Page 5 of Desire Me
The fact that it was a mere ten minutes from the bar was definitely the deciding factor.
He took the ramp into the parking garage slightly faster than he normally would, the urgency in his gut adding to the push of his foot on the gas. In minutes he had them parked and was around the truck to open Rae’s door. Her lithe body stretched as she slid from the high seat to the ground, making his mouth water, and when she eased close, her breasts brushing his chest as she went on tiptoe to nip the lobe of his ear, every cell inside him screamed for him not to wait, to forget comfort and time and privacy and simply take her then and there, right against the truck.
It took a helluva deep breath to force the driving hunger back, to stop himself from slamming her against the truck and stripping her bare. When he opened his eyes and unclenched his fists, Rae was staring up at him, a mix of need and satisfaction gleaming in her gaze.
“You make it hard to stay in control,” he admitted, his voice hoarse. Shocked.
Honest.
Her smile held a tinge of surprise, as if she hadn’t expected his reaction or his words. Or maybe she simply hadn’t expected him. God knew he hadn’t expected her when he’d followed his teammates into the bar tonight. “You don’t have to stay in control, Saint,” she whispered.
He sure as hell didn’t. With a grip slightly harder than he should allow himself, he took her arm and hurried her toward the elevator.
Chapter Three
His apartment was on the tenth floor. The elevator hurtled them up in seconds, and he was equally fast hustling them down the hall to his door. Once inside, the urgency to strip Rae bare and haul her beneath him became a screaming drive he could hardly think through. But there was one thing he had to take care of first.
Using their clasped hands to keep Rae close, he led her into the living room. When she stood before the gray suede sofa, he gripped her hair in a fist, kissed her with a desperate amount of tongue, then stepped back. “Give me two minutes.”
Rae licked her damp bottom lip. “I was definitely hoping you’d take longer than that.”
He leaned in until his mouth brushed the shell of her ear. “Keep it up and I won’t.”
A squeak escaped her when he nipped her lobe. Forcing himself away before he could forget every principle he’d created for himself, he turned on his heel and crossed to the study through a door on the opposite side of the room.
It didn’t matter that he lived alone; his family visited him often. He’d never risk one of his nieces or nephews finding a gun here. He never left a gun out, ever. The cabinet in the corner of the study concealed a gun safe. He strode directly to it, entered the code into the electronic lock, then repeated the procedure with the door to the safe. The GLOCK he typically wore in his shoulder holster had been transferred to a safe at work before driving to the bar, but his backup weapon in his boot still needed taking care of. He placed it in the safe, along with his ID and work badge—not a precaution he normally took, but he also didn’t normally bring women into his private domain either. He might be burning alive, but his dick wasn’t hurting enough to make him stupid.
He made quick but careful work of securing both doors before rejoining Rae in the living room. His breath caught as his gaze landed on the obviously empty couch, and he grazed the open space before finding her standing at one floor-to-ceiling window, her back to him, her arms hugging herself tight. Tension had settled into her shoulders, but not the tension of need; no, this was thatsomethinghe’d sensed earlier. He still hadn’t identified it, but at this moment he couldn’t seem to care. The surge of hunger overtaking him blotted out everything but the need to get to her, get her back in his arms, now.
He didn’t resist.
The supple lines of her spine and hips drew him like a lodestone. He eased up behind her, his arms going automatically to her waist and curling around, his hands pressing against her flat stomach until her ass met his groin. A husky rumble escaped him at the feel of her.
Dropping his head until his mouth touched her shoulder, he nuzzled the soft skin of her throat and caught the faintest hint of coconut from her hair. Immediately he was struck by a dizzying sense of déjà vu, as if he’d stood here a thousand times before, Rae pressed against him, her scent filling his lungs and her touch tightening his dick until he thought he might empty himself against the small of her back with nothing more than the feel of her to set him off.
Jesus, what was she doing to him?
Rae tipped her head back to rest in the hollow of his shoulder like that small space had been made just for her.
“You okay?” he asked, his lips brushing her pulse point.
“I’m fine. More than fine”—she turned into his neck; her sharp teeth nipped at his skin—“if you’d stop talking and take me to bed.”
A hard shiver shot down his spine to his already tight erection.No more waiting.
Dipping quickly, he secured an arm beneath Rae’s knees and scooped her up against his chest. A surprised cry left her as he swung around, and then he was striding down the dark hallway toward his bedroom, Rae’s laughter wrapping around him. He grinned and started to jog.
The sound choked off as he entered his personal space. The streetlights lining the road below filtered in through the long bay of windows along one side of the room, allowing Saint plenty of light to move straight to the king-size bed dominating the back wall. He paused at the edge, then, his grin turning wicked, hefted Rae into the air. She landed splayed across his dark gray comforter.
There went her laughter again. He could listen to that sound forever—if her moaning his name wasn’t even better.
He circled around to the end of the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Strip for me,cariño.”
“Cariño?”
He licked his lower lip. “Sweetheart.”
Rae’s eyes widened, then went soft. He couldn’t miss the hint of imp that appeared as she came up on her elbows, dark curls spilling around her shoulders. “I will if you will.”
