Free Unforgiven by Elizabeth Finn Page A

struggle to keep his dignity as he scampered away.
    “You’re competitive, Bay, but I’d say this is taking it just a bit too far. How ’bout you fuck my girlfriend while I watch, and we’ll call it even.” His glare was calm, too calm. He was boiling under the surface of his sarcastic remark.
    “Oh, I’d say I’ve already won this one. No need for the vapid slut girlfriend.” Bailey didn’t normally find it so easy to hold her own with him, but a good dose of alcohol and a bit of humiliation, and she was ready to go her round with Darren. She walked by him, knowing he’d stop her, and he did. He pushed her up against the wall, holding her elbows as he glared down at her. He said nothing. His chest was rising and falling as he struggled against some inner turmoil she wasn’t privy to, and she took her opportunity to get one last shot. “Did you know I was watching?”
    His brow flinched, and his eyes shifted from hers for a moment. “Don’t do this.” His voice was warning.
    “Did you?”
    “Dammit, Bay! You don’t—”
    “Did you know I—” She was practically yelling.
    “Yes!” His breath left him in a huff. “Fucking hell, Bailey!” He wasn’t practically yelling; he was just plain yelling. “I fucking knew!”
    “Why?” She’d lost her own edge, and it came out a whisper as he stood panting and staring down at her.
    When he spoke again, it was just as quiet, and his hands gripping her elbows squeezed gently, almost reassuringly—as though he knew what he was saying was wrong, and he needed her to understand that it was still just him. “I wanted you to see me.” He let go of her elbows, and he backed away from her, crossing his arms. It wasn’t aggressive; it wasn’t even angry. It was as if he didn’t trust what his hands might do if he didn’t clamp them to his body with his arms. She could see and understand his every physical reaction to her like they were words coming from his mouth. “Fuck! I just wanted . . . I don’t know what I wanted.”
    His eyes dropped to her feet, and she stared at his chest as it rose and fell. Her body was coursing and vibrating with electric need that pulsed through her in warm waves. She knew she wanted him. She wasn’t immune or naive to want and desire, and he was better than any other man at inciting it in her. She usually ignored it with him. She had to because that just wasn’t who they were. But now? She felt the need to console him, to reassure him, and as much as that, she felt the same need emanating from him. He wanted her. She usually questioned if he ever possibly could, though she suspected there were certainly times he must. Right now, she knew with no doubt in her mind that he did—just as much as she did for that matter.
    When she reached out to his arms, he flinched and then he sighed. She was studying his face, wondering where the nerve came from. He was still looking down, but she was closing the space between them slowly, and his focus was shifting gradually up her body as she neared him. His eyes stalled over her lips, and he licked his as he studied her mouth. She didn’t mean to suck in a quick and shocked gasp at the sight of his tongue passing over his lips, but she couldn’t stop the reaction, and the moment he heard the quick inhalation of her breath, he lunged at her mouth.
    His tongue pushed past her lips as he backed her body up to the wall. His hand gripped her neck, holding her mouth to his as his other hand squeezed gently at her waist. His fingers tightened and caressed her through her dress, and she moaned into his mouth when his fingers worked their way down to her hip, stroking over her hip bone. His moan was lower and set her blood on fire as he licked her tongue, tormenting her entire body with nothing more than their kiss.
    Bailey gripped his upper arms as he pushed his body against her, pinning her to the wall with his erect and hard arousal that strained against the front of his pants. For the second