Bodychecking Read online

  “You’ve been driving me fucking crazy all night in that little dress.”

  “Part of my devious plan to get you naked.” She spoke in a throaty, husky whisper guaranteed to harden his dick in a split second.

  “I love how you think, especially the deviant and naked part.” He moved closer, crowding her.

  “And I love how you fuck.”

  He didn’t even flinch at her bluntness. Cedric glanced around as he hauled Bella into a powder room and locked the door behind them. Putting his hands on her waist, he lifted her onto the counter in one smooth motion. Grabbing a condom from his pocket, he unzipped his dress pants and shoved them down his thighs. He sheathed his hard cock in a condom. Bella licked her lips as she stared at his erection, barely able to contain her excitement. Her number-one favorite thing was to have Cedric buried inside her.

  He cleared his throat, and she raised her gaze to meet his, realizing she’d been staring and most likely drooling, yet she felt no shame.

  “I know. I know, you’re in awe over my massive penis.”

  “And your massive ego.” She cocked her head in the direction of his dick.

  “One and the same,” Cedric beamed, as if she’d issued a supreme compliment. Before she tossed another teasing insult his way, he stepped between her spread legs, obviously abandoning foreplay in exchange for the main event. She dug her fingers into his bare ass, completely on board with the program.

  “You aren’t wearing any panties,” he noted with satisfaction as her dress rode up to her waist and revealed her shaved pussy.

  “Merry Christmas. Do you like your gift?” She winked at him, propping her heels on the edge of the counter to give him a better view of the glistening wetness between her legs.

  “Best present ever.” He met her gaze. The heat in his blue eyes would melt polar ice caps.

  Fully expecting him to plunge deep inside her, he shocked her by pausing at the last second. Leaning in close, he ran his tongue up the side of her neck to her jawline. She tried to turn her head to kiss him, but he held her steady.

  “Not yet, sweetheart. Not until I get a guarantee you’ll go with me to Izzy and Coop’s wedding.”

  Well, crap.

  “You’re asking me out? On a date? Why mess with a good thing?” This was blackmail. They didn’t date, they fucked. It was part of their long-standing agreement.

  “Because we can make a good thing even better.”

  “I’m the maid of honor, and you’re the best man. Essentially, we’ll be there together.”

  “I want more.” The intensity in his gaze caught her off guard and vulnerable. She worked quickly to shore up her defenses and put them back on familiar ground.

  “What if I say no?” She forced a teasing tone even though his invitation scared the crap out of her.

  “Then you won’t get your present tonight.” Cedric pushed down the straps on her dress and freed her breasts, cupping and kneading them with his fingers.

  “You’re a dick,” she groaned, loving the feel of the hockey-roughened callouses on his fingertips abrading her sensitive nipples.

  “I’m a big dick.” He winked at her.

  Bella rolled her eyes.

  “Say yes.”

  “I’m not the dating kind, and neither are you.” She panted as she fought to get the words out while he pinched her nipples. Hard. He wasn’t playing fair. Bella wasn’t averse to a little pain, and she was a goner when he pulled and twisted them enough to cause her to squirm and cry out.

  “We weren’t the dating kind,” he corrected. “You and I are entering challenging new territory.”

  “Just fuck me,” she begged as she tried to wrap her legs around his waist.

  He stepped out of range, holding her at arm’s length. “Say yes.”

  In an attempt to diffuse the situation, she socked him in the arm, but he didn’t give her the satisfaction of flinching.

  “You’re going to have to do better than that with this hard body. Say yes,” he insisted.

  Bella rolled her eyes. “Fine, yes. Just. Fuck. Me.”

  “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

  Before she formulated a smartass response, he lunged inside her with one hard, rough stroke. Growling in satisfaction, he thrust in and out, strong enough to lift her butt off the counter with each penetration. Bella dug her spiked heels into his ass and held on tightly, raking her fingernails across his back. She angled her hips to take him deeper, feeling him touch her in places no other man ever had.

  “Oh, damn. Fuck. Yes. Cedric. Yes.”

  Breathing heavily, he barely missed a stroke when he suddenly pulled out, flipped her onto her stomach, and drove into her from behind. Gripping her waist, he slammed into her again and again, each stroke more savage and frantic than the last, just the way she loved it.

  She was going to come and soon.

  “Fuck me harder. Now.”

  He did.

  It’d been a while for them, and he didn’t last, but he sure as hell took her with him. Cedric always took care of her first. He knew all her buttons, all those sweet spots that drove her over the edge, and he used that knowledge to his advantage. Not that she was complaining.

  He reached between her legs for her clit and scrubbed it with a sandpaper-rough thumb. All-consuming pleasure stoked the inferno raging inside her, intolerable in its intensity as it built toward an explosion.

  “I’m coming,” she cried out, loud enough to be heard by the partygoers. Not that she gave a shit. In fact, they were welcome to watch if they wanted. Right now all that mattered was Cedric riding her into oblivion with his magic dick filling every square inch of her.

  He muffled her screams with a hand over her mouth, as they came together in a frenzied rush of mind-blowing passion. Bella shuddered violently. Jolts of pleasure rocked her body and short-circuited rational thought.

  Gasping and spent, Cedric collapsed on top of her, pressing his cheek to hers for a moment and closing his eyes, which felt too much like intimacy rather than casual fucking. Bella allowed herself to fall under the spell he wove around her, indulging in the fantasy they could be something special to each other. Her pragmatic side interrupted too quickly, bringing her to her senses.

  She extracted herself out from under Cedric’s heavy weight and wriggled away to stand in front of the mirror. She stared at her smudged makeup, thoroughly mussed hair, and flushed face. Damn. She looked like she’d been fucking. At her sister’s house, no less. Even she should have more decency than that, but the sorry truth was she’d do it again given half the chance.

  Izzy would be furious and torture her with the lecture of all lectures if she figured out where the birthday girl had disappeared to.

  After combing her hair with her fingers, Bella dabbed at her makeup with a towel. Reflected in the mirror, Cedric now lounged against the opposite wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, and his mouth set in a smug, self-satisfied smirk. He’d pulled up his pants but not bothered to zip them.

  As usual, he looked fantastic with his mussed blond hair. His eyes were hooded with lazy contentment. She did a double take as she noted something new in those blue eyes. Undisguised possessiveness. Raw, powerful, and game changing.

  She wondered what it would feel like to try out monogamy again and take Cedric up on his offer. Yet, confronting the possibility head-on sent her heart scurrying for cover. She’d never been good at relationships beyond the physical. The few times she’d tried, she’d been played for a fool and sent packing, replaced by a sweeter, classier female—a keeper. On the other hand, Bella was hook and release.

  She wasn’t petite. She wasn’t fat either. She was athletic and muscled from working out. She would never be classically beautiful like Izzy, sweetly cute like Emma, or girl-next-door-sexy like Avery. She was Bella, the athlete and tomboy of the bunch. She cleaned up well, but there was always an edge to her, a directness many people didn’t get or understand.

  She’d missed the memo on proper beh
avior and tactful wording. She didn’t have a clue about either, which was where she and Cedric differed. He could charm a hungry pack of she-wolves out of their last meal.

  “What are you thinking?” Cedric asked, staring her down in the mirror.

  “About us,” Bella admitted.

  Cedric moved behind her, rubbing the points of her shoulders with his big hands. “Is there an us?” He sounded hopeful.

  “Do you want there to be?” Bella wanted to kick her own ass for asking that loaded question.

  Cedric nuzzled her neck. “Ja, ja, I do.” He grinned, knowing she loved it when he talked with a Swedish accent, which he actually didn’t possess in normal conversation, having been raised primarily in Canada.

  Bella opened her mouth and closed it multiple times, rendered speechless, which didn’t happen often. Part of her wanted to say yes, but she bit back the words. She couldn’t do this to him or herself. She was still recovering from the sting of turning twenty-six and realizing she’d spent her life doing very little constructive and a lot of destructive. Guys hooked up with women like her; they settled down with women like her sisters.

  “I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

  Cedric frowned in the mirror. In fact, he looked downright depressed about it, but he bounced back quickly, like he always did, and flashed her his most disarming grin.

  “Can’t blame a guy for asking.”

  “Can’t blame a girl for turning you down.”

  “Stay the night with me.”

  Now there was an offer she could sink her teeth into. “You still have those handcuffs?”

  “Absolutely. For me or you?”

  “We’ll see,” she teased.

  He wrapped his strong arms around her belly and pulled her back against his chest. “I want more, Bella, and I will get it.”

  “Resistance is futile?” she joked.

  “Damn right.” Only he wasn’t joking. Conviction burned in his blue eyes.

  “Cedric.” Bella turned in his arms and laced her fingers behind his neck. “Let’s not ruin this good thing we have with commitment.”

  “What if we could have an even better thing?”

  Bella pulled away from him. “You’ll get tired of me. I’m not a deep thinker; and beyond sex, I’m not someone you’d want to keep around for deep, meaningful conversations.”

  His brow furrowed, and he frowned. “Whoever told you that, Bellani Maxwell? You’re the most intriguing, fascinating woman I’ve ever met.”

  “Only because I’m the only woman you’ve never managed to catch.” She wouldn’t be pulled into his web. She didn’t have a clue what his sudden penchant for settling down was all about, but his insistence that they have a real relationship sent her running away out of fear, even though she kept circling around the block and coming right back to him.

  The man was a player. He liked her, but he’d never fall in love with her, because she knew the truth, even if no one else did.

  Bellani Maxwell was not lovable.

  Chapter 2—Slammed Against the Boards

  Bella paced the floor of her small apartment. She couldn’t concentrate. Whenever she felt restless like this, things were about to change, and not necessarily how she wanted them to change.

  Her past MO was to force a change before something blew up in her face, like transferring out of a psych class required for one of her many majors before she flunked out, or quitting her waitressing job before she was fired, or moving out of her apartment before she was evicted. Yeah, her life was a long line of quitting-before-it’s-obvious-you-failed incidents. Izzy swore over and over again that someday life would throw up an impenetrable roadblock on a one-way street, and she’d have to face whatever difficulties were thrust in front of her instead of flipping a U-turn every time it got tough.

  She hated it when Izzy was right, which was almost always.

  No one really understood. Bella didn’t run because she was afraid—she ran because she was easily bored. She was a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners kind of woman who loved to have a good time and didn’t give a shit about the consequences. Because for her, there’d been no consequences. At least, not until recently.

  Yet now she was twenty-six fucking years old. She could do some deep soul-searching or give introspection the finger and go out and party.

  Bella hadn’t planned on going out this Saturday night. Being one day after Christmas, it’d be dead, and none of her usual partners in crime happened to be available. She kept glancing at her phone, hoping Cedric would text her to hook up for a booty call. He didn’t, and she recalled him saying something about a charity auction tonight. In fact, now that she recalled, he’d invited her to attend, but she’d declined. They already had a date for the wedding, and she didn’t want to give him more encouragement.

  Staying home with only her confused self for company wasn’t an option either.

  Bella finally succumbed to her restlessness by texting George and Hank, a married couple she knew, to join her for a drink at O’Reilly’s. After debating what to wear, she decided to dress down rather than dress up. She couldn’t bring herself to go to the bother to put on her party clothes. After all, she wasn’t on the make tonight, and it was just O’Reilly’s, definitely a jeans-and-sweatshirt establishment.

  Bella was late, as usual, and they were just leaving, which served her right for being over an hour late. She stayed for a drink anyway.

  The bar was dead. Ike wasn’t working. She didn’t recognize anyone among the smattering of patrons, nor did she have the slightest inclination tonight to flirt with strangers. She could go to a nearby club, but she wasn’t in the mood for the club scene either. Even more bored than before, Bella left after one drink.

  As soon as she exited the building, the rain started. Protected from the elements by a flimsy, hooded sweatshirt, she stood under the awning for a moment and shivered in the thirty-eight-degree temps. The parking was crazy-stupid downtown with all the new construction, and there was no parking in front of the building, which had forced her to park several blocks away in a neighborhood of soon-to-be-torn-down buildings. Cursing her stupidity for not wearing a raincoat, she sighed and stepped onto the rain-slickened sidewalk.

  Hugging the sweatshirt tight to her body, Bella hurried past a boarded-up building looming darkly across the cracked sidewalk. The gloomy brick façade gave her the creeps, and she trotted down the street, cutting across to the other side. She’d be soaked before she got to her car.

  Miserable and desperate to get out of the rain as soon as possible, she decided to take a shorter route back, ignoring the detour, which would take her two to three blocks out of her way but along well-lit streets. Instead, she veered around the corner and into the construction zone, ignoring the “Do Not Enter” signs. She’d cut through here before but not alone. It was exactly the type of area she would’ve told her self-defense students to avoid as unsafe.

  Only Bella was savvy and well-trained in martial arts. She could take care of herself. She had absolute confidence she’d battle her way out of any situation. Even so, a little chill slid down her spine, and she shuddered. Shrugging it off as unfounded, she attributed her nerves to the rainwater dripping down the back of her neck.

  She had very little room to maneuver as she navigated along a sawhorse-lined path made of plywood and concrete with partially demolished buildings on one side and deep utility trenches on the other. She could barely see even with the flashlight on her cell phone.

  “Admit it, Bells, this wasn’t one of your smarter moves,” she muttered to herself.

  She frowned as she swore she heard a noise. Only, how the fuck could anyone hear anything over this incessant rain?

  There it was again. Splashing. Like boots slapping against water-laden concrete and plywood.

  Her heart rate accelerated, and she increased her pace, wishing she’d brought her purse with her Mace in it. Instead, she’d grabbed a small pocketbook. She refused to glance over her shoulder, even as her
senses went on high alert.

  She definitely heard footsteps, and they were gaining.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  She’d been a careless idiot for taking this route.

  “Hey,” a gravelly voice said from behind her.

  She kept walking, trying to determine how far away this man happened to be and how many blocks it was to her car. She could take off and possibly outrun him. Bella prided herself on her athleticism and her agility. But it was dark and rainy, and the heels on her boots weren’t made for sprinting. Chances were slim she’d make it before he caught her.

  She glanced at her phone, just as it beeped a very sad beep and went dark.

  Shit. It’d been running on battery fumes all night because she’d forgotten to charge it.

  Bella chided herself for being such a coward. She’d been trained for this. She taught domestic violence and crime victims how to defend themselves in situations like this one. She was in control here. Not him. Besides she was being stupid. He was probably harmless.

  “Hey. Security,” he called as if reading her mind. He caught up with her so quickly she realized she’d miscalculated how far away he’d been. She glanced at him as he paced her, slightly behind her right shoulder, his face shadowed by a hoodie and the oppressive darkness.

  He raised a flashlight and shone it in her eyes, temporarily blinding her. He pulled something out of his pocket and waved what looked like a badge. She relaxed a little.

  “You’re not supposed to be down here.” His accusing tone ruffled her feathers. Damn rent-a-cop.

  “I know,” she said bluntly, not inviting further conversation and praying he’d take the not-so-subtle hint.

  She dismissed a twinge of panic. He was just a security guy. That was all, and he was keeping pace with her, probably to escort her out of an area she had no business trespassing through in the first place.

  Yet, no one would hear her scream over the sound of the rain. Squaring her shoulders and utilizing the glare of his flashlight, Bella strode purposely, as if he were no threat at all to her, even while every fiber of her being coiled, ready to strike.