Chase Me (Broke and Beautiful #1)(31)

This is where he became a depraved *, however.

If he could just get her into bed, he could make her accept this connection between them. This was his genius plan. He didn’t know if the assurance came from an arrogant place, only knew it was battering around inside him, making a friendly heart-to-heart seem like a distinctly unviable option. This feeling, this need to be as close to her as humanly possible, was completely foreign. Yes, he’d been around a little. Okay, maybe a lot. He didn’t lack for confidence when it came to sex. Right now, when he sensed her slipping away, it felt like all he had left.

Back on that street, when he was touching her, everything came together for a while. She was trusting him, letting herself go and being honest with him. He just wanted to get back to that place so he could . . . what? Get a promise out of her that she wouldn’t go away? Make her pinkie swear that she wouldn’t make him wait another week to see her again?

Yeah, that pretty much summed it up.

Since she’d gradually clammed up on the ride home after he’d gone all sex maniac on her, it might not even work. It could drive her away more. Why? The single word raced from one end of his mind to the other. She’d liked what he’d done to her. No way to fake that kind of reaction. So why wouldn’t she looked at him as they boarded the elevator? He thought back to the dark street, the things he’d said to her. Maybe he’d come on too strong, but there hadn’t been any help for it. When they were touching, he lost control of his mouth. Lost the ability to run words past his brain and make a mutual decision if they should be set loose. These . . . feelings for her spent so much time being locked away that maybe his subconscious had just disguised themselves as something else.

All right, so he’d found a twisted way to excuse his plan of screwing her into staying with him. What about the rest? What about the fact that he’d looked right into her excited green eyes and lied? Even if she never found out about the favor he’d called in, it would always be there, reminding him he’d deceived her to get what he wanted. What he wanted was her. And in order to have her and maintain his sanity, taking her clothes off in a stranger’s apartment couldn’t be on the agenda.

This business of keeping her around was going to be complicated, but not having her around would be worse. For now, he would focus on that and worry about the axe hanging over his head later.

“You’ve gone quiet on me.”

Roxy shifted and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Yeah? Well, last time I was in this elevator, I was dressed in a bunny costume.”

He sighed. “I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore.”

“We agreed not to talk about the song,” she corrected him, finally giving him a smile.

“And yet you just did.”

“Well, since I already broke the agreement. . . .” She cleared her throat and started to sing. “To my hotshot honey bunny—”

He lunged toward her side of the elevator and cut her off with a hand over her mouth. “Not cool.” His body registered her closeness on impact and began to tighten. Christ. Just like that. When the laughter in her gaze lessened and those pupils started to dilate, he knew she felt it, too. That response, so in time with his own, gave him that final push. Taking her home and getting her underneath him was the right thing to do. Being with her in any way couldn’t be wrong. Not when she made him feel like this. Maybe his reasons weren’t as honorable as they should be, and yeah, he’d lied to her. But this, this, was the most honest f*cking thing in the world. So were the words that followed. “Roxy, even in that costume, you were so goddamn beautiful, I don’t think I’ve taken a decent breath since.”

She made a small noise behind his hand, reminding him he still had her mouth covered. The second he removed it, she threw her arms around his neck and plastered her sexy little body against his. He only had a split second to savor the fact that he’d distracted her from whatever thoughts she’d been having, before their mouths were moving together. Licking, nipping, then devouring. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a ping and the elevator doors roll open. Get her to your bed, depraved *. Now.

Breaking away with a groan, he gripped her tight, sweet ass and boosted her up so she could lock her legs around his waist. She completed the move with such hungry desperation that his thoughts momentarily blurred and he stumbled from the elevator, still carrying her. They crashed into the opposite wall of his hallway, their mouths meeting once more in a hot tangle of tongues and lips. The heat between her thighs sat directly on top of his hard dick, giving him no choice but to thrust up against her. Fuuuuuck. Knowing all she wore under that dress was a thin pair of panties made him crazy to rip them off. Crazy to unzip his pants and sink into her. If the fingers tearing at his hair were any indication, she wanted it.

“Hold on, baby. Just let me get you inside.” She locked eyes with him and moaned, working her hips in a circle and sending him closer to the edge. Unbelievable. I might not even make it to the f*cking door. “My fingers weren’t enough?” He drove her higher on the wall with a hard thrust. “You want this, don’t you? You want it all?”

“Yes.” Her breasts swelled over the top of her dress with every panting breath. “Please, Louis.”

“Oh f*ck, I like you saying my name.” With the remaining willpower left inside him, he pulled her off the wall and walked them toward his apartment. He used one hand to fish the keys out of his pocket, not an easy feat when her breath was racing against his ear, her body bouncing up and down on his with every step. Finally, finally, he got his key in the door. “Roxy, I’m going to make you feel so good—”