Free Staking His Claim by Tessa Bailey

closer, contradicting his harsh command. As though he couldn’t help himself, his gaze dropped to her breasts where, thanks to her excitement, they swelled at the top of her dress. “It doesn’t matter. Now that I know who you are, touching you would be inexcusable.”
    “But you want to.”
    He sucked in a breath. “Lucy, that’s enough .”
    The authority in his voice brought her back to the motel room, when he’d given her no choice but to obey him. If his intention was to push her away, his demands were having the opposite effect. Her pulse drummed loudly in her ears; her hands ached to run up his sculpted chest. She’d come out here to apologize for her lie, but now that they stood so close and she could feel the undeniable pull between them, she wondered if her lie had affected yesterday’s outcome whatsoever. This attraction would have been there even if he’d known her identity from the beginning. She was sure of it. This wasn’t a lie.
    The girl she’d been before, the one who catapulted headlong into the unknown, wanted to push him to admit it. What they’d shared couldn’t be chalked up to convenience. A way to kill time as the car was repaired. No, he’d shown her a part of himself she suspected he didn’t reveal to many women. In turn, he’d taught her something about herself. Unlocked a side to her she hadn’t known existed. Lucy closed the distance between them, letting her curves brush against him. His muscled chest heaved before her eyes. She could feel him, huge and straining at the front of his dress pants. For her. It was the final encouragement she needed. “I thought of you every time I sat down today. Just like you told me to, Matt.”
    As if a rope had snapped inside him, Matt fell on her with a strangled groan. His hands dropped to her bottom, hauling her off the ground. Their mouths fought a battle, but she was too overcome with need to acknowledge the stakes. She processed movement, registered Matt walking them into a darkened doorway just off the street. Lucy tunneled her fingers through his hair, letting her head fall back as his teeth raked up the side of her neck.
    “Goddammit, I shouldn’t be doing this.”
    She gasped as he bit her ear. “W-what are you doing?”
    “I’m considering giving you my cock right here and now. Would you like that, baby girl? Would you like to be rewarded for following my instructions?”
    “Yes, please.” She slid her inner thigh up his leg until it reached his waist, moaning when he gave a quick pump of his hips against her core. Already, she was damp for him. She felt trapped in between Matt’s demanding body and the hard surface behind her. It was an amazing feeling. New and familiar at the same time, as though she’d been desperate to be immobilized without consciously knowing. When his hands wedged between their bodies to squeeze her breast with just the right amount of pressure, Lucy writhed, desperate for everything he could give her.
    “What the fuck am I supposed to do, Lucy?” He grated the words against her lips. “Now that I’ve felt the tight squeeze between your legs? Watched your ass absorb my punishment? I’m fucked now, aren’t I?”
    “Matt,” she breathed, trying to hook her legs more firmly around him. “I need to feel you again, too. Please.”
    A car passed, blaring music. She could feel Matt come back to himself then, as if an invisible tether had yanked him back to reality. His fist connected with the wall behind her as he slowly put distance between them. Lucy wanted to sob at the loss of pressure and heat.
    “Come back,” she said shakily.
    “No. No ,” Matt ground out, frustration visible in the tight lines around his mouth. “Even if you weren’t Brent’s sister, which is more than enough in itself…”
    “Yes?” Lucy prompted him after a moment.
    Haunted eyes met hers. “I don’t tolerate liars. Ever. I’ve been there. You’re all the same and you never change.”
    Lucy couldn’t move,