Unraveled (Woodlands #3)(17)
Author: Jen Frederick

“A different mug?” She looked at me like I was crazy—and maybe I was.

I drew a hand through my shorn hair. “Yes, the one we’d used felt like someone else had drank out of it.”

“Oh, so you need a perfectly new bed, or excuse me, mug for coffee every time you have it? Good luck with that.” Sam turned and began throwing open kitchen cabinets and them slamming the doors shut. I knew she wanted me to leave, but I wasn’t going anywhere. “I mean, how many new mugs do you offer to girls you invite over for coffee?”

“A lot fewer than you seem to think, but it just looked like you weren’t ready to have coffee.”

“Wasn’t ready? I was climbing you like a pole in the hallway of the bar and even after you accused me of cheating, I stupidly issued you another invitation. I’ve never been so ready for coffee!” she shouted at me.

“I know. And I’m sorry. I want your coffee. Bad,” I pleaded.

“Well,” she huffed. “You aren’t getting any.” She slammed the last cupboard closed and stomped out.

When dusk had fallen and Adam and Finn had fired up the grill, I’d made up my mind. She needed to give me one more chance. I’d show her exactly what I was feeling. People surrounded us and there wasn’t any good way for me to extricate her from Adam’s side. But when everyone gathered around the fire pit, he couldn’t sit in both chairs beside her so I sat on her right before anyone else could. I’d convince her somehow that I wanted her more than anything and that all the shit she had in her condo and the jewelry she wore didn’t matter. Around the patio, the after-dinner conversation turned to zombie survivalist techniques.

"If we did live in a post-apocalyptic world, people who worked with their hands would have a better chance of survival,” Bo said. "So Noah, Gray, and I are going to be around." I think that was Bo’s weak wingman attempt. Hook up with Gray, he’ll save you if the zombies come after you. I wasn’t sure that was helpful since we weren’t even close to needing to jump someone’s bones for survival’s sake.

"Hey, I can kill a few with my instruments. Drumsticks or the broken throat of the guitar is going to do some damage,” Adam protested.

Sam offered her up her own viability. "Then I’d be a valuable asset. I could skewer people with my needles and knit clothes out of fibers."

"Okay, you’re in," I said immediately. She cocked her head and gave it a shake like she couldn’t figure me out. I was going to make it clear to her that I was interested even if I couldn’t get her alone.

"What about the repopulation of the human race?" a dark-haired girl with a ruffly swimsuit that barely covered her impressive knockers said coyly.

"Do you need some instruction? I can help out," another guy joked. I kept my eyes on Sam to see if she was interested in anyone else in the group. Her eyes were pinned on a square patch of concrete between her feet.

The girl scoffed. "I don’t need instruction. I’m already amazing." She stretched her arms and the move showcased her admittedly perfect form to all those around.

"That’s what they all say," muttered the guy who’d been rejected.

"Oh yeah? What makes a girl good in bed then?"

This time Sam spoke up. “Yeah, Gray, what makes a girl good in bed?”

Her eyes held a glittering challenge and everything, including the meat between my legs, rose up to meet it. I jumped in, feet first, without a chute. I’d either catch the wind or smash to the ground, but she was giving me an opening whether she knew it or not. “Enthusiasm,” I responded without delay.

"She’s there, doesn’t that mean she wants it?" Sam said softly.

I shook my head, staring at her hard. "It’s not the same thing. When you’re going down on her, she lets you know how good it feels by telling you, grabbing your head, squeezing her legs together. When you’re inside of her, she’s squeezing the shit out of your piece and milking every last orgasm out of you. Guys want to see and hear and feel how hot she is for you."

"Sounds exhausting," said someone else. "What makes a guy good in bed?”

"Someone who’s paying attention.” My gaze was fixed on Sam.

"That’s it?" she asked.

"Yup. Every time I touch a girl, I’m cataloguing the sounds she makes, the clenching of her muscles, how wet she is getting. It’s my responsibility to make sure that she is wetter than an April shower and I do that by paying attention.”

“But you like your girls pure, right?” Sam asked sarcastically. “Virgins only?”

I shook my head. “No, absolutely not. I don’t care how many partners she’s had before me so long as I’m the only one in the bedroom with her at the moment. I gotta know she’s with me every step.”

"What’s your favorite position?" someone called out.

"Reverse cowgirl, am I right, ladies?" Two girls across from us high-fived. Sam shifted next to me and I waited for her to jump in but she remained stubbornly silent. The only female I wanted to know about decided she wouldn’t share her opinion.

"What about you?" one of them asked.

"I like ‘em all.” Was this working at all? Or was I just making a fool of myself, trying to look boss in front of Sam? We stared at each other but I saw nothing in her eyes but a reflection of the firelight.

"But a favorite."

Without looking away, I answered the question. “The ol’ missionary is a good one. You can stare into her eyes the entire time and if you hold her legs in the right position, you can hit the A-spot."

"You mean G-spot."

"No, A-spot. It’s a spot on the back wall of the vag**a." I’m going to make it good for you, Sam, I told her silently. It’ll all be worth it. Give me another chance.

Everyone around the fire was getting hot now, and it wasn’t just because of the flames. People were shifting in their chairs and the breathing was becoming a bit more ragged. The sex talk was hardening dicks and wetting pussies, but the only one I wanted was sitting next to me as impassive as a stone.

"I’m happy to be your test subject," offered the big-chested brunette, sitting up and swinging her legs to the side. "I’ll let you know if you’re good in bed."

My desire had a name and no one else but Sam was going to sate it but this girl had put herself out there and I wasn’t going to make her feel bad. I just told her the truth. "I’m out of commission now,” I admitted. Sam tensed up beside me. "I belong to someone else."

"Really? Because I could have sworn this past weekend, you were telling another girl you didn’t have anyone back home."

"I don’t." To get my message across to her and everyone else, I widened my legs so that my thigh brushed up against Sam’s. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the brunette glower. Next to me, I heard Sam’s breath catch but she didn’t move away. Everyone had gotten the message.

Bo hauled AnnMarie to her feet. "Boy, I’m tired."

"Me too," AnnMarie chirped, and they both practically ran in to the house. Sam jumped up and followed them. I rose to follow but Adam put a hand on my chest.

"Just remember," he warned me. "Fragile."

When I got into the house, I didn’t see her downstairs. "Where’d Sam go?" I asked Noah, who’d been sitting inside watching television with Grace.

He jerked his thumb toward the front door. "She headed out.”

Fuck me. I ran out the door but Sam was halfway up the drive by then.

“Sam, wait,” I called after her but she didn’t slow. If anything, she sped up, almost running but not quite. Clearly my f**k talk by the fire only pissed her off instead of turning her on. Had I miscalculated or what? I could either chase her down—and there was no question I could—or go back and toss myself into the pool. To hell with it, if I was going down, I was going to do it hard. I sprinted and caught her in about ten strides.

“Why are you following me?” she cried.

“I thought you understood back there that I—”

She cut me off. “I understand that you can turn your heat on and off like a light switch but I’m not that way. What do you have to be confused about?”

The unfairness of it made me explode. ”You think I’ve got it all together? Let me tell you, sister. You know why I’m struggling with the decision to stay in? Because if I do, I’ll be in charge of people. People who could die. It’s one thing to make sure that your armored vehicle works or your rifle but people, Sam! I need to make sure my team has got it all together upstairs,” I pointed to my head, “and here,” I pounded my chest.

“Because if one part of the platoon is weak, we could all be in danger. I have to make sure that everyone knows what they are doing and what they should do and how they’ll react. I’m f**king terrified of that, and I’m completely disgusted at myself for even hesitating. Hesitating can get you dead outside the wire.” I was yelling at her, but Sam didn’t move away. Her gaze, well, I couldn’t read it at that point; I was too caught up in my own misery.

“And women? Shit. My girlfriend of four years cheated on me during my second deployment with the local Marine recruiter, an officer!” I threw out my arms. “And she was going to climb back in bed with me when I got home. If it hadn’t been for the LT deciding that it’s bros before hos, I could have slept with her when she had an STI.”

Sam stood stock still as I yelled. Scrubbing my hand over my mouth, I looked around and gave a mirthless laugh, embarrassed at the shitstorm I just spewed all over her. “Sorry.” Could I pass it off as drunken behavior? I cradled my head in my hands so I couldn’t see her expression of disgust. “By the way, I’m clean,” I mumbled through my hands.

Instead of running away, Sam came closer. Her hand fell on my shoulder and then trailed down to my elbow. Looking up, I saw that she’d lost her angry and hurt expression and replaced it with a tender smile. Her other hand came up to cup the back of my neck and pull my head down to hers. There was no logic to her behavior. She should have been sprinting away from me and my mess, but I didn’t correct her. I wasn’t so stupid or so inept that I didn’t know how to seize opportunity when it presented itself. Still as a hunter lying in wait, I remained motionless as her lips brushed my cheek, her soft breath feathering across my skin. The streetlights made her skin luminous, and this close I could see her pale lashes fluttering over her eyes. Her hand pressed against my forearm for balance as she leaned in, moving her mouth from my cheek to my ear.

“I’m thirsty. You thirsty?” she whispered, and her breath traveled straight from my ear down to my groin.

For a moment I didn’t get it, didn’t get what she was trying to say to me but then I recalled her smile, the light touch on my arm, and the tender way she kissed me. The lights inside my dimwitted head turned on. “I’ve never been so thirsty my entire f**king life.”

“Come on then.” She threaded her fingers confidently through mine. Her taking control in this moment? So very hot. “Is my Rover okay?”

“I could care less the place, but why?”

“Because I don’t think I can wait to get somewhere else.” She gave me a tremulous smile, and I was instantly hard.

“Let’s go.”

Her truck was parked outside her parents’ house. I climbed into the passenger seat and she drove me up the hill to a park at the end of the development. There were no lights here. I pushed my seat back and pulled her onto my lap. I was going to be inside her before the night was over, or I’d be dead because nothing short of a bullet in the chest was going to stop us tonight.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Samantha

GRAY’S TALK OF HIS FAVORITE positions and what he liked in a woman had dampened my swim bottoms and made my clothes feel too tight. He was a mess inside but I liked that. I understood it. Another guy who was more put together would make me feel anxious and inadequate. That Gray was confused about life and where he was going and how he felt about women suited me perfectly and strangely bolstered my own confidence. Tonight he was going to be mine, I’d decided. I wanted to have an orgasm that wasn’t brought about by my own fingers or just rubbing against him. I wanted his fingers to touch me and I wanted to hold his head between my legs. I just wanted.

We fumbled with my top, pulling off my T-shirt and then my bikini top. The strings fell away with a few tugs of his fingers and then his breath caught as he stared at my bare br**sts in the moonlight. I’d always been a little self-conscious of my n**ples because they were rather large and had a tendency to poke out of every shirt I wore unless I wore a well-padded bra.

I moved to cover my br**sts but he brushed my hands away, cupping one breast in each large hand. “Goddamn, Sam, my mouth is f**king watering. I can’t wait until I’ve sucked on both your tits.”

But instead of heading right to my br**sts, he began kissing the hollow of my throat, running his tongue along the ridges of my collarbone. His hands circled the sides of my br**sts, measured the weight of them, and plumped them together until a valley formed for his questing tongue, but he didn’t touch the tips. And the longer that he ignored them the more sensitive they became. The night air was sultry and heavy but I still felt every slight movement.