Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1) Read online

  “Pepper,” Griffin started in a warning voice.

  “Get out,” I replied.

  “Go get dressed.”

  One hand holding my towel together, the other propped on my hip as I shot daggers from my eyeballs. “What’d I just say about bossing me around? And get out.”

  Completely ignoring my demand, he sidestepped me and headed for my couch, plopping down and kicking his booted feet up on my reclaimed barn-wood coffee table. “You don’t wanna get dressed, that’s fine with me, sweetness. But I gotta warn you, I’m not feeling all that gentlemanly seeing you standing there like a goddamned wet dream.”

  “Are you kidding me?!” I repeated, trying my best to ignore the heat building between my bare thighs and come off insulted.

  “Not at all,” he responded casually. “Unless you want me to throw you down on the closest available surface and fuck you into a coma, I suggest you go put some clothes on, although, I gotta say, covering up that delicious body should be all kinds of illegal.”

  I think I might have spontaneously orgasmed right then. Either that, or I had a mini stroke.

  Deciding it was in my best interests all around, I hurried back to my bedroom and threw on a pair of yoga pants and tugged on one of the dozens of big, oversized t-shirts I’d stolen from Dex before heading back into the living room, geared for a fight.

  My eye began to twitch and I thought my head might explode when I walked in and saw my television had been turned on and was turned to a baseball game.

  “Uh, what are you doing?”

  “Have you eaten yet?” he asked in response, completely ignoring my question.

  I sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm my frayed nerves and frustrations. “Griffin. I asked what you were doing.”

  Dropping the remote onto the couch next to him, he turned his head and looked over his shoulder at me, taking in my ratty clothing. “Christ,” he muttered. “You didn’t put on a bra, did you?”

  I jerked my arms up and crossed them over my chest, hiding the fact that my nipples might have stiffened under his heated perusal. “Griffin!” I snapped, drawing his icy gaze back to mine.

  “I’m here ‘cause we need to talk. But first, I’m starving. I was thinking about pizza, but if you want to order something else, I’m open to suggestions.

  My brows shot up in bewilderment. “What could we possibly need to talk about?”

  “Like I said, we’ll talk about it after dinner. So what’s it going to be?”

  I let out an irritated breath and turned toward the kitchen. Arguing with Griffin clearly wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I decided the best route was to just give in and order dinner. But I wasn’t giving in completely. He wanted pizza? Well, Chinese it was going to be.

  After ordering a bunch of my favorite dishes from Szechwan Dragon—the best Chinese restaurant in Manhattan, in my opinion—and went to get my wine glass from where I left it in the bathroom. I desperately needed a refill to deal with the six-foot-five-inch pain-in-the-ass currently enjoying my cable TV.

  As I poured myself another glass, Griffin came into the kitchen and opened my fridge, pulled out one of my beers, popped the cap off and took a pull.

  “Please, make yourself at home,” I deadpanned.

  Offering up a sinful grin, he said, “Lucky for you I love Szechwan Dragon. And Mongolian Chicken.”

  I huffed out a breath and took a sip of wine. “Can we just get this over with? I’m exhausted and want to go to sleep.”

  He looked back down to my shirt. “In a little bit. The Yanks are up and the inning’s almost over.”

  “You get that I want to stab you, right now, yeah?”

  “I get that,” he smiled even wider. “But I’m too turned-on by how good you look in my t-shirt to care.”

  I held my hands out to my sides and looked down at my shirt. “What? This isn’t yours, I stole it from Dex, like, five years ago.”

  Stepping up to me, Griffin fingered the frayed collar. The feel of his fingertip brushing along my collarbone sent a shiver up my back. “Sweetness, you know as well as I do that Dex hates the Knicks. He must have packed my shirt up with his stuff when we moved out of our apartment after graduation.”

  A war raged inside of me at that knowledge. Part of me wanted to rip the shirt off and set it on fire, while the other part—the part I’d never, ever admit to—was secretly thrilled to be wearing something of Griffin’s.

  “I’ll be sure to return it then,” I bit out cuttingly.

  “Don’t,” he replied, pinning me in place with a serious look. “I fucking love seeing you in my shirt.”

  My heart pounded in my chest and my palms grew sweaty. He was looking at me with an intensity I’d never seen before, not even during our one night together. The heady feeling of lust coursing through my body, the dueling emotions, the complete and utter confusion as to what had changed between us, I couldn’t handle it.

  “You need to step back,” I told him, thankful that my voice held steady. “And stop looking at me like that.”

  “How am I looking at you?” he asked, not moving away, but instead, coming even closer.

  If he refused to retreat then I was going to have to be the one to put some space between us. “You know exactly what look I’m talking about,” I accused as I moved back a step.

  “You mean the look that says I’m dying to bury myself deep inside you and fuck you senseless? Is that the look you’re talking about?”

  “Y-yeah… yes,” I stuttered, nearly choking on a huge gulp of air.

  “Then we’re gonna have a problem.”

  “W-why…” I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had suddenly formed. “Why do you say that?”

  He leaned in, his lips just a hairsbreadth away from my ear, his voice a throaty growl. “Because that’s exactly what I want to do to you right now.”

  That was when I snapped. “Enough!” I shouted, watching as his clear blue eyes widened in shock. “I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at, but I’m not part of your fucking game, okay? Whatever this is, just stop! You want to fuck around with a woman’s head? Go for it, but find someone else, because I’m not doing this with you again.”

  His shocked bewilderment quickly flickered out, replaced by anger, but I was too far gone to care. “What the fuck are you talking about, Pepper?”

  “You!” I shouted again, this time waving my arms in his direction for extra emphasis. “I’m not one of your little bar sluts, Griffin! We might not be friends, but I thought you had a little more respect for me than that.” My lip curled derisively as I continued. “Guess I was wrong, huh?”

  “Pepper—”

  “I’ve already been a notch on your bed post once before,” I interrupted. “I won’t do it again. Go find someone else. I’m done.”

  And with that, apparently he was done. The next thing I knew, all the air whooshed from my lungs when Griffin pulled me against him, slamming his mouth down on mine in a volatile, demanding kiss. It was as though I didn’t have a choice but to succumb to the erotic feel of it as he forced his tongue between my lips, instantly battling with mine for dominance.

  Once the need for oxygen became too strong, I was forced to rip my lips from his in order to suck in a deep breath. I couldn’t form words. My poor, muddled brain seemed to have developed tunnel vision, and the thought of sex with Griffin suddenly seemed like the best idea in the world.

  “You really think I could ever think of you like I do them?” he ground out menacingly.

  My only response was, “Uh…” seeing as I couldn’t remember what the hell we’d been discussing just moments ago.

  Tangling his strong fingers in my hair on either side of my face, Griffin held me captive as he leaned in until we were almost nose to nose. “You’re all I’ve thought about for fucking months,” he hissed, causing the heat between my legs to tingle intensely. “No one else has been able to do shit because all I’ve got in my goddamned head is you. When I’m
awake, I’m hard because all I can think about is fucking you. When I sleep I dream about your pussy. I still remember how hot and tight you are when you’re wrapped around my cock, Pepper. I still remember what you fucking taste like. You aren’t a notch on my bedpost. You’re a goddamned obsession. And the bitch of it is, I don’t know why!”

  I knew the moment he saw the resignation in my eyes because the tension in his entire frame eased as he kissed me again, much softer, slower, the second time around. “Tell me you don’t want me, too. Make me believe you, and I’ll go away. I won’t bring it up again.”

  My mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. It was as if my body rejected the lie, refusing me to actually speak it out loud.

  Griffin’s chest rumbled with an approving sound as he lowered his head back toward mine. I was prepared to get lost in another one of his devouring kisses.

  Then someone knocked on the front door, effectively killing the moment.

  “SON OF A BITCH!” I seethed as the asshole on the other side of the door started knocking again.

  “Um… I think that’s our dinner,” Pepper said in a quiet, dazed voice. I wasn’t going to lie, knowing I had that effect on her was exhilarating as hell.

  “Don’t move,” I warned her as I stomped to the door, pulling some bills from my wallet on the way. Pulling the door open, I snatched the bag out of the poor, unsuspecting delivery guy’s hands, shoved the bills at him—I’m pretty sure I spotted a fifty, so I know I overpaid—and slammed the door in his face.

  “How much did you just pay him?” Pepper asked as I set the overflowing bag down.

  “Too damn much,” I answered as I pinned her between my body and the counter top. “But I was willing to tip whatever if it meant getting him out of here faster. Now, where were we?”

  I leaned in for another taste of her mouth only to hit the skin of her fingertips. “What are you doing?” she asked cautiously.

  I couldn’t help the wicked grin that spread across my face, “Baby, if you don’t know, I’m obviously doing something wrong. And I never do it wrong.”

  I moved in closer and was rebuffed, again. “But we hate each other.”

  I dropped my head for a few seconds before looking back up into her bright green eyes. “Correction, sweetness. You hate me. I’ve never hated you.”

  She glared skeptically, “Then why are you always such an asshole to me?”

  “Because getting a rise out of you is just too much damn fun,” I couldn’t help but admit.

  “And he wonders why I hate him,” she grumbled to herself before landing a powerful blow. “Obviously, this is a huge mistake.”

  Like hell. She wasn’t getting away that easily. With quick determination, I grabbed her perfectly curvy hips and lifted her up. She let out a startled squeak just as her ass hit the counter and her legs wrapped around my waist instinctively. Pulling her body flush against mine, I could have sworn I felt the heat from between her thighs through my jeans. Just the thought of that had my dick straining.

  “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll stop,” I grunted as I pressed my erection against her, eliciting a seductive moan from her puffy lips.

  “I don’t want this,” she answered. I might have believed her if she hadn’t been grinding on my cock as she said it, looking for relief that only I could provide.

  My fingers dug into her hips as I rubbed her up and down, controlling the pressure, giving her a taste, but not nearly enough to get off on. “You gotta mean it, baby,” I chided.

  “Griffin,” she whined, trying in vain to move faster against me, harder. And Christ if I wasn’t at risk of blowing my load right there in my pants.

  I wrapped one arm across her back as my free hand skated across her abdomen, relishing the way her soft skin trembled beneath my touch. Jesus. Pepper’s body was made for sex. “You mean it?” I asked just as my fingers breeched the waistband of her yoga pants.

  “Touch me, Griffin,” she pleaded, tilting her pelvis up, trying to chase my fingers.

  “Then tell me you want me,” I demanded, inching closer and closer to where she wanted me.

  “Stop talking and touch me, Griffin!” she seethed.

  A low chuckle resonated from my chest and I plunged one finger into her drenched pussy. “You mean like this?”

  “Yes,” she groaned. Just as her head tipped back in ecstasy, I took it away from her. “No, no, no! What are you doing? Come back.” It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do, and I was pretty sure my dick hated me right at that second, but I had a point to make.

  “All you gotta do is say you want me and you’ll get it back.”

  Those jade eyes of hers sparked with fury as the muscle in her jaw ticked. “Fine,” she spat between clenched teeth. “I want you, okay?”

  “Glad to know,” I said as I buried two fingers to the hilt, nearly losing it when she clenched around me, holding me tight.

  “Oh, God,” she gasped as she began riding my hand.

  “That’s it, sweetness,” I growled against her lips. “Take what you want.”

  “This doesn’t change anything,” she panted as her insides clenched even tighter. She was getting close. Keeping my fingers deep, I curled them upwards, hitting that spot inside of her I knew would set her off as I used my thumb to draw tight circles around her clit.

  “Of course it doesn’t,” I grinned as her breathing grew even choppier.

  “I still hate you,” she insisted, even though her body was telling me a completely different story.

  “Of course you do,” I chuckled. She could try and convince herself she hated me all she wanted, but I knew the truth. She couldn’t hate me no matter how hard she tried.

  “Oh, God,” she sucked in a lungful of air. “So close, Griffin. So good.”

  “Come on my fingers, sweetness. I want to feel you come all over them before I make you come all over my dick.”

  “Griffin!” she shouted just as her walls clamped down like a vice. I kept up my torment as she came hard, crying out nonsensical words the whole time. Once she finished, her body slumped against mine in exhausted pleasure, and I couldn’t wait to get inside of her. She barely moved, only enough to lift her hips in an effort to help me pull her pants and panties down her thighs. A spark of excitement flittered through her gaze as soon as she realized I was nowhere near done with her.

  Her eager little hands went to my belt buckle and began pulling at it jerkily as desperation filled the air around us.

  I almost cried with joy as she yanked the zipper down and slid her tiny hand into my pants, curling her fingers around my aching cock.

  Then, because Karma was a raging asshole who loved to fuck with me, the cell in my back pocket began to ring with a tone I knew all too well.

  “Ignore it,” Pepper commanded as she jacked me with her fist at the same time her lips attacked my neck, sucking and licking and biting.

  “Fuck,” I growled, knowing good and well I couldn’t do that. “I can’t. Its work.”

  UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF that statement, seeing as my own brother was also a cop, my grip loosened and I pulled my hand from Griffin’s pants so he could focus on the call.

  “Locklaine,” he barked into the phone, then went quiet as whoever was on the other line relayed information. “Shit. Yeah. You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

  The look on his face expressed his utter displeasure at having to leave, but I found myself breathing a sigh of relief, through the disappointment, that was. My poor va-jay-jay was eager for more, but I needed a breather. I needed to be able to step back and clear my head in order to figure out what in the hell just happened.

  I was confused, scared, turned on, excited, angry, elated. You name it, I was feeling it. It coursed through my blood making my skin feel too tight over my bones.

  His eyes came to mine as I lowered myself onto the ground and pulled my pants back up. My body, already insanely hot from the encounter that had just occurred, grew even warmer u
nder his scrutinizing gaze. I could feel it all over my skin, like a physical caress. Nerves at what just transpired began to weigh me down so much so it became a struggle to keep from fidgeting.

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there in twenty,” he said, never once looking away from me. Moving to my discarded wine glass, I picked it up and took a fortifying sip as Griffin disconnected his call and stuffed the phone back into the back pocket of his still unbuttoned jeans. “Pepper—”

  I cut him off. “You should probably hurry, huh? That sounded really important.”

  Unable to meet his eyes, I listened to the zip of his fly and the clinking of his belt as he made himself decent. When he spoke again, his voice was much closer than I had anticipated, startling a jump from me. “Will you look at me, please?”

  I gulped down a mouthful of air and lifted my gaze, praying he wouldn’t be able to see the tumultuous storm of emotions raging behind my eyes.

  I wasn’t that lucky. In all the years we’d known each other without really knowing each other at all, I’d always flown beneath his radar. But for some reason, at that very moment, his intuition decided to kick in and he saw through my façade. I could see it in his eyes.

  “You really should go,” I spoke quickly, before he had a chance to call me out, or say something that could only confuse me more than I already was.

  I had to fight not to lean into his touch as he lifted his hand and brushed my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “This isn’t over, sweetness.”

  “It shouldn’t have even started. It was a mistake,” I countered as I moved away from his touch.

  He smirked as he started backing toward the door. “That was no mistake. That was fucking epic. And just the beginning.” My nipples hardened beneath my t-shirt at his seductive words. But it was what he said and did next that brought the tingles between my legs back with full-force. Sucking his index and middle finger into his mouth, he hummed seductively. “Mmm. You have to know, it’s hard as hell to walk away from something so sweet.”