Fighting Solitude (On The Ropes #3)

Unmoving, we defiantly stared at each other.

After several minutes, her mask finally slipped and I saw my Rocky for the first time since the Gala. A rush of relief filled my chest.

Her body didn’t move an inch, but her face crumbled. “What’s happening to us?”

It was a valid question, but one she had no right to ask. She held all the answers.

I erupted. “I have no fucking idea!” Storming forward, I cornered her against the ropes. “You’ve been avoiding me for weeks! Stop with the games and just tell me what the fuck I did wrong so I can fix it,” I seethed through clenched teeth.

Never one to back down, she pushed up on her toes and got in my face. “You can’t fix it!”

Her mouth was only inches from mine, but frustration overrode my desires.

“You don’t know that! Let me try. I’ve apologized a million times for that bullshit—”

I stopped talking when she suddenly flinched. I don’t even think she realized she had done it, but it was probably the most honest answer she was ever going to give me.

Lowering back down to her heels, she looked away. “You can stop beating yourself up about it. I’m not mad that you copped a feel.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t make this a joke.”

Her eyes lifted to mine. That fucking mask she’d been using to keep herself isolated from me fell right back into place. “What else would you consider this? I woke up to you asleep and tweaking my nipple. That’s funny, Q!”

“It’s not—wait. What?” Every muscle I possessed flexed as my body roared to life.

“What what?” she smarted, but her face paled.

Oh, she’d fucked up. Big time.

She knew it.

And, now, I knew it too.

A heady combination of anger and excitement swirled through my veins as her words filtered through me. I’d relived that night hundreds of times over the last three weeks, and as I stared into her dark-brown eyes, I finally figured out what was going on with her. It was an answer I hadn’t even considered.

“You were awake,” I accused.

Her eyes grew wide, but she covered it with a healthy dose of attitude. “I didn’t exactly sleepwalk out of your room.”

A wave of heat brewed in the air between us. Her side was laced with panic—mine with feral need.

Looping an arm around her waist, I tugged her against me. Her body stiffened as I slid my hand down to splay across the small of her back. Her palms landed on my pecs, but she didn’t push me away.

“W-what are you doing?” she stammered.

She sucked in a fast breath as I leaned down and whispered, “Your nipples were first. That’s when you woke up.” I softly brushed my lips across her jaw.

I slipped my hand down to her firm ass, rocking her forward until her stomach made contact with my stiffening cock.

She squeaked in surprise but didn’t back away.

“You were awake when I pushed into your shorts.” I paused to capture her gaze. The corner of my mouth tipped up in a one-sided smirk. “You opened your legs for me, Liv.”

She gasped through parted lips. Her eyes dipped to my mouth and back again, but she said not a single word.

I continued. “You grabbed my cock. If I’d known you were awake, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

She flinched again and swayed away.

Fisting a hand into the back of her hair, I stilled her retreat. “Because, if I had known any part of you wanted me, I would have been fucking you senseless for the last three weeks.”

Her gaze shifted from heated to dark, and then I lost view of it altogether when I crushed my mouth over hers.

There was not one second of hesitation as her tongue snaked out, tangling with mine. Her moan vibrated in my mouth. I angled my head, taking it deeper, sealing our mouths so nothing—not even air—came between us.

Fucking finally.

Her hands roamed over my chest, exploring every inch, until sliding up the nape of my neck. Rolling her shoulders back, she pressed her breasts into me. A loud growl rumbled in my chest.

It wasn’t enough.

It was Liv.

Palming her ass, I lifted her off the ground. Her legs immediately wrapped around my hips, and a hiss escaped my mouth as she landed directly on my cock.

My knees didn’t buckle. Nor did I stumble. But we hit the mat all the same.

Breaking the kiss, I settled between her thighs. My lips drifted to the soft skin at the base of her neck. Her hips surged up, grinding a relentless rhythm over my cock. I was so fucking hard that it was almost painful, but as my name tumbled from her mouth, there was nothing I wouldn’t have done to hear it again.

Pushing up on my hands, I glanced down between us to watch her writhing against me.

Liv.

Fucking Liv.

Fully clothed, riding my cock.

Not shy. Not timid. Not embarrassed.

Unapologetically taking, knowing there was nothing I wouldn’t give her.

Not now. Not ever.

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