Dirty Tactics Read online

  “Hey,” Zac said.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered to the puke-yellow wall.

  Take deep breaths. And whatever you do, don’t turn around.

  “I saw you come in here. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” A second later, he asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I just...need a minute.”

  When she didn’t hear the door opening and him leaving, she sighed.

  “What do you want, Zac?”

  She felt him come closer.

  “I want to know, is it going to be like this every time we’re in the same room?” His voice was smooth and she loved the sound of it. Even when she didn’t want to answer the question that he just asked with said voice.

  “Like what?”

  He huffed out a breath. “Like you leaving as if the hounds of hell are on your heels. Like you can’t stand the sight of me?”

  I must not give in.

  “It’s not you that I can’t stand to see,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Then who—Ah.”

  Oh great! I’ve said too much.

  “Brandy is really something,” he said, in a casual voice that was anything but casual.

  “I don’t care what she is.”

  “She’s gorgeous.”

  She refused to turn around.

  “Talented.”

  The jerk.

  “Wealthy.”

  She was going to kill him slowly.

  “Incredibly smart. Harvard graduate.”

  That did it.

  Voice trembling, she couldn’t help but ask, “Then why if she is so gorgeous, talented, incredibly smart, are you in here with little old me?”

  “You’re jealous.”

  She spun around so quickly, her elbow slammed into his gut. “I am not.”

  “Yes, you are.” He grunted, rubbing his stomach.

  Reagan stepped closer. “Say that again, Zac, and so help you I will—”

  He stepped even closer and in a dangerously low voice whispered, “You’ll what?”

  “I will...” She swallowed.

  Although her black stilettos gave her a much needed four inches, Reagan still only reached Zac’s jaw. A jaw that was clean-shaven and exposed his thick lower lip. It didn’t help that he was devastating in his gray suit, his arms crossed over his impressive chest. And he was watching her with those blue eyes of his that couldn’t seem to decide whether they were angry with her or if they wanted to fuck her. She definitely knew which one she was up for.

  Chapter Three

  Zac stared down at Reagan. His best friend’s little sister had always been short, even now when she wasn’t so little anymore. She was small and the black dress she was wearing just emphasized that. His eyes strayed to her bare shoulders, down to her breasts, to her hips and her beautiful long legs. She might be small, but she fit damn near perfect under his hands and he remembered having those legs around his waist. The way she had shifted restlessly beneath him or above him. Not that he was going to touch her.

  Zac mentally groaned. Following her in here had been the dumbest idea ever, and Zac had done a lot of dumb shit in his life. He hadn’t known that she was going to be at Steven’s party. Not until Aidan had pointed at her standing on the opposite side of the room, sipping on her champagne. In the instant their eyes met, he knew that they had to speak. They had barely talked for the last couple of months since they had ended up making out at Aidan’s house. But they couldn’t keep avoiding each other with only the bare contact of a few texts here and there. It was impossible anyway since her family was his family, so while they were in front of each other, they needed to talk this out.

  Reagan’s wild and curly black hair brushed her bare shoulders. Her brown eyes were wide and took up almost half her face. It was easy to see what she was feeling, because she let everyone see it. And right now, her eyes flickered down to his lips and back up to his, so fast he almost thought he had imagined it. But there was no imagining the quickening of her breath, her chest slightly touching his. He had memorized every inch of her gorgeous skin and saw a tinge of red spill across her hue of brown and black. She was blushing.

  He wanted to take a bite right there where her pulse beat strong. Would she moan, gasp, or let out a husky cry? He had been dying to find out for months now. Years, if he was really being honest with himself.

  He took a small step forward, crowding her closer to the wall, because he couldn’t be this close to her without wanting to be closer.

  “You’ll what, Reagan?” he asked again.

  “What...” She licked her lips, the dazed look still in her eyes. “What were we talking about?”

  If he wasn’t so fucking turned on right now, Zac might have been amused. But he was. All the blood seemed to be leaving his head and going straight to his cock, which was rushing to attention under his suit pants.

  “We were talking about you being jealous,” he reminded her.

  “Oh.” Reagan’s shoulders rounded inwards. “I am not jealous. I just... I don’t know what you want from me, Zac.”

  Fuck, he barely knew what he wanted from her either. Her hard nipples grazed his chest. She wasn’t wearing a bra, only some padding under that dress of hers. His cock was semi-hard and if he moved just a few more inches, he knew she would be able to feel it. He fought to keep control. Think about hockey, he told himself. He began to list every type of penalty in his head.

  “I want to talk to you about what happened a couple of months ago,” he finally said when he could look her in the eyes without thinking about fucking her.

  “You mean when we...”

  Zac nodded and then he told her the truth.

  “We can’t do that again, Ree. We were lucky that your brothers hadn’t walked in a second earlier. Not to mention that it’s wrong. I consider you to be not just one of my closest friends, but my family. You know that. I don’t want to do anything that will break our family and I’m sure you don’t either.”

  She turned her face, her hair sliding over her cheek.

  He itched to touch her cheeks and force her to face him. He curled his hands into fists at his sides instead. What do I know about relationships anyway? All he knew was that he didn’t want one and he wasn’t built for one either. The only relationship he’d ever seen was his parents’, and, yeah, they were the opposite of happy.

  “You seem to forget that every time we’re near each other something happens,” she whispered.

  “From now on, nothing more will.”

  “Is it so bad if something does?” She glanced at him. “Is it so bad that it keeps on happening?”

  Images of blood, puke and shattered glass flitted through his mind. For a second, he was deaf to anything but the echo of remembered screams. Screams in his childhood. Some of them his and some of them not. His hand tightened, nails digging into his skin.

  Yes, it would be bad. Very bad. He wasn’t good for her. And she deserved better than him. Aidan would lose his fucking mind if he even had a hint of the things him and Reagan had already done. Not to mention the other Thomas siblings. They weren’t rational when it came to their baby sister and why would they be? Reagan deserved more.

  “We can’t do this,” he said again.

  “Then, what do you suggest we do?” she asked.

  “Staying away from each other isn’t possible. We’ve already seen that,” he said ruefully.

  “Like you could,” she said, so low he almost didn’t hear her.

  His eyes narrowed.

  “What?”

  She didn’t repeat it. Just stared him down. The same obstinate look that all the Thomas siblings shared. He loved that stubbornness of hers, but it made it so damn hard to push her away when she just wouldn’t leave.

  “Say it again,” Zac dared.

 
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” She stuck out her chin.

  No, it wasn’t. Fuck, maybe it was. I hate this. Zac resisted the urge to run his hands through his hair. I hate how I turn into this indecisive mess when I’m around her or even worse, always making the wrong fucking decision. Look at him right now. He had followed her into the coatroom to clear the air between them, but also because it had been weeks since he had last seen her. And he found that too long to bear.

  She must have read something on his face, because Reagan being Reagan couldn’t help but keep pushing him. She’d been pushing him since she was fifteen years old, after all.

  “You can’t stay away from me. You say one thing but do another,” she taunted him softly.

  “Neither can you,” he shot back, suddenly furious. “Or did you forget who kissed who?”

  “You really want to play the kissing game, Zac? Because you’re the one who started this all.”

  He took full responsibility, but everything that had come after? That was on both of them. Yeah, he’d kissed her that night at Muckberry Field, but he hadn’t meant to. It was just that Ree had made him forget all the pain waiting for him at the Quinn household. With his hands on her cheeks and his lips on hers, Zac felt like, for the first time, he was breathing free and clean. Kissing Reagan was like kissing sunshine. Just being around her, her spirit and quick comebacks, snapped his common sense. Or maybe his sanity, but definitely the promise he’d made to himself. You had one core rule: don’t get into this position with Reagan. And yet, here he was.

  Her bottom lip was moist from having sucked it into her mouth and released it. He could practically smell the damp heat of her pussy and he definitely knew she was wet between those silky thighs of hers. But it was the way she was staring at him that got to him. All that lust.

  “And you’re the one who eye-fucks me whenever we’re in the same room together,” he whispered.

  She gasped. “I don’t.”

  He released a short, tortured laugh. “Oh yeah, you do. You should look at yourself in the mirror, Ree. Then you’ll see what I mean about eye-fucking.”

  “And what about you? Even while your Barbie doll—sorry, I mean girlfriend—is out there, all you can think about,” she said, while stepping even closer to him, “is fucking me.”

  Hearing the word fuck coming out of Reagan’s mouth pushed him right over the edge. His arms snaked around her back and brought them flush together. Her hands flew to the center of his chest.

  “What are you doing?” She swallowed nervously.

  His hands trailed up the small of her back, her spine, to her neck, as he took his sweet time touching every inch of her skin that was bared to him. He tilted her head back to align their mouths perfectly. Only a whisper of breath separated them. “Why would I imagine having you under me, having my hands filled with your breasts and me inside of you? Why imagine when I can take?”

  And so, he took.

  Reagan shuddered in his arms, clinging to him.

  They took a single step backwards until her back hit the wall. She opened her mouth. His mouth plundered hers. God, the taste of her. Her fingers curled and tightened around the material of his shirt. He was drowning in her, but it also felt like the first time he could breathe in weeks. Her taste was all-consuming. A little bit of the champagne she was drinking earlier, but all of Reagan’s stubbornness and sweetness. His tongue tangled with hers. The kiss was dark and pleasure licked down and set fire to his body. I’m not going anywhere, not now that I can finally touch her.

  He pressed his erection against her stomach. She shifted restlessly in his arms, but not restlessly enough. He wanted her rubbing against him like a cat in heat as desperate for him as he was for her.

  He pulled his mouth away from her. More, give me more, Ree. Panting, she watched him. His fingers rubbed the pretty, pretty skin of her neck, leaving goose bumps in his wake. She licked her plump lips, pressing them together, as if she wanted to hold on to the taste of him. She kills me. His eyes tracked her movements, his cock throbbing and aching to fill her. As much as he wanted to spend all night kissing her, he was dying to touch more of her and he knew exactly where he wanted to start. There’d been one fantasy, out of the thousands he’d had of Reagan, he couldn’t stop thinking about. That played nonstop on a loop in his mind. Fuck it, I’m going to hell anyways.

  Zac spun her around. She tried to turn, but he pressed against her. His front to her back. Her hands were trapped between the wall and her stomach. She turned her head and he saw the curve of her cheekbones, heard the soft gasps from her mouth. He kept his right hand on the nape of her neck, holding her still while he allowed his gaze to wander down her back to the ass currently nestled in his lap.

  “Fuck, Ree. This dress.” Zac groaned.

  “What are you doing?” she asked again.

  He pressed more of himself against every delicious inch of her, until he surrounded her. His hair touched her shoulder as he bent his head down to hers.

  “Don’t move.” His breath hot and heavy in her ear. “If you move, I’ll spank you.”

  Fuck, I hope you move. He wanted nothing more than to get his hands on her. How would she take it? Would she cry out?

  He bit her ear and her eyes fluttered almost closed.

  His lips moved down to her neck, lingering over her pulse. He licked her, tasting a hint of his favorite flavor, cinnamon, and he couldn’t get enough. Better, she tasted like perfection. I can’t believe this is finally happening and that it’s Ree I’m getting to touch.

  “Do you know what you do to me?” he whispered, his voice thick.

  “What? What do I do?”

  “Drive me crazy.”

  He pressed his erection deeper into her, imagining his suit pants and her dress gone. She rocked her hips back and he groaned, the sound vibrating through both their bodies. Fuck, yes. Zac’s hands circled her waist. She trembled.

  “What did I say about moving?”

  No matter how much he loved how she was rocking into him, a promise was a promise. He lifted his hand and brought it down on her ass. Hard. “Zac!” she yelled, trying to shift. Away from him? Towards him? He had no idea, but he grinned knowing it couldn’t have hurt. He’d hazard a guess to say she liked it. By the way Reagan was rubbing her thighs together, she more than liked it.

  “I said I’ll spank you if you move. So, keep moving, Ree, and I’ll keep spanking you.”

  Reagan froze, her breath coming out in quick pants as did his. Yeah, driving me fucking crazy.

  “Good,” he purred.

  He rubbed her ass to soothe her, becoming hypnotized by the motion. And even though she felt so good beneath his touch, there was one thing that could make this all better. Skin on skin.

  His hands roamed her stomach and then further up, until he palmed her breasts. Kissing her nape softly, he moved lower to explore the dark circular birthmark beneath her right shoulder blade with his tongue. He’d never seen it before and it made him wonder just how many other secrets he could uncover. He smelled more hints of her spicy body wash, but tasted nothing but the sweetness of her. With his teeth, he caught her zipper and pulled it halfway down her back. The dress split open to reveal luscious skin.

  “I want to worship you.” He swallowed in anticipation. “Spend hours touching you, licking you, sucking you.”

  “Yes, anything you want.”

  “Anything?” He pressed a gentle kiss to her spine as he peeled the fabric at the front, freeing her breasts. “You have no idea what all the things I want to do to you, with you, are.”

  He rubbed her nipples between his coarse fingers, felt them stiffen even further.

  “Zac. Please, I need more.” She moaned.

  And he wasn’t able to—didn’t want to—say no. Zac reached for Reagan’s dress and pulled it up her thighs until it was bunched up around her waist.
When he saw the black sheer lace panties, his damn suit suddenly felt even tighter, especially around his cock.

  “Is this what you always wear under your clothes?” He shook his head. “Fuck, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

  He really didn’t want to know, because if the answer was yes, what the hell was he supposed to do then? How would he ever be able to be around her again without wanting her naked?

  “I only wear them for special occasions. Why? Do you like them?” He looked up and saw the smile on her face, her curls around her cheeks.

  Game-loving, geeky, adorkable, that was Reagan. Lace panties, cheeky sexual remarks, it was just another side of her but one that he only got to see so rarely. It fascinated him. Zac didn’t reply with words. Instead, he pushed her panties roughly to the side and slipped a finger inside of her.

  “Zac,” she breathed.

  “So wet,” he murmured, bringing his thumb up to rub her clit.

  Reagan cried out, her hips moving up and down, seeking relief. He knew what she wanted, but if she wanted to tease him, it was only fair he teased her right back.

  “I told you, Ree,” he whispered into her ear. “If you want something from me, ask.”

  “Harder,” she said.

  “Can you be a little more specific?”

  He added another digit into her pussy, groaning as his cock jerked in his pants when she immediately tightened around him.

  “I want you, Zac. Please.”

  The pleasure of seeing her unravel, her face craning to watch him, her thighs trembling as he brought her closer and closer to her peak. Enough, I can’t take any more.

  Mad for her, Zac didn’t hear the rip of her panties. He unzipped himself and pulled out his cock.

  “Hurry. Hurry,” she begged.

  He had enough sense to find the condom he had in his suit pocket and sheathe himself with jerky movements. He hadn’t been this desperate even when he was a teenager. But he was so gone for her, he couldn’t do any more foreplay. Zac needed to be inside of her.

  All he felt was the moment he brought his cock to her pussy and eased himself into her. He let out a throaty groan. She whimpered. Fuck. Her heat scalded him. Inch by inch, she took him in. But she was so tight, he had to pull out and then push his way back in. The wet heat of her making it easier. Again and again, until finally his cock was fully seated inside of her.