Lifting her legs around his waist, she writhed against him at the vivid thought. His head lowered back to her shoulder in defeat and he nibbled on her collarbone, then dotted a quick kiss on her neck. “Come on. I need to get your ass back outside before I strip you down and bury my face between your thighs.”
She took his offered hand and popped off the counter, landing a bit shakily. “See, I fail to see the problem in that little scenario,” she teased, already making her way through the kitchen to the back door. Before she was able to gain another step, Rafe tugged back on her hand, pulling her against his chest. His hands drifted down her arms, resting firmly on her elbows.
She lifted her chin to look at him and was swallowed by the intensity in his molten eyes. The raw, wanton passion in them overwhelmed her in their near proximity, so she tried to create a breath of space between them. But he only held her closer.
Pulling away was an option, but it wasn’t one she wanted to entertain. She was drowning in his intensity, consumed by his scent. Her heart crashed against her chest, extinguishing what little resolve she was clinging to. She wanted this . . . him. His overpowering body, his considerate touch, his dangerous kiss. She wanted him and what he made her feel.
Delicate. Vulnerable.
Cherished.
• • •
“I wasn’t kidding, babe,” Rafe said, trying to inflict as much gentleness into his words as physically possible. He’d love nothing more than to peel the jeans from her legs and glide his tongue along her pussy until her legs convulsed around his neck, and he was more tempted than she could possibly even realize. He needed to get her outside before he perverted Wright’s kitchen and allowed everyone there to know the way Fallon sounded when he brought her over the edge. And the idea of his jackass buddies outside hearing the sweet, heady sounds that mewled from Fallon’s lips when she came was reason enough to cease and desist.
She softened under his hold, a physical offering of herself. And it made him harder. He saw a layer melt away in her eyes, felt a shift in her stance.
His hands left her arms and palmed the sides of her neck, his thumbs tracing the lines of her jaw. “Would it be rude to grab that plate of brownies and take off so I can get you in my bed?”
Her shoulders relaxed even more and she lifted her lips into a smile. “Yes, it’d be very rude.”
“All right, then get your ass outside.”
• • •
Rafe handed Carter another log to add to the fire pit while the women were finishing up taking the leftover food back into the house. There was plenty left over, even with the multiple burgers each of the men had ingested. Stella was a go-big-or-go-home kind of woman, and that included her menu for the cookout. She’d made enough food to feed his entire company.
“So are you going to divulge any information on the chick you brought or what?” Carter finally asked, taking his seat along the built-in brick bench that surrounded half of the fire pit that was built up from the patio.
“Information?” he asked, playing dumb. He knew these jackasses just wanted to know why in the hell he’d brought a woman with him. Especially given his recent binge of different women, and especially since they’d never known him to be any other way. They didn’t know the Rafe that existed before Bridgette shredded him, gutted him, and hung him out to dry. They only saw the man she’d unknowingly turned him into. Seeing Rafe with a woman who wasn’t making her way to his car after initial introductions was new for them. Fuck, it was new for him too. But he didn’t want to be that man anymore.
Carter nodded. “Yeah, information. Other than her name and the fact that she is way too hot for your ugly ass, we don’t know anything about her.”
“I’m still learning.” And he wanted to learn everything.
“Bullshit. You can give us something better than that load of crap. Rafe Murano doesn’t arrive with women—he leaves with women,” Carter said, dragging a few extra camping chairs around the fire in the center of the patio.
“Yeah, and I intend on leaving with Fallon as well,” he barked.
Carter laughed from across the fire, then tipped back his beer. Rafe had already narrowed his eyes at him, so when Carter lowered his head he was greeted with a look Carter was all too familiar with. “Damn, Murano. Getting a little defensive? A little territorial?” he asked, which apparently meant Carter had a death wish. He was a good guy, but he didn’t know when to shut the hell up.
Rafe leaned back in his chair and watched the flames pop and crack. “I like her,” Wright said, handing Rafe a beer before taking the seat next to him. “She fits you.”