Page 24 of Stone Cold Bad
He stared down at me.His long dark lashes shaded the green in his eyes.“You testing me, darlin’?Don’t bother.Look around.Do you see any guys talking to Street other than Hunter and Slade?”
I looked across the yard.The red chili lights were spinning in the breeze swirling through the yard.The same breeze had lifted away some of the bitter smoke spiraling up from the fire pit.Amy was standing next to Hunter.He was basically ignoring her as he bullshitted with everyone around him.No one was approaching Amy.With her copper hair and easy smile, she was easily the prettiest girl in the yard.
“Watch this.Hey, Mick,” Colt called to a guy who was sitting on the opposite side of the fire.Colt reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Mick walked over.“Did you call me, Colt?”The guy looked completely surprised and slightly terrified.
“Yeah, I did.”Colt plucked a twenty dollar bill from his wallet.He offered it to Mick.The guy stared down at the bill with plenty of confusion and a bit of trepidation.
“Thanks?”he said, and it was definitely a question.
Colt nodded.“That’s yours.Now walk over and put your arm around Amy.It only has to be for a few seconds.”
Mick looked across the yard toward Amy.Even in the glow of the fire, I could see his face blanch white.He smiled tentatively and handed the money back to Colt.“That’s a good one, Stone.”A nervous laugh followed.“You almost had me for a second.”He walked away.
I looked at Colt.“Your brother basically ignores her and uses her for sex, but she can’t talk to any other guy?”
“She could if there were any guys out there with balls big enough to talk to her.”
Amy waved to me from across the yard.The ridiculous thing about it was she seemed perfectly happy just standing near Hunter.
I turned to Colt.“Your brother is an asshole, and I’m not your personal toy.”I walked over toward the beer keg.I tossed the disgusting rum drink into the trash can and stepped up to the guy filling cups.He had a great head of hair and a sexy cleft in his chin.
I stuck my hands in my back pockets to accentuate my breasts and smiled.“Hey, can I get a cup?”
He glanced around anxiously.“Uh yeah, of course.”He shoved the cup my direction, managing to slosh out half the contents in his haste.
I took the cup and stuck out my free hand.“I’m Jade.”
“Hey, I’m Tucker.”
“Tucker.That’s a nice name.”I was putting on my most charming expression and presenting my cleavage in the best possible light, but the guy was unmoved.
His eyes widened and a tall shadow splashed across the brick pavers beneath my feet.“Hey, Colt,” he said nervously.“I was just giving her a beer.”
I spun around.Colt stared down at me.
“Seriously?”I asked.“What?Were you sending death rays out of your eyes from all the way across the yard?”
Without warning, Colt lifted me and tossed me over his shoulder.“We need to have a little discussion out in the truck.”
I smacked his back.“Hey, put me down, you big meanie.”My head was spinning from the rum and from hanging upside down.“I might throw up all over your shirt.”
Everyone turned and watched as Colt carried me out the front door and across the front lawn.I pounded his back.“I don’t want to have a discussion.”
I heard the truck door open.He plopped me into the front seat.I shot back at him with my fists.“How dare you, you big jerk.”I pounded him on the shoulders.He quickly had my wrists pinned together in one hand.“You’re an asshole.You and your brother are just a couple of big fucking buttheads.”My words were stretched by the alcohol.I struggled to free my hands, but his grasp was too strong.“I hate this.I hate that men are so much stronger and they can hurt you.”
He released my wrists immediately.I peered up at him.His serious, hard expression had softened some.“That’s not me, Jade.I’m not that guy.What he did to you—” the words stuck in his throat.“That’s not me.I might be a jealous, overprotective jerk, but I would never hurt you.”
I blinked back tears thinking about those words.“Hurt can come in a lot of different ways.”I held his hand up to my beating heart.“Feel that.I can already feel it falling apart.Maybe this whole thing was a really bad idea.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.“Yeah, a fucking bad idea,” he muttered as he took hold of my face and covered my mouth with his.His kiss started out gentle and controlled, but as his tongue stroked my lips, coaxing them apart, the kiss grew more urgent.He took hold of me and lifted me over his lap.Sitting on my knees, I straddled him and wrapped my arms around his head to bring him closer.His hands slid down into my shorts, and once again, I melted into the trance, that space in time where the only thing that existed in the whole damn world was the man between my legs and my own body thrumming with need.I was still wearing shorts, but I ground my pussy against the fly of his jeans and the erection behind it straining to break free.
He pulled his mouth from mine.“What the fuck are we doing?”
I blinked down at him, feeling almost in despair at the notion that he didn’t want to continue.
“The house is empty, and we’re sitting in the front seat of the truck.”
