Page 17 of Dolls & Daggers
Just once. Maybe I’ll tell him I’ll accept one of his pieces on the Baby Doll Killer, and then he’ll bend me over my desk in glee.
Just once.
That’s all I need.
Once.
“Well, I was just talking to Bunny about getting out of here, but,” I glance over my shoulder, where she looks like she’s having a heated discussion with Hunter, “I think she might have found something else to do.”
Ryan looks over my head at them and laughs. “Those two, I swear. Always going at it. They’re fucking, aren’t they? I don’t know what she sees in that asshole.”
“Not yet, they aren’t.” At least, I don’t think so. Ithonestly wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m pretty sure she’d tell me when it finally happens. Bunny and I tell each other everything.
“Just stay here, then. Let me have a drink or two, and then we can go back to your place.” Ryan kisses the side of my neck before signaling Alex for a beer.
We’ve been doing this for months, but tonight, it feels… different. More intimate. Serious.
Steady.
Things I want no part of, because the closer people get, the bigger the chance of getting caught.
“What’s up with Hunter’s friend?” Ryan murmurs in my ear. “The dude’s been glaring at me since I walked in.”
I peek over. Wrenley is still staring, openly, not even trying to hide his narrowed eyes or the downturn of his pillowy lips. “Oh, we work together. Don’t worry, handsome, it’s me, not you. We can’t stand each other.”
A few of Ryan’s friends walk through the door, and he lifts his arm, curling his hand around his mouth as his words rise above the patrons and the calamity that is Vixey as she spills an entire tray of martinis. “Yo! Guys! Over here!”
He walks their way, meeting them with those half-armed hugs men do. I watch him curiously, wonderingwhy my body isn’t lighting up like it usually does in his presence.
I just need to get laid. Does it really matter by who?
Anything to get Wrenley off my mind.
A familiar smooth timbre sounds at my back. “You can do better.”
Startled, I whip around, craning my neck to meet the gaze of the man who won’t leave my thoughts. “I’m sorry, Songbird, what was that? Did you just pay me a compliment? No!” I place my hand on my chest in mock astonishment. “It couldn’t be!”
Wrenley laughs. Genuinely laughs as he braces his forearms on the back of the stool Bunny previously occupied. “Tell me, is he as stupid as he looks?”
“Now, now. No need to be rude.” I climb back onto my stool, not missing the way Wrenley’s eyes drop to my exposed thighs and linger. “Eyes up here, Songbird. Unless you’re offering to take Ryan’s place tonight?”
His dark brown gaze snaps to mine, darkening as he scans my face. “Take his place to do what, Dove?”
Heat blooms across my cheeks, traveling south as it puddles between my legs. I shift forward, letting the tension thicken. “Fuck me like you hate me.”
I imagine what sex with Wrenley would be like. I like to be in control… but with him? I can see myself compromising. Willing to switch, as long as he lets me dominate him in return.
His eyes widen a fraction. I shift to the edge of my stool, pleased when he straightens and steps closer. Our significant height difference still makes it so I have to crane my neck to look at him. My voice drops to a sultry purr. “I don’t hear you saying no.”
He huffs, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly in a dry smirk before curling downward once more. I jump when the warm pads of his fingers grasp my thigh. His hand is obscured from everyone’s view, settled between me and the bar as he drags his fingers up toward the hem of my skirt.
Ryan could return at any moment, but I couldn’t care less. Wren’s touch lights me on fire, and every nerve ending south of my navel is electrified, begging for his attention to venture where I want it the most.
“Is that what you want?” Wrenley peeks around the bar before hunching slightly over me, slipping his fingers higher until half his hand is beneath my skirt. The air between us is charged and heated—stifling as it steals my breath and suffocates me with his cinnamon-orange scent. His impressive outline strains against his slacks. My mouth waters, and I nearly reach out to run my fingers over it.
I clench my fists and snap my eyes up to his. “It’s clear webothwant to. So let’s just screw and get it overwith. Get all the tension out of our system. What do you say?”
Unabashedly, I scoot as far as I can to the edge of my seat, relishing the way his fingers dig into my skin. I tighten my legs slightly, caging him in.
