Page 14 of One
The praise makes me feel giddy.
“And it was so damn worth it. I wish I did more damage, though.” Much more. I remember the drops of blood running down his face, and I grunt. Raphael tightens his arm and pulls more of my weight against his body, mistakenly taking my noise as a sign of pain. Biting my inner cheek, I try to focus on the few feet left.
“I’d have loved to see it.” His voice sounds gruff and heated,it keeps doing thing to my breathing.
When we reach the building door, I pull out the keys and suddenly remember about my wallet. I dropped it on the store floor. Fuck.
“My wallet…” I start, looking back toward the store.
“I have it. Give me the keys.” His bossy ways should irritate me more. But instead, I find myself slightly aroused.
When we stop in front of the stairs at the building entrance, I attempt to take a step up. But he stops me, splaying a warm hand on my chest.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Up? I live on the fourth floor. The elevator is Big-Bang-Theory out of order,” I retort with a huff.
“You can’t with that ankle. Here.” He lets me go. After making sure I grab hold of the handrail, he gives me his back and then crouches in front of me.
“Piggy-back? For real?”
Again, who is this guy?The many facets of him hint at a very complex personality. A headache-inducing one. And yet I want to know more.
“Yep. Come on, piglet. Hop on.” He winks back at me.
“You’re ridiculous.” I snort, but still curl my arms and legs around his body. The plastic bag hangs from my fingers against his chest. His wide back feels solid against me. My jacket is open, and his warmth penetrates my skin through the remaining layers between us. He slides his hands under my thighs, too slowly not to be on purpose. And I can’t halt a delicious shiver rocking my body. His fingers tighten around my legs, letting me know he felt my reaction to his sensual touch. This feels like foreplay to me. Oh dear, wishful thinking.
After two floors, he’s panting slightly. But he’s carrying almost double his weight, so I’m very impressed.
“Fuck, you’re heavy, piglet,” he complains, starting a new flight of stairs. But his hands glide a little more toward my butt.
“Need to stop for a few minutes, Mr. Hottie?” I blurt his nickname out.
I named him Mr. Hottie while he chose…piglet? I’m not as brawny as he is, even though he looks more like a swimmer than a tank. But I run five miles every other day and do some pushups… when I feel like it. My weight mainly consists of muscles and bones.
I hear the smile in his voice. “This Mr. Hottie has plans for your… piglet-y sexy body.”
I scoff sardonically, but my thigh muscles reflexively jerk, and my mind gets bombarded by dirty images of Raphael and I tangled together.
“If I haven’t been clear enough, I will fuck you.” The confidence in his words makes me gasp.
My mouth is as arid as a damn desert, but I manage a sassy response. “Your ego needs a bigger space than this building. But I’m afraid not even this whole city is large enough.”
“It doesn’t change the truth, babe,” he states.
“And what’s that?”
“That you’ll be screaming under me.”
My forehead falls on his shoulder and I take a big breath to clear my temporarily lust-fogged brain.
“Your boldness astonishes me. Are you always this arrogant?” The words are harsh, but the breathless and needy voice attached to them tells a different story. My insides are screaming to grab Raphael tighter and get started. Yeah, my body is an eager 24/7 slut.
“Yes,” he simply says.
“Do people just accept that?”
He turns his head my way. That predatory smile is painted on his lips again. “People do whatever I say. And anyway, my mind doesn’t follow conventional norms, babe.”
