Thawing Ava (20 page)

Within an hour he was parked in his apartment complex’s lot and ready to confront Ava. He avoided the lobby and went straight for the stairwell. He slipped out his phone and hit speed dial for her number. It went straight to voice mail. He left a message. “You better be in my apartment. We need to talk before I spank your ass for keeping things from me.”

Despite the number of floors he had to climb, he wasn’t that out of breath; anger helped him. He was also annoyed with Davis. Why hadn’t Davis told him he was going to make that offer? They were best friends, even though they’d been too busy to hang out as of late. He called Davis when he had good news and had been there when Egan proposed, so why were both Johnson siblings keeping things from him? By the time he got to the twelfth floor, he was so worked up he wasn’t sure how he would handle talking to her without shouting.

Nor did he know how he would handle it if she wasn’t there. He unlocked the door and his heart lurched and he clenched his jaw. She hadn’t met and greeted him; in fact there was no sign of her. No scent of cooking. Only pine hung in the air. “Great. Just fucking great.”

Kicking the door closed, he locked up behind him and set down his stuff. A look around showed the decorations were still up, as was the tree. He hadn’t asked for anything to be removed just yet. “For fuck’s sake!” he shouted to the room.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’m here.” Ava came down the stairs from the loft lugging a box of decorations. “I was clearing out some of the decorations I hadn’t used.”

Brice growled. “Strip and bend over the bed.”

Ava put the box down on the ground and stared at him. “Excuse me?”

He knew that maybe he’d gone too far, but there was no backing down now. “You heard me,” he said as he walked across the room. His gaze never left hers. Her jaw was clenched, and her hands were balled into fists at her sides.

“No, what I think I heard was you saying blah, blah, blah. I’m here. Why are you so pissed?” She pressed her fists against her hips and leaned forward.

He ate up the sight of her, angry and sexy at the same time. Her lips were pressed together, but that couldn’t hide how plump and tempting they were. His dick twitched and thickened. Arousal licked through his veins and inflamed his body. He gave himself a mental shake.

“You left the apartment, abandoning your job to watch me and make sure I behaved. What if my meeting with my parents fucked up my mental state?” Brice knew it was a low blow, but it had to be said.

“Your mother dismissed me,” she pointed out.

“And? Your father hired you. Why are you taking orders from my mother? Investor or no, they don’t make calls. They sink money into the team. There are no perks for this team yet. Take off your clothes. Now!”

“I’ll remove my sweater if you admit to me that this whole thing wouldn’t have happened if you’d had a talk with your parents before this.” She grabbed hold of the hem of her sweater but didn’t do anything.

The about-face threw him. He ran a hand through his hair and paused for a moment to think. She was right; he should’ve confronted his mom and dad before this, but he hadn’t thought it was a big deal until she came back into his life. “Fine. I’ll give you that, but you still deserve to be spanked.” Tension hung in the air. Unspoken anger drifted between them. “Sending me a congratulations text doesn’t excuse you from not calling me after or talking to me that night.”

She lifted her hem, exposing a smooth expanse of skin. In response he unzipped his jacket and shrugged out of it before taking off his shirt. For every article of clothing she lost, he would reciprocate twofold.

“That works both ways. You could’ve called me rather than texting Davis.”

Guilt filled him. He should’ve done that too, but he’d been scared that she wouldn’t answer and let him state his side.

“If you had let me know what happened, you know,
your
side of the story, I wouldn’t have texted him,” he shot back.

“I can do this all night, you know.” She unsnapped the button on her fly but didn’t pull the zipper down.

He followed suit; he almost moaned in relief as some of the pressure on his cock eased. He bent down and tugged off his sneakers and socks before he stood to face her once more. “So can I. I told you we needed to be honest with each other. Running away and leaving me with no warning isn’t being responsible as my babysitter or for my well-being. Now admit you deserve to be spanked.”

She pursed her lips and pushed down her jeans before stepping out of them. “Fine. I could’ve waited in the hallway and watched for the outcome, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea if your mom found me lurking around. Besides, you needed to talk to them without my support. Face a demon.”

Brice raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I need to?” He moved toward her, stalking forward slowly. He got in her face. “I did need you. I needed you there to help me through the aftermath. To sort my emotions. I needed you,” he growled, bringing his lips within centimeters or hers.

She blew out a breath, and her shoulders dropped as her body relaxed. “You could’ve called me,” she threw at him. “You could’ve told me to come back.” She didn’t move away.

That warmth of vanilla floated between them, mingling with the musk of his aftershave and the clean aroma of soap.

“You can throw down the orders, you can tell me to do things, but you can’t think for yourself? You let my mother toss you out? Of
your
home?” He threw back at her.

Her eyelashes drifted down until only a narrow strip of brown showed through the black fan of lashes. “This isn’t my home. It’s
yours
. I’m just staying here as a
guest
.”

“You belong with me. This is your home too.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her body against his. He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. He traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue, slowly prying her lips open until he could sink his tongue in to swirl and tease hers. She tasted of oranges and honey. With a groan, he ground his erection against her pelvis. She moaned and threaded her fingers through his hair before she shoved him away, panting, lip gloss smeared and pupils blown wide.

“I am not your property,” she growled and came at him, taking his head in her hands. Her fingernails dug into his skin. She kissed him hard, claiming his lips and tongue until his lungs burned for air, and he felt lightheaded but held on, gripping her hips to the point of bruising.

She pulled back, gasping for air.

“Wrong. You are needed here. Not as my babysitter but as my girlfriend, lover, and confidant. You need to be here. I need you here with me,” he managed to utter in between breaths.

“Well, I don’t need you! I’m not some charity case you take on to make yourself feel good and keep yourself on the even keel.”

“Fuck this.” He grabbed her wrist, pulled her to the bed, pushed her to the bent-over position, and yanked down her panties. “You want to be stubborn, so be it.”

He pulled back his hand and swatted her in the center of her left butt cheek. She let out a cry, but that didn’t stop him. He gave her three swats in a row on each cheek. Ava bucked and fought but didn’t try to move out from under his hand.

“Admit it, you love this. You’re defying me to get more.” He waited for her answer.

“No, and this isn’t helping you,” she said over her shoulder.

He traced her slit. She was already wet. He circled her dripping entrance. He pushed one digit into her tight channel, and her vaginal walls clenched around the invasion, trying to pull it farther inside. His cock jerked. He groaned. “So fucking wet and tight and ready for me. Who’s the liar now? You want me not helping? Let’s see how far I can take this before you beg me to fuck you. Stay like this.” He withdrew his finger and straightened.

He lapped up her juices before he went to his closet. Just to make sure, he glanced over his shoulder to find her seated on the bed, legs crossed. “You’re just begging for more punishment, aren’t you?”

She lifted a shoulder but said nothing. All he could do was shake his head and open up his trunk. He selected a flogger, something that would tease but not punish. They would try other types later. He returned to her, and she was back in position, a smirk on her face.

“You’re only delaying the sex.” He paused to take off his jeans and put his hands on her thighs and spread her legs wider. Once he had her where he wanted her, he took a swat, first at the top of her thighs. She hissed and bucked but said nothing to stop him.
Fuck
. “If you want to stop, say stop, and everything will halt. Later we’ll do safe words, understand?”

The rule book between them had been thrown out in favor of passion.

“I trust you. Now fuck me,” she demanded.

His heart contracted on that statement. Again, she left him in awe. “This doesn’t mean you’ll get off easy.”

“I just want to get off.”

He gritted his teeth and shook his head. “Haven’t earned it yet. You have to admit to me that you should’ve come back.” He put the flogger into play, spanking all over her ass, not hitting one place twice in a row. “Tell me you were wrong. Tell me that you should’ve come back.”

“Admit that you didn’t actually need me, that you were just being an idiot and you could solve your problems yourself,” she shot back.

“Only if you admit your fault.” He paused and waited for her to say something, to be a smart-ass. His heart hammered against his rib cage. As right as she was—and he knew it—he wanted her to let go and admit her fault as well. “I need you, honey. I need your level head, your voice in my ear that told me it would be okay. I need your strength, not your absences. I feel like shit knowing what my mother said to you. Did you think I would side with her? That I would just judge you and let her thoughts drive my treatment of you? If I didn’t care about it in college, why the hell would I care about it now?”

“You didn’t come after me then,” she shouted. “You went with your cheerleaders and your friends and frat brothers, but you didn’t try to find me. You knew I was Davis’s sister, and you didn’t even use that route. Was it because I was fat? Maybe not your type?”

Brice stumbled back. “Are you saying… What are you saying?” His arm fell to his side.

Ava straightened up. “Come on, Brice. Be honest. You preferred the athletic type or maybe someone slimmer. How about a hint of curve but not, never overly curvaceous.” Her gaze seared into the depths of his skin, straight to his heart.

“You can fuck me, hold my hand, say the dirtiest things to me. You can spank my generous ass, but still, back then, you didn’t pursue me. You flirted, joked but nothing else.” Tears shone on her face. “You talk about needing me, but what about me? What if I needed you? Reading those gossip columns made it real for me. They think I’m your girlfriend. Am I? You say that’s what you want, but how can I trust you? How can I know it’s real? That what we do here and now matters. That it’s more than just sex.” She crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs, as if trying to shut herself away from him.

He knew that saying the words wouldn’t matter. It was actions that would seal the deal.

He dropped the flogger, needing to hold her, have her feel his heart against hers. Instead he came to her and went down to his knees. He ignored the pain that laced through his knees and thighs, and shook his head. “I can’t make up the past to you. I was stupid and scared. Not because of your sexy, voluptuous body, but because I wasn’t as smart as you. I was a jock. My grades weren’t that awesome. I had hockey, and that was it. My parents weren’t around, and despite my confidence, part of me felt like shit about my intelligence. ” He looked up at her.

Hesitation painted her features, but she didn’t stop him from talking. He pressed on. “I know now what I want, what I need in my life. Back then I didn’t. I know that I want you, need you. Your body is only the outer shield. What’s inside is what counts. Your laugh, your smile, your intelligence. You don’t hesitate to call me on my shit, and I need that. I need all that you can give me and more, just as I need to be open and honest with you. I’ll admit I didn’t date any women that were your size after college, and that was stupid. I passed up a lot of gorgeous women because of that, but I knew that no one, regardless of size, would ever compare to you. ”

She shook her head, and his heart sank into his stomach.

If he had to plead, so be it. He opened his mouth and let the words fall out. “Babe, please—”

“Yes, I should’ve stayed to help you deal with your mom, and we did need to talk, but there’s nothing you can do to make up for what happened in the past. But now? I need you to open up to me. Do you really want me? Did you really tell your mom you wanted to marry me?” Tears slipped down her cheeks.

He rose and cupped her face, wiping away the moisture with his thumbs. “Yes, I do. But I don’t want to marry now. I want to give you time to think on it and accept it, but my desire to have you as my wife is very much real. We need to put away the floggers and bondage and just make love. I want to show you that I do love you and your body, every inch of it.”

“Brice,” her voice quivered.

“I love you, and I’m going to show you. No ties, no spankings, no threats, just you and me.” He bent down and hooked his arms around her knees and the center of her back and picked her up.

She squealed. “Brice! Put me down! You can’t—”

“Ava,” he said as he positioned her on top of the covers.

“What?” She gazed up at him in awe.

“Shut up. I can pick you up, and I will, many times, if we’re ever going to have sex against a wall, the windows, or the kitchen counters.” He climbed onto the bed and covered her body with his. “You’re not heavy, honey, not by a long shot. So stop worrying.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips and took his time, pouring his emotions into the contact. He pulled back and sighed. “I love your lips. I love to kiss them and could all day.” He proceeded to show her with slow kisses, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth before scraping the flesh, then soothing away the sting with his tongue.

She moaned and threaded her fingers through his hair. “More,” she whispered.