No Limit (Armed & Dangerous #1)(41)

“Give me one sec,” I said, getting to my feet. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. “Are you thirsty?”

“Yeah, could you bring me a beer?”

I grabbed him a beer and set it on the edge of the counter, leaving it there while I walked back into the living room. Setting my water on the table, he looked at it and then at my hands. “Where’s mine?”

“Oops, I left it on the counter. Sorry.”

“Why do I not get the feeling you are?”

I shrugged. Maybe if he told me he was going to miss me, I would’ve been a little nicer. “I don’t know. It was an honest mistake.”

“Yeah, right,” he mumbled under his breath. As soon as he turned his back on me, I struck low and hard, swiping his feet from under him. He let out an oomph sound when he face planted on the floor.

“To be one of the best around, you sure do drop your guard a lot.”

Still lying on the floor, he flipped onto his back so he could face me. “Only around you. I’ll know not to make that same mistake again.” He tried to snatch my ankle – his hand a blur as it moved – but I jumped back, narrowly escaping. My retreat didn’t last long because he was on his feet, ready to attack. “All right, firecracker. Show me what you got.”

“Gladly.”

We faced off but he attacked first, lunging for my legs. I dodged and slapped him upside the head, only to have him come around and grab me from behind. “You gotta be much faster than that, baby.” He grabbed my breasts and squeezed, growling his satisfaction in my ear.

As much as I wanted to stay like that, I couldn’t let him beat me. Taking his arm, I twisted and he let go, hissing in pain. I pushed him away. “Not fair, Mr. Avery.”

He cracked his neck. “I don’t play fair. Now stop wasting time and show me you can fight. I have to know you can handle this.”

Clenching my teeth, I attacked and wasn’t about to stop. He blocked my punches and kicks, not even attempting to fight back. My muscles burned and my body ached, but I couldn’t give up, not until the pain in my chest went away. I wanted to hit him, to smack him over and over until he could give me a f*cking answer. Just a simple few words was all I wanted to hear.

Grabbing my waist, he knocked me down to the floor and flipped so he took the hit. We rolled around, him trying to get a hold of my arms and ended up with him on top. I knew I could escape, but I gave up, lying there while my heart and lungs felt like they were going to explode.

“You’re not half bad,” he said, holding my hands above my head. His fingers laced with mine and he leaned closer, but I turned my head. “Aylee, what’s wrong?” When I wouldn’t answer him, he let my hands go and grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. “What the f*ck? Talk to me.”

“I don’t have anything to say.”

Eyes wild, he searched my face. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

I pushed against his chest. “It doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t understand.”

Clutching my wrists, he sat up and peered down at me, his face softening. “You may think I don’t understand, but I do. You may not be an open book, but I’ve been around enough to get a good read on you.”

“Doubtful. All you know is what positions I like in bed.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“Do I?”

“How can you say that? You make me out to be this arrogant ass who only wants to f*ck you. Have I not made myself perfectly clear with my actions?” He lifted his brows, waiting on my answer, but I couldn’t speak. “No comment? Well let me tell you, out of all the missions I’ve been on, this one is by far the worst. I don’t mind being in the line of fire, but watching you head straight into the flames is almost unbearable. I had never been so goddamned afraid and pissed off in my life.” His green eyes blazed and it took my breath away.

“Why do you feel that way?”

“Are you seriously going to ask me that? I care about you, Aylee. You asked me earlier what was going to happen when all of this is over and I saw your face when I didn’t answer. The answer is this . . . I don’t f*cking know. I have feelings for you, much deeper than I ever thought possible. I want things to work out between us, but I don’t know what’s going to happen when we go our separate ways. All I do know is that I’m going to miss you. I’ll miss everything about you, even your stubborn ass temper.”

Ripping my hands from his grasp, I grabbed him around the neck and pulled him down to my lips.

“I guess that made you happy,” he said between kisses.

“Very.”

He trailed his lips down my neck and nipped my collarbone. “Then let’s see what else makes you happy.” Taking my hands, he pulled them away from his face and jerked me to my feet. Lifting me over his shoulders, I squealed when he threw me down on the couch, spreading my legs with his body. “Do you see what you do to me?” he growled, thrusting his body against mine. He was hard and bulging behind his f*ck me jeans.

Ripping off my shirt, he threw it and my bra across the room; his mouth everywhere, tasting, biting. When I tried to unbutton his jeans, he grabbed my hand. “Not yet. There’s something I want to do first,” he murmured huskily. Sliding back, he pulled my shorts and underwear off, leaving me completely naked. His gaze raked over my body and he moaned in satisfaction. “You know what else would be perfect?”