"I'm sorry to bail on you, Darcy. I just need to get away from him." She wasn't going to tell her roommate about what was going on inside of her, at least not until they were in the safety of their house, and away from the object of her frustration and arousal. When Darcy didn't answer she lifted her head, but it wasn't Darcy who stood a foot away from her, but Alex, and he looked pissed. Slowly she stood and faced him.
"What the fuck are you doing, Mary?"
Anger spiked inside of her at his cold tone. That bastard.
"I guess it's not obvious." She moved her hands up and down her body as if to show him her sweaty self. He infuriated her. First she was hot for him, not even able to think clearly, and then he opened his damn mouth and pissed her off. There had never been a person that could make her feel annoyed, angered, and aroused all in the same breath, but Alex was doing a fine ass job of it. "But I think I may be working out at a gym." Her sarcasm was thick. He didn't move, didn't blink, and damn him, showed no freaking emotion.
"You know what I mean." He was still shirtless, still sweaty, and still looking so damn delicious. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. "Why are you at this place, and why in the hell are you pissed now?"
"Fuck you, Alex."
He smirked, but it held no amusement.
"I can make that fucking happen, Mary, if you just pick whether you'll forgive me, or if you still want to stay mad at me." They stared at each other for a long while, and when he realized she wasn't about to respond to what he had to say he spoke again. "How did you find out about this place anyway? This part of town isn't really safe for you to be coming to, especially alone."
Mary felt like a scolded child. She crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at him. "I'm not alone. I came with Darcy. Not that what I do is any of your damn business." She lifted her chin, pissed further that he was now trying to act like her father, like he actually cared about her and what happened in her life. He took a step closer, and she took one back.
"You mean that tiny thing out there all over Mica?" He took another step forward, and she held her hand out to stop him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He moved another step toward her until she had to place her palms against his damp chest to stop him from coming any closer.
"What do you mean?" Was he purposefully making his voice even deeper, and filled with heat? She swallowed and lifted her eyes from where her hands were on his body to his face. "If I didn't know better I'd think you're stalking me." He smirked, and she glowered. Mary dropped her hands, but he caught her wrists and put her hands back on his chest. "I've seen you watching me practice." He stayed silent for a moment, as if he wanted her to absorb that little bit of information. "You're at my house, and now I find you at the place where I work out." There was a teasing note in his voice, that asshole.
Her cheeks heated at the fact he had known she was watching him practice football, and that he thought she was following him.
"You are so damn arrogant." She didn't hide the snarl in her voice. "And if you don't back the fuck off I'll slap you again." It was an empty threat, because she wouldn't hit him again, not unless his cockiness went too far. Right now she just hoped her words had him backing off, because she couldn't get any air into her lungs.
He leaned forward, that smirk still on his face. "I deserve that slap, and many more, but you and I both know you don't want me to move away any more than I want to stop being close to you." Mary swallowed, trying to push the sudden lump that had formed in her throat down. "I am an arrogant bastard. I won't even lie about that, but you and I both know I am also honest. I have no reason to lie, Mary."
He was close to her, and the lockers were right behind her, not allowing her to escape. He was too close for comfort. She wanted to stay mad at him, but smelling his clean sweat and feeling his body heat encompass her, was doing something funny to her brain. His eyes dipped down to stare at her mouth. "You didn't want to listen to me at the club when I told you the kind of guy I am, and instead wanted to still push it. I don't know what you're trying to prove, Mary." His voice was low, and his gaze was still on her mouth. "I'm not a gentleman, Mary, have never been." He slowly looked into her eyes. "I've never treated women with the respect they deserve, but I've also never been with a woman that made me care what they thought, that made me want to put all my shit aside and actually try. Me being an asshole at Tainted was my way of trying to open your eyes to how wrong I am for you on every level."
His words had her anger slowly dissipating, stopped her frustration, and made something in her heart become heavy. After the hours of being next to him, tutoring, and fighting how she felt, she was tired, so very tired, and not wanting to fight anymore. But could she just forget everything? His intention to try to push her away might have been for the good, but the way he had gone about it was so very wrong.
"I'm sorry, Mary. I'm so fucking sorry."
She was shaking her head before he even finished. Closing her eyes, she knew that the last of her walls had crumbled, and if he kept going she'd be lost to him.
"Look at me." When she didn't obey he said it again. "Look. At. Me." His voice was harder, more demanding, and she realized there was no stopping how she felt. She opened her eyes and stared right into his. Their gazes clashed, hazel and blue ones, and she was unable to pull away from the trance he suddenly had her in. "I see the way you look at me when you don't think I'm aware." He dropped his voice an octave. "I should be paying attention to what you're teaching me, but it's hard to concentrate when I want you so fucking bad." Today his eyes were more green than brown. "As much as I know I am not good enough for you, and how I am likely to ruin you in the worst kind of way, I can't stay away. Fuck, I want you, more than I have ever wanted anything in my life, and that scares the shit out of me and pisses me off. I don't like this unsteady feeling I have when you're near, like I can't even think straight."
She parted her lips to say something, anything, but before a single word left her his mouth was on hers, taking over in every sense of the word. Mary should have pushed him away, slapped him like she had said she was going to do, or kicked him in the balls. The nerve of him thinking he could just kiss her, just take that from her without even asking. She should have done a lot of things, but she didn't do any of them, and instead melted against him.
His tongue slipped along the seam of her lips, demanding entrance, and not waiting for her acceptance before he was delving right in. The flavor of him was like nothing she had ever tasted, slightly salty form his sweat, but sweet and intoxicating. There was a spicy undertone to it, and Mary found herself moaning into his mouth.
He broke the kiss, but his lips were still pressed to hers as he said, "It's good, Mary. God, it is so fucking good."
His hands slammed down on the lockers by her head, causing the metal to vibrate behind her and echo throughout the room. She felt caged in like she did at the club, but she wouldn't let that night interfere with what was happening right now. She needed this. God, she really, really needed this. This arousal for him had been building since she had first seen him. He may not have even known she existed, but holy hell had she known exactly who he was. Then they had spent time together, and that slow burn had consumed her. Being with him and giving herself this moment to appreciate the delicious feelings he caused inside of her couldn't hurt, right?
"You like it, right, Mary? You like my hands on you, my mouth on you, and you really like this, yeah?"
He ground his erection into her belly, and a stuttered gasp left her. He was so obscene at times, but she knew it wasn't because he was trying to shock her, but because that was just who he was. He trailed his mouth down the side of her face, over her ear where he let his tongue trail along the shell, and stopped at the side of her neck, where her pulse beat frantically. He moved his hands to her shoulders and clenched his fingers around them hard, but not painfully.
"I'm so sorry, baby. The things I said, the way I made you feel … it was wrong." He pressed closer, and she hadn't even thought that were possible, not with it feeling like every part of them was touching the other. "Do you accept my apology, Mary?" He leaned back and stared down and into her eyes.