“About which thing exactly?”
Her tone indicated that he’d been wrong about several things.
“Turns out there’s actually nothing terrible underneath that eight-hundred-dollar dress.”
4
Griffin gave her a smirk as he met her eyes again. “You are definitely overpaying for clothes, Charlotte. This body could make anything look good.”
“Oh, don’t get all complimentary now,” she said. “I might start thinking that I’ve gotten past your grumpy façade.”
The fact that the woman could stand with her hands behind her back, half-naked—hell, a lot more than half-naked—in a barn and still tease him and think she had the upper hand was admirable. Because frankly, she did have the upper hand. At that moment, Griffin realized that this woman could get him to do almost anything. It was really going to be in his best interest to keep that information from her.
“Façade?” he asked, taking a step forward. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her up out of the pool of pink silk on the floor. He set her next to it and backed her against the wall again. “You think I’m faking it?”
She tipped her head, studying him as if truly considering his question. “No, actually,” she said after a moment, “I think the grumpiness is real. But I gotta say, it just makes me want to dig in and find out what that’s about.”
“Too bad you’re leaving soon,” he said, not at all sorry she would be leaving before she could poke around in his psyche. Because he had no doubt, she meant that. “And you are going to be very busy in the time we’re spending together until then.”
She opened her mouth, clearly to reply, but Griffin ran his hand down her back to her ass and then slipped his middle finger under the strap of the thong where it crossed her hip. He ran the digit back and forth between her skin and the garment.
Charlotte caught her breath. And stopped talking.
With what he was sure was a smug grin, he leaned in and said against her ear, “Do you know what some people think is an appropriate synonym for grumpy?”
She shook her head. Probably because Griffin’s finger had moved to the front of her thong and was now brushing over her mound.
“Grumpy and bossy are often similar characteristics. And while you might spend more time with bubbly optimists than grumps, you don’t seem to mind being bossed a little.”
He moved his finger lower, brushing over her clit.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth but said nothing.
“For instance, if I told you to spread your legs a little, you would.”
She swallowed hard. And nodded.
“I really like the way you just dropped your dress on this barn floor for me, Charlotte,” Griffin said roughly against her ear. “And I might be grumpy and bossy, but I’m happy to reward people who do things I like.”
His finger brushed back and forth over her clit, and he could feel the wet heat that had already dampened her thong. He dragged his mouth up and down the side of her neck. Her head tilted away, giving him better access to the sweet skin, and, much to his pleasure, her hands stayed behind her back.
“I think it would be hot as hell if this thong was down around your ankles while I made you come with my fingers right here in this dirty barn that you are way too good to even walk into.”
She shivered, and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to make this woman come hard, right here and now, without a thought to the animal sounds, smells, or even their presence. Not to mention the fact that she had family, and likely friends, in a building only about a block away. He loved the idea of making her mindless with pleasure. And he loved the realization that he’d gotten her even this far already.
“Are you going to let me press your bare ass against this barn wall and make you come, Charlotte?”
She took a shaky breath, then said, “If you don’t, I might have to cut off your balls and feed them to Hermione.”
Griffin laughed, caught by surprise. He had no doubt that she was hot and wanted everything he was teasing her with, and yet she was still able to make quips and remind him that she was letting him boss her around because she enjoyed it rather than because she was mindless.
She was very aware of their location and the proximity to the barnyard animals as well as the human beings nearby, and she was choosing to be here with him like this with her dress on the floor and her sweet body exposed to him.
It was a good reminder. He did like to be dominant in the bedroom, but this was even better than being with a woman who was simply overcome by his prowess. Charlotte Last-Name-Unknown was here with him right now because she absolutely wanted to be.
“So are you going to take my thong off, or do I need to?” she asked. “Because to do that, I’ll have to move my hands. And honestly, this position with my hands behind my back is really hot.”
In spite of her sassy words, her voice was breathless. Griffin definitely took note of that, and he, no doubt, let his smugness show on his face.
“Oh, I can help you with that,” he said. “But now I’m going to need you to ask me nicely.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows shot up. “I have to ask you to take my thong off?”
He shrugged, then lifted a hand to one of her breasts, teasing the nipple. “Yes.”
“Don’t you want to take my thong off?”
“Oh, I definitely want to take your thong off. But I’d very much like to hear you ask me to.”
He was, in fact, tight and hard from head to toe in anticipation of seeing this woman completely naked and feeling all the sweet, tight, wet heat between her thighs. But playing with her was so much fun. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed sex this much, and he needed to enjoy it as long as he could since he was going to lose her.
Whoa. Griffin was immediately shocked by the thoughts of “losing” her. She wasn’t his to start with, and he certainly didn’t want to keep her.
Not since he’d set a box of photos and letters on fire before leaving D.C. had he kept mementos of any kind. He didn’t have pets. He didn’t keep animals other than the ones he cared for as a veterinarian. He didn’t even keep takeout menus. He definitely didn’t keep people.
There was nothing to be lost here. What his subconscious had surely meant was that he wasn’t going to have another chance to enjoy this body or this woman’s wit and sass. And yes, as surprising as it was, he was enjoying those things as much as he was the sight of her naked.
“Well,” she said. “We could turn this into a game of chicken and see who gives in first on this whole thong-stripping thing.” She looked around. “A game of chicken would be appropriate for our current situation.”
He leaned in, pinching her nipple and sliding his hand further into the thong he wanted to rip from her body. Right now. His middle finger teased her hot, slick opening, and she gasped.
“Take your thong off for me, Charlotte.” He slipped his finger into the second knuckle and paused. “Now.”
She swallowed hard. “May I move my hands?”
Desire hit him in the gut, and his appreciation for her grew. She was far beyond delightful. She was damn near perfect. “You asking me that is going to get you well rewarded,” he promised.