Slow and methodical, Reed undid the top button of her jeans, his gaze glued to her flushed face. Her lips had parted, the anticipation in her eyes so powerful it seared right through him and turned his cock to granite.
“Next time I say wait here, you’d better goddamn listen.” His voice was tinged with danger.
“Yeah, and what if I don’t want to listen?” Darcy shot back.
He pushed her jeans down her hips, then freed one silky leg from the denim. Her black bikini panties were so skimpy they barely covered her mound, and his mouth filled with saliva as he stared at her creamy thighs.
“Then that would make you a bad girl, wouldn’t it? And do you want to know what I do to bad girls?” Reed dragged his own zipper down, the tick-tick-tick of metallic teeth being released echoing in the car. “I fuck them. I fuck them hard.”
“Oh God.” Darcy squirmed beneath him, her arousal surrounding him like a seductive mist.
He cupped her damp panties with one hand and discovered that she was soaking wet. His cock pulsed, a jolt of need drawing his balls up tight. Christ almighty. He needed to be inside her more than he needed his next breath.
He eased his pants lower and released his cock from his boxer briefs. He paused to slip a condom packet out of his pocket, tore it open with his teeth, and sheathed himself. A second later, he drove his aching cock into her tight channel, so deep that the force of his hips had their bodies sliding toward the door and Darcy’s head bumping the handle.
She didn’t seem to care—her arms came around him, grasping the back of his head to bring him down for a kiss. Their mouths locked as he pumped inside her, over and over again, each unforgiving thrust stealing another piece of his sanity, another shard of his self-control.
“I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you,” he choked out, startled by the desperate note he heard in his voice.
Her eyes widened, lips parting in surprise. “Oh.” She visibly swallowed as their bodies went still. “I’m fine, Reed. I really am. You don’t have to worry about—”
He kissed her before she could finish, the adrenaline from the fight and the panic from seeing Darcy get hurt still burning like jet fuel in his bloodstream. Christ, he didn’t want to think about any of that right now. He just wanted…needed…her.
Groaning, he resumed the frantic pace, determined to send both of them over the edge.
“Don’t stop. Don’t ever, ever stop.” Her agonized pleas tickled his lips, and when she shifted her head and sank her teeth into his shoulder, Reed growled in pain and thrust harder.
He filled her with his cock, squeezing her breasts over her shirt as adrenaline and anger and concern and lust mingled together to fuel a furious tempo that set off a bone-melting release that spread through his body like waves of lava. He couldn’t control it, couldn’t wait for Darcy to reach that same earth-shattering apex, but fortunately she wasn’t far behind, and his dick remained rock hard as he fucked her through her climax despite the fact that his own had turned his brain and body to jelly.
Darcy rocked beneath him, her body trembling as she rode out the orgasm. Her hot sheath squeezed him so tight his cock jerked inside her again, pulsing with pure, unadulterated ecstasy.
Groaning, Reed collapsed on top of her, doing his best not to crush her with his weight. Again, she didn’t seem to mind, holding him close as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“I think I need to piss you off more often.” The words shuddered out on a laugh. “Because I’m totally digging your choice of punishment.”
Now that he’d come down from the orgasmic high and his brain had started functioning again, the feeling of deep betrayal returned.
“I was the one who hired him,” Reed mumbled. “Of all the stupid, irresponsible decisions—”
“Hey,” she said firmly. “You didn’t know what he was up to. You were just helping out a friend.”
A friend. Ha. More like a fellow troublemaker from his fuck-up days.
Damn it, he should’ve known better than to trust Jeff. To believe that his old buddy had actually changed. Instead, he’d given the guy a goddamn job, and that mistake could have cost him and his friends their business.
“Seriously, Reed, you can’t blame yourself for this. It’s not your fault that he—”
The wail of sirens cut her off.
Sirens that didn’t sound far away at all, but like they were coming from nearby.
Or, more accurately, from that very parking lot.
Reed froze as the red-and-blue lights shone through the windshield of their car, casting a ghostly glow over Darcy’s face. He discreetly lifted his head, then swore when he spotted the two police cars cruising through the lot.
Shit. The cops had arrived to arrest Jeff.
Which would’ve been a fantastic thing—if Reed currently wasn’t in the backseat of a car with his bare ass hanging out and his cock still lodged inside Darcy.
“Crap,” he mumbled. “Don’t make a single sound, Darce.”
Obedience was too much to hope for.
Darcy took one look at the flashing lights, opened her mouth, and howled with laughter.
“Oh my God,” she sputtered between giggles. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Reed was forced to clamp his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
He doubted the officers could hear them, but damn it, he had no desire to get arrested for lewd conduct. On the one occasion he’d had the misfortune of landing in lockup—after a citation for public intoxication he and some fighting buddies were slapped with back when he was twenty—Reed had vowed to become a model citizen. Jail cells were too damn claustrophobic, and he’d be damned if he’d ever feel trapped like that again.
A minute ticked by, then another, until finally the lights on the police cruisers shut off. Footsteps thudded from the far end of the lot, near the club’s back door. Male voices, more footsteps, doors slamming, and then the night was quiet again.
Reed carefully held the condom in place as he withdrew from Darcy’s tight sheath. “I think the coast is clear.”
Humor continued to dance in her eyes. “Am I a total weirdo for kind of wishing they’d caught us?”
“Yes.” His response was swift and unequivocal.
“We would’ve gotten off with a warning,” she protested. “Think of what a great story it could’ve made. All my friends have these awesome stories to tell, but nothing exciting ever happens to me.”
This sure as hell qualified as exciting. He had to give her that.
Reed tucked the condom and torn package in his pocket, wincing as he pictured the mess it would make.
“I’m sure we can find some equally exciting things to do that don’t result in us being arrested,” he said ruefully.
She heaved out a dramatic sigh. “Fine. But I’m holding you to that.”
Darcy wiggled into her pants and climbed back in the front seat, while Reed exited the car through the back door and then walked over to her window. She started the engine before rolling down the window, flashing him a beautiful smile that made his heart skip a beat. “See you tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow morning,” he corrected. “I’ll stop by around nine to look at your cheek.”
Darcy grumbled. “My cheek is just fine. I doubt there’ll even be a bruise. You really don’t have to—”
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He leaned in to brush his lips over hers in a brief kiss, then marched off before she could argue again.
Chapter Twelve
Darcy opened the front door the next morning and found Reed standing behind it, one hand poised to knock.
“Hey,” she squeaked, startled to see him. “What are you doing here?”
His expression was half amused, half smug. “I told you I’d come by to check on you.” He glanced at his watch. “Huh, nine o’clock on the dot. I’m not usually so punctual.”
She stifled a sigh. “I didn’t think you were serious. And you didn’t even
call beforehand.”
“Of course I didn’t. Because we had prearranged plans.” He flashed an arrogant look, then stepped forward and cupped her face with his hands.
She decided to humor him, allowing him to gently sweep his thumb over her skin as he examined her cheek. That crazy bouncer’s elbow hadn’t even left a mark, just like she’d known it wouldn’t. But the way Reed’s eyes clouded over, you’d think she’d been sporting a huge purple bruise.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not in the slightest,” she answered cheerfully. “Hence the complete lack of bruising, Reedford.”
“Don’t hence me,” he chided. “I’m not the one who took a hit to the face last night.”
“You did take a hit to the face! And you almost got strangled to death. I’m the one who should be putting my hands all over you to make sure you’re okay.”
He let his arms dangle at his sides, his expression epitomizing innocence. “Oh, I have no complaints about that. Please, put your hands all over me.”
Jeez, the man was incorrigible. Darcy wondered if he purposely transmitted all that sexual energy, or if it just happened naturally. Either way, the end result remained the same—every time she saw him, she wanted to jump his bones.
When she didn’t take the bait, Reed gestured to the empty canvas bags tucked over her purse. “Where are you headed?”
“The farmers market. I’m in desperate need of some fruits and veggies, and I don’t like to get them at the grocery store. They’re never as fresh or as tasty.” She shifted her purse to her other shoulder so she could lock the apartment door. “Oh, and one of the vendors there sells the best homemade jams and jellies. I swear, they’re to die for. Especially the strawberry jam.”
“You had me at strawberry jam.”
“That was the last thing I said!”
“Was it?” His tone was breezy. “Anyway, should we take my car or yours?”
Darcy blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“How would you like to get to the market?” He spoke slowly, as if she were a non-English-speaking immigrant who’d just stepped onto American soil. “In my vehicle or yours?”
He wanted to come with her?
Reluctance seized her chest. No, he definitely couldn’t do that. She’d specifically told him that she only wanted sex. So unless they showed up at the market naked and fucked on a pile of tomatoes, letting him come along compromised her entire stance. Farmers markets were notoriously known for being relationship places. If she and Reed visited one together, they’d be taking the first step toward coupledom.
Which meant she had to put her foot down and lay down the law again.
Except she’d underestimated his tenacity.
“My car,” he decided. “It’s faster than yours. We don’t want to get there too late and find out that all the jam is sold out. Here, want me to carry your bags?” Without letting her answer, he swiped the empty sacks and tucked them under his arm, then took off walking.
Darcy gaped at his retreating back. And then her gaze lowered to his perfect ass, hugged by faded blue jeans, and for a moment there she forgot where she was. All she could think about was how good it felt to squeeze those firm buttocks when Reed was plunging his cock inside her.
It took a second to snap out of her dirty trance, and by then, Reed was already at the elevator, tossing her an expectant look over his shoulder.
Well. Clearly the man wasn’t taking no for an answer, so why not let him tag along? Besides, she planned on buying a ton of stuff, so she might as well put all those glorious muscles of his to good use and force him to carry her bags.
“So what happened to Jeff?” she asked as they stepped into the elevator.
Reed instantly tensed. “He was arrested after you left.”
“Good. Another dealer off the streets, right?”
The dark cloud on his face didn’t dissipate. “Yup. And now I get to spend the rest of my life apologizing to Gage and AJ for bringing that scumbag into the club.”
“Reed, it’s not your—”
“Fault,” he finished, his bitter expression a clear indication that he didn’t want to pursue the subject any longer.
Darcy didn’t push him, going quiet as they rode the elevator to the lobby and headed outside where Reed’s black Camaro waited at the curb. She slid into the passenger seat, breathing in the clean pine fragrance intermixed with the spicy masculine scent she was growing accustomed to. Or addicted to. Either one worked.
Reed started the car and merged into traffic. He drove toward the stop sign at the end of the street, stopped dutifully, then took a left turn and said, “We’re going to Haymarket, right? Or did you want to hit Copley Square?”
Darcy had to scrape her jaw off the car floor. “Haymarket. And how are you so knowledgeable about the city’s farmers markets?”
He shrugged, his foot easing up on the gas as they neared a red light. “My uncle used to date this woman who made her own cheese. She sold her stuff at a different market every weekend, all over the East Coast, and Uncle Colin always forced me to go with him.”
A hundred more questions bit at Darcy’s tongue. She suddenly realized she didn’t know a thing about Reed’s background. Who his parents were, where he’d gone to school, why he’d chosen to fight professionally.
She swallowed her curiosity, clinging to the swift reminder that she wasn’t allowed to get to know him outside the carnal sense. That would only land her in hot water. She would get attached like she always did, and then all her hopes for a harmless, no-heartbreak fling would go up in flames.
Still, her silence brought a rush of guilt. Darcy had never felt ruder in her life as she fixed her gaze out the window and pretended to admire the scenery she’d seen thousands of times before. The lack of interaction bothered her, but not as much as the one-word responses she offered when Reed tried to engage her in conversation.
For a woman whose middle name was chatty, keeping a conversational distance was excruciating. Reed didn’t comment on her sudden change of personality, but he did shoot several contemplative glances her way throughout the entire drive.
Twenty minutes later, they entered the enormous outdoor market and joined the crowd of people already filling the large space. It was mid-September, and the temperature was still in the high eighties, much to Darcy’s pleasure. She was hoping the good weather followed them all the way to October, the month she’d drawn for her recess chaperoning duties at school. But she already knew her October stint would be a gazillion times better than last year, when she’d shivered in the playground for the entire month of February during one of the worst winters to ever hit Boston.
“Where should we go first?” Reed asked.
Darcy’s gaze roamed the rows and rows of tables that made up the market. “Let’s start with veggies, then hit the fruit stands, and finish up with some jam tasting.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
With his fingers loosely hooked on his belt loops, he walked alongside her toward the tables of vegetables to their right. For the next half hour, they embarked on a health-conscious shopping spree, Reed carrying their overflowing bags without Darcy even having to ask. The whole time, he chatted easily about nothing in particular, while she did her damnedest to avoid any deep conversation. Despite the fact that she’d choked down so many potential questions her throat had run dry from the constant gulping, she was proud of herself for resisting temptation.
But the dark side finally called her over. They’d just stopped at a table piled high with Red Delicious apples when Reed broke out in laughter.
“Shit. I still can’t look at apples without thinking about this girl I knew in middle school.”
Darcy had to grin. “Why, was her name Apple?”
“Actually, it was,” he said smugly. “Apple Schulman, the product of a hippie mom and Jewish dad. She was skinny as a rail with big brown eyes and a mouthful of braces, and I was utterly and completely in love with her.”
&
nbsp; “How old were you?”
“Twelve, I think? It was the sixth grade. She sat in front of me for every class, and I’d spend hours daydreaming about her and trying to work up the courage to ask her out. All the grades had their own annual dances, and I’d already chickened out about inviting her to the sixth grade one, but there was also this big school-wide dance at the end of the year.” Reed chuckled. “I was dying for Apple to go with me, but I was too terrified to ask. Every time I walked up to her locker, I’d freeze up like a Popsicle and then scurry away.”
Darcy laughed. She had trouble picturing the scene he was describing. The Reed she knew oozed confidence and sex appeal. She couldn’t imagine him ever being too nervous to talk to someone, or that any girl, old or young, would ever turn down an offer to date him.
You did.
She banished the internal accusation. That was different. She was a grown woman, not a sixth grader who’d shriek in delight if she scored a date to the school dance. Darcy was smart enough to know what she wanted from her future. And sure, Reed was great in bed, but she wasn’t entirely convinced he could be what she needed out of it—dependable, compassionate, cautious rather than impulsive.
Some women liked a man who was reckless. God knew Darcy had liked it last night when Reed ravished her in the backseat of her car after throwing the equivalent of a temper tantrum. But just because he excited her didn’t mean he could satisfy her emotionally.
“Anyway, in the end,” Reed continued, “after I realized talking to Apple wasn’t a viable option, I decided to give her a note.”
“What did it say?” Darcy asked curiously.
He snickered. “It said do you love me? And underneath the question were two boxes, one for yes and one for no. I told her to check the box that best described her feelings.”
Darcy burst out laughing. “Dude, that’s pretty bold for a sixth-grade boy.”
“That’s how I roll, baby. Bold and ballsy to the bitter end.”
Her tone softened. “Awwww. Was it a bitter end? Did she check the no box?”
“Nope.” Reed grinned. “She added a new box that said maybe. And below that she wrote I’ll tell you after you take me to the dance.”