Read Fire & Brimstone: A Neighbor from Hell Online
Authors: R.L. Mathewson
Fire & Brimstone: A Neighbor from Hell (10 page)
Chapter 17
The high-pitched beep when she hit the wrong numbers wasn’t helping. She tried to focus, tried to stop thinking about what just happened, but she couldn’t and so here she was, punching random numbers into the keypad like a madwoman, trying desperately to put a little space between her and the man that had looked at her as though she was the next best thing to lunch.
Since she’d seen exactly how much he loved to devour his lunch, she knew that was not a good thing.
She was an idiot for screwing with him like that. She should have known better. Hell, she had known better, but she’d stupidly let her pride talk her into crossing a line that she should never have been crossed.
God, that had been such an amazing kiss, she thought with something close to panic, because she really wanted to go back out there and kiss him again and there was no way that she was kissing him again.
This ended now.
She was going upstairs, double-locking the door, getting Mojo to lay in front of the door and start packing. She’d always heard that England was nice this time of year. The fact that she was broke, didn’t have a passport or a job didn’t matter. All that mattered was putting some space between her and Lucifer before she did something incredibly stupid like tackle him and rip all his clothes off.
It’s not that she didn’t do relationships, because she did. Badly, but she did try to make them work. No, the reason that Lucifer wasn’t a possibility was very simple, because she…well, he…
Okay, it wasn’t simple.
Why the hell wasn’t this door unlocking?
“Here,” the man that she was willing to flee the country from, said softly as he reached past her, making sure that his lips tickled the back of neck, and typed his code in for her.
As soon as the alarm beeped and she heard the door lock release with a click, she threw the door open and ran as fast as her short legs would carry her. In record time, she was in her apartment with the door slammed shut, the bolt slid into place and her back against the door to add extra security while she struggled to catch her breath.
“What’s wrong?” Melanie asked, looking up from her computer with a frown as she took in Rebecca desperately clinging to the door.
“I…,” she started to say only to stop when she thought she heard something out in the hallway.
“Rebecca?” Melanie said, sounding understandably worried since Rebecca had her ear pressed against the door and was holding her breath as she waited for the knock that she wasn’t ready for to come.
When it never came, she breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back against the door. “Pack your bags. We’re leaving the country in the morning,” she said, hoping that would be enough for Melanie to move her ass, because she wasn’t sure that she had enough energy to explain what just happened and pack her things.
“Is there a reason why we’re fleeing the country?” Melanie asked instead of being the supportive friend that she needed and packed without question.
“Yes!” she snapped, pushing away from the door on wobbly legs.
“Are you going to share that reason with the rest of the class?” Melanie asked, picking up her bottle of water and took a sip.
“No!” Rebecca snapped, heading for her bedroom only to end up groaning pathetically a few seconds later when Mojo walked in front of her, dropped to the ground and promptly fell asleep without warning, causing her to stumble over him and trip over her feet.
As she lay there on the floor, she couldn’t help regretting that time when she’d vetoed Melanie’s decision to buy an area rug for the hallway. When Mojo rolled over a few seconds later and landed on top of her, she couldn’t help but regret deciding against signing him up for obedience class and when she heard that first knock at their door, she regretted pretty much everything she’d ever done to Lucifer, because now it seemed as though she was about to pay for it.
*-*-*-*
“Stop kicking me out of my own apartment!” Melanie yelled after he deposited her in the hallway.
When she continued to yell, he decided that it would be for the best if he closed the door on her since all that yelling would only annoy him. She still yelled, but thankfully the solid wood door was able to muffle most of it out. When he spotted his prey lying on the floor with that horse they liked to call a dog laying on top of her legs, pinning her to the floor, he couldn’t help but smile.
“Melanie?” she said, sounding hopeful as she tried to look over her shoulder to see what was going on, but thanks to the position that Mojo had her pinned in, it was impossible.
“Guess again,” he said, noting the way that her entire upper body went still at the sound of his voice.
“Ummm, this really isn’t a good time. Maybe you could come back later?” she said as she tried to pull her legs free, probably hoping that he wouldn’t notice the move.
“Am I interrupting something?” he drawled lazily as he helped himself to an ice cold Coke from her fridge.
“Yes,” she said, clearing her throat as she planted her arms on the floor and tried her best to pull her legs free, but that damn dog wouldn’t budge, “Yes, you are.”
That was a damn shame, he thought with a sigh as he popped his soda can open and took a sip. He walked over to the wiggling woman and leaned down to pet the dog that had earned a steak. Other than grunting his approval, Mojo didn’t bother opening his eyes as he settled in for a nap.
Secure in the knowledge that she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, he stepped over her squirming body and sat down with his back to the wall in front of her. While she glared up at him, he took another long, satisfying sip of his ice cold drink as he thought back on all the bullshit that she’d put him through over the last five years and sighed.
She really did have this coming, he thought as the bitter woman gave up trying to escape and stole his drink. He allowed it simply because he was in a generous mood. As soon as she was done, she glared up at him, slammed the empty can on the floor and grabbed onto his legs, obviously deciding that her only chance of escape was to pull herself free from the dog currently sleeping on top of her.
“So, what exactly do you want?” she asked as she used his legs to pull herself free.
“To talk,” he said as he allowed his gaze to run down her back to that generous ass that he’d stupidly ignored for all these years.
Christ, he couldn’t wait to squeeze her ass as he slid inside her…
“Are you staring at my ass?” she asked after a slight pause.
“Yup,” he said, seeing absolutely no reason to lie about it.
“Well, stop!” she snapped, pausing in her escape attempt long enough to lightly slap his leg to make him stop doing what he was clearly put on this earth to do.
That ass deserved to be admired.
“Pathetic,” she mumbled as she returned to her escape, but unfortunately for her, sometime in the last thirty seconds or so, Mojo had woken up and readjusted his position so that his large body now pinned her knees down to the floor.
This really was not her day, he thought with a sigh as he allowed himself to enjoy the fact that Rebecca was draped over his legs. Definitely not a bad way to end the day, he thought as he reached down and plucked her out from beneath Mojo and settled her on his lap with a satisfied sigh.
So, when she opened her mouth to argue, he really had no choice but to lean down and kiss her before she could do something stupid like kick him out of her apartment.
Chapter 18
Shouldn’t she be having some moral dilemma about doing this, she wondered at the back of her mind as she adjust herself on his lap until she was straddling him and could wrap her arms around him as he kissed her in way that left her hungry for more. Never in a million years would she have pictured Lucifer, the straight-edged asshole, capable of being this passionate, but now that she knew, she couldn’t help but wonder how it was going to be like when she got him out of these clothes.
She moaned at the thought, because she was definitely going to have to find out. Even though she didn’t make a habit of jumping in bed with whatever guy that caught her eye or took her out, it also wasn’t something that she lost sleep over or had internal debates about. She was the kind of woman who liked to be turned on, lived by the moment and if a guy managed to make her lose her mind and made her feel like she would die if she had to go one more second to feel him sliding between her legs then she went for it.
She didn’t do regrets, overanalyze her choices or live in the past.
With that being said, she could still count the number of men that she’d slept with on one hand and she’d never slept with a guy that she hadn’t been dating for at least three months. She liked having an emotional connection with a guy before sleeping with him and she usually needed it in order to get this turned on.
Then again, she’d never actually been this turned on before, she thought with a smile as she lowered herself until she was sitting on the hard bulge hiding behind Lucifer’s zipper that told her that she wasn’t the only one on the verge of losing control. The groan that he released had her adjusting herself on his lap and moaning when the friction from the movement hit her in all the right places.
Even though she didn’t have many hang-ups about sex, she did have some rules, like never sleeping with your friend’s ex, her friends’ brothers, co-workers, or more importantly, her boss. But, since she was in the process of quitting this really didn’t count, she told herself as she ground down against that large bulge as Lucifer drove her out of her mind by gently sucking on her tongue as his hands found her ass.
He used his hold on her ass to help her move against him and God, was there really anything sexier than a man that was aggressive in bed? As she slid her hand beneath his shirt and caressed the muscles jumping beneath her touch, she couldn’t help but wonder if they should move this to a bed.
It would definitely be more comfortable, she decided even as she continued to grind down against him, her breaths coming faster as she realized that she was seconds away from having an orgasm that was guaranteed to leave her devastated. They really needed to move this to a bed.
She kissed him one last time before she pressed her forehead against his and tried to focus on something other than how good it felt to grind against him. Licking her lips, she forced the words out that would guarantee that she would have to quit her job in the morning.
“Lucifer, we need to move this to the bedroom,” she ground out with a whimper as she pushed down against him and-
“I have a better idea,” he said, allowing her one last grind that brought her closer to the edge, but wasn’t enough to push her over, before carefully picking her up and setting her down on the floor.
“What?” she asked, feeling a little dazed as he managed to stand up, because she was pretty sure that they should definitely be taking this to the bedroom.
“Let’s go grab something to eat,” he said, reaching down and helped her to her feet while she struggled to make sense out of what he was saying.
Eat?
He wanted to eat?
She threw a wistful glance in the direction of her bedroom and almost cried when he took her hand in his and headed for the door.
*-*-*-*
“You should probably put some ice on that,” Rebecca said from where she sat in the passenger seat of his truck, fidgeting with everything within reach and driving him out of his fucking mind, because every movement made him more aware of her.
He could be inside her right now, his fucking dick reminded him as it angrily pushed against the zipper, demanding that he pull over and finish what they’d started, but he couldn’t do that. Not until he made sure that she wanted him just as badly.
He refused to take her until she said his name when he slid deep inside her. He didn’t care if she moaned it, whispered it, groaned it or screamed it at the top of her lungs, but he had to hear it. He had to hear her say his name the first time he took.
He had to hear her call him, “Christopher.”
There was something seriously wrong with him.
“I’m fine,” he said, resisting the urge to check his shoulder for blood.
“You’re lucky that she has bad aim,” Rebecca said with a sigh as she gave up fidgeting with the air-conditioning and sat back in her seat.
“Remind me to remove that fire extinguisher when we get back,” he said even though he doubted that it still worked.
“Knowing Melanie, she probably already used it to coat your door in foam,” Rebecca said, sounding bored while he was still struggling to get his body back under control.
Great, one more thing to get in the way of his schedule, he thought as he pulled into the back parking lot of Dixon’s Gluten-Free Bakery and parked his truck. He looked at Rebecca to find her slumped in her seat, looking defeated.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning off the truck.
“I can’t eat here,” she mumbled softly.
“Because of the gluten thing?” he asked, opening his door.
“Because of the gluten thing,” she repeated with a dejected sigh as she opened her door and jumped out.
He climbed out of the truck and headed to the sidewalk, unsure of how he should proceed. They weren’t a couple. Hell, they weren’t even friends, but he couldn’t act like she was nothing more than a pain in the ass employee anymore, could he?
Fucking hell.
This was already getting complicated and there was nothing that he hated more than complicated. So, when she started walking by his side and stuck her hands in her back pockets he was relieved.
To a point.
“This place is gluten free,” he said, mostly to have something to say so that he could get his mind off how good it had felt to finally cup that beautiful ass in his hands.
“It’s gluten free?” she asked as she worried her bottom lip, no doubt trying not to get her hopes up. “Are you sure?”
“Since I helped build it, I’m pretty sure that it is,” he explained as they reached the front door.
“Your family’s in construction, right?” she said, sounding a little nervous as he held the door open for her. She hesitated before throwing him a small smile and stepping inside.
“Among other things,” he murmured as he followed her inside. “But, it’s the one thing that we all have in common.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, glancing around the small shop nervously.
“Relax,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead, because she looked like she could use a little support and not because it felt like an eternity since the last time he’d touched her. “Everything in here is safe for you to eat.”
After a slight pause she nodded and ventured closer to the large menu posted on the wall. She stood there for several minutes, not saying anything as she took in what they had to offer.
“What do you recommend?” she asked, chewing on her bottom lip as she started at the top of the menu and worked her way down again, obviously wary of her first real taste of gluten-free cooking.
He hadn’t actually tried anything here, because of the obsession he had with dissecting recipes and recreating them for his restaurant, but his brothers had. As far as he knew they’d given every item on the menu the Bradford seal of approval so he pointed at the first item on the menu.
“The baked macaroni and cheese is pretty good,” he said, praying that his brothers hadn’t made him a liar, otherwise he was going to have to hunt them down and beat the shit out of every last one of them.