Lex?” Ian elbowed him.
I quickly pulled my hand away, embarrassed. What was I doing? I tried to move away from Lex, but his grip on my thigh made it impossible.
“Right,” Lex agreed, then turned to me and mouthed, “Go with it.”
“Huh?”
“What the HELL!” Lex jumped up. “Are you kidding me, Gabs?”
“What’s your problem, you jackass?” I yelled back.
“You!” he roared. “You’re my problem, and I’m tired of dealing with your shit all the time!”
“So close.” Ian groaned, leaning his head back against the couch.
“I was trying to be nice, letting you have my spot and the blanket, and you pinch me the entire time? Name-calling? Really, Gabs?”
“Oh please! Like you weren’t doing worse!”
“That’s it!” Lex gripped my hand. “You wanna fight? We’ll fight, away from Ian, whose only crime is wanting to watch a movie with his best friend.”
“Friends!”
“Friend,” Lex said, louder. “You’re just the third wheel we put up with because Ian feels guilty.”
My eyes widened. “You bastard!”
“Guys!” Ian shouted.
“Stay out of it!” we both fired back.
Lex grabbed my hand, dragged me toward the nearest downstairs bedroom, and slammed the door behind him. Then he lifted me into the air and pushed me against the door.
“You dirty . . .” He kissed my mouth hungrily. “Wicked . . .” Another kiss. “Girl.”
I yearned for him, my body stretching out to meet him, my hands tangled in his shirt as I tried to yank it off his body.
A knock sounded on the door. “You guys alive?” Ian asked.
“Barely,” I whimpered as Lex braced me against the door, his knee sliding between my thighs. “Just . . . barely.”
“No blood.” Ian sounded bored. “Want me to pause the movie?”
“No.” Lex’s eyes pierced mine. “This is gonna take a while.”
“Take your time.” Ian’s footsteps grew fainter as he went back into the living room.
“Oh, I intend to.” Lex’s grin was evil as he pulled me down on his leg. The sensation of straddling a part of him was too much for my body to handle. I was ready to explode from his touch, his strokes.
“Bed,” I commanded.
“No time.” He jerked down my leggings while I reached for the button on his jeans.
“What happened to taking your time?”
“Can’t,” he panted, pressing another hungry kiss against my neck, his lips moving against my skin as his hands gripped my bare ass. “Need you.”
“Then take me,” I begged, finally getting his jeans past his hips. He let out a groan as he freed himself and locked eyes with me. “Tell me you’re on the pill.”
“Since I was fourteen.”
“I’m clean. I know you think it’s a line, but I get tested, and I need you, all of you, every part of you. I need”—his hands dug into my flesh as he brought my body near his heat—“you. I’ve always needed just you.”
“Always?” I asked, confused.
His clear eyes looked panicked as he whispered, “Since Christmas . . .” He sighed. “Four years ago.”
It was exactly what I needed to hear, what I’d craved, and I let go, completely let go and gave my heart to him. But the joke was on me, because Lex had always had it. I was just too stupid to realize it.
And now, he had all the power.
And I knew, if he left . . .
It wouldn’t just break me.
But ruin me forever.
“Gabi.” He thrust into me, filling me so deeply that I let out a gasp, gripping his shoulders for balance. But there was no balance with him, no calm, only crazy, wild, frenzied movements that caused foreign moans to escape between my lips as I clenched my thighs together in order to contain him, contain what was happening between us.
“Lex—” I exhaled as my body shuddered against his, unable to keep up with his pace, not sure I even wanted to as he took complete control with his movements. I was dizzy with feeling, with yearning. “I need you closer.”
“Sweetheart, we can’t get any closer.”
“Try!” I whimpered.
He chuckled and then, with a grunt, tugged my leggings the rest of the way off my feet and helped me wrap my legs tighter around him. “Hold on tight.”
“Drop me”—I sighed in rapture—“and I kill you.”
“You’re killing me right now.” Our mouths met again, one way, then another, each new angle causing me to lose my mind as he continued his rhythm. With a curse, he pressed me against the wall and pinned my hands above my head. With one final thrust, I shattered against him, my body exhausted as