Page 4 of Drunk on You (Hope Town 4)

No longer was I going to let a man intoxicate me with his allure. Not when I know I can give just as good as he can. And boy am I planning on giving it real good.

I crook my finger up at him, smoothing my face out until I just know I look fierce and in control, and I step back just enough to allow a small gap in front of me. He places his hands on a bar above his head and lifts his muscular bulk up then swings his legs back, getting the momentum he needs to launch his body off the polished wood and into the narrow space between me and it.

I step up to him right after he lands, so close that my boobs press against his sweaty, rock-hard chest. He doesn't move, letting me invade his space. Even with my four-inch heels, he's still a giant. I look up, meeting the eyes that are too hard to read in the dim lighting, and wing it. Trailing my fingers down each strap of his suspenders, I smile at him.

"You enjoy that, starboy?"

His jaw flexes. The spot near his ears that ripples with his clenching motion makes me shiver--I couldn't help it if I tried. Something is extremely sexy about that part of a man.

"I think you enjoy it a little too much. Turning women on while knowing you're just a big tease because of it."

"You think I'm a tease?" he grunts on a laugh of disbelief.

I step even closer at the same time I press my hands against his abs, the muscles flexing under my touch. The second I roll to my toes, my face is at his throat, and the scent of him fills my nostrils again. I close my eyes--thankful my new position doesn't afford him the knowledge that I'm becoming lust drunk on the scent of him. His hands clasp my hips tightly, his fingertips biting into the skin before he gives me some help by literally lifting my feet off the ground.

"Unless you plan on taking me right here, I think, by definition, you are a tease."

His hold on my hips gets tighter, the bite of pain making my eyes roll back in my head in pleasure.

"You couldn't handle me, cherie."

"Sherry?"

His chest moves with his silent laughter.

"Cherie," he repeats, this time his mouth at my ear, and I hear a subtle French accent to the word that I remember from my high school days. But I failed French so badly I can't even remember how to count to ten.

"Someone's cocky," I joke, curling my toes to keep my heels from falling off as he continues to hold me off the ground. "I could so handle you."

His head tips, and his nose trails from the base of my neck up to my ear before his lips are back against my skin. My hands, braced on the corded muscles of his shoulders, jolt, and I tighten my grip until my nails bite against his skin. His chest vibrates, and I wish I could see his face. "You couldn't. A man like me ... I would ruin you and have you begging to be ruined all over again once you'd recovered."

"Don't underestimate me, Shane Kingston."

He lifts his head until his face is just a breath away from mine. My heart speeds up so rapidly that I'm convinced he can feel it against our pressed chests. Praying he doesn't call my bluff, I raise a brow and dare him to turn me down.

"You still dating that idiot?" he questions in a deep, rasping tone.

"You still dating that bitch?" I return, shaking my head mirroring him, both of us silently confirming we're single.

"You want to play, Nicole, make sure you understand what you're asking for."

Lifting one of my hands off his shoulders, I look up at the thick hair mussed on top of his head, dark raven strands falling against his forehead. With a whisper touch of my pointer finger, I push them back before raking my fingers across the top of his head. The thick locks feeling like damp silk as they move through my fingers. His face is unyielding, until that moment, and I lift my other hand up to one shaved side of his head, my fingertips just kissing the thick upper part of his stylish cut. My other hand is placed against the other side of his head. I rub my palms against the short buzz until I'm framing his face with his ears resting on the webbing of my thumbs.

Then I tilt his head slightly with my hold and take his mouth in a deep kiss.

I feel, rather than see, him turning us until the bar top is biting against my back. His hands move at the same time he opens his lips and his tongue starts sliding against my own. His hands shove under my short skirt until my bare ass is in his hands. Those strong fingers flexing against their hold in a way that makes me think Shane Kingston is definitely an ass man. His hot breath fans on my cheek when he groans loudly, deepening the kiss and trying to take control.

Oh, no way.

My legs wrap around his hips, and I suck his bottom lip into my mouth before biting it. A raspy hiss escapes him before I swallow it in another dueling of our lips. I roll my hips, using the bar as leverage, and I mentally cheer when he shivers.

Wishing we weren't in the middle of a very crowded club, I break away from him and press my forehead against his to catch my breath. "Do not underestimate me," I repeat myself.

He nods, lust and need written all over his face. His eyes are leaden, betraying the unaffected nature he would like me to believe.

"How about you let me know when you're ready to pick this back up somewhere a little less ... crowded?"

He doesn't move. Still holding me against him silently between the bar and his hard body. That sexy tic back in the edge of his jaw.

"Let me down, Shane. Let me down and dig out your phone so you can grab my number. You want to show me just what you think I can't handle, you give me a call. If not, well ... your loss, not mine."

His hands release my ass, slowly trailing back out from under my skirt, and I unhook my legs--reluctantly. He doesn't release me until my feet are firmly on the ground. His face is so unreadable I kick my ass for assuming he was just as into that as I had been. Guess that's what I get for being out of the game for so long.

I shrug and try not to let the disappointment get the best of me. Well, at least the kiss was hot. He doesn't move, making me squeeze out from where he has me pinned. I smile awkwardly at a slack-jawed Ember, noting that she's still holding Shane's shirt. Good; I deserve it after the free show we just gave the bar.

"You ready?" I ask her, still breathless from that kiss.

Her mouth opens but snaps shut a moment later. At the same time, a firm hold against my arm stops me from moving. My eyes widen when I feel Shane press his front against my back, the thickness of his erection instantly clear against my body. His lips close around my earlobe, and he bites down. Thankfully, his arm snaked around my stomach at the same time because that alone took every bit of strength out of my legs. His free hand comes around my other side, and through one hell of an aroused haze, I see a phone dangling in front of my face.

His mouth releases the sensitive flesh, and in a tone deeper than I've ever heard from him, he commands, "Think real hard about taking this, Nicole. If you put your number in there, you're as good as mine for however long we decide to ... handle each other. I'm not the kind of man you want to be playing games with."

Ember's eyes are ping-ponging from the phone to my eyes to Shane's direction so rapidly I'm a little worried my best friend might get dizzy and pass out.

If I was smart, I would have taken heed of his warning. Lord knows there are other men I could be wild and free with, but I've always wondered what kind of man Shane would be in bed. Even when it was wrong to think those thoughts. He's just got that effortless thing about him that invades your mind with dirty images. But I don't want to find some other nameless man. I don't want easy. I want Shane. I'm sick of playing life safely, afraid to move on with my life. I'm over living like that. I want to be wild, free, and confident. Like I said, if I was smart, I would have done what the old, safe Nikki would have done. But that Nikki had been with the same cheating bastard for years and never felt an ounce of what I just experienced with Shane. That Nikki was gone, drunk on this man, and desperate to feel that high more and more.

So I snatched that phone from him and quickly plugged in my number and called my cell. Not only did I give myself his number--bu

t him mine as he requested. Then I ripped myself from his hold, grabbed Ember's hand, and hightailed it out of Dirty Dog so fast, I'm convinced I found the speed of light.

With his shirt.

Holy moly.

What the heck did I do now?

FUCK.

Fucking fuck.

"What the fuck was that?" Nate, my best friend, hisses.

Yup, pretty much took the words outta my head.

I close my eyes and press my palms against the one-way glass lining the upper offices to get some control over myself before turning to look at Nate.

I can still smell her.

I can still fucking taste her on my lips, some mix of the drink she had been nursing and something that must be completely and uniquely Nikki.

"Do you hear me?" Nate says, frustration mingling in with the earlier shock I heard in his voice.

"Hear you," I confirm.

"And?" he continues, not backing down.

"What do you want me to say, Nate?"

"Well, shit, I don't know. How about give me a little hint to what the hell just went through your head. I've never seen you act like that. With years of practice, you've become a robot to the women throwing themselves at you like bitches in heat, and the one chick I would prefer you kept your dick away from makes you turn into some sort of live porno foreplay for our whole fucking club?"

"Shit," I say under my breath.

"Look, man, I love you like a brother, but that's my wife's best friend. I don't want you fucking with her and making things tense. Since I promised I would never let my lady lose her smile when she isn't happy, I'm definitely not happy."

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