Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(28)

“Oh, honey, I highly doubt that. Ask me to do it. Ask me to touch you.” He stepped closer, setting down his glass and taking mine out of my hand, too. “You won’t regret it.”

“Nope.” I shivered and pressed my legs together to try to assuage the ache between them. It didn’t help. “Not happening.”

“Squeezing those hot little thighs together won’t help you, sweetheart. Only I can make you feel better. Only I can take that ache away . . . and all you have to do is ask.” With his voice lowered, he dropped his head down so his mouth was pressed to my ear. “Ask me, darlin’. I dare you.”

Damn it, why had I told him I never backed down from a dare? Even now, I wanted to do it. Only because he’d dared me to, of course. Not because I wanted him—oh hell. Who was I kidding? I wanted him to. And that was why this whole thing was so scary. I knew he’d bring me nothing but trouble, and yet I still wanted him with every single breath I took. I pressed a hand to his chest. “I—oh my God.”

He nibbled on my ear, his hand dipping between my legs to brush against my core before pulling away teasingly. “No more till you say it, Heidi. Say the word I need to hear. Say yes.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say no. To protect what little bit of strength I had to keep him at arm’s length. To reject him. But after that half-assed kiss he’d given me in the bar, followed by the kiss he’d just barely tolerated later on, and now that soft caress between my thighs . . .

A part of me wanted to feel what a real kiss from him would be like. And I also wanted to know what it would feel like to be wanted by a man like Lucas, even if only for a minute. Even if only on a dare.

He cupped my hip, stepping even closer. “Go on. You know you want to. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“I don’t want you.”

“I know,” he said, lowering his mouth to my earlobe. He bit down on it, his hand creeping over my butt at the same time. “You said that already . . . repeatedly.”

“I don’t—” When his fingers brushed my core, I broke off. Everything inside of me tightened and screamed out with need. Need for him. “Screw it. You get one minute, and one minute only. After that, we’re—” Before I’d even finished my sentence, his mouth was on mine, and words were no longer possible.





CHAPTER 9





LUCAS




The instant she gave me the green light, I was on her. I wasn’t gonna waste a single second of the minute I’d been given to blow her socks off. While I had no intention of f*cking her tonight, she needed to stop fooling herself into thinking she didn’t want this. Didn’t want me.

And after this, she wouldn’t be able to.

My tongue swept into her mouth, and she moaned, gripping my shoulders as if she was afraid she might fall. She should have known better. I wouldn’t let her hit the floor. She tasted like cotton candy and wine, and it was an intoxicating combination. If I was a different type of man, I could easily become addicted to her taste.

Luckily for both of us, I wasn’t.

Backing her against the wall, I let my hands roam over every square inch of her, like I’d wanted to do earlier in her bar when she’d kissed me. It had taken every ounce of my control to keep myself in check that time, and I didn’t have any of it left. But this time, I didn’t need any of that control. This time . . .

She was mine.

Growling low in my throat, I slid my hand over her flat stomach, going lower and lower until I cupped her wet *. She moaned into my mouth, the sound desperate, and needy, and hot as hell. Just like her. Her hips rolled against my hand urgently, trying to find the release that she instinctively knew I could easily give her, and I pulled back.

She started to turn her head, likely to yell at me for stopping, but when I undid the button of her shorts and slid my hand inside, she stopped.

And she yanked me even closer.

Pulling me closer like that, her nails digging into my shoulders as if she didn’t want to let go, it did weird things to me. It was like the feeling you get after coming inside from a long day out in the snow and standing in front of a fireplace. You hold your hands out to the fire, and eventually . . . you thaw out.

Slowly, the pain, numbness, and cold you felt dissipates until you’re filled with glowing warmth, spreading to the tips of your fingers. That’s how she made me feel.

Whatever the f*ck that meant.

Knowing my time was running out, I thrust my hand inside her panties, grunting when I felt her heat. And softness. She was shaved with a small landing strip, and was so wet it killed me that I wasn’t going to bury my cock inside her tonight.

But a challenge won easily wasn’t much of a challenge at all.

I jammed my leg in between hers and spread her thighs, giving me better access to what I wanted. As soon as she gasped, I thrust my tongue inside her mouth while I inserted a finger inside of her. Her tight walls clamped down on my finger, and when I rubbed my thumb over her swollen clit, curses exploded from her lips.

Breaking the kiss off, I lowered my mouth to the gentle curve of her throat, biting down just enough to hurt so good. “You’re so f*cking hot, sweetheart. Scream for me. I need to hear you scream . . .”

“Oh my God. Lucas.”

After withdrawing my finger, I thrust two fingers inside of her and kissed her again, my lips hard and urgent over hers. Her entire body surged with need and then she cried out into my mouth. I moved my fingers inside her, pressing my thumb even tighter against her. “That’s it, sweetheart.”