Full Throttle (5 page)

“I really would like Pink honeysuckle winding up my
side, from my waist to just under my—” Sammy’s words stalled
.
She nearly said breast. The idea of
saying that word to Josh made her cheeks burn and her chest go tight. Blood
pulsed between her legs and Sammy took a fast sip of her pint.
“Uh—to my, my ribs.”

Josh smiled and Sammy saw he was amused by her.
God, why couldn’t she be one of those women who could talk sex and
be comfortable with a man—a freaking hot man.
Instead, she was a shaky,
blushing mess that she was sure Josh wouldn’t even look at if he didn’t have
to. She pictured herself bouncing her head off the pine table a few times as
embarrassment stung her cheeks.

Way to go Sammy, sounding like the sexless woman you
are. Not being able to say breast without blushing, for God’s sake?

“Sounds very nice.”
His
deep voice drew her eyes up, the gruffness in his tone made that pulse between
her thighs throb again. She looked into his deep, dark eyes and saw … heat?

If Sammy didn’t know better, she would think that Mr.
Sexy was eying her with lusty thoughts. No. No way. Josh was hawt, and she was,
well, not hot. But, hell, whatever was in his eyes was certainly doing
something to her insides. Heat blazed in her womb and along her face. Sammy
wanted to cross her legs so bad to squeeze the need that hungered there, but
she fought the urge with a deep breath and another deep drink off her beer.

“Do ... do you have more?”
That’s
it,
Sammy, keep the conversation light,
keep talking, and the pulse between your legs will go…

“Yes, a few—but I would have to take off my clothes
to show you.”

Sammy’s jaw went slack as confusion whipped at her
mind. What the…? How much had Josh had to drink? Men like Josh didn’t come on
to her. And that was a come on, right? Even in her innocent mind Sammy knew it
was. But it didn’t make sense. Men like Josh came on to women with confidence and
legs up to their armpits. Not short girls with timid personalities and a
tendency to flush like a beetroot, as she was doing right now.

“Really?”
She
asked clearing her throat, almost kicking herself at how stunned she sounded.

Josh gave a slow grin, sucked down the rest of his
pint and stood. He held out his hand and looked her directly in the eyes. “Want
me to show you?”

Oh,
yes!
Yesyesyesyesyes
.

Sammy looked at his
hand,
and then back up to his face. There was no mocking glint in his eyes, no sign
that he was amused at all by her, or her awkward stalling.

Good
girls don’t do things like this. Good girls don’t inspect dangerous looking
men’s tattoos. Good girls don’t—
She
stopped her thoughts dead when she realized they were thoughts her father had made
her have, thoughts that went against all of her new resolutions on how to live
her life.

She was a grown woman, a woman who had needs, just
like any other woman. There was no question that all of her friends would not
hesitate at this offer.
At this wickedly sexy offer of … of
what?
Sex?
So why should she?

Sammy lifted her shaky hand and placed it in Josh’s.
His big, hot, strong fingers closed around her small, trembling ones and he
turned to leave the bar, with her in tow.

Chapter
Five

Shit,
shit shit!
She took his hand? What was someone like Sammy doing taking
his
hand? As Josh walked through the
darkened hallway and up the stairs, he couldn’t help but worry about what he’d done—what
he was about to do. Sammy was sweet, shy, and bloody driving him mad with all
the lip-biting and blushing. Josh couldn’t ever remember wanting a woman more.
And that was why, he supposed, that he was now leading her to his room.

Her hand was tiny and cool in his, the slight
tremble that shivered through her skin made him want to wrap her in his arms
and whisper his intentions—his cock-stiffening intentions—into her ear. The
idea of taking a woman as timid as Sammy had never been a fantasy of his,
usually he like sexually confident women with claws, but as Josh stepped off the
last step to his floor and strolled to his room, he felt his rigid dick in his
jeans and his body raged with the need to take Sammy into his bed.

The thought that someone as clearly classy and
intelligent as Sammy would want him, would have him in her bed, made him feel
good.
Proud.
The image of Penny flashed in his mind, right
beside the word bitch. Josh turned his head and looked at Sammy and his mind
selected a completely different word.
Sweet.

He unlocked the door, pushed it open and glanced at
Sammy.

Did
she want this with me?
Really?

He raised his hand and brushed the backs of his
fingers over the deep, sexy blush on her cheek, and his cock throbbed hungrily
at the feel of her velvety flesh. She raised her green gaze to his and his
blood surged heavy and hot through his veins. Her blonde hair tumbled over her
shoulders, draping over her t-shirt covered breasts. Josh bit back a groan when
his mind questioned just what her breasts would look like bare. Would she have
light colored nipples? They were high and pert, he could see that much through
the tight t-shirt, but damn, he needed to see them in the flesh now.

“Do you want to come in?” He asked, sounding so
calm, so collected, when his body was thundering with expectation, tense with
mind-blowing need. He watched as she dropped her gaze. Sammy looked into his
room, her eyes passing over his bed.

She was going to say no.
He wouldn’t blame her, she would be sensible not to, but Josh silently
begged her to say yes. In fact, the word was a soft chant inside his mind
. Say yes, say yes.

“Yes…I do want to come in, please.” Her green gaze held
steady and Josh could have sucked in a breath of relief. The hesitant, yet
defiant tone in her voice pulled at something deep inside him, Sammy was
fighting not only her nerves, she was fighting something else—something that
made Josh want to be sure she was being honest.

“Are you sure?” He splayed his hand on her cheek,
his thumb passed over her throat and he felt her pulse hammering behind her
skin. Her mouth was open slightly as she panted with tight breaths. Sammy
wanted him, he could tell by the way she stared up at him and blushed deeper, trembling
under his hand. But her timidity was holding her back, stopping her from taking
that plunge. Sammy didn’t come across at all as the sort of woman that would
hop into any man’s bed. In fact she seemed the sort to have only one or two
lovers. This fact alone had Josh desperate to have her, to love her, and to hear
her innocent moans in his ear.

Would she be noisy? He had a feeling that when this
timid kitten relaxed she would be a roaring fire of heat, a tempest that he was
now desperate to see. He dipped his head, and she tensed under his hand. Her
breathing stopped, and Josh waited a moment for her to take a step back. She
didn’t. He closed the fraction of distance between them and covered her rosebud
mouth with his. The moment their lips touched, fire erupted under his skin, a
back-draft of heat shot down his spine and deep into his balls.

She tasted of mint, beer and fresh air, and she
kissed him back with a hunger that matched his own. Her small hands reached up
with hesitant haste, and Josh pushed his body closer in the hopes she would
clutch him with those trembling fingers. He walked slowly backwards and pulled
her into his room, and fuck-a-duck, she followed.

****

He tasted of man, beer and raw, oh-my-God-hold-onto-your-hat
sex. She was helpless against his pull. He tugged her into his room and she
followed willingly.
So, so willingly.
She was
trembling, she couldn’t breathe, but, God, she couldn’t stop herself from
feasting on his succulent mouth, either. She couldn’t find anything she didn’t
like about this man. So far, he’d been a gentleman, funny, a good
conversationalist, caring. Now, she had the pleasure of finding out that he was
a legendary kisser.

It was no wonder she was clutching his shirt and
standing on her toes to get closer. Distantly she knew that this wasn’t at all
like her, distantly she could hear that annoying voice reminding her that she
was a good, girl, a virtuous girl.
A girl who would be
ashamed of herself, and her actions, tomorrow.

That thought made her pull back, breathless and
weak,
she stared up at Josh as he raised his head and
frowned. Good God, he looked so bloody gorgeous. He stared back at her, his
expression intense, and if Sammy were a confident person, she might say
disappointment flashed in his dark eyes.

He cleared his throat. “Are you ok, Sam?” he asked,
keeping his hand still the side of her face, his fingers threaded through her
hair, the other on her hip, digging in with erotic need.

She nodded, still bemused and utterly shocked to be
in this situation. “It’s just... I have... Umm, what I mean is I haven’t—”

He stepped back then, and Sammy saw a frown crease
his brow before he ran his hands through his hair. Was he shaking? Sammy
swallowed past her suddenly dry throat as regret for making him stop kissing
her tugged at her chest.

“You’re a virgin?” he asked, kind of laughing,
huffing as he spoke. He definitely didn’t look happy.

She shook her head “No. I just...”
Shit! Just talk, Sammy.
Because of her
stupid bumbling, he’d stepped back. Because of her stupid nerves, he was
looking like she just poked him with a branding iron. She just messed up the
one and only exciting sexual experience of her life. “I’m sorry. I—” She turned
and faced the door, mortification burning the backs of her eyes as adrenaline
and the need to run trembled through her arms and legs. “I don’t do stuff like
this.” She dropped her eyes and took a step towards the door as her
embarrassment turned quickly into defeat. Who was she kidding?

“Stay.” His deep voice and the command in his tone
stopped her in her tracks. She looked back over her shoulder and swallowed as
he watched her with those deeply dark eyes. “I never thought for a second that
you were cheap, or easy, Sammy. I am sorry if I gave you that impression.”

The man was intense. His eyes trapped her, the dark,
heavy looks he gave, especially now, sent a shiver down her spine. And did she
see shame flick across his gaze?

“I’m sorry if I moved too fast. I just... I’m not
used to...” He cleared his throat and scratched his head. “Sorry if I went to
fast.” He
finished,
his tone apologetic. He looked out
of his depth.

What should she do now? Her body sung with need, her
hands shook and itched to continue to clutch onto him as his mouth—his sexy
mouth wandered over her bared flesh. But could she? She’d allowed her mind to
kick in. She’d allowed her
thoughts,
her father’s long
learned thoughts, to butt into her life. And now she wasn’t even sure she could
ever fight her upbringing.
Even when Josh, the sexiest man
she had ever seen, embraced her and asked her for more than friendship.
Even just for one night, she couldn’t turn her stupid bloody head off.

Face
it, Sammy
girl,
you are destined to live a boring
life.

“I didn’t think that, Josh.” She dropped her gaze,
turned and grabbed at the door handle. “I just think that you think I am
something I’m not.”
Exciting, fun, easy
going I am
not,
I am none of those things
. “So before
we’re both disappointed, I should go.”

She pulled open the door and stepped into the cold
hallway.

Remind
me never to go for it again.
Because it bloody hurt when you realize
you’re not brave enough.
When you realize that life is going
to be dull forever.
The only men that timid, awkward girls
attracted,
were timid, shy, ball-less men with soft hands
and no stubble.

Sammy stifled a groan when she remembered how
wonderful Josh’s hands felt in her hair, how utterly delicious he tasted, and
she hadn’t done anything more than kiss him. She closed her eyes as she stepped
into her room and leaned against the closed door. She looked at her overnight
bag and wondered just how she was supposed to see him tomorrow? Oh, the
mortification.

****

Josh stared at the door Sammy had literally run
through and wondered what he was supposed to do now? His mind called for him to
chase her. She had looked frightened, upset, and he hated that he had pushed
her to that. But his body still burned with frustration. He had wanted Sammy
with a ferocity he hadn’t known before, the way she had clung to him, kissed
him, had been a bolt of heat to his balls. Would he just frighten her if he
followed?

Maybe, but it didn’t sit right to just leave her
when she had basically run from him. He was just about to go to her.
To apologize for his heavy handedness, his pushy nature, when his
phone rang from inside his jean pocket.
He pulled it out and nearly
swallowed his tongue when he saw Penny’s number.