“As much as I’m flattered, I’m guessing this isn’t why you need me?”
That’s debatable.
I shake my head. My mouth forms a fixed line. I can’t even tell her.
She steps forward, the tips of her thongs grazing my big toes. Her arms wrap around my shoulders and she gives me one hell of a bear hug. Her hand slips into mine, and she tugs me in the direction of my room.
I tug her back. Thank fuck she’s here.
When we get to the room, I wave my hand flippantly in the direction of the fridge. The glass is sitting on top of it, with the empty bottle and lid beside it.
Soph puts down her bag makes a beeline for it, picks up the glass and bottle and takes them into the bathroom. I sit on the edge of my bed, which is closest to the bathroom.
Relief trickles into my bloodstream as the alcohol is tipped down the sink and the empty vodka bottle clangs in the bin.
“Gone,” she announces. I collapse back onto the soft mattress and scrape my hands down my face. I can’t believe I couldn’t dispose of it myself. Thank Christ I have Suds to rely on.
The strong light from the bathroom fades as Suds pushes the door to close it. “I’ll be out in a sec. I’m busting for a wee.”
And she reckons I have no filter.
“Sure.” I chuckle.
A few minutes later, Soph emerges. I haven’t moved a muscle. I’m too frightened to. She’s taken off the white top, and has taken her hair out. With the bright light behind her and that white bikini, I swear she looks like an angel. Who am I kidding? She is my angel.
“This your bed?” she asks.
“Yup.” For some reason, my voice breaks when I answer her.
“Get in,” she orders, flicking on the soft lamp beside the bed.
I don’t argue. I slip in under the crisp white covers of the queen-sized bed. She dumps her clothes and bag on the floor and squirms in beside me, our knees knocking together as she faces me.
“Thanks,” I grunt out.
“I’m proud of you,” she whispers, and places her open palm on my bare chest. My skin prickles beneath her warm touch. Before I can grab her hand to keep it there, she moves it under her chin and nuzzles into the pillow.
“If you didn’t come, I would’ve … ah, fuck it. I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. After what Brett said, I thought …”
“Is Brett that red-haired arsehole?” she asks. Her eyebrows pull together and she purses her lips, causing creases to form around the outside of her mouth.
“Yeah, that sums him up, alright.”
“And he was giving you shit?”
“Called me a fucking pussy,” I grunt.
“Ha,” she says, and rolls her eyes. “Funny you should say pussy.”
“Why?”
“Karma’s a bitch.”
“Whaddya mean?”
“When you see his face tomorrow, you ask him where exactly he put his hand to be rewarded with that shiner.”
“He fuckin’ touched you?”
“And he paid the price. Not important right now. Roll over,” she says, pushing me.
“Don’t be so fuckin’ bossy.”
“You need to be told,” she says in a low voice and clashes her teeth together at my ear.
This girl …
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ROCCO
The door slams and my eyes fly open. Shit. What time is it? The sun is filtering through the blinds, but it stills seems early.
Two bodies stumble into the room.
“One minute it’s midnight and before you know it, it’s five. Then you blink and it’s six. Bloody casinos are like a time warp,” Stone’s familiar voice says from the entry.
“You got that right,” Jones slurs.
“Shit,” Soph whispers, and pokes me in the ribs.
She pulls the sheet over her head as Stone and Jones approach. I can’t do much to hide her long hair though, and really, as if I could hide her body … those long, slender legs …
“Ha! I thought you might be up to something,” Jones whisper-yells, and jiggles his eyebrows up and down.
“A little privacy, huh?” I say, pointing to the outline of her body.
Jones nods. “Course,” he says, and makes a shh gesture with his finger positioned against his lips.
Both boys do a dramatic tip-toe past my bed. Thankfully, the room is an L-shape, so the other beds are around the corner from mine.
Soph is still under the sheets, her head resting on my chest. I’m hard as an exhaust pipe, under there. If she so much as grazes my boxers I will, without a doubt, explode in my pants.
After a few minutes, the boys’ talking turns to snoring.
“I’d better get back to my room,” she whispers. “I don’t want April to worry.”
“Yeah,” I say in a quiet voice, but really I want to tell her to stay. I feel more comfortable in my own skin when she’s around. How will I cope when she moves out?
“One day at a time,” she says. “We’ll be back in Sydney in twenty-four hours and then you can get back to teaching this duck how to cook.”
This girl is …
I wrap my arms around her shoulders and bring her upper body flush against mine. I smooch her on the lips, and then rest my nose against hers and take in a deep breath. She slips her arm around my waist. Her warm delicate fingers glide over the skin just above the waistband of my boxers. My breath becomes heavier, and inside my head I’m fighting what to do next.
Then comes the fuck it moment.
I press my lips to hers. The slightest moan vibrates from her mouth against mine. I tease at her lips in feather-light strokes. A nip here. A slip of tongue. Bundles of nerves start to come to life. An energy, some kind of foreign feeling is taking over me.
Suds slips her tongue against mine. Her touch is that of caution, so I pull back only a little to give her space.
Her fingers dig into my flesh, and she pushes her hips into me. When she pushes her hand to my chest and shoves me onto my back, I know I’ve fucked up. She raises herself on one elbow, and hovers close enough to my face that her hot breath warms my lips.
I smooth my hands up her arms and over her collarbone, raking my fingers across the nape of her neck, tugging on her hair. She leans down, her long locks teasing at my jaw. With a calculated lick of my lower lip, I make sure she catches a glimpse of the stud.
The hesitation in her eyes has vanished. All that’s left is a hunger that I know I haven’t been imagining.
Using my grip on her for leverage, I lift my shoulders off the bed and draw her close. Our lips meet in the middle. This time, the touch of her lips against mine is more persuasive, the energy between us more potent.
The smooth strokes of our tongues, the flicker of the metal rod, and the sharp intake of breath as our chests expand against each other has me floating … transported. It’s like no other high.
I don’t kiss. Not like this. It’s intimate; it’s revealing … for both of us.
I don’t want it to end.
“Stay,” I whisper against her lips, and then probe my tongue against hers once more. I roll her onto her side and press my boxers against her, allowing her to feel what she’s doing to me. She doesn’t resist, but she doesn’t engage either.
I close my eyes. I know that now’s not the time or the place. I’m sharing a room with my mates, but that’s not my biggest worry. I’m not in the right headspace. I’m not free from the demons dragging me down. I’ve got some work to do, and now I’m even more determined to fight.
Suds rests her head on the pillow beside me, and directs those brilliant green eyes at me. With more self-control than I’m capable of in this moment, she presses her closed mouth to mine.
My phone dings, breaking the spell between us.
She takes in a deep breath and flattens her hand in the centre of my chest.
“I … I should go,” she whispers, and then sneezes. I hold her hand to my chest. I wanna go all alpha on her and tell her no. Tell her she can’t leave. The thing is, I won’t ever boss her when it comes to that.