Chapter 8

He wore too many clothes, and so did she. Freddie tore at his jacket, shoving it angrily off his shoulders as if it offended her. Her hands yanked at his tie as his worked on her blouse, undoing the buttons in record time. They moved through the house in a frantic dance, aiming for the bedroom. When her blouse frustrated him, he growled and tore at the buttons. They popped off and shot all over the place. She matched his intensity with her own, and soon, his buttons joined hers all over the floor. She stepped on them as she kicked out of her heels and he his shoes. Their lips hardly left one another’s until they reached the bedroom doorway and she shoved him inside.

His hazel eyes darkened as they gazed down her chest to her lower body still sheathed in her tight pencil skirt. “How many of those do you have?” he grated.

“Enough,” she replied and spun around. “Don’t you like them?”

“You have no idea,” he grunted and grabbed her hand, hauling her back into his arms. The first night he’d touched her, Freddie thought she would lose her mind. This time, she wanted to get lost in his presence, have him surround her and take her far away from her worries and the realities that bogged her down.

His fingers shoved at the bra straps and he replaced them with his lips, nipping and sucking on her flesh. He spun her around so her back pressed into his chest, and he shoved her hair aside so he could kiss along the length of her neck. Every nerve was on fire with passion for this man holding her up when she was so ready to crumble and fall apart. As his hands closed around her breasts, massaging them, she moaned, her head falling back. She pushed his head closer and ground her hips back into his hard cock pressing with intent against her ass. God did she want him—no, need him.

Mack had only elicited a spark of desire in her. Rhett set her whole soul on fire.

Cursing at the lace in his way, Rhett worked at the hooks on her bra and it fell to the floor at his feet. His large hands encompassed the mounds of flesh, teasing and tugging her nipples as his tongue flicked against her earlobe. A shiver shot down her spine to her toes curling in the carpet. His body warmed hers and his hands glided down her body, holding her even closer, squeezing her in a way that excited her more. He grabbed her hips and rubbed his shaft along her ass as she gasped, nearly on the verge of begging him for relief from the agonizing hunger burning between her legs. He spun her back around, ravishing her with kisses, his tongue plundering every corner of her mouth as if he wanted to possess her fully. Freddie was more than willing to let him.

He backed her up until she hit the dresser. “How much do you like this skirt?” he asked against her lips.

“I said I have a ton,” she replied.

“Good.”

He lifted her up onto the dresser, and a loud rip echoed around the room as he tore the fabric from knee to hip. She gaped at him in surprise, the heat rushing through her at the sexiness of such a masculine move. His hands massaged her thighs, parting them for his touch as she wrapped her arms around his neck and licked his lips, sucking hard on his tongue. He groaned and lowered his mouth to her nipple alert and begging for attention. Each swirl of his tongue sent a new, sharp jolt of pleasure to her lower belly as his hands scooped her up by her ass and freed her of her panties. As he sucked even harder on the tender, pink flesh, his fingers spread her soaking wet lips and thrust inside her body.

She cried out immediately, clutching his head closer to her chest. Her eyes rolling back in her head, she embraced every move—the drag of his fingers as they stretched and filled her with each hard thrust and how his thumb rubbed her clit in lazy circles. His mouth nipped and kissed her breasts. Soon, he would turn her into a puddle in his hands, but there was something Freddie wanted to feel first. She undid his belt, and the moment his trousers were undone, both her hands found his cock hot and hard in her palms. His fingers paused as he sighed into her mouth. Freddie peered between their bodies at the erect shaft greeting her and she licked her lips. Rhett cursed as he watched her checking him out, all of him now.

“Keep doing that and we’ll have problems,” he warned.

She ran her hands hard up and down his length from tip to base, spreading the drops of wetness already seeping out. “Maybe I like problems,” she purred, and his hips bucked as he thrust into her hands. She tightened her hold a little more, and his jaw clenched. He timed his fingers, thrusting with the pace of her moving hands, and she ached to have him inside her body. To kiss him and touch him as he did her. On the edge of the orgasm, she pushed him away and hopped off the dresser.

He stared at her, confused, as she pushed him back to her bed and unzipped what remained of her skirt. It hit the floor with a muffled thump as she reached her hands into the waistline of his trousers. He maneuvered for her so all she had to do was pull. He sat before her naked on her bed, and Freddie stared at the fine lines of lean muscle. She stepped between his legs, running her nails delicately along his thighs, then higher to his ribs. His hands remained perfectly still on the bed as his cock swelled and bobbed, brushing her soft curls. She traced each rib bone on both sides and outlined his pecs and the sinews and hollows of his torso. Several tattoos had been revealed on his sides, Chinese writing and a few tribal markings. His breathing intensified the more she touched him, and she smiled at his reaction.

Gently, she pressed on his shoulders and he fell backwards onto the bed. She climbed atop him, letting her hair drape across his chest as she kissed a path down his breastbone, following the treasure trail of hair ever lower.

“Freddie,” he whispered roughly as her tongue licked one hip bone followed by the other.

“Hmm?” she mused as she ran her lips along his thigh.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” she asked, all innocence. “Do this?”

Her mouth closed around his tip and she sucked hard. His hands dug into the covers as a stream of curses slipped from his lips and he squirmed beneath her. She held his shaft steady with one hand and took more of him into her mouth, laving the hard rod as she did so. He filled her mouth, a promise of what would come soon enough. His hips bucked as her hands pumped him, moving along with her mouth.

“Damn it, woman,” he grunted and reached down to drag her up his body.

She pouted until he rubbed his shaft along her wet sheath, sitting up so they were chest to chest. “I wasn’t finished with that,” she murmured, shuddering at the way he warmed her, burning her as he lifted her hips and his tip teased her sheath. “Rhett.”

“I know,” he whispered. “I remembered. We’ll take it nice and slow.” He kissed her jaw as he added, “I would never hurt you.”

Their lips met in a ferocious need to connect as their lower halves were about to do. Gingerly, she lowered her hips and his cock spread her lips, piercing her body. She bit her lip, but there was no pain yet, only stretching. She lowered herself again, taking more of him in, and his arms shook as she tested his control. He was bigger than she thought when she held him in her hands, but she wanted him to fill her, to stretch her until she couldn’t take any more of him in. Bracing herself, she sank completely over his shaft. A sharp bite of pain made her gasp, but as he swelled within her body, making her feel complete for the first time in her life, the pain subsided and all that was left was a hunger for the man so intimately connected to her.

“Freddie?” he asked, worried.

She licked his lower lip in reply and he grunted, moving his hips as she rode him. They moved slow and steady at first, but with each drag in and out of her body, the tantalizing edge of passion moved closer. He rubbed her clit with each movement, and their heavy panting was the only sound in her ears. He lay back on the bed, his hands holding her bouncing and heavy breasts as she circled her hips. Wondering about a change in angle, she leaned her body back slightly and they both gasped.

“Ride me,” he demanded hoarsely. “Ride me hard.”

She couldn’t stop herself. The orgasm grew closer, and she moaned as the ecstasy twisted inside her like a coiled spring, waiting for the right moment to release. She faltered, crying out as sharp pleasure shot through her body, but Rhett held her hips steady. He pounded within her and she held on for the ride. Her scream of pure delight mingled with his bellow of release, and she felt it, hot and fiery as she clutched at him, her body working to wring every last drop from him.

Her body limp, she fell to his side, and he slipped free with another groan.

“Shit,” she whispered and laughed. “When can we do that again?”

He lifted his head, his eyes wide, and gave her a cocky grin. “As soon as he’s had a chance to recover. You wore him out sufficiently for the moment.”

“Ah, too bad,” she whispered, her hand snaking down his body. “I’m only getting started.”

He pinned her to the bed instantly, and she moaned against his mouth as his hand went to work. “I said I was worn out,” he corrected with a whisper at her ear. “I never said that would stop me hearing you scream again.”

She shivered at the promise, and he kept his word until she was too hoarse to cry out his name anymore.

***

Rhett stretched in an unfamiliar bed and paused. His eyes opened and he looked around the tiny bedroom with its light blue walls adorned with paintings. A warm body lay beside him, her soft hair flowing over his bicep. Every few seconds, she gave a tiny snore and he laughed to himself. He’d fallen asleep with Freddie in his arms. How could he forget?

An alarm buzzed before he could wake her himself. Freddie’s arm flung out to shut it off, but she had to reach over Rhett to do it. Without opening her eyes, her hand landed on his chest and she froze mid-yawn. One eye opened, followed by the other, and she yelped in panic, rolling off the other side of the bed.

“Freddie,” Rhett said as he leaned over to see her giggling in a heap of deliciously naked limbs with the sheet tangled around her legs. “Is that how you wake up every morning?”

“Yes,” she replied, beaming up at him. “A good fall out of bed is good for the soul.”

She reached up and tugged him down to the floor with her. He curled her up in his lap, kissing her all over as she laughed, warming him from the inside out. Last night had been beyond perfect. Everything about it, from the way they’d moved to how they’d talked so easily together in the late-night hours, was simply right. Completely and utterly right. Rhett could think of no other word to describe it, and he certainly wanted it all to happen again and again.

“I have to shut off the alarm,” she squealed as he tickled her ribs.

“Let it go,” he murmured, adjusting her so she straddled his lap, his back pressed against the wall.

“Rhett,” she breathed when his arousal swelled beneath her. She rubbed herself against him and he groaned, his hands tightening on her hips, wanting to drive right into her. They’d had sex a few times last night, and he knew she had to be sore. He wanted to take it easy, but she apparently had other ideas.

He groaned when she gripped him in her hand and guided him into her sheath. Her moan in his ear was all he needed to make his hips buck as he plunged upwards. The world faded away as they connected on her bedroom floor, their mingling breaths turning into gasps of pleasure that quickly gave way to a scream from her and a stream of curses from him.

Last night, he’d brought up the issue of a lack of condoms and she’d panicked for a moment, but he’d had a physical recently and was fine and she…well, she had been a virgin and was on the pill. What she’d told him last night came back to him in that moment, and as he spilled within her, those words swelled his chest with affection he only ever dared to dream about. If being with a man felt this right, she didn’t want anything between them hindering that feeling.

Both of them spent, Freddie’s head fell to his shoulder as he slipped out, sending a shudder through her body. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk straight today,” she grumbled.

“That’s the idea,” he said, smoothing her hair back so he could leave lingering kisses along her neck. “We should probably get dressed, though, and head into the office.”

“Right, work,” she agreed. “I almost forgot.”

They showered together in her super tiny stall barely big enough for one person, and Rhett was unable to keep his hands from soaping up her body and making her tremble with want by the time they finished. She paid him back in kind, sneaking up behind him and rubbing her hands down his cock until he couldn’t see straight. They wound up back in bed and were nearly late to work because of it. Rhett smiled the entire way to the office as he held her hand, kissing it every time she cursed out another driver. As they pulled into the back parking lot of the building, he was about to slip out and duck towards his corvette, but she stopped him.

“What are we calling this?” she asked and those worry lines appeared on her face.

“What do you mean?”

“Like this, right here,” she said, pointing from him to her. “I know you said it was fine for us to date and everything, but…” She nibbled her lip and the worry lines deepened.

He looked around the parking lot to make sure the coast was clear and leaned in to kiss her. “I was thinking you would be my girlfriend and I would be your boyfriend,” he murmured against her lips, “and that I am completely fine with keeping our relationship private and out of the scrutiny of the company. Does that sound like a plan?”

“Really? You don’t mind us playing it quiet?”

“No, you have enough stress in your life right now without worrying about what people around the office will think. We’ll keep it professional when we’re here.” He pulled out his keys and removed a silver one from them, placed it in her hand, and folded her fingers over it. “But after work, feel free to come and go at my place.”

“Oh!” She removed a key from her ring as well, tucking it safely in his hand. “And vice versa?”

Rhett kissed her forehead and wondered if any of his business-oriented brothers had ever managed to find someone like Freddie. He doubted it. None of them were married or dating, as far as he knew. They didn’t understand their baby brother and what he was truly looking for in his life, but now he’d found it and he wouldn’t let go.

“I should sneak to my car,” he whispered, and with one final kiss, slipped out of the passenger side door. Feeling like he was in a spy movie, he maneuvered to his vehicle, unlocked it, opened the door, and straightened as another car pulled in the lot. Zach parked on the other side of the corvette and eyed him curiously.

“What’s with the face?” Rhett asked him casually, slamming his door and locking the car.

“Didn’t you wear that shirt yesterday?”

Rhett glanced down, hiding a grin. Half the buttons on the shirt were gone, but thankfully, that detail was hidden by his tie and jacket. “I had a rough night’s sleep. I guess I wasn’t paying attention this morning when I dressed.”

“We have a meeting with your brothers today. You might want to go home and change,” Zach pointed out.

Another car door slammed behind them, and Zach’s eyes narrowed. Rhett glanced over his shoulder and saw Freddie stepping out of her car. She waved to them both before turning and walking towards the door. Her skirt hugged her ass, an ass he’d held most of last night and this morning. Rhett’s hands tingled with the memory of those soft mounds of flesh in his hands, massaging them as she rode him hard. He cursed quietly and decided maybe ducking back by his house for a change of clothes—and giving his body a chance to calm down—would not be a bad idea.

“You’re right. Do you mind letting Freddie know I’ll be a bit late?”

“You know me. I’m glad for any chance I get to talk with that woman.” Zach straightened his tie and waltzed inside. Rhett nearly followed, if only to smack his friend upside the head and tell him flat out Freddie was spoken for, but that would give everything away.

After last night and meeting Freddie’s baby sister, Rhett understood the amount of stress weighing on her shoulders as the big sister and only caregiver. He’d spent a few hours with her asleep in his arms, running over his ideas once more for a way to help not only Clarice, but the home she lived in. Dr. Gibbons had his card, and the second she called and said yes to his plans, he would get started and leave his mark in a good way.