her underwear. He stroked along the edge of the fabric that met her bikini line, and he breathed his minty breath into her mouth. He was deciding, and could she make the decision for him, she’d force his hand farther, but she froze in her spot, waiting, begging in her mind for more.

She could hear the sound of him swallowing as he struggled, and when he let go of a deep, pained sigh, she did too. He pulled his fingers from her skin, and his forehead dropped to hers, refusing to let his lips touch hers again.

“Oh, fuck, Bailey.” He was whispering again, and he couldn’t seem to catch his breath. She could feel his brow flinching against her forehead, and she couldn’t seem to loosen her grip on his arms. “I can’t do this.”

The rejection was painful; knowing he wanted it didn’t soften the blow in the least, and when he turned to walk from her without another word, she couldn’t seem to loosen her grip on his arm. He stilled when he felt her fingers pulling against him, and he turned back slowly, refusing to look at her. She couldn’t tell what was going on in his head, but she was still coursing with need. The need was as much to be reassured as it was to be fucked, and the combination of those desires was nearly overwhelming.

“Dammit, Bailey.” He was speaking through gritted teeth as he finally looked at her. She didn’t waste even one second before she lunged at his mouth, standing on her tiptoes to close the distance. He met her halfway as he seemed to lose control again, and she ended back up against the wall as his hands held her still and his tongue thrust and tasted her mouth. There was nothing gentle or slow about the trail of his fingers back up under her dress, and the moment he hit the lace, he pushed his hand roughly past the material and cupped her sex. His finger slid between her lips, and she could feel the soaking wetness coating his finger as he moaned.

He stroked, but didn’t push into her. “Is this what you want?” His voice was breathy and aroused, and her body responded perfectly at nothing more than the sound of his warm, needy words. “Huh?” She listened to his panting voice as his finger slid through her cum. “Where’s this going to end, Bailey?” She whimpered as her fingers dug into his arm. “With my cock inside you?” And the moment he spoke the words, his finger invaded her tightness, and her sheath tightened and trembled around his finger. “Fuck, that’s good.” He wasn’t even speaking to her as he muttered the words. He sounded nearly desperate, nearly angry, but so nearly ready to lose his mind that he couldn’t stop. He
couldn’t
stop. That was the desperation and anger she was hearing. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” His finger was plunging into her wetness, and she was gripping his arm, groaning with her mouth buried against his chest.

He slid a second finger in with the first, and his thumb started swirling around the peaked nub of her clitoris as she gasped for air. “Darren.” There was no real reason she said his name—only that she couldn’t keep her mouth shut or keep her voice stifled any longer. She started gasping as his strokes sped, and his fingers pushed and pulled harshly in and out of her body.

“You feel so good. God, I want you so much.” His voice tormented her with his most erotic and confessing words.

She cried out as her orgasm raced through her body.

“Bailey.” He was still stroking, slowing the penetration of his fingers as she trembled around him. “I have to have you.” She nodded as her head sank to his chest. She’d give every ounce of herself to this man in a heartbeat.

“Darren?” The unwelcome voice jolted both their bodies to attention as his name was hollered from a distance. “Darren?”

“Fuck.” He muttered as he slipped his fingers from her and pulled away, stepping back. “I’m over here, Trinity.” He studied Bailey as she fought the hot, burning heat that was flushing her skin while they waited for Trinity. Trinity was still up on the patio of the bar, and she couldn’t see them. Darren shook his head in frustration while they listened to Trinity’s clicking heels near them.