Jordan didn’t get up, but leaned forward to shake AJ’s hand. “I remember you too. You were lightning fast on that football field.”
Brett’s oldest brother, Mike, rounded out the introductions, and Brett couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of AJ surrounded by the men in her family. Every Conlon male was inked up, had facial hair, and stood well over six feet tall. AJ was around Jordan’s size at six one, but next to her dad and brothers, he looked like a rich pretty boy who’d gotten lost on his way to the country club and accidentally wandered into their backyard.
Come to think of it, he probably was rich. Brett had no idea where he’d grown up, but he didn’t look like someone who hailed from Southie.
Yet strangely enough, he seemed to fit right in. Brett had to swallow her amazement as AJ chatted with her dad and brothers as if he’d known them for years. He readily accepted a bottle of Bud Light from Rob, along with the burger and shrimp plate her dad handed him.
Brett let the casual interaction go on for several minutes before she’d had enough. She hadn’t invited him, damn it!
Okay, well, technically she had, but then she’d uninvited him. The guy had a lot of nerve showing up after he’d left her high and dry last night.
Or maybe high and wet was the more apt description.
“I want to give AJ a tour of the house,” she announced.
The men stopped talking. Her dad shot her a quizzical look before speaking in a wry voice. “The man’s just sitting down to eat, princess. He can take the tour later.”
“No, it’s okay,” AJ intervened, setting his plate on the table. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the house my angel grew up in.”
His angel?
Oh, hell no.
Brett grabbed AJ’s hand and dragged him to the sliding door that led into the kitchen. “I can’t wait for you to see it,” she said through clenched teeth.
After she’d closed the door behind them, she bulldozed past the kitchen and marched toward the hall, not bothering to see if he was following.
He was. But he had the good sense to keep three feet of distance between them as they squared off in the hall.
“What the hell!” Brett blurted out. “I told you the arrangement was off.”
His lips twitched. “I decided to call your bluff.”
“It wasn’t a bluff. I meant every frickin’ word.”
“I know I left you hurting, but if it helps, I was hurting just as bad.” He ruefully glanced at his crotch.
Brett’s traitorous eyes lowered, and her breath hitched when she noticed his unmistakable hard-on.
“Good. You deserve to hurt.” Irritation bubbled inside her, along with indignation over what he’d done last night. Depriving her of an orgasm like that. Asshole. “I can’t believe you just stopped,” she muttered.
“I told you why I did.”
“Mmm-hmmm. Your bullshit anticipation excuse.”
“It wasn’t an excuse.” He took a step toward her. “The anticipation is half the fun, baby. The hunger…that burning ache of wanting something so badly but not being able to take it…”
The air in the hallway got hotter. Thickened with awareness.
AJ inched closer, slow and purposeful, effectively backing her into the wall. Her butt bumped into solid drywall. She had nowhere to go.
She found herself staring at his mouth. The sensual curve of it, the surprisingly full bottom lip. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from acting on the impulse to kiss him.
“Did you make yourself come last night?” he murmured.
“Yes.” She shot him a haughty look. “Many times.”
“Liar.” He lifted his finger to her face and traced the seam of her lips. “You wouldn’t be this tense if you had.”
Brett gritted her teeth. “I’m tense because you crashed our barbecue. I told you I didn’t want you to come.”
“Bullshit. You do want me to come.” The silky note in his voice told her he wasn’t talking about the barbecue. “I want you to come, too.” His eyes grew heavy-lidded. “I wanted to feel your orgasm squeezing my cock last night.”
“But you stopped,” she reminded him in accusation.
“I stopped,” he agreed.
His hand drifted down to the waistband of her jeans.
Brett’s heart skipped a beat. “What are you doing?” she squeaked.
AJ didn’t answer. He popped open the button and pulled the zipper down, then slipped his hand inside. Her sex instantly clenched beneath his warm palm. She involuntarily rubbed against it, and God, it felt so good she almost keeled over.
Her body was hypersensitive from the lack of relief she’d given it yesterday, her clit swollen to the point of pain. She knew AJ could feel how damp her panties were, but she was too turned on to care.
He stroked her gently, the heel of his hand teasing her clit and unleashing a flurry of shivers. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she melted into his skillful touch.
“And I’m going to stop now, too.”
Brett’s eyes flew open. “What?”
“I’m going to take you to the edge again. And then yank you right back.”
God, she was already close. Just a tiny bit more pressure and she’d come apart, so hard she’d probably see stars.
But the pressure didn’t come. AJ withheld it from her, continuing to brush her clit with featherlight caresses.
“And after lunch?” he went on. “I’ll find another reason to get you alone, and I’ll do it again.” He drew a teasing circle around her clit. “By the time this day is over, you’re going to want me so bad you won’t be able to breathe. You won’t be able to walk without feeling that burn between your legs.”
“Neither will you.” Smirking, she cupped his impressive package over his jeans and squeezed hard.
A tormented sound escaped his lips. “Oh, I’ll be feeling the same burn, baby. I’m going to be aching for you.”
“Then why?” she demanded in frustration. “Why are you torturing us?”
“Anticipation,” he said again. “Think about how good it will be when we finally let go. Like a slow burning fuse, getting hotter and hotter…and then”—he brought his mouth to her neck and nipped at her feverish flesh— “when it explodes…”
“Bang,” she whispered.
“Oh yeah. Bang,” he echoed, low and seductive. “You’re gonna come so hard tonight, Brett. So hard you’ll scream.”
He lightly pinched her clit, and her entire body jerked.
In the blink of an eye, his hand disappeared.
“Now let’s go back outside.” He smiled. “My food is getting cold.”
…
Torture.
That was the only word to describe what he was putting his body through. The cuts and bruises and bloody noses he’d endured during his fighting days were nothing compared to the pain AJ was feeling right now. Every muscle was strung tight, every drop of blood pulsing in his groin so that he not only felt horny, but light-headed.
Delaying climax had seemed like a good idea last night. Today, AJ just wanted to punch his own jaw for coming up with such an excruciating plan.
Fortunately, Brett’s family proved to be a good distraction from the dull ache. Her brothers were a laugh riot, regaling him with stories about their lives and their work at the family tattoo parlors, while her father barraged him with questions about his own life. He felt like he was on the witness stand at times, but Jimmy Conlon’s laid-back attitude and contagious sarcasm made the whole interrogation process surprisingly fun.