Revved (Axle Alley Vipers) (9 page)

“Let me finish?”

She scowled but planted her ass on her chair, still not looking thrilled by his honesty.

“Like I said, I’m not stupid, so it took me zero-point-three-seconds to work out there’s a hell of a lot more to you than the way you look. I saw that the first time you aimed those eyes on me. You’ve got a head on your shoulders, and you’re extremely talented at what you do. You’ve also got good, loyal friends, and that says a lot about you, too. Beyond that? Well, I’m hoping you’ll give me a shot and show me.”

He meant every damn word. He didn’t know why it was important for him to give it to her straight. He just knew he needed her to know.

Eyes wide, she stared at him across the table, then blinked, making it a struggle to stay in his seat and not drag her around into his lap. “You want me to show you?”

“Yeah, more than anything.” And fuck, he meant that, too.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, the action vulnerable somehow, calling to all of his protective instincts. “I…I don’t know what you want, what you’re asking?”

“What I want? You, naked and in my bed.” He held her gaze. Not letting her shut him down this time. “What I’m asking? That you’ll trust me when I say that having you naked and in my bed isn’t all I want, and that you’ll give me a chance to prove it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know…”

“I can’t make you any promises. I don’t know where this will lead, but I want to find out.” As he said the words, he knew as much as he’d tried to deny them, he meant them. Every damn word. He should get up and walk out, stop this now, but he couldn’t, couldn’t walk away from her. That scared the hell out of him. “You gonna give me that shot, Rusty?”

Chapter Ten

T
he man staring at her from across the table, eyes dark, the sincerity of his words shining through, was a man she wanted to spend time with. A lot more time. But there was also something else, a shadow. She’d seen it when he talked about his family, and she realized he had demons in his past, just like she did. They’d made him the man he is now. She desperately wanted to know what caused those demons, wanted to know everything.

He’d told her how it was, despite the fact he’d worked out she had an issue where men were concerned. The man was astute, knew she didn’t want to be seen as nothing but an object, yet he hadn’t given her some line about wanting her only for her mind. He’d laid it out straight. Yes, he thought she was attractive, but he wanted her to show him more, what lay underneath. No other guy had ever bothered to try to find out.

But most importantly, she wanted him. There was no point pretending otherwise. The man was on her mind constantly, had been since he walked into her workshop several weeks ago.

His fingers, still wrapped around hers, gave her a little squeeze. “What do you say?”

She searched his face, and he hid nothing, it was all there—heat, determination, curiosity. She released the breath she’d been holding and jumped off a cliff. “Yeah, I’ll give you that chance.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, smiling because the guy did that to her. “I’d like to get to know you too, Reid.”

The smile he offered was wide and looked extremely good on him. “That’s good, baby.”

He’d been honest with her, and he deserved the same in return. Her tummy flipped at the prospect. She took a bite of her pizza to stall…and moaned. He was right. The pizza was delicious. Reid continued to watch her, making her heart beat a little faster.

She knew she came across a certain way, and it didn’t take a psychic to work out that Reid had been with more than his fair share of women. Pipe and Alex knew about her past, knew what had happened and why she didn’t date. Her experience where sex was concerned was limited, as in, born-again-virgin status. Maybe he wouldn’t care, but in the spirit of honesty, no matter how humiliating, she knew she had to open up, at least a little. It would be a hell of a lot more embarrassing if, when they finally got down to business, rather than burn up the sheets, she disappointed him.

It had been a long damn time since she’d wanted a man like she did Reid. She didn’t want to screw this up before it properly began.

Lifting his glass, he took a sip of wine, licking the ruby liquid from his bottom lip before placing the glass on the table. Shit, he even made drinking wine look hot. A shiver of need moved through her. God, she wanted that mouth, that tongue on her.

“What’s on your mind?” he said, jarring her from her wandering thoughts.

She finished chewing her last bite of pizza, then took a gulp of her wine, folded and unfolded the napkin in front of her, trying to find the right way to start. “Um…well, you see…”

“What is it, Rusty?” He’d stopped eating, wiped his mouth and hands on his napkin, and sat back, watching her with an intensity that made her squirm in her seat. His jaw tightened. “Is there someone else?”

“What?”

“I don’t share. We see where this is going, we do it exclusively.”

His posture was stiff, fists clenched in front of him, but dammit, all she could hear was the word
exclusively
. He didn’t want to share her, and he didn’t plan to date anyone else. She liked that, a whole lot. A smile lifted of its own volition, and then she realized he didn’t look quite as happy as she felt.

“That’s it? You’re seeing someone…”

“No.” She held up her hands. “No, I’m not seeing anyone. I haven’t dated, well, not
seriously
, in a long time…like, a looong time.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded.

“How long?”

She inwardly winced. “Eight…um, years.”

Silence. “You want to repeat that?” he finally said.

No.

She did some more squirming. “I mean, I’ve had the odd date, but nothing, um…more.” Then, without giving herself a chance to chicken out, she blurted, “What I’m trying to say is, I haven’t slept with anyone in eight years, and that was only the one time. So if you’re expecting some freak between the sheets, you’re dating the wrong woman.” There, she’d said it.

She risked another look at him. He sat there, motionless, like a damn statue, eyes locked on her. She’d shocked him. “Um, Reid?”

“You’re telling me, you have only had sex with one guy? And that was eight years ago…once?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you.” Great, she’d put him off. She’d hoped her lack of experience wouldn’t be a problem, but judging by the expression on his face, she’d been wrong.

“You were what? Seventeen?”

“Eighteen.”

He sat back in his chair again, more emotions moving behind his eyes, but this time she had no hope of figuring them out. “This guy took your virginity, then…nothing?”

“Nothing.”

His gaze turned hard, intense, and his fists clenched again. “He hurt you?”

“No. Nothing like that.” And he hadn’t, not physically anyway. “It was my choice.”

He seemed to relax before her eyes, his fierce gaze still blazing hot, but in a completely different way. She shivered.

“Fuck.” Then he groaned and cursed again.

“What is it?” Okay, he was confusing the hell out of her now. “Is that going to be a problem for you? I just thought you should know…so if we,
ya know
…you won’t be disappointed.”

He sucked in a shaky breath. “Come here, Foxy.”

They were in a corner in the back of the restaurant, the lighting dim, no one was paying them any attention. She stood and went to him. It seemed she could refuse him nothing.

When she reached his side, he slid those big, warm hands around her waist and pulled her down onto his lap. “Look at me,” he said, like she had an option, like she could do anything else when he was near. “First, there’s no if, there is only when. I’ve already told you I want you in my bed, and that’s gonna happen, yes?”

Her belly fluttered. “Yes.”

“Second, nothing you could do when we’re together could disappoint me, nothing. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered, melting more and more by the second.

“Third.” He shook his head. “Foxy, I don’t think you get how hot that is for a guy, knowing besides one idiot—because it isn’t hard to work out the guy was an idiot—you haven’t let another man inside, haven’t let another man touch your body. And, baby, knowing your first time was your only time, means I’m gonna be the first man to show you what it is to be treated right. The first man to make you come so hard, you scream.”

Heat rushed between her thighs at his dark promise, and she wriggled in his lap, squeezing her thighs together to ease the ache. He wasn’t wrong. Her first time had been awful in more ways than one. There had been only discomfort and humiliation. Common sense told her that her hesitation over having sex again was because of what happened that night. But for the first time since then, listening to the rough, lust-filled edge to his voice, shit, it all just—slipped away. All she could think about right then was how it would feel to have his weight pressing her into his mattress, his mouth on hers, the feel of that big cock, currently digging into her ass, moving inside her.

One of his hands slid into her hair, fisting gently, bringing her in close, his lips an inch from hers. “You want that? You want to know how it feels when a man rides you so hard all you can do is take it, until you explode around his cock, screaming his name?”

She licked her lips. “Yes, I want that.”

The grip on her hair tightened, but instead of kissing her, he buried his nose against her throat, whiskers scraping her sensitive skin. When he spoke, his voice was low, husky. “I can’t wait to give it to you.”

A tremor moved through her, and she gasped when he nipped at her throat, knew he’d felt it when he chuckled darkly against her skin.

“If I slid my hand under your dress, my fingers inside your panties, I know I’d find you wet and hot.” He made a low sound, a combination somewhere between a growl and a groan. “You been taking care of yourself a long time, Foxy. You must be fucking hungry for it. I bet you’re drenched right now.” He nipped her ear. “You drenched, baby?”

Jesus.
The things he said—she should probably be pissed, but God help her, she loved it. Loved the rough, crude way he spoke to her. “Why don’t you find out for yourself?” she said.

He cursed low, then suddenly she was on her feet. He pulled his wallet from his pocket, threw a pile of cash on the table, then his hand wrapped around her wrist, and he towed her toward the door. He didn’t stop to say good-bye and headed straight to his big black ex-hearse parked around the side of the restaurant.

He unlocked her door first, and she scrambled inside. His opened a second later, and he slid into the driver’s seat. He turned to her, and before she could open her mouth and ask what was going on, his hands were on her hips and she was in his lap, legs bracketing his heavy thighs.

“What are you—”

His hands went to either side of her face, and he pulled her down, their mouths crashing together, all teeth, lips, tongues. Both wanting it all and taking it. His erection was right there, and she couldn’t help but grind down on it, letting out a moan at the exquisite sensation of having him between her thighs. He did some more of that growling she was growing to love, and it egged her on. She moved her hips against his, rubbing his hard, denim-covered cock over her swollen clit, gasping into his mouth every time she rasped over the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“You’re fucking hungry for it, aren’t you, Foxy?”

She couldn’t speak, could only feel. The next thing she knew, she was on her back along the bench seat of the Plymouth, and Reid was between her thighs. “You want to come, beautiful?”

“Yes.” She tried to lift her hips to get more of that amazing friction. “Please.”

One of his hands took both of hers and pinned them above her head, and he looked down at her. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

She did as he asked, and he started moving his hips against hers, denim scraping over lace. She lifted her ass higher, seeking more, and he gave it to her, dry humping her in the front of his car like a couple of teenagers.

“I want inside that tight, hot body,” he hissed. “But you’re not ready for what I want to give you, not tonight. You’re not ready for the way I want to fuck you, but I can still make you scream for me.”

He bent down and took her nipple into his mouth, through the light fabric of her dress. The hand not holding her wrists immobile moved down and gripped her ass, angling her hips. She whimpered and thrashed beneath him, desperate, so hot and hungry. She didn’t care that she was all but begging him to make her come, not when she could feel her orgasm racing up on her.

Her inner muscles convulsed, and she moaned long and low. Then Reid bit down on her nipple, and she flew apart, shuddering and crying out his name. The whole time, Reid continued to move on top of her, until she was gasping for breath. She was vaguely aware of him stiffening, a shudder moving through his big body, his deep groan, right before she collapsed in a boneless heap beneath him.

After a few minutes, the silence closed in around them, the only sound Reid’s harsh breathing. His lips brushed her ear. “That was beautiful, sweetheart.” Then a low, almost agonized groan vibrated through his chest. “But shit, Rusty, you made me come in my pants like a fuckin’ horny teenager.”

She blinked up at him. “You what?”

He blew out a breath, and she was sure she could see his cheeks grow red. “The way you came apart for me, the way you responded…” He shook his head and grinned down at her. “Foxy, you made me blow a load in my jeans.”

She couldn’t help it—she felt almost high after the mind-blowing orgasm she’d just had, and the knowledge that she’d made this man, a man who seemed to have control in every aspect of his life, lose it completely…

Plus, the goofy smile on his face was just too damn much. She started giggling.

He smirked. “You think this is funny?”

She nodded, grinning. “No.”

“Woman, you’re killing me here.”

She bit her lip to try to stop the giggles, but it wasn’t working. “I’m not laughing at you, really I’m not.” And she wasn’t, she was just so happy, ridiculously, stupidly so, and then there was the look on his face, he just looked so…horrified. She couldn’t hold it in any longer and completely lost it. Throwing her head back, she laughed her ass off.

A moment later, Reid buried his face against her throat, and she heard it, a sound she knew she’d never get sick of hearing—his deep rumbling laughter.