His eyes traveled my face. God, my heart was racing. It was going to leave my body in a second if he didn’t touch me.
“Something about you. Lots of things about you.”
His face went hard, and it hurt, physically. I decided to just go for it. I got up on my toes and put both hands to his jaw. His beard was soft. Softer than I imagined it’d be. I got as high as my toes would allow, and he met me halfway by lowering his head. His mouth met mine and the touch of his lips? Soft. Gentle. Sweet.
And then his tongue touched my lips.
I let out a needy-sounding whimper, feeling my breasts touch his body. The kiss then escalated when his tongue dipped in between my lips and touched mine. He let out a sexy sound that made goosebumps erupt everywhere on me. Both his hands were braced on the door on either side of my head.
I ran my hand up his warm muscled, smooth back. That was the wrong move, because then he suddenly pushed back with his hands and looked down at me while shaking his head, backing off.
“Fuck. No. Fuck!” He said this like something horrible had just happened.
He went to turn away, but I grabbed his hand and tried to tug him back. He pulled his large and warm hand away and gave me a dark look.
“Why?” I asked, my voice small, my insides feeling like they were shriveling up.
And then his mouth was on me again and his hands weren’t on the door; they were in my hair. And this wasn’t sweet. This was full of heat. Yes. Sweetbabyjesus, yes!
My back touched the door again and my panties went drenched. I touched his hair, his chest, ran my hands up to his broad shoulders while his mouth connected with mine, while his tongue slipped in again. God, he felt so good. If I’d thought before that he might be the man for me, now I knew. He was for me. The way I felt when I touched him, when I saw his hands on my body? The hungry way he devoured me? Everything about this was beautiful, perfect.
His large hand slid up my side, caressing the side of my boob until it landed on my neck. His other hand had a handful of my hair. And I was done for. I wanted this. I ached for it. I stumbled on wobbly legs, but righted myself and then I ran my hand up his abs and tried to direct him toward the bed. His hand glided sensually up my mostly bare back.
“Fuck,” he grunted again, and I didn’t get two steps before he stopped me, took my face into both of his hands, and stared deep into my eyes.
I stared back, hoping he’d kiss me again, wanting him to take me to that bed so I could touch him all over, so he could touch me all over.
He shook his head at me and flexed his jaw.
“Christian,” I pleaded.
He grimaced as he let go of me, reached up to the wall and then my ears were ringing. Actually, the whole atmosphere was ringing, and it was ear-piercing.
My head jerked in that direction just as he let the white t-shaped pull-down thing go. I’d thought he’d put his hand up to brace himself. No. He’d pulled the fire alarm in his room! His door was opening.
“Out,” he shoved me out the door and slammed it, staying in his room.
I found myself standing there dumbfounded in the space between my door and his door with swollen lips, messy hair, and a racing heart.
Alone.
Suddenly, before I could fully process what he’d just done, the hall was filling with people.
“What the fuck?” Rider, first out, shouted. “Let’s go.” He was pulling Jenna out the door. She was trying to get dressed while moving, pulling track pants up past her hips as she stumbled down the hall. Rider was in jeans and it was clear he had on no underwear because they weren’t buttoned. I averted my gaze.
Oh shit. From the back view of him, I could see a gun poking out of his jeans waistband. He pounded on doors as he moved down the hall, shouting, “Let’s go! Outside everyone!”
Deacon and Ella were coming out of the room beside them, Ella in a large Deacon-sized hoodie that was over her head and not fully covering her torso yet so clearly, she’d just thrown it on. She had on silky sleeping shorts, bare legs, and fluffy socks on her feet that also looked way too big for her. My brother was in his boxer briefs only. Deacon grabbed my hand with his free one and pulled me along.
“Outside, Jojo.”
And then I saw Brady, in sweatpants. My father and Laura – and yikes… Dad was doing up his jeans and Laura was wearing his flannel shirt and her gorgeous blonde hair was everywhere. Spencer had Pippa in his arms and she was just rousing as if from a dead sleep.
Scott and Deanna were ahead of me, in sharing flannel pjs (her in the top, him in the bottoms).
Everybody was in a panic as they all moved quickly, and it was clear some had been asleep; some had been not asleep but instead interrupted. My heart raced as my brother pulled me down the hall to the nearest fire exit.
That asshole fucking pulled that alarm to get me out of there, creating instant mayhem. I got outside and my gun-carrying brother along with the rest of my very amped family were all on alert. I knew full-well that unlike the weekend before, I was not being pulled away from a fire or any sort of threat. I was being pushed away. And hard. I could tell that everyone around us was tweaked, as if there was an actual threat tonight.
There were a lot of us outside on picnic tables and sitting in lawn chairs for a good five or ten minutes before the fire department got to us. I saw him, Fork, standing on the fringe of the group, talking to a few of the guys and clearly not saying a word about the fact that he’d pulled it. I stared at him incredulously from a picnic table between Pippa and Deanna. His eyes met mine just briefly, and they were hard.
I tried to produce a snotty expression, but I think I failed. I was still feeling all the alcohol and more than that, I was feeling what he’d just done so I accidentally burst into sobs the moment he looked the other way.
I found myself in Jenna’s arms.
“It’s okay, we’re okay. Everyone’s outside. Okay?” I buried my face in her hair and nodded but kept on crying.
This wasn’t like me. I wasn’t someone who wailed in public. I was drunk and rejected in a severe way and I just felt it. I felt all of it.
“I know you have to be terrified after what happened the other night baby sister, but you’re okay, we’re all okay.” That was Spency, behind me. “No one has gotten in. Nobody. It’s lookin’ like a false alarm.”
I turned into his arms and cried it out some more.
No one knew why I was really crying. Except him, that bastard -if he was watching. I wasn’t about to look in his direction again.
After a long while, the fire department gave the all-clear and left, but before that happened, Uncle Rudy warned all of us to stay put in the picnic area while he went with them. The night was nippy, and everyone was shivering, huddling together, waiting. Except for a few. A few were pacing like they were caged animals, and likely watching over all of us in case there was an actual threat.
When Rudy got back, he was pissed.
“I don’t know yet which fucking drunken idiot pulled that bullshit false alarm, especially after my and my woman’s house was set on fire last weekend, nearly costing us Joelle, but whoever you are, you’re a callous fucking idiot and if I figure out who you are, the asshole you are, you’ll be lucky if we don’t kick you out. If you’re a woman instead of a member, you’ll be lucky if you’re allowed on the premises when I’m done with you. Everyone, go to fucking bed. Tomorrow there’s some shit we gotta do to get the fuckin’ fire inspector off my back. Thanks a fuckin’ bunch.” He stormed off.