There wasn’t anything Brandi could do except succumb to his kiss. There wasn’t a damn thing she wanted to do except to feel his tongue in her mouth, his hands on her hips and his hefty package pressed into her lower stomach. Inside this practically new guest house, being slammed up against the stainless steel refrigerator door was something her body was craving and she didn’t even know it until he’d taken matters into his own hands.
She desperately wished for no barrier between his shirtless chest and her tank top, the minimal skin-to-skin contact wasn’t enough. His muscles tightened around her as he gave her that too-good feeling of a man taking control of a woman. In a good way. Because she would never be like her mother and allow a man to control her life the way her father had done. This was a good feeling where she could let go and let him do things to her she hadn’t felt in a long time. A man who lived life on his own terms and didn’t make any kind of apologies where anyone else was concerned.
His shorts rubbed against her bare legs, his foot having since spread her legs open enough for him to be between them. His hands cupped her breasts and she arched back, hoping in doing so, more of her would find its way into the graces of him: his hands, his mind, his soul. He skirted his fingertips underneath the hem of her top and grazed her skin. She shivered, acknowledging that his touch was everything she hoped it would be.
Her arms captured his neck. This is what I want. The dampness between her legs reminded her that a bed was only steps away. Who needed a bed? He pulled her tank top down, her breasts holding the thin material underneath their mounds as his lips found each taut nipple and gave it superior attention.
More attention than she was used to.
Her hips had a mind of their own as they ground desperately into his, wanting to experience some type of friction…release. His hands were everywhere; caressing her arms, teasing her breasts, cupping her bottom. They were everywhere except for the spot she so desired them to be.
Ring! Oh God, no. The loud ringing brought both of them back down to Earth and she fumbled with her bra and tank top, pulling them back into place.
“It’s your phone, not mine.” His voice was all low and husky and after that little episode, oh my, he bit my nipples and I liked it, she couldn’t help but wonder what other forms of torture he could do with that warm mouth. She couldn’t stop her eyes from glancing at the bulge in his shorts as she plucked the phone out of his hand and saw the name she didn’t want to see, let alone deal with in this heated moment.
Still catching her bearings, she slid the lever down and silenced the call. No way was she dealing with her sister now. Especially with Blaze in the same room.
“Who was that?”
“No one,” she turned away.
“The look in your eye says otherwise. Who is she?”
“My sister. I don’t want to deal with her or her drama right now.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Pretty much. And since we all can’t be the Prima Donna like her, she doesn’t care for me too much either.”
“She doesn’t live around here I take it.”
She opened the fridge, surveyed the minimal contents and closed it before answering him.
“No, she lives in Missouri.”
“Why don’t you guys get along?”
“Can you please stop badgering me about her? We were getting along so well. Let’s not ruin it by talking about her. I can’t stand her most of the time and I definitely don’t want to discuss her with you.”
“Fine by me. Are your parents in Missouri, too?”
“No. My mom is in Florida and my father is in prison.”
“Prison? For what?”
Drake hadn't told him? That seemed a little odd, considering he hired him to be a bodyguard for his kids and her.
“A multitude of charges and it's such a long story I don't want to bore you with the details, but one of the main reasons is for kidnapping me.”
“Your own father kidnapped you?” his eyes turned hard, “did he hurt you?”
“No, it wasn't anything like that. I think he thought by taking me, well he had other people do it, but I think he thought it wouldn't be as serious as it would be with Drake’s kids. Like a small, messed up substitute or something.”
“Why did he do it?”
She couldn’t decide how much she wanted to tell him. One kiss, one really good kiss, and he wanted to know her life story? His interest seemed genuine but the book she’d found on his nightstand when she’d been snooping stood at the forefront of her mind. Was he a bad guy? A good guy? Her heart told her he was good, but her heart would have bet her own father would’ve never kidnapped her either.
What was he doing with the same book as Mrs. Kingston? Did Mrs. Kingston suddenly invite him to her book club? Why wouldn’t he tell her? Which raised another question: did he have to tell her if he and Diane discussed books or anything else in nature? Was the note as old as she brushed it off to be or were there real threats going on here that she should be worrying about?
“Earth to Brandi.”
Blaze’s deep voice brought her back into the moment.
“I would’ve thought Drake would’ve already briefed you on this considering he hired you as the family’s bodyguard.”
There it was. It was a quick glance away from her and back. Almost unnoticeable, unless you were looking for signs. He knows. He knows my story and yet he’s pretending he doesn’t. The air thickened and she watched him choose his words. She had him in a tight spot and he knew it. She cocked her head to the side, waiting for his answer. The hell if she was letting him finagle his way out of this.
“I wanted to hear it from you.”
“So you were lying to me?”
“I didn’t lie. I never said I didn’t know anything. I wanted to hear your story.”
“You’re admitting that you knew about my father though?”
“Drake mentioned it but no dirty details were included. Your sister wasn’t even mentioned.”
Wow, that would be a first. She couldn’t recall a time when Miss Beauty Queen didn’t take front and center of any conversation. Especially a man-whore like Mr. Kingston who thought he could have any woman he wanted.
“Well, she wasn’t involved in anything. She and I are opposites in a lot of ways.”
“Such as?” Now it was he who was cocking his head to the side. His deep blue eyes were relentless.
She swallowed, “Such as, she’s always been the favored one, the beautiful one, the smart one, the attention-hound, the drama queen. Whereas I am not as pretty and much more mellow. Definitely not alike.”
His eyes hardened and he came to stand so close to her, she could feel the heat emanating from his body.
“Do you really have any doubts that you’re not beautiful?”
“You should see her.”
He shook his head, “I don’t want to see her. I don’t need to see her to know what I see in you.”
“What’s that?”
“That you’re pretty fucking beautiful. So beautiful that I’m unable to think straight when I’m around you. So beautiful that I go out of my way to avoid touching you because the instant I do, it’s fireworks inside me.”