Bro Code(30)

“Are you driving back in the morning?” Mrs. Saunders asks.

I nod. “Yeah. I think I'm actually going to go upstairs and get some sleep.”

“Drive safely tomorrow.”

We share another hug, and another handshake, and then I'm heading out of the reception hall.

Pressing the button for an elevator, I’m congratulating myself on a plan well executed when the doors slide open.

Ava is standing alone in the car, and I can’t hide my surprise. She’s so gorgeous, I have to physically steady myself. Stuffing my hands in my pockets is the only thing that stops me from reaching out for her. It's maddening how tempting she looks tonight. All those curves hidden behind a silky black dress, matching heels, dark hair twisted into an elegant knot at the nape of her neck to show off those delicate collarbones that I've fantasized about nibbling on.

“What are you—”

“Mom thought she left Dad’s present upstairs, then texted me and said she found it.” Ava laughs but doesn’t step out of the elevator. “Going up?” Her blue eyes dance mischievously on mine.

“Yeah.” I was going to, anyway. “Aren’t you getting out?”

I move to catch the doors before they slide shut, and that step forward is enough for a fire to light up Ava’s eyes. The answer to my question is revealed in her gaze as she looks me up and down. She wants me and isn’t even trying to hide it, which instantly ups the ante on this cat-and-mouse game we’ve been playing all weekend.

“Aren’t you coming in?” she asks, her voice low and sultry.

No one else is in the hall. No one would know she and I had ever crossed paths, much less that we ended up in the same elevator. And tonight is it, my final night in town, a thought that’s been bothering me all day.

Unable to say no to her, I step into the elevator and the doors slide shut behind me.

It was just one step, but the meaning behind it is huge. Monumental.

The moment we’re alone, really alone, she steps forward to place one hand on my jaw and rises on tiptoe. Her lips are inches from mine and her soft feminine scent is enough to send my heart into overdrive.

Ava wets her lower lip and leans in close. It isn’t a choice—it’s raw instinct—when I lean down and take her mouth with a deep, searing kiss. The kiss I’d been trying not to lay on her since I first saw her all dressed up. The heat that’s been building in my body the entire night threatens to combust, and a groan catches in my throat when she puts one hand over my crotch, pressing her palm against my heat. I harden instantly at her forbidden touch. I’ve been following the bro code this entire week, hell, for over a decade, and that one touch obliterated every rule I’ve hidden behind.

Fuck.

Feeling the warmth of her palm against me—when it’s what I’ve wanted for years—is torture. But before I can remove her hand, she leans in closer.

“I want this tonight,” she whispers against my mouth, and the light squeeze that follows sends a jolt through my entire body. “I want all of you.”

Screw crossing the line. The line is a faint and distant memory. All I want is to hear Ava say that again, preferably as I’m sliding inside of her.

With my hands on her waist, I take two steps forward until her back presses against the wall of the elevator, and my lips crash down on hers. She whimpers and presses her hips against mine, a slow grind of her pelvis causing my knees to tremble.

“Think you can handle it?” I ask, nipping her bottom lip between my teeth and grinding my now fully erect cock against her. “It’s not nice to tease a man.”

She looks up at me helplessly and makes a wordless whimper. “I’d give anything to try,” she says, finding her voice.

Jesus.

Why is that so sexy?

I’m forcing a deep inhale into my lungs, fighting to get myself under control, when the cool plastic of Ava’s room key fits into my hand as she slides it between my fingers.

Pulling away just enough to fix the slight smudge of her lipstick, she says, “Come find me later,” then presses the button to open the doors again and slips down the hall toward the party.

Turning the key over in my hand, I check the room number, and adjust my cock to keep myself presentable before tapping the button for the next floor. I have to get myself under control—and fast—before I make a mistake so huge, there will be no coming back.



*



I wait until everyone else should be asleep.

The key slides through perfectly, and the moment the lock clicks I slip inside. It's dim inside, just the soft glow of a single lamp to light the room. Lust already has me half-crazed, but all logical thought evaporates when I see Ava on her bed in that dress. She smiles, and I don't even have to say what I'm here for—she knows.

Because I’m addicted and so is she. Helpless to the idea of feeling her skin against mine.

We meet in the middle of the room for another deep kiss. I'm so hungry for her, like there's a need in my body that only she can satisfy. I walk Ava back against the bed while her fingers unbutton my suit jacket and grip her from behind, lifting her up and onto the mattress.

“I meant it, Barrett.” Ava moans into our next kiss as I strip off my jacket, her hands working my shirt open, button by button, “I want all of you tonight.”